SW 6

SOCIAL DEVIATION
AND
SOCIAL WORK
Learner’s Material

UNIT TEST TO FINAL

COVERAGE
FOR FIRST SEMESTER
S.Y. 2022-2023

Prepared by: Contact No.

MARIEL G. NAMALATA 0907-250-5332

_________________________________________________
Student’s Name/Year, Course and Section

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL WORK PAGE

LESSON 1 (Week 1-2): Introduction to Deviance ---------------------------------------------------------- 3-30

LESSON 2 (Week 3): Diversity of Deviance --------------------------------------------------------------- 31-62

WEEK 4: UNIT EXAM

CHAPTER 2: EXTREME BODY BUILDING AND DEVIANCY

LESSON 1 (Week 5): Extreme Body Building and Life as Deviant --------------------------------- 63 - 94

LESSON 2 (Week 6): Discussion on Extreme Body Building and Deviancy --------------------- 63 - 94

WEEK 7: PRELIM EXAM

CHAPTER 3: CODE OF ETHICS AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

LESSON 1 (Week 8): History of Code of Ethics -------------------------------------------------------- 95 -130

LESSON 2 (Week 9): Integrated Theory of Crime General Strain Theory in Criminal Justice---------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 130 - 141

LESSON 3 (Week 10): Alcohol and Alcoholism ------------------------------------------------------- 142 -180

WEEK 11: MIDTERM EXAM

CHAPTER 4: DEVIANCE AND THEORIES

LESSON 1 (Week 12): Ron Aker’s & Edwin Sutherland Theory --------------------------------- 181 - 199

LESSON 2 (Week 13): Extreme Deviance ------------------------------------------------------------ 200 - 229

WEEK 14: PRE-FINAL EXAM

CHAPTER 5: SOCIAL CONTROL AND CONFLICT THEORY

LESSON 1 (Week 15-16): Concept of Shaming and Self-Control -------------------------------228 - 243

LESSON 3 (Week 17): Conflict Theory in Marxist Perspective ---------------------------------- 243 - 262

WEEK 18: FINAL EXAM

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LEARNER’S MODULE
 SUBJECT: Social Deviation and Social Work
 COVERAGE: UNIT TEST COVERAGE
 WEEK: 1
 LESSON 1: Introduction to Deviance
 Lesson Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
• Define Deviance and Social Control
• Differentiate Deviance and Social Control
• Understand the importance of Deviance
• Understand Social Deviation in Sociology Perspective

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DEVIANCE
Deviance or the sociology of deviance explores the actions and/or
behaviors that violate social norms across formally enacted rules
(e.g., crime) as well as informal violations of social norms (e.g., rejecting
folkways and mores). Although deviance may have a negative connotation,
the violation of social norms is not always a negative action; positive deviation
exists in some situations. Although a norm is violated, a behavior can still be
classified as positive or acceptable.
Social norms differ throughout society and between cultures. A certain
act or behavior may be viewed as deviant and receive sanctions or
punishments within one society and be seen as a normal behavior in another
society. Additionally, as a society's understanding of social norms changes
over time, so too does the collective perception of deviance.
Deviance is relative to the place where it was committed or to the time
the act took place. Killing another human is generally considered wrong for
example, except when governments permit it during warfare or for self-
defense.
Deviant behavior refers to actions that transgress commonly held norms.
What is regarded as deviant can shift from time to time and place to place;
“normal” behavior in one cultural setting may be labeled “deviant” in
another.

Key Points:

• Deviant behavior may violate formally-enacted rules or informal

social norms.
• Formal deviance includes criminal violation of formally-enacted
laws. Examples of formal deviance include robbery, theft, rape,
murder, and assault.
• Informal deviance refers to violations of informal social norms,
which are norms that have not been codified into law. Examples
of informal deviance include picking one’s nose, belching
loudly, or standing unnecessarily close to another person.
• Deviance can vary dramatically across cultures. Cultural norms
are relative, which makes deviant behavior relative as well.

Key Terms:

• Formal Deviance: Deviance, in a sociological context, describes

actions or behaviors that violate social norms, including formally-
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 enacted rules (e.g., crime), as well as informal violations of social
norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and mores).
• Deviance: Actions or behaviors that violate formal and informal
cultural norms, such as laws or the norm that discourages public
nose-picking.
• Informal Deviance: Deviance, in a sociological context,
describes actions or behaviors that violate social norms,
including formally-enacted rules (e.g., crime), as well as informal
violations of social norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and mores).

Deviance, in a sociological context, describes actions or behaviors that

violate informal social norms or formally-enacted rules. Among those who
study social norms and their relation to deviance are sociologists,
psychologists, psychiatrists, and criminologists, all of whom investigate how
norms change and are enforced over time.

Deviance is often divided into two types of activities. The first, crime, is
the violation of formally enacted laws and is referred to as formal deviance.
Examples of formal deviance include robbery, theft, rape, murder, and
assault. The second type of deviant behavior involves violations of informal
social norms (norms that have not been codified into law) and is referred to
as informal deviance. Examples of informal deviance include picking one’s
nose, belching loudly, or standing unnecessarily close to another person.

Deviance can vary dramatically across cultures. Cultural norms are

relative, which makes deviant behavior relative as well. For instance, in the
United States, Americans do not generally impose time-based restrictions on
speech. However, in the Christ Desert Monastery, specific rules govern
determine when residents can and cannot speak, and speech is banned
between 7:30 pm and 4:00 am. These rules are one example of how norms
vary across cultures.

Current sociological research on deviance takes many forms. For

example, Dr. Karen Halnon of Pennsylvania State University studies informal
deviance and focuses on what she calls “deviance vacations,” whereby
people of a given socioeconomic status voluntarily enter a different, often
lower, social strata. One example involves heterosexual white males who
become drag queens on weekends. This behavior represents a luxury,
because heterosexual white males can afford to make a temporarily shift,
knowing that they may subsequently return to the comforts of their prevailing
socioeconomic status. Other examples include performers who may affect
deviant behaviors in order to gain credibility with an aim to increasing
commercial profits.

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Norms and Sanction

Norms are social rules of behavior, and a sanction is a form of

punishment against violation of different norms.

Key Points

• Deviance, or the violations of social norms, can be easier to

identify than the norm itself. For this reason, deviance frequently
provides a tool to learn about norms.
• Norms and deviance always depend on the culture in which
they exist. To study norms and deviance, one must contextualize
the action, or consider the action in light of all of the
circumstances surrounding it.
• Norms can be formal, as in the case of laws, or informal, as in the
case of codes of etiquette. Formal deviance results in legal
sanctions, such as fines or prison, while informal deviance results
in social sanctions or stigma.
• The violation of a folkway leads to the development of a
preference rather than stigmatization. When a more is violated,
on the other hand, it results in a more serious degree of social
sanction.
• Informal deviance, or violation of unwritten, social rules of
behavior, results in social sanction, or stigma.
• A folkway leads to the development of a preference rather than
stigmatization.

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 • When a more is violated, it results in a more serious degree of
social sanction.

Key Terms

• folkway: A custom or belief common to members of a society or

culture.
• stigma: A mark of infamy or disgrace.
• More: A way to refer to norms that are widely observed and
have great moral significance. Mores include an aversion for
societal taboos, such as incest or pederasty.

Norms are the social rules that govern behavior in a community. Norms
can be explicit (such as laws) or implicit (such as codes of polite behavior).
Norms can be difficult to identify because they are so deeply instilled in
members of a given society. Norms are learned by growing up in a particular
culture and can be difficult to learn if one does not grow up in the same social
milieu.

The act of violating a social norm is called deviance. Individuals usually

have a much easier time identifying the transgression of norms than the norms
themselves. For example, few Americans would think to tell a sociologist that
it is a social norm to hold the door open for a fellow pedestrian entering a
building if within a particular distance. However, someone might remark that
another person is rude because he or she did not hold the door open. Studying
norms and studying deviance are inseparable endeavors.

Like deviance, norms are always culturally contingent. To study norms

and deviance, one must contextualize the action, or consider the action in
light of all of the circumstances surrounding it. For example, one cannot merely
say that showing up nude to a job interview is a violation of social norms. While
it is usually social convention to show up in some manner of (usually
professional) dress to a job interview, this is most likely not the case for someone
interviewing to be a nude model. To understand the norm, one must
understand the context.

The violation of social norms, or deviance, results in social sanction.

Different degrees of violation result in different degrees of sanction. There are
three main forms of social sanction for deviance: 1) legal sanction, 2)
stigmatization, and 3) preference for one behavior over another. Formal
deviance, or the violation of legal codes, results in criminal action initiated by
the state. Informal deviance, or violation of unwritten, social rules of behavior,
results in social sanction, or stigma. Lesser degrees of social violation result in
preference rather than stigmatization. While society might deem it preferable
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to show up to most job interviews wearing a suit rather than casual attire, you
will likely not be out of the running for the job if you are wearing khakis rather
than a suit. However, should you show up nude to most interviews, you would
likely be stigmatized for your behavior, since it would be such a drastic
departure from the norm.

We say that the norm that governs wearing professional rather than
casual attire to a job interview is a folkway because its violation results in lesser
degree of social sanction—the development of a preference rather than
stigmatization. The norm that governs wearing clothing to most job interviews,
rather than showing up nude, is a more because its violation results in a more
serious degree of social sanction.

Deviance and Social Stigma

Social stigma in deviance is the disapproval of a person because they

do not fit the require social norms that are given in society.

Key Points

• Social stigma is severe social disapproval of a person because of

a particular trait that indicates their deviance from social norms.
• Émile Durkheim, one of the founders of the social sciences, began
to address the social marking of deviance in the late nineteenth
century.
• Erving Goffman presented the fundamentals of stigma as a social
theory, including his interpretation of “stigma” as a means of
spoiling identity. By this, he referred to the stigmatized trait’s ability
to “spoil” recognition of the individual’s adherence to social
norms in other facets of self.
• Without a society, one cannot have stigma. To have stigma, one
must have a stigmatizer and someone who is stigmatized. As such,
this is a dynamic and social relationship.

Key Terms

• stigmatized: Subject to a stigma; marked as an outcast.

• stigma: A mark of infamy or disgrace.
• deviance: Actions or behaviors that violate formal and informal
cultural norms, such as laws or the norm that discourages public
nose-picking.

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 Social stigma is the extreme disapproval of an individual based on social
characteristics that are perceived to distinguish them from other members of
a society. Social stigma is so profound that it overpowers positive social
feedback regarding the way in which the same individual adheres to other
social norms. For example, Terry might be stigmatized because she has a limp.
Stigma attaches to Terry because of her limp, overpowering the ways in which
Terry might be social normative–perhaps she is a white, Protestant, or a
heterosexual female with a limp. The limp marks Terry, despite her other traits.

Stigma plays a primary role in sociological theory. Émile Durkheim, one of

the founders of the social sciences, began to address the social marking of
deviance in the late nineteenth century. Erving Goffman, an American
sociologist, is responsible for bringing the term and theory of stigma into the
main social theoretical fold. In his work, Goffman presented the fundamentals
of stigma as a social theory, including his interpretation of “stigma” as a means
of spoiling identity. By this, he referred to the stigmatized trait’s ability to “spoil”
recognition of the individual’s adherence to social norms in other facets of self.
Goffman identified three main types of stigma: (1) stigma associated with
mental illness; (2) stigma associated with physical deformation; and (3) stigma
attached to identification with a particular race, ethnicity, religion, ideology,
etc.

While Goffman is responsible for the seminal texts in stigma theory,

stigmatization is still a popular theme in contemporary sociological research.
In Conceptualizing Stigma (2001), sociologists Jo Phelan and Bruce Link
interpret stigma as the convergence of four different factors: (1) differentiation
and labeling of various segments of society; (2) linking the labeling of different
social demographics to prejudices about these individuals; (3) the
development of an us-versus-them ethic; and (4) disadvantaging the people
who are labeled and placed in the “them” category.

Ultimately, stigma is about social control. A corollary to this is that stigma

is necessarily a social phenomenon. Without a society, one cannot have
stigma. To have stigma, one must have a stigmatizer and someone who is
stigmatized. As such, this is a dynamic and social relationship. Given that
stigmas arise from social relationships, the theory places emphasis, not on the
existence of deviant traits, but on the perception and marking of certain traits
as deviant by a second party. For example, theorists of stigma care little about
whether Emily has a psychiatric diagnosis, but rather on how Sally perceives
Emily’s psychiatric diagnosis and, subsequently, treats Emily differently. Stigma
depends on another individual perceiving and knowing about the stigmatized
trait. As stigma is necessarily a social relation, it is necessarily imbued with

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relations of power. Stigma works to control deviant members of the population
and encourage conformity.

The Functions of Deviance

Deviance provides society the boundaries to determine acceptable

and unacceptable behaviors in society.

Key Points

• Deviance provides the key to understanding the disruption and

recalibration of society that occurs over time.
• Systems of deviance create norms and tell members of a given
society how to behave by laying out patterns of acceptable
and unacceptable behavior.
• Deviance allows for group majorities to unite around their
worldview, often at the expense of those marked as deviant.
• Social parameters create boundaries between populations and
lead to an us-versus-them mentality within various groups.
• Being marked as deviant can actually bolster solidarity within the
marked community as members take pride and ownership in
their stigmatized identity.
• Some traits will be stigmatized and can potentially cause social
disruption. However, as traits become more mainstream, society
will gradually adjust to incorporate the formerly stigmatized traits.

Key Terms

• Structural functionalism: The structural-functionalist approach to

deviance argues that deviant behavior plays an important role
in society by laying out patterns of what is acceptable and
unacceptable. These social parameters create boundaries and
enable an us-versus-them mentality.

What function does the notion of deviance play in society? Sociologists

who identify with the tradition of structural- functionalism ask this type of
question. Structural functionalism has its roots embedded in the very origins of
sociological thought and the development of sociology as a discipline. A
structural functionalist approach emphasizes social solidarity and stability in
social structures. Structural functionalists ask: How does any given social
phenomenon contribute to social stability? This cannot be answered without
addressing this question of deviance.
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 For the structural functionalist, deviance serves two primary roles in
creating social stability. First, systems of deviance create norms and tell
members of a given society how to behave by laying out patterns of
acceptable and unacceptable behavior. In order to know how not to unsettle
society, one must be aware of what behaviors are marked as deviant.
Second, these social parameters create boundaries between populations
and enable an us-versus-them mentality within various groups. Deviance
allows for group majorities to unite around their worldview, at the expense of
those marked as deviant. Conversely, being marked as deviant can actually
bolster solidarity within the marked community as members take pride and
ownership in their stigmatized identity, creating cohesive units of their own.

From a structural-functionalist perspective, then, how does society

change, particularly in regards to establishing norms and deviant behaviors?
Deviance provides the key to understanding the disruption and recalibration
of society that occurs over time. Some traits will be stigmatized and can
potentially cause social disruption. However, as traits become more
mainstream, society will gradually adjust to incorporate the formerly
stigmatized traits. Take, for example, homosexuality. In urban America 50 years
ago, homosexual behavior was considered deviant. On the one hand, this
fractured society into those marked as homosexuals and those unmarked
(normative heterosexuals). While this us-versus-them mentality solidified social
identities and solidarities within the two categories, there was nevertheless an
overarching social schism. As time went on, homosexuality came to be
accepted as more mainstream. Accordingly, what originally appears as a
fracturing of society actually reinforces social stability by enabling
mechanisms for social adjustment and development.

Durkheim: The Functions of Deviance

• Help make the norms of society clearer to the majority population
• Unite the non-deviant members of society (social capital)
• Promote social change

Social Control

Social control refers generally to societal and political mechanisms or

processes that regulate individual and group behavior, leading to
conformity and compliance to the rules of a given society, state, or social
group. Social control may be enforced using informal sanctions, which may

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include shame, ridicule, sarcasm, criticism and disapproval. Social control
may also be enforced using formal sanctions.

The sociological concept of social control refers to the mechanisms,

structures, and processes that function to provide social integration and
conformity, ranging broadly from the foundations of social order at the level
of society as a whole to the control enacted by various specialized institutions
and their agents concerning specific forms of behavior and (mis)conduct. This
comprehensive understanding corresponds to an important theoretical
transformation in the conceptualization of social control over the course of the
development of sociological theorizing from the classical to the modern age.

The concept of social control was originally introduced in US sociology in

the late nineteenth century to refer to the institutional foundations of social
order (Chriss 2013; Deflem 2008). Specifically, social control referred to the
capacity of societies to regulate themselves without the need for force or
coercion. This broad concept of social control, conceptualized in a framework
of social harmony, was explored at both the macro and micro level. From a
macro-theoretical viewpoint, the most distinct and influential relevant effort
was made by sociologist Edward Alsworth Ross (1901) who treated social
control as the foundation of social order in organic societies characterized by
a high degree of individualism. Social control functions were thereby argued
to be fulfilled by a wide range of social institutions, such as law, morality,
custom, religion, art, and
family. From a micro-theoretical viewpoint this harmonious understanding of a
broad notion of social control was given most concrete expression in the work
of philosopher and behavioral psychologist George Herbert Mead (1934).
Mead expressed the idea that social control and self-control coexisted by
introducing the notion of a self as consisting of both a unique “I” and a social
“me.” The notion of a harmonious understanding of social control collapsed
during the first half of the twentieth century under the influence of a number
of important
events of societal upheaval, such as the Great Depression following the stock
market crash of 1929, the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe in the 1930s,
and the two world wars. Under these conditions, sociologists began to
understand social order, and social control as one of its necessary
foundations, in more conflictual terms related to authority, power, and
inequality. This theoretical reorientation brought about a more specific focus
on the instruments of social control that existed beyond and irrespective of an
internalization of norms. Most distinctly, it inspired the conceptualization of the
institution of law as social control in complex societies with multiple value
systems and a growing degree of impersonalism and anonymity. Irrespective

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of the question of their legitimacy, legal norms are thereby centrally
conceived as being endowed with coercive power and reliance on
specialized agencies for their enforcement and administration.

The conceptualization of law as social control brought about an

additional change in the sociological understanding of the concept, which
has remained in effect until the present day. With the development of modern
sociology in the post-World War II era, various specialty areas of sociological
scholarship began to develop, including the sociological study of deviance
and/or crime. Defined
as the violation of (general) norms and the violation of (specific) criminal
norms, respectively, deviance and crime intimately connect the study of rule-
violating conduct with the normative frameworks in which such conduct
occurs. Criminological sociology is thus conceived as also including a
sociology of norms and law. Relevant sociological scholarship focuses on the
institutions, positions, roles, and agents that are involved with the enforcement
and administration of various norms of conduct. It is this whole complex of
structures and processes that is, from here on, treated under the heading of
social control.

In view of evolving theoretical discussions in sociology, three main

modern conceptions of social control in terms of crime and/or deviance can
be differentiated (Deflem 2008). One, in sociological crime-causation theories,
primary attention goes to the study of the causes of crime as a social
phenomenon. Secondary to this attention is a focus on social control as a
functional response to crime in order to restore social integration. Two, crime-
construction theories refocus the attention of sociological inquiry to the side of
social control as the definition of crime as one specific process in the labeling
of deviance. This process of criminalization is studied at multiple levels, ranging
from the actions of various agents of social control at the level of the
interaction order to the macro-level institutions involved with law, police, and
punishment. Three, conflict-sociological perspectives build upon the
constructionist viewpoint to articulate social control and crime within a
broader context of the social order under conditions of advanced capitalism.
The study of social control then becomes part of a broader study (and
critique) of society. Sociologists such as Morris Janowitz (1975) and Jack Gibbs
(1994) have attempted to keep the broad understanding of social control in
the function of the foundations of social order
alive. Yet, the more delineated understanding of social control in terms of
deviance and/or crime remains by far the most widespread manner in which
the concept is used today. On occasion, the term is also applied to other
social behavior of a more or less problematic quality, such as illness and
poverty, to contemplate the social control functions of other institutions
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besides law, such as medicine and charity. Most recently, the sociological
study of social control has especially focused on the influence of
technological advances of crime control, typically under the heading of a
new field of so-called surveillance studies, and additionally centered attention
on the influence of processes of globalization, most notably the worldwide
response to international terrorism.

Social Control Theory

Social control theory argues that relationships, commitments, values, and
beliefs encourage conformity.

Key Points

• Internal means of control, such as an individual’s own sense of

right and wrong, decrease the likelihood that one will deviate
from social norms.
• Through external means of control, individuals conform because
an authority figure threatens sanctions if the individual disobeys.
• Jackson Toby argued that individuals engaged in non-delinquent
community activities felt as though they had too much to lose by
joining delinquent groups and, hence, had a “stake in conformity
“.
• F. Ivan Nye argued that youth may be directly controlled through
constraints imposed by parents, through limits on the opportunity
for delinquency, and through parental rewards and punishments.
• Michel Foucault argues that the eighteenth century introduced a
new form of power: discipline. Discipline is a power relation in
which the subject is complicit. This is contrasted with the previous
strategy of regulating bodies but not seeking complicity.
• Socialization refers to the lifelong process of inheriting,
interpreting, and disseminating norms, customs, and ideologies.

Key Terms

• Socialization: The process of learning one’s culture and how to

live within it.
• Social Control Theory: Social control theory proposes that
people’s relationships, commitments, values, norms, and beliefs
encourage them not to break the law. Thus, if moral codes are
internalized and individuals are tied into, and have a stake in their
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 wider community, they will voluntarily limit their propensity to
commit deviant acts.
• Discipline and Punish: Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison
is a 1975 book by the French philosopher Michel Foucault.

Social control theory describes internal means of social control. It argues

that relationships, commitments, values, and beliefs encourage conformity—
if moral codes are internalized and individuals are tied into broader
communities, individuals will voluntarily limit deviant acts. This interpretation
suggests the power of internal means of control, such as one’s own conscious,
ego, and sensibilities about right and wrong, are powerful in mitigating the
likelihood that one will deviate from social norms. This stands in contrast to
external means of control, in which individuals conform because an authority
figure (such as the state) threatens sanctions should the individual disobey.

Social control theory seeks to understand how to reduce deviance.

Ultimately, social control theory is Hobbesian; it presupposes that all choices
are constrained by social relations and contracts between parties. Like
Hobbes, adherents to social control theory suggest that morality is created
within a social order by assigning costs and consequences to certain actions
that are marked as evil, wrong, illegal, or deviant.

Jackson Toby

An internal understanding of means of control became articulated in

sociological theory in the mid-twentieth century. In 1957, Jackson Toby
published an article entitled “Social Disorganization and Stake in Conformity:
Complementary Factors in the Predatory Behavior of Hoodlums,” which
discussed why adolescents were inclined or disinclined to engage in
delinquent activities. Toby argued that individuals engaged in non-delinquent
community activities felt as though they had too much to lose by joining
delinquent groups and, hence, had a “stake in conformity.” The notion of an
individual being shaped by his ties to his community, of having a “stake in
conformity,” laid the groundwork for the idea of internalized norms that act as
a method of social control.

F. Ivan Nye

Toby’s study was followed in 1958 by F. Ivan Nye’s

book Family Relationships and Delinquent Behavior. Nye carried on the
tradition of studying juvenile delinquency as a means of theorizing about
deviance and social control. Nye conducted formal interviews of 780 young
people in Washington State, though his sample was criticized for not including
15
individuals from urban backgrounds and for only selecting individuals who
were likely to describe their families unfavorably. Nye focused on the family
unit as a source of control and specified three types of control: (1) direct
control, or the use of punishments and rewards to incentivize particular
behaviors; (2) indirect control, or the affectionate identification with
individuals who adhere to social norms; and (3) internal control, or the
manipulation of an individual’s conscience or sense of guilt to encourage
conformity.

Youth may be directly controlled through constraints imposed by

parents, through limits on the opportunity for delinquency, or through parental
rewards and punishments. However, youth may be constrained when free
from direct control by their anticipation of parental disapproval (indirect
control), or through the development of a conscience, an internal constraint
on behavior.

Michel Foucault

How do individuals develop a particular conscience that promotes

social adherence? This is the question taken up by social theorist Michel
Foucault in his 1975 seminal text, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison.
Foucault argues that the eighteenth century introduced a new form of power:
discipline. Prior to this period, government achieved social control by the mere
regulation of bodies. Deviants were controlled by the threat and frequent use
of the death penalty or indefinite incarceration.

Discipline, however, is a power relation in which the subject is complicit.

Rather than the state only regulating bodies, the state began to achieve
social control by molding the minds of its subjects such that individuals were
educated to conform even when out of the direct gaze of the punishing
authority. The training of subjects’ minds occurs broadly in society via
socialization, or the lifelong process of inheriting, interpreting, and
disseminating norms, customs, and ideologies. Simply by living within a
particular cultural context, one learns and internalizes the norms of society.

Conformity and Obedience

Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to

group norms.

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Key Points

• Norms are implicit rules shared by a group of individuals, that

guide their interactions with others and among society or social
group.
• Herbert Kelman identified three major types of conformity:
compliance, identification, and internalization.
• Compliance is public conformity, while possibly keeping one’s
own original beliefs for oneself. Identification is conforming to
someone who is liked and respected. Internalization is accepting
the belief or behavior and conforming both publicly and
privately, if the source is credible.
• Obedience is a form of social influence in which a person
accepts instructions or orders from an authority figure.
• Stanley Milgram created a highly controversial and often
replicated study, the Milgram experiment, where he focused on
how long participants would listen to and obey orders from the
experimenter.
• In the Stanford Prison Experiment, Philip Zimbardo placed
college age students into an artificial prison environment in
order to study the impact of “social forces” on participants
behavior.
• Stanley Milgram created a highly controversial and often
replicated study, the Milgram experiment, where he focused
how long participants would listen to and obey orders from the
experimenter.
• In the Stanford Prison Experiment, Philip Zimbardo placed
college age students into an artificial prison environment in
order to study the impacts of “social forces” on participants
behavior.

Key Terms

• identification: A feeling of support, sympathy, understanding, or

belonging towards somebody or something.
• compliance: the tendency of conforming with or agreeing to
the wishes of others
• conformity: the ideology of adhering to one standard or social
uniformity

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Conformity

Social control is established by encouraging individuals to conform and

obey social norms, both through formal and informal means. Conformity is the
act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms. The
tendency to conform occurs in small groups and in society as a whole, and
may result from subtle unconscious influences or direct and overt social
pressure. Conformity can occur in the presence of others, or when an
individual is alone. For example, people tend to follow social norms when
eating or watching television, regardless of whether others are present. As
conformity is a group phenomenon, factors such as group size, unanimity,
cohesion, status, prior commitment, and public opinion help determine the
level of conformity an individual displays.

Harvard psychologist Herbert Kelman identified three major types of

conformity: compliance, identification, and internalization. Compliance is
public conformity, while possibly keeping one’s own original beliefs
independent. It is motivated by the need for approval and the fear of being
rejected. Identification is conforming to someone who is liked and respected,
such as a celebrity or a favorite uncle. This can be motivated by the
attractiveness of the source, and this is a deeper type of conformism than
compliance. Internalization is accepting the belief or behavior and
conforming both publicly and privately. It is the deepest influence on people,
and it will affect them for a long time.

Solomon E. Asch conducted a classic study of conformity. He exposed

students in a group to a series of lines, and the participants were asked to
match the length of one line with a standard line, a task with a very clear right
answer. Only one individual in the group was a true student, however – the
rest were confederates, or actors that were pretending to be students, but
knew the true aim of the study. The confederates were instructed to
unanimously give the wrong answer (matching the standard line with an
incorrect line) in 12 of the 18 trials. The results showed a surprisingly high degree
of conformity: 76% of the students conformed on at least one trial, giving the
wrong answer to match the answer of the confederates (who they perceived
as actual students). On average people conformed one-third of the time,
even in situations where the correct answer was obvious.

Obedience

In human behavior, obedience is a form of social influence in which a

person accepts instructions or orders from an authority figure. Obedience
differs from compliance, which is behavior influenced by peers, and from

18
conformity, which is behavior intended to match that of the majority.
Obedience can be seen as both a sin and a virtue. For example, in a
situation when one orders a person to kill another innocent person and he or
she does this willingly, it is a sin. However, when one orders a person to kill an
enemy who will end a lot of innocent lives and he or she does this willingly, it
can be deemed a virtue.

Stanley Milgram created a highly controversial and often replicated

study of obedience. In the Milgram experiment, participants were told they
were going to contribute to a study about punishment and learning, but the
actual focus was on how long they would listen to and obey orders from the
experimenter. The participants were instructed that they had to shock a
person in another room for every wrong answer on a learning task, and the
shocks increased with intensity for each wrong answer. If participants
questioned the procedure, the researcher would encourage them to
continue. The Milgram study found that participants would obey orders even
when it posed severe harm to others.

Milgram experiment advertising: In the Milgram experiment, participants were told they were going
to contribute to a study about punishment and learning, but the actual focus was on how long they
would listen to and obey orders from the experimenter.
19
 The other classical study on obedience was conducted at Stanford
University during the 1970’s. Phillip Zimbardo was the principal investigator
responsible for the experiment. In the Stanford Prison Experiment, college-
age students were put into a pseudo prison environment in order to study the
impacts of “social forces” on participants’ behavior. Unlike the Milgram
study, in which each participant underwent the same experimental
conditions, the Zimbardo study used random assignment so that half the
participants were prison guards and the other half were prisoners. The
experimental setting was made to physically resemble a prison, while
simultaneously inducing “a psychological state of imprisonment.” Zimbardo
found that the guards in the study obeyed orders so willingly that their
behavior turned aggressive. Likewise, prisoners were hostile to and resented
their guards, and because of the psychological duress induced in the
experiment, it had to be shut down after only 6 days.

Informal Means of Social Control

Informal social control refers to the reactions of individuals and groups

that bring about conformity to norms and laws.

Key Points

• Informal sanctions may include shame, ridicule, sarcasm,

criticism, and disapproval. In extreme cases sanctions may
include social discrimination and exclusion.
• Socialization is a term used by sociologists to refer to the lifelong
process of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs, and
ideologies, which provide an individual with the skills and habits
necessary for participating within his or her own society.
• The family is often the most important agent of socialization
because it is the center of the child’s life.
• A peer group is a social group whose members have interests,
social positions, and age in common. It can also be an
important agent of socialization.
• A peer group is a social group whose members have interests,
social positions and age in common.

20
Key Terms

• Informal sanctions: These are the reactions of individuals and

groups that bring about conformity to norms and laws. These
can include peer and community pressure, bystander
intervention in a crime, and collective responses such as citizen
patrol groups.

Informal social control —the reactions of individuals and groups that

bring about conformity to norms and laws—includes peer and community
pressure, bystander intervention in a crime, and collective responses such as
citizen patrol groups. The social values that are present in individuals are
products of informal social control. It is exercised by a society without explicitly
stating these rules and is expressed through customs, norms, and mores.

Informal sanctions may include shame, ridicule, sarcasm, criticism, and

disapproval. In extreme cases sanctions may include social discrimination and
exclusion. An example of a negative sanction is seen in a scene from the Pink
Floyd film The Wall, where the young protagonist is ridiculed and verbally
abused by a high school teacher for writing poetry in a mathematics class. As
with formal controls, informal controls reward or punish acceptable or
unacceptable behavior. Informal controls differ from individual to individual,
group to group, and society to society. For example, at a women’s institute
meeting, a disapproving look might convey that it is inappropriate to flirt with
the minister. In a criminal gang, a stronger sanction applies in the case of
someone threatening to inform to the police.

Socialization

Socialization is a term used by sociologists to refer to the lifelong process

of inheriting and disseminating norms, customs, and ideologies, which provide
an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within his or
her own society. Primary socialization occurs when a child learns the attitudes,
values, and actions appropriate for individuals as members of a particular
culture. Secondary socialization takes place outside the home, where children
and adults learn how to act in a way that is appropriate for the situations, they
are in. Finally, re-socialization refers to the process of discarding former
behavior patterns and reflexes, accepting new ones as part of a transition in
one’s life.

21
Group Socialization: Informal social control—the reactions of individuals and groups that
bring about conformity to norms and laws—includes peer and community pressure,
bystander intervention in a crime, and collective responses such as citizen patrol groups.

The family is often the most important agent of socialization because it is

the center of the child’s life. Agents of socialization can differ in effects. A peer
group is a social group whose members have interests, social positions, and
age in common. It can also be an important influence on a child, as this is
where children can escape supervision and learn to form relationships on their
own. The influence of the peer group typically peaks during adolescence.
However, peer groups generally only affect short-term interests, unlike the
long-term influence exerted by the family.

Formal Means of Control

Formal means of social control are generally state-determined, through

the creation of laws and their enforcement.

Key Points

• Formal means of control include the threats of sanctions or

enforced sanctions manipulated by the state to encourage
social control.
• The death penalty and imprisonment are forms of social control
that the government utilizes to maintain the rule of law.

22
 • Social theorist Max Weber contributed to our understanding of
formal social control by writing about the state’s monopoly on
violence.
• In democratic societies, the goals and mechanisms of formal
social control are determined through legislation by elected
representatives and thus enjoy a measure of support from the
population and voluntary compliance.

Key Terms

• Politics as Vocation: An essay that Weber wrote of the definitional

relationship between the state and violence in the early twentieth
century.
• Max Weber: (1864–1920) A German sociologist, philosopher, and
political economist who profoundly influenced social theory,
social research, and the discipline of sociology itself.
• Formal means of Control: Formal sanctions such as fines and
imprisonment.

Formal means of social control are the means of social control exercised
by the government and other organizations who use law enforcement
mechanisms and sanctions such as fines and imprisonment to enact social
control. In democratic societies the goals and mechanisms of formal social
control are determined through legislation by elected representatives. This
gives the control mechanisms a measure of support from the population and
voluntary compliance. The mechanisms utilized by the state as means of
formal social control span the gamut from the death penalty to curfew laws.

From a legal perspective, sanctions are penalties or other means of

enforcement used to provide incentives for obedience with the law, or rules
and regulations. Criminal sanctions can take the form of serious punishment,
such as corporal or capital punishment, incarceration, or severe fines. Within
the civil law context, sanctions are usually monetary fines.

Our understanding of formal control is enhanced by social theorist Max

Weber’s work on the state’s use of violence. Weber writes of the definitional
relationship between the state and violence in the early twentieth century in
his essay “Politics as Vocation.” Weber concludes that the state is that which
has a monopoly on violence. By this, Weber means that the state is the only
institution within a society who can legitimately exercise violence on society’s
members. When Sam kills Katie, he is a criminal guilty of murder. When the state
kills Katie, it is enacting its authority to use the death penalty to protect society.
Weber uses this definition to define what constitutes the state. The formal
23
means of social control and the monopoly on violence serve a similar role in
defining the state—they both illustrate the unique relationship between the
state and its subjects.

Purpose of Social Control

Social control aims at bringing about conformity, solidarity and continuity

of a particular group or society. Social control attempts to achieve the
following purposes.
• To bring the behavior of individuals and groups in tune with the
established norms of society.
• To bring solidarity and uniformity in the social organizations.
• To establish stability in the social relations.
• To exercise control over social tensions and conflicts.
• To provide fair and equal chances for cooperation and competition to
all individuals, groups and institutions to realize their goals.
• To facilitate appreciation and rewarding of champions of social cause
and take punitive actions against anti-social elements.
• Bringing desired modifications in the social milieu, especially effecting
required changes in the means and agencies of social control.
• Establishing primacy of social and humanitarian values over
individualistic and separatist list ends.
• Providing for the protection and promotion of the interests of the weak
and vulnerable sections of society.
• Forging alliance among the various groups and institutions of society.

Need and Importance of Social Control

The progress of any society depends upon the effective functioning of its
various groups, organizations and institutions, which is often jeopardized by the
clash of interests of its members. Individuals as well as groups want to serve
their interests without caring for others. The lack of opportunities for all
aggravates the problem further and the dominant group members1 groups
want to monopolize and maintain their hegemony over limited societal
resources. Also, the various types of 'isms' prevailing in society hamper the
smooth social system, and therefore, exercise of some sort of control on the
part of society to limit the fissiparous and selfish tendencies of human beings
become imperative. It will be difficult to maintain social equilibrium without
proper adjustment among various social units and therefore, arises the need
to control the deviant behavior of people and promote the socially desirable
24
actions of others. Social control helps us to achieve stability in the social
organization, as individuals are not allowed to act contrary to the norms of
society. They are persuaded and motivated to behave in accordance with
the established social norms and values.

Consequently, the instability and uncertainty make room for the

regularity and continuity in the society. Social control is also necessary to
maintain the healthy traditions of our society and to transfer them from one
generation to another. Traditions are the safe custodians of our heritage and
culture. Through social control people are motivated and compelled to follow
the traditions. The unity in group can only be maintained by the effective
system of social control. The group members belong to different socio-cultural
backgrounds and want to achieve different personal objectives. To keep all
the members united by striving towards group goals is made feasible by social
control which does not allow selfish interests of the individuals to come in the
way of group goals.

Social control is also required to bring compatibility in thoughts, ideas,

behavior patterns, attitudes and perceptions of the individuals, because
devoid of it, society cannot function effectively. Cooperation is the key of all
success. If society is to survive, the desired cooperation of all people is
required. In case of lack of this cooperation, no unit or group can function. It
is indeed the strength of the human groups. Social control helps us in achieving
the cooperation of all. Social control provides social security to the people.
Human beings are so helpless and weak that their existence is not possible
without the help of others. Social control keeps a check on the forces
endangering the safety and security of the people and prepare them to face
the realities of the world. Social control is badly needed to bring the selfish
nature of man under control because normally, nobody feels happy being
controlled, subordinated and directed by others. Everyone wants to exercise
authority on the subordinates and direct as many persons as possible, but the
fact of the. Matter is that society is a mix of persons who direct and those who
are directed, those who guide and also those who are guided. In fact, social
control, by keeping the 'free will' of people under a corrective restraint,
facilitates the smooth functioning of society.

Social deviance is a phenomenon that has existed in all societies with

norms. Sociological theories of deviance are those that use social context and
social pressures to explain deviance. Crime: The study of social deviance is
the study of the violation of cultural norms in either formal or informal contexts.

25
 If we want to reduce violent crime and other serious deviance, we must
first understand why it occurs. Many sociological theories of deviance exist,
and together they offer a more complete understanding of deviance than
any one theory offers by itself. Together they help answer the questions posed
earlier: why rates of deviance differ within social categories and across
locations, why some behaviors are more likely than others to be considered
deviant, and why some kinds of people are more likely than others to be
considered deviant and to be punished for deviant behavior. As a whole,
sociological explanations highlight the importance of the social environment
and of social interaction for deviance and the commission of crime. As such,
they have important implications for how to reduce these behaviors.
Consistent with this book’s public sociology theme, a discussion of several such
crime-reduction strategies concludes this chapter.

We now turn to the major sociological explanations of crime and deviance. A

summary of these explanations appears in Table 1.1 “Theory Snapshot:
Summary of Sociological Explanations of Deviance and Crime”.

Table 1.1 Theory Snapshot: Summary of Sociological Explanations of

Deviance and Crime

Related
Major theory Summary of explanation
explanation

Deviance has several functions: (a) it clarifies norms

Durkheim’s and increases conformity, (b) it strengthens social
views bonds among the people reacting to the deviant,
and (c) it can help lead to positive social change.

Certain social and physical characteristics of urban

Functionalist neighborhoods contribute to high crime rates. These
Social ecology
characteristics include poverty, dilapidation,
population density, and population turnover.

According to Robert Merton, deviance among the

Strain theory poor results from a gap between the cultural
emphasis on economic success and the inability to
achieve such success through the legitimate means
26
 Related
Major theory Summary of explanation
explanation

of working. According to Richard Cloward and Lloyd

Ohlin, differential access to illegitimate means affects
the type of deviance in which individuals
experiencing strain engage.

Poverty and other community conditions give rise to

certain subcultures through which adolescents
acquire values that promote deviant behavior. Albert
Cohen wrote that lack of success in school leads
lower-class boys to join gangs whose value system
Deviant promotes and rewards delinquency. Walter Miller
subcultures wrote that delinquency stems from focal concerns, a
taste for trouble, toughness, cleverness, and
excitement. Marvin Wolfgang and Franco Ferracuti
argued that a subculture of violence in inner-city
areas promotes a violent response to insults and other
problems.

Travis Hirschi wrote that delinquency results from

Social control weak bonds to conventional social institutions such as
theory families and schools. These bonds include
attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief.

People with power pass laws and otherwise use the

legal system to secure their position at the top of
society and to keep the powerless on the bottom.
Conflict Theory
The poor and minorities are more likely because of
their poverty and race to be arrested, convicted,
and imprisoned.
Conflict

Inequality against women and antiquated views

Feminist about relations between the sexes underlie rape,
perspectives sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and other
crimes against women. Sexual abuse prompts many
girls and women to turn to drugs and alcohol use and

27
 Related
Major theory Summary of explanation
explanation

other antisocial behavior. Gender socialization is a

key reason for large gender differences in crime
rates.

Edwin H. Sutherland argued that criminal behavior is

learned by interacting with close friends and family
Differential
members who teach us how to commit various
association
crimes and also about the values, motives, and
theory
rationalizations we need to adopt in order to justify
Symbolic breaking the law.
interactionism

Deviance results from being labeled a deviant;

Labeling
nonlegal factors such as appearance, race, and
theory
social class affect how often labeling occurs.

Sociologists use the term deviance to refer to any violation of rules and
norms. From a sociological perspective, deviance is relative. Definitions of
“what is deviant” vary across societies and from one group to another within
the same society. Howard S. Becker described the interpretation of deviance
as, “…not the act itself, but the reaction to the act that makes something
deviant.” This coincides with the symbolic interactionist view. In some cases,
an individual need not do anything to be labeled a deviant. He or she may
be falsely accused or discredited because of a birth defect, race, or disease.
Even crime is relative when interpreting the deviance of the actor.

Deviance is based on adherence to and violation of norms. Human

groups need norms to exist. By making behavior predictable, norms make
social life possible. Consequently, all human groups develop a system of social
control, which involves formal and informal means of enforcing norms. Those
who violate these norms face the danger of being labeled “deviant.” Violators
can expect to experience negative sanctions for the violation of norms.
Members of society who conform to societal norms, especially those who go
above and beyond what is commonly expected, receive positive sanctions.
In some societies, such as the Amish, shaming is a common negative sanction
that acts strongly as a means of social control, minimizing deviance.

28
 Biologists, psychologists, and sociologists have different perspectives on
why people violate norms. Biological explanations focus on genetic
predispositions, psychologists concentrate on abnormalities within the
individual (commonly known as personality disorders), and sociologists look at
social factors outside the individual. Symbolic interactionists interpret
deviance through the following social theories: differential association theory
(people learn deviance from the groups with whom they associate), control
theory (people generally avoid deviance because of an effective system of
inner and outer controls), and labeling theory (people are directed toward or
away from deviance by the labels others pin on them).

Functionalists contend that deviance is functional for society; it

contributes to the social order by clarifying moral boundaries, promoting social
unity, and initiating social change. Furthermore, according to “strain theory,”
people are likely to experience strain, which, in turn, can lead some people to
choose deviant and/or criminal behavior rather than conforming to cultural
goals and/or
engaging in legitimate institutional means. In addition to strain theory,
functionalists stress theories addressing illegitimate opportunity structure in
society.

Conflict theorists note that power plays a central role in defining and
punishing deviance. The group in power imposes its definitions of deviance on
other groups, then uses the law and criminal justice system to maintain its
power and privilege over those other groups. Reactions to deviance in the
United States include everything from mild sanctions to capital punishment.
Since the 1980s, the United States has adopted a “get tough” policy on crime
that has imprisoned millions of people. Prisoners are generally much younger
than the average American, nearly 94 percent male, and disproportionately
African American. Because crime statistics are produced within a specific
social and political context for particular purposes, they must be interpreted
with caution. Power plays a central role in determining which behaviors are
defined as crimes, as well as in how actively “criminal behaviors” are
prosecuted and/or punished. For example, although street crime is given the
greatest attention by the media because of the violence associated with it,
white-collar crime actually costs the American taxpayers more. Even cases of
gross negligence that cause death are funneled into administrative hearings
that, at times, result in little more than a fine for the corporation. The definition
of crime is subject to change, however, and the ways various acts are treated
by society changes with shifts in power and public priority. Since the early
twentieth century, there has been a growing tendency toward the
medicalization of deviance, viewing deviance, including crime, as mental
illness. Thomas Szasz offers another perspective, claiming that mental illnesses
29
are neither mental nor illness. Rather, they are problem behaviors that are
related to people’s particular experiences in life. For example, disruptive and
unruly behaviors that disrespect authority and deviate from social norms are
now a treatable mental illness recognized as Attention-Deficit disorder (ADD).
As deviance is inevitable, the larger issues include: finding ways to protect
people from those forms of deviance that harm themselves and/or others,
tolerating deviant behaviors that are not harmful, and developing systems of
fairer treatment for deviants.

End of Module 1

Learning Activity/Assessment:

1. What is the difference between Deviance and Social Control?

Explain and expand your answer.
2. What is the importance of Deviance in relation to Social Work?

30
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LEARNER’S MODULE
 SUBJECT: Social Deviation and Social Work
 COVERAGE: UNIT TEST COVERAGE
 WEEK: 2-3
 LESSON 1: Diversity of Deviance
 Lesson Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
• Identify the functions of Diversity Deviance
• Enumerate the embracing deviant body.
• Understand and explain the embracing the deviant body (Deviant from Society at Large)

31
 Deviance and Its Varied Forms

While deviant behavior and crime certainly overlap, deviance

encompasses much more than crime. Sociologists who have studied
deviance have researched and written about a range of topics, including the
disabled (E. Goffman, 1963), the mentally ill (Link, Phelan, Bresnahan, Stueve,
& Pescosolido, 1999), the voluntarily childless (Park, 2002), the homeless (L.
Anderson, Snow, & Cress, 1994), Jewish resisters during the Holocaust
(Einwohner, 2003), topless dancers (Thompson, Harred, & Burks 2003), bisexuals
(Weinberg, Williams, & Pryor, 2001), anorexics and bulimics (McLorg & Taub,
1987), self-injurers (P. A. Adler & Adler, 2007), and gay male Christian couples
(Yip, 1996), to name just a few. This research is in addition to the many studies
of criminal deviance, too numerous to list here. You can get a sense of the
range of deviant behavior and how it has been studied simply by exploring
the contents of the academic journal that is devoted to this very topic:
Deviant Behavior. In addition to this introductory chapter exploring the many
forms of deviance, we include short summaries of recent research on different
types of deviant behavior in each chapter of this book.

The diversity of deviance and how drastically norms and attitudes may
change over time is attested to in research conducted by J. L. Simmons (1965),
who, several decades ago, surveyed 180 individuals, asking them to “list those
things or types of persons whom you regard as deviant.” More than 250
different acts and persons were listed. The range of responses not only
included expected items such as prostitutes, drug addicts, and murderers but
also included liars, Democrats, reckless drivers, atheists, self-pitiers, career
women, divorcees, prudes, pacifists, and even know-it-all professors! The most
frequent survey responses are listed in Table 2.1.

Imagine conducting a similar survey today. Which responses from this list
might still occur with some frequency? Which might be less frequent?
Whatever you imagined, there is little doubt that the list would look different
today compared to 1965, reflecting the key point that what constitutes
deviance changes depending on the historical context, something we
discuss more later on in this chapter. For now, we want you to simply
recognize the sheer range of deviance and its diversity.

32
 It would be nearly impossible to describe deviance in all its varied forms.
Rather than try to provide an exhaustive list of the different realms of deviance,
we have chosen to highlight a few to illustrate the broad spectrum of
behaviors, attitudes, and characteristics that have been deemed deviant by
at least some segments of the larger society.

Physical Deviance and Appearance: Ideals of Beauty and Everyone Else

Physical deviance is perhaps the most visible form of deviance, and it can
evoke stereotypes, stigma, and discrimination. Sociologists have described
two types of physical deviance, including (1) violations of aesthetic norms
(what people should look like, including height, weight, and the absence or
33
presence of disfigurement) and (2) physical incapacity, which would include
those with a physical disability (Goode, 2005).

Erving Goffman (1963) opens his book, Stigma, with a letter a 16-year-old
girl wrote to Miss Lonelyhearts in 1962. She writes about how she is a good
dancer and has nice shape and pretty clothes, but no boy will take her out.
Why? Because she was born without a nose:
I sit and look at myself all day and cry. I have a big hole in the middle of
my face that scares people even myself. . . . What did I do to deserve
such a terrible bad fate? Even if I did do some bad things, I didn’t do any
before I was a year old and I was born this way. . . . Ought I commit
suicide? (Reprinted in E. Goffman, 1963, first page)
As suggested by the letter to Miss Lonelyhearts, physical deviance may be
viewed as a marker of other forms of deviance. In other words, passersby may
notice people with numerous tattoos, heavily muscled female bodybuilders,
or those with visible physical disabilities and may attribute other characteristics
to those individuals. You may notice, for example, when talking to a person
who is hard of hearing that others in the conversation may slow their speech
considerably and use smaller words, as well as speaking louder than usual; this
suggests an implicit assumption that the individual has difficulty understanding
as well as hearing.

Our ideas of what is acceptable or desirable in terms of physical

appearance vary widely depending on the context. You can get a sense of
this by visiting a local museum or simply flipping through an art book showing
paintings and photographs of women thought to be very beautiful in their
time. From the rounded curves of the women painted by Peter Paul Rubens in
the 1600s (which is where the term Rubenesque originated to describe an
hourglass figure), to the very thin flappers considered ideal in the 1920s, to
Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s, Twiggy in the 1960s, Cindy Crawford in the 1980s,
Kate Moss in the 1990s, and Kim Kardashian in 2010, our ideals of beauty and
the most-desired body types clearly change and evolve over time.

Along with professionally styled hair and makeup and the use of meticulous
lighting and angles, editors can now touch up photographs to remove wrinkles
and traces of cellulite and to make beautiful models’ already thin limbs and
waists trimmer and more defined. This is of concern to sociologists because
setting a truly unattainable standard for the ideal physical appearance can
lead to deviant behavior, including harmful eating disorders, such as anorexia
nervosa or bulimia, or unnecessary plastic surgeries.

34
 Another form of physical deviance is self-injury—cutting, burning, branding,
scratching, picking at skin or reopening wounds, biting, hair pulling, and bone
breaking. P. A. Adler and Adler (2007) found that most self-injurers never seek
help from mental health professionals, most of the self-incurred wounds do not
need medical attention, and the majority of self-injurers thus remain hidden
within society. Why would anyone purposely hurt themselves? P. A. Adler and
Adler explain the reasoning like this:

Although self-injury can be morbid and often maladaptive, our subjects

overwhelmingly agree that it represents an attempt at self-help. They
claim that their behaviors provide immediate but short-term release
from anxiety, depersonalization, racing thoughts, and rapidly
fluctuating emotions. . . . It provides a sense of control, reconfirms the
presence of one’s body, dulls feelings, and converts unbearable
emotional pain into manageable physical pain. (p. 540)

P. A. Adler and Adler (2007) suggest that self-injury is currently being

“demedicalized”—shifting out of the realm of mental illness and categorized
instead as deviance, characterized by the voluntary choice of those involved.

While there are certainly other forms of physical deviance, body

modification is the last example we will discuss. Body modification includes
extreme tattooing, like Mr. Leppard from the opening story who paid to have
more than 99% of his body covered in inked leopard spots. It also includes
piercings, scarification, and reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. The reasons
for body modification vary, but more than 3,500 people have joined the
Church of Body Modification and view their physical changes as a way to
spiritually strengthen the connection between body, mind, and soul.
Individuals choose to engage in body modification, but the choice may not
be respected by the larger society. In September 2010, a 14-year-old freshman
girl, Ariana Iocono, was suspended from school for wearing a small stud in her
nose and violating the school’s dress code, which forbids piercings. The girl
and her mother were members of the Church of Body Modification and
claimed that the nose ring was a religious symbol, but school administrators
were unsympathetic, arguing that Ariana had not met the criteria for a
religious exemption (Netter, 2010).
DEVIANCE IN POPULAR CULTURE

A wide variety of deviance can be examined by paying careful

attention to popular culture. Below are a number of documentary films and
television shows that offer concrete examples of specific cultural norms,
35
different types of deviant behavior, and how individuals cope with stigma.
What messages about norms and acceptable behavior are portrayed in each
of these examples? What is the deviant behavior in each film/episode? What
does the reaction to the deviant behavior tell you about the larger culture?

