Deviant Behavior

Examples of Deviant Behavior in the following topics:

• Control Theory

  • Control theory explains that societal institutions without strong control of society can result in deviant behavior.
  • In other words, deviant behavior occurs when external controls on behavior are weak.
  • If the individual has strong social bonds with positive influences, deviant behavior is less likely than for another individual who has no family or friends.
  • According to Travis Hirschi, norms emerge to deter deviant behavior, leading to conformity and groups.
  • While control theory gives an adequate explanation of non-serious forms of youthful delinquency, it fails to explain adult criminal behavior and serious instances of youth crime.

• Deviance

  • Deviance, in a sociological context, describes actions or behaviors that violate informal social norms or formally-enacted rules.
  • The second type of deviant behavior involves violations of informal social norms (norms that have not been codified into law) and is referred to as informal deviance.
  • Cultural norms are relative, which makes deviant behavior relative as well.
  • This behavior represents a luxury, because heterosexual white males can afford to make a temporarily shift, knowing that they may subsequently return to the comforts of their prevailing socioeconomic status.
  • Other examples include performers who may affect deviant behaviors in order to gain credibility with an aim to increasing commercial profits.

• Sociological Theories of Deviance

  • Merton proposed a typology of deviant behavior, a classification scheme designed to facilitate understanding.
  • In addition to clarifying the moral boundaries of society, deviant behavior can also promote social unity by creating an "us-versus-them" mentality in relation to deviant individuals.
  • Deviant behavior can imbalance the social equilibrium but—in the process of restoring balance—society will adjust norms.
  • With changing norms in response to deviance, the deviant behavior can contribute to long-term social stability.
  • Conflict theory suggests that deviant behaviors result from social, political, or material inequalities of a social group.

• Introduction to deviance

  • Deviance is any behavior that violates cultural norms.
  • Deviance is often divided into two types of deviant activities.
  • The second type of deviant behavior refers to violations of informal social norms, norms that have not been codified into law, and is referred to as informal deviance.
  • Cultural norms are relative; this makes deviant behavior relative as well.
  • Sociological interest in deviance includes both interests in measuring formal deviance (statistics of criminal behavior; see below), examining how people (individually and collectively) define some things deviant and others normative, and a number of theories that try to explain both the role of deviance in society and its origins.

• Theories of Deviance

  • These differences likely contribute to their deviant behavior, but whether or not these differences exist before deviant activities is widely debated.
  • Merton, in his discussion of deviance, proposed a typology of deviant behavior.
  • Deviant behavior can imbalance societal equilibrium.
  • Thus, deviant behavior serves several important functions in society.
  • First, once a deviant identity is adopted, it is often the case that the past behaviors of the now deviant individual are re-interpreted in light of the new identity.

• Labeling Theory

  • He was the first to suggest that deviant labeling satisfies that function and satisfies society's need to control the behavior.
  • Labeling theory concerns itself not with the normal roles that define our lives, but with those very special roles that society provides for deviant behavior, called deviant roles, stigmatic roles, or social stigma.
  • Labeling theory hypothesizes that the labels applied to individuals influence their behavior, particularly that the application of negative or stigmatizing labels promotes deviant behavior.
  • The social construction of deviant behavior plays an important role in the labeling process that occurs in society.
  • This process involves not only the labeling of criminally deviant behavior, which is behavior that does not fit socially constructed norms, but also labeling that reflects stereotyped or stigmatized behavior of the "mentally ill."

• Psychological Theories of Deviance

  • Psychological theories of deviance use a deviant's psychology to explain his motivation or compulsion to violate social norms.
  • PTSD is also discussed in cases of deviant, violent behavior on the part of individuals who have experience trauma while in the military.
  • Deviant behavior can also be explained by psychological trauma in one's past.
  • PTSD is frequently invoked in cases of child abuse, in which the psychological trauma of having been abused as a child can contribute to deviant behavior in the future.
  • PTSD is also discussed in cases of deviant, violent behavior on the part of individuals who have experienced trauma while in the military.

• The Functions of Deviance

  • Deviance provides society the boundaries to determine acceptable and unacceptable behaviors in society.
  • In urban America 50 years ago, homosexual behavior was considered deviant.
  • In order to know how not to unsettle society, one must be aware of what behaviors are marked as deviant.
  • From a structural-functionalist perspective, then, how does society change, particularly in regards to establishing norms and deviant behaviors?
  • In urban America 50 years ago, homosexual behavior was considered deviant.

• The Functionalist Perspective on Deviance

  • In urban America 50 years ago, homosexual behavior was considered deviant.
  • In order to avoid unsettling society, one must be aware of what behaviors are marked as deviant.
  • Deviance allows for the majorities to unite around their normativity, at the expense of those marked as deviant.
  • From a structural functionalist perspective, then, how does society change, particularly in regards to establishing norms and deviant behaviors?
  • In urban America 50 years ago, homosexual behavior was considered deviant.

• Illegitimate Opportunity Structures: Social Class and Crime

  • Thus, gangs become a subculture of their own, in contradistinction to the normative, peaceful model of youth behavior
  • An individual can be deviant by refusing to accept social norms or an individual can deviate by accepting social norms but using deviant means to achieve their realization.
  • In this work, they noted that the individuals who achieved social norms by deviant means frequently operated from within institutions that, similarly to those operating in normative institutions, had rules of behavior.
  • Thus, gangs become a subculture of their own, in contradistinction to the normative, peaceful model of youth behavior.
  • The extreme deviance and isolation of individuals affiliated with a retreatist subculture demonstrate that others who engage in deviant behavior are able to find a subculture to which to subscribe.