Deviance includes the broadest possible scope of such activitiesnot just criminal acts, but also any actions, thoughts, feelings, or social statuses that members of. As a corollary to this, a new sociological andor criminological definition of crime, deviance and delinquency is presented as finding during the cause of this research. Biological theories of deviance social sci libretexts. Deviant behavior can also be explained by psychological trauma in ones past. Learn four sociological theories of deviance by reading, listening, constructing hypotheticals, and questioning classmates apply theories of deviance to zoot suit riots that occurred in the 1943 examine the role of social norms for individuals, groups, and institutions. However, an act labeled as secondary deviance can produce more serious consequences. This paper focuses on and summarizes the functionalist perspective of deviance, the function of crimes, and how these perspectives have influenced. As you explore each of these theories, think about what. Many theories of deviance exist, and together they offer a more complete explanation of deviance and the reactions to it than any one theory offers by itself. The theory primarily pertains to formal deviance, using biological reasons to explain criminality, though it can certainly extend to informal deviance. This paper focuses on and summarizes the functionalist perspective of deviance, the function of crimes, and how these perspectives have influenced the development of durkheims work, anomie, for.
Deviance is any behavior that violates social norms, and is usually of sufficient severity to warrant disapproval from the majority of society. Examining theories on deviance and deviant behavior. Mar 06, 2016 this feature is not available right now. This course is designed as an advanced presentation of theories of deviance and criminality. Conflict theories emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad sociopolitical system. The drama of deviance 4 deviance as demonic 6 deviance as psychotic 8 deviance as exotic 10 deviance as symbolic interaction. Deviance ppt free download as powerpoint presentation. The study of social deviance is the study of the violation of cultural norms in either formal or informal contexts. There are lots of examples of deviance in our society. Sociological theories of crime functionalist crime is learned through social interaction. Emile durkheim, the french sociologist generally regarded as the founding father of sociology, advanced the theory that society is made up of. Theories attempting to explain deviance can be classified into one of the 3 major perspectives. Theories of crime and deviance boundless sociology. Theories of deviance and criminality elaine enriquez.
The third main sociological theory of deviance is conflict theory. Further, the analysis of deviance helps us to understand the nature of social change. This paper should be an academic exploration andor critique of one criminological theory or one aspect of a criminological theory. The study conceptualized and theorized deviance and mental health through the sociological, biological, and psychological dimensions. Theoretical perspectives on deviance openstax this work is produced by openstaxcnx and licensed under the creative commons attribution license 3. Sociology theories of deviance and deviant behavior. Biological explanations, psychological reasons, and sociological factors have all been linked to such behavior, but three of the major biological explanations for deviancy have been discredited. This paper should be approximately fifteen pages in length and should utilize resources outside of. But deviance is also a highly useful field of study. You will see that several of our theories assume a normative conception, while several assume a social constructionist or critical conception. Deviant behavior is learned from people we spend a lot of time with. Differentialassociation theory edwin sutherland coined the phrase differential association to address the issue of how people learn deviance.
In the 1960s, robert merton used the term to describe the differences between socially accepted goals and the availability of means to. Ecological explanations of crime and deviance unit 4. Like sutherlands theory, hirschis 1969 social control theory is among the most widely tested and supported theories of deviant behavior. All theories agreed that deviant behaviour begins from childhood through oldage.
This is the kind of behavior popularly associated with the idea of deviance. By definition then, it would seem that society considers all crime to be deviant behavior. Sociology of deviant behavior university of wisconsin. Control theory emphasizes the links between the offender and his social grouphis bond to society.
Merton defines culture as an organized set of normative values governing behavior which is common to members of a designated society or group crain, 1985 pp 1186. These moral beliefs, in large measure, determine how people be. After all theories have been presented, the class will use the theories to explain an historic example of socially deviant behavior. According to this view, the ability of the individual to resist the inclination to commit crime depends on the strength of his attachment to his parents, his involvement in conventional. Cultural and subcultural factors, the deviants meanings, social reaction, deviants reaction to this, outcome of the reaction to the social reaction. Sociological theories of deviance search for social factors external that may lead to deviant behavior by individuals, that is, the focus is on the social environment and social circumstances. Statistics and ecological theories the official crime statistics show that recorded crime is not evenly distributed between geographical areas. The abcs of deviance a attitudes achieved statuses based upon beliefs or convictions b behaviors often achieved statuses based on outward actions. Introduction to deviance deviance is any behavior that violates cultural norms. Control theory, or social control theory, states that a persons inner and outer controls both work together to negate deviant tendencies. Acts are deviant or criminal because they have been labeled as such.
Durkheims theory attributes social deviance to extremes of social integration and social. According to this view, people care about what others think of them and conform to social expectations because of their attachments to others and what others expect of them. Negative deviance involves behavior that fails to meet accepted norms. Fully social theory of deviance involves understanding of. Conflict theory the lower the social class, the more the individual is. These theories are also concerned with the reactions of others to deviant behavior. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Crime is a highly complex phenomenon that changes across cultures and across time. A biological theory of deviance proposes that an individual deviates from social norms largely because of their biological makeup.
Sociological theories of deviance are those that use social context and social pressures to explain deviance. Deviance ppt deviance sociology sociological theories. This research paper is a conceptual overview of deviance and its implications to mental health and wellbeing. Chapter 7 deviance, crime, and law 211 i n napoleon dynamite we are presented with some of the most deviant of film characters. He said he was trying to be this masculine boy, real cool and real quiet. Last week we introduced deviance as a concept, but today were going return to our major paradigms in sociology and how each approaches deviance. Take, for example, the case of posttraumatic stress disorder ptsd. Robert mertons theory on deviance stems from his 1938 analysis of the relationship between culture, structure and anomie. A number of theories have tried to explain why people take part in deviant behavior, which is defined as any behavior that goes against the dominant norms of society. Edward wells purdue university given the sociological use of the selfconcept in accounting for social control, the paper. You might expect that a book about deviance would start with a definition of what deviance is.
Hence, the situational perspective is relativistic. Some behaviors are defined the same way by both normative and. According to current theory, deviant behavior is most likely to occur when the sanctions governing conduct in any given setting seem to be contra dictory. A conceptual overview of deviance and its implication to. Psychological theories of deviance do not necessarily have a biological element. Before we look at deviance from a sociological perspective, it is useful to consider some of the common ways deviance has been explained in human societies. Students enrolled in theories of deviance are expected to complete one major paper during the semester. Criminology is the study of crime from a scientific perspective. Various sociological theories of deviance have demonstrated the importance of an individuals attitudes toward deviance in determining whether or not that individual will engage in deviant behavior. Deviance theory and drug use essay 1616 words cram. Theories of deviance and the selfconcept 191 the general direction of such critiques was the continuing attempt to specify an interactional model of deviance which would more clearly link structural conditions i. Explain how conflict theory understands deviance and crime in society. The first day i got to campus, i was a boy, philip recalled a few years later.
Two of the most prominent sociological theories of deviance are emile durkheims deviance theory that deviance is a natural and necessary part of society and robert mertons strain theory. Jul 14, 2019 deviant behavior is any behavior that is contrary to the dominant norms of society. Theories on deviance deviance exists in every society, but why. Sociological theories of deviance sociological theories of deviance search for social factors external that may lead to deviant behavior by individuals, that is, the focus is on the social environment and social circumstances. Conflict theory suggests that deviant behaviors result from social, political, or material inequalities in a social group. Existing theoriesgeneral strain, anomie, labeling, control, and learningexamine these factors and attempt to clarify the hows and whys of deviant behavior. Th ree popular explanations in particular provide useful comparisons. We will engage primary theoretical material and empirical tests of those theories to develop a thorough and nuanced understanding of the varieties of theories of criminality and how they have stood up under scrutiny.