Films
Devil’s Playground—a documentary following four Amish teenagers through
the experience of Rumspringa, when they are given freedom to experience
the outside world before deciding whether or not to commit to a lifetime in
the Amish community.
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room—a documentary investigating white-
collar crime and the greed that toppled what was once the seventh largest
corporate entity in the United States and left 20,000 employees without jobs.
Deliver Us From Evil—a documentary investigating sexual abuse within the
Catholic Church. The focus is on Father Oliver O’Grady, a pedophile who
sexually assaulted dozens of children.

Dark Days—a documentary featuring people living in the tunnels under the
subway system in New York City; filmed in black and white, it shows how one
segment of the homeless population-built homes and a community under
the city.

Television
Reality television and The Learning Channel (TLC), particularly, feature a
number of programs offering an inside view of people perceived as deviant
or different in some way and showing how they deal with stigma from various
sources:
Little People, Big World—offers an inside view of the life of the Roloff family.
The parents, Matt and Amy, are “Little People” standing only four feet tall,
and they are raising four children on a 34-acre farm.
Hoarders—an A&E series focusing on individuals whose hoarding of
belongings has led them to the verge of personal disasters, including
eviction, loss of their children, divorce, jail time, or demolition of their homes.

In paying attention to popular culture and how different subcultures and

characteristics are portrayed, we can easily see that deviance is all around
us.

36
Relationships and Deviance
Sexually unconventional behavior is another central topic of discussion
when it comes to deviance. As a society, we are generally intrigued with
others’ intimate relationships and sexual practices. Goode (2005, p. 230) asks,
why are there so many norms about sexual behavior? And why are the
punishments for violating sexual norms so severe? Concerning the first
question, Goode rightly claims the ways that we violate mainstream society’s
norms by engaging in variant sexual acts are almost infinite. The realm of
sexual deviance may include exotic dancers, strippers, sex tourism,
anonymous sex in public restrooms, bisexuality, online sexual predators,
prostitutes, premarital chastity, and many others. As with virtually every kind of
deviance, sexual deviance is largely determined by the community, culture,
and context.

Even within the United States, there is considerable disagreement about

what sexual activities should and should not be allowed. The issue of gay
marriage is one current example where community values are being tested
and defined on political ballots across the country. Another example where
context matters is prostitution. While considered a crime in most of the country,
prostitution is legal in many areas of Nevada. Certain counties in Nevada are
allowed to regulate and license brothels, a multimillion-dollar industry based
on legalized prostitution.

While societal norms shape our conceptions of appropriate sexual

behavior, those boundaries are regularly tested by new fads and businesses
and by many different subcultures making up their own rules as they go along.
The Ashley Madison Agency, for example, bills itself as the world’s premiere
discreet dating service; it is marketed to those who are married and wish to
have affairs. The agency’s slogan captures the intent succinctly: “Life is short.
Have an affair.” The Ashley Madison Agency courts publicity, advertising
widely on billboards, in magazines, and on television commercials. Interested
adults can go on the website and purchase the “Affair Guarantee” package;
if they do not find a suitable partner within 3 months, they can get a refund.
With over seven million anonymous members, it is clear that there is
widespread interest in relationships outside of marriage. The need for
anonymity and discretion also suggests that there is still enough stigma
attached to such relationships that it is preferable to shop for a partner before
identifying oneself.

Polygamy is another frequently discredited form of relationship. In the

United States, monogamy is the legal norm, yet some religions and subcultures
still allow and encourage men to take multiple wives. The conflict between a
subculture’s values and the larger societal norms came vividly into play in 2008
37
when the state of Texas conducted a military-style raid on the Yearning for
Zion Ranch, a polygamous religious sect of the Fundamental Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Warren S. Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints, had been convicted a year earlier on felony charges as an
accomplice to rape for his role in coercing the marriage of a 14-year-old girl
to her 19-year-old cousin. When the raid on the Yearning for Zion Ranch took
place, Jeffs was in the early phases of a 10-year-to-life sentence while
awaiting trial on other sex charges in Arizona.

On the basis of an accusation of sexual abuse from an anonymous 16-year-

old girl, SWAT teams raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch and forcibly removed
more than 400 children from their homes and families. Texas child welfare
officials believed that the children were in danger; they suspected young girls
were being made into child brides among other physical and sexual abuse
within the polygamous community.

This clash of cultures and values played out dramatically in the media. After
being removed from their homes and the insular community in which they
were raised, the children of the ranch were suddenly exposed to many
strangers, different foods, varied styles of dress, and a new set of norms. When
some of their mothers voluntarily left the ranch to be with the children, they
were visibly out of their element in their prairie dresses and old-fashioned
hairstyles, forced to move to the suburbs and shop at Walmart rather than
tend to their gardens and livestock on the ranch.

In the end, the telephone calls that set the raid in motion may have been
a hoax or a setup, but the damage was irreparably done. The children of the
Yearning for Zion Ranch were returned to their parents approximately 2
months later, but the trauma inflicted on the families from such a forced
separation could not be taken back. While this was clearly a difficult situation
for all involved, it presents sociologically interesting questions about what is
deviant and who gets to decide. Those living at the Yearning for Zion Ranch
were nearly self-sufficient and seemed to live quietly by their own rules and
norms within its bounds. At what point do you think it would be appropriate for
the state of Texas to step in and take the children away from their families?
Who should ultimately decide? Who are the deviants in this case—the
polygamous families or the state of Texas for breaking up those families and
traumatizing a whole community? These are interesting and complex
questions without easy answers, which is part of what makes deviance such a
fascinating—and ever-changing— field of study.

38
▲ Photo 2.2 Community members from the Yearning for Zion Ranch react after the state of Texas
forcibly removed more than 400 children from their homes and families.

Deviance in Cyberspace: Making Up the Norms as We Go

One way to clearly see that our ideas about deviance and deviant
behavior change over time is to consider the creation of whole new
categories of deviant behavior. As new technology has developed, brand-
new forms of deviance have also taken shape. Cyberdeviance, for example,
is a relatively new phenomenon, but it already has many different forms,
including the online pedophile subculture, cyberbullying, online misbehavior
of college students, “sexting,” and the illegal downloading of music, movies,
and readings.
If such behavior is prevalent, particularly among younger people and
hidden populations, should it still be considered deviant? That question is
difficult to answer; norms and laws are being created and modified all the
time, even as technology improves and offers new possibilities for deviant
behavior.

39
Subcultural Deviance

The virtual subculture of johns is just one example of many subcultures that
might be considered deviant by at least some segment of the population.
While the johns are generally a hidden population, as you can see from the
earlier example of the Yearning for Zion Ranch, some subcultures are easily
identifiable and can be singled out for holding different norms and values than
the larger society. That case is particularly dramatic as children were taken
from their parents and homes, but many other subcultures draw strong
reactions from the outside community.

Research on subcultures has been wide-ranging. Hamm (2004) studied

terrorist subcultures, examining the “complex ways in which music, literature,
symbolism and style are used to construct terrorism”. Others have written
about “fat admirers,” men who have a strong, erotic desire for obese women
(Goode, 2008b); radical environmentalist organizations (Scarce, 2008); and
the subculture of UFO contacts and abductees (Bader, 2008).

The Amish are another example of a subculture, but the question of

deviance becomes quite complicated—particularly during the time when
Amish youth are encouraged to go outside of the community and explore the
“English” way of life. In this case, some types of deviant behavior are
sanctioned for a short time before the teenagers choose their adult path and
decide whether to be baptized and become an Amish adult in good standing
or basically be ostracized from their parents and communities. We include with
this chapter a very interesting article by Denise Reiling on this topic: Amish
youths’ response to culturally prescribed deviance.

Elite Deviance, Corporate Deviance, and Workplace Misconduct

Elite deviance is an important topic, but one that does not generally
receive as much attention as the potentially more dramatic violent acts and
property crimes (“street crimes”) that affect individuals on a personal level.
While individuals tend to actively fear being victimized by street crimes, they
probably do not realize the enormous impact elite deviance may have on
their everyday lives. Mantsios (2010) offers a strong statement/indictment on
how the corporate elite gain and maintain their status:

Corporate America is a world made up of ruthless bosses, massive layoffs,

favoritism and nepotism, health and safety violations, pension plan
losses, union busting, tax evasions, unfair competition, and price
gouging, as well as fast buck deals, financial speculation, and corporate
40
 wheeling and dealing that serve the interests of the corporate elite, but
are generally wasteful and destructive to workers and the economy in
general.
It is no wonder Americans cannot think straight about class. The mass
media is neither objective, balanced, independent, nor neutral. Those
who own and direct the mass media are themselves part of the upper
class. (pp. 240–241)

Elite deviance has been defined as “criminal and deviant acts by the
largest corporations and the most powerful political organizations” (D. R.
Simon, 2008, p. xi). In the introduction to his book on the topic, D. R. Simon
(2008) explains that elite deviance refers to acts by elites or organizations that
result in harm; he distinguishes between three different types of harm: physical
harms, including death or physical injury; financial harms, including robbery,
fraud, and various scams; and moral harms, which are harder to define but
encourage distrust and alienation among members of the lower and middle
classes (p. 35). Simon further breaks the topic of elite deviance down into three
types of acts: economic domination, government and governmental control,
and denial of basic human rights.

The reading at the end of this chapter by Bandura, Caprara, and Zsolnai
(2000) discusses corporate transgressions through moral disengagement. It
offers an interesting analysis of how corporations adopt institutional practices
that violate laws and harm the public. The authors briefly highlight four famous
cases, including an industrial disaster in Bhopal, India; the Ford Pintos that burst
into flame on impact; Nestle’s selling of infant formula to developing
countries—a practice that led to the malnutrition of babies in Third World
countries; and the Three Mile Island case, the most severe accident in U.S.
commercial nuclear power plant history. Unlike most elite deviance, these
cases garnered widespread public attention and brought notice—at least
temporarily—to harmful corporate practices.

A much more common and smaller scale form of deviance is workplace

deviance. Employee misconduct undoubtedly leads to business failures and
higher consumer costs; studies estimate that as many as two thirds of workers
are involved in employee theft or other forms of employee deviance. Table
2.2 documents the percentage of employees taking part in the “invisible social
problem” of workplace misconduct (Huiras, Uggen, & McMorris, 2000).

41
Positive Deviance

Even within sociology, there is some debate as to whether such a thing as

positive deviance exists. Goode (1991), for example, believes that positive
deviance is a contradiction in terms or an oxymoron; Jones (1998) and others
disagree. We encourage you to try the exercise on random acts of kindness in
the box on the next page and compare your results with your classmates. In
conducting your own small research project, you are addressing a research
question (does positive deviance exist?), collecting data (observing your own
feelings and the reactions of others), and drawing conclusions. As a social
scientist, what are your thoughts on positive deviance? Which side do you
land on in the debate?

While the exercise on random acts of kindness gives you a chance to think
about positive deviance on an individual level, scholars have recently been
studying the idea of positive deviance at the organizational or corporate
level. Spreitzer and Sonenshein (2004) define positive deviance as follows:
“intentional behaviors that significantly depart from the norms of a referent
group in honorable ways” (p. 841). An example from Spreitzer and
Sonenshein’s article helps to clarify the concept:

In 1978, Merck&Co., one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical

companies, inadvertently discovered a potential cure for river blindness,
a disease that inflicts tremendous pain, disfigurement, and blindness on

42
 its victims. The medication was first discovered as a veterinarian
antibiotic, but it quickly created a major dilemma for Merck when its
scientists realized the medication could be adapted to become a cure
for river blindness. Because river blindness was indigenous to the devel-
oping world, Merck knew that it would never recover its research or
distribution expenses for the drug. In addition, the company risked bad
publicity for any unexpected side effects of the drug that in turn could
damage the drug’s reputation as a veterinary antibiotic (Business
Enterprise Trust, 1991). Departing from norms in the pharmaceutical
industry, Merck decided to manufacture and distribute the drug for free
to the developing world, costing the company millions of dollars.
Consequently, Merck helped eradicate river blindness, at its own
expense. (pp. 834–835)

Spreitzer and Sonenshein (2004) argue that Merck’s action in this case is an
excellent example of positive deviance. The organization faced great cost
and risk to develop, manufacture, and distribute the drug, yet Merck chose to
depart from corporate norms prioritizing profit and gains and, in doing so,
prevented further suffering from river blindness.

The idea of positive deviance is growing, at the individual, organizational,

and community levels, and new research continues to stretch the concept
and add to our understanding of how this “oxymoron” may play out in
everyday life. Tufts University even hosts its own Positive Deviance Initiative; the
initiative takes as its starting point:

Positive Deviance is based on the observation that in every community

there are certain individuals or groups whose uncommon behaviors and
strategies enable them to find better solutions to problems than their peers,
while having access to the same resources and facing similar or worse
challenges. (http://www.positivedeviance.org/)

43
Deviant Behavior: Dysfunctional, Functional, Strategic

Until recently, deviant behavior was generally viewed as threatening the

well-being of organizations and their members through the voluntary breaking
of norms, an assumption being that the violated norms were important to
organizational functioning (Bennett and Robinson 2000). Robinson and
Bennett (1995) proposed a typology of deviant behavior that focused on four
elements: production (damaging quantity and quality of work), property
(abusing, or stealing company property), political (badmouthing others,
spreading rumors), and personal (being hostile or violent toward others).

Other’s characterizations differentiated between behavior, that

deviates or conforms to norms at different levels of analysis: reference group
norms, the organization’s norms, and the society’s generally accepted norms,
that is, hypernorms (Warren 2003). The possibility that deviance might not be
negative – when violating a norm has potentially positive effects in some way,
such as in the cases of innovation or whistleblowing, or depending in some
instances upon a violator’s motivation – led to stream of research that focused
in both constructive and creative deviance (Galperin 2003; Mainemelis 2010;
Spreitzer and Sonenshein 2003, 2004; Vadera et al. 2013). To classify the
different types suggested by this literature as seen in Fig. 2.1 (adapted from
44
Warren 2003), we can say that destructive deviance violates both reference
group norms and hypernorms, constructive conformity is a non-deviant
positive outcome in line with both types of norms, and destructive conformity
may violate hypernorms but not the norms of the reference group such as the
family or family firm. This allows classification of behaviors that are harmful
(e.g., aggression, lying, theft, sabotage, and noncompliance to rules) and, in
other instances, classification of behaviors that are potentially beneficial (e.g.,
innovation, whistleblowing). Another view of deviance, developed in the
franchising literature, regards it as a potentially strategic behavior that assists
in the overall goals of an organization despite effects that may be positive and
negative (Kidwell et al. 2007; Kidwell and Nygaard 2011).

Preposition 1. Reference group norms mediate relationships between

theoretical explanations of imprinting (family systems theory, family-niche
model of birth order and personality, and parental control theory) and
dysfunctional, strategic, and functional deviance in family firms.

Fig. 2.1

Deviance carries with it a level of ambiguity. The intent in breaking a

norm may be constructive or destructive, the result of breaking a norm may
be positive or negative, and the decision to engage in deviant behavior may
be strategically positive for the organization. The ambiguity of deviance can
be illustrated by considering a behavior that violates an organizational norm
but that could have varying results based on motive. Consider a family firm
with a long tradition of not firing a family member under any circumstances –
even poor performance. A family member who is a senior manager at the
company fires his brother-in-law who has performed his sales job
45
incompetently for the last several years. Three years later, another family
member who is a senior manager in a different division of the company fires
his competently performing nephew as the result of a feud with his sister, the
boy’s mother. Both managers have violated a family firm norm by firing a
family member, and thus their behavior would be regarded as deviant. The
first case, however, is an example of constructive deviance and the second is
a case of destructive deviance. In both cases, there may be threatening
results for the organization; the potential for family unrest both in the business
as well as in the family. However, the firm’s performance might be improved
in the first case and not so in the second example. In this section, we define
and discuss the three general types of deviance and apply them to the
business family and family business systems. We frame our discussion of the
heterogeneity of deviance by labeling different varieties of deviant behavior
as dysfunctional, functional, or strategic and discuss characteristics and
subtypes of each.

Dysfunctional Deviance

Several different, yet similar, terms have been used to describe deviance
that has potentially dysfunctional and destructive consequences for an
organization. These labels include dysfunctional behavior, organizational
misbehavior, antisocial behavior, and counterproductive behavior. All share
the common characteristics that the behavior has harmful consequences for
the organization. We define and briefly discuss each in turn.

Dysfunctional behavior occurs when employees or groups of employees

engage in activities that have negative consequences for an individual in an
organization, a group of individuals, and/or the organization itself. There are
two general types: violent and deviant (e.g., aggression, physical and verbal
assault, terrorism) and non-violent dysfunctional (e.g., alcohol and drug use,
revenge, absence, and theft) (Griffin et al. 1998; Griffin and O’Leary-Kelly
2004). Organizational misbehavior is defined as “acts in the workplace that
are done intentionally and constitute a violation of rules pertaining to such
behavior” (Vardi and Wiener 1996). Researchers consider misbehavior
broadly, time wasting, absence, turnover, crime, and sexual harassment
(Ackroyd and Thompson 1999; Vardi and Weitz 2004). Antisocial behavior is
intended to bring harm to and/or does harm an organization, its employees
or the organization’s stakeholders. It includes aggression, discrimination, theft,
interpersonal violence, sabotage, harassment, lying, revenge, and
whistleblowing. Antisocial behavior focuses primarily on personal and property
interactions, and less so on production with the exception of sabotage
(Giacalone and Greenberg 1997). Finally, counterproductive behavior
consists of “any intentional behavior on the part of an organization member
46
viewed by the organization as contrary to its legitimate interests” (Sackett
2002:5). Counterproductive behavior is considered an element of job
performance. Examples can include theft, destruction of property, misuse of
information, unsafe behavior, poor attendance and poor work quality.

Functional Deviance

Many organizational leaders are heavily invested in creating a business’

norms and then in seeking compliance to the rules, policies and the
procedures that have established. Whereas breaking organizational norms is
generally perceived as threatening and negative, we noted earlier that
violating organizational rules and standards by disobeying supervisors and
other actions can fall under the “deviant” classification, yet may not have
destructive results. Whistleblowing, creativity, innovative thinking related to
organizational change and dissent from a firm’s stated policies can be among
these forms of deviance. These actions may deviate from the norms
established by the majority, but they can also be the source of positive results
for the organization (Crom and Bettels 1999; Kim and Markus 1999; Vadera et
al. 2013). The study of functional, or positive deviance has led to a variety of
types and terms to describe this phenomenon; two major types are
constructive deviance and creative deviance.

Constructive deviance has been defined as “intentional behaviors that

depart from the norms of a referent group in honorable ways” (Spreitzer and
Sonenshein 2003: 209), and as “voluntary behavior that violates significant
organizational norms and in doing so contributes to the well-being of an
organization, its members, or both’ (Galperin 2003: 158). An important
distinction between the two definition is that Spreitzer and Sonenshein
explicitly state that constructive deviance has for the organization (Vadeera
et al. 2013). Constructive deviance can serve as an umbrella term (Warren
2003; Vadera et,al. 2013) that includes a wide range of behaviors such as
whistleblowing (Ner and Miceli 1985), principled organizational dissent
(Graham 1986), prosocial behaviors ( Puffer 1987), extra role behaviors (Van
Dyne and LePine 1998) and organizational citizenship behaviors (Smith et al.
1983). Such deviance can improve firm performance in a variety of settings
(Mertens et al. 2016).

“Creative deviance refers to the violation of a managerial order to stop

working on a new idea” (Mainemelis 2010: 560). The violation, or deviance
from a norm, in this case, “fosters the evolution of radical new ideas, and
allows the organization to respond in a flexible manner to the inherent
uncertainty that both creativity and deviance entail” (Mainemelis 2010: 560);
several case studies indicate the importance of creative deviance to the

47
innovation process. How the leader responds to creative deviance and
provides supportive supervision in the process can impact subsequent
creative deviance and creative performance (Lin et al, 2016).

In some family systems, the elders set norms that provide for higher
levels of creativity and constructive activity, whereas in other systems a focus
on tradition and stability may dominate and preclude creativity or challenges
to the status quo and thus set the stage for creativity, innovation, and change
to be viewed as deviant. The value of what has worked in past and current
generations may restrict positive views toward experimentation and
challenge, but the intergenerational interplay between these two points of
view is a key factor. Conflict between generations on a variety of issues can
encourage the development of conditions that lead to the occurrence of
deviant behavior, but whether the conflict works for the betterment or the
detriment of the organization depends on the nature of the conflict and how
conflict resolution is managed in the family and the family firm.

For example, one family member, dissatisfied at the mechanism for

conflict resolution in the family, may attempt to resolve a relationship conflict
or a perceived wrong by telling outsiders in positions of authority, that is, law
enforcement, of wrongdoing in the family firm. Whereas this type of
whistleblowing activity may be rare, it could be a manifestation of both
dysfunctional deviance to the family firm and of functional deviance to
society. A family member who violates norms by engaging in innovative
practices could be an example of functional deviance at both the firm and
the societal levels.

Strategic Deviance

Regardless of whether the deviant behavior is functional or

dysfunctional, constructive or destructive, the family system and family firm
may engage in deviance strategically. Strategic deviance is defined as “the
complementary use of organizational mechanisms and actions that may
violate established norms and be perceived as dysfunctional yet contribute
to overall system wellbeing. Strategic deviance provides a rationale as to why
apparently negative behavior are accepted and potentially take on an
ambiguous character” (Kidwell and Nygaard 2011: 468).

One practice engaged in by family firms that is often seen as deviant, at

least in terms of societal norms, is nepotism. Nepotism involves an owner’s
hiring of family members rather than job applicants who are not related to the
owning family. This preference discriminates against non-family members, and
such discrimination is generally viewed unfavorably by society (Jaskiewicz et
al. 2013). Whereas nepotism may be seen as detrimental and deviant from a
48
normative perspective at the societal level, some family firms benefit by hiring
family members, in that these firms maintain a workforce that shares similar
values, build commitment to the organization, and allow future firm leaders to
become proficient in crucial skills (Jaskiewicz et al. 2013; Salvato et al. 2011).
A key factor that would determine whether the firm is practicing strategic
deviance through nepotism rather than dysfunctional behavior would be the
degree to which it hires family members based on merit rather than
considerations that reflect parental altruism and family status.

A second use of strategic deviance involves breaking existing norms in a

way that successfully addresses challenges the organization is currently facing
as it moves through the family and business life cycles and seeks rejuvenation
(Hoy and Sharma 2010). For example, new generations of leadership in a
family firm can shift the values of the firm from an emphasis on status quo and
stability toward creativity and flexibility when industry or business conditions
dictate that strategic leadership of change is needed. Absent such leaders,
family members, employees and managers who aggressively raise major
issues that are traditionally not discussed or debated in the family are
engaging in a form of strategic deviance that could ultimately benefit the
organization. The actions of such radical dissenters can lead members of the
family to question underlying assumptions and be more open to positive
change (Elmes 1990). At some stage, as norms change, the family leadership
may establish an advocate in the decision-making process. The advocate
could encourage healthy discussion of task and process conflict assisting the
family business in making more effective decisions. Thus, dissent that was once
deviant would now become the norm.

Finally, family leaders may use strategic deviance in a negative way by

identifying a disfavored or “problem child” in the family, and ultimately the
family business, that is, the Fredo effect (Kidwell et al. 2012), and using the
adverse treatment of that black sheep to control the behavior of other family
members. The use of a scapegoat is a form of bullying in which the scapegoat
is given the blame for all that goes wrong; it is generally viewed as deviant
and dysfunctional yet it is common practice (Pilllari 1991). Bullies target victims
such as the scapegoat to establish the compliance of bystanders who believe
they could be targeted as the next victim. This dysfunctional use of deviance
could be employed intentionally and strategically as a disciplining mechanism
for stability and continuity by the family and family firm leaders. Whether its use
would be conducive to the long-term health of either family or family business
system is a subject for future research into firm performance as well as ethical
behavior. It would also be interesting to consider whether sanctions imposed
by parents in unfavored children is a form of altruistic punishment in which
uncooperative behavior is punished in an effort to induce future cooperation
49
of those punished even though there may be no direct or indirect benefits to
the punisher (Egas and Riedl 2008).

Deviant Behavior and Social Disorganization

Both “deviant behavior” and “social disorganization” have been

variously defined, but there have been few efforts to distinguish between the
two concepts. In fact, it has been suggested that they are not different, that
along with “social problems*’ and the somewhat outmoded “social
pathology,” they signify only a potpourri of conditions that are considered
undesirable from the standpoint of the observer’s values, conditions that vary
at different times and with different observers. According to this view, these
terms have no scientific value and no legitimate status as sociological
concepts.

Such nihilism and counsel of despair are not justified. True, there is no
consensus on the meaning of these terms, and they are, indeed, burdened
with value connotations. However, they point to a number of distinctions that
sociology must take into account.

Concept of deviance. Turning first to the concept of deviant behavior, we

must distinguish among the several definitions of the term, which are discussed
below.

Behavior that violates norms. Deviant behavior is behavior that violates the
normative rules, understandings, or expectations of social systems. This is the
most common usage of the term and the sense in which it will be used here.
Crime is the prototype of deviance in this sense, and theory and research in
deviant behavior have been concerned overwhelmingly with crime.
However, normative rules are inherent in the nature of all social systems,
whether they be friendship groups, engaged couples, families, work teams,
factories, or national societies. Legal norms are then but one type of norm
whose violation constitutes deviant behavior. It is important to note that
although deviance, in this sense, and conformity are “opposites,” they
represent the poles within the same dimension of variation; therefore, a
general theory of the one must comprehend the other.

Statistical abnormality. There is fair consensus that “deviant behavior”

does not mean departure from some statistical norm. However various the
definitions and usages, they seem to have in common the notion of something
that is, from some point of view, less “good” or “desirable,” and not merely less
frequent.

50
Psychopathology. For sociological purposes deviance is seldom defined
exclusively in terms of psychopathology, mental illness, or personality dis-
organization, although it is commonly assumed that these phenomena are at
least included within the scope of deviance. However, behavior is deviant in
the first, or normative, sense because it departs from the normative rules of
some social system, whereas behavior is pathological because it proceeds
from a sick, damaged, or defective personality. It is probable that most
deviant behavior in the normative sense is produced by personalities that are
clinically normal and that most behavior that is symptomatic of personality
defect or mental illness does not violate normative expectations. In short, the
two are independently defined, and the relationship between them is a
matter for empirical investigation. It seems preferable to keep them
conceptually distinct, retaining for the one the term “deviant behavior” and
for the other the established terminology of psychopathology.

It should be made clear that the distinction just drawn is not that between the
psychological and the sociological levels of investigation. In viewing any
human behavior, we can ask, on the one hand, how it depends upon the
history and structure of the personality that authors it. On the other hand, we
can ask how it depends on the history and structure of the social system in
which it is an event. Such questions can be asked about both mental illness
and deviant behavior. However, inquiry on the psychological and sociological
levels cannot proceed altogether independently, for each must make some
assumptions about the other. Durkheim (1897), in his classic treatment of
suicide, made clear the analytical independence of the sociological level by
demonstrating that variations in rates of a given class of behavior within and
between systems are a reality sui generis that cannot be explained simply in
terms of the psychological properties of human beings but rather depend on
the properties of the social system itself. However, he overstated his case and
left the impression, whether it was his intention or not, that psychology has little
to contribute to the understanding of suicide. In fact, Durkheim’s own
treatment of the sociology of suicide is interlarded with assumptions about
human motivation and other considerations that are ordinarily considered
“psychological”.

Socially disvalued behavior and states. Deviant behavior may also be defined
as socially disvalued behavior and states in general. This definition
includes mental retardation, blindness, ugliness, other physical defects and
handicaps, illness of all sorts, beggary, membership in ritually unclean castes
and occupations, mental illness, criminality, and a “shameful past.” What all
these have in common is that, if known, they assign one to a socially
disparaged role and constitute a blemish in the self. This blemish, or stigma, is
an important constituent of all social encounters in which it is present. It poses

51
problems to the stigmatized actor and his alters and has consequences for the
development of personality and for social interaction. Goffman (1963) has
demonstrated that it is possible to generalize about the phenomenon of
stigma and its consequences on a level that abstracts from the diversity of its
concrete manifestations.

Clearly, stigma is a legitimate and important object of investigation in its own

right. Furthermore, it is ordinarily an attribute of normatively deviant behavior;
it may play a part in its genesis and control. It must therefore figure in a theory
of deviant behavior. However, the fact that behavior is stigmatized or
disvalued is one thing; the fact that it violates normative rules is another. Not
all disvalued behavior violates normative rules; nor is it certain that all behavior
that violates normative rules is disvalued. Explaining stigma is not the same as
explaining why people violate normative rules. In keeping with the more
traditional and better-established usage, it seems preferable to limit the
reference of “deviant behavior” to the violation of normative rules.

Deviant behavior and deviant roles. It is necessary to distinguish between what

a person has done and how he is publicly defined and categorized by
members of his social world. It is mainly the latter—the social role attributed to
him—that determines how others will respond to him. To steal is not necessarily
to be defined as “a thief”; to have sexual relationships with one of the same
sex is not necessarily to be defined as “a homosexual” (Reiss 1961). Behavior
that violates social rules may or may not become visible and, if visible, may or
may not result in attribution of a deviant role. Furthermore, deviant roles may
be attributed even in the absence of violations of normative rules.

This distinction mirrors one of the perennial dilemmas of criminology. Is

criminology concerned with all violations of criminal law or only with those
violations that result in a legal adjudication of criminality? The former is infinitely
more numerous than the latter, and data on their frequency and distribution
are difficult to come by. The processes whereby some fraction of all violators
come to be selected for legal stigmatization as “criminals” bear only a tenuous
relationship to actual histories of criminal law violation. Furthermore, even
legal attributions of criminality do not necessarily result in attributions of
criminal roles in the world of everyday life. So, for example, “white-collar
criminals” and income tax evaders, even if legally convicted, are not Likely to
be defined as criminals in the world outside the courts and to experience the
consequences of such definitions (Sutherland 1949).

The distinction between violating normative rules and being socially assigned
to a deviant role is important. To explain one is not necessarily to explain the
other. On the other hand, they interact in such ways that each must be taken
into account in explaining the other. For example, to be adjudicated as an
52
offender or even to be legally processed short of adjudication may have
important effects on actual careers in criminal behavior (Tannenbaum 1938).
It seems best to think of the field of deviant behavior as concerned with
deviance in both these senses and with their interaction.

The relativity of deviant behavior. It is commonplace that normative rules vary

enormously from one social system to another. It follows that no behavior is
deviant in itself but only insofar as it violates the norms of some social system.
This implies that the sociology of deviant behavior is not concerned with the
encyclopedic study of prostitution, drug addiction, etc., but rather with the
question: “How do we account for the occurrence of these and other
behaviors in situations where they are interdicted or disvalued by normative
rules?”

In fact, practical judgments of deviance in the world of everyday life take into
account the collectivity membership of the actor. In general, a person comes
under the jurisdiction of a system of normative rules when he is ascribed or
successfully claims the role of member of a collectivity. This is equally true of
sub collectivities—associations, cliques, academic institutions—within a larger
collectivity. Indeed, to be subject to the normative rules of a collectivity comes
very close to defining the social meaning of “membership” in a collectivity.

More generally, the same may be said of any role, not of collectivity roles
alone. The expectations attaching to a role differentiate it from other roles and
define the terms on which a person can be deviant. That this is true for such
roles as husband and wife, doctor and patient, child and adult is elementary.
It is equally true, but not so obvious, for such transient roles as those of the sick
and the bereaved. To occupy either of these roles is to be exempted from
some rules otherwise applicable, to be subjected to other rules, and to create
special obligations for others in the role set of the sick or bereaved person.
What it takes to be “sick” or “bereaved,” that is, the criteria of the roles,
depends on the culture of the system. In any case, however, membership in
those roles must be validated in terms of those criteria. To successfully claim
membership and then, in some manner, to betray oneself as “not really sick”
or “not really bereaved,” as these are defined in one’s culture, is to lose the
exemptions that go with that role, as well as to incur the special contumely of
falsely claiming membership in a role for which one lacks the true credentials.

In speaking of deviance, one must specify the system of reference. The same
behavior may be both deviant and nondeviant, relative to different systems
in which the actor is implicated. However, we are still left with the question:
“For any given system, who is to say what is deviant? Whose notions of right
and wrong define the rules of the system?” This has been one of the most
troublesome issues in deviance theory. It is not entirely satisfactory to say that
53
the rules of the system are those which are institutionalized—that is, agreed
upon, internalized, and sanctioned (Johnson 1960, p. 20). This definition
provides no criterion for a “cut-off point” defining the degree of
institutionalization necessary to determine deviance; in fact, the criteria of
institutionalization are themselves multiple, and to some degree they vary
independently.

Alternative responses to normative rules. The difficulty may arise partly from a
failure to recognize the importantly different ways in which people may be
oriented to normative rules. People sometimes seem to violate rules without
guilt and without even the necessity for some mechanism for neutralizing guilt.
The inference is typically drawn that such people do not recognize the rules,
that—as far as they are concerned—these are not the rules of the system,
except, perhaps, in the sense of a probability that others will react in a hostile
way to certain behavior. Then the question does indeed arise: “Who is to say
what is deviant?” We have perhaps been too quick to assume that to
“accept,” “recognize,” “internalize,” “approve,” and “feel bound by”
normative rules all mean the same thing. We suggest, on the contrary, that
one may recognize a rule and even insist upon its propriety and necessity; one
may accept the legitimacy of efforts to enforce the rule, even against oneself;
and one may appraise the “goodness” of people in terms of conformity to the
rule—but see the job of securing compliance with the rule as essentially
somebody else’s job. One takes one’s chances and either “wins” or “loses.” It
may be, for example, that “delinquent cultures” do not, in general, either
“repudiate” (Cohen 1955) the rules of the “larger society,” “deny their
legitimacy” (Cloward & Ohlin 1960), or “neutralize” (Sykes & Matza 1957) them,
but somehow institutionalize this “gamester” attitude toward the rules.

Furthermore, it is necessary to distinguish between what may be called the

attribution of “validity” to a rule and what might be called its “goodness” or
“propriety.” One may consider a rule stupid or unreasonable and yet
recognize that it is the rule and therefore that it properly may or even ought
to be enforced until it is changed. This would indicate that, within a given
social system, there are criteria of what constitute the rules of the system that
transcend individual differences about what the rule ought to be or
differences with respect to depth of “internalization” of the rule. This distinction
suggests a distinction made by Merton ([1949] 1957, pp. 359–368) with respect
to two kinds of deviants: those who violate rules for any of a number of reasons
but do not question the rules themselves; and those who violate rules in order
to activate certain processes that, in that system, are necessary to effect
“repeal” of a rule or to replace it with another. However, not all who would
change a rule necessarily feel justified in doing so by violating it. In fact, it could
be argued that the basis of social order is not consensus on what ought to

54
be the rules, indeed that dissensus in this regard is the normal state, especially
in modern society. Rather, the basis of order is agreement on the criteria of
what the rules are and on the mechanisms for changing them. The intention
of this discussion is to suggest that if we take account of these different ways
of orienting to normative rules, disagreement on what the rules are is not so
great as is commonly assumed.

The sociology of normative rules. Acts are deviant by virtue of normative rules
that make them so. Therefore, the forms and rates of deviance change as the
rules themselves change. In consequence of such changes, acts may move
from normatively approved to forbidden; from one deviant category to
another; from some category of deviance to the category of “sickness” or in
the other direction. And some categories of deviance, such as “heresy,” may
become virtually extinct as part of the functioning conceptual equipment of
a society. The study of such changes has been severely neglected, with some
noteworthy exceptions in the sociology of law (Hall 1935). It should be stressed
that changes in normative rules cannot be fruitfully investigated apart from
the study of behavior oriented toward these normative rules. On the one
hand, normative rules shape behavior; on the other hand, behavior is always
testing, probing, and challenging normative rules, and in response to such
behavior normative rules are continually being redefined, shored up, or
abandoned (Mills 1959; Cohen 1965). The study of this interaction process is an
integral part of the sociology of deviance.

Deviant behavior of collectivities. Whatever may be the metaphysical status

of collectivities, for sociological purposes they are actors. They are social
objects having names, public images, reputations, and statuses. They are
publicly identified as authors of acts, and they are subject to rules. From the
perspective of everyday life, collectivities, such as governments, corporations,
fraternities, armies, labor unions, and churches, do things, and some of these
things violate laws or other normative rules. Little is known about the cultural
understandings on the basis of which acts (deviant and otherwise) are
imputed to collectivities as distinct from their members severally, because the
matter has received practically no systematic study except in the field of
corporation law. It is true that the status of an event as the act of a collectivity
is a definition imposed upon the situation by some public and depends upon
a set of culturally given criteria for attributing acts to authors. However, this is
equally true of the attribution of acts to individuals, and much of the law is
concerned precisely with specifying and making explicit the criteria for such
attribution.

All social acts are the outcomes of interaction processes. Whether they will be
attributed to this concrete individual or that, or to a concrete individual or a
collectivity, always depends on some culturally given schema through which
55
action is viewed. Therefore, the neglect of deviant behavior of collectivities
cannot be justified on sociological grounds. However, only in the area of
“white-collar crime” (Sutherland 1949) has the subject even been
approached.

Theories of deviant behavior. We will make no attempt here to inventory the

theories bearing upon one or another variety of deviance, but will limit
ourselves to identifying the main features of the two traditions that most closely
approach a generalized theory of deviance. The discussion will deal with
contrasting emphases. It does not intend to offer a rounded picture of either
tradition or to suggest that they are incompatible.

The anomie tradition. The anomie tradition stems from the work of Durkheim
(1897), especially his analysis of suicide. Its emphasis
is structural and comparative, that is, it is concerned with explaining how
variations in deviant behavior within and between societies depend on social
structure. It is typically concerned with accounting for rates in contrast to
individual differences. In Durkheim’s work the system properties that figured
most prominently were the degree of social integration (variations in this
respect accounting for suicide altruiste and suicide egoiste) and system
changes that create discrepancies between men’s aspirations and the
means for realizing them. The latter results in deregulation, or anomie, that is,
a breakdown in the power of social norms to regulate and discipline men’s
actions (variations in this respect accounting for suicide anomique). The
elaboration of the anomie concept and the development of its implications
constitute the anomie tradition.

Merton ([1949] 1957, pp. 131–194), in his seminal paper, “Social Structure and
Anomie,” made formal and explicit, and generalized to the field of deviant
behavior, the model that was only partly explicit in Durkheim’s analysis
of suicide anomique. He emphasized the independent variability of both the
culture goals and the accessibility of institutionalized means (i.e., means that
are compatible with the regulative norms). The disjunction between goals and
means, leading to strain and to anomie, depends on the values of both these
variables. Adaptations to such strain involve either accepting or rejecting the
culture goals and either accepting or rejecting the institutionalized means.
Each adaptation therefore involves two dichotomous choices; the logically
possible combinations of such choices yield a set of adaptations, one of which
is conformity, and the others, varieties of deviance. This typology specifies the
values of the dependent variable of the sociology of deviance-conformity.
However, Merton’s work is only a modest beginning toward specifying the
conditions that determine choice among the logical possibilities.

56
The Chicago tradition. The other tradition, which may fittingly be called the
Chicago tradition, begins with the work of Thomas and Znaniecki, especially
in The Polish Peasant (1920). This remarkable work is strikingly similar to
Durkheim’s writings in many respects, especially in its concern with the
breakdown in the regulative power of social norms. As the tradition has
developed, however, it has taken on certain distinctive emphases. It has
tended to focus not so much on deviance as an adaptation to strain as on
deviance as culturally patterned behavior in its own right. It has emphasized
the social-psychological problem of the process of socialization into deviant
cultural patterns. This approach has been most systematically formulated by
Clifford Shaw and Henry D. McKay (1942), by Edwin H. Sutherland in his theory
of differential association (1942–1947), and most recently by Donald R. Cressey
(1964).

Another development in the Chicago tradition stems from George

Herbert Mead’s (1934) conception of the self as an internalized object built
up, in a process of communicative interaction, out of the social categories, or
roles, available in the culture milieu. According to this conception, behavior,
deviant or otherwise, is supportive or expressive of a social role. It is a way of
validating one’s claim to such a role by behavior that is culturally significant of
membership in such a role. This approach has been most developed by Erving
Goffman (1956; 1963) and Howard Becker (1963). In general, the Chicago
tradition emphasizes the learned nature of deviant behavior, the role of
association with others and of cultural models, the role of symbolism attaching
to deviant behavior, and the gradual development of, and commitment to,
deviant behavior in an extended interaction process (Short & Strodtbeck
1965).

Development of comprehensive theories. The most comprehensive single

formulation in current theory of deviant behavior is that of Talcott
Parsons (1951, chapter 7), which cannot be adequately subsumed under
either tradition. It shares with the anomie tradition a stress on taxonomy, the
concept “strain,” and the structural sources of deviance. It shares with the
Chicago tradition a deep concern with interaction process and a conception
of deviance and conformity as commitments that develop in the course of
such interaction. To a unique degree it integrates deviance theory with a more
general theory of social systems.

Two recent developments point toward a fusion of the Chicago and anomie
traditions. Cohen (1955), starting with the conception of socially structured
strain, has emphasized the role of interaction process in the creation, as well
as the transmission, of culturally supported deviant solutions or deviant
subcultures. Cloward and Ohlin (1960), addressing themselves also to the
determinants of choice among possible adaptations to strain, have
57
emphasized the role of the availability, at the points of strain, of illegitimate or
deviant opportunities, with special emphasis on the opportunity to learn and
to perform deviant roles. However, the reconciliation or integration of the
conception of deviant behavior as a way of dealing with a problem of ends
and means, on the one hand, and as a way of communicating and validating
a claim to a role, on the other, has not yet been achieved (Cohen 1965).

Social disorganization

When we say that a game, a plan, a committee, a family, an army, or a

society has been “disorganized,” we mean a number of closely related things:
that it has been interrupted; that its identity is crumbling away; that its parts,
although perhaps still recognizable, no longer hang together to constitute one
thing; that it has disintegrated. In every case there is implied some criterion of
sameness, wholeness, continuity, or organization. This criterion is the
correspondence of something “out there” to some pattern, model, or
cognitive map in the mind of the observer. It defines the essential attributes or
“boundary conditions” of a given type of object; the term “disorganization”
refers to a break in the correspondence of what is “out there” to such a
pattern.

A social object, for example, a society or a family, is constructed of action.

The pattern that defines such an object is a course of action or order of events.
The same scene of action may be seen as containing several patterns:
patterns that intersect and patterns within patterns. Whether a given object is
disorganized depends on the pattern in terms of which it is defined.

It will be useful to distinguish several special senses of the term

“disorganization” that are compatible with this more general definition.

From the perspectives of everyday life. This discussion will focus on the
meanings of social events to the people who participate in them; in-deed, this
is the starting point of all sociological analysis. Crap games, corporations,
political parties, and parades enter the sociologist’s lexicon because the
conceptual schemes of everyday life make it possible for people to envisage
them as possibilities, to recognize their existence and demise, to orient their
action toward them, to take part in them, and to wreck them.

One class of social objects may be called “activities”: cleaning a rifle,

preparing for battle, accomplishing a mission, carrying out the Normandy
campaign. Each of these is a sequence of action that, from the standpoint of
the actors, “hangs together” and constitutes “one thing.” Each, in turn, is part
of a larger, more extended activity. The sameness or continuity of an activity
may depend, for the actor, on the correspondence of the flow of events to

58
some set of conventional rules (Cohen 1959). The model here is the “game”;
its constitutive order is defined by the rules of the game. There may be an
infinite number of ways of continuing a game without “breaching its
boundaries”; however, the set of possible events (“moves” or “plays”) that will,
at any juncture in the game, continue the game, are given in the rules. Many
of the nongame activities of everyday life (for example, a party, a religious
service, a judicial proceeding), or at least some of their essential components,
are likewise defined by conventional rules. The sameness of the activity may
also depend, for the actor, on the continued orientation of action toward
some goal. Although the concrete action that goes into it may vary from
moment to moment as the situation changes and although the act is literally
built up out of bits of diverse action, it is seen and felt to be the same act so
long as it is oriented to the same goal. Building a house would be an example.
In either case, what has been going on, whether it is still going on, and the
conditions that would constitute an interruption or disorganization of the
activity depend on the pattern that defines that kind of activity for its
participants.

Another class of social objects may be called “collectivities.” Such are families,
teams, corporations, nations, gangs. A collectivity exists when both a common
identity and a capacity for action are attributed to the incumbents of a set of
roles. In other words, the pragmatic tests of a collectivity are whether it has a
socially defined membership and whether it is socially defined as an actor. The
collectivity ceases to be a “going concern” and is destroyed or “disorganized”
when the common identity is extinguished and it is no longer treated as an
actor.

We have little systematic knowledge about the patterns to which structures of

interaction must correspond in order to constitute collectivities in the world of
everyday social life. However, if we are to talk about the “disorganization of
collectivities,” we must know what constitutes a breach of their boundaries; to
do this we must determine what order of events defines a collectivity of a
given sort for members of the society in question.

From the social scientist’s perspective. Structures of action may exist as objects
for the social scientist that are not social objects from the perspective of the
“man in the street.” A “market structure,” a “substructure of goal attainment,”
a “homeostatic process,” and an “ecological equilibrium”—all are orderings
of events in terms of some pattern that is part of the conceptual equipment
of the social scientist. If these patterns are precisely defined, they also imply a
set of criteria for defining “disorganization” of the respective objects.

Disorganization as the spread of deviance. The definition of disorganization in

terms of the spread of deviance has a long history in sociology. Thomas and
59
Znaniecki defined social disorganization as a “decrease of the influence of
existing social rules of behavior upon individual members of the group” and
went on to say that “this decrease may present innumerable degrees, ranging
from a single break of some particular rule by one individual up to a general
decay of all the institutions of the group” (1920, vol. 4, p. 20). The principal
subject matter of most textbooks entitled “social disorganization” is deviant
behavior. According to this view, disorganization may be reduced and the
integrity of the system restored either by strengthening social controls or by
redefining norms so that behavior defined as deviant becomes normatively
acceptable (Thomas & Znaniecki 1920, vol. 4, p. 4; Mills 1959).

Whatever the merits of this conception of disorganization, it cannot provide

a general definition of disorganization. Certainly, there are many structures,
visible from the specialized perspectives of the social scientist, that cannot be
defined in terms of the conformity of action to normative rules. From the
standpoint of the perspectives of everyday life as well, it seems important to
distinguish between deviance and disorganization. “The rules of the
game” define an activity or collectivity, that is, the pattern to which action
must correspond if it is to constitute a certain sort of thing. The normative rules,
departure from which is deviance, specify how people ought to behave; they
are criteria for judging the moral status of an act. For example, there are “dirty”
ways of playing a game, unethical ways of carrying on a business, and
“inhuman” ways of fighting a war. Still, they are unequivocally recognizable as
integral to the respective activities, as “moves” in the respective games; and
the rules of the game typically define the “next moves” that would constitute
the continuity of the game.

Precisely because deviance is so intimately related to disorganization but is

not in general identical with it, it is necessary to distinguish them and treat the
relationship between them as a problem for theory and empirical
investigation.

One of the conditions of the survival of any social activity or collectivity is that
people be motivated to “play the game,” to take up their positions in the
structure of interaction and contribute the moves that maintain the continuity
of the structure in question. One of the general conditions of disorganization,
then, is breakdown of motivation, and anything that undermines motivation
contributes to disorganization. It is elementary that conformity to normative
rules—to some degree that cannot be stated in general terms—is
fundamental to the maintenance of motivation. When people elect to
participate in any social structure, they subject themselves to a certain
discipline; they commit resources; and they forgo alternatives. In other words,
they pay a price. Whatever the several reasons for which they join, their ends
are attainable only if others “play the game,” and play it according to certain
60
restrictions defined by the normative rules. Violations of the normative
understandings tend to erode trust and undermine motivation. A certain
amount of deviance is expected. Although disappointing, it is not surprising; it
is allowed for in advance, and does not seriously impair motivation. However,
at some point the spread of deviance and the consequent erosion of trust will
destroy motivation and precipitate disorganization.

On the other hand, deviance may contribute to stability and preservation of

the common enterprise. Normative rules are usually adapted to typical,
recurring situations and tend to produce results that enhance the viability of
the enterprise. however, rules are categorical, and situations often arise in
which conformity to the normative rules will thwart the attainment of the
common objective and weaken or destroy the structure. In short, there are
times when someone must violate the normative rules if the enterprise is to
succeed and thrive. Sometimes there are implicit rules (patterns of
“institutionalized evasion”) that give flexibility to the normative rules so that the
deviance is deviance only in an equivocal sense (Williams 1951). But this is not
always so, and therefore the relationship between deviance and
disorganization is rendered still more problematic.

Finally, it is probably true that some kinds of deviance, even if not motivated
by collectivity concerns, create the conditions necessary for the stability of
other substructures of the same system or of the system as a whole. Kingsley
Davis (1937), for example, has made this argument relative to prostitution.

Disorganization theory. There has been relatively little attention to the explicit
development of disorganization theory, as compared with deviance theory.
However, the beginnings of such theory are implied in more general theories
and conceptions of social systems, such as general systems theory, interaction
process analysis, structural–functional theory, and the input–output,
homeostatic, equilibrium, and cybernetic models. They tend to share the
following ideas.

A social system is, from one point of view, a mechanism that operates for its
own perpetuation. It is what it is because the participants are motivated to
behave in certain ways characteristic of the system and because the situation
of action makes possible these ways and restricts the alternatives. In order to
preserve its structure (or so much of that structure as is constitutive of its
identity) that motivation and situation must somehow be reconstituted, or
other motivations and situations must be created that will generate behavior
corresponding to the same pattern. However, the system, as a product of its
own functioning, tends to thwart the creation or re-creation of the conditions
of its own survival. For example, it tends to transform the environment to which
it has become adapted; to use up or to lose its own human and nonhuman
61
resources; to generate distance and distrust, resentment and alienation
among its members; and to create new situations for which its culture provides
no definitions or instructions. Various lists have been drawn up of conditions
that must be met or tasks that must be performed if the system is not to fly
apart in consequence of its own functioning (for example, see Aberle et al.
1950; Bales 1950; Parsons 1951, pp. 26–36).

Most systems do manage to preserve their identity. Therefore, the functioning

of the system must also produce effects that correct or compensate for the
centrifugal tendencies it produces. In particular, the structure of such systems
must include mechanisms for picking up information about threatening
changes in the environment or in the system itself and for communicating that
information to positions in the system that are capable of taking corrective
action. Such action, in turn, may consist of responses tending to reduce or
eliminate the change or further modifications elsewhere in the system,
enabling the system as a whole to maintain its boundaries or identity in the
face of the change.

Systems do not always succeed. Some are wholly extinguished; others suffer
radical disorganization of various substructures but cling to those minimal
attributes that define their identity. Some have standby mechanisms that can
be activated in time to do the job of some injured organ or to get about the
work of reconstruction before the damage proves lethal to the system; and
others do not. These differences have been most systematically studied in
connection with disasters (Baker & Chapman 1962). In general, it is the task of
a theory of social disorganization to account for variations in the ability of
social structures to preserve their identity.

End of Module 2

Learning Activity/ Assessment:

1. Please refer to page 43 – 44. Do the experiment and answer the

following questions.
2. What is a deviant behavior? How will it differ to social
disorganization?

