Deviance

What is Deviance?

1. Deviance:

   • Deviance: Whenever a person breaks the norms of society, and there is the probability of negative sanctions if the behavior is detected.

   • Properties of deviance:

     • Varies in perceived harmfulness. e.g., Tattoos vs. Murder
     • Varies in degree of public agreement about definition e.g., Smoking marijuana vs. Rape
     • Varies in severity of negative sanctions. e.g., Raised eyebrows vs. Execution

   • Note: Deviance is NOT morality

     • You may have personal beliefs or moral that conflict with that SOCIETY defines as deviance.

2. Deviance is socially constructed

   • No act is inherently and universally deviant. e.g., Killing another human

   • Deviance consists only of those acts and persons that are defined as deviant by society.

   • Must look at a specific society to see what is defined as right and wrong.

     • Must look at their values and norms to determine what is considered deviant.

   • Example: Women’s Behavior and Gender Role Norms Kathrine Switzer

     • Who might be able to define some behavior as deviant?
     • How do some behaviors go from being deviant to being accepted?

Crime and Consequences

1. Crime and Deviance:

   • Deviance is not simply breaking the law

   • Crime: deviant acts that the state defines as illegal.

   • Criminology:

     • Criminology: the scientific study of lawmaking, law-breaking, and society's reaction to the breaking of laws.

     • "Scientific study" involves:
       • Empirical treatments.
       • Development of theoretical frameworks.

   • Sociologists are primarily interested in understanding three things:

     • Lawmaking
     • Law-breaking
     • Reactions to the breaking of laws

2. Example: Consequences of Criminal Record: Pager, The Mark of a Criminal Record (2003)

   • Background:

     • Over past 30 years, number of prison inmates in U.S. increased 600%. (Does this mean that CRIME has increased by 600%?)
     • 95% currently in prison will be released.
     • 40% of recently released return to prison within 3 years -- Recidivism
     • One risk factor for going back to prison may be lack of legitimate job opportunities.
     • 10% of young black men are incarcerated
     • 1% of young white men are incarcerated.

   • Methods (Experimental Design):

     • What were the methods used?

   • Results: Looking at effect of race and criminal record on getting callbacks from potential employers.

     • Effect for whites: What was the effect of a criminal record for whites?
     • Effect for blacks: What was the effect of a criminal record for blacks?
     • Comparison of blacks and whites: What were the effects of race and criminal record between two groups?

   • Conclusions:

     • For blacks:
       • Employment barriers of minority status and criminal record are compounded, intensifying stigma towards this group.
       • What are the implications for crime control policies?
       • What are the implications for "reform" of prison inmates?

Sociological Explanations of Deviance

1. Learning Theory (Differential Association Theory):

   • Differential association: people become deviant because of their associations with others.

     • People are exposed to deviant beliefs and behavior through contact with deviant groups.
     • People learn deviant beliefs by associating with these people/groups.
     • Then, deviant behavior follows from those ideas and beliefs.

   • Learning often takes place in subcultures

2. Strain Theory (Anomie Theory):

   • Deviance is a result of the way society is organized:

     • A gap between goals (values), and access to the means (structure) to achieve those goals
       • Think: money & wealth vs. ability to gain employment.
       • Think: getting into your "topic choice" university
       • Think: getting into medical school
     • Societies do not provide enough legitimate opportunities for everyone to succeed.
     • This results in "strain" (frustration).
     • One reaction to strain is to find alternative and illegitimate means to achieve goals: deviance.

   • Strain may also arise from a disjuncture between expectations and actual achievements. This applies in many situations.

   • Cause of deviance (why):

     • Blocked opportunities (no access by legal means) to achieve socially valued goals causes frustration (strain).
       • Goals can be financial, social (prestige), etc.
     • Frustration leads to a search for alternative means for fulfilling one's goals.
     • Criminal behavior is a means of achieving goals.
       • Example: Thieves often take things they don't want or need. Why?

   • General Example: U.S. society

     • Stress goal/value: economic and individual success
       • Become rich! Everybody can do it. Any child can become president. Everyone should try.
       • Not everyone has the same access to the means to achieve these goals.
         • Why not? Why can't everyone become president? What is often required?
         • Why can't everyone be rich?
       • The probability of deviance increases when the “anybody can do it” goals of American society are confronted with the “not everybody has an equal chance” opportunity structure of the same society.

