Reading: Deviance Part 1 - Slides

Deviance Part 1

By Henry Reyenga

Sin is real!

1 John 1:8   If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 

Genesis 3:23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.  24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. 

Sin and Society

Romans 8:19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.  20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 

Satan Tempts People

2 Thessalonians  2:9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, 

1 Timothy 1:20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. 

1 Tim. 5:15 Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan. 

Deviance

Deviance is any behavior that violates cultural norms. Deviance is often divided into two types of deviant activities. The first, crime is the violation of formally enacted laws and is referred to as formal deviance. Examples of formal deviance would include: robbery, theft, rape, murder, and assault, just to name a few. The second type of deviant behavior refers to violations of informal social norms, norms that have not been codified into law, and is referred to as informal deviance. Examples of informal deviance might include: picking one's nose, belching loudly (in some cultures), or standing too close to another unnecessarily (again, in some cultures).

Deviance Vacations

For example, Dr. Karen Halnon of Pennsylvania State University studies how some people exercise informal deviance. Her research focuses on what she calls "deviance vacations," where people of certain socioeconomic status descend to lower strata. For instance, heterosexual white males may become drag queens on the weekend. It is a vacation because heterosexual white males can afford to descend temporarily and then return to the advantages of their true socioeconomic status. Other examples include white hip-hop acts like Eminem and Nu-Metal bands like Limp Bizkit that represent for the lower or middle class people in order to use their socioeconomic credentials for profit, despite their true socioeconomic status.

Theories of Deviance

Psychological Explanation

While the focus of this chapter is on sociological explanations of deviance, there are explanations from other disciplines as well. For instance, recent research in neurology and psychology finds that boys with conduct disorder have differences in their brain structure and that those differences exist during childhood and adolescence. These differences likely contribute to their deviant behavior, but whether or not these differences exist before deviant activities is widely debated.

Theories of Deviance

Social-Strain Typology

Robert K. Merton, in his discussion of deviance, proposed a typology of deviant behavior. A typology is a classification scheme designed to facilitate understanding. In this case, Merton was proposing a typology of deviance based upon two criteria: (1) a person's motivations or his or her adherence to cultural goals; (2) a person's belief in how to attain his or her goals. These two criteria are shown in the diagram below. According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based upon these criteria: 

Theories of Deviance

Social-Strain Typology

 

Theories of Deviance

Social-Strain Typology

conformity involves the acceptance of the cultural goals and means of attaining those goals (e.g., a banker)

innovation involves the acceptance of the goals of a culture but the rejection of the traditional and/or legitimate means of attaining those goals (e.g., a member of the Mafia or street gang values wealth but employs alternative means of attaining his/her wealth)

ritualism involves the rejection of cultural goals but the routinized acceptance of the means for achieving the goals (e.g., a disillusioned bureaucrat - like Milton in the movie Office Space, who goes to work everyday because it is what he does, but does not share the goal of the company of making lots of money)

 

Theories of Deviance

Social-Strain Typology

retreatism involves the rejection of both the cultural goals and the traditional means of achieving those goals (e.g., a homeless person who is homeless more by choice than by force or circumstance or a commune established separately from dominant social norms)

rebellion is a special case wherein the individual rejects both the cultural goals and traditional means of achieving them but actively attempts to replace both elements of the society with different goals and means (e.g., a communist revolution and / or social movement activities)