62
 SIBUGAY TECHNICAL INSTITUTE INCORPORATED
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www.sibugaytech.edu.ph
E-Mail Address: [email protected]
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LEARNER’S MODULE
 SUBJECT: Social Deviation and Social Work
 COVERAGE: PRELIMINARY COVERAGE
 WEEK: 5-7
 LESSON 1: Extreme body building and life style as Deviant
 Lesson Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
• Identify the Extreme body building and life as a deviant, its importance

• Appreciate and understand the body building and their life as a deviant

63
From Subcultures to Common Culture: Bodybuilders, Skinheads, and the
Normalization of the Marginal

Using bodybuilders and skinheads/neo-Nazis as two rather diverse

examples of subcultures, the present study theoretically explores our
understanding of subculture and common culture. The study aims to explore
how the concept of subculture can be used analytically in relation to
processes of normalization and marginalization. The focus is on the historical,
symbolic, and biographical relation between the subculture, the subcultural
response, and sociopolitical transformations in society and culture. We are
interested in understanding the processes through which, for example,
bodybuilding has moved back and forth, over time, between a subcultural
position and a more common fitness culture. In parallel to this, we are also
interested in how subcultures centered on skinheads, neo-Nazis, and right-
wing extremists influence and are connected to more general political
transformations and opinions in contemporary society, blurring the distinction
between subculture and common culture. The results indicate a complex
relation between subcultures and the mainstreaming of certain values,
opinions, and practices.

The politics of youth culture is a politics of metaphor: it deals in the

currency of signs and is, thus, always ambiguous, because the
subcultural milieu has been constructed underneath the authorized
discourses, in defiance of the multiple disciplines of the family, the school,
and the workplace. Subculture takes shape in the space between
surveillance and the evasion of surveillance; it translates the fact of being
under scrutiny into the pleasure of being watched. It is a way of “hiding in
the light” (Hebdige, 1988, p. 35).

Hebdige locates subcultures and the subcultural response somewhere in

between affirmation and refusal, commercialization and revolt, and
resistance and conformity. Hence, subcultures are not automatically
associated with a “genuine” resistance to societal structures. Instead, they are
understood as occupying and representing an ambivalent and complex
position in society.

There are, of course, numerous ways of defining and positioning subcultures.

The concept has often been linked to notions of spectacular and colorful
youth cultures, such as punk culture, goths, mods, rockers, and skinheads.
Subcultures also have a long history of being described and defined in terms
of “deviance”—something alien/outlandish (Burke & Sunley, 1998; Gelder,

64
2007; Nayak & Kehily, 2013). Of course, there is always a certain degree of
disparity between specific subcultures and society at large. But this does not
mean that the distinction between cultural elements that are perceived as
mainstream or common, on one hand, and elements/symbols/signs that are
perceived as subcultural, on the other, is eternal. Rather, subcultures and
common culture change over time, and subcultures tend to become
incorporated into what is referred to as mainstream—or common—culture. For
example, during the 1960s, the two discourses youth as problem and youth as
fun merged into youth as image (Hebdige, 1988). The politics of youth is thus
played out as a spectacle, and as consumption and lifestyles. Subcultures and
youth cultures are, in other words, constantly being drawn into a circulation of
different signs, images, and signified bodies.

Subcultures are both objects of governmentality and sites for pleasure,

desire, and attention. The contradictory image of subcultures, captured very
well by the description of them as “hiding in the light” in the quotation above,
raises some questions as to their status, especially concerning the relation
between specific subcultures and society in general. The term mainstream has
often been used to capture youth in general, but there are of course reasons
to be skeptical of this way of framing and generalizing about youth.
Subcultures are not homogeneous and coherent, nor are youth in general. This
does not mean, however, that they are fluid, liquid, and ephemeral. Rather,
what is commonly referred to as mainstream or common culture is complex
and constantly in transformation, at the same time as it is also possible—
paradoxically enough—to understand mainstream culture in terms of
hegemonic cultural formations.

In the present article, we will explore and elaborate on the concept of

subculture. We will use two rather different examples of subcultures, namely,
bodybuilding and skinheads/neo-Nazis. We will depart from these two
examples, which will be presented as cases or examples of subcultures, to
present a theoretical exploration of our understanding of the concept of
subculture and common culture as well as the processes of marginalization
and normalization. The main aim of the article is thus not to add new
knowledge or research on these subcultures per se; nor is the article to be
understood as a comparison of these two cultures, aimed at shedding light on
their differences and similarities. Instead, we aim to explore the possibility of
using the concept of subculture in relation to the idea of a normalization of
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certain subcultural values, ideals and opinions. In the section on methodology,
we will further explain the rational for choosing these two subcultures, and not
others.

Our focus is on the historical, symbolic, and biographical relation between

the subculture and the subcultural response, on one hand, and sociopolitical
transformations in society and culture, on the other. More precisely, we are
interested in understanding how, for example, bodybuilding has moved back
and forth, over time, between a subcultural position and a more common
fitness culture. We will here focus on the more competitive and extreme
aspects of this lifestyle-forming subcultural practice, and on how individuals
through measures such as muscle building, intentional dehydration, and
elimination of body fat prepare their bodies to be evaluated by a panel of
judges in bodybuilding competitions. As a parallel to this, we are also
interested in how subcultures centered on skinheads, neo-Nazis, and right-
wing extremists influence and are connected to more general political
transformations and opinions in society. Although the focus of the present
article is mainly theoretical, our ambition is also to contribute to
methodological innovations in empirical analyses of contemporary and
influential subcultures. We will focus on and explore the following areas in
particular:

• Research Question 1: How can we theoretically approach the historical

development and transformation of subcultures?
• Research Question 2: What values, ideals, and opinions are produced
within subcultures, and how are they understood in relation to common
culture and sociopolitical structures?
• Research Question 3: Using two examples of subcultures, in what ways
can we theoretically understand the dynamic relation between
subcultural content and identities, and how these also influence and
partly contribute to forming more general cultural and social structures?

While the first two research questions will mainly be addressed in the
“Exploring Two Subcultures” section, where we present our two examples of
subcultures, the third question will be explored in the “Conclusion and
Discussion” section. In the following section, we will initially explain the
conceptual framework of the article by focusing on the concept of
subculture. Thereafter, we will present some methodological considerations.

66
Conceptual Framework—Mainstreaming Subcultures

The concept of subculture has a long history in the social sciences. It has
been used to define and describe deviant behavior, but also to talk about
youth culture in terms of resistance to and subversion of norms. According
to Blackman (2014), subcultures are often considered barometers of
contemporariness and expressions of underlying structural and cultural
transformations in society. One problem in many previous studies of subculture
has been a tendency to exclusively focus on homologies, and on the ways in
which subcultural styles come together to form homogeneous totalities
(Fornäs, 1995, p. 112). Clearly, such tendencies need to be counteracted by
attending to the differences, tensions, and contradictions within and between
subcultures and groups, which more recent studies of social relations have
shown constitute an increasingly important element of late-modern lifestyles
(Fornäs, 1995; Martin, 2009). In the present article, we will not repeat the
ongoing discussion on different theoretical approaches to subcultures
presented by different scholars, but instead look more closely at some of the
dividing lines in discourses on subcultures and subcultural responses (Martin,
2009; Muggleton, 2005; Muggleton & Weinzierl, 2003; Shildrick & MacDonald,
2006).

First, one central discussion on subcultures focuses on whether the concept is

viewed as transitional, fluid, and transformative or, alternatively, as a more
stable and homogeneous phenomenon. Criticism of the theories of
subcultures coming from the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural
Studies (CCCS) targeted the centrality that was attributed to social class as
well as CCCS scholars’ attempts to find homologies within subcultures. The
idea that youth cultures could be read as symbolic attempts to solve the
problems of adult culture, caused by transformations of the class society in
Britain, was challenged. To capture the more fleeting and mediated youth
cultures of the 1990s, concepts such as neo-tribes, post subcultures,
and lifestyles were introduced (Robards & Bennett, 2011; Williams, 2006). This
discussion was, and still is, often strongly related to digital media and to “do-it-
yourself” (DIY) youth movements (McArthur, 2009). As a reaction to this turn
toward post subcultures, attempts have been made to find a balance
between CCCS models of subcultures and post subcultural theories (Martin,
2009; Muggleton, 2005; Muggleton & Weinzierl, 2003; Shildrick & MacDonald,
2006). Today we are also seeing a return to class, and to new attempts to
67
explore the relations between subcultural style and taste and societal
transformations.

Second, subcultures are frequently seen as either expressions of deviance

or as creative symbolic responses and reactions to dominant societal values.
In theories of subcultures, we often find an intrinsic distinction between
subcultures and mainstream culture, or between subcultures and common
culture. Either way, there is a varyingly complex relation between what is “sub”
and what is dominant. According to Hebdige (1979), subcultures are
successively incorporated into and consumed by mainstream culture.
However, Hodkinson (2002) argued that this way of approaching the relation
between sub and dominance tends to undervalue the contribution of the
subculture. Following Hodkinson (2002), subcultures are not homogeneous
and stable phenomena, but have a certain infrastructure and content.
Subcultures offer a meaningful identity, fulfillment, cultural and political
participation, and a transgression of dominant norms. Thus, there is often a
high level of distinctiveness and stability, in the sense of collective identity,
fostered within subcultures (Wheaton, 2007). Subcultures are frequently
spectacular, but there is also a strong relation to the mundane and to the
youth culture at large (Gelder, 1997/2005; Gelder, 2007). The visibility, clarity,
and pleasure expressed in subcultural styles and communities also serve to
attract and recruit young people to these kinds of groups. To keep attracting
young people to the subculture, it always tends to keep a certain distance to
mainstream culture, and although it is often incorporated into the common
culture, it also reinvents itself and returns from the oppressed in various
subversive and abject forms.

Finally, subcultural research has often taken for granted that this is exclusively
a youth cultural phenomenon. Yet today punk culture, for example, cuts cross
several generations. Moreover, many influential subcultures are constituted on
an age hierarchy, where older members serve as founders and important role
models. When we study subcultures, we are also focusing on the infrastructure
of these communities.

To sum up, in line with our research questions, we will focus on the relation
between subcultures and societal and sociopolitical structures, using two
carefully selected subcultures. We will use these subcultures to explore the
dynamic relation between subcultural content and identities and how the

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subcultures also influence and partly contribute to forming more general
cultural and social structures, as well as the generational aspects of
subcultures. Inspired by earlier discussions of subcultures, we will feed some of
the ideas emerging from such discussions into our exploration of two selected
subcultures.

Methodology and Research Design

Our investigation of the two cases we chose to deepen and develop our
exploration of subcultures in contemporary Western societies will be based on
interviews and research on these subcultures and on our readings of
secondary literature. Inspired by Resistance Through Rituals, we will use ideas
from this work to structure our analysis (Hall & Jefferson, 1976). In their study,
Hall and Jefferson distinguish between three aspects or analytical levels:
structures, cultures, and biographies. We will modify these aspects and adjust
them to our study. Here, structures will be used to discuss the formation of the
subculture in relation to class, societal changes, and cultural transformation.
We are inspired by the CCCS approach to subcultures, but also by post
subcultural theories that point out the importance of social media in the
formation of contemporary subcultures. Cultures will be used to explore the
symbolic and corporeal landscape of subcultures. Biographies will help us
study how individual trajectories and narratives are intertwined with and
connected to the formation of subcultures. Consequently, using interview
excerpts, we will capture how members of subcultures position and
understand their lifestyle choices and cultural community in relation to the
surrounding world.

As stated above, the present article should primarily be understood as

theoretical and explorative in nature, although it rests in part on
comprehensive empirical material gathered in different research projects on
bodybuilding and neo-Nazism by the authors over a period of several years.
Here, the empirical material is mainly used as an inspiration for our more
extensive and exploratory theoretical work. The rationale for choosing these
two case studies and examples is partly related to the authors’ research
interests, and partly to our collaborative discussions on how to theoretically
approach two—in many ways—totally different subcultures. Discovering that
there actually exist a number of similarities and homologies regarding how
these two subcultures develop, transform, and change led us on to writing this

69
article, as well as the ambition to explore possibilities of developing subcultural
theory in general.

The first subcultural case is the bodybuilding and fitness culture, and the
material used comes from a larger ethnographic study on bodybuilding and
gym culture. Thirty-two competitive bodybuilders participated in the study. The
participants were mainly Swedish, although bodybuilders from other countries,
such as the United States, also contributed their stories. This extensive empirical
material has previously been analyzed in several articles and a book
(Andreasson & Johansson, 2014).

The second case study is based on interviews from an ongoing study on

pedagogical strategies used to counteract Nazism and racism in the
classroom, and evaluation interviews from an intervention program aimed at
preventing recruitment to White power gangs. The sample consists of five
interviews with former Nazi activists (conducted from October to December
2015 in the pedagogical strategy study) and another 12 interviews conducted
in the intervention program (total 17 interviews). This is a part of an ongoing
research project, and no results have been published earlier.

In our presentation, we have no desire to try to separate the empirical

material and secondary literature from the theoretical and conceptual
frameworks. Rather we are treating and understanding our empirical material
as already saturated in theory.

Using two diverse examples of subcultures, our ambition is to develop a

theoretical and methodological understanding of and approach to
subcultures. Regarding theory, we will focus on how to approach the concept
in terms of (a) subcultures’ inner dynamics and structure, (b) dynamic relations
between subcultures and common culture, and (c) generational dynamics.
Regarding methodology, as stated earlier, we will look more closely at how
we can investigate different subcultures through (a) structures, (b) cultures,
and (c) biographies. Whereas our theoretical investigation will lead us to the
common dynamics and mechanisms in different subcultures, our
methodological exploration will open up new ways of approaching this field
of research. Our descriptions of the two subcultures will by necessity be quite
short and schematic, and our aim is not to deliver complete case studies, but
instead to indicate possible ways of writing about and presenting subcultural
transformations in contemporary society.
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Exploring Two Subcultures
From Bodybuilding to the Fitness Revolution

The idea of competent and muscular bodies found in contemporary fitness

culture can be traced back to what used to be called physical culture in the
late 19th century and to the teachings of the forefathers of bodybuilding
(Budd, 1997). As a cultural phenomenon, however, contemporary
bodybuilding is more connected to what happened in the 1970s, at Gold’s
gym, Venice Beach, California (McKenzie, 2013). In a relatively short period of
time, Gold’s Gym blossomed and developed from a small, shabby,
subcultural, and marginal gym into a 400-strong global franchise (Gaines &
Butler, 1974; Klein, 1993; Liokaftos, 2012; Luciano, 2001).

The interest in bodybuilding, workout techniques, aerobics, and fitness in

general exploded starting from the 1970s and entering into the 1980s.
Gradually, the understanding of this male dominated culture was
renegotiated, and women also became involved. There are, of course,
manifold explanations as to why this body-centered culture transformed.
Susan Jeffords situates this transformation in the historical period of Reagan
and Thatcher, war and nationalist movements.

The Reagan era was an era of bodies. From the anxieties about Reagan’s
age and the appearance of cancerous spots on his nose; to the
profitable craze in aerobics and exercise; to the molding of a former Mr.
Universe into the biggest box-office draw of the decade; to the
conservative agenda to outlaw abortion; to the identification of “value”
through an emphasis on drug use, sexuality, and child-bearing; to the
thematized aggression against persons with AIDS—these articulations of
bodies constituted the imaginary of the Reagan agenda and the site of
its materialization. (Jeffords, 1994, p. 24)

The development within bodybuilding, from the 1970s and onward, can
be interpreted as a zeitgeist and as an example of how a subcultural practice
is gradually both globalized and normalized in the common culture. The
development toward a global culture is accentuated by the mediatization of
society, and the development of a global business enterprise. During this
period of time (the 1980s and 1990s), both men and women are involved, and
previous connotations to masculine working-class bodies are gradually
replaced by a more diffuse and broad inclusion of both working- and middle-

71
class participants. This does not mean, of course, that all class and gender
distinctions have been erased from the bodybuilding culture, but merely that
from being a more exclusive sport, there has been a movement toward mass
participation in fitness. Sassatelli (2010) captured this development in the
following way:

Since the 1970s there has been a marked increase in the number of
exercise premises presenting themselves in a new guise. They have
addressed an increasingly large, mixed public. They have shifted the
notion of the gym from a sub-cultural passion to a mass leisure activity,
intertwined with pop culture. (p. 17)

During the 1980s and 1990s, there was a massive development in the gym
culture. For example, in 1991, there were 300 fitness gyms in Sweden, and
approximately 250,000 individuals exercised in these gyms, whereas at the
beginning of 1980s, gyms were few and visited primarily by a small group of
enthusiasts and bodybuilder fans. However, parallel to this development,
the reputation and popularity of bodybuilding have been negatively
affected by the increasing use of performance-/image-enhancing drugs,
and the health problems associated with so-called distorted body images.
As a consequence, bodybuilding has gradually become disconnected
from the more general development and trend of fitness gyms, and from a
conception of the gym as a place for everyone and a mass leisure activity
(Smith Maguire, 2008). This recent popularization of somewhat extreme
cultural body ideals is an interesting period of time in which the techniques
of building muscles and sculpting a perfect body were idealized, at the
same time as the people embodying these techniques—bodybuilders—
were not (Pope, Phillips, & Olivardia, 2000). One of our informants captures
this process of marginalization, in which some ideals, values, and knowledge
on how to train the body are recognized and normalized, while other
aspects of the culture are dismissed.

Well, I think it’s a subculture everywhere now. Who wants to look like a
bodybuilder? I think here in the US, especially in the organization here, we
are moving into bikini and figure competitions. They are trying to get a
little more mainstream, like men’s physique for example. Obviously, all
these foreign countries are copying what we are doing here. Especially in
European countries I think that the fit model look is much more desirable.
Look at the numbers of men’s physique and bikini competitors; they far

72
 outnumber everyone else, as far as the numbers of people participating.
But I think it’s much more tolerance here, aside from anabolic steroids that
they love to arrest people for, no one is like profiling people because they
are big, and say let’s arrest him because he must be doing something
wrong you know. In Sweden, you know they can arrest you if think you are
taking something or if you look too big. It’s really bad. (David Palumbo)

David “Dave” Palumbo is a retired American elite level bodybuilder, living in

New York. He is currently running a successful company within the
bodybuilding domain, selling supplements, and producing radio and Internet
shows covering relevant news and events from a global bodybuilding scene.
He also coaches professional bodybuilders and figure and fitness competitors
and can thus be said to have high symbolic capital within the bodybuilding
culture. Following his narrative, it becomes clear how bodybuilding has
successively been detached from a more general fitness trend.

The cultural and gradual separation between bodybuilding as a subculture

and fitness does not mean that these phenomena have become two different
activities and lifestyles. These conceptions of exercise and lifestyles are partly
disconnected from each other and partly becoming increasingly dependent
on each other. This double-edginess can also be exemplified by one of the
most influential persons in bodybuilding culture, namely, Arnold
Schwarzenegger. On one hand, after his career as a bodybuilder,
Schwarzenegger became involved in mainstream films, the Hollywood
industry, and he also became highly influential in American politics. This was
central to imbuing excessive muscularity with the hyper-visibility that presented
the bodybuilder as a figure of staggering power (Locks & Richardson, 2012).
On the other hand, at the peak of his career, Schwarzenegger was the
greatest bodybuilder competitor ever seen, and as such he was clearly
viewed, to some extent, as freakish by the standards of parts of the general
public. According to Locks and Richardson (2012), Schwarzenegger’s impact
on the culture was to introduce a postclassic aesthetic era, in which
competitive bodybuilders could no longer be compared with Greek art, which
symbolizes proportion, symmetry, and order.

It is ironic that the very person who helped provide bodybuilding with its
greatest publicity since the turn of the last century should be largely
responsible for encouraging the aesthetic that has severed professional
bodybuilding from much of its classical lineage, thereby promoting a look
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 that would ostracize it again from the mainstream that it (and
Schwarzenegger) had just been admitted to . . . Many outside
professional bodybuilding, who are not used to seeing such bodies
(particularly during periods of competition), feel that professional
bodybuilders take the ideals of bodily perfection to such an extreme that
these very attributes begin to reverse themselves. The mesomorphic body
shape, which came to be so prized in the visual discourse, has become a
“freakish” image that has shock value. (Locks & Richardson, 2012, pp. 15-
16)

Over time, bodybuilding and its status have changed and transformed. At the
beginning of the 20th century and again in the 1970s, bodybuilding attained
high status, and in certain countries, for example, the United States, it was not
at all a subculture, but rather something of a masculine mass movement.
Today, bodybuilding is often described and studied as a subculture,
associated with extreme bodies and drugs (Liokaftos, 2012; McGrath &
Chananie-Hill, 2009; Monaghan, 2001).

At the same time, bodybuilders are highly visible in common culture

(Bridges, 2009). A large number of international magazines are devoted
entirely to the art of bodybuilding. There are many books and manuals on the
market that offer training programs for bodybuilding, and through different
organizations, such as The International Federation of Bodybuilding and
Fitness (IFBB), bodybuilding has become a global enterprise and sport that
clearly extends beyond the concept of subculture. Pumping iron at the gym
certainly characterizes the lifestyle of the bodybuilder, but may also be part
of the lifestyle of the average person trying to improve his or her own health.
Moreover, elite athletes also commonly use bodybuilding techniques in their
attempts to become better at their sport and more competitive.
Consequently, although contemporary representations of bodybuilding
bodies are not unproblematic and the bodybuilder often is viewed as
something of a freak in everyday life situations, the huge muscular male and
female body, the lifestyle this body represents, the techniques used and
developed within bodybuilding, the discipline, the supplementary knowledge,
and more are also highly valued/idealized in contemporary society. This
becomes very clear when we look at the development of fitness culture in
recent decades and the techniques used to strengthen the body within
modern competitive sports. It could be argued that the freakishness of
contemporary bodybuilding might actually be better characterized as a
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societal development than a subcultural one. In sum: The fitness revolution—
evolving as a mass enterprise, washing off the stamp of the more grotesque
parts of bodybuilding culture, the drugs, and the extreme cult of the huge
muscular body—has also led in one respect to the development of a more
uniform and homogeneous global gym and fitness culture, and in another
respect to global variations in the adaptation of this culture. Parallel to this
development, however, bodybuilders today also tend to become even more
extreme, using steroids to boost their bodies, trying to reassert their positions as
subcultural and as something totally different from the fitness bodies.

From Skins and Neo-Nazi Subcultures to Neo-Conservatism

In this case study, we will follow a path stretching from the British
skinheads toward neo-Nazi subcultures and the development of right-wing
and neo-conservative political parties in contemporary Europe.

Skinhead style had its origins in South and East London’s working-class
districts in the mid- to late 1960s (Ware & Back, 2002). Brake (1974) described
skins as working-class adolescents from the poorer parts of society. The skins
perceived hippies as lazy and dirty, and they despised everything about them
(Brake, 1974). Their style was very spectacular, with Doc Marten boots,
cropped and bald hairstyles, and tight Levi jeans. According to Ware and
Back (2002), skinheadism emerged in 1969, in the backwater of social
movements such as gay rights and feminism. This style was distinguished by its
heterosexual, working-class, masculine, and aggressive symbolism. Ware and
Back claim that two maxims held this culture together: the recovery of
Englishness/Britishness and the striving for White authenticity. In the early days,
skinhead culture was characterized by a strange mixture of open racism and
nationalism and hybridity and openness to a diversity of cultural influences.

In an early study of 50 skinheads in East London, certain key values and

interests were laid out by the sociologist Mike Brake (1974):

• Toughness and violence: Skinheads seemed obsessed with violence and

a macho culture, worshiping muscles, hardness, and aggressive
behavior.
• Football: Skinheads were solid supporters of their national team, and had
a passionate attachment to their local club.

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 • Ethnocentrism: The subculture was heavily inclined to hold racist attitudes
and to despise homosexuals and others who threatened their sense of
Britishness. However, their racism was initially complex, and several
skinhead groups had Afro-Caribbean members. This changed later on,
however.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the subcultural elements of skinhead
culture converged and were drawn into the British Movement and the
National Front.

The political affiliations of skins were signified by the color of the laces worn
in their characteristic Doc Marten boots: white laces indicated support for
the National Front, and red laces attested British Movement affiliation. This
was mirrored in the musical tastes with the emergence of the postpunk
Oi! music scene with bands like Sham 69 and the Cockney Rejects, while
the National Front sponsored White Noise Music Club, set up by two key
young fascist activists, Patrick Harrington and Nick Griffin, and British Nazi
musician Ian Stuart Donaldson in 1979. (Ware & Back, 2002, p. 101)

During the 1980s and 1990s, racist skinheadism was exported to several
European countries, among them Sweden and Norway. In this transnational
diffusion and transmission of skinhead culture, two things remained intact:
nationalism and national chauvinism as well as White pride, on one hand, and
a language of racist rhetoric, on the other.

According to Fangen (1998), the right wing of the skinhead subculture has
had clear representatives in Europe and the United States since the late 1980s.
Although there are strong affiliations and connections between skinhead
culture and Nazism, there are also certain differences. The subculture harbors
aggression toward immigrants and homosexuals similar to that of Nazism, but
it differs from Nazism in its oppositional attitude toward authority. Fangen
(1998) interviewed 40 persons active in the Norwegian skinhead subculture in
the 1990s. She found, among other things, that they idealized images of past
communities and traditions. The skinheads did not celebrate ambivalence
and multitudes of identities, but instead ethnic heritage and a nostalgic
longing for stability and traditions. The fantasy world of the primarily male
skinheads is filled with rigid us-them categories, aggressions toward
immigrants, and images of themselves as warriors in a race war. Similar

76
patterns have also been found in studies of skinheads in Germany and Finland
(Perho, 2000).

In a study on ex-neo-Nazis in Scandinavia, the American sociologist

Michael Kimmel (2007) found both similarities and differences between
Scandinavian and American skinheads and neo-Nazis. The Scandinavian
adolescents—mostly young men—committed to skinhead culture during a
period of their life and used it as a rite of passage, whereas the American
skinheads were more committed to racialized ideologies. According to the
Scandinavian Skinheads who left the subculture, this had been a rite passage
for alienated and insecure adolescent males. Another difference lies in the
active and central role played by women in American groups on the far right.

According to Watts (2001), skinhead culture in the 2000s is evolving and

developing. Three types of development are visible: (a) the adaptation of
skinhead culture and values to the local and national political culture, (b) the
increased networking and internationalization of skinhead and neo-Nazi
subculture, and (c) the commercialization and commodification of skinhead
culture (Campbell, 2006; Sela-Shayovitz, 2011). To describe the development
from subculture to mainstreaming, we will look more closely at the Swedish
case.

The White power movement was established in Sweden during the early
1990s. It was a result of a blending between the traditional Nazi organizations,
the skinhead culture, and an influence from American White supremacy
ideology. The White power movement became a subculture of its own thanks
to its rituals, use of symbols, production of aesthetics, and certainly its
production of ideology. But it was never a uniform subculture, as it produced
diverse expressions within its domains and simultaneously struggled to exclude
diversity. The skinhead culture is a clear example of this. The skinheads were
an essential part of the White power culture, not least as consumers of White
power music. In this case, they were indeed needed to maintain financial
sustainability. They were also appreciated as “bodyguards” during rallies and
other forms of public manifestations. At the same time, for the more political
parts of the White power movement, they were unpredictable and
uncontrollable. Their use of violence and alcohol often resulted in an
undesired bad image for the movement (Lööw, 2002, 2015). But the aesthetics
of the skinhead culture became crucial in the early 1990s when the universal

77
formation of the White power movement recruited its followers in local
communities without these local groups having had any earlier relations with
key persons in the movement. Through the aesthetics of the skinhead culture,
newcomers found an easy and clearly understood way to portray themselves
as members of the White power movement. For some of its members, this has
been described as a passing stage in their later more profound engagement
into Nazism (Fangen, 1998). In the study mentioned earlier, Anders, a former
Nazi activist, says the following:

I first got involved in the movement via “Vikingrock” music. I approached

a guy who I knew also liked this music and he was a skinhead. So, I tried
my best to look like him, cut my hair, put on boots and a “Bomber” jacket
without more consideration than that I wanted to fit in with him and those
others should see me as connected to him and, yes, the skinhead culture.
It was only later that this brought me to a broader group of people,
skinheads but also others in the movement where I got my political
awareness and joined a Nazi party. (Anders)

There were several attempts to form a solid base for a strong attack on
the multicultural within this milieu. These efforts stretched from ideas about
armed struggles, even war, to relatively pragmatic parliamentary attempts. In
all cases, the attempts ultimately aimed at a profound change in the society,
where nationalistic and/or race hierarchies were to be reestablished. This
struggle emerged in a context where individuals were drifting between
informal social formations and organized activities and parties.

According to the former Nazi activist Anders, he and his comrades

adapted their cultural expressions to how they interpreted the context:

After my period as a skinhead and when I became more political, I also

adapted my style to the political struggle, both my clothing and behavior,
at least when we were in public. In this process I started considering how
I should behave to have maximum output when we were trying to attract
newcomers but also without losing the style that was us. (Anders)

By the end of the 1990s, the skinhead culture rapidly declined, and at the
same time, the split between the race-ideological part of the movement and
the more pragmatic parliamentary part became definitive. Until the mid-
1990s, the Swedish Democratic Party (SD) frequently used skinheads as
“bodyguards,” but this ceased during the second half of the 1990s. In the
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skinhead culture as well as the White power movement as a whole, it was
common to see this change as a betrayal on the part of the SD. The definitive
break between the pragmatic parliamentary groups and the White power
movement was strongly related to the latter groups’ experiences of their
inability to reach out to people outside the current movement (Lööw, 2015).
This break was completed on an organization level before the turn of the
millennium, but it is clear that, within the White power movement, there is still
positive identification with the later success of the SD. The leading Nazi
organization in Sweden, “The Nordic Resistance Movement,” held a poll on
their web page after the parliamentary election of 2014. They asked readers
whether or not the growing support for the SD would benefit the Swedish
people, and of the 1,144 responses, more than 60% felt it would (“The Question
of the Week,” 2014). This, together with similar polls and articles in the White
power media, is only an indication of the still lasting relations or identifications
between the former comrades from the late 1980s or early 1990s.

To understand the current political structure of the SD, it is crucial to look

beyond the development of organizations and ideologies within the
contemporary history of the extreme right. The SD has emerged from a
subcultural context that depends on the White power movement, where they
share the experience of a continuous struggle between defining a position
and achieving social and political recognition. Today SD has become
normalized and gradually a part of the democratic system, whereas some of
their earlier affiliates—as for example, The Nordic Resistance Movement—
have become radicalized and gradually more militant and extreme.

Conclusion and Discussion

The mass media present deviants as oddities that are seen as disrupting the
orderly universe. Their contra-cultural values and behavior are described using
lurid details, thus reassuring the reader that normality exists—that ordinary,
decent, everyday values are intact. It was in this way that the racism found
throughout English society was perceived and reported as the idiosyncratic
behavior of a small group of violent teenagers, attributing racist and anti-
homosexual beliefs. The appertaining of racism and homosexuality to a small
group missed the fact that these attitudes were widely spread throughout all
classes of political climate. At the same time, it indicated to skinheads in the
provinces that, in order to be a righteous skinhead, you had to attack
Pakistanis, homosexuals and hippies. (Brake, 1974, p. 194)

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 In his classic study on skinheads, Mike Brake strongly emphasized the bridges
and connections between subcultural processes, expressions, values, and
styles and the similar sentiments and values existing in society at large. In the
present article, we have discussed the concept of subculture, on one hand,
and applied and elaborated on this discussion in relation to two carefully
selected examples of subcultures, on the other. Ours is primarily an explorative
study, aimed at extending and developing ideas on how subcultures and
subcultural processes connect and support more general societal and cultural
transformations. In addition, we also want to point out possible ways of
methodologically exploring subcultural phenomena.

Regarding theory, our ambition has been to reconnect to the CCCS and
the concept of subcultures. However, we also wish to use insights and
theoretical developments from post subcultural theories. Instead of looking at
subcultures as fluid and as in constant transition, we focus on the relation
between subcultural styles and values and societal and cultural
transformations. Looking at the two present case studies, it is obvious that there
are bridges and connections between the values and opinions cultivated
within the subcultural framework and more general sociocultural and political
developments in society.

Exploring the relation between subcultures and the mainstreaming of

certain values, opinions, and practices, we can see how subcultural values
and sentiments tend to turn into more accepted and normalized ways of
relating to the body, health, and politics. Deviance is turned into “normality,”
and although some parts and contents of subcultures are toned down, core
points and values are extracted and generalized. Bodybuilding has
transformed into fitness, but the core values of hard bodies, muscle training,
health, and asceticism are highly present in the fitness culture, as well as in
more common and dominant sociocultural patterns in, for example, Sweden
and the United States. What is interesting here is the process through which
common culture is gradually widened and, in some sense, incorporates
particular lifestyle attributes and values.

However, the process of normalization does not mean that the complete
subcultural content is incorporated and swallowed up. Rather there is some
discrimination regarding what kind of subcultural content can leak out of the
subcultural milieu and be absorbed. Body techniques, discipline, and

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knowledge about how to transform the body are being incorporated into
fitness culture, and consequently being transformed, marketed, and
commercialized. At the same time, certain bodies are framed as too extreme,
connected to unhealthy lifestyles, to drugs, and to narcissism, thus being
marginalized from the more public domains of fitness culture. In a similar vein,
the core values and sentiments of skinhead and right-wing subcultures—
xenophobia and nationalism—are currently becoming part of the political
culture in many European countries. At the same time, xenophobia and
nationalism are often framed in terms of racism and, thereby, excluded from
the public culture.

When addressing questions regarding subcultures, we often immediately

think about young people and youth culture. If we study contemporary
subcultures, it becomes apparent that there are strong intergenerational
connections and roots in previous subcultural formations. Many leading
profiles are middle-aged or older. To study subcultures, we need to
contextualize and investigate both the complex and contradictory structure
and content of these “cultures,” as well as the hierarchical relations involved
in organizing subcultures.

Regarding methodology, we can also draw some conclusions from the

present exploratory study. First, subcultures should be positioned in relation to
certain societal transformations. Subcultural expressions and styles become
significant and worth studying when they are situated in particular historical
periods of time and in relation to societal changes affecting the balance
between what is subcultural and what is “common.” Reading the cultural level
in relation to these fundamental societal changes also leads us to interesting
analyses of how the more ephemeral aspects of subcultures—such as styles,
clothes, values, and artifacts—can be understood as parts of more general
transformations in society. Listening to voices, narratives, and expressions of
desire at the biographical level also directs us to micro transformations of the
subjective content in subcultures and in society.

Although our ambition has not been to compare the two subcultures, or to
include them in a more elaborated analysis of contemporary society, in the
next step, there is, of course, a possibility to start mapping out a more general
understanding on how different contemporary subcultures connect both to
each other and to more general transformations in society. Subcultures speak

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to us, signal changes, and disturb our understanding of what is “normal” versus
“deviant” in troubling ways. Using subcultures as seismographs, we can gain
new insights into the interplay between the subversive and the “normal,” and
also sharpen our theoretical tools and possibilities of studying social and
cultural change.

Bodybuilding

Although bodybuilding is broadly defined as “the use of weight training

in order to improve the muscularity of the body,” bodybuilders recognize that
those who take this sport and turn it into a lifestyle – a community even – would
more likely self-identify as bodybuilders rather than would the average gym-
goer (Dutton & Laura, 1989). That being said, bodybuilding constitutes a wide
spectrum of those who self-identify as bodybuilders but just work out locally to
those who compete in national and international competitions. The main
factor that separates average gym-goers from bodybuilders however, is the
active interest in achieving a specific muscular bodily aesthetic, rather than
focusing on health or sport (Denham, 2007).

Body building seemed to start with the life of the Prussian Eugen Sandow
(1867- 1925). Sandow’s performances. Sandow first garnered the title of
“World’s Strongest Man” when he began showcasing his strength as its own
novel vaudeville act. However, his act soon took an aesthetic turn.
Performances transformed into him entering a “glass booth, and perform[ing]
a series of muscular poses to a musical accompaniment,” (Dutton & Laura,
1989). Sandow’s shows represented the intersection of three main pillars in
bodybuilding: the Studio, the Platform, and the Gym (Dutton & Laura, 1989).
However, although Sandow’s role in the conjunction of these components
was novel, these three elements themselves were far from new.

Eugen Sandow posing on a platform (Wikimedia Commons)

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 Greek God Poseidon sculpture in Copenhagen (Wikimedia Commons)

Historically, the human form has been a core depiction in and across art
forms. In Ancient Greece, for instance, artists were mostly concerned with
muscularity, as their Gods were often depicted in this light. People, then,
strived to look like these figures, as they represented “supreme energy”
(Dutton & Laura, 1989). This representation of the perfect form persisted
through to the advent of photography, where, for artistic and even erotic
purposes, people began consuming and observing bodies on a larger scale.
Additionally, during and after the Industrial Revolution, exercise became
popularized now that those in cities were working sedentary jobs. Accessible
gym membership became a symptom of leisure time and an age of invention.
The bodybuilding subculture has evolved tremendously over the years. The
number of gyms has increased and consequently membership has become
more accessible. Internet access has also led to a rapid and borderless sharing
of ideas. With these changes, bodybuilding has simultaneously become
increasingly intensive and commercial. The bodybuilding subculture has
shifted into a global competitive sphere, created a universal culture of its own
out of the physical gym space, led to conventions around the world, and
forged its own rulebook on a way of life. Eugen Sandow organized the first
small scale bodybuilding contest in 1901 (Heffernan, 2015). Now there are
several organizations that hold national and international competitions, for
example International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness’ Mr.
Olympia, the largest competition in the world.

Competitors pictured on the 2008 Mr. Olympia stage (Eddie Maloney, Flikr)
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 Such intense competition created a massive wave of anabolic
steroid use in the subculture. Denham writes, “At the elite level, bodybuilding
is saturated with drug use, and steroids are just the first item on a menu that
would astonish most pharmacists.” Many hardcore bodybuilders justify steroid
use as a legitimate means to an ideal end, where partaking in illegal behavior
and the risk of changes in health and hormonal balance are deemed a small
price to pay (Monaghan, 2002). Other common behaviors and tactics besides
weight lifting and illegal drug use also permeate the subcultural sphere. One
bodybuilder equates her excitement upon entering a supplement store to
being a “kid in a candy shop” (Munchies, 2015). Additionally, bodybuilders
consider dietary practices, called “bulking and cutting” – eating heavy
amounts during an offseason and heavily restricting calorie intake around the
time of competitions – standard for those who compete. Some bodybuilders
also engage in “dirty bulking,” a method used to gain weight quickly, which
considered solely caloric intake rather than overall health year-round (Evans,
2017). However, this behavior is again risky, as it does not involve the
consideration of macronutrients paired with heavy exercise (Lambert, Frank,
& Evans, 2004).

Many bodybuilders make ad store high protein dishes, as pictured in this “meal prep”
photo (Pixabay)

Although the bodybuilding subculture has bounced back and forth in

the dominant culture’s eyes on a scale of how deviant it is considered, the
extremities involved in the lifestyle as well as the aesthetic it glorifies have
always been considered deviant (Johansson, Andreasson, & Mattsson, 2017).
Although physical fitness is seen as a positive attribute in mainstream culture,
bodybuilders are often looked upon as narcissistic, vain, and superficial. Most
are also stereotyped as “gym rats” and drug abusers. There are also behaviors
deemed deviant by the dominant culture that characterize certain groups of
individuals within the scene such as hustling – the “selling of sexual favors by
bodybuilders to gay men” (Klein, 1989), as well as of course illicit steroid use
(Monaghan, 2002).

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 Powerlifter Vikki Traugot (www.af.mil)

This extremely deviant and risky behavior has led to some schisms within
the subculture. For instance, those who partake in weightlifting as a sport,
rather than an esteemed bodily aesthetic and wholly consuming lifestyle,
consider themselves to be “powerlifters” – and they make sure to be known
as such (Denham, 2007). Additionally, there is a distinction between natural
and professional bodybuilding in which natural bodybuilders refrain from using
narcotic enhancements (World Natural Bodybuilding Federation). Most
recently, bodybuilding has become popularized and wider spread through
social media. For example, professional and amateur bodybuilders use
YouTube and Instagram to share their “gains” and obtain a following. Some
even connect and sign onto brand deals with fitness and bodybuilding
companies to promote their products to their fan-base (Chan, 2016).
a
Gender and Bodybuilding
Gender plays a massive role in the bodybuilding subculture. The purpose of
bodybuilding is is to achieve the “ultimate” form, and for men that implies
simulating the most “manly,” muscular, representations of the male form. For
a lot of men, bodybuilding means taking that to the extreme, but it also
requires conformity, especially as the community holds certain individuals in
the most prestige, and competitions reinforce ideals per each sex. The
interesting caveat to achieving a hyper-masculine form is the role that
anabolic steroid use plays. Men use these drugs, and they are accepted in
the community, in order to increase one’s masculine traits through muscle, but
often excessive, long term use can lead to a decrease in testosterone levels
and androgenic side effects, such as a high pitched voice, or genitalia
development (Denham, 2007). Additionally, the “boy’s club” mentality that
the bodybuilding community and the gym space foster leads to a very toxic
expression of masculinity that endorses emotionlessness and particularly
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sexism. There is a marginalization of women in gyms and competitions, and
there even exist different categories for women to compete in called “bikini
contests,” that have little to do with muscle mass and a lot more to do with
the perfection of the “feminine” form, dictated by the competitions. Women
in bodybuilding often face stereotypes of being too manly – especially while
partaking in steroid use – as well as sexual harassment due to their fetishization
(McGrath & Chananie-Hill, 2009). The interesting thing, however, is that
through similar training and diet plans, as well as steroid use, women and men
in the bodybuilding community exist in relative hormone homogeneity.
Homophobia and Homoeroticism
As mentioned in the Gender and Bodybuilding section, a relatively
homogenous standard of masculine representation is a core tenet in the
bodybuilding subculture. An important part to adhering to this status comes
through homophobic tendencies. Hyper-masculine performance, for
bodybuilders, exists, in part, to counter the possibility of homosexuality.
Especially in the face of the androgenic side effects of steroid use, men often
cling to their sexualities. However, several ironies exist in this heterosexual
doctrine. Magazine covers and websites’ representations of men in
bodybuilding are often homoerotic. Additionally, for bodybuilders in need of
money in the very competitive industry, “hustling” – or same sex sexual favors
in exchange for money – or participation in gay pornography are viable
options to make a quick buck (Klein, 1989).

Mental Health and Bigorexia

Bigorexia, or muscle dysmorphia, is defined as the obsession with being
inadequately muscular. Signs and symptoms of this disorder include spending
disproportionately long amounts of time in the gym, excessive spending on
sports supplements, abnormal eating patterns, or substance abuse (Mosley,
2008). Due to the strict and high standards that bodybuilders hold themselves
to, and the intense competition they face in bodybuilding contest, they are
seen by medical professionals and scholars as being at a higher risk for these
behaviors.

What is formal deviant over-conformity and how does it relate to

performance enhancing substances in Body Building?

How could deviancy apply to bodybuilding you may ask? Well

Bodybuilding is seen as being deviant by virtue of its practitioners’ behaviors.
If an athlete – either amateur or elite decides to take a substance to gain any
type of advantage, he or she is often looked down on and is seen as a
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cheater. The arguments for the substance usage are often ignored and is still
deemed as behavior against what is expected or classed as normal. In my
opinion I would consider the motivational drive for taking the PES first before
judging the athlete or user. If the drive is to get girls or to just look good, I would
despise of it, as there is great danger with them and there is no future plan set
out. Whereas if an athlete sees themselves having a career in bodybuilding
and has a great passion for the sport and aims to be the best because others
in the sport are also taking it, I would be more accepting of it. If they want to
compete, get sponsored and do photo shoots and modeling for a living and
have done research, knows what they are doing and have medical
supervision I would be more okay with it as they have put a lot of thought into
their future.

Firstly, what is deviant over-conformity? Deviance itself refers to a

person’s behavior that defies social expectations or social norms, that are
made and enforced by people with influence (power) and have been
applied to particular people or groups in particular situations. When regarding
a normally accepted range of action, over-conformity would refer to
deviance that is based on accepting and conforming to norms without
question where the actions, traits and ideas of athletes and coaches involves
such an extreme conformity that they perform “supra-normal” actions and
potentially endanger themselves and others.

Over conformity

Deviant over-conformity is often seen through the dedication of

bodybuilders and the commitment to the norms of training and competition.
An easier way to understand this, is to ask yourself if you have ever been so
consumed in a sport or activity to the extent that you negatively affected
significant others, work responsibilities, or your physical health? This is where
the usage of performance enhancing substances (PES) come into play. What
are PES might you ask? In the bodybuilding world they are substances that are
bad, controlled and banned. Common types are anabolic steroids derived
from the hormone testosterone and pep-tides which triggers initiation points
for the body to release Human Growth Hormone (HGH). Some athletes will do
anything to be the best sportsperson they can be, and to win at all cost, by
over-training and cheating to win. Taking PES is an example of formal deviant
over-conformity. Formal meaning that there is rules and regulations that have
been set by international bodies, and if broken there will be punishment. For
example: Lose your sponsorship, and suspension from your sport (
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/sports-medicine-and-drugs/page-3).

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 However, they are not only taken at an elite level. There are now many
teens in New Zealand that are taking PES. What are the common motivations
for these teens to take PES? I watched an interesting clip from TV3 news on
young teenagers experimenting with PES. Their main drives were; to get girls,
compete on stage, appearance, body shape, to get respect, feel more
comfortable with their body image, and for the sport. These days self-image
issues tend to surpass any future plans they might have and is becoming a real
issue. It’s short-term thinking; all they want to do is get big. These teens don’t
think long term. It’s usually all about ego and vanity without any sort of future.
(http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=1086
6731)

I was quite shocked when I saw in the article above that a couple from
my gym was banned for taking illegal steroids. It just shows that it is becoming
more common in New Zealand commercialized gyms that steroid users are
just jumping from gym to gym when all they care about is getting buff with big
egos and vanity. They seem to just do it to get approval from others, and grab
their attention. How is not being healthy and fit not enough? At least with a
good diet and regular exercise schedule it encourages a long healthy life, isn’t
that what gyms are for? But with usage of these banned substances New
Zealanders will just keep encouraging others in gyms. It reduces Your life span,
and there are major health risks and side effects. It needs to be stopped; it is
not worth it.

Here is another interesting TV one video on how easily PES are accessed.
It gave me a good insight to what’s out there and what is being done to
prevent the use of banned substances through an interview with chief
executive of Drug Free Sport New Zealand Graeme Steel. What are your
thoughts on them? Do you think enough is being done to combat PES usage?
What would you suggest could be done?

Drug Free Sport New Zealand chief executive Graeme Steel said he
received regular reports that suggested the use of PES was growing within the
recreational arena. Some of the country’s leading gyms were at the heart of
the problem, he said. Gyms are certainly the meeting point for it. Some gyms,
and I’m not saying all of them, are just like the wild west out there – it’s just
anything goes,’’ Steel said
(http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/10494283/Steroids-loom-as-risk-for-
NZ-teens)

So, what is being done to prevent this? A gym with concerns about the
issue approached Drug free sport and they had initiated a response that it was
hoped could be passed on to other gyms. It was about gyms getting their

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members to understand issues and agree to a code of conduct, and to report
any use of drugs.

(http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/8328920/Drug-Free-Sport-NZ-mulls-
high-school-testing)

This proves that bodybuilding is socially constructed. Teens and athletes

are interacting with different social systems, such as social media. It shows in
the video links above that Bodybuilders manipulate their bodies according to
social and cultural dictates. Bodybuilding is thought by some, to help insecure
men assert their masculinity. As it allows for greater physical and psychological
self-control, and aesthetic value, bodybuilding enabled the respondents to
construct a superior self-identity that was premised upon western cultural
ideals of hyper-masculinity to portray power, authority and domination.

PES in bodybuilding seen through Critical theoretical lens, tends to

neglect it’s benefits and only focuses on negative behaviors. This theory
portrays that norm are accepted uncritically. They are taken for granted and
followed without limits, in order to do anything to win, be the best, compete
at the ultimate level and the thinking is, they are doing it, so I need to be as
well for it to be fair, in order to have an equal chance at being the best. Norms
are socially constructed through interactions and gets messy because there is
power with them. They are accepted and okay with them just because others
are doing it in their sport. This way of thinking through social interaction is
affecting the way athletes behave in society. Athletes and even children will
think if someone else is doing something its okay. Drug free sport has an
interactive tool for young athletes to educate them about PES as socialization
at an early age through social media, parents, peers, subcultures, and
coaches is vital in establishing social norms and not going against them. In this
lens not all users are helpless victims of exploitative coaches/trainers etc
however coaches and trainers who push the sport ethic without question may
indirectly encourage the use of PES. Usually at top levels there isn’t a single
athlete that will not have a coach and will use some form of medical
supervision.

Why is formal deviant over-conformity seen in bodybuilding and how are

norms assigned with the sport ethic established? Mainly due to their
commitment and dedication to the norms of the sport ethic. These norms are
that an athlete is dedicated to the game above all else, proven by sacrifices
and attitude, the athlete strives for distinction, he or she accepts risks and plays
through pain as winning and breaking records is symbolic. Finally, the athlete
accepts no limits in the pursuit of possibilities. The athletes live and obey by
such norms to an extreme extent when referring to over-conformity. The

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reason for which they live and obey by these norms can be looked upon
through three perspectives. For one, the athlete is passionate and find their
experiences in the sport exciting that they want to live and participate for as
long as possible. Secondly, there is the sociological belief in bodybuilding or
subculture that the best way to gain respect from your peers is to over-
conform to the sport ethic. Finally, when athletes over-conform to the norms
of sport ethic, they are more likely to be selected for sponsorship deals. Those
who show deviant over-conformity are often appraised by coaches and are
made role models and looked up to within a sponsor.

Is Bodybuilding a Deviant Sport? – David Robson

As bodybuilders we like to think that our chosen sport reflects who we are
and the attributes of which we are blessed: strength, commitment, discipline,
courage, passion and sacrifice. After all, does bodybuilding not require all of
these things?

Indeed, working hard and sacrificing many of life’s “pleasures” to reach

specifically predicated goals requires strength of character unparalleled in
many other sports. And this is just the non-competitive bodybuilder.

A competitive bodybuilder must balance many things to reach their

physical targets while maintaining perspective if they desire to be
psychologically and spiritually healthy also.

On the surface, bodybuilding seems a productive and worthwhile

pursuit, eliciting a diversity of benefits such as improved strength, aerobic
fitness, sound nutritional framework, confidence and low body-fat levels.
Below the surface, however, many argue that bodybuilding, and bodybuilders
by virtue of their involvement in bodybuilding, are deviant.

A deviant person is said to deviate from what is considered acceptable

behavior in their particular social setting.

How could deviancy apply to bodybuilding, a seemingly non-

problematic sport, you may well ask. This question has been debated in the
sociological literature for some time, and the consensus among many
sociologists is that bodybuilding is deviant by virtue of its practitioners
behaviors (Weigers, 1998; Klein, 1986, 1993, 1995; Marzano-Parisoli 2001; Pope
& Katz, 1987).

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 In fact, academics who view bodybuilding through an extremely
critical theoretical lens, tend to deny its benefits while focusing solely on the
negative behaviors of a chosen few. Other academics, who chose to
implement a more feministic lens, tend to portray bodybuilding as a male
dominated sport, which perpetuates ideologies of masculinity and, in turn,
reinforces hegemonic masculinity (derived from the patriarchal premise: the
male of the species being in a position of power).

The Bodybuilding Sub-Culture & The Problems Therein

From 1979 to 1986, researcher Alan Klein investigated the competitive

bodybuilding culture of four major Californian gyms. His findings, and
subsequent articles (1986, 1993, 1995) based on these findings, assert that
bodybuilders tend to be a sub-culture of insecure, steroid using, narcissistic,
deviants.

He also emphasized homosexuality (hustling as it is, and was, called)

and femi-phobia as being prevalent among the bodybuilders he witnessed.
"Bodybuilders are neurotically insecure and engage in a futile search for a
hyper-masculine body image," said Klein. His studies, among others, have
been used widely to campaign against the "problematic" nature of
bodybuilding.

