What deviance is
Deviance is behaviour that violates the norms of a group or society. Sociologists stress that deviance is relative: it depends on time, place and audience. Visible tattoos have been seen as deviant and as fashion in different eras, and a behaviour that is normal in one group may be punished in another. Crime is deviance that breaks a law. Not all deviance is criminal, and not all crime is seen as deviant.
Social control is the set of ways in which a society encourages conformity, from informal pressure (gossip, approval) to formal systems (police, courts, prisons). Sanctions reward conformity and punish deviance.
Functionalist views
Durkheim argued that deviance is a normal part of society and even has functions: it affirms the boundaries of acceptable behaviour, promotes social unity as people react together, and can prompt social change. Anomie, a condition of normlessness, can arise when rapid change weakens guidance.
Robert Merton's strain theory says deviance arises when a society promotes goals (such as financial success) but does not give everyone legitimate means (such as good jobs). Merton listed five responses to this strain:
- Conformity: accept the goals and the means.
- Innovation: accept the goals but use illegitimate means, such as fraud.
- Ritualism: give up the goals but follow the rules anyway.
- Retreatism: reject both goals and means.
- Rebellion: reject both and replace them with new ones.
Interactionist views
Differential association (Edwin Sutherland): deviance is learned through interaction with others. A person becomes deviant when they have more exposure to definitions favourable to breaking the law than to obeying it.
Labeling theory (Howard Becker): behaviour is not deviant in itself; it becomes so when others define and label it. Primary deviance is an initial rule-breaking act with little effect on identity. Secondary deviance occurs when a person takes on the label and acts accordingly.
Control theory (Travis Hirschi) asks the opposite question: why do people conform? Because of strong bonds to family, school and community. When bonds weaken, deviance becomes more likely.
Conflict view
Conflict theorists argue that laws and their enforcement often reflect the interests of powerful groups, so that some harmful acts by the powerful (white-collar crime) are punished less than street crime.
Worked example
A teenager takes a candy bar from a shop, is caught and is publicly labelled a "thief".
- Merton might ask what goals and means were blocked.
- Sutherland might ask who the teenager spends time with and what attitudes those friends hold.
- Becker would stress the label. If the school treats him as a criminal, he may adopt that identity, and this is secondary deviance.
- Hirschi would look at his bonds: if they are weak, there is less to lose.
The same event, four explanations. The theory chosen sets the question asked.