Theories and causes of crime introduction there is no one cause of crime. A number of theories related to deviance and criminology have emerged within the past 50 years or so. Social deviance is a phenomenon that has existed in all societies with norms. Get an answer for what are the psychological theories of deviance. If that is the case then deviance is a violation of a norm. Social bonds keep people from becoming criminals because more committed to social norms. Deviance is affected by the impact of the reaction of society, society tends to label rule breaking acts as deviant, primary deviance is the first time you commit a crime and dont consider it very deviant, secondary deviance is the second time you commit a crime and now its more deviant because of the label from society.
May als slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. Functionalist explanations activity, students read five pages, then complete several exercises including creating prompt cards, labeling actions appropriately, and deciding what are strengths or weaknesses of theories. Two of the most prominent sociological theories of deviance are emile durkheims deviance theory that deviance is a natural and necessary part of society. People may wantat least some of the timeto act in deviant ways, but most do not. The sociological theories highlighted in the pages that follow stress elements of the social environment and of social interaction. We can refer to these explanations of deviance as the demonic, the psychotic, and the exotic. Similar to the number of theories of deviance there exist a number of motivations why individuals choose to engage in deviant behavior. This research contributes to the theoretical and empirical literature on deviant. Sociological theories of deviance anomie theory anomie refers to the confusion that arises when social norms conflict or dont even exist.
All of these structural theories place the cause for the incidence of deviance on the structures of society, rather than on individuals and their problems. Jul 24, 2017 last week we introduced deviance as a concept, but today were going return to our major paradigms in sociology and how each approaches deviance. Functionalist theories on deviance april 30th, 2018. It is higher in urban areas than in rural areas, and higher in inner cities and on council estates compared to suburban areas of cities and towns. People expressing negative deviance either reject the norms, misinterpret the norms, or are unaware of the norms. Jul 14, 2019 a number of theories have tried to explain why people take part in deviant behavior, which is defined as any behavior that goes against the dominant norms of society biological explanations, psychological reasons, and sociological factors have all been linked to such behavior, but three of the major biological explanations for deviancy have been discre. So imagine the teammates of our athlete label his behavior as deviant.
Chambliss relative autonomy of state hegemonic role of ruling class. Existing theories general strain, anomie, labeling, control, and learningexamine these factors and attempt to clarify the hows and whys of deviant behavior. Sociological theories of deviance control theory according to walter reckless control theory, both inner and outer controls work against deviant tendencies. Chapter 7 deviance, crime, and law 211 i n napoleon dynamite we are presented with some of the most deviant of film charac ters. It helps us to better understand the nature of conformity and of human social life in general, since all human behavior is, after all, in varying degrees, either conforming or deyiant. The cultural perspective although structuralist theories had enormous impact on sociologists thinking about deviance, others emerged who felt that these were not allencompassing. While neither napoleon nor his companions commit a crime, they are nonetheless deviant.
According to this theory, the environment plays a major role in. There are many different theories on what causes a person to perform deviant behavior, including. Social control theory, developed by travis hirschi, is a type of functionalist theory that suggests deviance occurs when a persons or groups attachment to social bonds is weakened. The relationship between attitudes toward deviance.
Explanations for deviant behavior are as diverse as the acts they explainranging from acts of delinquency to professional theft, from acts of integrity to a search for kicks, from acts of desperation to those of bravado and daring. In sociology, deviance describes an action or behavior that violates social norms, including a. Deviance becomes crime when it is designated by the institutions of society as violating such a law or laws. Below, we outline some of the major attempts at understanding deviant behavior. Symbolic interaction societies need a certain level of crime to clarify norms. For example, in the stories above, the public display. There are many different theories that explain how behavior comes to be classified as deviant and why people engage in it, including biological explanations, psychological explanations, and sociological explanations. There are many different theories and perspectives on why people do things like abuse drugs, and although we my never have all the answers, sociology still help us to understand the problem better. Deviant behavior is any behavior that is contrary to the dominant norms of society. Secondary deviance is characterized by a severe negative reaction that produces a stigmatizing label that can result in even more deviant behavior. Theories of deviance applied to drug use since the dawn of society there have been people whose behavior differed from the rest of society. The relationship between attitudes toward deviance and.