These studies I believe, are fundamentally flawed as they are used out
of context and do not account for the vast majority of bodybuilders, who
enjoy tangible and intrinsic benefits for their gym efforts. Mekolichick (2001),
in fact, found, in her quantitative study into bodybuilding behavior that, on
the whole, bodybuilders do have very high levels of self-esteem and to live
successful, productive lives.

Granted, there probably are a number of bodybuilders who engage in

what could be described as physiologically and physically dangerous
behaviors - namely obsessive behavior of which muscle dysmorphia might
result, and excessive steroid use, possibly stemming from obsessive behaviors.
These behaviors should be viewed in perspective, not in a biased,
uninformed way, and bodybuilding's many positive aspects should be
promoted.

Klein places much of his focus on steroid use and claims that the
discussed problems stem largely from this use. The question that has to be
asked is: how many bodybuilders do in fact use steroids? Most don't and
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enjoy near perfect health. Of the ones that do most of these are probably
not even aware that such stereotyping exists and probably go about life
normally, albeit with a much larger musculature.

Klein, in his article "Life's Too Short to Die Small" says "the bodybuilding
complex depicts an insecure man, one filled with self-doubts about himself:
his gender, his ability to be valued and loved by friends and family. And
hiding behind a formidable looking fortress that he fashioned he can
simultaneously hope to feel impervious to slights and doubts as well as take
pride in something accomplished".

This does little to paint a realistic picture of the bodybuilder and one has
to question Klein's motives on these points.

A Socially Constructed Body?

Marzano-Parisoli says that bodybuilders can be likened to anorexic

persons in that they may be seen as "victims" of the extreme control of their
bodies and of the contemporary construction of an ideal body image. This
again marginalizes bodybuilders as deviant, fighters against societies norms.

Compare the physiques of a young Marlon Brando vs a young Brad Pitt.

The natural body, according to Marzano-Parisoli, is seen among

bodybuilders as imperfect. "Bodybuilders manipulate their bodies according
to social and cultural dictates," she said. Bodybuilding to my mind will, on the
contrary, transform one’s physique into something able to function at an
optimal level with improved circulation, strength, bone-density and, as an
added bonus, a symmetrically pleasing appearance. Let’s face it. Aside
from the negative health effects, who would actually want to look
overweight.

Cultural norms aside, how functional is a weak, overweight body. Can

an overweight person, or someone with limited muscular strength,

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experience life to the fullest? Of course not. Making the most of one’s
biggest asset, their body, should be a number one priority.

Bodybuilding is thought, by some, to help insecure men assert their

masculinity. White and Gillett (1994) for example say, "bodybuilding is a
response to a crisis in masculinity". Based on a study she undertook, Weigers
similarly says, "by its promise of greater physical and psychological self-
control, and aesthetic value, bodybuilding enabled the respondents to
construct a superior self-identity that was premised upon Western cultural
ideals of hyper-masculinity including power, authority and domination".
Again, bodybuilding is shown as a deviant activity, worthy of condemnation.

Feminists have critiqued bodybuilding heavily justifying this critiquing through

a perceived disruption in power balances; the male displaying dominant
traits while the female, unable to challenge these biological realities,
becomes further suppressed.

However, the very existence of female bodybuilders and other female

strength athletes, calls into question these assertions. Women indeed can be
strong and powerful but their biology dictates exactly how strong and
powerful.

It is getting harder and harder for Men to use muscles as a way of separating
them.

Due to testosterones (a male sex hormone responsible for masculine

traits: muscle, deep voice, aggression etc.) influence, men typically will be
more muscular and powerful in a physical sense.

Bodybuilding just intensifies what biology dictates. And again, what is

wrong with having a fully functional, good looking and healthy body.

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Conclusion

Bodybuilding has been looked upon by sociologist academics as a

sport on the margins of what is acceptable and right. The sheer size of many
bodybuilders could be considered abnormal, perhaps, but this is really the
only comparatively deviant aspect to bodybuilding.

Conventional wisdom would tell us that bodybuilding is beneficial in many

ways.

Weightlifting & Eating Well Will Improve:

• Cardiovascular Health
• Bone Density
• Strength
• Power
• Insulin Receptivity
• And more...

End of Module 3

Learning Activity/ Assessment:

1. For your own opinion, does body building for females is a deviant act or
is it normal?
2. How does Gender play a massive role in the bodybuilding subculture?

94
 SIBUGAY TECHNICAL INSTITUTE INCORPORATED
Lower Taway, Ipil, ZamboangaSibugay
www.sibugaytech.edu.ph
E-Mail Address: [email protected]
Telefax: (062) 333-2469
Mobile No. 09184873846 / 09177073044

LEARNER’S MODULE
 SUBJECT: Social Deviation and Social Work
 COVERAGE: MIDTERM COVERAGE
 WEEK: 8-9
 LESSON 1: History of Code of Ethics and Integrated theory of Crime General Strain Theory in
Criminal Justice
 Lesson Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
• Identify the History of Code of Ethics of Social Work, its functions and its importance

• Learn the Integrated theory of Crime General Strain Theory in Criminal Justice

• Value the importance and functions of criminal justice

The Code of Ethics in Social Work

A code of ethics provides the general guidelines to action of any given
discipline. This should not be looked upon as a book of rules which can be
used as a substitute for personal decision-making. A code of ethics needs the
backing of a professional association which make it meaningful and effective.

A code of ethics must aim at combining a meaningful and acceptable

base of professional accountability and to provide the necessary framework
within which ongoing discussions about moral issues can take place. A
professional code of conduct which entails greater demands on the
development of integrity and professional maturity of those who subscribe to
it.

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 Code of Ethics for Social Workers
Philippine Association of Social Workers

We believe in the inherent dignity and worth of all men.

We believe that every man has natural and social rights, capacities
and responsibilities to develop his full potentials as a human being.

We believe that the government and the people have a joint

responsibility to promote social well-being of all people.

We believe in free men living freely in a free society where poverty is

neither a fate nor a punishment but is a condition that can and must be
changed.

We are committed to the development of the highly fulfilled human

beings in an atmosphere of social equity and economic prosperity.

We are committed to seek a higher quality of life for all people.

We bind ourselves in the following principles of conduct.

The Social worker shall endeavor to contribute his utmost to nation-

building.

The social worker shall give paramount importance to the well-being of

those whom he helps.

The social worker shall accept with respect and understanding clients,
colleges and all those who come within his sphere of professional
activity.

The social worker shall engage in social action which according to his
convictions will further the best interests of the people and country.

The social worker shall create, and/or avail of opportunities for

continuing professional growth.

The social worker shall at all times conduct himself in accordance with
the standards of the social work profession.

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 Revised Code of Ethics for Social Workers
(Explanation of Principles)
PRINCIPLE 1. “We believe in the inherent dignity and worth of all men.”

The fundamental values and principles of social work are based on the
belief that all men have dignity and worth of human beings. This belief imposes
a moral obligation to uphold human dignity above all other considerations. In
all his actions, the social worker must be guided by this principle of respect for
persons be they his clients, colleagues, employers and other people.
This belief obliges the social worker to act positively in changing sub-
human conditions which are offensive to human dignity.

PRINCIPLE 2. “We believe that every man has natural and social rights,
capacities, and responsibilities to develop his full potentials as a human
being.”

Because man has human dignity, he has human rights and capacities as
well as responsibilities to advance toward higher goals worthy of his dignity.
These human rights, responsibilities, capacities, and potentialities must be
recognized, accepted and respected by others. The social worker is guided
by the belief that all those whom they serve have the right to self-
determination, participation, and opportunity for self-fulfillment

PRINCIPLE 3. “We believe that the government and the people have a joint
responsibility to promote social justice, and to ensure the economic and social
well-being of all people.”

This principle is premised on the belief that the government and the
people are jointly responsible and can effectively create the necessary
condition for a just and humane society. Social justice and social security are
given emphasis to ensure the complete well-being, dignity and total
development of all citizens.

PRINCIPLE 4. “We believe in free men living freely in a free society where
poverty is neither a fate nor a punishment but is a condition that can and must
be changed.”

Within our culture, poverty is fate or God’s will and also as a form of
punishment, so if we operate under the above philosophy that poverty is a
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condition that should be changed, all social welfare programs should be
geared towards the eradication of poverty and this concept should be deeply
ingrained in each and every social worker.
We believe in freedom where the rights of others do not conflict with the
general welfare of society.

PRINCIPLE 5: “We are committed to the development of the highly fulfilled

human beings in an atmosphere of social equity and economic prosperity.”

We believe in a society which permits human beings to fulfill themselves

in whatever manner that befits their dignity and freedom as individuals.

PRINCIPLE 6: “We are committed to seek a higher quality of life for all people.”

Social justice as the basis for human development is giving each one his
due as social and human beings and as members of society with the rights to
live and enjoy the gifts of nature, the right to preserve his human worth and
dignity and to be free from poverty and want. In this way the individual
improves his quality of life.

PRINCIPLE 7: “The Social worker shall endeavor to contribute his utmost to

nation-building.”

This principle calls for more conscious effort on the part of the social
worker to align social work goals to national development goals. Great efforts
must be exerted to participate in bringing about internal and external
changes in order to achieve nationalism, modernization and democracy.

PRINCIPLE 8: “The social worker shall give paramount importance to the well-
being of those whom he helps.”

Following his beliefs and commitment, the social worker is bound to the
principle of preference for the welfare of his clients but not to the detriment of
his physical and mental health. It is presumed that there can be no conflict
among client agency and professional interest.

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PRINCIPLE 9: “The social worker shall accept with respect and understanding
clients, colleges and all those who come within his sphere of professional
activity.”

In all his human relations, the social worker shall always be respectful and
accepting of all persons regardless of creed, race or political beliefs. He
maintains an open mind and is available to the people who seeks his help.

PRINCIPLE 10: “The social worker shall engage in social action which
according to his convictions will further the best interests of the people and
country.”

The best interests of the people and the nation require the involvement
of social workers in social reforms and other forms of social action in order to
effect positive changes. At all times, the worker must respect the dignity and
rights of all concerned as he works for changes or advocates for clients’ rights.

PRINCIPLE 11: “The social worker shall create, and/or avail of opportunities for
continuing professional growth.”

The social work profession demands professional competence which is

required through formal education and continuing professional education
through various forms. The social worker keeps himself abreast with current
situations and new modes of interventions relevant to the times.

PRINCIPLE 12. “The social worker shall at all times conduct himself in
accordance with the standards of the social work profession.”

The standards of the social work profession consist of government

provisions regulating the practice of social work such as R.A. 4373 and their
amendments, the Code of Ethics for social workers and the simple rule of
courtesy. The social worker is expected to be guided by the true spirit of
service to humanity.

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History of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
Code of Ethics
• NASW’s Delegate Assembly approved the first edition of the NASW
Code of Ethics on October 13, 1960. Since then, the Code has
emerged as the standard bearer for defining the values and principles
that guide social workers’ conduct in all practice areas.
• With the latest revision in August 2017, today’s Code is used as a model
for social work practice across the United States and worldwide. It has
been adopted by many organizations and incorporated into a number
of state social work licensing laws

The Original NASW Code of Ethics

▪ NASW’s Delegate Assembly approved the first edition of the NASW

Code of Ethics on October 13, 1960.
▪ It defined the social work profession and the responsibilities of the
social worker.
▪ It outlined fourteen responsibilities for social workers.

CODE OF ETHICS

(Adopted by the Delegate Assembly of the National Association of Social

Workers, October 13, 1960)

Social work is based on humanitarian, democratic ideals. Professional

social workers are dedicated to service for the welfare of mankind; to the
disciplined use of a recognized body of knowledge about human beings and
their interactions; and to the marshaling of community resources to promote
the well-being of all without discrimination.

Social work practice is a public trust that requires of its practitioner’s

integrity, compassion, belief in the dignity and worth of human beings, respect
for individual differences, a commitment to service, and a dedication to truth.
It requires mastery of a body of knowledge and skill gained through
professional education and experience. It requires also recognition of the
limitations of present knowledge and skill and of the services we are now
equipped to give. The end sought is the performance of a service with integrity
and competence.

100
 Each member of the profession carries responsibility to maintain and
improve social work service; constantly to examine, use, and increase the
knowledge upon which practice and social policy are based; and to develop
further the philosophy and skills of the profession.

This Code of Ethics embodies certain standards of behavior for the social
worker in his professional relationships with those he serves, with his colleagues,
with his employing agency, with other professions, and with the community. In
abiding by the code, the social worker views his obligations in as wide a
context as the situation requires, takes all of the principles into consideration,
and chooses a course of action consistent with the code’s spirit and intent.

As a member of the National Association of Social Workers, I commit

myself to conduct my professional relationships in accord with the code and
subscribe to the following statements:

• I regard as my primary obligation the welfare of the individual or group

served which includes action for improving social condition.
• I give precedence to my professional responsibility over my personal
interests.
• I hold myself responsible for the quality and extent of the service I
perform.
• I respect the privacy of the people I serve.
• I use in a responsible manner information gained in professional
relationships.
• I treat with respect the findings, views, and actions of colleagues, and
use appropriate channels to express judgement on these matters.
• I practice social work within the recognized knowledge and
competence of the profession.
• I recognize my professional responsibility to add my ideas and findings to
the body of social work knowledge and practice.
• I accept responsibility to help protect the community against unethical
practice by any individuals or organizations engaged in social welfare
activities.
• I stand ready to give appropriate professional service in public
emergencies.
• I distinguish clearly, in public, between my statements and actions as an
individual and as a representative of an organization.
• I support the principle that professional practice requires professional
education.
• I accept responsibility for working toward the creation and maintenance
of conditions within agencies which enable social workers to conduct
themselves in keeping with this code.
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 • I contribute my knowledge, skills, and support to programs of human
welfare.

The First Revision

▪ The first revision of the original 1960 Code occurred in 1967, when a
principle was added to address non-discrimination.

CODE OF ETHICS

(Adopted by the Delegate Assembly of the National Association of Social

Workers, October 13, 1960, and amended April 11, 1967)

Social work is based on humanitarian, democratic ideals. Professional

social workers are dedicated to service for the welfare of mankind; to the
disciplined use of a recognized body of knowledge about human beings and
their interactions; and to the marshaling of community resources to promote
the well-being of all without discrimination.

Social work practice is a public trust that requires of its practitioner’s

integrity, compassion, belief in the dignity and worth of human beings, respect
for individual differences, a commitment to service, and a dedication to truth.
It requires mastery of a body of knowledge and skill gained through
professional education and experience. It requires also recognition of the
limitations of present knowledge and skill and of the services we are now
equipped to give. The end sought is the performance of a service with integrity
and competence.

Each member of the profession carries responsibility to maintain and

improve social work service; constantly to examine, use, and increase the
knowledge upon which practice and social policy are based; and to develop
further the philosophy and skills of the profession.

This Code of Ethics embodies certain standards of behavior for the social
worker in his professional relationships with those he serves, with his colleagues,
with his employing agency, with other professions, and with the community. In
abiding by the code, the social worker views his obligations in as wide a
context as the situation requires, takes all of the principles into consideration,
and chooses a course of action consistent with the code’s spirit and intent.

102
 As a member of the National Association of Social Workers, I commit
myself to conduct my professional relationships in accord with the code and
subscribe to the following statements:

• I regard as my primary obligation the welfare of the individual or group

served which includes action for improving social condition.
• I will not discriminate because of race, color, religion, age, sex, or
national ancestry and in my job capacity will work to prevent and
eliminate discrimination in rendering service, in work assignments, and in
employment practices.
• I give precedence to my professional responsibility over my personal
interests.
• I hold myself responsible for the quality and extent of the service I
perform.
• I respect the privacy of the people I serve.
• I use in a responsible manner information gained in professional
relationships.
• I treat with respect the findings, views, and actions of colleagues, and
use appropriate channels to express judgement on these matters.
• I practice social work within the recognized knowledge and
competence of the profession.
• I recognize my professional responsibility to add my ideas and findings to
the body of social work knowledge and practice.
• I accept responsibility to help protect the community against unethical
practice by any individuals or organizations engaged in social welfare
activities.
• I stand ready to give appropriate professional service in public
emergencies.
• I distinguish clearly, in public, between my statements and actions as an
individual and as a representative of an organization.
• I support the principle that professional practice requires professional
education.
• I accept responsibility for working toward the creation and maintenance
of conditions within agencies which enable social workers to conduct
themselves in keeping with this code.
• I contribute my knowledge, skills, and support to programs of human
welfare.

The 1979 Revision of Code

▪ Represented a significant revision to include 6 sections of standards,

consisting of 82 principles and a preamble.

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 ▪ It set forth principles related to the social workers’ ethical responsibility
to clients, colleagues, employers and employing organizations, the
social work profession and society.
▪ Introduced the enforcement of ethical practices among social workers
using the Code as a basis and standard for the everyday conduct of
social workers.

Changes during the 90s

▪ In 1990, the Code was modified following an inquiry by the US Federal

Trade Commission. This revision focused on principles related to
solicitation of clients, fee setting and accepting compensation for
referrals.
▪ In 1993, five new principles were added to the Code. They included
principles related to social worker impairment and dual relationships.
▪ The last major revision of the NASW Code of Ethics was in 1996. The
need for a new Code emerged due to the profession developing a
wider understanding of ethical issues not addressed in the 1979 Code.
Furthermore, developments in health care, litigations, publicity in the
media all forced the profession to pay more attention to ethics.
▪ The 1999 revision was minor and clarified circumstances in which social
workers may need to disclose confidential information without a
client’s consent.

2006 Ethics Summit

Examining the Code’s Continued Relevance

▪ In 2006, NASW hosted a Social Work Ethics Summit to examine the
continuing relevance of the Code. This was co-sponsored by the NASW
Legal Defense Fund, the Social Work Ethics and Law Institute and the
Wicher’s Fund.
▪ The Summit convened a small group of social workers representing
diverse practice specialties, academia, research, licensing and
regulatory boards, and attorneys to examine the 1999 Code of Ethics.

2008 Revisions

The 2008 revision incorporated sexual orientation, gender identity and

immigration status into the existing non-discrimination standards.

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 The NASW Code of Ethics is a set of standards that guide the professional
conduct of social workers. The 2021 update includes language that addresses
the importance of professional self-care. Moreover, revisions to Cultural
Competence standard provide more explicit guidance to social workers. All
social workers should review the new text and affirm their commitment to
abide by the Code of Ethics. Also available in Spanish.
▪ The first Section, "Preamble," summarizes the social work profession's
mission and core values.
▪ The second section, "Purpose of the NASW Code of Ethics," provides an
overview of the Code's main functions and a brief guide for dealing
with ethical issues or dilemmas in social work practice.
▪ The third section, "Ethical Principles," presents broad ethical principles,
based on social work's core values, that inform social work practice.
▪ The final section, "Ethical Standards," includes specific ethical
standards to guide social workers' conduct and to provide a basis for
adjudication.

Preamble
The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human
well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular
attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable,
oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work
is the profession’s dual focus on individual well-being in a social context and
the well-being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the
environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in
living.
Social workers promote social justice and social change with and on
behalf of clients. “Clients” is used inclusively to refer to individuals, families,
groups, organizations, and communities. Social workers are sensitive to cultural
and ethnic diversity and strive to end discrimination, oppression, poverty, and
other forms of social injustice. These activities may be in the form of direct
practice, community organizing, supervision, consultation, administration,
advocacy, social and political action, policy development and
implementation, education, and research and evaluation. Social workers seek
to enhance the capacity of people to address their own needs. Social workers
also seek to promote the responsiveness of organizations, communities, and
other social institutions to individuals’ needs and social problems.
The mission of the social work profession is rooted in a set of core values.
These core values, embraced by social workers throughout the profession’s
history, are the foundation of social work’s unique purpose and perspective:
▪ service

105
 ▪ social justice
▪ dignity and worth of the person
▪ importance of human relationships
▪ integrity
▪ competence.
This constellation of core values reflects what is unique to the social work
profession. Core values, and the principles that flow from them, must be
balanced within the context and complexity of the human experience.

Purpose of the NASW Code of Ethics

Professional ethics are at the core of social work. The profession has an
obligation to articulate its basic values, ethical principles, and ethical
standards. The NASW Code of Ethics sets forth these values, principles, and
standards to guide social workers’ conduct. The Code is relevant to all social
workers and social work students, regardless of their professional functions, the
settings in which they work, or the populations they serve.

The NASW Code of Ethics serves six purposes:

1. The Code identifies core values on which social work’s mission is based.
2. The Code summarizes broad ethical principles that reflect the profession’s
core values and establishes a set of specific ethical standards that should be
used to guide social work practice.
3. The Code is designed to help social workers identify relevant considerations
when professional obligations conflict or ethical uncertainties arise.
4. The Code provides ethical standards to which the general public can hold
the social work profession accountable.
5. The Code socializes practitioners new to the field to social work’s mission,
values, ethical principles, and ethical standards, and encourages all social
workers to engage in self-care, ongoing education, and other activities to
ensure their commitment to those same core features of the profession.
6. The Code articulates standards that the social work profession itself can use
to assess whether social workers have engaged in unethical conduct. NASW
has formal procedures to adjudicate ethics complaints filed against its
members. * In subscribing to this Code, social workers are required to
cooperate in its implementation, participate in NASW adjudication
proceedings, and abide by any NASW disciplinary rulings or sanctions based
on it.
The Code offers a set of values, principles, and standards to guide
decision making and conduct when ethical issues arise. It does not provide a
106
set of rules that prescribe how social workers should act in all situations.
Specific applications of the Code must take into account the context in which
it is being considered and the possibility of conflicts among the Code’s values,
principles, and standards. Ethical responsibilities flow from all human
relationships, from the personal and familial to the social and professional. *For
information on the NASW Professional Review Process, see NASW Procedures
for Professional Review.
Furthermore, the NASW Code of Ethics does not specify which values,
principles, and standards are most important and ought to outweigh others in
instances when they conflict. Reasonable differences of opinion can and do
exist among social workers with respect to the ways in which values, ethical
principles, and ethical standards should be rank ordered when they conflict.
Ethical decision making in a given situation must apply the informed judgment
of the individual social worker and should also consider how the issues would
be judged in a peer review process where the ethical standards of the
profession would be applied.
Ethical decision making is a process. In situations when conflicting
obligations arise, social workers may be faced with complex ethical dilemmas
that have no simple answers. Social workers should take into consideration all
the values, principles, and standards in this Code that are relevant to any
situation in which ethical judgment is warranted. Social workers’ decisions and
actions should be consistent with the spirit as well as the letter of this Code.
In addition to this Code, there are many other sources of information
about ethical thinking that may be useful. Social workers should consider
ethical theory and principles generally, social work theory and research, laws,
regulations, agency policies, and other relevant codes of ethics, recognizing
that among codes of ethics social workers should consider the NASW Code of
Ethics as their primary source. Social workers also should be aware of the
impact on ethical decision making of their clients’ and their own personal
values and cultural and religious beliefs and practices. They should be aware
of any conflicts between personal and professional values and deal with them
responsibly. For additional guidance social workers should consult the relevant
literature on professional ethics and ethical decision making and seek
appropriate consultation when faced with ethical dilemmas. This may involve
consultation with an agency-based or social work organization’s ethics
committee, a regulatory body, knowledgeable colleagues, supervisors, or
legal counsel.
Instances may arise when social workers’ ethical obligations conflict with
agency policies or relevant laws or regulations. When such conflicts occur,
social workers must make a responsible effort to resolve the conflict in a
manner that is consistent with the values, principles, and standards expressed

107
in this Code. If a reasonable resolution of the conflict does not appear
possible, social workers should seek proper consultation before making a
decision.
The NASW Code of Ethics is to be used by NASW and by individuals,
agencies, organizations, and bodies (such as licensing and regulatory boards,
professional liability insurance providers, courts of law, agency boards of
directors, government agencies, and other professional groups) that choose
to adopt it or use it as a frame of reference. Violation of standards in this Code
does not automatically imply legal liability or violation of the law.
Such determination can only be made in the context of legal and
judicial proceedings. Alleged violations of the Code would be subject to a
peer review process. Such processes are generally separate from legal or
administrative procedures and insulated from legal review or proceedings to
allow the profession to counsel and discipline its own members.
A code of ethics cannot guarantee ethical behavior. Moreover, a code
of ethics cannot resolve all ethical issues or disputes or capture the richness
and complexity involved in striving to make responsible choices within a moral
community. Rather, a code of ethics sets forth values, ethical principles, and
ethical standards to which professionals aspire and by which their actions can
be judged. Social workers' ethical behavior should result from their personal
commitment to engage in ethical practice. The NASW Code of Ethics reflects
the commitment of all social workers to uphold the profession’s values and to
act ethically. Principles and standards must be applied by individuals of good
character who discern moral questions and, in good faith, seek to make
reliable ethical judgments.
With growth in the use of communication technology in various aspects
of social work practice, social workers need to be aware of the unique
challenges that may arise in relation to the maintenance of confidentiality,
informed consent, professional boundaries, professional competence, record
keeping, and other ethical considerations. In general, all ethical standards in
this Code of Ethics are applicable to interactions, relationships, or
communications, whether they occur in person or with the use of technology.
For the purposes of this Code, “technology-assisted social work services”
include any social work services that involve the use of computers, mobile or
landline telephones, tablets, video technology, or other electronic or digital
technologies; this includes the use of various electronic or digital platforms,
such as the Internet, online social media, chat rooms, text messaging, e-mail
and emerging digital applications. Technology-assisted social work services
encompass all aspects of social work practice, including psychotherapy;
individual, family, or group counseling; community organization;
administration; advocacy; mediation; education; supervision; research;

108
evaluation; and other social work services. Social workers should keep
apprised of emerging technological developments that may be used in social
work practice and how various ethical standards apply to them.
Professional self-care is paramount for competent and ethical social
work practice. Professional demands, challenging workplace climates, and
exposure to trauma warrant that social worker maintain personal and
professional health, safety, and integrity. Social work organizations, agencies,
and educational institutions are encouraged to promote organizational
policies, practices, and materials to support social workers’ self-care.

Ethical Principles
The following broad ethical principles are based on social work’s core
values of service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance
of human relationships, integrity, and competence. These principles set forth
ideals to which all social workers should aspire.
Value: Service
Ethical Principle: Social workers’ primary goal is to help people in need and to
address social problems
Social workers elevate service to others above self-interest. Social workers
draw on their knowledge, values, and skills to help people in need and to
address social problems. Social workers are encouraged to volunteer some
portion of their professional skills with no expectation of significant financial
return (pro bono service).
Value: Social Justice
Ethical Principle: Social workers challenge social injustice
Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of
vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers’
social change efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty,
unemployment, discrimination, and other forms of social injustice. These
activities seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and
cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers strive to ensure access to needed
information, services, and resources; equality of opportunity; and meaningful
participation in decision making for all people.
Value: Dignity and Worth of the Person
Ethical Principle: Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the
person.
Social workers treat each person in a caring and respectful fashion,
mindful of individual differences and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social
workers promote clients’ socially responsible self-determination. Social workers
seek to enhance clients’ capacity and opportunity to change and to address
their own needs. Social workers are cognizant of their dual responsibility to
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clients and to the broader society. They seek to resolve conflicts between
clients’ interests and the broader society’s interests in a socially responsible
manner consistent with the values, ethical principles, and ethical standards of
the profession.
Value: Importance of Human Relationships
Ethical Principle: Social workers recognize the central importance of human
relationships.
Social workers understand that relationships between and among
people are an important vehicle for change. Social workers engage people
as partners in the helping process. Social workers seek to strengthen
relationships among people in a purposeful effort to promote, restore,
maintain, and enhance the well-being of individuals, families, social groups,
organizations, and communities.
Value: Integrity
Ethical Principle: Social workers behave in a trustworthy manner.
Social workers are continually aware of the profession’s mission, values,
ethical principles, and ethical standards and practice in a manner consistent
with them. Social workers should take measures to care for themselves
professionally and personally. Social workers act honestly and responsibly and
promote ethical practices on the part of the organizations with which they are
affiliated.
Value: Competence
Ethical Principle: Social workers practice within their areas of competence
and develop and enhance their professional expertise.
Social workers continually strive to increase their professional knowledge
and skills and to apply them in practice. Social workers should aspire to
contribute to the knowledge base of the profession.

Ethical Standards
The following ethical standards are relevant to the professional activities
of all social workers. These standards concern (1) social workers' ethical
responsibilities to clients, (2) social workers' ethical responsibilities to
colleagues, (3) social workers' ethical responsibilities in practice settings, (4)
social workers' ethical responsibilities as professionals, (5) social workers' ethical
responsibilities to the social work profession, and (6) social workers' ethical
responsibilities to the broader society.
Some of the standards that follow are enforceable guidelines for
professional conduct, and some are aspirational. The extent to which each
standard is enforceable is a matter of professional judgment to be exercised
by those responsible for reviewing alleged violations of ethical standards.

110
1. Social Workers' Ethical Responsibilities to Clients
1.01 Commitment to Clients
Social workers' primary responsibility is to promote the well-being of clients. In
general, clients' interests are primary. However, social workers' responsibility to
the larger society or specific legal obligations may on limited occasions
supersede the loyalty owed clients, and clients should be so advised.
(Examples include when a social worker is required by law to report that a
client has abused a child or has threatened to harm self or others.)
1.02 Self-Determination
Social workers respect and promote the right of clients to self-determination
and assist clients in their efforts to identify and clarify their goals. Social workers
may limit clients' right to self-determination when, in the social workers'
professional judgment, clients' actions or potential actions pose a serious,
foreseeable, and imminent risk to themselves or others.
1.03 Informed Consent
(a) Social workers should provide services to clients only in the context of a
professional relationship based, when appropriate, on valid informed consent.
Social workers should use clear and understandable language to inform
clients of the purpose of the services, risks related to the services, limits to
services because of the requirements of a third-party payer, relevant costs,
reasonable alternatives, clients' right to refuse or withdraw consent, and the
time frame covered by the consent. Social workers should provide clients with
an opportunity to ask questions.
(b) In instances when clients are not literate or have difficulty understanding
the primary language used in the practice setting, social workers should take
steps to ensure clients' comprehension. This may include providing clients with
a detailed verbal explanation or arranging for a qualified interpreter or
translator whenever possible.
(c) In instances when clients lack the capacity to provide informed consent,
social workers should protect clients' interests by seeking permission from an
appropriate third party, informing clients consistent with the clients' level of
understanding. In such instances social workers should seek to ensure that the
third-party acts in a manner consistent with clients' wishes and interests. Social
workers should take reasonable steps to enhance such clients' ability to give
informed consent.
(d) In instances when clients are receiving services involuntarily, social workers
should provide information about the nature and extent of services and about
the extent of clients' right to refuse service.
(e) Social workers should discuss with clients the social workers’ policies
concerning the use of technology in the provision of professional services.
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(f) Social workers who use technology to provide social work services should
obtain informed consent from the individuals using these services during the
initial screening or interview and prior to initiating services. Social workers
should assess clients’ capacity to provide informed consent and, when using
technology to communicate, verify the identity and location of clients.
(g) Social workers who use technology to provide social work services should
assess the clients’ suitability and capacity for electronic and remote services.
Social workers should consider the clients’ intellectual, emotional, and
physical ability to use technology to receive services and the clients’ ability to
understand the potential benefits, risks, and limitations of such services. If
clients do not wish to use services provided through technology, social workers
should help them identify alternate methods of service.
(h) Social workers should obtain clients’ informed consent before making
audio or video recordings of clients or permitting observation of service
provision by a third party.
(i) Social workers should obtain client consent before conducting an
electronic search on the client. Exceptions may arise when the search is for
purposes of protecting the client or other people from serious, foreseeable,
and imminent harm, or for other compelling professional reasons.
1.04 Competence
(a) Social workers should provide services and represent themselves as
competent only within the boundaries of their education, training, license,
certification, consultation received, supervised experience, or other relevant
professional experience.
(b) Social workers should provide services in substantive areas or use
intervention techniques or approaches that are new to them only after
engaging in appropriate study, training, consultation, and supervision from
people who are competent in those interventions or techniques.
(c) When generally recognized standards do not exist with respect to an
emerging area of practice, social workers should exercise careful judgment
and take responsible steps (including appropriate education, research,
training, consultation, and supervision) to ensure the competence of their
work and to protect clients from harm.
(d) Social workers who use technology in the provision of social work services
should ensure that they have the necessary knowledge and skills to provide
such services in a competent manner. This includes an understanding of the
special communication challenges when using technology and the ability to
implement strategies to address these challenges.
(e) Social workers who use technology in providing social work services should
comply with the laws governing technology and social work practice in the
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jurisdiction in which they are regulated and located and, as applicable, in the
jurisdiction in which the client is located.
1.05 Cultural Competence
(a) Social workers should demonstrate understanding of culture and its
function in human behavior and society, recognizing the strengths that exist in
all cultures.
(b) Social workers should demonstrate knowledge that guides practice with
clients of various cultures and be able to demonstrate skills in the provision of
culturally informed services that empower marginalized individuals and
groups. Social workers must take action against oppression, racism,
discrimination, and inequities, and acknowledge personal privilege.
(c) Social workers should demonstrate awareness and cultural humility by
engaging in critical self-reflection (understanding their own bias and
engaging in self-correction), recognizing clients as experts of their own culture,
committing to lifelong learning, and holding institutions accountable for
advancing cultural humility.
(d) Social workers should obtain education about and demonstrate
understanding of the nature of social diversity and oppression with respect to
race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or
expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration status, and
mental or physical ability.
(e) Social workers who provide electronic social work services should be aware
of cultural and socioeconomic differences among clients’ use of and access
to electronic technology and seek to prevent such potential barriers. Social
workers should assess cultural, environmental, economic, mental or physical
ability, linguistic, and other issues that may affect the delivery or use of these
services.
1.06 Conflicts of Interest
(a) Social workers should be alert to and avoid conflicts of interest that
interfere with the exercise of professional discretion and impartial judgment.
Social workers should inform clients when a real or potential conflict of interest
arises and take reasonable steps to resolve the issue in a manner that makes
the clients' interests primary and protects clients' interests to the greatest extent
possible. In some cases, protecting clients' interests may require termination of
the professional relationship with proper referral of the client.
(b) Social workers should not take unfair advantage of any professional
relationship or exploit others to further their personal, religious, political, or
business interests.
(c) Social workers should not engage in dual or multiple relationships with
clients or former clients in which there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm
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to the client. In instances when dual or multiple relationships are unavoidable,
social workers should take steps to protect clients and are responsible for
setting clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries. (Dual or multiple
relationships occur when social workers relate to clients in more than one
relationship, whether professional, social, or business. Dual or multiple
relationships can occur simultaneously or consecutively.)
(d) When social workers provide services to two or more people who have a
relationship with each other (for example, couples, family members), social
workers should clarify with all parties which individuals will be considered
clients and the nature of social workers' professional obligations to the various
individuals who are receiving services. Social workers who anticipate a conflict
of interest among the individuals’ receiving services or who anticipate having
to perform in potentially conflicting roles (for example, when a social worker is
asked to testify in a child custody dispute or divorce proceedings involving
clients) should clarify their role with the parties involved and take appropriate
action to minimize any conflict of interest.
(e) Social workers should avoid communication with clients using technology
(such as social networking sites, online chat, e-mail, text messages, telephone,
and video) for personal or non-work-related purposes.
(f) Social workers should be aware that posting personal information on
professional Web sites or other media might cause boundary confusion,
inappropriate dual relationships, or harm to clients.
(g) Social workers should be aware that personal affiliations may increase the
likelihood that clients may discover the social worker’s presence on Web sites,
social media, and other forms of technology. Social workers should be aware
that involvement in electronic communication with groups based on race,
ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, mental
or physical ability, religion, immigration status, and other personal affiliations
may affect their ability to work effectively with particular clients.
(h) Social workers should avoid accepting requests from or engaging in
personal relationships with clients on social networking sites or other electronic
media to prevent boundary confusion, inappropriate dual relationships, or
harm to clients.
1.07 Privacy and Confidentiality
(a) Social workers should respect clients' right to privacy. Social workers should
not solicit private information from or about clients except for compelling
professional reasons. Once private information is shared, standards of
confidentiality apply.

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(b) Social workers may disclose confidential information when appropriate
with valid consent from a client or a person legally authorized to consent on
behalf of a client.
(c) Social workers should protect the confidentiality of all information obtained
in the course of professional service, except for compelling professional
reasons. The general expectation that social workers will keep information
confidential does not apply when disclosure is necessary to prevent serious,
foreseeable, and imminent harm to a client or others. In all instances, social
workers should disclose the least amount of confidential information necessary
to achieve the desired purpose; only information that is directly relevant to the
purpose for which the disclosure is made should be revealed.
(d) Social workers should inform clients, to the extent possible, about the
disclosure of confidential information and the potential consequences, when
feasible before the disclosure is made. This applies whether social workers
disclose confidential information on the basis of a legal requirement or client
consent.
(e) Social workers should discuss with clients and other interested parties the
nature of confidentiality and limitations of clients' right to confidentiality. Social
workers should review with clients circumstances where confidential
information may be requested and where disclosure of confidential
information may be legally required. This discussion should occur as soon as
possible in the social worker-client relationship and as needed throughout the
course of the relationship.
(f) When social workers provide counseling services to families, couples, or
groups, social workers should seek agreement among the parties involved
concerning each individual's right to confidentiality and obligation to preserve
the confidentiality of information shared by others. This agreement should
include consideration of whether confidential information may be exchanged
in person or electronically, among clients or with others outside of formal
counseling sessions. Social workers should inform participants in family,
couples, or group counseling that social worker cannot guarantee that all
participants will honor such agreements.
(g) Social workers should inform clients involved in family, couples, marital, or
group counseling of the social worker's, employer's, and agency's policy
concerning the social worker's disclosure of confidential information among
the parties involved in the counseling.
(h) Social workers should not disclose confidential information to third-party
payers unless clients have authorized such disclosure.
(i) Social workers should not discuss confidential information, electronically or
in person, in any setting unless privacy can be ensured. Social workers should
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not discuss confidential information in public or semi-public areas such as
hallways, waiting rooms, elevators, and restaurants.
(j) Social workers should protect the confidentiality of clients during legal
proceedings to the extent permitted by law. When a court of law or other
legally authorized body orders social workers to disclose confidential or
privileged information without a client's consent and such disclosure could
cause harm to the client, social workers should request that the court withdraw
the order or limit the order as narrowly as possible or maintain the records
under seal, unavailable for public inspection.
(k) Social workers should protect the confidentiality of clients when responding
to requests from members of the media.
(l) Social workers should protect the confidentiality of clients' written and
electronic records and other sensitive information. Social workers should take
reasonable steps to ensure that clients' records are stored in a secure location
and that clients' records are not available to others who are not authorized to
have access.
(m) Social workers should take reasonable steps to protect the confidentiality
of electronic communications, including information provided to clients or
third parties. Social workers should use applicable safeguards (such as
encryption, firewalls, and passwords) when using electronic communications
such as e-mail, online posts, online chat sessions, mobile communication, and
text messages.
(n) Social workers should develop and disclose policies and procedures for
notifying clients of any breach of confidential information in a timely manner.
(o) In the event of unauthorized access to client records or information,
including any unauthorized access to the social worker’s electronic
communication or storage systems, social workers should inform clients of such
disclosures, consistent with applicable laws and professional standards.
(p) Social workers should develop and inform clients about their policies,
consistent with prevailing social work ethical standards, on the use of
electronic technology, including Internet-based search engines, to gather
information about clients.
(q) Social workers should avoid searching or gathering client information
electronically unless there are compelling professional reasons, and when
appropriate, with the client’s informed consent.
(r) Social workers should avoid posting any identifying or confidential
information about clients on professional websites or other forms of social
media.

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(s) Social workers should transfer or dispose of clients' records in a manner that
protects clients' confidentiality and is consistent with applicable laws
governing records and social work licensure.
(t) Social workers should take reasonable precautions to protect client
confidentiality in the event of the social worker's termination of practice,
incapacitation, or death.
(u) Social workers should not disclose identifying information when discussing
clients for teaching or training purposes unless the client has consented to
disclosure of confidential information.
(v) Social workers should not disclose identifying information when discussing
clients with consultants unless the client has consented to disclosure of
confidential information or there is a compelling need for such disclosure.
(w) Social workers should protect the confidentiality of deceased clients
consistent with the preceding standards.
1.08 Access to Records
(a) Social workers should provide clients with reasonable access to records
concerning the clients. Social workers who are concerned that clients' access
to their records could cause serious misunderstanding or harm to the client
should provide assistance in interpreting the records and consultation with the
client regarding the records. Social workers should limit clients' access to their
records, or portions of their records, only in exceptional circumstances when
there is compelling evidence that such access would cause serious harm to
the client. Both clients' requests and the rationale for withholding some or all
of the record should be documented in clients' files.
(b) Social workers should develop and inform clients about their policies,
consistent with prevailing social work ethical standards, on the use of
technology to provide clients with access to their records.
(c) When providing clients with access to their records, social workers should
take steps to protect the confidentiality of other individuals identified or
discussed in such records.
1.09 Sexual Relationships
(a) Social workers should under no circumstances engage in sexual activities,
inappropriate sexual communications through the use of technology or in
person, or sexual contact with current clients, whether such contact is
consensual or forced.
(b) Social workers should not engage in sexual activities or sexual contact with
clients' relatives or other individuals with whom clients maintain a close
personal relationship when there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to
the client. Sexual activity or sexual contact with clients' relatives or other
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individuals with whom clients maintain a personal relationship has the
potential to be harmful to the client and may make it difficult for the social
worker and client to maintain appropriate professional boundaries. Social
workers--not their clients, their clients' relatives, or other individuals with whom
the client maintains a personal relationship--assume the full burden for setting
clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries.
(c) Social workers should not engage in sexual activities or sexual contact with
former clients because of the potential for harm to the client. If social workers
engage in conduct contrary to this prohibition or claim that an exception to
this prohibition is warranted because of extraordinary circumstances, it is social
workers--not their clients--who assume the full burden of demonstrating that
the former client has not been exploited, coerced, or manipulated,
intentionally or unintentionally.
(d) Social workers should not provide clinical services to individuals with whom
they have had a prior sexual relationship. Providing clinical services to a former
sexual partner has the potential to be harmful to the individual and is likely to
make it difficult for the social worker and individual to maintain appropriate
professional boundaries.
1.10 Physical Contact
Social workers should not engage in physical contact with clients when there
is a possibility of psychological harm to the client as a result of the contact
(such as cradling or caressing clients). Social workers who engage in
appropriate physical contact with clients are responsible for setting clear,
appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries that govern such physical
contact.
1.11 Sexual Harassment
Social workers should not sexually harass clients. Sexual harassment includes
sexual advances; sexual solicitation; requests for sexual favors; and other
verbal, written, electronic, or physical contact of a sexual nature.
1.12 Derogatory Language
Social workers should not use derogatory language in their written, verbal, or
electronic communications to or about clients. Social workers should use
accurate and respectful language in all communications to and about
clients.
1.13 Payment for Services
(a) When setting fees, social workers should ensure that the fees are fair,
reasonable, and commensurate with the services performed. Consideration
should be given to clients' ability to pay.
(b) Social workers should avoid accepting goods or services from clients as
payment for professional services. Bartering arrangements, particularly
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involving services, create the potential for conflicts of interest, exploitation,
and inappropriate boundaries in social workers' relationships with clients.
Social workers should explore and may participate in bartering only in very
limited circumstances when it can be demonstrated that such arrangements
are an accepted practice among professionals in the local community,
considered to be essential for the provision of services, negotiated without
coercion, and entered into at the client's initiative and with the client's
informed consent. Social workers who accept goods or services from clients
as payment for professional services assume the full burden of demonstrating
that this arrangement will not be detrimental to the client or the professional
relationship.
(c) Social workers should not solicit a private fee or other remuneration for
providing services to clients who are entitled to such available services
through the social workers' employer or agency.
1.14 Clients Who Lack Decision-Making Capacity
When social workers act on behalf of clients who lack the capacity to make
informed decisions, social workers should take reasonable steps to safeguard
the interests and rights of those clients.
1.15 Interruption of Services
Social workers should make reasonable efforts to ensure continuity of services
in the event that services are interrupted by factors such as unavailability,
disruptions in electronic communication, relocation, illness, mental or physical
ability, or death.
1.16 Referral for Services
(a) Social workers should refer clients to other professionals when the other
professionals' specialized knowledge or expertise is needed to serve clients
fully or when social workers believe that they are not being effective or making
reasonable progress with clients and that other services are required.
(b) Social workers who refer clients to other professionals should take
appropriate steps to facilitate an orderly transfer of responsibility. Social
workers who refer clients to other professionals should disclose, with clients'
consent, all pertinent information to the new service providers.
(c) Social workers are prohibited from giving or receiving payment for a referral
when no professional service is provided by the referring social worker.
1.17 Termination of Services
(a) Social workers should terminate services to clients and professional
relationships with them when such services and relationships are no longer
required or no longer serve the clients' needs or interests.

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(b) Social workers should take reasonable steps to avoid abandoning clients
who are still in need of services. Social workers should withdraw services
precipitously only under unusual circumstances, giving careful consideration
to all factors in the situation and taking care to minimize possible adverse
effects. Social workers should assist in making appropriate arrangements for
continuation of services when necessary.
(c) Social workers in fee-for-service settings may terminate services to clients
who are not paying an overdue balance if the financial contractual
arrangements have been made clear to the client, if the client does not pose
an imminent danger to self or others, and if the clinical and other
consequences of the current nonpayment have been addressed and
discussed with the client.
(d) Social workers should not terminate services to pursue a social, financial,
or sexual relationship with a client.
(e) Social workers who anticipate the termination or interruption of services to
clients should notify clients promptly and seek the transfer, referral, or
continuation of services in relation to the clients' needs and preferences.
(f) Social workers who are leaving an employment setting should inform clients
of appropriate options for the continuation of services and of the benefits and
risks of the options.
2. Social Workers' Ethical Responsibilities to Colleagues
2.01 Respect
(a) Social workers should treat colleagues with respect and should represent
accurately and fairly the qualifications, views, and obligations of colleagues.
(b) Social workers should avoid unwarranted negative criticism of colleagues
in verbal, written, and electronic communications with clients or with other
professionals. Unwarranted negative criticism may include demeaning
comments that refer to colleagues' level of competence or to individuals'
attributes such as race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation,
gender identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion,
immigration status, and mental or physical ability.
(c) Social workers should cooperate with social work colleagues and with
colleagues of other professions when such cooperation serves the well-being
of clients.
2.02 Confidentiality
Social workers should respect confidential information shared by colleagues
in the course of their professional relationships and transactions. Social workers
should ensure that such colleagues understand social workers' obligation to
respect confidentiality and any exceptions related to it.

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2.03 Interdisciplinary Collaboration
(a) Social workers who are members of an interdisciplinary team should
participate in and contribute to decisions that affect the well-being of clients
by drawing on the perspectives, values, and experiences of the social work
profession. Professional and ethical obligations of the interdisciplinary team as
a whole and of its individual members should be clearly established.
(b) Social workers for whom a team decision raises ethical concerns should
attempt to resolve the disagreement through appropriate channels. If the
disagreement cannot be resolved, social workers should pursue other avenues
to address their concerns consistent with client well-being.
2.04 Disputes Involving Colleagues
(a) Social workers should not take advantage of a dispute between a
colleague and an employer to obtain a position or otherwise advance the
social workers' own interests.
(b) Social workers should not exploit clients in disputes with colleagues or
engage clients in any inappropriate discussion of conflicts between social
workers and their colleagues.
2.05 Consultation
(a) Social workers should seek the advice and counsel of colleagues
whenever such consultation is in the best interests of clients.
(b) Social workers should keep themselves informed about colleagues' areas
of expertise and competencies. Social workers should seek consultation only
from colleagues who have demonstrated knowledge, expertise, and
competence related to the subject of the consultation.
(c) When consulting with colleagues about clients, social workers should
disclose the least amount of information necessary to achieve the purposes of
the consultation.
2.06 Sexual Relationships
(a) Social workers who function as supervisors or educators should not engage
in sexual activities or contact (including verbal, written, electronic, or physical
contact) with supervisees, students, trainees, or other colleagues over whom
they exercise professional authority.
(b) Social workers should avoid engaging in sexual relationships with
colleagues when there is potential for a conflict of interest. Social workers who
become involved in, or anticipate becoming involved in, a sexual relationship
with a colleague have a duty to transfer professional responsibilities, when
necessary, to avoid a conflict of interest.

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2.07 Sexual Harassment
Social workers should not sexually harass supervisees, students, trainees, or
colleagues. Sexual harassment includes sexual advances; sexual solicitation;
requests for sexual favors; and other verbal, written, electronic, or physical
contact of a sexual nature.
2.08 Impairment of Colleagues
(a) Social workers who have direct knowledge of a social work colleague's
impairment that is due to personal problems, psychosocial distress, substance
abuse, or mental health difficulties and that interferes with practice
effectiveness should consult with that colleague when feasible and assist the
colleague in taking remedial action.
(b) Social workers who believe that a social work colleague's impairment
interferes with practice effectiveness and that the colleague has not taken
adequate steps to address the impairment should take action through
appropriate channels established by employers, agencies, NASW, licensing
and regulatory bodies, and other professional organizations.
2.09 Incompetence of Colleagues
(a) Social workers who have direct knowledge of a social work colleague's
incompetence should consult with that colleague when feasible and assist the
colleague in taking remedial action.
(b) Social workers who believe that a social work colleague is incompetent
and has not taken adequate steps to address the incompetence should take
action through appropriate channels established by employers, agencies,
NASW, licensing and regulatory bodies, and other professional organizations.
2.10 Unethical Conduct of Colleagues
(a) Social workers should take adequate measures to discourage, prevent,
expose, and correct the unethical conduct of colleagues, including unethical
conduct using technology.
(b) Social workers should be knowledgeable about established policies and
procedures for handling concerns about colleagues' unethical behavior.
Social workers should be familiar with national, state, and local procedures for
handling ethics complaints. These include policies and procedures created by
NASW, licensing and regulatory bodies, employers, agencies, and other
professional organizations.
(c) Social workers who believe that a colleague has acted unethically should
seek resolution by discussing their concerns with the colleague when feasible
and when such discussion is likely to be productive.
(d) When necessary, social workers who believe that a colleague has acted
unethically should take action through appropriate formal channels (such as
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contacting a state licensing board or regulatory body, the NASW National
Ethics Committee, or other professional ethics committees).
(e) Social workers should defend and assist colleagues who are unjustly
charged with unethical conduct.
3. Social Workers' Ethical Responsibilities in Practice Settings
3.01 Supervision and Consultation
(a) Social workers who provide supervision or consultation (whether in-person
or remotely) should have the necessary knowledge and skill to supervise or
consult appropriately and should do so only within their areas of knowledge
and competence.
(b) Social workers who provide supervision or consultation are responsible for
setting clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries.
(c) Social workers should not engage in any dual or multiple relationships with
supervisees in which there is a risk of exploitation of or potential harm to the
supervisee, including dual relationships that may arise while using social
networking sites or other electronic media.
(d) Social workers who provide supervision should evaluate supervisees'
performance in a manner that is fair and respectful.
3.02 Education and Training
(a) Social workers who function as educators, field instructors for students, or
trainers should provide instruction only within their areas of knowledge and
competence and should provide instruction based on the most current
information and knowledge available in the profession.
(b) Social workers who function as educators or field instructors for students
should evaluate students' performance in a manner that is fair and respectful.
(c) Social workers who function as educators or field instructors for students
should take reasonable steps to ensure that clients are routinely informed
when services are being provided by students.
(d) Social workers who function as educators or field instructors for students
should not engage in any dual or multiple relationships with students in which
there is a risk of exploitation or potential harm to the student, including dual
relationships that may arise while using social networking sites or other
electronic media. Social work educators and field instructors are responsible
for setting clear, appropriate, and culturally sensitive boundaries.
3.03 Performance Evaluation
Social workers who have responsibility for evaluating the performance of
others should fulfill such responsibility in a fair and considerate manner and on
the basis of clearly stated criteria.