3. Example: Anderson, "The Code of the Streets"

   • Overview:
     • The problem, as identified by Anderson: Prevalence of interpersonal violence among African-Americans in inner-city neighborhoods.
     • Causes: Social context of the neighborhood.
     • Effects/Implications: Legal? Familial? Economic?
   • Social context of the neighborhood:
     • Economically-depressed, drug- and crime-ridden parts of the city (Philadelphia)
     • Structural issues:
       • Lack of jobs
       • Limited public services
       • Minimal influence of police and criminal justice
     • Children often alienated, lacking conventional support
   • What does Anderson mean by "the code of the streets"?
     • "a set of informal rules governing interpersonal public behavior, including violence"
       • They involve expected ways of behaving
       • Expected ways of responding if challenged
       • They regulate the use of violence. There are approved ways of inciting violence - it's not random.
     • Elijah Anderson 1
     • Elijah Anderson 2
     • Knowledge of the code is necessary for operating in the neighborhood: "The distinction between 'street' and 'decent' is irrelevant if the code is violated [...] enforcement is by 'street'-oriented."
     • Another heart of the code is RESPECT: "loosely defined as being [...] granted the deference one deserves."
   • Two competing orientations/cultures:
     • Decent - mainstream values:
       • What are these values?
       • Dominant, middle-class values
       • Oftentimes, the dream of both "street" and "decent" men - to be "decent"
     • Street culture - opposed to mainstream, subcultural values:
       • Arises from lack of structural opportunities
       • Violence and respect become central values.

4. Combining Learning and Strain Theories:

   • Development of delinquent subcultures: Strain

     • Subcultures become delinquent when they develop norms and values that challenge dominant society.
       • Example: Steroid use/doping for athletes 1; Steroid use/doping for athletes 2.
     • Deviant subcultures are collective social adjustments to the strains of blocked opportunity.

     • Subculture: a cultural group within a larger group, often having interests or beliefs at odds with the dominant culture.

   • Learning deviance in delinquent subcultures:

     • Crime results not just from the strain of blocked opportunities
     • But also from readily accessible illegitimate (illegal) opportunity.
     • People select a certain form of deviance depending on the social groups that they associate with.
     • Within subcultures people learn to adjust to the frustrations of blocked means in a particular way.

5. Labeling Theory (Private):

   • Many theories focus on: Why do people depart from the norms of society?

   • Labeling theory focuses on: How does society create deviant categories/labels?

   • Deviance is shaped by the response of society to particular behaviors:

     • Behaviors are deviant because society responds to them negatively.
     • Thus, we must look at how people react to certain behaviors.
     • And the process by which deviant labels are defined and applied.

   • Defining Deviance: Power - How do specific "labels" come into being?

     • Power is a driving force behind the labeling process.
     • Differences in power translate into differences in the ability to define deviance and label.
     • Groups whose social position gives them power are best able to define and enforce their rules.
       • Distinctions of age, sex, ethnicity, and class are all related to differences in power.
       • And who does the labeling or gets labeled.

   • The labeling process:

     • Defining a particular behavior as deviant is only the first step.
     • Then, that label must be applied to some person in order to have actual deviance.
     • This process involves interaction, affected by:
       1. the person being labeled,
       2. the person or group who does the labeling,
       3. the particular behavior so labeled as deviant, and
       4. the overall context of the interaction.
     • The application of deviant labels depends very much on the specific situations, behavior, and actors involved at a specific time and place.

   • Consequences of labeling:

     • Labeling is said to change a person's self-image.
     • Once someone is labeled, they become that label.
       • The deviant label becomes the master status - the defining characteristics of this person.
       • In relating to a deviant, people will frequently respond to the label and not to the individual.
       • Many then start acting to fulfill the expectations of the deviant label.
     • Thus, labeling is often a "self-fulfilling prophecy." - One is labeled and in turn acts to fulfill that label.
     • Thus, labeling many lead to a "career" in deviance.

6. Example: Rosenhan, "On Being Sane in Insane Places"

   • The setting:

     • 8 sane people in different mental hospitals
     • Reported a phony symptom of schizophrenia (hearing voices) during diagnostic interview.
     • Thereafter, acted as would in normal, everyday life.

   • Reactions of hospital staff:

     • How did the hospital staff treat these pseudo-patients?
     • How did hospital staff interpret their behavior?
     • How long were pseudo-patients kept in hospital?

   • Reactions of other patients:

     • How did other patients react to pseudo-patients?

   • Consequences of labeling:

     • What were the consequences of labeling for these pseudo-patients?
     • Was there anything these people could do to escape the label of mental illness?

Summary

1. Deviance is a complex social phenomenon

2. No ONE theory explains all kinds of deviance

   • Or all individuals who commit deviance.

3. Deviance is best explained by multiple factors:

   • Society's labeling of deviance

   • Strain between goals and means

   • Associating with deviant groups

   • Power of social structure - e.g. prisons

   • Personality

   • (Others...)

4. Theories of deviance: