5.2 Deviance & Social Control

Defining Deviance and Social Control

In sociology, deviance is defined as any violation of norms, whether the infraction is as minor as driving over the speed limit or as serious as murder. Importantly, deviance is relative. What is considered deviant varies significantly from one culture to another, from one historical period to another, and even among different groups within the same society. As sociologist Howard S. Becker stated, "It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant."

To ensure that individuals adhere to societal norms, societies establish systems of social control—techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in any society.

• Informal Social Control: Used casually to enforce norms (e.g., smiles, laughter, a raised eyebrow, ridicule). This occurs in primary groups like families and peer circles.
• Formal Social Control: Carried out by authorized agents, such as police officers, judges, school administrators, and employers. It involves formal sanctions, like fines, imprisonment, or expulsion.

Explaining Deviance

While biologists might look for genetic predispositions to deviance and psychologists might focus on personality disorders, sociologists look for answers outside the individual. They examine the social environment, social structures, and social interactions to understand why people violate norms.

The Functionalist Perspective

Functionalists, drawing heavily on Émile Durkheim, argue that deviance is a normal and necessary part of social organization.

Durkheim's Functions of Deviance: Durkheim proposed that deviance actually serves several essential functions for society:

1. Clarifies Moral Boundaries: Punishing deviant acts affirms the group's norms and rules.
2. Promotes Social Cohesion: Reacting to deviants brings a community together in shared outrage (e.g., a community uniting after a heinous crime).
3. Encourages Social Change: Deviance forces a society to reconsider its norms. Today's deviant behavior might become tomorrow's accepted norm (e.g., the civil rights movement's acts of civil disobedience).

Merton's Strain Theory: Robert Merton adapted Durkheim's concept of anomie (normlessness) to develop Strain Theory. Merton argued that American society is highly effective in promoting cultural goals (e.g., financial success) but fails to provide equal access to the institutionalized means (e.g., quality education, good jobs) to achieve those goals. This disconnect creates "strain." Merton identified five adaptations to this strain:

1. Conformity: Accepting both the cultural goals and the institutionalized means (the most common adaptation).
2. Innovation: Accepting the goals but rejecting the legitimate means, often turning to crime (e.g., a drug dealer seeking wealth).
3. Ritualism: Rejecting the cultural goals but clinging compulsively to the institutionalized rules (e.g., an overly bureaucratic clerk who has given up on climbing the corporate ladder but strictly enforces every minor rule).
4. Retreatism: Rejecting both the goals and the means, essentially dropping out of society (e.g., severe substance addicts or vagrants).
5. Rebellion: Rejecting both goals and means and seeking to replace them with a new social order (e.g., a revolutionary group).

The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Symbolic interactionists examine how people's definitions of situations and their daily interactions influence deviant behavior.

Differential Association Theory: Proposed by Edwin Sutherland, this theory argues that deviance is learned. We learn to deviate from or conform to society's norms largely through the different groups we associate with. If we associate with people who have an excess of definitions favorable to the violation of law, we are more likely to engage in deviant behavior ourselves. It emphasizes peer influence and socialization.

Labeling Theory: Associated with Howard Becker, labeling theory focuses on the significance of labels given to people. It asserts that deviance is not a property inherent in any particular act, but a property conferred upon that act by an audience. Once a person is labeled a "deviant," "thief," or "delinquent," that label can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Edwin Lemert expanded on this by distinguishing between:

• Primary Deviance: The initial act of rule-breaking. It is often fleeting and does not affect a person's self-concept.
• Secondary Deviance: Occurs when a person is labeled deviant by society, accepts that new identity, and continues the deviant behavior as part of their new role.

The Conflict Perspective

Conflict theorists argue that deviance and the criminal justice system are tied to power and inequality. They view the law as an instrument of oppression used by the powerful (the bourgeoisie or the ruling class) to maintain their privileged position and control the powerless (the proletariat or working class).

According to this view, the criminal justice system focuses heavily on the crimes of the working class (street crime, such as burglary and assault) while dealing leniently with the crimes of the elite (white-collar crime). White-collar crimes are committed by individuals of high social status in the course of their occupations (e.g., corporate fraud, embezzlement, environmental pollution). Despite causing significantly more financial damage and loss of life than street crimes, white-collar criminals rarely face the same severe sentences or stigma.

Measuring Crime

Sociologists and criminologists rely on data to study trends in deviance. In the United States, two primary sources of crime statistics are used:

1. Uniform Crime Reports (UCR): Compiled by the FBI from data supplied by local law enforcement agencies. It includes violent crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) and property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson). A major limitation is that it only includes crimes reported to the police, missing the "dark figure of crime."
2. National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS): Conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Researchers survey households to ask if they have been victims of a crime. This survey often captures crimes that were not reported to the police, providing a more comprehensive picture, though it relies on accurate memory and self-reporting by respondents.