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3.04 Client Records
(a) Social workers should take reasonable steps to ensure that documentation
in electronic and paper records is accurate and reflects the services provided.
(b) Social workers should include sufficient and timely documentation in
records to facilitate the delivery of services and to ensure continuity of services
provided to clients in the future.
(c) Social workers' documentation should protect clients' privacy to the extent
that is possible and appropriate and should include only information that is
directly relevant to the delivery of services.
(d) Social workers should store records following the termination of services to
ensure reasonable future access. Records should be maintained for the
number of years required by relevant laws, agency policies, and contracts.
3.05 Billing
Social workers should establish and maintain billing practices that accurately
reflect the nature and extent of services provided and that identify who
provided the service in the practice setting.
3.06 Client Transfer
(a) When an individual who is receiving services from another agency or
colleague contacts a social worker for services, the social worker should
carefully consider the client's needs before agreeing to provide services. To
minimize possible confusion and conflict, social workers should discuss with
potential clients the nature of the clients' current relationship with other service
providers and the implications, including possible benefits or risks, of entering
into a relationship with a new service provider.
(b) If a new client has been served by another agency or colleague, social
workers should discuss with the client whether consultation with the previous
service provider is in the client's best interest.
3.07 Administration
(a) Social work administrators should advocate within and outside their
agencies for adequate resources to meet clients' needs.
(b) Social workers should advocate for resource allocation procedures that
are open and fair. When not all clients' needs can be met, an allocation
procedure should be developed that is nondiscriminatory and based on
appropriate and consistently applied principles.
(c) Social workers who are administrators should take reasonable steps to
ensure that adequate agency or organizational resources are available to
provide appropriate staff supervision.
(d) Social work administrators should take reasonable steps to ensure that the
working environment for which they are responsible is consistent with and
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encourages compliance with the NASW Code of Ethics. Social work
administrators should take reasonable steps to eliminate any conditions in their
organizations that violate, interfere with, or discourage compliance with the
Code.
3.08 Continuing Education and Staff Development
Social work administrators and supervisors should take reasonable steps to
provide or arrange for continuing education and staff development for all
staff for whom they are responsible. Continuing education and staff
development should address current knowledge and emerging
developments related to social work practice and ethics.
3.09 Commitments to Employers
(a) Social workers generally should adhere to commitments made to
employers and employing organizations.
(b) Social workers should work to improve employing agencies' policies and
procedures and the efficiency and effectiveness of their services.
(c) Social workers should take reasonable steps to ensure that employers are
aware of social workers' ethical obligations as set forth in the NASW Code of
Ethics and of the implications of those obligations for social work practice.
(d) Social workers should not allow an employing organization's policies,
procedures, regulations, or administrative orders to interfere with their ethical
practice of social work. Social workers should take reasonable steps to ensure
that their employing organizations' practices are consistent with the NASW
Code of Ethics.
(e) Social workers should act to prevent and eliminate discrimination in the
employing organization's work assignments and in its employment policies and
practices.
(f) Social workers should accept employment or arrange student field
placements only in organizations that exercise fair personnel practices.
(g) Social workers should be diligent stewards of the resources of their
employing organizations, wisely conserving funds where appropriate and
never misappropriating funds or using them for unintended purposes.
3.10 Labor-Management Disputes
(a) Social workers may engage in organized action, including the formation
of and participation in labor unions, to improve services to clients and working
conditions.
(b) The actions of social workers who are involved in labor-management
disputes, job actions, or labor strikes should be guided by the profession's
values, ethical principles, and ethical standards. Reasonable differences of
opinion exist among social workers concerning their primary obligation as
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professionals during an actual or threatened labor strike or job action. Social
workers should carefully examine relevant issues and their possible impact on
clients before deciding on a course of action.
4. Social Workers' Ethical Responsibilities as Professionals
4.01 Competence
(a) Social workers should accept responsibility or employment only on the
basis of existing competence or the intention to acquire the necessary
competence.
(b) Social workers should strive to become and remain proficient in
professional practice and the performance of professional functions. Social
workers should critically examine and keep current with emerging knowledge
relevant to social work. Social workers should routinely review the professional
literature and participate in continuing education relevant to social work
practice and social work ethics.
(c) Social workers should base practice on recognized knowledge, including
empirically based knowledge, relevant to social work and social work ethics.
4.02 Discrimination
Social workers should not practice, condone, facilitate, or collaborate with
any form of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, color,
sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status,
political belief, religion, immigration status, or mental or physical ability.
4.03 Private Conduct
Social workers should not permit their private conduct to interfere with their
ability to fulfill their professional responsibilities.
4.04 Dishonesty, Fraud, and Deception
Social workers should not participate in, condone, or be associated with
dishonesty, fraud, or deception.
4.05 Impairment
(a) Social workers should not allow their own personal problems, psychosocial
distress, legal problems, substance abuse, or mental health difficulties to
interfere with their professional judgment and performance or to jeopardize
the best interests of people for whom they have a professional responsibility.
(b) Social workers whose personal problems, psychosocial distress, legal
problems, substance abuse, or mental health difficulties interfere with their
professional judgment and performance should immediately seek
consultation and take appropriate remedial action by seeking professional
help, making adjustments in workload, terminating practice, or taking any
other steps necessary to protect clients and others.

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4.06 Misrepresentation
(a) Social workers should make clear distinctions between statements made
and actions engaged in as a private individual and as a representative of the
social work profession, a professional social work organization, or the social
worker's employing agency.
(b) Social workers who speak on behalf of professional social work
organizations should accurately represent the official and authorized positions
of the organizations.
(c) Social workers should ensure that their representations to clients, agencies,
and the public of professional qualifications, credentials, education,
competence, affiliations, services provided, or results to be achieved are
accurate. Social workers should claim only those relevant professional
credentials they actually possess and take steps to correct any inaccuracies
or misrepresentations of their credentials by others.
4.07 Solicitations
(a) Social workers should not engage in uninvited solicitation of potential
clients who, because of their circumstances, are vulnerable to undue
influence, manipulation, or coercion.
(b) Social workers should not engage in solicitation of testimonial
endorsements (including solicitation of consent to use a client's prior statement
as a testimonial endorsement) from current clients or from other people who,
because of their particular circumstances, are vulnerable to undue influence.
4.08 Acknowledging Credit
(a) Social workers should take responsibility and credit, including authorship
credit, only for work they have actually performed and to which they have
contributed.
(b) Social workers should honestly acknowledge the work of and the
contributions made by others.
5. Social Workers' Ethical Responsibilities to the Social Work Profession
5.01 Integrity of the Profession
(a) Social workers should work toward the maintenance and promotion of
high standards of practice.
(b) Social workers should uphold and advance the values, ethics, knowledge,
and mission of the profession. Social workers should protect, enhance, and
improve the integrity of the profession through appropriate study and
research, active discussion, and responsible criticism of the profession.
(c) Social workers should contribute time and professional expertise to
activities that promote respect for the value, integrity, and competence of
the social work profession. These activities may include teaching, research,
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consultation, service, legislative testimony, presentations in the community,
and participation in their professional organizations.
(d) Social workers should contribute to the knowledge base of social work and
share with colleagues their knowledge related to practice, research, and
ethics. Social workers should seek to contribute to the profession's literature
and to share their knowledge at professional meetings and conferences.
(e) Social workers should act to prevent the unauthorized and unqualified
practice of social work.
5.02 Evaluation and Research
(a) Social workers should monitor and evaluate policies, the implementation
of programs, and practice interventions.
(b) Social workers should promote and facilitate evaluation and research to
contribute to the development of knowledge.
(c) Social workers should critically examine and keep current with emerging
knowledge relevant to social work and fully use evaluation and research
evidence in their professional practice.
(d) Social workers engaged in evaluation or research should carefully consider
possible consequences and should follow guidelines developed for the
protection of evaluation and research participants. Appropriate institutional
review boards should be consulted.
(e) Social workers engaged in evaluation or research should obtain voluntary
and written informed consent from participants, when appropriate, without
any implied or actual deprivation or penalty for refusal to participate; without
undue inducement to participate; and with due regard for participants' well-
being, privacy, and dignity. Informed consent should include information
about the nature, extent, and duration of the participation requested and
disclosure of the risks and benefits of participation in the research.
(f) When using electronic technology to facilitate evaluation or research,
social workers should ensure that participants provide informed consent for
the use of such technology. Social workers should assess whether participants
are able to use the technology and, when appropriate, offer reasonable
alternatives to participate in the evaluation or research.
(g) When evaluation or research participants are incapable of giving informed
consent, social workers should provide an appropriate explanation to the
participants, obtain the participants' assent to the extent they are able, and
obtain written consent from an appropriate proxy.
(h) Social workers should never design or conduct evaluation or research that
does not use consent procedures, such as certain forms of naturalistic
observation and archival research, unless rigorous and responsible review of
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the research has found it to be justified because of its prospective scientific,
educational, or applied value and unless equally effective alternative
procedures that do not involve waiver of consent are not feasible.
(i) Social workers should inform participants of their right to withdraw from
evaluation and research at any time without penalty.
(j) Social workers should take appropriate steps to ensure that participants in
evaluation and research have access to appropriate supportive services.
(k) Social workers engaged in evaluation or research should protect
participants from unwarranted physical or mental distress, harm, danger, or
deprivation.
(l) Social workers engaged in the evaluation of services should discuss
collected information only for professional purposes and only with people
professionally concerned with this information.
(m) Social workers engaged in evaluation or research should ensure the
anonymity or confidentiality of participants and of the data obtained from
them. Social workers should inform participants of any limits of confidentiality,
the measures that will be taken to ensure confidentiality, and when any
records containing research data will be destroyed.
(n) Social workers who report evaluation and research results should protect
participants' confidentiality by omitting identifying information unless proper
consent has been obtained authorizing disclosure.
(o) Social workers should report evaluation and research findings accurately.
They should not fabricate or falsify results and should take steps to correct any
errors later found in published data using standard publication methods.
(p) Social workers engaged in evaluation or research should be alert to and
avoid conflicts of interest and dual relationships with participants, should
inform participants when a real or potential conflict of interest arises, and
should take steps to resolve the issue in a manner that makes participants'
interests primary.
(q) Social workers should educate themselves, their students, and their
colleagues about responsible research practices.
6. Social Workers' Ethical Responsibilities to the Broader Society
6.01 Social Welfare
Social workers should promote the general welfare of society, from local to
global levels, and the development of people, their communities, and their
environments. Social workers should advocate for living conditions conducive
to the fulfillment of basic human needs and should promote social, economic,
political, and cultural values and institutions that are compatible with the
realization of social justice.
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6.02 Public Participation
Social workers should facilitate informed participation by the public in shaping
social policies and institutions.
6.03 Public Emergencies
Social workers should provide appropriate professional services in public
emergencies to the greatest extent possible.
6.04 Social and Political Action
(a) Social workers should engage in social and political action that seeks to
ensure that all people have equal access to the resources, employment,
services, and opportunities they require to meet their basic human needs and
to develop fully. Social workers should be aware of the impact of the political
arena on practice and should advocate for changes in policy and legislation
to improve social conditions in order to meet basic human needs and
promote social justice.
(b) Social workers should act to expand choice and opportunity for all people,
with special regard for vulnerable, disadvantaged, oppressed, and exploited
people and groups.
(c) Social workers should promote conditions that encourage respect for
cultural and social diversity within the United States and globally. Social
workers should promote policies and practices that demonstrate respect for
difference, support the expansion of cultural knowledge and resources,
advocate for programs and institutions that demonstrate cultural
competence, and promote policies that safeguard the rights of and confirm
equity and social justice for all people.
(d) Social workers should act to prevent and eliminate domination of,
exploitation of, and discrimination against any person, group, or class on the
basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender
identity or expression, age, marital status, political belief, religion, immigration
status, or mental or physical ability.

Class, Crime, and the Criminal Justice System

Class structure within the criminal justice system helps determine the
types of crimes individuals will commit.

Key Points

• In Marxist theory, the class structure of the capitalist mode of

production is characterized by the conflict between two main
classes.
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 • Bourgeoisie are the capitalists who own the means of production,
while the much larger proletariat who must sell their own labor
power.
• White-collar crime is a financially motivated, nonviolent crime
committed for illegal monetary gain.
• Criminal justice is the system of practices and institutions of
governments directed at upholding social control, deterring, and
mitigating crime or sanctioning those who violate laws with
criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts.
• Criminal justice is the system of practices and institutions of
governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and
mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with
criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts.
• There are four jurisdictions for punishment: retribution, deterrence,
rehabilitation, and societal protection.
• Courts rely on an adversarial process in which attorneys-one
representing the defendant and one representing the crown-
present their cases in the presence of a judge who monitors legal
procedures
• There are four jurisdictions for punishment: retribution, deterrence,
rehabilitation, and societal protection.

Key Terms

• Marxist Theory: An economic and sociopolitical worldview and

method of socioeconomic inquiry centered upon a materialist
interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and
an analysis–critique of the development of capitalism.
• white-collar crime: A non-violent crime, generally for personal
gain and often involving money.
• plea bargain: An agreement in which a defendant agrees to
plead guilty to a lesser charge instead of not guilty to a greater
one

Of the classical founders of social science, conflict theory is most

commonly associated with Karl Marx. Based on a dialectical materialist
account of history, Marxism posited that capitalism, like previous
socioeconomic systems, would inevitably produce internal tensions leading to
its own destruction. Marx ushered in radical change, advocating proletarian
revolution and freedom from the ruling classes. In Marxist theory, the class
structure of the capitalist mode of production is characterized by the conflict
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between two main classes: the bourgeoisie, the capitalists who own the
means of production, and the much larger proletariat who must sell their own
labor power.

Theory of Deviance

Clifford Shaw and Henry D. McKay theorized that social disorganization was a
root cause of deviancy and crime, especially for minority youth. They
discussed the fact that inner city kids tended to be more involved in a criminal
lifestyle than kids who lived in the suburbs. Being able to afford to live in better
parts of the city (and thus having wealth) afforded certain kids better
opportunities in terms of lifestyle and education, leading to less crime and
criminal involvement.

White-Collar Crime

White-collar crime is a financially motivated, nonviolent crime committed for

illegal monetary gain. Within the field of criminology, white-collar crime initially
was defined by sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as “a crime committed
by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his
occupation.” A clear example of how deviance reflects power imbalances is
in the reporting and tracking of crimes. Indeed, white-collar crimes are
typically committed by individuals in higher social classes. That white-collar
crimes are less likely to be tracked, less likely to be reported, less likely to be
prosecuted, and are more likely to be committed by people in higher social
classes suggests that the way crimes are punished in the United States tends
to favor the affluent while punitively punishing the less affluent. Additionally,
men benefit more from white-collar crime than do women, as they are more
likely to attempt these crimes when they are in more powerful positions,
allowing them to reap greater rewards.

The Criminal Justice System

Criminal justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments

directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or
sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation
efforts. Those accused of crime have protections against abuse of
investigatory and prosecution powers.

Within the criminal justice system, there are three basic elements that
constitute it: the police, the courts, and punishment. The police maintain
public order by enforcing the law. Police use personal discretion in deciding
whether and how to handle a situation. Research suggests that police are
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more likely to make an arrest if the offense is serious, if bystanders are present,
or if the suspect is of a visible minority. Courts rely on an adversarial process in
which attorneys-one representing the defendant and one representing the
crown-present their cases in the presence of a judge who monitors legal
procedures. In practice, courts resolve most cases through a plea bargain.
Though efficient, this method puts less-powerful people at a disadvantage.
There are four jurisdictions for punishment: retribution, deterrence,
rehabilitation, and societal protection. Community-bases corrections include
probation and parole. These programs lower the cost of supervising people
convicted of crimes and reduce prison overcrowding but have not been
shown to reduce recidivism.

Stone as a Weapon of the Proletariat: In Marxist theory, the class structure of the capitalist
mode of production is characterized by the conflict between two main classes: the
bourgeoisie, the capitalists who own the means of production, and the much larger
proletariat who must sell their own labor power.

Integrated theory of Crime General Strain Theory in Criminal Justice

General strain theory (GST) is a theory of criminology developed

by Robert Agnew. General strain theory has gained a significant amount of
academic attention since being developed in 1992. Robert Agnew's general
strain theory is considered to be a solid theory, has accumulated a significant
amount of empirical evidence, and has also expanded its primary scope by
offering explanations of phenomena outside of criminal behavior.
Agnew recognized that strain theory originally put forward by Robert
King Merton was limited in terms of fully conceptualizing the range of possible
sources of strain in society, especially among youth. According to Merton,
innovation occurs when society emphasizes socially desirable and approved

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goals but at the same time provides inadequate opportunity to achieve these
goals with the legitimate institutionalized means. In other words, those
members of society, who find themselves in a position of financial strain yet
wish to achieve material success, resort to crime in order to achieve socially
desirable goals. Agnew supports this assumption but he also believes dealing
with youth there are other factors that incite criminal behavior. He suggests
that negative experiences can lead to stress not only that are financially
induced.
Agnew described 4 characteristics of strains that are most likely to lead
to crime:
1) strains are seen as unjust,
2) strains are seen as high in magnitude,
3) strains are associated with low social control, and
4) strains create some pressure or incentive to engage in criminal
coping.

Agnew's three categories of strain

1) Failure to achieve positively valued goals.
2) Removal of positive stimuli.
3) Introduction of negative stimuli.

In an attempt to explain the high rate of male delinquency as compared

to female delinquency, Agnew and Broidy analyzed the gender differences
between the perception of strain and the responses to strain.[7] The first area
that was explored was the amount of strain that people of certain genders
experience. According to stress research that Agnew and Broidy complied,
women tend to experience as much or more strain than men. Also, women
tend to be higher in subjective strain as well. Since women experience more
strain and commit less crime, Agnew and Broidy investigated the different
types of strain that women and men experience. Their findings are listed
below:

Women Men

Concerned with creating and maintaining Concerned with material

close bonds and relationships with others – success – thus higher rates of
thus lower rates of property and violent crime property and violent crime

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Face negative treatment, such as Face more conflict with peers
discrimination, high demands from family, and are likely to be the victims
and restricted behavior of crime

Failure to achieve goals may

Failure to achieve goals may lead to self-
lead to property and violent
destructive behavior
crime

Source: O Grady

Agnew and Broidy next hypothesized that there may be differences not only
in the types of strain, but in the emotional response to strain as well:

Women Men

More likely to respond with depression

More likely to respond with anger
and anger

Anger is accompanied by fear, guilt,

Anger is followed by moral outrage
and shame

More likely to blame themselves and Quick to blame others and are less
worry about the effects of their anger concerned about hurting others

Depression and guilt may lead to self- Moral outrage may led to property
destructive behaviors and violent crime

Source: O Grady[9]

Research indicated that women might lack the confidence and the self-
esteem that may be conducive to committing crime and employ escape and
avoidance methods to relieve the strain. Women may, however, have
stronger relational ties that might help to reduce strain. Men are said to be
lower in social control, and they socialize in large groups. Women, on the other
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hand, form close social bonds in small groups. Therefore, men are more likely
to respond to strain with crime.

Strain Theory: How Social Values Produce Deviance

Strain theory states that social structures within society may pressure
citizens to commit crimes.

Key Points

• Social strain theory was developed by famed American

sociologist Robert K. Merton. “Strain” refers to the discrepancies
between culturally defined goals and the institutionalized means
available to achieve these goals.
• Merton was proposing a typology of deviance based upon two
criteria: (1) a person’s motivations or her adherence to cultural
goals; (2) a person’s belief in how to attain his goals.
• A typology is a classification scheme designed to facilitate
understanding.
• According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based
upon these criteria: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism
and rebellion.

Key Terms

• typology: The systematic classification of the types of something

according to their common characteristics.
• Social strain theory: Social strain theory was developed by famed
American sociologist Robert K. Merton who, in his discussion of
deviance, proposed a typology of deviant behavior.

Social strain theory was developed by famed American sociologist

Robert K. Merton. The theory states that social structures may pressure citizens
to commit crimes. Strain may be structural, which refers to the processes at the
societal level that filter down and affect how the individual perceives his or
her needs. Strain may also be individual, which refers to the frictions and pains
experienced by an individual as he or she looks for ways to satisfy individual
needs. These types of strain can insinuate social structures within society that
then pressure citizens to become criminals.

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 In his discussion of deviance Merton proposed a typology of deviant
behavior that illustrated the possible discrepancies between culturally defined
goals and the institutionalized means available to achieve these goals. 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 adherence to cultural goals; (2) a person’s
belief in how to attain his goals. According to Merton, there are five types of
deviance based upon these criteria:

• Conformity involves the acceptance of the cultural goals and

means of attaining those goals.
• Innovation involves the acceptance of the goals of a culture but the
rejection of the traditional and/or legitimate means of attaining
those goals. For example, a member of the Mafia values wealth but
employs alternative means of attaining his wealth; in this example,
the Mafia member’s means would be deviant.
• Ritualism involves the rejection of cultural goals but the routinized
acceptance of the means for achieving the goals.
• Retreatism involves the rejection of both the cultural goals and the
traditional means of achieving those goals.
• Rebellion is a special case wherein the individual rejects both the
cultural goals and traditional means of achieving them but actively

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 attempts to replace both elements of the society with different goals
and means.

What makes Merton’s typology so fascinating is that people can turn to

deviance in the pursuit of widely accepted social values and goals. For
instance, individuals in the U.S. who sell illegal drugs have rejected the
culturally acceptable means of making money, but still share the widely
accepted cultural value in the U.S. of making money. Thus, deviance can be
the result of accepting one norm, but breaking another in order to pursue the
first. In this sense, according social strain theory, social values actually produce
deviance in two ways. First, an actor can reject social values and therefore
become deviant. Additionally, an actor can accept social values but use
deviant means to realize them.

Critics point to the fact that there is an ample amount of

crime/delinquent behavior that is “non-utilitarian, malicious, and negativistic”
(O’Grady, 2011), which highlights that not all crimes are explicable using
Merton’s theory. Crimes such as vandalism, for example, can’t be explained
by a need for material acquisition.

Sociological Theories of Deviance

Sociological theories of deviance are those that use social context and
social pressures to explain deviance.

Key Points

• Social strain typology, developed by Robert K. Merton, is based

upon two criteria: (1) a person’s motivations or adherence to
cultural goals; (2) a person’s belief in how to attain her goals.
• According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based
upon these criteria: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism
and rebellion.
• Structural functionalism argues that deviant behavior plays an
active, constructive role in society by ultimately helping cohere
different populations within a society.
• Conflict theory suggests that deviant behaviors result from social,
political, or material inequalities in a social group.

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 • Labeling theory argues that people become deviant as a result
of people forcing that identity upon them and then adopting the
identity.

Key Terms

• conformity: the ideology of adhering to one standard or social

uniformity
• typology: The systematic classification of the types of something
according to their common characteristics.
• Retrospective labeling: Occurs when a deviant recognizes her
acts as deviant prior to the primary deviance, while prospective
labeling is when the deviant recognizes future acts as deviant.

The study of social deviance is the study of the violation of cultural norms
in either formal or informal contexts. Social deviance is a phenomenon that
has existed in all societies with norms. Sociological theories of deviance are
those that use social context and social pressures to explain deviance.

Crime: The study of social deviance is the study of the violation of cultural
norms in either formal or informal contexts. Social deviance is a phenomenon
that has existed in all societies where there have been norms.

Social Strain Typology

Four main sociological theories of deviance exist. The first is the social
strain typology developed by American sociologist Robert K. Merton. Merton
proposed a typology of deviant behavior, a classification scheme designed
to facilitate understanding. Merton typology of deviance was based on two
criteria: (1) a person’s motivations or adherence to cultural goals; (2) a
person’s belief in how to attain her goals. According to Merton, there are five
types of deviance based upon these criteria: conformity, innovation, ritualism,
retreatism and rebellion. Merton’s typology is fascinating because it suggests
that people can turn to deviance in the pursuit of widely accepted social
values and goals. For instance, individuals in the U.S. who sell illegal drugs have
rejected the culturally acceptable means of making money, but they still
share the widely accepted cultural value of making money. Thus, deviance
can be the result of accepting one norm, but breaking another in order to
pursue the first.

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Structural Functionalism

The second main sociological explanation of deviance comes from

structural functionalism. This approach argues that deviant behavior plays an
active, constructive role in society by ultimately helping to cohere different
populations within a particular society. Deviance helps to distinguish between
acceptable and unacceptable behavior. It draws lines and demarcates
boundaries. This is an important function that affirms the cultural values and
norms of a society for the members of that society. In addition to clarifying the
moral boundaries of society, deviant behavior can also promote social unity
by creating an “us-versus-them” mentality in relation to deviant individuals.
Finally, deviance is actually seen as one means for society to change over
time. Deviant behavior can imbalance the social equilibrium but—in the
process of restoring balance—society will adjust norms. With changing norms
in response to deviance, the deviant behavior can contribute to long-term
social stability.

Conflict Theory

Punks: Labeling theory argues that people, such as punks, become deviant as
a result of people forcing that identity upon them and then adopting the
identity.

The third main sociological theory of deviance is conflict theory. Conflict

theory suggests that deviant behaviors result from social, political, or material
inequalities of a social group. In response to these inequalities, certain groups
will act deviantly in order to change their circumstances, change the social
structure that engendered their circumstances, or just to “act out” against
their oppressors. An example of conflict theory would be the Occupy Wall
Street movement that began in the fall of 2011. Angered at the extreme
inequalities in wealth distribution in the United States, protesters began to
140
organize more communal ways of living in Zucotti Park—near Wall Street in
New York City—in order to protest the lavish means of life of those at the top
of the socioeconomic ladder. The protesters were deviating from social norms
of coherence in order to articulate grievances against the extremely wealthy.
Their actions and perspectives demonstrate the use of conflict theory to
explain social deviance.

Labeling Theory

The fourth main sociological theory of deviance is labeling theory.

Labeling theory refers to the idea that individuals become deviant when a
deviant label is applied to them; they adopt the label by exhibiting the
behaviors, actions, and attitudes associated with the label. Labeling theory
argues that people become deviant as a result of others forcing that identity
upon them. This process works because of stigma; in applying a deviant label,
one attaches a stigmatized identity to the labeled individual.

Labeling theory allows us to understand how past behaviors of a deviant-

labeled individual are reinterpreted in accordance with their label. This
process of recasting past actions in light of a current deviant identity is referred
to as “retrospective labeling.” A clear example of retrospective labeling is
seen in how the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre were
recast after the incident took place. Much of their behavior leading up to the
school shootings has been reinterpreted in light of the deviant identity with
which they were labeled as a result of the shootings.

End of Module 4

Learning Activity/ Assessment:

1. What is the Code of Ethics (PASWI)? Enumerate along with its

principles.
2. What is Criminal Justice?
3. What is the importance of Strain Theory in Criminal Justice?

141
 SIBUGAY TECHNICAL INSTITUTE INCORPORATED
Lower Taway, Ipil, ZamboangaSibugay
www.sibugaytech.edu.ph
E-Mail Address: [email protected]
Telefax: (062) 333-2469
Mobile No. 09184873846 / 09177073044

LEARNER’S MODULE
 SUBJECT: Social Deviation and Social Work
 COVERAGE: MIDTERM COVERAGE
 WEEK: 10-11
 LESSON 1: Organization of Alcohol related establishments in town or others in order to
address college drinking problem
 Lesson Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
• Identify the organization of alcohol related establishments

• Learn and understand the advantages and disadvantages of drinking alcohol

10 Areas Governments could work with to reduce the harmful use of

alcohol

Each year 3 million lives are lost due to harmful use of alcohol. The WHO
global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol seeks to improve the
health and social outcomes for individuals, families and communities, with
considerably reduced morbidity and mortality due to harmful use of alcohol
and their ensuing social consequences. It is envisaged that the global strategy
will promote and support local, regional and global actions to prevent and
reduce the harmful use of alcohol.

The global strategy focuses on ten key areas of policy options and
interventions at the national level. The ten areas for national action are:

1. Leadership, awareness and commitment.

2. Health services' response.
3. Community action.
4. Drink-driving policies and countermeasures.
5. Availability of alcohol.
6. Marketing of alcoholic beverages.
7. Pricing policies.
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 8. Reducing the negative consequences of drinking and alcohol
intoxication.
9. Reducing the public health impact of illicit alcohol and informally
produced alcohol.
10. Monitoring and surveillance.

Area 1. Leadership, awareness and commitment

Sustainable action requires strong leadership and a solid base of

awareness and political will and commitment. The commitments should
ideally be expressed through adequately funded comprehensive and
intersectoral national policies that clarify the contributions, and division of
responsibility, of the different partners involved. The policies must be based on
available evidence and tailored to local circumstances, with clear objectives,
strategies and targets. The policy should be accompanied by a specific
action plan and supported by effective and sustainable implementation
and evaluation mechanisms. The appropriate engagement of civil society
and economic operators is essential.

For this area policy options and interventions include:

(a) developing or strengthening existing, comprehensive national and

subnational strategies, plans of action and activities to reduce the harmful
use of alcohol;

(b) establishing or appointing a main institution or agency, as appropriate,

to be responsible for following up national policies, strategies and plans;

(c) coordinating alcohol strategies with work in other relevant sectors,

including cooperation between different levels of governments, and with
other relevant health-sector strategies and plans;

(d) ensuring broad access to information and effective education and

public awareness programs among all levels of society about the full range
of alcohol-related harm experienced in the country and the need for, and
existence of, effective preventive measures;

(e) raising awareness of harm to others and among vulnerable groups

caused by drinking, avoiding stigmatization and actively discouraging
discrimination against affected groups and individuals.

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Area 2. Health services’ response

Health services are central to tackling harm at the individual level among
those with alcohol-use disorders and other health conditions caused by
harmful use of alcohol. Health services should provide prevention and
treatment interventions to individuals and families at risk of, or affected by,
alcohol-use disorders and associated conditions. Another important role of
health services and health professionals is to inform societies about the public
health and social consequences of harmful use of alcohol, support
communities in their efforts to reduce the harmful use of alcohol, and to
advocate effective societal responses. Health services should reach out to,
mobilize and involve a broad range of players outside the health sector.
Health services response should be sufficiently strengthened and funded in a
way that is commensurate with the magnitude of the public health problems
caused by harmful use of alcohol.

For this area policy options and interventions include:

(a) increasing capacity of health and social welfare systems to deliver

prevention, treatment and care for alcohol-use and alcohol-induced
disorders and co-morbid conditions, including support and treatment for
affected families and support for mutual help or self-help activities and
programs;

(b) supporting initiatives for screening and brief interventions for hazardous
and harmful drinking at primary health care and other settings; such
initiatives should include early identification and management of harmful
drinking among pregnant women and women of child-bearing age;

(c) improving capacity for prevention of, identification of, and

interventions for individuals and families living with fetal alcohol syndrome
and a spectrum of associated disorders;

(d) development and effective coordination of integrated and/or linked

prevention, treatment and care strategies and services for alcohol-use
disorders and co-morbid conditions, including drug-use disorders,
depression, suicides, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis;

(e) securing universal access to health including through enhancing

availability, accessibility and affordability of treatment services for groups
of low socioeconomic status;

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 (f) establishing and maintaining a system of registration and monitoring of
alcohol-attributable morbidity and mortality, with regular reporting
mechanisms;

(g) provision of culturally sensitive health and social services as

appropriate.

Area 3. Community action

The impact of harmful use of alcohol on communities can trigger and

foster local initiatives and solutions to local problems. Communities can be
supported and empowered by governments and other stakeholders to use
their local knowledge and expertise in adopting effective approaches to
prevent and reduce the harmful use of alcohol by changing collective rather
than individual behavior while being sensitive to cultural norms, beliefs and
value systems.

For this area policy options and interventions include:

(a) supporting rapid assessments in order to identify gaps and priority areas
for interventions at the community level;

(b) facilitating increased recognition of alcohol-related harm at the local

level and promoting appropriate effective and cost-effective responses to
the local determinants of harmful use of alcohol and related problems;

(c) strengthening capacity of local authorities to encourage and

coordinate concerted community action by supporting and promoting
the development of municipal policies to reduce harmful use of alcohol,
as well as their capacity to enhance partnerships and networks of
community institutions and nongovernmental organizations;

(d) providing information about effective community-based interventions,

and building capacity at community level for their implementation;

(e) mobilizing communities to prevent the selling of alcohol to, and

consumption of alcohol by, under-age drinkers, and to develop and
support alcohol-free environments, especially for youth and other at-risk
groups;

(f) providing community care and support for affected individuals and
their families;

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 (g) developing or supporting community programs and policies for
subpopulations at particular risk, such as young people, unemployed
persons and indigenous populations, specific issues like the production and
distribution of illicit or informal-alcohol beverages and events at community
level such as sporting events and town festivals.

Area 4. Drink–driving policies and countermeasures

Driving under the influence of alcohol seriously affects a person’s

judgment, coordination and other motor functions. Alcohol-impaired driving is
a significant public health problem that affects both the drinker and, in many
cases, innocent parties. Strong evidence-based interventions exist for
reducing drink–driving. Strategies to reduce harm associated with drink–
driving should include deterrent measures that aim to reduce the likelihood
that a person will drive under the influence of alcohol, and measures that
create a safer driving environment in order to reduce both the likelihood and
severity of harm associated with alcohol-influenced crashes.

In some countries, the number of traffic-related injuries involving intoxicated

pedestrians is substantial and should be a high priority for intervention.

For this area policy options and interventions include:

(a) introducing and enforcing an upper limit for blood alcohol

concentration, with a reduced limit for professional drivers and young or
novice drivers;

(b) promoting sobriety check points and random breath-testing;

(c) administrative suspension of driving licenses;

(d) graduated licensing for novice drivers with zero-tolerance for drink–
driving;

(e) using an ignition interlock, in specific contexts where affordable, to

reduce drink-driving incidents;

(f) mandatory driver-education, counselling and, as appropriate,

treatment programs;

(g) encouraging provision of alternative transportation, including public

transport until after the closing time for drinking places;

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 (h) conducting public awareness and information campaigns in support of
policy and in order to increase the general deterrence effect;

(i) running carefully planned, high-intensity, well-executed mass media

campaigns targeted at specific situations, such as holiday seasons, or
audiences such as young people.

Area 5. Availability of alcohol

Public health strategies that seek to regulate the commercial or public

availability of alcohol through laws, policies, and programs are important ways
to reduce the general level of harmful use of alcohol. Such strategies provide
essential measures to prevent easy access to alcohol by vulnerable and high-
risk groups. Commercial and public availability of alcohol can have a
reciprocal influence on the social availability of alcohol and thus contribute
to changing social and cultural norms that promotes harmful use of alcohol.
The level of regulation on the availability of alcohol will depend on local
circumstances, including social, cultural and economic contexts as well as
existing binding international obligations. In some developing and low- and
middle-income countries, informal markets are the main source of alcohol and
formal controls on sale need to be complemented by actions addressing illicit
or informally produced alcohol. Furthermore, restrictions on availability that
are too strict may promote the development of a parallel illicit market.
Secondary supply of alcohol, for example from parents or friends, needs also
to be taken into consideration in measures on the availability of alcohol.

For this area policy options and interventions include:

(a) establishing, operating and enforcing an appropriate system to

regulate production, wholesaling and serving of alcoholic beverages that
places reasonable limitations on the distribution of alcohol and the
operation of alcohol outlets in accordance with cultural norms, by the
following possible measures:

(i) introducing, where appropriate, a licensing system on retail sales, or

public health- oriented government monopolies;

(ii) regulating the number and location of on-premise and off-premise

alcohol outlets;

(iii) regulating days and hours of retail sales;

(iv) regulating modes of retail sales of alcohol;

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 (v) regulating retail sales in certain places or during special events;

(b) establishing an appropriate minimum age for purchase or consumption

of alcoholic beverages and other policies in order to raise barriers against
sales to, and consumption of alcoholic beverages by, adolescents;

(c) adopting policies to prevent sales to intoxicated persons and those

below the legal age and considering the introduction of mechanisms for
placing liability on sellers and servers in accordance with national
legislations;

(d) setting policies regarding drinking in public places or at official public

agencies’ activities and functions;

(e) adopting policies to reduce and eliminate availability of illicit

production, sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages as well as to
regulate or control informal alcohol.

Area 6. Marketing of alcoholic beverages

Reducing the impact of marketing, particularly on young people and

adolescents, is an important consideration in reducing harmful use of alcohol.
Alcohol is marketed through increasingly sophisticated advertising and
promotion techniques, including linking alcohol brands to sports and cultural
activities, sponsorships and product placements, and new marketing
techniques such as e-mails, SMS and podcasting, social media and other
communication techniques. The transmission of alcohol marketing messages
across national borders and jurisdictions on channels such as satellite television
and the Internet, and sponsorship of sports and cultural events is emerging as
a serious concern in some countries.

It is very difficult to target young adult consumers without exposing cohorts of

adolescents under the legal age to the same marketing. The exposure of
children and young people to appealing marketing is of particular concern,
as is the targeting of new markets in developing and low- and middle-income
countries with a current low prevalence of alcohol consumption or high
abstinence rates. Both the content of alcohol marketing and the amount of
exposure of young people to that marketing are crucial issues. A
precautionary approach to protecting young people against these marketing
techniques should be considered.

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For this area policy options and interventions include:

(a) setting up regulatory or co-regulatory frameworks, preferably with a

legislative basis, and supported when appropriate by self-regulatory
measures, for alcohol marketing by:

(i) regulating the content and the volume of marketing;

(ii) regulating direct or indirect marketing in certain or all media;

(iii) regulating sponsorship activities that promote alcoholic beverages;

(iv) restricting or banning promotions in connection with activities

targeting young people;

(v) regulating new forms of alcohol marketing techniques, for instance

social media;

(b) development by public agencies or independent bodies of effective

systems of surveillance of marketing of alcohol products;

(c) setting up effective administrative and deterrence systems for

infringements on marketing restrictions.

Area 7. Pricing policies

Consumers, including heavy drinkers and young people, are sensitive to

changes in the price of drinks. Pricing policies can be used to reduce
underage drinking, to halt progression towards drinking large volumes of
alcohol and/or episodes of heavy drinking, and to influence consumers’
preferences. Increasing the price of alcoholic beverages is one of the most
effective interventions to reduce harmful use of alcohol. A key factor for the
success of price-related policies in reducing harmful use of alcohol is an
effective and efficient system for taxation matched by adequate tax
collection and enforcement.

Factors such as consumer preferences and choice, changes in income,

alternative sources for alcohol in the country or in neighboring countries, and
the presence or absence of other alcohol policy measures may influence the
effectiveness of this policy option. Demand for different beverages may be
affected differently. Tax increases can have different impacts on sales,
depending on how they affect the price to the consumer. The existence of a
substantial illicit market for alcohol complicates policy considerations on
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taxation in many countries. In such circumstances tax changes must be
accompanied by efforts to bring the illicit and informal markets under
effective government control. Increased taxation can also meet resistance
from consumer groups and economic operators, and taxation policy will
benefit from the support of information and awareness-building measures to
counter such resistance.

For this area policy options and interventions include:

(a) establishing a system for specific domestic taxation, on alcohol

accompanied by an effective enforcement system, which may take into
account, as appropriate, the alcoholic content of the beverage;

(b) regularly reviewing prices in relation to level of inflation and income;

(c) banning or restricting the use of direct and indirect price promotions,
discount sales, sales below cost and flat rates for unlimited drinking or other
types of volume sales;

(d) establishing minimum prices for alcohol where applicable;

(e) providing price incentives for non-alcoholic beverages;

(f) reducing or stopping subsidies to economic operators in the area of

alcohol.

Area 8. Reducing the negative consequences of drinking and alcohol

intoxication

This target area includes policy options and interventions that focus
directly on reducing the harm from alcohol intoxication and drinking without
necessarily affecting the underlying alcohol consumption. Current evidence
and good practices favor the complementary use of interventions within a
broader strategy that prevents or reduces the negative consequences of
drinking and alcohol intoxication. In implementing these approaches,
managing the drinking environment or informing consumers, the perception
of endorsing or promoting drinking should be avoided.

For this area policy options and interventions include:

(a) regulating the drinking context in order to minimize violence and

disruptive behavior, including serving alcohol in plastic containers or

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 shatter-proof glass and management of alcohol-related issues at large-
scale public events;

(b) enforcing laws against serving to intoxication and legal liability for
consequences of harm resulting from intoxication caused by the serving of
alcohol;

(c) enacting management policies relating to responsible serving of

beverage on premises and training staff in relevant sectors in how better
to prevent, identify and manage intoxicated and aggressive drinkers;

(d) reducing the alcoholic strength inside different beverage categories;

(e) providing necessary care or shelter for severely intoxicated people;

(f) providing consumer information about, and labeling alcoholic

beverages to indicate, the harm related to alcohol.

Area 9. Reducing the public health impact of illicit alcohol and informally
produced alcohol

Consumption of illicitly or informally produced alcohol could have

additional negative health consequences due to a higher ethanol content
and potential contamination with toxic substances, such as methanol. It may
also hamper governments’ abilities to tax and control legally produced
alcohol. Actions to reduce these additional negative effects should be taken
according to the prevalence of illicit and/or informal alcohol consumption
and the associated harm. Good scientific, technical and institutional capacity
should be in place for the planning and implementation of appropriate
national, regional and international measures. Good market knowledge and
insight into the composition and production of informal or illicit alcohol are also
important, coupled with an appropriate legislative framework and active
enforcement. These interventions should complement, not replace, other
interventions to reduce harmful use of alcohol.

Production and sale of informal alcohol are ingrained in many cultures

and are often informally controlled. Thus, control measures could be different
for illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol and should be combined
with awareness raising and community mobilization. Efforts to stimulate
alternative sources of income are also important.

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For this area policy options and interventions include:

(a) good quality control with regard to production and distribution of

alcoholic beverages;

(b) regulating sales of informally produced alcohol and bringing it into the
taxation system;

(c) an efficient control and enforcement system, including tax stamps;

(d) developing or strengthening tracking and tracing systems for illicit

alcohol;

(e) ensuring necessary cooperation and exchange of relevant information

on combating illicit alcohol among authorities at national and
international levels;

(f) issuing relevant public warnings about contaminants and other health
threats from informal or illicit alcohol.

Area 10. Monitoring and surveillance

Data from monitoring and surveillance create the basis for the success
and appropriate delivery of the other nine policy options. Local, national and
international monitoring and surveillance are needed in order to monitor the
magnitude and trends of alcohol-related harms, to strengthen advocacy, to
formulate policies and to assess impact of interventions. Monitoring should also
capture the profile of people accessing services and the reason why people
most affected are not accessing prevention and treatment services. Data
may be available in other sectors, and good systems for coordination,
information exchange and collaboration are necessary in order to collect the
potentially broad range of information needed to have comprehensive
monitoring and surveillance.

Development of sustainable national information systems using

indicators, definitions and data-collection procedures compatible with WHO’s
global and regional information systems provides an important basis for
effective evaluation of national efforts to reduce harmful use of alcohol and
for monitoring trends at subregional, regional and global levels. Systematic
continual collection, collation and analysis of data, timely dissemination of
information and feedback to policy-makers and other stakeholders should be
an integral part of implementation of any policy and intervention to reduce

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harmful use of alcohol. Collecting, analyzing and disseminating information on
harmful use of alcohol are resource-intensive activities.

For this area policy options and interventions include:

(a) establishing effective frameworks for monitoring and surveillance

activities including periodic national surveys on alcohol consumption and
alcohol-related harm and a plan for exchange and dissemination of
information;

(b) establishing or designating an institution or other organizational entity

responsible for collecting, collating, analyzing and disseminating available
data, including publishing national reports;

(c) defining and tracking a common set of indicators of harmful use of

alcohol and of policy responses and interventions to prevent and reduce
such use;

(d) creating a repository of data at the country level based on

internationally agreed indicators and reporting data in the agreed format
to WHO and other relevant international organizations;

(e) developing evaluation mechanisms with the collected data in order to

determine the impact of policy measures, interventions and programs put
in place to reduce the harmful use of alcohol.

https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/10-areas-for-national-
action-on-alcohol

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Drinking Alcohol

By Tiffany Ayuda, CPT Updated February 10, 2022 Reviewed by Jennifer Logan, MD, MPH

Although a cocktail, beer or a glass of wine can be both relaxing and

good for the heart, it might also play a role in cancer development, liver and
heart damage and depression. In fact, health experts say there isn't a safe
level of drinking alcohol, as alcohol use is the seventh leading risk factor for
deaths globally, according to a landmark August 2018 study in The Lancet.But
if you like to kick back with a glass of wine or a cold beer every now and then,
there are safer ways to drink — and the first step is to curb your intake.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends
people assigned female at birth (AFAB) limit their intake to one alcoholic drink
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per day and people assigned male at birth (AMAB) only have up to two drinks.
What does that look like exactly? Here's a breakdown from the CDC:

• 12 ounces of beer (5 percent alcohol content)

• 8 ounces of malt liquor (7 percent alcohol content)

• 5 ounces of wine (12 percent alcohol content)

• 1.5 ounces or a shot of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor, such as

gin, rum, vodka and whiskey

One way to approach alcohol is to think about why you want to drink.
Will it help you relax and feel good? Or will it make your anxiety worse? Are
you using it to cope with personal issues going on in your life?

How alcohol affects someone depends on the person, so if you do drink,

make sure to limit yourself to the appropriate number of drinks per day and be
mindful of how it affects you. Your liver metabolizes alcohol, but it can
metabolize only a small amount at a time, so any excess alcohol continues to
circulate throughout your body, per the CDC. Whether you're sipping on a
martini or brandy, the effects of alcohol will largely depend on the amount
you take in and not so much on the type of alcohol you drink. In small amounts,
alcohol can uplift your mood, but as you drink more, it can impair your vision,
motor skills, memory and judgment. All that said, here are some pros and cons
of alcohol. Remember, the benefits don't outweigh the disadvantages of
drinking alcohol — so, again, don't start drinking if you haven't been.
If you feel like you're drinking too much, are on prescription medications or are
getting treated for any health conditions, it's important to talk to your doctor
about safe alcohol use for you, per the CDC.

Benefits of Drinking Alcohol in Moderation

There are many reasons why people drink alcohol — in fact, there are
potential benefits of alcohol if you drink in moderation. Here's how alcohol can
help the body:

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1. It's Linked to Better Heart Health

Some types of alcohol are better protectants than others — red wine, for
instance, has a high concentration of polyphenols called resveratrol that are
linked to helping prevent coronary heart disease, according to the Mayo
Clinic. "The flavonoids and antioxidants in wine can be beneficial for the heart
and blood vessels, as well as for people with type 2 diabetes. People with
diabetes can produce a lot of free radicals because of poor sugar
metabolism," Kessler says. However, these health-supporting properties have
shown to be beneficial only when you drink less alcohol. For example, a
February 2017 study in The Lancet Public Health found that drinking in
moderation does not appear to worsen blood pressure. But for those who drink
more than two drinks per day, reducing alcohol can improve blood pressure.
High cholesterol is also major risk factor for stroke and heart disease,
particularly non-high-density lipoproteins, or LDL cholesterol, which can build
up inside your arteries and affect cardiovascular health, per the CDC. High-
density lipoproteins (HDL cholesterol), on the other hand, is known as the
"good" cholesterol as it helps your body get rid of LDL. And an April 2017 review
in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that moderate drinking led
to slower decreases in HDL cholesterol levels, depending on the type of
beverage.

2. It's Linked to Lower Diabetes Risk

This health benefit of alcohol may come as a surprise, but moderate

drinking might help lower your risk for type 2 diabetes, according to a
September 2016 review in the American Journal of Public Health. Per the
research, people AFAB who drink one to two drinks per day have 40 percent
lower risk of developing this disease compared to people who don't drink
alcohol. Drinking 15 grams of alcohol per day was also linked to potentially
improving insulin sensitivity, which can help prevent diabetes. A 12-year follow-
up August 2017 study in Scientific Reports similarly found that light to moderate
alcohol intake may have protective effects. On the other hand, though, it's
important to note that both studies showed an increased risk for diabetes with
higher alcohol consumption. For instance, the Scientific Reports research
155
found that drinking more than 30 grams of alcohol per day may up your risk
for diabetes. If you have diabetes, it's still best to talk to your doctor about
what amount of alcohol is safest for you before drinking.

3. It's Linked to Helping Prevent Other Chronic Diseases

When coupled with a well-balanced diet like the Mediterranean Diet, for
instance, low-to-moderate wine intake can help improve insulin sensitivity and
reduce inflammation. A November 2019 review in Nutrients suggests that the
polyphenols in red wine can help prevent chronic diseases associated with
oxidative stress. The review also highlights how low-to-moderate wine intake is
tied to helping decrease total cholesterol in people with dyslipidemia, high
cholesterol in postmenopausal people, blood pressure in people with type 2
diabetes and insulin resistance in those with metabolic syndrome. Furthermore,
a small May 2012 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests
that red wine may provide some prebiotic benefits and might help promote
gut-friendly bacteria.

4. It's Tied to Better Cognitive Function

Another health benefit of moderate alcohol use is that it may be tied to

better brain health in older adults. A June 2020 study in JAMA Network Open
of 19,887 people with a mean age of about 62 years old found that low to
moderate drinking (which equated to 8 drinks per week for people AFAB and
less than 15 drinks per week for people AMAB) was significantly associated
with consistently high cognitive function and a lower rate of cognitive decline.
And here's where it gets even more interesting: Compared to people who
never drink, those who drink low to moderate amounts of alcohol were less
likely to have a low total cognitive function, mental status, word recall and
vocabulary. It's worth noting that the majority of the participants in this study
were people AFAB. The study authors also acknowledge that people who are
healthier at baseline may be more likely to participate in social activities where
alcohol is present, which may affect the link between alcohol intake and
health status (a bias that applies to a lot of research about alcohol's effects).

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A September 2016 review in the American Journal of Public Health likewise
found that people AFAB who have up to one drink per day are less likely to
experience cognitive decline. They also face a lower risk of sudden cardiac
death, hypertension, stroke and all-cause mortality compared to those
drinking more than one serving of alcohol daily.
However, other evidence is conflicting.
For instance, a June 2017 study in the BMJ found that light drinking has
no advantages over abstinence. Furthermore, the risk of right-sided
hippocampal atrophy (which can contribute to Alzheimer's disease and
impaired memory) is three times higher in adults who drink moderately.
And, per the Alzheimer's Society, some studies may not be accurate because
they don't differentiate between former drinkers and lifetime non-drinkers.
People who formerly had alcohol use disorder, for example, may have already
experienced brain damage to some degree compared to people who have
never drank. That may in part be because drinking heavily can lead to
thiamine deficiency, which can damage the memory-making centers of your
brain, per the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
This lack of thiamine from heavy drinking can also lead to Wernicke-Korsakoff
syndrome, a degenerative brain disorder that damages cognitive function,
according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

5. Beer, Specifically, Might Help Your Gut

Different types of alcohol come with a different set of potential benefits, but
you'll still want to limit yourself to no more than one or two drinks per day. In
terms of other alcohol, research shows that beer may also have some health
benefits. For instance, a November 2019 study of the health benefits of alcohol
in Metabolites suggests that as a fermented drink, beer contains polyphenols,
such as ferulic acid, xanthohumol, catechins, epicatechins and
proanthocyanidins, that may help support the gut microbiome. However,
more research is needed to understand the health benefits of beer in regards
to polyphenols and how they interact with the gut.

Is Beer a Diuretic?

A diuretic is any substance that increases your body's urine production.

Alcohol works as a diuretic in part by stimulating the bladder. Alcohol also
suppresses a pituitary gland hormone that is responsible for inhibiting the
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diuretic effect. This makes your kidneys unable to reabsorb as much liquid as
usual, according to Alcohol Health & Research World. So, yes, alcohol makes
you pee more.

6. It Could Prevent Gallstones Naturally

Occasional alcohol use may also protect against gallstones by reducing stone
formation and increasing gallbladder motility, per the American Journal of
Public Health review. Drinking 5 or more grams of alcohol per day was linked
to a 40 percent lower risk of symptomatic gallstones.
But again, moderation is the key here — heavily drinking is not a preventative
measure for gallstones.

