1. Deviant Behavior and Social Reaction
Lesson 10
Deviant Behavior and Social Reaction

2. Lesson Outline The Violation of Norms Reactions to Norm Violations
Labeling and Secondary Deviance
Formal Social Controls

3. Deviant Behavior
Deviant behavior violates the norms that apply in a given situation.
Deviant behavior includes:
Criminal activity
Cheating
Substance use or abuse
Fraud and delinquent behavior
Behavior considered symptomatic of a mental illness

4. Norms In any situation, our behavior is governed by norms.
Whether a behavior is deviant or not depends on the norms for behavior in the situation in which it occurs.
Types of Norms
Local and Group norms
Subcultural norms
Societal norms

5. Anomie & Legitimate Means
Anomie is a state that reduces commitment to norms or the pursuit of goals.
Legitimate means are acceptable ways of achieving society’s values goals, such as material wealth and financial resources.

6. Anomie Theory Robert Merton’s theory of anomie suggests:
Deviance arises when people striving to achieve culturally valued goals lack the legitimate means (ways) to attain these goals.
People who strive to attain a legitimate goal but are denied access to the legitimate means experience anomie.

7. Merton’s Strain Theory
Adaptation
Means -- Goal
Conformist
Accepts -- Accepts
Innovator
Rejects -- Accepts
Ritualist
Accepts -- Rejects
Retreatist
Rejects -- Rejects
Rebel
Revolts/Creates New

8. Goal Achievement Goal achievement requires access to two structures:
Learning structure
An environment in which an individual can learn the information and skills required.
Opportunity structure
An environment in which the individual has opportunities to play a role, which usually requires the assistance of those in complimentary roles.

9. Illegal Means of Achieving Goals
Some people do not have access to legitimate employment, so they seek wealth by alternative illegal means such as prostitution.

10. Anomie and Social Class
Anomie theory predicts that because lower-class members are more frequently excluded from quality education and jobs (lack access to legitimate means), they will commit more crimes.
Studies indicate that crime and social class are inversely related; the highest crime rates are found in the lower social strata.

11. Control Theory
According to Control Theory, social ties influence our tendency to engage in deviant behavior.
Parental attachments can encourage or discourage children from engaging in delinquency.
Some parents teach their children how to shoplift, commit burglaries, and steal cars and trucks.

12. Social Bonds and Deviancy
Lack of attachment to parents in childhood
relates to adult deviant behavior.
Children who are physically and sexually abused are more likely to be involved as adults in violent and property crime, prostitution, and alcohol and substance abuse.

13. Age and Crime

14. Differential Association Theory
Sutherland’s theory of differential association argues that although the law provides a uniform standard for deviance, one group may define a behavior as deviant, whereas another group defines it as desirable.
The principle of deviant association states that a person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions favorable to violation of the law over definitions unfavorable to violation of the law.

15. The Subculture of Violence
This subculture, which exists within the U.S., holds a set of beliefs that justify the use of physical aggression.
Within this subculture, violence is considered appropriate when used as a means of self-defense and protection of one’s home.
Endorsing the use of violence was also associated with delinquency within the school, including cheating, tardiness, and truancy.

16. Labeling Theory
This theory views reactions to a norm violation as a critical element in deviance.
Only after an act is discovered and labeled “deviant” is the act recognized as such.
If the same act is not discovered and labeled, it is not deviant.

17. Quiz Question
The theory that supports the notion that shoplifting or drunk driving is only deviant when the thief or drunk driver is caught is the:
Differential association theory
Routine activities theory
Labeling Theory
Control theory
Theory of anomie
Answer: C labeling theory

18. Rule Breaking Behavior that violates norms.
People react to isolated incidents of unusual behavior in four ways
Denial
Normalization
Making excuses
Balancing - recognizing it as a violation but de-emphasizing it’s significance.

19. Determinants of Reactions to Rule Breaking
Actor Characteristics
People are more tolerant of rule breaking by family members than by strangers.
People are more tolerant of rule breaking by people who make positive contributions in other ways.

20. Determinants of Reactions to Rule Breaking
Audience Characteristics
Members of cohesive groups are more likely to reward a member who punished a deviant person than members of groups with low cohesion.
Social identity theory suggests that the group membership of the deviant person and the audience both influence reactions.

21. Determinants of Reactions to Rule Breaking
Situational Characteristics
The definition of the situation in which the behavior occurs.
Where did it occur?
How did others react?

22. Consequences of Labeling
Labeling leads members of an audience to change their perceptions and behavior toward the actor.
If they withdraw from the actor, they may create a self-fulfilling prophecy and elicit the behavior they expected from the actor.
Labeling causes the actor to define the self as deviant.

23. Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Self-fulfilling Prophecy is a condition that occurs when members of an audience behave toward a person according to a label and cause the person to respond in ways that confirm the label.
Alcohol Anonymous (AA) makes constant use of labeling (“I’m John and I’m an alcoholic”) to remind the person that drinking alcohol caused him/her to behave irresponsibly.

24. Secondary Deviance
Secondary deviance is when a person engages increasingly in deviant behavior as an adjustment to others’ reactions.
This is when the person begins to openly and actively involve him/herself in the deviant role by adopting clothes, speech patterns and mannerisms that correspond to the other’s role expectations.

25. Deviant Subculture
A group of people whose norms encourage deviance and who positively regard deviant people.
Subcultures provide acceptance and the opportunity to enact deviant roles.
Subcultural groups are an attractive alternative for deviant persons.
Deviant individuals are forced out of traditional groups and subcultural groups provide an opportunity to associate with others like themselves.

26. A Nudist Subculture

27. Formal Social Controls
Societies create agencies to deal with violations of rules or laws.
These are formal agencies and include the:
Criminal justice system
Juvenile justice system
Mental health professionals and commitment procedures and institutions for the mentally ill

28. Functions of Labeling
Labeling a person as deviant has three societal functions.
Labeling provide concrete examples of deviant behavior.
Labeling provide scapegoats for the release of tensions.
Labeling unifies the group and/or society.

29. Biases in Social Control
Social control agents are more likely to label those people who have the least power to resist their certification as deviant.
Arrests are more likely when a third party demanded an arrest, when the evidence is strong, and when the crime is serious.
In Washington, D.C., African Americans are subjected to more intense police surveillance than other racial/ethnic groups.

30. Class Discussion
Does racial profiling influence crime statistics and arrest rates?
Does racial profiling vary by race and ethnicity, and is socio-economic status a profile marker?