The Disadvantages of Drinking Alcohol Heavily

On the other hand, there are disadvantages of drinking alcohol. Here are the
reasons why you should not drink alcohol heavily:

1. It Can Cause Liver Damage

The disadvantages of alcohol use appear when you turn moderate

drinking to heavy or binge drinking. "Heavy alcohol consumption can tax the
liver because the liver is the organ that filters alcohol. If the liver has to filter
alcohol, it can produce metabolites that are harmful to your health and can
cause diseases like fatty liver, hepatitis and cirrhosis," Kessler says.

2. It Can Harm Your Digestive Tract

Another disadvantage of alcohol in the human body is that it has been

shown to damage the entire gastrointestinal tract. Ethanol can cause direct
damage to the esophagus, intestine and stomach, in addition to the liver and
pancreas, according to an October 2014 review in the World Journal of
Gastroenterology.

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3. It's Tied to Cancer

Here's another reason why you shouldn't drink alcohol heavily: Research
has linked it to a number of cancers, including breast, liver and colon cancers,
according to the American Cancer Society. Alcohol may stimulate cancerous
tumor growths and promote the progression and aggressiveness of tumors,
according to a January 2017 review in Pharmacological Research. Moreover,
drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol is associated with an
elevated risk of colon cancer, especially those with a family history of the
disease, per a January 2012 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
.

4. It's Linked to Heart Problems

There are advantages and disadvantages of drinking wine — after all,

sipping it in moderation may contribute to heart health. But chronic excessive
drinking (wine or otherwise) can up your risk for heart conditions like high blood
pressure, heart disease, heart failure and stroke, according to the CDC.
That's because alcohol can increase blood pressure and heart rate and
contribute to obesity, all of which and can damage the heart. This is especially
the case if you drink frequently and in high amounts.
"Heavy drinking for [people AMAB] is equal to 15 or more drinks a week, and
for [people AFAB], it's eight or more drinks per week," Kessler says.

5. It's Associated with Osteoporosis

Another reason not to drink heavily is that it's linked to an increased risk
for osteoporosis, particularly in young people AFAB, according to a June 2018
study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. While osteoporosis —
which is characterized by low bone mineral density — is usually more apparent
in older adults, drinking too much alcohol in early adulthood can inhibit young
adults from reaching their peak bone mass.

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6. It's Tied to Weight Gain

Another con of alcohol is that drinking too much can lead to weight
gain, given that it serves up seven calories per gram and offers little, if any,
nutrients along with it, according to Harvard Health Publishing. To put that into
perspective, one shot of liquor has around 97 to 116 calories (before you pour
in caloric mixers!) while a glass of wine can boast about 120 to 165 calories,
per the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). Drinking too much can easily
pack on the calories and lead to weight gain. And the big disadvantage of
alcohol when it comes to weight gain is that having overweight or obesity can
put you at a high risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and other
comorbid illnesses, according to the CDC.

7. It Lowers Your Inhibitions

Another disadvantage of drinking alcohol is that it can cloud your judgment,

paving the way for potentially destructive decisions, according to the CDC.
That's because drinking can lead to:
• Poor judgment

• Reduced reaction time

• Loss of balance

• Motor skills

• Slurred speech
Per the CDC, this impaired function can lead to immediate risks such as:
• Car accidents

• Violent behavior

• Risky sexual behavior

8. It Can Cause Alcohol Poisoning

Here's why not to drink alcohol in excess: It can cause alcohol poisoning, a
medical emergency that can be fatal resulting from high blood alcohol levels,
according to the CDC.

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9. It Can Dehydrate You

Drinking alcohol actually promotes dehydration, according to the CDC.

Because alcohol increases your urine production, your body begins to
eliminate more liquid than you're taking in through drinking. That's why this is
one of the reasons not to drink alcohol: The more you drink, the greater your
risk of becoming dehydrated. Not only does alcohol make you pee more
frequently, but you can lose additional fluids due to diarrhea, vomiting and
increased sweating associated with excessive alcohol.
Prevent dehydration by drinking at least one 8-ounce glass of water in
between each alcoholic beverage, per the NLM.

10. It Can Cause a Hangover

If you've ever woken up with a pounding headache after a night at the

bars, you've likely experienced this disadvantage of drinking alcohol. Per
the Mayo Clinic, a hangover can lead to symptoms like:
• Fatigue

• Weakness

• Thirst

• Dry mouth

• Headaches

• Muscle aches

• Nausea, vomiting or stomach pain

• Poor or decreased sleep

• Sensitivity to light and sound

• Dizziness

• Shakiness

• Difficulty concentrating

• Mood disturbances like depression, anxiety and irritability

• Rapid heartbeat
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Hangovers should resolve on their own, but for some, the aftereffects of
drinking are among the top reasons not to drink alcohol.

What Causes Dizziness After Drinking Alcohol?

Your blood sugar levels drop after drinking alcoholic beverages and that can
lead to physical symptoms, including dizziness, stomach discomfort, nausea,
headache and anxiety, per the Mayo Clinic.

What's more, alcohol is dehydrating, and having multiple drinks can lead to a
loss of electrolytes. If you don't replace the fluids by drinking water or
electrolyte-enriched drinks, you'll likely feel light-headed after drinking.

11. It Can Lead to Nutrient Deficiencies

Chronic, excessive alcohol intake can cause malnutrition, especially if

your nutrient intake is already low. Here's a breakdown of what minerals and
vitamins are depleted by alcohol. If you have any of these deficiencies, then
it may be a sign you shouldn't drink alcohol, so talk to your doctor about the
best treatment for you.
Thiamine: Excessive drinking is notorious for causing deficiency in thiamine, or
vitamin B1, which is found mainly in whole or enriched grains, beans and
seeds. Alcohol appears to reduce its absorption, per the NIAAA.
Adequate thiamine is crucial for carbohydrate metabolism and the formation
of ATP, the body's energy. Chronic alcoholism can result in a severe form of
beriberi (thiamine deficiency disease) called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a
form of psychosis accompanied by memory loss and brain shrinkage. Very
high doses of thiamine might treat this condition, at least to some degree, in
the early stages.
Folate: This B vitamin is required for normal DNA synthesis in all cells, and the
maturation of red blood cells and good sources include fruits, vegetables and
legumes.
Folate deficiency causes a disorder called megaloblastic anemia. In early
pregnancy, a deficiency can interfere with the formation of the embryo's
spinal cord. Per the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, excessive

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alcohol intake blocks its absorption and interferes with its activation in the
body. Alcohol-induced folate deficiency may also be related to certain
cancers, especially of the breast and colon, and to liver damage.
Magnesium: Excessive alcohol intake depletes magnesium, an extremely
important mineral that has hundreds of roles in the cells, including those of the
neuromuscular and cardiac systems.
Leafy green vegetables, avocados, beans, seeds and nuts are good sources.
High alcohol intake is a major cause of magnesium depletion from the body's
tissues, according to a March 2020 study in Alcohol and Alcoholism.

12. It Can Lead to Pregnancy and Birth Problems

Drinking even in the short-term increases the risk for miscarriage or stillbirth
for people who are pregnant, according to the CDC. It also puts fetuses at
higher risk for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, which can lead to
developmental delays, learning disabilities and vision or hearing problems, per
the CDC.

13. It Can Contribute to Alcohol Dependence

Chronic heavy drinking can contribute to alcohol use disorder and

alcohol dependence, according to the CDC.
Per the Mayo Clinic, symptoms can include:
• Not being able to limit the amount of alcohol you drink, despite

possibly wanting to

• Spending a lot of time drinking, seeking out or recovering from

alcohol use

• Craving alcohol

• Alcohol gets in the way of successfully performing at work,

school or home

• Continuing to drink even though it's causing problems

• Using alcohol in unsafe situations, like while driving

• Developing a tolerance to alcohol

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 • Having withdrawal symptoms like nausea, sweating and
shaking when you don't drink

14. It Can Affect Mental Health

Yet another reason why you shouldn't drink heavily is because it can
contribute to mental health issues like depression and anxiety, per the CDC.
While alcohol may temporarily relieve feelings of depression, it can actually
make things worse in the long run. In fact, there is a mutual relationship
between depression and alcohol misuse, according to the University at
Buffalo. This can lead to a cycle where people use alcohol to ease their
symptoms, but the alcohol fuels the negative emotions that contribute to
depression.

Effects of Binge Drinking

When it comes to drinking, the law of averages doesn't apply.

As mentioned above, there are pros and cons of drinking alcohol, so long as
you don't exceed one drink a day for people AFAB and up to two for people
AMAB. However, the same benefit doesn't apply to saving up all those
weekday drinks and drinking six to seven drinks on one weekend night.
This habit is known as binge drinking, per the CDC, and it's the riskiest pattern
of consumption. When you binge drink, the health effects are much like those
of a heavy drinker.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans define binge drinking as downing more
than five drinks in two hours if you're a person AMAB and four drinks in two
hours if you're a person AFAB.
Excessive drinking and binge drinking can lead to stroke, per the American
Heart Association. Binging can also lead to fetal alcohol syndrome for people
who are pregnant, cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrhythmia and sudden cardiac
death. The rates of high blood pressure increase and you're more likely to have
a stroke.
Binge drinking is also associated with up to a 50 percent increase in breast
cancer risk compared to low-average drinking, per a September 2017 study
in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
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 Strategies to Prevent Underage Drinking
Alcohol Research & Health. 2002;26(1): 5-14.
Kelli A. Komro, M.P.H., Ph.D., and Traci L. Toomey, M.P.H., Ph.D.
Kelli A. Komro, M.P.H., Ph.D., and Traci L. Toomey, M.P.H., Ph.D., are
assistant professors in the Division of Epidemiology, School of Public
Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Alcohol use by underage drinkers is a persistent public health problem in

the United States, and alcohol is the most commonly used drug among
adolescents. Accordingly, numerous approaches have been developed and
studied that aim to prevent underage drinking. Some approaches are school
based, involving curricula targeted at preventing alcohol, tobacco, or
marijuana use. Other approaches are extracurricular, offering activities
outside of school in the form of social or life skills training or alternative activities.
Other strategies strive to involve the adolescents' families in the prevention
programs. Policy strategies also have been implemented that have increased
the minimum legal drinking age, reduced the commercial and social access
of adolescents to alcohol, and reduced the economic availability of alcohol.
Approaches involving the entire community also have been employed.
Several programs (e.g., the Midwestern Prevention Project and Project
Northland) have combined many of these strategies.

Key words: underage drinking; prevention strategy; school-based

prevention; curriculum; prevention through alternative activities; skills building;
family focused prevention; alcohol or other drug (AOD) public policy strategy;
minimum drinking age; availability or accessibility to minors; community-based
prevention

Underage drinking is a persistent public health problem in the United

States. Alcohol use initiation rates for children rise quickly from age 10 up to
about age 13, when they reach more than 50 percent. Subsequently, initiation
rates begin to slow again (Kosterman et al. 2000). Moreover, alcohol is the
most commonly used drug among adolescents. For example, among eighth-
grade students (who are ages 13 to 14) surveyed in the 1999 national
representative sample of the Monitoring the Future study, 52 percent reported
having consumed alcohol in their lifetime, and 25 percent reported having
been drunk in their lifetime. In addition, 24 percent of the eighth graders
reported having used alcohol in the past month and 9 percent reported
having been drunk in the past month (Johnston et al. 2000). These rates are
higher than those for use of tobacco or any illegal drug (Johnston et al. 2000).
A strong relationship appears to exist between alcohol use among youth and
many social, emotional, and behavioral problems, such as using illegal drugs,
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fighting, stealing, driving under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs,
skipping school, feeling depressed, and deliberately trying to hurt or kill
themselves. In addition to the problems that occur during adolescence, early
initiation of alcohol consumption is related to alcohol-related problems later
in life. One study found that early onset of alcohol use (i.e., by age 12) was
associated with subsequent alcohol abuse and related problem behaviors in
later adolescence, including alcohol-related violence, injuries, drinking and
driving, absenteeism from school or work, and increased risk for using other
drugs (Gruber et al. 1996). Another study found that people who begin
drinking before age 15 are 4 times more likely to develop alcohol
dependence during their lifetime than are people who begin drinking at age
21 (Grant and Dawson 1997). Therefore, it is clearly an important public health
goal to delay the initiation of alcohol use among young adolescents for the
benefit of their current and long-term health.
To develop effective programs to prevent alcohol use among young
adolescents, it is necessary to first identify the causes of use. The identification
of those causes involves a combination of theory and research. According to
the theory of triadic influence (TTI), which integrates many behavioral theories
into a comprehensive "mega-theory" of health behavior, all behaviors have
roots in three domains: the person's personal characteristics, current social
situation, and cultural environment (Flay and Petraitis 1994). The TTI also
specifies different levels of influence on behavior for various factors. For
example, proximal factors directly pertain to the drinker (e.g., attitudes and
perceived norms around alcohol) and more distal factors pertain to the
drinker's environment (e.g., parental practices or laws and policies influencing
access to alcohol).
Consistent with the TTI, personal, social, and environmental factors
repeatedly have been found to be associated with alcohol use among
adolescents (Hawkins et al. 1992; Komro et al. 1997). Personal influences
promoting alcohol use include rebelliousness, tolerance of deviance, a high
value on independence and nonconformance, low school commitment and
achievement, positive beliefs and attitudes toward alcohol use, and lack of
self-efficacy to refuse offers of alcohol. Social influences favoring adolescent
alcohol use include low socioeconomic status and minimal parental
education, family disruption and conflict, weak family bonds, low parental
supervision, parental permissiveness and lack of rules about alcohol use, family
history of alcoholism, peer alcohol use, perceived adult approval of use, and
perceived peer approval of use. Important environmental influences on youth
alcohol use include the legal, economic, and physical availability of alcohol
as well as cultural norms around use.
This theoretical framework, which is supported by research on risk and
protective factors (i.e., etiological research), provides a comprehensive
understanding of the factors that influence the onset of alcohol use among
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adolescents. Furthermore, the framework offers practical guidance on
developing strategies to prevent adolescent alcohol use. Indeed, the
enhanced understanding of the interrelatedness of personal, social, and
environmental factors in determining behavior has influenced prevention
efforts considerably. Thus, the focus of prevention approaches has broadened
from individual personality characteristics to the social world of the adolescent
(e.g., family and peers) and to macrolevel environmental factors (e.g.,
community and societal messages, norms, and availability) (Perry et al. 1993a;
Wagenaar and Perry 1994).
As researchers and clinicians develop comprehensive approaches to
the prevention of adolescent alcohol use, they must continue to identify the
most important characteristics of different intervention strategies that
contribute to the strategies' effectiveness. The following sections and the table
summarize current knowledge regarding the most promising components of
the whole spectrum of prevention approaches, including school,
extracurricular, family, policy, and community strategies.
Key Components of Strategies to Prevent Underage
Drinking
Type of Strategy Key Components

School Strategies • Based on behavioral theory and

knowledge of risk and
protective factors
• Developmentally appropriate
information about alcohol and
other drugs
• Development of personal,
social, and resistance skills
• Emphasis on normative
education
• Structured, broader-based skills
training
• Interactive teaching
techniques
• Multiple sessions over multiple
years
• Teacher training and support
• Active family and community
involvement
• Cultural sensitivity

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 Extracurricular • Supervision by positive adult
Strategies role models
• Youth leadership
• Intensive programs
• Incorporation of skills building
• Part of a comprehensive
prevention plan

Family Strategies • Improvement of parent-child

relations using positive
reinforcement, listening and
communication skills, and
problem solving
• Provision of consistent discipline
and rulemaking
• Monitoring of children’s
activities during adolescence
• Strengthening of family bonding
• Development of skills
• Involvement of child and
parents

Policy/Community • Excise taxes

Strategiesd • Minimum legal drinking age of
21
• Citizen action to reduce
commercial and social
availability of alcohol

SOURCE:
aDusenbury and Falco 1995
bCarmona and Stewart 1996
cAshery et al. 1998; Etz et al. 1998; National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

1997
dGrossman et al. 1994; Holder et al. 1997; Lockhart et al. 1993; Perry et al.

in press; Wagenaar et al. 2000a,b; Wagenaar and Toomey 2000

SCHOOL STRATEGIES
The goal of many school-based programs is to reduce the onset and
prevalence of adolescent alcohol use by decreasing personal and social risk
factors and strengthening personal and social protective factors. Several
successful tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana prevention curricula exist,
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including Life Skills Training (Botvin et al. 1995), Project Northland (Perry et al.
1996), the Midwestern Prevention Project (Pentz et al. 1989), Project SMART
(Hansen and Graham 1991), and Project ALERT (Ellickson et al. 1993). These
programs have given researchers a better understanding of important
components for classroom-based programs. Both meta-analyses (e.g., Tobler
1992; Tobler et al. 2000) and reviews of effective programs (Drug Strategies
1996; Dusenbury and Falco 1995) have identified the following factors as
critical components of successful curricula:
• Program development based on behavioral theory and knowledge of
risk and protective factors
• Developmentally appropriate information about drugs, including
information on the short-term effects and long-term consequences of
their use
• The development of personal, social, and resistance skills to help students
identify internal pressures (e.g., anxiety and stress) and external pressures
(e.g., peer pressure and advertising) to use drugs and to give students
the skills to resist these pressures while maintaining friendships
• An emphasis on normative education that reinforces the awareness that
most adolescents do not use alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs
• Structured, broad-based skills training, such as goal setting, stress
management, communication skills, general social skills, and
assertiveness skills
• Interactive teaching techniques, such as role playing, discussions, and
small-group activities to promote active student participation
• Multiple sessions over several years, particularly during middle school
• Teacher training and support from program developers or prevention
experts
• Active family and community involvement
• Cultural sensitivity-for example, by including activities that require
teacher and student input and which can be tailored to the cultural
experience of the classroom.

Several studies have compared the effectiveness of different types of

school-based programs. For example, two recent meta-analyses compared
interactive with noninteractive curricula. Interactive curricula include the
components described above, with a substantial amount of time spent in
activities that foster the development of interpersonal skills. Noninteractive
curricula are more lecture oriented and stress drug knowledge or affective
development (i.e., personal insight, self-awareness, and values). The analyses
found that interactive curricula were more effective than noninteractive
curricula in preventing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among youth
(Tobler and Stratton 1997; Tobler et al. 2000).

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Interactive programs can be further divided into three categories based on
their focus on social influences, comprehensive life skills, and system-wide
change, respectively. Of these three categories, the system-wide change
programs were most effective in preventing overall drug use (including
alcohol use), followed by comprehensive life skills and social influences
programs (Tobler et al. 2000). System-wide change programs, in turn, are of
two types: (1) school-based programs that are actively supported by family
and/or community (e.g., Project Northland, which is described below in the
section "Multicomponent Strategies") and (2) programs that provide a
supportive school environment but do not involve the family and/or
community.
A more recent meta-analysis examined the relative effectiveness of two
types of interactive programs-comprehensive life skills programs and social
influences programs-and determined specific drug use outcomes for both
strategies (Roona et al. in press). In contrast to the findings by Tobler and
colleagues (2000), the results indicated that the social influences programs
were significantly more effective than the comprehensive life skills programs in
reducing alcohol abuse, especially for youth in middle school, where most
prevention curricula are implemented. The differences in findings probably
stem from the fact that Tobler and colleagues (2000) studied the effects of the
programs on overall drug use, whereas the study by Roona and colleagues (in
press) was specific to alcohol abuse. Overall, however, the investigators
concluded that neither program type significantly reduced alcohol use
prevalence and that comprehensive life skills programs actually increased
alcohol use. These findings may be explained by the fact that alcohol use is
highly ingrained in U.S. culture and is the most difficult type of drug to prevent
among adolescents using classroom-based programs.
The study by Roona and colleagues (in press) included only results on
program effectiveness over the first year after the intervention. It is also
important, however, to consider more long-term results when analyzing the
effectiveness of prevention programs. Such long-term analyses have been
conducted for several programs, demonstrating that some result in long-term
reductions of tobacco and marijuana use, but not alcohol use, among
adolescents (Ellickson et al. 1993; Pentz et al. 1989; Johnson et al. 1990). This
finding again supports the greater resistance of alcohol use behavior to
change.
The sole curricula-only prevention program that has reported long-term
effects on alcohol use is Life Skills Training (Botvin et al. 1990, 1995). This program
consists of 3 years of prevention curricula for middle or junior-high school
students and includes 15 sessions during the first year, 10 sessions during the
second year, and 5 sessions during the third year. The curricula cover drug
information, drug-resistance skills, self-management skills, and general social
skills. A long-term follow-up study indicated that this program had long-term
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effects on tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use through grade 12 (Botvin et
al. 1995); however, no alcohol results were reported in the article presenting
results from 1 year past high school (Botvin et al. 2000).
The Life Skills Training curricula focus on changes only at the individual level. A
recent etiological analysis, however, indicates that individual-level variables
only account for a small percentage of the variance in alcohol use among
adolescents (Griffin et al. 2000). Accordingly, Griffin and colleagues (2000)
concluded that classroom-based prevention efforts should be
complemented with family, community, and policy initiatives that facilitate
change in the larger social environment. Such approaches are reviewed in
the following sections.

EXTRACURRICULAR STRATEGIES
About 40 percent of adolescents' waking hours are discretionary-not
committed to such activities as eating, school, homework, chores, or working
for pay-and many young adolescents spend virtually all of this time without
companionship or supervision by responsible adults (Carnegie Council on
Adolescent Development 1992). Discretionary time outside of school
represents an enormous potential for either desirable or undesirable behaviors,
such as alcohol and other drug use. Several studies have found that young
adolescents who are more likely to be without adult supervision after school
have significantly higher rates of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use than
do adolescents receiving more adult supervision (Mulhall et al. 1996;
Richardson et al. 1993).
Scales and Leffert (1999) conducted a comprehensive literature review on the
effects of involvement in youth programs (e.g., sports, recreation, camps,
mentoring, and drop-in centers) on adolescent development. They found that
involvement in youth programs is associated with the following outcomes:
• Better development of life skills
• Greater communication skills
• Fewer psychosocial problems
• Decreased involvement in risky behaviors, such as drug use
• Decreased juvenile delinquency and violence
• Decreased risk of dropping out of school
• Increased academic achievement
• Increased safety.
Another study also found involvement in extracurricular activities to be related
significantly to reduced adolescent alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other
drug use (Jenkins 1996). Widely cited meta-analyses (e.g., Tobler 1992)
compared the effectiveness of two types of extracurricular programs: peer
programs and alternative programs. Peer programs were defined as
interventions that included social and life skills training, including refusal skills.
Alternative programs were defined as interventions that included the provision
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of positive activities more appealing than drug use (e.g., sports activities). The
meta-analyses found that alternative programs overall were less effective
than peer programs. Among the alternative programs, those that involved
high-risk youth and that involved many hours of activities were most effective.
Similar findings were reported in a review of alternative programs published by
the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) (Carmona and Stewart
1996). That report concluded that there was no strong research support for the
alternative approach. The review offered the following conclusions based on
the available research:
• Alternative approaches seem to be most effective with high-risk youth
who may not have adequate adult supervision and a variety of activities
available to them in their daily life.
• Youth involvement in the planning and implementation of alternatives
may enhance participation and effectiveness.
• More intensive programs seem to be most effective.
• Alternative programs should incorporate skills-building components into
their design.
• Alternative programs should be one part of a comprehensive prevention
plan serving to establish strong community norms against alcohol use.
As noted by Carmona and Stewart (1996), an important component of
extracurricular activities appears to be active youth leadership. This
conclusion was supported by a study by Komro and colleagues (1996), who
reported that youth who participated in planning alcohol-free activities for
their peers significantly reduced their alcohol use. However, more research
using rigorous controlled designs is needed to understand the effects of
involvement in extracurricular activities and youth leadership on early onset of
alcohol use.

FAMILY STRATEGIES
Several sources have recommended family involvement as important for
the success of alcohol prevention strategies (Drug Strategies 1996; Dusenbury
and Falco 1995; National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA] 1997). Family factors,
such as parent-child relationships, discipline methods, communication,
monitoring and supervision, and parental involvement, can significantly
influence alcohol use among youth (Bry et al. 1998). Because of increasing
demands on their time and attention, however, parents are spending less time
with their children and therefore need strategies and ideas to help them
effectively parent their children (Kumpfer 2000).
Promising family strategies for preventing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug
use include structured, home-based parent-child activities; family skills
training; behavioral parent training; and behavioral family therapy. Reviews of
family skills training indicate that enhancement of the following parenting skills
is important for the prevention of alcohol use (Ashery et al. 1998; NIDA 1997):
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 • Improving parent-child relations by using positive reinforcement, listening
and communication skills, and problem solving
• Providing consistent discipline and rulemaking
• Monitoring children's activities during adolescence
• Strengthening family bonding.

Various studies have identified several components that contribute to the

success of family-based prevention interventions. One major component is a
focus on skill development rather than on simple education about
appropriate parenting practices (Etz et al. 1998). Another important
component is the involvement of both parents and children in individual and
group training sessions (Etz et al. 1998). Several studies have found that parent
and family training programs both improve parenting skills and reduce
problem behaviors among children (Ashery et al. 1998; NIDA 1997).
Examples of successful parenting programs include the Preparing for the
Drug-Free Years (PDFY) program and the Iowa Strengthening Families Program
(ISFP) (Kumpfer et al. 1996; NIDA 1997; Spoth et al. 1999a,b). The PDFY program
consists of five competency-training sessions for parents, with young
adolescents attending one of those sessions together with their parents. The
ISFP comprises seven sessions, each attended jointly by youth and their
parents. Comparisons of both interventions with control families found positive
effects on parents' child management practices and parent-child relations,
improved youth resistance to peer pressure toward alcohol use, reduced
affiliation with antisocial peers, reduced levels of problem behaviors, and
delayed substance use initiation (Kumpfer et al. 1996; Spoth et al. 1999a,b).
A less intense family involvement approach is based on including parents in
homework assignments around issues of alcohol use, thereby increasing the
likelihood that alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use is discussed at home, and
potentially enhancing parenting skills by increasing communication between
parent and child and providing behavioral tips to parents. For example,
Project Northland, which is described later in this article, used homework
assignments to engage families and provide behavioral tips.

POLICY STRATEGIES
Adolescent alcohol use also is determined by important environmental
influences, such as the legal, economic, physical, and social availability of
alcohol (Wagenaar and Perry 1994). Accordingly, lawmakers have
implemented several policy strategies targeting these influences to reduce
the availability of alcohol to youth. These strategies include raising the
minimum legal drinking age (MLDA), curtailing commercial access, limiting
social access, and reducing economic availability.
Increasing the MLDA

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 The effectiveness of alcohol policies in significantly reducing alcohol-
related problems has been well demonstrated by changes in the MLDA and
the resulting consequences. During the early 1970s, 29 States lowered their
MLDA, typically from age 21 to ages 18, 19, or 20. As concern about increasing
rates of alcohol-related traffic crashes among young people grew, however,
a grassroots movement developed in many States, putting pressure on State
governments to raise the MLDA back to age 21. In 1984, the Federal
government passed the Uniform Drinking Age Act, which provided for a
reduction in Federal funds to States that did not raise their MLDA to age 21,
and by 1988, all States again had a MLDA of 21.
The MLDA is the most-studied alcohol policy, with 132 published studies
(Wagenaar and Toomey 2001). Included in these are well-controlled
investigations providing clear evidence that a higher MLDA can effectively
reduce drinking as well as alcohol-related car crashes and other injuries
among teenagers.
Though effective, the increase in MLDA to age 21 has had only modest
enforcement1 (1The little enforcement that occurred in the late 1980s and
early 1990s primarily involved citing underage drinkers rather than the adults
who were illegally selling or providing alcohol to underage youth.) (Wagenaar
and Wolfson 1994). For example, youth report that they have easy access to
alcohol from both licensed establishments and social sources (e.g., friends or
acquaintances) (Wagenaar et al. 1996). These reports are substantiated by
purchase-attempt studies, which directly test the propensity of establishments
to sell alcohol to youth without requiring identification. In the early 1990s, such
studies found that young buyers could purchase alcohol with no age
identification in approximately 50 percent of the purchase attempts (Forster
et al. 1995). In addition, youth frequently receive alcohol from social providers,
including parents, friends, coworkers, and even strangers (Wagenaar et al.
1996). Accordingly, public health professionals and activists in many
communities are working to reduce youth access to alcohol from both
commercial and social providers using public and institutional policy changes,
such as the ones described in the following sections.

Policies to Reduce Commercial Access

To address the problem of alcohol availability from commercial
providers, communities have conducted enforcement campaigns using
compliance checks. During these checks, law enforcement officers supervise
attempts by underage youth to purchase alcohol from licensed
establishments. When an illegal sale is made, penalties are applied to the
license holder and/or the clerk or server who made the sale. Such compliance
checks can significantly reduce sales to minors (Preusser et al. 1994; Grube
1997). State and local laws providing for graduated administrative (as
opposed to criminal) fine and license suspension penalties for establishments
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that sell to minors may improve the effectiveness of these enforcement efforts
because the increased certainty of penalties is a key component of
deterrence-based approaches (Ross 1992).
Other policy tools to reduce youth access to alcohol from commercial
sources include requiring servers of alcohol to be trained to detect false age
identification, designing drivers' licenses to clearly indicate whether someone
is underage, and banning or regulating home deliveries of alcohol. Studies
evaluating server-training programs show that such programs by themselves
are unlikely to reduce sales to underage youth (Howard-Pitney et al. 1991;
Toomey et al. 2001). Training programs may be useful, however, for creating a
political climate that decreases resistance to enforcement campaigns that
can effectively reduce sales to minors.
Home deliveries of alcohol may make it even easier for youth to obtain
alcohol from a retail establishment because the transaction occurs in
completely unmonitored settings. Approximately one-half of the States in the
United States allow alcohol delivery from retail establishments to private
residences. The only published study of teen use of home delivery found that
10 percent of the 12th graders and 7 percent of the 18- to 20-year-olds
reported consuming home-delivered alcohol (Fletcher et al. 2000). A limitation
of this study is that it did not ask whether it was the underage youth or an adult
who had ordered the delivery of alcohol.
Recently, State and national policymakers have proposed restrictions on
home delivery of alcohol ordered from Internet sites. Although debates over
these controversial proposals involve apparent concern for reducing youth
access to alcohol, home delivery from local retail outlets is a more likely source
of alcohol than Internet orders, at least in part because it provides more
immediate access to alcohol. Internet sales require youth to plan weeks in
advance to purchase alcohol for a drinking event, require a credit card,
involve careful planning when and where the alcohol will be delivered, and
potentially require storage until the drinking event occurs. Restrictions on retail
home deliveries of alcohol, however, are not included in the policy debates
on Internet sales; therefore, it appears that policy attention to alcohol Internet
sales may have more to do with the varying economic interests of local versus
national alcohol distributors and retailers. The effects of restrictions on Internet
or retail home deliveries on youth alcohol use have not been studied.

Policies to Reduce Social Access

Policy tools for limiting youth access to alcohol from social providers
attempt to reduce the frequencies of underage drinking parties and of adults
illegally providing alcohol to youth. Some of these prevention approaches are
being implemented at the community level. For example, communities may
address underage drinking parties by creating enforcement mechanisms,
such as noisy assembly ordinances, that allow law enforcement officers to
175
enter private residences where underage drinking is occurring.2 (2An example
of such an ordinance can be found on the Internet at
www.epi.umn.edu/alcohol.) Communities can also require beer kegs to be
registered at the time of retail sale. Using a keg's unique identification number
and the registration information, police officers can identify and penalize adult
purchasers of kegs used at parties where underage guests are caught
drinking. To deter adults from illegally giving alcohol to youth, some States
have enacted social host laws that allow third parties to sue social providers
when provision of alcohol to youth results in a death or injury. Although many
possible policy strategies have been identified that may help reduce social
access to alcohol, little research has been done to evaluate the specific
effects of these strategies.

Policies to Reduce Economic Availability

Policies also can help reduce the economic availability of alcohol. A
large number of econometric studies have clearly demonstrated an inverse
relationship between price and consumption of alcohol-that is, higher prices
result in reduced consumption. (For more information on the effects of price
on alcohol consumption, see the article in this issue by Chaloupka and
colleagues, pp. 22–34.) Policy simulation studies suggest that this relationship
exists among the general population as well as among adolescents. Thus,
higher alcohol prices may substantially reduce both the frequency and the
amount of teen drinking, even among youth who are already heavy alcohol
consumers (Laixuthai and Chaloupka 1993). In fact, price increases may be
particularly effective in reducing youth drinking, because heavy drinkers in
young populations are more affected by price than are heavy drinkers in the
general population (Godfrey 1997; Chaloupka and Wechsler 1996).
One policy that has been used to raise the price of alcohol is to increase
the excise tax on alcohol. Although alcohol excise taxes are often raised for
revenue-generating reasons, several studies suggest that higher excise taxes
may affect youth consumption and its consequences. Higher taxes on alcohol
are associated with less drinking among 16- to 21-year olds (Grossman et al.
1994) and high school students (Lockhart et al. 1993). Higher taxes are also
associated with fewer traffic fatalities among youth (Saffer and Grossman
1987), higher graduation rates from college (Cook and Moore 1993), and less
violence among college students.

COMMUNITY STRATEGIES
Community participation is critical for creating comprehensive changes
in institutional policies (e.g., of alcohol establishments, media outlets, and
schools) and public policies aimed at reducing youth access to alcohol.
Several community trials have included community-organizing components to

176
mobilize and successfully change policies addressing public health issues
(Wagenaar et al. 2000a; Holder et al. 1997).
Only one community trial-Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol
(CMCA)-has focused solely on policy changes to reduce youth access to
commercial and social sources of alcohol. CMCA tested a community-
organizing intervention in a trial involving 15 communities that were randomly
assigned to receive the intervention or to serve as control communities. The
goal of the community-organizing intervention was to reduce the accessibility
of alcoholic beverages to youth under age 21. Through the organizing effort,
diverse groups of people across the intervention communities developed and
implemented strategic action plans to influence a wide array of institutional
policies (Wagenaar et al. 1999). The intervention was successful in several
respects. For example, it changed alcohol merchant practices around selling
to underage youth and reduced the propensity of 18- to 20-year olds to buy
alcohol in a bar, provide alcohol to other teens, or consume alcohol
(Wagenaar et al. 2000a). Furthermore, following the intervention, arrests for
driving under the influence among 18- to 20-year olds were significantly lower
in the intervention communities than in the control communities (Wagenaar
et al. 2000b).
Two other community trials-the Community Trials Project (CTP) and the
Saving Lives Program-have also addressed underage drinking, although the
focus of these studies expanded beyond the underage population. The goal
of the CTP was to reduce injury and deaths related to alcohol use among all
age groups (Holder et al. 1997). The intervention included the following
components:
• Involvement of the media to increase awareness
• Training of alcohol-retail establishments, including information on
preventing sales to underage patrons
• Compliance checks conducted by law enforcement to reduce illegal
alcohol sales to underage patrons
• Increased enforcement of drunk-driving laws
• Reduction of alcohol availability through regulation of alcohol outlets.
Following the intervention, sales rates to buyers who appeared to be under
age 21 were lower in the three intervention communities than in the three
comparison communities (Grube 1997). The intervention communities also
showed reductions in self-reported drinking-and-driving rates, nighttime injury
crashes, alcohol-related crashes, and assault injuries among the general
population (Holder et al. 2000).
The Saving Lives program, which was conducted in six communities in
Massachusetts, also involved community mobilization to address drinking and
driving among all age groups (Hingson et al. 1996). The intervention included
multiple strategies that addressed alcohol-impaired driving as well as other
traffic problems, such as speeding, other moving violations, and seat belt use.
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Following the intervention, the relative decrease in alcohol-involved fatal
traffic crashes was 42 percent in the intervention communities compared with
the rest of the State (the absolute change was from 69 crashes to 36 crashes
in the intervention communities). Furthermore, self-reported drinking-and-
driving among 16- to 19-year-olds was reduced by 40 percent in the
intervention communities compared with the rest of Massachusetts.

MULTICOMPONENT STRATEGIES
Although various individual strategies have been successful in preventing
youth alcohol use, a more comprehensive approach combining several of the
intervention strategies described above might be even more effective. Two
studies-the Midwestern Prevention Project and Project Northland-have
combined school, family, and community strategies to prevent alcohol use
among adolescents; their results are described in the following sections.

Midwestern Prevention Project

The Midwestern Prevention Project, which was not specific to alcohol use but
addressed all types of drug use, consisted of the following four components:
• A 10-session school program emphasizing drug-use-resistance skills
training, delivered in grade 6 or 7; this component also included
homework sessions involving active interviews and role plays with parents
and family members
• A parent organizations program for reviewing school prevention policy
and training parents in positive parent- child communication skills
• Initial training of community leaders in the organization of a drug abuse
prevention task force
• Mass media coverage of the program.
The study was composed of eight representative Kansas City communities
that were randomly assigned either to the full program including all four
components or to a control program including only the community
organization and mass media components. After 3 years, students in the
communities implementing the full program had lower rates of tobacco and
marijuana use, but not alcohol use; this follows the previously described
findings that alcohol use patterns appear to be the most difficult to change.

Project Northland
Project Northland was designed to prevent or reduce alcohol use
among young adolescents using a comprehensive, multicomponent
intervention that targeted both the supply of and demand for alcohol. Project
Northland was evaluated using 20 school districts from northeastern Minnesota
that were randomly assigned either to the treatment or control condition. The
students participating in the study were surveyed from grades 6 through 12.
The intervention was conducted in three stages: a first intervention phase, an
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interim phase, and a second intervention phase. The first intervention phase,
which was conducted when the students were in grades six through eight,
included: (1) social behavioral curricula, (2) peer leadership and
extracurricular social opportunities, (3) parental involvement and education,
and (4) community-wide task forces (Perry et al. 1993b). At the end of 3 years,
a smaller percentage of students in the intervention communities reported
drinking or beginning to drink compared with students in the control
communities. Furthermore, among students in all districts who at the beginning
of sixth grade reported never having consumed alcohol, those in the
intervention communities were not only less likely to drink 3 years later but also
had lower rates of cigarette and marijuana use (Perry et al. 1996).
The interim phase of the study occurred when the students were in grades 9
and 10. During those years, only minimal intervention (i.e., a five-session
classroom program) took place, and drinking rates between the treatment
and control groups began to converge. In fact, by the end of grade 10, no
significant differences existed between the two groups (Williams and Perry
1998).
In the second intervention phase, when the students were in grades 11
and 12, they were exposed to various interventions, including an 11th grade
classroom curriculum, parent postcards, mass media involvement, youth
development activities, and community organizing (Perry et al. 2000). As a
result of the intensified intervention, the alcohol use patterns of the treatment
and control groups began to diverge again by the end of the 11th grade, and
the differences between groups were marginally significant for those students
who had not used alcohol at the beginning of 6th grade (Williams et al. 1999).
An analysis comparing the trajectories of alcohol use between the treatment
and control groups (i.e., a growth curve analysis) was conducted for all three
phases of Project Northland. During the first intervention phase, the increase in
alcohol use was significantly greater in the control group than in the
intervention group. Conversely, the increase in alcohol use was significantly
greater in the intervention group than in the control group during the interim
phase, when there were minimal program efforts. Thus, the students in the
intervention group seemed to return to the level of drinking that was normative
in their communities. Fortunately, that trend was reversed again during the
second intervention phase. During that period, the increase in alcohol use was
again greater in the control group than in the intervention group (p<0.02),
demonstrating the positive and significant impact of the second intervention
phase (Perry et al. in press). In addition, the community-organizing intervention
component during the second intervention phase, which focused on
community action team-initiated compliance checks of alcohol outlets,
successfully reduced the ability of youthful-appearing 21-year-olds to
purchase alcohol without age identification (p=0.05) (Perry et al. in press).

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CONCLUSION
Adolescent alcohol use is one of the most difficult behaviors to change
because alcohol use is so ingrained in the U.S. culture. Adolescents choose to
consume alcohol, not just because of personal characteristics, such as
personality type or level of social skills, but also because it is a part of daily life
in their communities and, for many youth, in their homes (Wagenaar and Perry
1994). As Wagenaar and Perry indicate in their theoretical model (1994),
numerous social and environmental influences affect adolescents, including
messages they receive from advertisements, community practices, adults,
and friends about alcohol. Comprehensive interventions targeting underage
drinking may need to counter or change all of these messages to motivate
individual adolescents to choose not to consume alcohol.
Researchers' knowledge about effective interventions to reduce
underage drinking-particularly about school-based programs targeting
individual-level factors-has grown substantially during the past decade, and
investigators have identified key components of state-of-the-art school-based
programs. By themselves, however, these programs are unlikely to create
sustained reductions in underage drinking. Instead, school-based programs
may need to be combined with extracurricular, family, and policy strategies
that help change the overall social and cultural environment in which young
people live to create sustained decreases in consumption and alcohol-
related problems among youth.
Although key components of non-school-based strategies have been
identified, further research is needed in many of these areas to understand
fully what factors must be targeted and what methods can best achieve
those targets and reduce underage drinking. As researchers, clinicians, and
policymakers learn more about each strategy, they need to synthesize this
knowledge to develop multicomponent projects consisting of high-quality
and complementary components that together create interventions strong
enough to overcome the drinking culture found throughout U.S. communities.

https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh26-1/5-14.htm

End of Module 5

LEARNING ACTIVITY/ ASSESSMENT:

1. Make a Reaction Paper in regards to the video presentation about

alcoholism.

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www.sibugaytech.edu.ph
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LEARNER’S MODULE
 SUBJECT: Social Deviation and Social Work
 COVERAGE: PRE-FINAL COVERAGE
 WEEK: 12-14
 LESSON 1-3: Ron Aker’s Social Learning Theory, Edwin Sutherland: Differential Association
Theory, Extreme Deviance, having and endorsing adult-child sexual contact
 Lesson Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
• Understand and differentiate Ron Aker’s Social Learning Theory and Edwin Sutherland:

Differential Association Theory

• Identify the extreme deviance, having and endorsing adult-child sexual contact.

• Value the functions of Extreme Deviance, having and endorsing adult-child sexual contact.

Ron Aker’s Social Learning Theory and Edwin Sutherland: Differential

Association Theory
In 1973, Ronald L. Akers published the first of three editions of his seminal
work, Deviant Behavior: A Social Learning Approach. In that book, Akers laid
out the basic elements of what has become one of the most popular and
widely researched theories in criminology: social learning theory. Social
learning theory, in its current form, spells out the specific mechanisms by which
criminal behavior is learned. In particular, social learning theory maintains that
criminal behavior is more likely to result when an individual associates more
with those who engage in and approve of crime than with others who do not.
Such a pattern of association provides more criminal than non-criminal role
models, greater reinforcement of criminal than conforming behavior, and the
shaping of more pro-crime than anti-crime attitudes that constitute the
optimal environment in which criminal behavior is learned. The origins of social
learning theory extend to an effort by Robert Burgess and Akers to integrate
Edwin Sutherland's differential association theory with principles drawn from
behavioral learning in psychology. From these beginnings, Akers crafted a
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highly testable general theory of deviance and conformity, which has enjoyed
immense empirical support, has been applied successfully to a variety of
behaviors, and has fostered prevention programs that have been effective in
reducing criminal and deviant behavior in the populations these programs
serve.

The Theorist

Born in 1939, Akers was raised in a working-class family of modest means

in a small factory town on the banks of the Ohio River in southeastern Indiana.
Typical of the Midwestern upbringing of that time, Akers was taught to work
hard, value education, and love God. Perhaps inspired by his teachers
throughout public school, he sought a college degree, the first in his family to
do so, and a career as a high school social studies teacher. In 1960, he
graduated from Indiana State University with a bachelor's degree in
secondary education. Akers, however, turned down a high school teaching
job to pursue a graduate education in sociology.

As an undergraduate, Akers developed an intellectual interest in the link

between social class and crime, an interest that he further cultivated in his
master's thesis research at Kent State University. Even as a doctoral student at
the University of Kentucky.

Akers's work was not devoted specifically to criminological theory. With

a broader emphasis on criminology and the sociology of law and with the
guidance of his mentor, Richard Quinney, Akers's dissertation analyzed the role
played by political power in the enactment of professional practice and
licensure laws.

Despite the absence of etiological theory in his thesis and dissertation

research, Akers's graduate education provided substantial exposure to the
criminological theories of that time. Robert Merton's anomie theory and the
theories of the Chicago School, including Sutherland's differential association
theory, were standard in any academic discussions of criminological theory.
During the early 1960s, however, new developments in criminological theory
were proliferating, including the delinquent subculture theories of Albert
Cohen and of Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin, control theories advanced
by F. Ivan Nye and Walter Reckless, labeling theories proposed by Edwin
Lemert and Howard Becker, and conflict theories advocated by George Vold
and Richard Quinney. By the time Akers left graduate school at the University
of Kentucky in 1965, he had been fully immersed in the extant criminological
theory literature of that time. That year, he accepted his first position as an
assistant professor of sociology at the University of Washington. It was in this
setting that Akers encountered colleagues that would ultimately shape his
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academic career and set in motion one of the most influential theories in
criminology.

The Origins of the Theory

Akers's arrival in the Department of Sociology at the University of

Washington coincided with that of Robert Burgess, a behavioral sociologist
with extensive training in operant conditioning theory. Intellectual discussions
between the two assistant professors often centered on the seemingly
improbable compatibility of psychological behaviorism with sociology.
Psychological behaviorism based on operant conditioning principles
advanced by B. F. Skinner conceptualized humans as essentially robotic and
without volition, responding almost mindlessly to cues in their environment.
Sociology, especially the branch that focused on individual rather than
structural levels of analysis, was based on symbolic interactionism, which
placed great emphasis on the capacity of humans to both influence and be
influenced by their environment through their interactions with others.
Nevertheless, Burgess and Akers saw congruity in the two approaches, notably
that both behaviorism and symbolic interactionism, especially as Sutherland
had made use of it in differential association theory, illustrated similar
processes by which social behavior is learned through interaction with one's
environment. From these conversations emerged a growing realization that
an important contribution to the explanation of crime could be accomplished
through the integration of psychological learning principles with Sutherland's
differential association theory.

Reasoning that differential association theory lacked explicit discussion

of the mechanisms by which criminal behavior is learned, it seemed possible
to Burgess and Akers that behaviorism could supply the missing pieces. In 1966,
Burgess and Akers published an article titled “A Differential Association-
Reinforcement Theory of Criminal Behavior,” which reformulated Sutherland's
nine propositions of differential association theory into seven propositions that
laid out in behavioral terms a more precise description of the process by which
criminal behavior—like any other form of behavior—is learned. The article
drew a modest and mostly positive response from those working with
differential association theory, including Donald Cressey, but was not without
its critics. Some sociologists were affronted by the mere introduction of
behaviorism into sociology; others charged that the theory was tautological.
Burgess and Akers continued to collaborate for a short time thereafter on
refining differential association-reinforcement theory, especially answering to
criticisms. Eventually, Burgess moved on to other intellectual pursuits; Akers
continued to work with the theory, with a specific interest in demonstrating its
applicability to a wide variety of deviant behaviors.
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 The transition from “differential association-reinforcement theory” to
“social learning theory” was subtle. Burgess and Akers referred in passing in
their article to “social learning,” but Akers did not formally apply the term to
the theory until he published Deviant Behavior: A Social Learning Approach, a
textbook on the sociology of deviance in which he analyzed several forms of
deviant behavior using the theory he developed with Burgess. In that book,
Akers presented the seven propositions comprising differential association-
reinforcement theory but devoted much of the subsequent theoretical
discussion to a detailed explication of the key concepts drawn from the
behavioral learning and differential association theories that together formed
a social learning explanation of deviance.

The Statement of the Theory

Social learning theory is an integration of differential association and

behavioral learning theories. It wholly subsumes differential association theory
by recasting it in the context of behavioral learning principles.

In differential association theory, Sutherland drew upon symbolic

interactionism to emphasize that both criminal and law-abiding behavior are
learned in interaction with others. Sutherland acknowledged that in American
society, one is likely to associate, to varying degrees, with individuals who
define law violation as favorable as well as with individuals who define law
violation as unfavorable. When exposure to people with behavioral patterns
and attitudes favorable to crime exceeds exposure to people with behavioral
patterns and attitudes unfavorable to crime, criminal behavior is likely to be
learned. When the balance is struck in the opposite direction, law-abiding
behavior is likely to be learned instead.

Chief among the criticisms of differential association theory was the

charge that it neglected to specify the precise underlying learning
mechanism involved in the process of becoming a criminal. At the time
Sutherland developed differential association theory, behaviorism in
psychology, with its focus on learning, was in full swing. However, the
behaviorism of the 1930s and 1940s largely excluded human cognition and
the assignment of meaning to human action, principles at the core of the
symbolic interactionist foundation of differential association theory. The
radical behaviorism of B. F. Skinner in the 1950s and 1960s further divorced
behavior from mind; however, by the late 1960s, behaviorism had come
increasingly under fire as cognitive psychology began to supplant it. Although
Burgess and Akers claimed to draw on Skinnerian principles of operant
conditioning, by 1973 Akers had tempered social learning theory with
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principles more consistent with the cognitive learning approach advocated
by Albert Bandura.

The behavioral principles involved in the social learning of deviant

behavior— and conforming behavior as well—include but are not limited to
notions of operant conditioning, differential reinforcement, and discriminative
stimuli. Among cognitive learning principles, Akers incorporated concepts
such as imitation, anticipated reinforcement, and self-reinforcement into
social learning theory. As Akers presented the theory, he discussed how these
principles illuminate the specific mechanisms by which deviant behavior is
learned through association with others. In his earlier presentations of the
theory, Akers devoted most of his attention to the cognitive and behavioral
principles underlying the social learning process. It was not until he published
an empirical test of the theory using original data that the concepts of social
learning theory as it is known today emerged (Akers et al., 1979).

In its present form, social learning theory contains four key concepts:
differential reinforcement, imitation, definitions, and differential association.
The concept most solidly grounded in psychological behaviorism is differential
reinforcement, which incorporates among other ideas operant conditioning,
reinforcement, and punishment. Operant conditioning is distinguished from
respondent conditioning as opposite processes. In respondent conditioning, a
prior stimulus elicits an involuntary behavioral response, such as when food
(stimulus) presented to a hungry dog elicits salivation (involuntary behavior).
In operant conditioning, a voluntary behavior leads to a subsequent
consequence; the nature of the consequence then determines whether or
not that voluntary behavior will be repeated. Operant behaviors that are
reinforced—that is, followed by a rewarding consequence (positive
reinforcement) or by the cessation of an unpleasant state (negative
reinforcement)—will increase in frequency. Operant behaviors that are
punished—that is, followed by an adverse consequence (positive
punishment) or by the cessation of a pleasurable state (negative
punishment)—will decrease in frequency. Akers argues that the
consequences that follow an individual's behavior may be nonsocial, in the
sense that they derive from the experience itself; for example, the ingestion of
alcohol may be followed by a feeling of euphoria or nausea. However,
because humans are also social beings who interact with other people, the
consequences of their behavior may be social in origin as well. Thus, a given
behavior may be followed, for example, by encouragement or derision from
others with whom one interacts. Consistent with the tenets of differential
association theory, it is not simply a matter of whether a single consequence
is reinforcing or punishing for a given behavior that determines its likelihood of
repetition. Instead, it is important to assess the balance of reinforcements and
185
punishments for a given behavior, since that behavior is likely to be followed
by multiple consequences depending on the constellation of others with
whom the individual interacts. In social learning theory, then, deviant behavior
is more likely to increase when the social and nonsocial reinforcement
exceeds the social and nonsocial punishment of the behavior.

A second concept in social learning theory, drawn from cognitive

psychology, is imitation. Although Sutherland maintained that the learning of
criminal behavior involved far more than simple mimicry of others’ behavior,
Akers included imitation as an indispensable component of the learning
mechanism. Imitation occurs through observation of the behavior of others.
Whether or not the behavior is reproduced by the observer depends on the
degree of identification with the model, whether the model is observed to
receive reinforcement for the behavior, and whether the imitation itself is
anticipated to be reinforced. Likely models of deviant and conforming
behavior are found within the primary group, especially parents and friends,
but may also be found in secondary groups and those observed in the popular
media. In social learning theory, when exposure to admired criminal role
models exceeds exposure to admired conventional role models, criminal
behavior is more likely to be imitated.

A key concept in differential association theory that appears in modified

form in social learning theory is definitions. In both differential association
theory and social learning theory, definitions refer to evaluative expressions
ranging from approval to disapproval of a given behavior. In differential
association theory, Sutherland focuses mainly on one's exposure to the
definitions of others. In social learning theory, definitions refer primarily to the
attitudes formulated by the individual following exposure to the definitions of
others. Definitions may be general, oriented toward broad moral principles, or
they may be specific, focused on particular acts of norm violation. Akers
designates definitions as positive if they approve of a given behavior, negative
if they disapprove of a given behavior, and neutralizing if they acknowledge
the general improbity of an act yet furnish justification or rationalization for
engaging in the act nonetheless. Neutralizing definitions are more commonly
found than positive definitions in promoting deviant behavior.

Because the formation of one's own definitions involves exposure to a

wide array of approving, disapproving, and neutralizing beliefs of other
people, it is less likely that one will develop positive definitions that make norm
violation the expected course of action. Such indoctrination into positive
definitions of deviant behavior may be possible in some subcultures, but would
still require extreme isolation or alienation from the dominant culture. Akers
emphasizes that deviant subcultures and the positive definitions they
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generate are not required for deviant behavior to occur; deviance is more
likely to occur when the conventional values one holds offer only weak
disapproval or when the deviant behavior has been successfully neutralized.

The concept of definitions in social learning theory embodies the

symbolic interactionist notions of interpretation and definition of the situation:
determining the meaning of another's actions or verbalizations and
communicating to others how they are expected to behave. Akers also
illustrates, however, the mechanism by which definitions are learned or
incorporated into one's own belief system. Through imitation and differential
reinforcement, the individual takes on the attitudes expressed by admired
models, provided that those expressed attitudes are observed to be followed
by reinforcement. When the individual is exposed to definitions favoring or
facilitating deviance more than definitions condemning deviance, and when
those definitions facilitating deviance are observed to be followed by
reinforcement more than punishment, then the individual is likely to accept
those definitions favorable to deviance. Furthermore, once these definitions
are learned, they may persist in anticipation of future rewards or they may
serve as discriminative stimuli that prompt the individual into action. That is, the
individual engages in deviance only in settings in which definitions favorable
to deviance are expressed and reinforced.

The concept in social learning theory that ties together the mechanisms
underlying the learning of deviant behavior is that of differential association.
Similar to the concept presented in Sutherland's theory, Akers acknowledges
that interaction with others exposes the individual to specific normative
content transmitted through communication. However, Akers adds a
behavioral/interactional dimension to the concept of differential association,
by which individuals are exposed to not only the definitions but also the
behaviors of others. Like Sutherland, Akers maintains that we associate with an
array of individuals, who often express a wide range of behaviors and
attitudes, some unfavorable to deviance, some favorable to specific deviant
acts, and some rationalizing specific deviant acts as acceptable under
certain circumstances. Also, like Sutherland, Akers asserts that these
associations vary in frequency, duration (how much time is spent and how
longstanding the relationship), priority (occurring early in childhood), and
intensity (how emotionally close the relationship). These modalities of
association determine the extent to which any given association will have an
impact on the learning process. Those associations that are more frequent, of
longer duration, and of greater priority and intensity will have a greater
influence on the content of what is learned. Although Sutherland emphasized
associations within primary groups, Akers identifies a broader assortment of
associations, including not only parents and peers but also neighbors, co-
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workers, members of voluntary groups to which an individual belongs, and
even impersonal (and often one-way) “associations” with those depicted in
film, television, or other popular media.

Within the context of social learning theory, differential association plays

a pivotal role. The configuration of various associations determines which
individuals serve as salient role models for the individual to imitate and which
do not; which definitions are likely to be formed and which are not; and which
behaviors are likely to receive more reinforcement than punishment and
which behaviors are likely to receive more punishment than reinforcement.
Akers emphasizes that the learning of criminal behavior involves a rather
complex mechanism that takes into account interactions with both precrime
and anti-crime individuals, who provide both pro-crime and anti-crime
models, definitions, and reinforcements. A simple association with a deviant
other is far from sufficient to produce deviant behavior in an individual without
taking into account any counterbalancing influences.

The Empirical Status of Social Learning Theory

When Akers presented social learning theory in 1973, it drew little

attention from other researchers. A few studies examined one or two concepts
derived from social learning theory, but no test of the full theoretical model
was conducted until Akers and his colleagues published their research on the
theory in 1979. In this first full test of social learning theory, which applied the
theory to an explanation of adolescent alcohol and marijuana use, Akers and
colleagues systematically laid out the key concepts of the theory and
provided detailed measures of those concepts. They reported substantial
predictive accuracy for the social learning model. Specifically, the model
explained 55 percent of the variance in alcohol use and 68 percent of the
variance in marijuana use. Akers conducted two additional studies designed
to test social learning theory using measures similar to those used in the first
study. The results from these studies are comparable to those of the 1979 study.
The social learning model accounted for about 40 percent of the variance in
adolescent tobacco use (Krohn et al., 1985) and 59 percent of the variance
in alcohol use among the elderly (Akers et al., 1989).

Since the 1979 article appeared, interest in social learning theory has
intensified. To date, the theory has been subjected to empirical assessment in
over 130 studies. Many of these studies have performed only partial tests of
selected social learning variables. Most commonly measured is differential
association, particularly peers’ behaviors. Definitions and differential
reinforcement are measured with somewhat less frequency, and imitation is
most often omitted from tests of the theory. The results of studies conducted

188
by researchers other than Akers have not matched the success of those
produced by Akers. Nevertheless, the theory has garnered overall solid
support in the body of empirical literature on social learning theory.

The Scope of Social Learning Theory

Throughout the development of social learning theory, Akers intended

the theory as an explanation of a wide variety of deviant behaviors. In his 1973
textbook, he illustrated how social learning theory could explain drug and
alcohol use, various types of criminal behavior, mental illness, sexual deviance,
and suicide. He has also emphasized repeatedly that the theory is capable of
explaining not only deviant but conforming behavior as well. Despite these
claims of generality, the broad scope of social learning theory has seldom
been examined empirically. Most tests, including many conducted by Akers,
have been limited to the analysis of minor self-reported delinquency and
substance use. However, the boundaries of social learning theory have
recently extended into more serious types of deviant conduct. Of these, three
are noteworthy because of their distinctive group context: sexual aggression,
gang delinquency, and terrorism.

In 1998, Akers reported in detail on two studies he conducted with others

that tested the validity of social learning as an explanation of various types of
sexual coercion and aggression. Within the context of social learning theory,
Akers reasoned that if one associates disproportionately with groups that
express acceptance and involvement in sexually coercive activities, one is
more likely to engage in that same behavior. These groups are likely to provide
reinforcement for sexual aggression, express rape supportive attitudes, and
serve as models to imitate.

In the first study, variables drawn from social learning theory—specifically

differential peer association, differential reinforcement, definitions, and
modeling—performed quite well in predicting both the proclivity to use force
or commit rape and actual use of nonphysical sexual coercion; however,
these same variables—with the exception of differential reinforcement—did
not perform as well in predicting actual use of physical sexual aggression. The
effect of fraternity membership on these sexual aggression measures also
appeared to be mediated by the social learning variables, indicating that
membership in these all-male groups had an impact on sexual coercion only
in the sense that they may have provided a rape-supportive learning
environment. Describing a second study, Akers also reported that in a
comparative analysis, social learning surpassed social bonding, self-control,
and relative deprivation theories in the ability to predict proclivity to use sexual
aggression, actual use of physical sexual coercion, use of drugs and alcohol

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as a coercive sexual strategy, and use of other nonphysical coercive
strategies.

A second type of serious deviant behavior likely to occur in a group

context is gang delinquency. Those who are members of a gang are more
likely than non-gang members to be exposed to pro-delinquent definitions
and behavior patterns, develop their own pro-delinquent definitions, and to
be reinforced for delinquent behavior. L. Thomas Winfree, Jr., and his
associates tested a social learning model of gang membership and
delinquency. They found that among adolescents in the general population,
differential association, pro-gang definitions, and current gang membership
were significant predictors of group-context crime, defined as activities
specifically engaged in at the behest of someone else or in a group setting.

A third type of serious deviant conduct that often occurs within a group
context is terrorist activity. Although not yet investigated empirically, a social
learning explanation has been proposed to account for a range of terrorist
activities. Akers and Adam Silverman suggest that through the same learning
processes that criminals acquire motivations, methods, and rationalizations,
terrorists learn that the violence they use against their enemies will be met with
praise from their group and possibly with a desirable political outcome.
Employing the specific case of suicide bombers in Gaza, Winfree and Akins
also provide social learning-informed ideas about why some might engage in
such suicidal acts. They suggest that a system of rewards and punishments is
in place in Gaza such that violence is encouraged and rewarded, especially
if it is directed at Israel; “collaborators,” or those who might challenge such
beliefs and practices, are publicly and viciously murdered. Those who die in
the service of the greater good will are promised their reward in Paradise, a
clear nonsocial positive reinforcement. Children are encouraged to mimic or
imitate in nonlethal ways the actions of suicide bombers, against the day
when play turns to reality. The social learning framework within which terrorist
activities might be explained invites future empirical research to test these
contentions.

Applications of Social Learning Theory

Various practitioners in a variety of social services and service delivery

fields have embraced social learning theory, using all or parts of it to prevent
or treat the occurrence of crime and delinquency. One example is the
Oregon Social Learning Center (OSLC), which has developed a series of
successful programs based on principles of social learning. Three OSLC
programs, in particular, merit special attention.

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 First, the Adolescent Transition Program (ATP) exposes parents and their
adolescent children to family management skills (e.g., monitoring, discipline,
problem solving, communications, and other effective socialization skills), the
goal being to improve communication skills, self-control, prosocial attitudes,
and prosocial peer associations of both pre-teens and teenagers alike. Youths
engaged in chronic, high-frequency, and serious delinquencies are the object
of the Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care program, the idea being to
provide such children with a safer and more restrictive environment with
parents who already possess the kinds of skills developed through ATP. Good
behavior is reinforced in positive ways. Children are expected to participate
fully in school, therapy sessions, and other prosocial aspects of intervention
coordinated and supervised by a case manager—all intended to foster skills
related to problem solving, social perspective taking, and nonaggression in
self-expression. A third OSLC program, Linking the Interests of Families and
Teachers (LIFT), views the children, their parents, their teachers, and their
friends as equally important elements of a successful social learning-based
prevention/intervention program, the intent being to modify the child's
interactions with teachers, parents, and peers through a three-pronged
approach that targets classroom-based social and problem skills training for
the child, playground based behavior modification, and group-delivered
parent training. What is important to note about these three programs is that
the child is not treated in isolation from his or her social environment. Moreover,
the other important sources of discriminative stimuli in a child's life—the
parents, peers, and significant others—participate in the programming in
meaningful ways, all linked to social learning theory.

Social Structure and Social Learning

Social learning theory has, for most of its history, been conceptualized
as a microlevel or processual theory, capable of accounting for within-group
variation in deviant behavior. However, even as early as 1968, Akers linked
social structure with the learning process, emphasizing that location in the
social structure largely determines the specific learning environment in which
the individual operates. Akers elaborated more fully on these ideas in his 1998
monograph, Social Learning and Social Structure: A General Theory of Crime
and Deviance. In that work, Akers presented his initial attempt at a multilevel
theoretical model describing the relationships between structural variables,
many drawn from other theories in criminology, and the processual variables
of the original social learning model.

Akers founded his social structure-social learning (SSSL) model on

arguments first advanced by Sutherland, who asserted that differential
association occurs within a context of differential social organization.
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Communities are organized differently to either promote or condemn—on
balance—deviant activities; one's associates are determined by the way
one's community is organized with respect to deviance. Akers (1998) is careful
to note that his SSSL model does not attempt to account directly for crime
rates, which he conceptualized as merely aggregations of individual
behaviors. Instead, he views structural and cultural conditions as determinants
of patterns or configurations of associations and reinforcement, which in turn
exert an influence on individual behavior. As such, social learning processes
(differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement, and modeling)
mediate the likely impact of social structural variables on the individual
behaviors that constitute crime rates in various groups.

The SSSL model links a variety of exogenous social structure variables to

social learning variables, which remain as “proximate causes” of individual
deviant behavior. Akers classifies these social structure variables into four
categories. Differential social organization refers to variables such as age
composition or population density of a community. Differential location in the
social structure, the second category, refers to socio-demographic
characteristics that comprise known correlates of crime rates, including age,
class, gender, and race/ethnicity. A third category is labeled as theoretically
defined structural variables and includes variables drawn from established
macro-sociological theories that propose social disorganization, anomie,
group conflict, patriarchy, class oppression and the like as possible
determinants of crime rates. Finally, differential social location in groups refers
to membership in primary, secondary, and reference groups such as families,
peer groups, and voluntary associations.

In its present form, the SSSL model is not a fully formulated theory. The lists
of variables included under each social structure category are not meant to
be exhaustive, and the categories themselves are not entirely mutually
exclusive. For instance, some theoretically defined social disorganization
variables are also presented as examples of differential social organization
variables. Moreover, Akers focuses on presumed empirical correlations
between structural variables and crime that are expected to be substantially
mediated by social learning variables rather than on logical linkages between
the social structure and social learning concepts.

Despite Akers's de-emphasis of the precise logical connection between

structure and process, any future effort to delineate these linkages
theoretically is likely to enhance the theory's plausibility as well as provide
guidance for empirical tests of the model. Empirical research on the social
structure-social learning model is still scarce, and few studies have utilized
variables designed specifically to operationalize both social structure and
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social learning in ways intended by Akers. Results of these studies show
promise, but as yet it is too soon to arrive at any meaningful conclusions about
the validity of the SSSL model.

Conclusion

From its modest beginnings in 1966 as differential association-

reinforcement theory, social learning theory is now in its fifth decade as a
viable explanation of crime and deviance. One of its [p. 29 ↓ ] more powerful
explanatory variables, differential peer associations, is so commonly predictive
of delinquent behavior that theoretical models purporting to explain
delinquency are considered incomplete if they fail to include peer
delinquency as a control. The theory consistently receives empirical support, is
logically capable of and empirically successful at explaining a broad array of
deviant activities, and continues to demonstrate effectiveness when its
theoretical principles are put into practice in delinquency prevention and
intervention programs.

Differential Association Theory Sutherland, 1947

Criminal behavior is learned. Learned in interaction with other persons in a
process of communication. Communication in intimate groups, such as with
peers. Learning involves techniques for committing crime and learning
definitions of the legal code as favorable or unfavorable. A person becomes
delinquent because of an excess of associations favorable to violation of law
over those unfavorable to violation of law. This is Differential Association.

Differential association is when individuals base their behaviors by

association and interaction with others.

Key Points

• In criminology, differential association is a theory developed by

Edwin Sutherland.
• Differential association theory proposes that through interaction
with others, individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques,
and motives for criminal behavior.
• Differential association predicts that an individual will choose the
criminal path when the balance of definitions for law-breaking
exceeds those for law-abiding.
• One critique leveled against differential association stems from
the idea that people can be independent, rational actors and
individually motivated.
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Key Terms

• Edwin Sutherland: Considered as one of the most influential

criminologists of the 20th century. He was a sociologist of the
symbolic interactionist school of thought and is best known for
defining white-collar crime and differential association—a
general theory of crime and delinquency.
• Differential Association Theory: This theory predicts that an
individual will choose the criminal path when the balance of
definitions for law-breaking exceeds those for law-abiding.
• differential association: a theory in criminology developed by
Edwin Sutherland, proposing that through interaction with others,
individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for
criminal behavior

In criminology, differential association is a theory developed by Edwin

Sutherland (1883–1950) proposing that through interaction with others,
individuals learn the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for criminal
behavior. Differential association theory is the most talked-about of the
learning theories of deviance. This theory focuses on how individuals learn to
become criminals, but it does not concern itself with why they become
criminals.

Differential association predicts that an individual will choose the criminal

path when the balance of definitions for law-breaking exceeds those for law-
abiding. This tendency will be reinforced if social association provides active
people in the person’s life. The earlier in life an individual comes under the
influence high status people within a group, the more likely the individual is to
follow in their footsteps. This does not deny that there may be practical motives
for crime. If a person is hungry but has no money, there is a temptation to steal.
But the use of “needs” and “values” is equivocal. To some extent, both non-
criminal and criminal individuals are motivated by the need for money and
social gain.

Sutherland’s Nine Points

The principles of Sutherland’s theory of differential association can be

summarized into nine key points.

1. Criminal behavior is learned.

2. Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a
process of communication.

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 3. The principal part of the learning of criminal behavior occurs within
intimate personal groups.
4. When criminal behavior is learned, the learning includes techniques
of committing the crime (which are sometimes very complicated,
sometimes simple) and the specific direction of motives, drives,
rationalizations, and attitudes.
5. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions
of the legal codes as favorable or unfavorable.
6. A person becomes delinquent because of an excess of definitions
favorable to violation of law over definitions unfavorable to violation
of the law.
7. Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority,
and intensity.
8. The process of learning criminal behavior by association with
criminal and anti-criminal patterns involves all of the mechanisms
that are involved in any other learning.
9. While criminal behavior is an expression of general needs and
values, it is not explained by those needs and values, since non-
criminal behavior is an expression of the same needs and values.

An important quality of differential association theory is the frequency

and intensity of interaction. The amount of time that a person is exposed to a
particular definition and at what point the interaction began are both crucial
for explaining criminal activity. The process of learning criminal behavior is
really not any different from the process involved in learning any other type of
behavior. Sutherland maintains that there is no unique learning process
associated with acquiring non-normative ways of behaving.

One very unique aspect of this theory is that it works to explain more than
just juvenile delinquency and crime committed by lower class individuals.
Since crime is understood to be learned behavior, the theory is also applicable
to white-collar, corporate, and organized crime.

One critique leveled against differential association stems from the idea
that people can be independent, rational actors and individually motivated.
This notion of one being a criminal based on his or her environment is
problematic—the theory does not take into account personality traits that
might affect a person’s susceptibility to these environmental influences.

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Criminal Silhouette: Differential association theory predicts that an individual
will choose the criminal path when the balance of definitions for law-breaking
exceeds those for law-abiding.

Extreme Deviance: Having and Endorsing Adult-Child Sexual Contact

“Pedophilia” is defined by the American Psychiatric Association’s (1994)

Diagnostic and statistical Manual (DSM-IV) as “recurrent, intense sexually
arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving sexual activity with a
prepubescent child or child or children (generally age 13 years or younger)”
For such a diagnosis to be made, the DSM-IV adds, such urges must cause”
clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other
important areas of functioning.” Moreover, the manual warns an individual
should not be included if he or she is in late adolescent and is involved” in an
ongoing sexual relationship with a 12- or 13-year-old.” Specifying its definition
even further, the DSM-IV requests that for the diagnosis to be valid, the
adolescent must be at least 16 years old and at least five years older than the
child. To narrow matters down even more precisely, the exclusive type, who is
attracted only to children, or the nonexclusive type, who is attracted to adults
as well as children.

Most, if not all, true pedophiles, say Davison, Neale, and King (2004) are
interested in youngsters specifically because they are sexually immature. But
does that mean that mean that the pedophiles can be clearly and
unambiguously demarcated from the adult who does not experience sexual
urge toward children? Yes and no, say Davison et al. As it turns out, roughly
one quarter of the adult population is aroused at the sight of the nude pictures
196
of children. Moreover, their arousal is significantly correlated with conventional
arousal: The more aroused subjects are by adult heterosexual picture, the
more aroused subjects are by adult heterosexual pictures, the more likely they
are to be aroused by pedophile pictures. This might seem a disturbing finding,
say Division et al, but it emphasizes the difference between fantasy and reality.
Another way of saying this is the although a substantial proportion of the adult
population is sexually aroused by, and has sexual urge toward, prepubescent
children, relatively few act on those impulses. Studies suggest that pedophiles
compared with adults who do not approach children sexually rank low on
social maturity, self-esteem, impulse control, and social skills (Finkelhor & Araji,
1986).

The DSM-IV’s definition is psychiatric and clinical, not sociological.

Hence, it is inadequate for the sociologist’s needs. This does not mean that it
is wrong so mush as it addresses a distinctly different set of issues than the ones
in which we’re interested. In this chapter, Keith Durkin and Steven
Hundersmarck distinguish the pedophile from the child molester; pedophile is
a psychiatric term, while child moles is a legal term. Not all child molesters are
true pedophiles, and not all pedophiles are child molesters. Many men who
molest children do not report recurrent or intense sexual urges toward them.
Moreover, the men who do report such urges and act on them, but
experience no distress or dysfunction as a result, would not be included in the
DSM-IV's definition. And lastly, by this definition, adults who are in their twenties,
thirties, and older may engage in sex with girls in their teens yet be excluded
from the DSM-IV's definition, and yet, such men are clearly engaging in what
most of us-clinicians and the general public alike-would regard as sexual
exploitation and abuse (Witt & Greenfield, 2001). Clearly, the clinical definition
of pedophilia is narrower than the public or popular-or social-definition.
Hence, sociologically, it is likely to be inadequate.

The DSM-IV's attempt to define pedophilia, compared with our brief

excursion into the problems such a definition raises, reminds us that adult-
child sexual contact is partly a matter of definition-a social construction, if
you will. It raises a host of questions: What is a child? What is an adult? What
sort of age difference between the adult and the child does there have to
be? How much contact does there have to be? How fixated on children
does the adult have to be? How much resistance does there have to be?
(And legally, an underage child-defined differently in different jurisdictions-is
not competent to grant sexual access, although the publics
conceptualization of the meaning of "resistance" may differ from the laws.)
How much harm does the adult inflict on the child? What constitutes sexual
contact? is the child. aware that such contact constitutes abuse? How do
our relevant and significant audiences judge such behavior? And, relevant
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for many observers, is the sexual contact heterosexual or homosexual?
Certain adult-child sexual contracts would he universally regarded as abuse,
as pedophilia-as deviant and reprehensible-while others would generate
more divided opinions and muted condemnation. In other words, adult-child
sexual contact is a category that is clearly defined at the extremes but fuzzy
around the edges.

For instance, most of us would not see a consensual affair between an

18-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl as pedophilia or as sexual abuse, and
yet in some jurisdictions the law defines it as statutory rape. But if the girl were,
say, 12 rather than 16 and the man 21, nearly everyone would agree that it
should be illegal and it is a form of sexual abuse. Again, we have a social
construction on our hands, although the law's definition and the public's may
not always agree.

The social constructionist nature of what constitutes adult-child sexual

contact emphasizes the role of audiences, the law and law enforcement and
the general public being only two such audiences, Howard S. Becker (1963)
reminds us that moral entrepreneurs may be central in any definition of
behavior as deviant. Becker defined a "moral entrepreneur" as someone who
either creates a new set of moral rules or who enforces moral rules. Moral
entrepreneurs may be officials (politicians, lawmakers, judges, the police) or
unofficial (friends, relatives, neighbors), and in the matter of sexual contact
between an adult and a child, moral entrepreneurs may include a child's
parents. Clearly, the parents of a 16-year-old girl are likely to have strong
reasons to object to their daughter's affair with an 18-year-old man: He
belongs to the wrong ethnic group, the wrong social class, he's not college
bound, he uses drags, he drives recklessly. Or, they simply believe that a 16-
year-old girl-their 16-year-old girl-is too young to have sex. Hence, what would,
under many circum-stances, have been an acceptable relation-ship
becomes redefined as deviant, not only because of the ages of the parties in
question but because of ancillary characteristics of the participants. As Becker
says, to define behavior as deviance, an act of enterprise is necessary-
“somebody blows the whistle". Becker's point is that what makes an act
deviant is not solely a function of the behavior in question but also a
consequence of whether someone reacts to that behavior. In the case of our
hypothetical 16-year-old girl and 18-year-old man, such a reaction is not
always automatic. But in the case of an adult having sex with a younger child,
the reaction is likely to be immediate and intense. Some cases of deviance
are socially constructed with respect to where we draw the age line. In Odd
Man In, Edward Sagarin (1969) chronicled the rise of “organizations of
deviants" whose goal was to redefine their unconventional, despised, or
outsider status. Thus, we find that pedophiles, like alcoholics, homosexuals,
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drug addicts, dwarfs, ex-con-victs, and transvestites, have banded together
to neutralize or reverse the enterprise of deviance-defining moral
entrepreneurs. NAMBLA, the North American Man-Boy Love Association, is one
of several organizations whose goal is to define adult-child sexual contact as
acceptable, nondeviant, even conventional behavior. NAMBLAs goal is to
abolish the laws against age of consent and against child pornography and
to create a climate of opinion favor-able to "man-boy" sexual expression. “We
seek freedom from the restrictive bond of society which denies them [children)
the right to live, including to live as they choose," declares a NAMBLA bulletin.
It is the organization's position that noncoercive sex between an adult and a
child is not abusive or inherently injurious. NAMBLA uses strategic alliances with
humanitarian and progressive causes and organizations-gay rights, the
women's movement, and pro-choice-to create for itself a climate of
respectability and legitimacy. In “The World According to NAMBLA," Mary de
Young explains the organizations strategies for attaining its goals. Readers are
likely to find NAMBLAs arguments distressing and its conclusions repugnant.

In his personal account, “From Victim to Offender,” Dave" (a

pseudonym) describes his experiences with molesting children. After two
prison sentences, Dave is convinced that sex-ually molesting children is
harmful to the victims. In contrast, “jay_h," the pseudonym for a spokesperson
for man-boy love, offers a personal statement of his views. Jay_h believes that
the laws setting a legal age limit on sex are wrong and should be abolished
and that boys should be allowed to have sexual experiences, including with
adults. Nearly all of the rest of us disagree and hence are likely to react to this
“love manifesto" with moral outrage, even anger. In fact, most of us regard
jay_h's advocacy as a form of deviance-extreme deviance. As with white
supremacy, it is extremely difficult for most of us to step back and be the com-
plete sociologist and “appreciate" such a position. Again, we argue that our
position toward' extreme deviance can run along two tracks simultaneously.
One track says," I have a right to my position; 1 find such a belief, and the
behavior that expresses such a belief, abhorrent. morally wrong, repulsive in
the extreme, "The other track insists that advocates of adult-child sexual
contact have to be understood and that simple condemnation obliterates our
capacity to get a sense of what these people are doing and why. This moral
dualism is one of the things that makes deviance one of the most fascinating
of sociological topics we might encounter.

Psychological Theories of Deviance

Psychological theories of deviance use a deviant’s psychology to

explain his motivation or compulsion to violate social norms.

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Key Points

• Conduct disorder is a psychological disorder diagnosed in

childhood that presents itself through a repetitive and persistent
pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of others of major
age-appropriate norms are violated.
• Deviant behavior can also be explained by psychological trauma
in one’s past.
• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychological condition
in which a traumatic incident in one’s past compels an individual
to have abnormal reactions to stimuli.
• Though psychological theories are frequently employed to
explain deviant behavior, one should bear in mind that the
stability of psychological categories is constantly in flux.

Key Terms

• conduct disorder: Conduct disorder is a psychological disorder

diagnosed in childhood that presents itself through a repetitive
and persistent pattern of behavior in which the basic rights of
others or major age-appropriate norms are violated.
• Psychological theory of deviance: In many ways, psychological
theories of deviance mirror biological explanations (see section:
Biological Theories of Deviance), only with an emphasis on the
brain.
• post-traumatic stress disorder: Any condition that develops
following some stressful situation or event, such as sleep
disturbance, recurrent dreams, withdrawal or lack of
concentration.

Psychological theories of deviance use a deviant’s psychology to

explain his motivation and compulsion to violate social norms. In many ways,
psychological theories of deviance mirror biological explanations, only with an
added emphasis on brain function. Whereas historical biological explanations,
such as those provided by the Italian School, used biological traits from the
whole body (e.g., protruding jaws, large ears) as signifiers of a biological
propensity for criminal behavior, today’s psychological theories of deviance
use the biology of the brain (in terms of the structure of the brain, levels of
neurotransmitters, and psychiatric diagnoses) to explain deviance.

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Conduct Disorder

One case study of a psychological theory of deviance is the case of

conduct disorder. Conduct disorder is a psychological disorder diagnosed in
childhood that presents itself through a repetitive and persistent pattern of
behavior in which the basic rights of others and major age-appropriate norms
are violated. This childhood disorder is often seen as the precursor to antisocial
personality disorder. According the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders–IV (the professional manual listing all medically recognized
mental disorders and their symptoms), conduct disorder presents as
aggressive and disrespectful behavior. Compared to normal controls, youth
with early and adolescent onset of conduct disorder displayed reduced
responses in the brain regions associated with antisocial behavior. In addition,
youth with conduct disorder demonstrated less responsiveness in the
orbitofrontal regions of the brain during a stimulus-reinforcement and reward
task. These psychological symptoms of conduct disorder, both in terms of
neuroanatomy and neurotransmitter regulation, help to explain the
explanatory link between psychology and crime. Moreover, they demonstrate
the increasingly fluid boundary between psychological and biological
theories of deviance.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – IV: According to the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – IV, the professional manual listing all medically
recognized mental disorders and their symptoms, conduct disorder presents as aggressive
and disrespectful behavior.

Psychological Trauma

Psychological theories of deviance do not necessarily have a biological

element. Deviant behavior can also be explained by psychological trauma in
one’s past. Take, for example, the case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
This is a psychological condition in which a traumatic incident in one’s past
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causes an individual to have abnormal reactions to stimuli. PTSD is frequently
invoked in cases of child abuse, in which the psychological trauma of having
been abused as a child can contribute to deviant behavior in the future. PTSD
is also discussed in cases of deviant, violent behavior on the part of individuals
who have experienced trauma while in the military. Consider the case of
Sergeant Robert Bales. Sgt. Bales is an American soldier who has served four
tours in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade. Sgt. Bales is accused of
getting drunk and going into a town nearby his post in Afghanistan and
murdering 16 Afghanis without provocation. Experts are already speculating
that the psychological trauma of multiple redeployments contributed to Sgt.
Bales’ alleged deviance.

Problems with Psychological Theories of Deviance

While psychiatric diagnoses are commonly used to explain deviance,

one must remember that what counts as a legitimate diagnosis is always in
contention. The DSM, the manual for what the psychological community
recognizes as a legitimate psychiatric diagnosis, is a revised manual. One
example of the importance of these revisions: homosexuality used to be
included in the DSM as a psychiatric condition. Thus, until it was removed in
1986, homosexuality (the psychological condition) could have been a
psychological explanation for deviant sexuality. However, since being
removed from the DSM, homosexuality is no longer recognized as a legitimate
psychiatric condition and, therefore, the now debunked homosexuality-as-
psychiatric-condition does not serve an explanatory role in regards to deviant
sexuality. This goes to demonstrate the fluctuating nature of psychological
theories of deviance.

PTSD Statistics: Cases of PTSD and Severe Depression Among U.S. Veterans Deployed to Iraq
and Afghanistan Between Oct 2001 and Oct 2007

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Rape

The definition of rape and its effects on victims have evolved historically
alongside ideas about gender and sexuality.

Key Points

• Rape has serious psychological and physical consequences for

the victim.
• The definitions of rape and consent are culturally and historically
contingent upon the particular sexual mores of a time. Recently,
the definition or rape has been expanded to include any gender,
and now contains stricter definitions of consent.
• Victim blaming and self-blame are rooted in public beliefs that a
victim is at least partially responsible for rape. Rape shield laws
prohibit legal testimony regarding a victim’s sexual behavior, in
order to prevent victims from being placed on trial along with
defendants.
• International law defines rape as a crime against humanity and a
potentially genocidal act.
• Rape shield laws prohibit legal testimony regarding a victim’s
sexual behavior in order to prevent the victim from being placed
on trial along with the defendant.

Key Terms

• victim blaming: when the victim of a crime, an accident, or any

type of abusive maltreatment is held entirely or partially
responsible for the transgressions committed against him or her
(regardless of whether the victim actually had any responsibility
for the incident)
• date rape: non-consensual sexual activity between a victim and
perpetrator that know one another
• self-blame: when one holds oneself responsible for a negative
experience

Rape is a type of sexual assault in which one or more individuals forces

sexual contact on another individual without consent. Rape can cause
devastating physical and psychological trauma. In the aftermath of an
attack, many victims develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a severe
anxiety disorder. Rape victims may also confront a number of emotions
related to shame. Often, victims blame themselves for rape. Some victims
203
come to believe they somehow deserved the assault, while others become
preoccupied thinking about how the rape could have been avoided.

Although self-blame might seem like an unusual, intensely individual

response to rape, it is rooted in social conceptions of rape and victimhood. In
the case of rape, victim blaming generally refers to the belief that certain
behaviors on the part of the victim, like flirting or wearing provocative clothing,
encourage assault. Legal systems may perpetuate victim blaming. For
example, in the United States, defendants are guaranteed an opportunity to
explain their actions and motivations, which may allow them to instigate
conversations about their victims’ sexual past or physical presentation.
Lawyers and activists are aware of the negative consequences of this type of
conversation in courtrooms, and many have encouraged state legislators to
enact rape shield laws, which would prohibit testimony about a victim’s sexual
behavior. Nevertheless, victims are often reluctant to report rape because of
these social pressures.

Consent

The definition of rape rests on the notion of consent, which has changed
over the course of history as sexual mores and understandings of gender have
changed. For example, in medieval Europe, a woman could be legally
married by her parents to a stranger without her consent and, once married,
she could no longer refuse to consent to sex. The medieval concept of rape
did not allow for the possibility of being raped by one’s husband. It was only in
middle of the 16th century that European courts began to recognize a
minimum age of consent, though this figure was typically set around six or
seven years. In modern legal understanding, consent may be explicit or
implied by context, but the absence of objection never itself constitutes
consent, and consent can be withdrawn at any time. Consent cannot be
forced and it cannot be given by certain categories of people considered
incapable of consent (e.g., minors and the cognitively disabled).

Rape and Gender

Rape is often thought of as a crime committed by a man against a

woman, but increasingly, social and legal definitions of rape recognize that
this does not have to be the case. In 2012, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
updated its definition of rape, which had originally been instituted in 1972, and
which previously limited rape to a crime against women. This definition,
considered outdated and overly narrow, was replaced by a new definition,
which recognizes that rape can be perpetrated by a person of any gender
against a victim of any gender. The new definition also broadens the instances
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in which a victim is unable to give consent. These instances now include
temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity, and incapacity
caused by the use of drugs or alcohol.

The FBI’s new definition continues a trend that gained traction with the
feminist movement of the 1970s, when rape was publicly characterized as a
crime of power and control rather than a sexual act. Leaders of the feminist
movement started some of the first rape crisis centers, which not only provided
basic services to victims, but also advanced the idea of rape as a criminal act
with a victim who was not to be blamed. Feminist leaders also encouraged
the codification of marital rape, or forced sexual contact between spouses.
Currently, the struggle continues with efforts to bring attention to date rape,
which is embedded in the gendered expectation that women engage in
sexual activity following a date with a man. Conversations about date rape
work to undo this social expectation and to reinforce the idea that consensual
sex requires the explicit permission of both partners.

International Law

International law is changing to recognize rape as a weapon of war. The

Rome Statute included rape in its definition of a crime against humanity, a
definition first put into practice in the mid-1990s by the International Criminal
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. This judicial body recognized that Serbian
soldiers and policemen had systematically raped Muslim women during the
Balkan War. In 1998, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda found that
systematic rape was a crime against humanity. It also ruled that rape was an
aspect of genocide, because of the use of rape to impregnate women in
order to weaken or eliminate a particular gene pool.

“Rape is a Real Crime, give Simmons Jail Time! “: Women at NOW-NYC’s Take Rape
Seriously Rally protest against the inadequate sentence of Tony Simmons, a confessed rapist
of three teenage girls.

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Sexual Violence

Sexual violence is any sexual act or sexual advance directed at one

individual without their consent.

Key Points

• An act is deemed sexually violent if the individual to whom the

attention is directed does not consent to the sexual activity, if they
are members of a class of persons who cannot consent (the
severely cognitively impaired, etc.), or if consent is due to
coercion or duress.
• Sexual violence has a profound impact on physical and mental
health.
• Sexual violence is particularly difficult to track because it is
severely under reported.

Key Terms

• sexual assault: A physical attack of a sexual nature on another

person or a sexual act committed without explicit consent.
• coercion: Actual or threatened force for the purpose of
compelling action by another person; the act of coercing.
• sexual violence: Any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act,
unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or
otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion,
by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any
setting, including but not limited to home and work.

Sexual violence is any sexual act or sexual advance directed at one

individual without their consent. The most commonly discussed form of sexual
violence is rape. Rape is a form of sexual assault involving one or more persons
who force sexual penetration with another individual without that individual’s
consent. Sexual violence is not limited to rape; it is a broad category that can
include everything from verbal harassment to physical assault.

Forms of sexual violence include: rape by strangers, marital rape, date

rape, war rape, unwanted sexual harassment, demanding sexual favors,
sexual abuse of children, sexual abuse of disabled individuals, forced
marriage, child marriage, denial of the right to use contraception, denial of
the right to take measures to protect against sexually-transmitted diseases,
forced abortion, genital mutilation, forced circumcision, and forced
prostitution.
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 An act is deemed sexually violent if the individual to whom the attention
is directed does not consent to the sexual activity, if they are members of a
class of persons who cannot consent (the severely cognitively impaired,
individuals who are inebriated, minors, etc.), or if consent is due to coercion or
duress. Coercion can cover a whole spectrum of degrees of force. Apart from
physical force, it may involve psychological intimidation, blackmail, or any
other type of threat, like the threat of physical harm or of being dismissed from
a job.

Sexual violence has a profound impact on physical and mental health.

Sexual violence can cause severe physical injuries, including an increased risk
of sexual and reproductive health problems, with both immediate and long-
term consequences. Additionally, sexual violence can impact mental health,
which can be as serious as its physical impact, and may be even longer
lasting.

Acts of Power

Sexually violent acts are acts of power, not of sex. This can be seen most
clearly when considering war rape and prison rape. War rape is the type of
sexual pillaging that occurs in the aftermath of a war, typically characterized
by the male soldiers of the victorious military raping the women of the towns
they have just taken over. Prison rape is the type of rape that is common (and
seriously under reported) in prisons all over the world, including the United
States, in which inmates will force sex upon one another as a demonstration
of power.

Tracking Sexual Violence

Sexual violence is particularly difficult to track because it is severely under

reported. Records from police and government agencies are often
incomplete or limited. Most victims of sexual violence do not report it because
they are ashamed, afraid of being blamed, concerned about not being
believed, or are simply afraid to relive the event by reporting it. Most countries
and many NGOs are undertaking efforts to try to increase the reporting of
sexual violence as it so obviously has serious physical and psychological
impacts on its victims.

On a global scale, international sexual violence is difficult to track

because of extreme variation in sexual mores. A good example of cultural
variation with regards to sexual violence is the differing views associated with
the practice of female circumcision/female genital mutilation (FGM). Female
circumcision and FGM refer to the same practice, but the practice is called
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“female circumcision” by those who condone its usage. FGM has violent
connotations and is used by individuals who conceive of the practice as a
violation of human rights.

Female circumcision/FGM is a practice used in many parts of Africa in

which parts of the female’s vagina, usually the clitoris, are removed in order to
decrease sexual pleasure. The operation is performed most commonly on
young females. The practice has been the target of many human rights
campaigns as a serious affront to the fundamental human rights of the girls
undergoing the operation. However, many individuals in Africa view the
practice as an acceptable component of their cultures. Neither vantage
point is simple; some women in Africa accept the practice, while others have
been vocal in speaking out against the practice. Nevertheless, the case
demonstrates that cultural norms associated with sex / sex organs (and
therefore sexual violence) can vary widely across cultures.

Sexual Violence Reporting: Sexual violence is severely under reported. This graphic
illustrates the magnitude of the underreporting of sexual violence

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is intimidation, bullying, teasing, or coercion of a sexual

nature.

Key Points

• Sexual harassment is common in the workplace.

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 • Sexual harassment happens any time intimidation, bullying,
teasing, or coercion of a sexual nature occurs.
• Sexual harassment is rarely formally charged in a legal context
and individuals who do make such charges official are frequently
ridiculed.

Key Terms

• sexual harassment: intimidation, bullying, teasing, or coercion of

a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of
rewards in exchange for sexual favors.

Sexual harassment is intimidation, bullying, teasing, or coercion of a

sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in
exchange for sexual favors. In most legal contexts this type of behavior is
criminalized. The person intimidating a victim about his or her sexuality could
be male or female; men and women can both be perpetrators of sexual
harassment. Sexual harassment does not have to be only of a sexual nature;
indeed, sexual harassment includes unwelcome and offensive comments
about a person’s gender. Regardless of whether the content of the sexual
harassment is about sex or gender, both victim and harasser can be either
male or female and the victim and the harasser can be the same gender.

Though broad, the legal definition of sexual harassment does not include
every injurious statement pertaining to sex or gender. The law does not prohibit
simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very
serious. Sexual harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it
creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in adverse
employment, such as the victim being fired or demoted. Rather than being a
component of criminal law, sexual harassment is typically adjudicated as an
issue of employment law. As one might guess, most of these cases turn on
whether or not the offensive comment was “serious” or “offhand. ” It is the
law’s job to decide if a comment that the victim clearly found serious and
offhand is considered so legally.

Even though sexual harassment is less violent than other forms of sexual
violence such as rape, victims still suffer serious consequences. Victimhood for
individuals subjected to sexual harassment can take a different and equally
complicated form as victimhood for individuals who suffer from attacks for
physical violence. Sexual violence that is expressed in terms of some sort of
physical assault against a victim has become a condemnable act; victims of
physical violence are more likely to find others who are sympathetic to their
understandable distress. However, sexual harassment is more socially
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acceptable. Victims will often encounter opposition who claim that the
harassment was mere teasing. As such, victimhood in response to sexual
harassment has some unique properties. Nevertheless, sexual harassment may
lead to temporary or prolonged anxiety, depending on the nature of the
harassment and the type of support system in place. Given that harassment is
a common problem in the workplace, anxiety on the victim’s part is usually
tied into concerns about ramifications for one’s career if one reports the
harassment.

Black Noise: Intervention against sexual harassment: Black Noise, an Indian project
countering sexual harassment on the streets of India, stages an intervention in a bus.

Child Abuse

Child abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment, or neglect

of a child.

Key Points

• Physical abuse involves physical aggression directed at a child by

an adult.
• Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or
older adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation.
• Neglect is a passive form of abuse in which a perpetrator is
responsible to provide care for a victim who is unable to care for
himself or herself, but fails to provide adequate care.

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 • Emotional abuse includes things such as name-calling, ridicule,
degradation, destruction of personal belongings, torture or killing
of a pet, etc.

Key Terms

• child abuse: The physical, sexual, or emotional mistreatment of a

child.
• Child Sexual Abuse: A form of child abuse in which an adult or
older adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation.

Child abuse is the physical, sexual, or emotional mistreatment or neglect

of a child or children. Different jurisdictions have developed their own
definitions of what constitutes child abuse for the purposes of removing a child
from his/her family and/or prosecuting a criminal charge. There are four major
categories of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, psychological/emotional
abuse, and sexual abuse. Neglect is the most common type of abuse in the
United States and accounts for over 60 percent of child abuse cases.

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse involves physical aggression directed at a child by an

adult. Most nations with child-abuse laws consider the deliberate infliction of
serious injuries, or actions that place the child at obvious risk of serious injury or
death, to be illegal. Beyond this, there is considerable variation. The distinction
between child discipline and abuse is often poorly defined. Cultural norms
about what constitutes abuse vary widely among professionals as well as the
wider public. Some professionals claim that cultural norms that sanction
physical punishment are one of the causes of child abuse, and have
undertaken campaigns to redefine such norms.

Sexual Abuse

Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older

adolescent abuses a child for sexual stimulation. Effects of child sexual abuse
include guilt and self-blame, flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, and fear of
things associated with the abuse. Approximately 15 percent to 25 percent of
women and 5 percent to 15 percent of men were sexually abused when they
were children.

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Emotional Abuse

Out of all the possible forms of abuse, emotional abuse is the hardest to
define. It could include name-calling, ridicule, degradation, destruction of
personal belongings, torture or killing of a pet, excessive criticism,
inappropriate or excessive demands, withholding communication, and
routine labeling or humiliation.

Neglect

Neglect is a passive form of abuse in which a perpetrator is responsible

to provide care for a victim who is unable to care for himself or herself, but fails
to provide adequate care. Neglect may include the failure to provide
sufficient supervision, nourishment, or medical care, or the failure to fulfill other
needs for which the victim is helpless to provide for himself or herself. The term
is also applied when necessary, care is withheld by those responsible for
providing it from animals, plants, and even inanimate objects. Neglect can
have many long-term side effects, such as physical injuries, low self-esteem,
attention disorders, violent behavior, and even death. In the U.S., neglect is
defined as the failure to meet the basic needs of children: housing, clothing,
food, and access to medical care. Researchers found over 91,000 cases of
neglect in one year using information from a database of cases verified by
protective services agencies.

Child Abuse: Child abuse is the physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a
child.

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Crime

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can
ultimately prescribe a conviction.

Key Points

• While every crime violates the law, not every violation of the law
counts as a crime. Breaches of contract and of other civil law may
rank as “offenses” or as “infractions.” Torts are wrongs against
private parties that can give rise to a civil cause of action.
• In sociology, a normative definition views crime as deviant
behavior that violates prevailing norms, or cultural standards
prescribing how humans ought to behave normally.
• Criminalization is a procedure deployed by society as a pre-
emptive, harm-reduction device, using the threat of punishment
as a deterrent to anyone proposing to engage in the behavior
causing harm.
• As cultures change and the political environment shifts, societies
may criminalize or decriminalize certain behaviors, which directly
affects crime statistics and social perception of crime and
deviant behavior.
• Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes,
and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in
society.
• As cultures change and the political environment shifts, societies
may criminalize or decriminalize certain behaviors, which directly
affects the crime statistics.
• Crime statistics refers to the collection and calculation on data
on crime in a given location.
• Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes,
and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in
society.

Key Terms

• criminalization: The act of making a previously legal activity

illegal.
• Deviant Behavior: The violation of prevailing norms or cultural
standards prescribing how humans ought to behave.

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 • Breaches of Contract: An action in which a binding agreement or
bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the
parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with
the other party’s performance.

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority
can ultimately prescribe a conviction. Crimes may also result in cautions,
rehabilitation, or be unenforced. Individual human societies may each define
crime and crimes differently, in different localities, and at different time stages
of the crime. While every crime violates the law, not every violation of the law
counts as a crime; for example, breaches of contract and of other civil law
may rank as “offenses” or as “infractions. ” Modern societies generally regard
crimes as offenses against the public or the state, as distinguished from torts,
which are wrongs against private parties that can give rise to a civil cause of
action.

In sociology, a normative definition views crime as deviant behavior that

violates prevailing norms, or cultural standards prescribing how humans ought
to behave normally. This approach considers the complex realities surrounding
the concept of crime and seeks to understand how changing social, political,
psychological, and economic conditions may affect changing definitions of
crime and the form of the legal, law-enforcement, and penal responses made
by society.

These structural realities remain fluid and often contentious. For example:
as cultures change and the political environment shifts, societies may
criminalize or decriminalize certain behaviors, which directly affects the
statistical crime rates, influences the allocation of resources for the
enforcement of laws, and re-influences the general public opinion. One can
view criminalization as a procedure deployed by society as a pre-emptive,
harm-reduction device, using the threat of punishment as a deterrent to
anyone proposing to engage in the behavior causing harm. The state
becomes involved because governing entities can become convinced that
the costs of not criminalizing, through allowing the harms to continue
unabated, outweigh the costs of criminalizing it, restricting individual liberty,
for example, to minimize harm to others.

Similarly, changes in the collection and calculation of data on crime may

affect the public perceptions of the extent of any given “crime problem.” All
such adjustments to crime statistics, together with the experience of people in
their everyday lives, shape attitudes on the extent to which the state should
use law or social engineering to enforce or encourage any particular social

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norm. Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and
control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society.

Types of Crime

Criminal law, as opposed to civil law, is the body of law that relates to
crime and that defines conduct that is not allowed.

Key Points

• In criminal law, an offense against the person usually refers to a

crime which is committed by direct physical harm or force being
applied to another person.
• A violent crime is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens
to use violent force upon the victim.
• Sex crimes are forms of human sexual behavior that are crimes.
Someone who commits one is said to be a sex offender.
• Property crime involves the taking of money or property, and does
not involve force or threat of force against a victim.
• Hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because
of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group,
usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation,
disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, sex, or gender identity.
• Organized crime is the transnational, national, or local grouping
of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of
engaging in illegal activity.
• Virtual crime refers to a virtual criminal act that takes place in a
massively multiplayer online game (MMOG).
• Organized crime are transnational, national, or local groupings of
highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of
engaging in illegal activity

Key Terms

• Property Crime: Property crime is a category of crime that

includes, among other crimes, burglary, larceny, theft, motor
vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime
only involves the taking of money or property, and does not
involve force or threat of force against a victim.

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 • organized crime: A set of large criminal organizations (often
competing for markets and territories) that deal in illegal goods
and services.
• Violent Crime: A violent crime, or crime of violence, is a crime in
which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the
victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the
objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is
the means to an end, (including criminal ends) such as robbery.
Violent crimes include crimes committed with and without
weapons.

Criminal law, as opposed to civil law, is the body of law that relates to
crime. It could be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not
allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and
welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people
who do not obey these laws. Criminal law is distinctive for the uniquely serious
potential consequences, or sanctions, for failure to abide by its rules.

Offenses Against the Person

In criminal law, an offense against the person usually refers to a crime

which is committed by direct physical harm or force being applied to another
person. They are usually analyzed by division into fatal offenses, sexual
offenses, or non-fatal non-sexual offenses. Although most sexual offenses will
also be offenses against the person, sexual crimes are usually categorized
separately. Similarly, although many homicides also involve an offense against
the person, they are usually categorized under the more serious category.

Violent Crimes

A violent crime is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use

violent force upon the victim. Violent crimes include crimes committed with
and without weapons. They also include both crimes in which the violent act
is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the
means to an end, such as robbery. The United States Department of Justice
Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) counts five categories of crime as violent
crimes: murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple
assault. According to BJS figures, the rate of violent crime victimization in the
United States declined by more than two thirds between the years 1994 and
2009. On September 30, 2009, 7.9% of sentenced prisoners in federal prisons
were in for violent crimes; 52.4% of sentenced prisoners in state prisons at
yearend 2008 were in for violent crimes; and 21.6% of convicted inmates in jails
in 2002 were in for violent crimes.
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Sex Crimes

Sex crimes are forms of human sexual behavior that are crimes. Someone
who commits one is said to be a sex offender. Some sex crimes are crimes of
violence that involve sex. Others are violations of social taboos, such as incest,
sodomy, indecent exposure or exhibitionism. There is much variation among
cultures as to what is considered a crime or not, and in what ways or to what
extent crimes are punished.

Property Crimes

Property crime is a category of crime that includes burglary, larceny,

theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, shoplifting, and vandalism. Property crime
only involves the taking of money or property, and does not involve force or
threat of force against a victim. Although robbery involves taking property, it
is classified as a violent crime, since force, or threat of force, on an individual
is involved, in contrast to burglary which typically takes place in an
unoccupied dwelling or other unoccupied building. In 2005, only 18% of
reported cases of larceny/theft were cleared in the United States.

Hate Crimes

Hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or

her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial
group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age,
sex, or gender identity.

Virtual Crimes

Virtual crime refers to a virtual criminal act that takes place in a massively
multiplayer online game (MMOG). The huge time and effort invested into such
games can lead online “crime” to spill over into real world crime, and even
blur the distinctions between the two. Some countries have introduced special
police investigation units to cover such “virtual crimes. ” South Korea is one
such country, and looked into 22,000 cases in the first six months of 2003.

Organized Crime

Organized crime is the transnational, national, or local grouping of highly

centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal
activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Sometimes criminal organizations
force people to do business with them, as when a gang extorts money from

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shopkeepers for “protection. ” An organized gang or criminal set can also be
referred to as a mob.

Handcuffs: Handcuffs pictured on the ground outside the courthouse

Crime Does Not Pay: Shooting a Baby: “Crime Does Not Pay” was one of the primary targets
of Dr. Fredrick Wertham’s crusade against comics books, and were often cited in his writing
and during the Senate inquiries into the comic book industries corruption of the innocent.
The general theme of “Crime Does Not Pay” is exactly what the title of the series suggests –
criminals rise to power, but come to an often-violent end. This panel is from issue 22 of the
series.
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Crime Dog: Anti-crime campaign using the crime dog cartoon

Juvenile Crime

Juvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behaviors by minors. A

juvenile delinquent is typically under the age of 18.

Key Points

• A juvenile delinquent is a person who is typically under the age of

18 and commits an act that otherwise would have been charged
as a crime had they been an adult.
• There are three categories of juvenile delinquency: delinquency,
criminal behavior, and status offenses. Delinquency includes
crimes committed by minors which are dealt with by the juvenile
courts and justice system.
• Criminal behavior are crimes dealt with by the criminal justice
system.
• Status offenses are offenses which are only classified as such
because the person is a minor; they also dealt with by the juvenile
courts.
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 • Poverty is a large predictor of low parental monitoring, harsh
parenting, and association with deviant peer groups, all of which
are in turn associated with juvenile offending. Family factors also
have an influence on delinquency.
• Delinquency prevention is the broad term for all efforts aimed at
preventing youth from becoming involved in criminal or other
antisocial activity.
• Poverty is a large predictor of low parental monitoring, harsh
parenting, and association with deviant peer groups, all of which
are in turn associated with juvenile offending.
• Family factors which may have an influence on offending
include: the level of parental supervision, the way parents
discipline a child, particularly harsh punishment, parental conflict
or separation, criminal parents or siblings, parental abuse or
neglect, and the quality of the parent-child relationship
• Delinquency prevention is the broad term for all efforts aimed at
preventing youth from becoming involved in criminal, or other
antisocial, activity.

Key Terms

• Delinquency Prevention: Delinquency prevention is the broad

term for all efforts aimed at preventing youth from becoming
involved in criminal or other antisocial activity. Prevention services
may include activities such as substance abuse education and
treatment, family counseling, youth mentoring, parenting
education, educational support, and youth sheltering. Increasing
availability and use of family planning services, including
education and contraceptives helps to reduce unintended
pregnancy and unwanted births, which are risk factors for
delinquency.
• Status Offenses: A status offense is an action that is prohibited only
to a certain class of people, and most often applied to offenses
only committed by minors.
• juvenile delinquency: Participation in illegal behavior by minors.

Juvenile Delinquency

Juvenile delinquency is participation in illegal behavior by minors. Most

legal systems prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as
juvenile detention centers and courts. A juvenile delinquent is a person who is
typically under the age of 18 and commits an act that would have otherwise
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been charged as a crime if the minor was an adult. Depending on the type
and severity of the offense committed, it is possible for persons under 18 to be
charged and tried as adults.

Juvenile delinquency can be separated into three categories:

1. Delinquency: crimes committed by minors that are dealt with by the

juvenile courts and justice system;
2. Criminal behavior: crimes dealt with by the criminal justice system;
3. Status offenses: offenses which are only classified as such because
one is a minor, such as truancy, also dealt with by the juvenile courts.

Young men disproportionately commit juvenile delinquency. Feminist

theorists and others have examined why this is the case. One suggestion is that
ideas of masculinity may make young men more likely to offend. Being tough,
powerful, aggressive, daring, and competitive becomes a way for young men
to assert and express their masculinity. Alternatively, young men may actually
be naturally more aggressive, daring, and prone to risk-taking. According to a
study led by Florida State University criminologist Kevin M. Beaver, adolescent
males who possess a certain type of variation in a specific gene are more likely
to flock to delinquent peers. The study, which appeared in the September
2008 issue of the Journal of Genetic Psychology, is the first to establish a
statistically significant association between an affinity for antisocial peer
groups and a particular variation (called the 10-repeat allele) of the
dopamine transporter gene (DAT1).

There is also a significant skew in the racial statistics for juvenile offenders.
When considering these statistics, which state that Black and Latino teens are
more likely to commit juvenile offenses, it is important to keep the following in
mind: poverty is a large predictor of low parental monitoring, harsh parenting,
and association with deviant peer groups, all of which are in turn associated
with juvenile offending. The majority of adolescents who live in poverty are
racial minorities.

Family factors that may have an influence on offending include:

• the level of parental supervision,

• the way parents discipline a child,
• particularly harsh punishment,
• parental conflict or separation,
• criminal parents or siblings,

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 • parental abuse or neglect,
• the quality of the parent-child relationship.

Delinquency prevention is the broad term for all efforts aimed at

preventing youth from becoming involved in criminal or other antisocial
activity. Because the development of delinquency in youth is influenced by
numerous factors, prevention efforts need to be comprehensive in scope.
Prevention services may include activities like substance abuse education and
treatment, family counseling, youth mentoring, parenting education,
educational support, and youth sheltering. Increasing availability and use of
family planning services, including education and contraceptives, helps to
reduce unintended pregnancy and unwanted births—which are risk factors
for delinquency.

Juvenile Delinquency: Juvenile delinquency refers to antisocial or illegal

behavior by children or adolescents, for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile
detention centers. There are a multitude of different theories on the causes of
crime, most if not all of which can be applied to the causes of youth crime.

Cure Juvenile Delinquency by Planned Housing: Poster promoting planned housing as a

method to deter juvenile delinquency, showing silhouettes of a child stealing a piece of
fruit and as an older minor involved in armed robbery.

Violent Crime

A violent crime is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent
force upon the victim.
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 • Violent crimes include crimes committed with and without
weapons. With the exception of rape, males are the primary
victims of all forms of violent crime.
• The rate of violent crime victimization in the United States
declined by more than two thirds between the years 1994 and
2009.

Key Terms

• Simple Assault: In law, assault is a crime which involves causing a

victim to apprehend violence.
• aggravated assault: Assault with disregard for the value of life, or
with a deadly weapon.
• Forcible Rape: A type of sexual assault usually involving sexual
intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against
another person without that person’s consent.

A violent crime is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use

violent force upon the victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act
is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the
means to an end, such as robbery. Violent crimes include crimes committed
with and without weapons. With the exception of rape (which accounts for
6% of all reported violent crimes), males are the primary victims of all forms of
violent crime.

White-Collar Crime

White-collar crime is a financially motivated, nonviolent crime committed for

illegal monetary gain.

Key Points

• White-collar crime, is similar to corporate crime, because white-

collar employees are more likely to commit fraud, bribery, ponzi
schemes, insider trading, embezzlement, cyber crime, copyright
infringement, money laundering, identity theft, and forgery.
• The term “white-collar crime” was coined in 1939 by the
sociologist Edwin Sutherland, who defined it as a “crime
committed by a person of respectability and high social status in
the course of his occupation”.
• White collar crimes stand in contrast to blue-collar street crimes
include arson, burglary, theft, assault, rape, and vandalism.

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 • Corporate crime deals with the company as a whole. Their
difference is that white-collar crime benefits the individual
involved, and corporate crime benefits the company or the
corporation.
• Insider trading, the trading of stock by someone with access to
publicly unavailable information, is a type of fraud.

Key Terms

• insider trading: Buying or selling securities of a publicly-held

company by a person who has privileged access to information
concerning the company’s financial condition or plans.
• copyright infringement: The unauthorized use of copyrighted
material in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner’s
exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the
copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it.

White-collar crime is a financially motivated, nonviolent crime

committed for illegal monetary gain. White-collar crime, is similar to corporate
crime, because white-collar employees are more likely to commit fraud,
bribery, ponzi schemes, insider trading, embezzlement, cybercrime, copyright
infringement, money laundering, identity theft, and forgery.

The term “white-collar crime” was coined in 1939 by Edwin Sutherland,

who defined it as a “crime committed by a person of respectability and high
social status in the course of his occupation” in a speech entitled “The White
Collar Criminal” delivered to the American Sociological Society. Much of
Sutherland’s work was to separate and define the differences in blue-collar
street crimes such as arson, burglary, theft, assault, rape, and vandalism, which
are often blamed on psychological, associational, and structural factors.
Instead, white-collar criminals are opportunists, who learn to take advantage
of their circumstances to accumulate financial gain. They are educated,
intelligent, affluent, and confident individuals whose jobs involve unmonitored
access to large sums of money.

Corporate crime deals with the company as a whole. The relationship

that white-collar crime has with corporate crime is that they are similar
because they both are involved within the business world. Their difference is
that white-collar crime benefits the individual involved, and corporate crime
benefits the company or the corporation. Insider trading, the trading of stock
by someone with access to publicly unavailable information, is a type of fraud.
One well-known insider trading case in the United States is the ImClone stock
trading case. In December 2001, top-level executives sold their shares in
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ImClone Systems, a pharmaceutical company that manufactured an anti-
cancer drug. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigated
numerous top-level executives, as well as Martha Stewart, a friend of
ImClone’s former chief executive who had also sold her shares at the same
time. The SEC reached a settlement in 2005.

One common misconception about corporate crime is that its effects

are mainly financial. For example, pharmaceutical companies may make
false claims regarding their drugs and factories may illegally dump toxic waste.
Indeed, the Hooker Chemical Company dumped toxic waste into the
abandoned Love Canal in Niagara Falls and sold the land without disclosing
the dumping. It was sold in the 1950’s to a private housing developer, whose
residents began experiencing major health problems such as miscarriages
and birth defects in the 1970’s.

Organized Crime

Organized crime refers to transnational, national, or local groupings of

highly centralized enterprises run by criminals.

Key Points

• An organized gang or criminal set can also be referred to as a

mob.
• Patron-client networks are defined by the fluid interactions they
produce.
• The best-known patron-client networks are the Sicilian and Italian
American Cosa Nostra, most commonly known as the Sicilian
Mafia.
• Bureaucratic and corporate organized crime groups are defined
by the general rigidity of their internal structures.
• The term “street gang” is commonly used interchangeably with
“youth gang”, referring to neighborhood or street-based youth
groups that meet “gang” criteria.

Key Terms

• Corporate Organized Crime: Crimes committed either by a

corporation (i.e., a business entity having a separate legal
personality from the natural persons that manage its activities), or
by individuals acting on behalf of a corporation or other business
entity (see vicarious liability and corporate liability).
225
 • Patron-Client Networks: Patron-client networks are defined by the
fluid interactions they produce. Organized crime groups operate
as smaller units within the overall network, and as such tend
towards valuing significant others, familiarity of social and
economic environments, or tradition.
• corporate crime: illegal acts committed by a business or
corporation (a business entity having a separate legal personality
from the natural persons that manage its activities) or by
individuals acting on behalf of a business
• Street Gang: A group of recurrently associating individuals with
identifiable leadership and internal organization, identifying with
or claiming control over territory in the community, and engaging
either individually or collectively in violent or other forms of illegal
behavior.

Organized crime refers to transnational, national, or local groupings of

highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in
illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Sometimes criminal
organizations force people to do business with them, as when a gang extorts
money from shopkeepers for “protection.” Gangs may become “disciplined”
enough to be considered “organized.” An organized gang or criminal set can
also be referred to as a mob.

Patron-client networks are defined by the fluid interactions they

produce. Organized crime groups operate as smaller units within the overall
network, and as such tend towards valuing significant others, familiarity of
social and economic environments, or tradition.

Some notable patron-client networks involve the Russian and Albanian

mafias, the Japanese Yakuza, the Irish mob, and the Sicilian and Italian
American Cosa Nostra (i.e., the Sicilian mafia).

Organized Crime: Al Capone is a name often associated with organized

crime.

Bureaucratic and corporate organized crime groups are defined by the

general rigidity of their internal structures. Focusing more on how the
operations works, succeeds, sustains itself or avoids retribution, they are
generally typified by: a complex authority structure; an extensive division of
labor between classes and the organization; responsibilities carried out in an
impersonal manner; and top-down communication and rule enforcement
mechanisms.

226
 A distinctive gang culture underpins many, but not all, organized groups;
this may develop through recruiting strategies, social learning processes in the
corrective system experienced by youth, family, or peer involvement in crime,
and the coercive actions of criminal authority figures. The term “street gang”
is commonly used interchangeably with “youth gang”, referring to
neighborhood or street-based youth groups that meet “gang” criteria.

Organized crime groups often victimize businesses through the use of

extortion or theft and fraud activities like hijacking cargo trucks, robbing
goods, committing bankruptcy fraud, insurance fraud, or stock fraud.
Organized crime groups seek out corrupt public officials in executive, law
enforcement, and judicial roles so that their activities can avoid, or at least
receive early warnings about, investigation and prosecution.

End of Module 6

LEARNING ACTIVITY/ASSESSMENT:

1. Explain the meaning and difference between Ron Aker’s Social

Learning Theory and Edwin Sutherland: Differential Association
Theory.
2. Write at least 10 key terms in relation to these topics.

227
 SIBUGAY TECHNICAL INSTITUTE INCORPORATED
Lower Taway, Ipil, ZamboangaSibugay
www.sibugaytech.edu.ph
E-Mail Address: [email protected]
Telefax: (062) 333-2469
Mobile No. 09184873846 / 09177073044

LEARNER’S MODULE
 SUBJECT: Social Deviation and Social Work
 COVERAGE: FINAL COVERAGE
 WEEK: 16-18
 LESSON 1-3: Concept of Shaming as a social control to call “out” violations of conventional
society, Self-Control factors into future success (for kids), Marxist/Conflict Theories of
Deviance- Overview of Explanation and theoretical branches within conflict of Marxist
perspective.
 Lesson Objectives: At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
• Understand the concept of shaming as a social control to call “out” violations of

conventional society
• Understand and explain self-control factors into future success

• Know the theoretical branches within conflict of Marxist perspective, its importance and

functions

Concept of Shaming as a social control to call “out” violations of

conventional society
Rodger A. Bates, Clayton State University Bryan LaBrecque, Clayton State University

Abstract: Shaming is a form of social control found in every society. It is an

informal mechanism that is found in traditional societies or small, personal
groups. The power of shaming is related to a person's sense of self as reflected
by his or her interpretation of the acts of others. Today, in the emerging
environment of the global village, shaming has evolved from an expanded
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from a personal to a collective mechanism of influence and social control. In
fact, what was once a mechanism of social control has become a potential
for social change.

Introduction

Shame is considered a primary emotion. Biblically speaking, it was the

first emotion mentioned in the Bible. “And man, and his wife were both naked
and were not ashamed” (Bible, Genesis 2.25). Shame has come a long way in
human society. It has been the subject of extensive discussions in a variety of
social sciences. In particular, psychologists, anthropologists and sociologists
have commented on its origins and role in the development of the individual
and society. Today, those perspectives have been broadened, as shame is
now part of the political sphere and has become a significant tool in the
success or failure of many social movements.

Shame: A Micro-social Perspective

As a basic emotion, shame has been considered, either directly or

indirectly, by a number of psychologists. Adler and other psychoanalytic
theorists discussed the role of pride and inferiority which were analogous with
the concept of shame (Scheff, 2000). Erik Erikson (1950) specifically identified
shame as a fundamental emotion which played an important role in the
developmental stages in child development. However, because shame is
dependent upon the role of a social matrix which is external to the individual,
most psychologists have avoided the role of shame and its impact on the
individual.

In anthropology, shame and its role as an agent of personality

development and social control have been frequently cited in studies of
primitive culture. Kardiner (1939) employed a psychoanalytic perspective
which stressed the role of shame and pride as key components in the
development of the superego among the members of primitive societies. Firth
(1936) in his study of the Trobriand Islanders illustrated the power of shame as
both a deterrent and punishment in his analysis of the role of “liar’s heaps.”

Sociologists, however, have been the major contributors to the

traditional study of shame as an interactive process between the individual
and society. Focusing on the role of social solidarity, Durkheim (1997),
intimated that emotions, like shame, are powerful forces which control and
influence the power of social bonds within a group.

Georg Simmel (1904) briefly describes the role of shame in his essay on
fashion. He suggested that people anticipate shame if they stray from the
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behavior and appearance of others. Thus, conformity of thought and actions
within one’s social group is desired and failure to do so results in shame and
alienation.

Charles Horton Cooley (1922) in his introduction of the concept of the

“looking-glass self” places significance on how an individual judges his/her self
as a reaction to the perceived evaluation of others. George Herbert Mead
(1923), likewise, stressed the interpretive understanding associated with role
taking in response to the actions and expectations of others. In both instances,
pride and shame play an important part in control and motivation of the
individual.

Building on the works of Cooley and Mead, Erving Goffman (1963)

stressed the role of emotions in shaping social behavior. In particular, the fear
of social degradation shaped an individual’s sense of self and significantly
influenced one’s behavior.

Norbert Elias, in his book The Civilizing Process stated that shame was a
key aspect of modernity. He noted that:

“The feeling of shame is a specific excitation, a kind of anxiety which is

automatically reproduced in the individual on certain occasions by forces of
habit. Considered superficially, it is fear of social degradation, or more
generally, of other people’s gestures of superiority (1936, 414).”

Elias felt that the decreasing thresholds of shame during the

transformation of communities from more rural to more urban environments
had significant influence on levels of awareness and self-control.

Helen Lynd (1958), a sociologist with a strong interdisciplinary orientation,

was one of the few sociologists who directly addressed the role of shame in
social behavior from both sociological and psychological perspectives. In her
work, she focused on shame and its role as a component of one’s social
identity. Her concept of social identity reflected a sociological perspective
that integrated the psychological roles of self and ego. She felt that, whereas
guilt was directly tied to a specific act, shame was the impact and
interpretation of that act on one’s self identity.

An interesting consequence of her views on shame was that the sharing

of one’s sense of self-shame with others can create a bonding experience
with others. As an intimate act, the sharing of shame can bring about a
closeness with another individual. This concept would have a later impact
among some students of the role of shame, in the study of social deviance.

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 The most significant modern research on the sociology of shame has
been the extensive works of Thomas Scheff (2005). In his efforts to better
understand the sociology of emotions, particularly shame, he has reviewed
and analyzed numerous social thinkers and their perspectives. In his analysis of
number of classical sociologists, he noted that emotions are intimately
involved in the structure and change of whole societies. In particular, he
suggested that the acknowledgement of shame can strengthen social bonds
and could be the glue that holds relationships, and ultimately societies,
together. Building on the works of Cooley, Mead, Elias and Goffman, Scheff
looks at individualistic and collective shame on social solidarity and, in turn,
alienation.

Shame: A Macro-social Perspective

The role of collective shame offers insight into the role of shame at the
macro-social level and its impact on a number of social environments.
Historically, in the social sciences, shame has been a primary emotion which
shapes interpersonal relations. However, as the study of shame continued, it
has moved from a micro to a more macro-level perspective.

A macro-social perspective of shame focuses on collective guilt as a

consequence of some group act or historical event. It is the shared outcome
or identity of such actions, which has both personal and group consequences,
that create collective guilt. This condition influences both a personal and
group identity and shapes how others identify and act with and around them.
At times, collective shame may be self-generated. Acting in some form of
collective misconduct may result in one’s understanding of the extreme
inappropriateness of their actions, recognition of which is most often based
upon their own moral standards. However, in most instances of collective
shame, it is not self-actualization that labels a group’s action as shameful, it is
the evaluation of others that produces that label.

For example, in 1919, British General Richard Dyer ordered his troops to
open fire on several thousand unarmed civilians in a walled public garden in
the Sikh holy city Amristar. They had gathered to celebrate the Sikh New Year
in violation of prohibitory orders against public assembly (Collett, 2005). In what
became known as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, 379 men, women and
children were killed without warning. Though the British initially felt justified in
their action, world opinion quickly collectively shamed the British and their role
as a colonial empire. Likewise, British action in post-World War II Palestine led
to further collective shame (Pettigrove and Parsons, 2012).

Probably the most documented and researched example of collective

shame or guilt was experienced by Germany over its World War II atrocities,
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especially the Holocaust. The Swiss psychologist Carl Jung noted the collective
guilt and shame shared by the German people (Olick and Perrin, 2010).
American and British troops promoted this sense of collect guilt and shame by
an active propaganda campaign which included the public showing of
documentaries of the atrocities as well as requiring many civic leaders to tour
the death camps. A number of leading German theologians accepted the
shame of these actions in the Stutggart Declaration of Guilt-1945 (Issacs and
Vernon, 2011).

A more recent example of collective shame, though not as prominent, is

what may be called Southern Shame. Many southerners have had to deal
with the stigma associated with slavery and racial discrimination in the South.
Though bigotry and racial hatred knew no geographic boundaries in America,
as exemplified by race riots, anti-busing actions and open discrimination in
numerous non-south communities, the former Confederate states have born
the collective stigma of racial injustice. For example, the actions of the head
of the Alabama Department of Public Safety, Bull Connor in unleashing police
dogs on Catholic nuns, African American veterans and others in the Selma to
Birmingham civil rights march in 1968 helped to transform a protest into a
symbolic moral crusade which labeled southerners as collectively shame-
worthy ( Kyrn, 1989). Thus, a shared sense of shame is an on-going stigma that
most southerners have to address as part of their regional identity (Renki, 2019).

Shaming

As the role of personal shaming has been examined by Cooley,

Goffman, Scheff and others, more attention has been directed to the process
of collective shaming. In a sense, shame as a noun has evolved into shaming
as a verb. Thus the role and importance of the collective as the designator of
shame has emerged as a significant social fact.

John Braithwaite (1989) noted that there were two different types of
shaming, stigmatic and reintegrative. Stigmatic shaming labels the individual
as not only as someone who has done something bad, but also as someone
who is bad. This type of shaming denigrates the relationship between the
individual and society, probably for his/her entire life. On the other hand,
reintegrative shaming deplores the act, but allows the individual the
opportunity to be redeemed in the eyes of society. In these instances, the
offender is treated as a good person who has done a bad deed and also
provides legitimate avenues for rehabilitation and acceptance back into
society. The shaming process involves not only the actor, but increasingly
recognizes, the collective role of others.

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 Historically, shaming was a social process which reflected the
importance of the established social norms and was enacted in the name of
the community. The public stocks in England and early America were
examples of the tools of shaming. The established norms, however, were a
product of significant others who held positions of power and influence and
shared public opinion in support of their (the establishment’s) cherished class
values (Sayer, 2005). Goffman (1963) and others have studied the processes
of stigmatization and who and why certain individuals and groups are labeled
and shamed into conformity or further social degradation.

Labeling theory (Becker, 1963) significantly informs our understanding of

the shaming process. Deviance, according to Scarpitti and MacFarlane is
defined as” any, act, attribute or belief, which when made known elicits an
evaluative sanction or response from others” (1975, 8). It is in the identification
and response of significant others that results in an act or sanction. Labeling
can target an individual or a group and create an environment of shame. As
Becker (1963) has noted, it is in the application of the perception of others that
labeling and the assignment of shame is achieved.

As we seek to understand the shaming process from a sociological

perspective, the theories of attitude change and collective behavior offer the
greatest insights into this process. In both areas, key elements are the nature
of the social environment and the existence or creation of a generalized belief
that change is possible, resulting in a redefinition of a perceived moral
standard. The various social psychological theories of attitude change and
social control play an important role in the shaming process. Theories such as,
cognitive dissonance, neutralization, and emergent norm theory have been
useful in understanding how groups and individuals address and respond to
either psychological or social issues surrounding individual and collective
attitude change (Wood, 2000). For example, cognitive dissonance theory
focuses on the perceived need to create consistency between different
beliefs and attitudes and focuses on the processes of information processing
and the role and status of significant others. Sykes and Matza (1957) identified
various techniques of neutralization that facilitates individual and attitude
changes as a means to justify non-normative behavior, thus reducing
cognitive dissonance. Turner and Killian (1957) looked at how new norms
emerge and become accepted by others in response to highly emotional, but
undefined social circumstances.

Today’s media is rampant with shaming as a social tool. It is found at both

the micro and macro-levels and involve both reintegrative and stigmatic
shaming. At the micro or individual level, teachers and school administrators
have used “walls of accountability” to publicly identify and shame students
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who have violated some school policies (Robinson-Green, 2019). Judges,
engaging in “creative sentencing”, have utilized public humiliation by
publishing the names of people convicted of a variety of crimes and/or
misdemeanors, and have been cited as either enlightened jurists or legal
tyrants. Peer shaming among adolescents has become almost epidemic with
the advent of cell phones and their video capabilities with significant medical
and psychological consequences (Ashland, Leppert, Starrin, et, al., 2009). Be
it “perp walks” in police stations or “walks of shame” on college campuses,
actual or virtual social shaming experiences are increasingly common
occurrences. With advances in communicative technology, such as
television, the internet and social media, the creation or perception of a
shaming experience has become far easier than in previous times.

At the micro-social level of shaming, the goal of a group’s action on the

individual shapes whether the action is reintegrative or stigmatic. In the case
of reintegrative shaming at the micro-level, reasserting a group’s values or
norms is the desired consequence. In sport and business, “holding a team-
mate accountable” is part of a culture of compliance (Sehestal, 2018).
Basketball great Joe Dumars stated that:

“On good teams, coaches hold players accountable.

On great teams, players hold players accountable (Janssen, n.d.)”

In both instances, peer to peer accountability is encouraged to better

the group’s performance and achieve its goals. Accountability and even
some milder forms of shaming are used to encourage a person’s compliance
to mutually ascribed standards. The person is still valued and thus their future
contributions are desired.

However, stigmatic shaming also may be encountered in peer to peer

relationships. More than a decade ago, the movie Mean Girls focused on the
power and damage that can be inflicted on some adolescents. The power of
cliques, relational aggression, backbiting, social isolation, rumor, labeling and
similar actions, often can leave individual with serious concerns or
understanding of the reason they are being targeted (Gordon, 2019). Stigma
is being used to degrade and isolate or eliminate another from a social
environment. The growth of the anti-bullying movement has been a response
to the social cost of stigmatic shaming (Namie and Namie, n.d.). The emerging
role of the “twitter mob” for the digital “lynching” of individuals is a clear
example of stigmatic shaming at the individual or micro-level (Fontaine, 2018).

At the macro-level, in today’s social and political environments, shaming

has emerged as a powerful tool used by groups seeking acceptance of their
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perspectives of right and wrong. Classic research on attitude change and
persuasion identified a variety of techniques which have been used in the
past. Rationalization, displacement, projection, identification, compensation,
conformity and suggestion were frequently cited practices related to attitude
change and action (Brown,1964). Today, pop psychology journals are rife with
articles listing numerous techniques for persuasion. The various techniques of
persuasion, however have been augmented by shaming as a force multiplier.
With technological advances in public communication, shaming individuals
within groups has been advanced to shaming entire groups within society.

Whereas traditional shaming was designed to reinforce existing social

norms and values, modern shaming has emerged as a tool for political and
social change. In social movements such as the civil rights, women’s and
gender acceptance movements, astute students of attitude and social
change initially challenged the traditional positions as antiquated and
immoral. A constant barrage of information and examples of how the majority
position violates higher standards of morality and social justice contributes to
a less clearly defined and supported public standard. The tactic of nonviolent
protest served both Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. well by positioning their
causes as the higher moral ground (Miller, 1985). The protests and the harsh
reactions by agents of the status-quo further contributed to the delegitimizing
of the moral standards of the dominant society.

Similar actions by the Women’s and Gay Rights Movements created

environments conducive of social change. Encouraging unreasonable
responses by agents of social control was a vital component of shaming a
control group and questioning their legitimacy in the eyes of the larger society.
Selma, the Chicago Democratic Convention and the Stone Wall Bar became
symbols of society’s intolerance and a source of shame for the status-quo
which were effectively transformed into effective means for social change.

In the case of these successful social movements, reintegrative shaming

was employed as an effective mechanism of encouraging the society to
largely accept new definitions morality or correctness. In these instances, the
movement’s actions created environments conducive to reintegrative
shaming. That is, the movements sought change, but they wanted their
opposition to accept the change and establish a new moral order that would
shape future interactions.

The advent of the digital domain, in particular the internet, facilitates the
mobilization of a transformative ideology because the channels of
communication are largely unfettered (Bates and Mooney, 2014). According
to Weimann (2005), the internet has been a valuable platform for the spread

235
of a movement’s ideology and belief systems. It provided ease of access,
minimal regulation, censorship, anonymity of communication, speed, low cost
and the ability to influence the traditional mass media. It bypassed existing
“selection thresholds” by simply posting frequent supportive statements.

Shephard (2013) notes that these types of movements utilize a variety of

media management techniques. Platforms such as blogs, Twitter, YouTube,
online chat rooms, open and password protected forums, social networking
sites such as Facebook and Google+, photo-sharing sites such as Instagram
and Tumblr, and periodicals available in digital and print format. The
asynchronous features of social media are particularly attractive because the
access and dissemination of material is not limited by traditional notions of
time and place (Selwyn, 2011).

More recently, however, shaming has emerged as a more polarizing tool

utilized by political groups. The shaming they promote is more stigmatic than
reintegrative. The underlying premise of identity politics and political shaming
is if you are not one of us, or at least one who supports us, then you are a bad
person and not worthy of respect or even recognition. Categories of people
or specific groups are targeted for collective shaming and denigration. Carl
Sandberg once quipped, “If the law is against you, talk about the evidence.
If the evidence is against you, talk about the law, and, since you ask me, if the
law and the evidence are both against you, then pound on the table and yell
like hell. (Conner, 313)”. And while this characterization of 20th century civil
discourse is not new, politicians (and their supporters) in the 21st century have
expanded this adage into the political arena, spewing an explosion of
accusations, unsubstantiated generalities, and unfounded conclusions, in
order to give credence to their view of right and wrong (Conner, 314). But the
current devolution of civil discourse does not end with an “I’m right and you’re
wrong” predisposition, it takes a further leap and indicates that their
opponents are not only wrong, but evil for having thought that way. The
premise of what may have begun as a disagreement, very often, is not judged
on the premise’s merit, but is now often based on hatred and anger towards
the “other side” (Conner, 315).

By eschewing merit, the door opens widely for identity politics, which in
turn gives strength to stigmatic shaming. If the argument of being right versus
being evil gains traction – and it has – collective shaming becomes a simple
matter of identifying with a collective and villifying those who “choose” not to
join, or comply.

President Trump has made name-calling, bodyshaming and personal

denigration of political adversaries, both foreign and domestic, a common

236
occurrence (Allen,2018). Likewise, there are myriads of other recent examples
of politically motivated shaming. In 2017, Republican Senator Ted Cruz and his
wife we’re confronted by activists regarding his views at a local DC restaraunt.
They were heckling him regarding his position over Brett Kavanaugh, President
Trump’s nominee for Supreme Courst Justice, who had ben accused of sexual
misconduct. The intent being to isolate those who favored Kavanuagh’s
nomination and brand them as gender insensitive or worse, mysogynists. In
June of the same year, In June, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California, encouraged
supporters to publicly confront and harass members of the Trump
administration for its unpopular policies and positions (Cole, 2018). In a public
Caifornia forum, Waters told crowd,

“Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. If you see
anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a
gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd, and you push back on
them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere (Calfas,
2017).”

Potentially the most damaging, if not the most obvious example of

political shaming came at the hands of one of the 2016 principle candiates
for President. While giving a speech at the gala supporting LGBT rights on 9
September 2016, Hillary Clinton referred to “half” of Donald Trump’s supporters
as a “basket of deplorables”, branding everyone in that “basket” as having
either sexist, homophobic, racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic sentiments,
or a combination thereof (Blair, 335, 2017).

But political shaming isn’t reserved for just bearing down on the
opposition. In recent years political parties have utilized the art of voter
shaming within their own constituency (Kravitz, 2014). Recognizing that greater
voter turnout can often benefit their party, letters have been sent to registered
voters listing the elections that they had missed in the past. These letters have
been met with mixed response, but regardless of the response, it appears that
voter shaming is effectual (Farzan, 2018).

Such has been the devolution of civil discourse in the past decade. While
questions still remain regarding the outcome of identity politics and shaming,
there appears to be little end in sight with regard to its use.

Conclusions

Shame and shaming play important roles in the areas of self and social
control as well as various forms of collective behavior. Likewise, shame and
shaming can be both stigmatic and reintegrative in their purpose and intent.
These social constructs have increasing played significant roles in today’s
237
society. The environments of shame and shaming have expanded with
technological advancements in the media and public and private
communications.

To better understand these concepts, the following constructive

typologies can help summarize the characteristics and examples of these
concepts and allow us to identify and better understand various forms of
individual and social behavior (Becker, 1940).

Remember, social constructs of this type are not exclusive categories,

but are symbolic markers on a more diverse continuum (Becker, 1953). They
are presented to provide a basic summary of the utility of looking at the types
of social behavior which reflect the potential of looking at shame and shaming
through the perspectives of stigmatic and reintegrative behavior and helps to
summarize the major elements of this presentation.

Finally, the role of emotion, in particular shame and its applied

consequences (shaming), provides us with a foundation for understanding the
potential behaviors which may be shaped by these emotions. In particular,

238
shame is an effective form of self and social control. It supports group norms
and shapes individual and group behavior.

At the group-level, however, the ethnocentric nature of shame and

shaming can have serious consequences for individuals and societies,
especially with the stigmatic form. In some instances, collective shaming has
contributed to more extreme forms of individual and collective
dehumanization. The denigration of a group and its human legitimation is a
prerequisite for extreme measures, such as social isolation, slavery and even
genocide. The practitioners of shame, especially that which is stigmatic in
nature, should be very cautious with their actions for “…those who sew the
wind shall reap the whirlwind (Bible, Hosea 8:7)”.

SELF-CONTROL FACTORS INTO FUTURE SUCCESS

Self-control—the ability to regulate our attention, emotions and

behaviors—emerges in childhood and grows throughout life, but the skill
varies widely among individuals. Past studies have reported that self-control is
partially inherited and partially learned and that those with less self-control
are more likely to be unemployed, engage in unhealthy behaviors such as
overeating, and live a shorter life. A recent study in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences USA tying childhood self-control to health
and well-being in adulthood suggests that everyone, not just those most
lacking the skill, would benefit from a self-control boost.

Psychologist Terrie E. Moffitt of Duke University and her team focused on

the self-control of a group of 1,037 children born in 1972 and 1973 in Dunedin,
New Zealand. The investigators observed the children and took reports from
parents and teachers every two years from the ages of three to 11. They
evaluated the kids’ attention, persistence and impulsiveness in a variety of
settings to determine each child’s level of self-control. Finally, when these
New Zealanders reached the age of 32, the researchers assessed their
health, financial stability and court records.

The study found that children with lower self-control were more likely as
adults to have poor health, be single parents, depend on drugs or alcohol,
have difficulties with money and possess a criminal record.

In addition to surveying and ruling out intelligence and socioeconomic

status as possible explanations, the team explored whether differences in
upbringing could play a role. To test this idea, the Duke researchers turned to
239
509 pairs of British twins born in 1994 and 1995. The team appraised the twins’
self-control at age five. The sibling who had less self-control was more likely to
begin smoking, behave badly and struggle in school at age 12.

Moffitt notes that within the Dunedin group, the more self-control a
child had, the better off he or she was as an adult. “Even children who are
above average on self-control could have improved life outcomes if they
increase their self-control skills,” Moffitt says. Programs that teach self-
control—in school settings, for example—are effective. Thus, the Duke team
posits, intervening during childhood could give all kids a better future.

Self-control keeps us from eating a whole bag of chips or from running

up the credit card. A new study says that self-control makes the difference
between getting a good job or going to jail — and we learn it in preschool.

"Children who had the greatest self-control in primary school and

preschool ages were most likely to have fewer health problems when they
reached their 30s," says Terrie Moffitt, a professor of psychology at Duke
University and King's College London.

Moffitt and a team of researchers studied a group of 1,000 people born

in New Zealand in 1972 and 1973, tracking them from birth to age 32. The
new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, is the best evidence yet on the payoff for learning self-discipline
early on.

The researchers define self-control as having skills like conscientiousness,

self-discipline and perseverance, as well as being able to consider the
consequences of actions in making decisions.

The children who struggled with self-control as preschoolers were three

times as likely to have problems as young adults. They were more prone to
have a criminal record; more likely to be poor or have financial problems; and
they were more likely to be single parents.

This study doesn't prove that the lack of self-control in childhood caused
these problems, but the large size of the study, and the fact that it followed
one group of people over many years, makes a good case for an effect.

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Teaching Control

Economists and public health officials want to know whether teaching

self-control could improve a population's physical and financial health and
reduce crime. Three factors appear to be key to a person's success in life:
intelligence, family's socioeconomic status and self-control. Moffitt's study
found that self-control predicted adult success, even after accounting for the
participants' differences in social status and IQ.

Cathie Morton, a teacher at the Clara Barton Center for Children, leads
the kids in a clapping exercise to signal that it is time to shift gears and start
cleaning up. (Maggie Starbard/NPR)
IQ and social status are hard to change. But Moffitt says there is evidence that
self-control can be learned.

"Identical twins are not identical on self-control," she says. "That tells us
that it is something they have learned, not something they have inherited."

Teaching self-control has become a big focus for early childhood

education. At the Clara Barton Center for Children in Cabin John, Md., it starts
with expecting a 4-year-old to hang up her coat without being asked.

Director Linda Owen says the children are expected to be responsible

for a series of actions when they arrive at school each morning, without help
from Mom and Dad. The children sign in, put away their lunches, hang up their
own clothes, wash their hands before they can play, and then choose
activities in the classroom.

"All those things help with self-management," Owen says.

Mediating Conflict

Of course, not all 4-year-olds are ready to manage that, so the classroom
is loaded with cues and clues to help the preschoolers make their own
decisions and be responsible.

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 Liya Pomfret and Rowan Miller demonstrate how they use the "solutions kit"
to resolve conflicts. (Maggie Starbard/NPR)
A series of seven photos over the sink shows the correct sequence for
hand washing. A "solutions kit" poster shows techniques the children can use
to resolve disagreements themselves, like sharing or playing with another toy.
The two teachers give the children multiple cues when it's time to clean up:
Lights flash, a bell rings and the children clap and count to 100. That makes it
easier to switch gears without a meltdown.

If a child has problems with self-management, the teachers make a

customized "visual cue" card, with photos of the four play choices in the room,
to make the decision easier.

And teachers Cathie Morton and Daniela Capbert don't just supervise —
they're in the thick of the children's play so that when the inevitable conflicts
arise, they can redirect the children into other activities or help them talk
through their feelings.

When things do go wrong, there are consequences. Timeouts and

apologies don't mean much to children at this age, Owen says, so the
teachers try to match consequences to the deed. When one of the children
accidentally knocks over a 2-foot-tall tower of blocks that several children had
spent half the morning building, the teachers ask the builders what should
happen next. "Help fix it," one boy says. And, with a little prompting from the
adults, they all pitch in and rebuild.

Self-Control At Home

Parents can help their children learn self-control. Mary Alvord is a clinical
psychologist in Silver Spring, Md., whose new book, Resilience Builder Program
for Children and Adolescents, teaches self-control strategies. Take small steps,
she says. For example, preschoolers can learn that they don't always get what
they want immediately; they may need to wait for that treat.

"I call it Grandma's rule," Alvord says. "No dessert until you finish your
dinner."

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 Parents can help teenagers learn self-control by making sure the family
has clear rules for things like curfew or finishing homework before they have
screen time. Teenager who has problems with impulsivity may benefit from
special driving classes that let them practice controlling the car in difficult
conditions on a racetrack. For all teens, clear rules such as curfews help them
regulate themselves.

Though self-control can be improved throughout life, Moffitt says the

earlier children can learn these skills of self-discipline and perseverance, the
better. "The later you wait in life to try to learn self-control skills, the more
problems you have to reverse and overcome."

All the more reason to start picking up blocks when you're very young.

The Functionalist Perspective on Deviance

Functionalism claims that deviance help to create social stability by

presenting explanations of non-normative and normative behaviors.

Key Points

• A structural functionalist approach emphasizes social solidarity,

divided into organic and mechanical typologies, and stability in
social structures.
• Deviance provides the key to understanding the disruption and
recalibration of society that occurs over time. Some traits that
could cause social disruption will be stigmatized.
• Systems of deviance create norms and tell members of a given
society on how to behave by laying out patterns of acceptable
and unacceptable behavior.
• Deviance allows for group majorities to unite around their
worldview, often at the expense of those marked as deviant.
Social parameters create boundaries between populations and
enable an “us-versus-them” mentality within the two groups.
• Being marked as deviant can actually bolster solidarity within the
marked community as members take pride and ownership in
their stigmatized identity.

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 • Some traits will be stigmatized and can potentially cause social
disruption. However, as traits become more mainstream, society
will gradually adjust to incorporate the formerly stigmatized traits.

Key Terms

• structural functionalism: A sociological approach that looks at

society through a macro-level orientation, which is a broad
focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole.
• population: A count of the number of residents within a political
or geographical boundary, such as a town, a nation, or the
world or of the number of individuals belonging to a particular
group.
• Social Parameters: The given rules and norms in a given social
situation.

What function does deviance play in society? This is a question asked by

sociologists subscribing to the school of structural functionalism. Structural
functionalism has its roots in the very origins of sociological thought and the
development of sociology as a discipline. Though precursors of structural
functionalism have been in existence since the mid-1800’s, structural
functionalism was solidified by Émile Durkheim in the late nineteenth century.
A structural functionalist approach emphasizes social solidarity, divided into
organic and mechanical typologies, and stability in social structures. Structural
functionalists ask “How does any given social phenomenon contribute to
social stability?” This question cannot be answered without investigating
deviance.

Émile Durkheim: Durkheim formally established the academic discipline and,

with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect
of modern social science and father of sociology.

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 For the structural functionalist, deviance serves two primary roles in
creating social stability. First, systems of recognizing and punishing deviance
create norms and tell members of a given society how to behave by laying
out patterns of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. In order to avoid
unsettling society, one must be aware of what behaviors are marked as
deviant. Second, these social parameters create boundaries between
populations and enable an “us-versus-them” mentality within different groups.
Deviance allows for the majorities to unite around their normativity, at the
expense of those marked as deviant. Conversely, being marked as deviant
can actually bolster solidarity within the marked community, as members take
pride and ownership in their stigmatized identity and create cohesive units of
their own (for example, members of the LGBT community unifying around
Pride).

From a structural functionalist perspective, then, how does society

change, particularly in regards to establishing norms and deviant behaviors?
Deviance provides the key to understanding the disruption and re-calibration
of society that occurs over time. Some traits will be stigmatized and can
potentially cause social disruption. However, as traits become more
mainstream, society will gradually adjust to incorporate the formerly
stigmatized traits.

Take, again, the example of homosexuality. In urban America 50 years

ago, homosexual behavior was considered deviant. On the one hand, this
fractured society into those marked as homosexuals and those unmarked as
normative heterosexuals. While this us-versus-them mentality solidified social
identities and solidarities within the two categories, there was an overarching
social schism. As time went on, homosexuality has come to be accepted as
somewhat more mainstream. Accordingly, what originally appears as a
fracturing of society actually reinforces social stability by enabling
mechanisms for social adjustment and development.

The Conflict Perspective of Deviance

Conflict theories emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of

a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system.

Key Points

• In conflict theory, deviant behaviors are actions that do not go

along with the social institutions.

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 • Marx himself did not write about deviant behavior, but he wrote
about alienation amongst the proletariat, as well as between the
proletariat and the finished product, which causes conflict and,
thus, deviant behavior.
• Marx used the term” lumpenproletariat” to describe that layer of
the working class which is unlikely to ever achieve class
consciousness.
• Michel Foucault believed that torture had been phased out from
modern society due to the dispersion of power; there was no
need any more for the wrath of the state on a deviant individual.
• According to Foucault, instead individuals are controlled by
institutions. Contemporary society is characterized by the lack of
free will on the part of individuals because institutions of
knowledge, norms, and values, are in place to categorize and
control humans.

Key Terms

• institution: An established organization, especially one dedicated

to education, public service, culture, or the care of the destitute,
poor etc.
• Deviant Behavior: The violation of prevailing norms or cultural
standards prescribing how humans ought to behave.
• lumpenproletariat: the lowest stratum of the proletariat

Deviance, in a sociological context, describes actions or behaviors that

violate social norms, including formally-enacted rules, as well as informal
violations of social norms. In sociology, conflict theories are perspectives that
emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that
critique the broad socio-political system, or that otherwise detract from
structural functionalism and ideological conservativism. Conflict theories draw
attention to power differentials, such as class conflict, and generally contrast
historically dominant ideologies. It is therefore a macro level analysis of society.
Karl Marx is the father of the social conflict theory, which is a component of
the four paradigms of sociology.

In conflict theory, deviant behaviors are actions that do not comply with
social institutions. The institution’s ability to change norms, wealth, or status
comes into conflict with the individual. The legal rights of poor folks might be
ignored, while the middle-class side with the elites rather than the poor.
Conflict theory is based upon the view that the fundamental causes of crime
are the social and economic forces operating within society.
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Karl Marx

Marx himself did not write about deviant behavior specifically, but he
wrote about alienation amongst the proletariat, as well as between the
proletariat and the finished product, which causes conflict, and thus deviant
behavior. Alienation is the systemic result of living in a socially stratified society,
because being a mechanistic part of a social class alienates a person from his
or her humanity. In a capitalist society, the worker’s alienation from his and her
humanity occurs because the worker can only express labor, a fundamental
social aspect of personal individuality, through a privately owned system of
industrial production in which each worker is an instrument, a thing, not a
person. However, Marx used the term lumpenproletariat to describe that layer
of the working class, unlikely to ever achieve class consciousness, lost to
socially useful production, and, therefore, of no use in revolutionary struggle or
an actual impediment to the realization of a classless society

Portrait of Karl Marx: The nineteeth-century German intellectual Karl Marx identified and
described the alienation that afflict the worker under capitalism.

Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault believed that torture had been phased out from
modern society due to the dispersion of power; so, there was no need any
more for the wrath of the state on a deviant individual. Rather, the modern
state receives praise for its fairness and dispersion of power that, instead of
controlling each individual, controls the mass. He also theorized that institutions
control people through the use of discipline. The modern prison is a template
for these institutions, because it controls its inmates by the perfect use of
discipline. Foucault theorizes that, in a sense, the contemporary society is

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characterized by the lack of free will on the part of individuals. Institutions of
knowledge, norms, and values, are in place to categorize and control
humans.

Drawing of Michel Foucault: The French philosopher Michel Foucault theorized that
institutions control people through the use of discipline.

Power and Inequality

Power and inequality determine the socioeconomic conditions of

different classes.

Key Points

• Social stratification is a concept involving the classification of

persons into groups based on shared socioeconomic conditions.
• Conflict theories, such as Marxism, focus on the inaccessibility of
resources and lack of social mobility found in stratified societies.
• Social stratification has been shown to cause many social
problems, including homicide, infant mortality, obesity, teenage
pregnancies, emotional depression, teen suicide, and a high
prison population.
• In modern Western societies, stratification is broadly organized
into three main layers: upper class, middle class, and lower class.
• Conflict theories, such as Marxism, point to the inaccessibility of
resources and lack of social mobility found in stratified societies.
• In Marxist theory, the capitalist mode of production consists of two
main economic parts: the substructure and the Superstructure.
Marx
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 • Social stratification has been shown to cause many social
problems.

Key Terms

• Marxist Theory: An economic and sociopolitical worldview and

method of socioeconomic inquiry centered upon a materialist
interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and
an analysis–critique of the development of capitalism.
• Conflict Theories: Perspectives in social science that emphasize
the social, political, or material inequality of a social group,
critique the broad socio-political system, or otherwise detract
from structural functionalism and ideological conservatism.
• Weberian: Of or relating to Max Weber (1864–1920), influential
German sociologist and political economist.

Power and Inequality

In social science and politics, power is the ability to influence the

behavior of people. The term authority is often used for power perceived as
legitimate by the social structure. Power can be seen as evil or unjust, but the
exercise of power is accepted as endemic to (or regularly found in) humans
as social beings. French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926–1984) saw power
as “a complex strategic situation in a given society social setting”. Power may
be held through authority, social class (material wealth), personal charisma,
expertise or knowledge, persuasion, force (such as law or violence), and a
myriad of other dynamics.

Because power operates both relationally and reciprocally, sociologists

speak of the balance of power between people in a relationship. All parties
to all relationships have some power; the sociological examination of power
concerns itself with discovering and describing the relative strengths – equal
or unequal, stable or subject to periodic change. Given that power is not
innate and can be granted to others, to acquire power you must possess or
control a form of power currency (such as wealth, social status, authority, etc.).

Social inequality and stratification

Social inequality refers to relational processes in society that have the

effect of limiting or harming a group’s social status, social class, and social
circle. Areas of social inequality include access to voting rights, freedom of
speech and assembly, the extent of property rights and access to education,

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health care, quality housing, traveling, transportation, vacationing and other
social goods and services.

The reasons for social inequality can vary, but are often broad and far
reaching. Social inequality can emerge through a society’s understanding of
appropriate gender roles, or through the prevalence of social stereotyping.
They can also be established through discriminatory legislation. Social
inequalities exist between ethnic or religious groups, classes and countries,
making the concept a global phenomenon.

In sociology, social stratification is a concept involving the classification

of persons into groups based on shared socioeconomic conditions; it is a
relational set of inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological
dimensions. Theories of social stratification are based on four basic principles:

1. Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of

individual differences.
2. Social stratification carries over from generation to generation.
3. Social stratification is universal but variable.
4. Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well.

Classifications of stratification

In modern Western societies, stratification is broadly organized into three

main layers: upper class, middle class, and lower class.

The upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of the
wealthiest members of society, who also wield the greatest political power.
The upper class is generally contained within the wealthiest 1–2 percent of the
population, with wealth passed from generation to generation.

In Weberian socioeconomic terms, the middle class is the broad group

of people in contemporary society who fall socioeconomically between the
working class and upper class. The common measures of what constitutes
middle class vary significantly between cultures.

The working class describes the group of people employed in lower tier
jobs, often including those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-
average incomes. Working classes are mainly found in industrialized
economies and in urban areas of non-industrialized economies.

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Social Stratification and Marxism

Conflict theories, such as Marxism, focus on the inaccessibility of

resources and lack of social mobility found in stratified societies. Many
sociological theorists have criticized the extent to which the working classes
are unlikely to advance socioeconomically; the wealthy tend to hold political
power which they use to exploit the proletariat inter-generationally.

In Marxist theory, the capitalist mode of production consists of two main

economic parts: the substructure and the superstructure. Marx saw classes as
defined by people’s relationship to the means of productions in two basic
ways: either they own productive property or they labor for others. The base
comprehends the forces and relations of production: employer-employee
work conditions, the technical division of labor, and property relations—into
which people enter to produce the necessities and amenities of life. These
relations determine society’s other relationships and ideas, which are
described as its superstructure. The superstructure of a society includes its
culture, institutions, political power structures, roles, rituals, and state.

Social stratification has been shown to cause many social problems. A

comprehensive study of major world economies revealed that homicide,
infant mortality, obesity, teenage pregnancies, emotional depression, teen
suicide, and prison population all correlate with higher social inequality.

There are three common characteristics of stratified systems:

1. Rankings apply to social categories of people who share a common

characteristic without necessarily interacting or identifying with
each other. The process of being ranked can be changed by the
person being ranked, and it can differ based on race, gender, and
social class.
2. People’s life experiences and opportunities depend on their social
category. This characteristic can be changed by the amount of
work a person can put into their interests. The use of resources can
influence others.
3. The ranks of different social categories change slowly over time. This
has occurred frequently in the United States ever since the American
revolution—the U.S. Constitution has been altered several times to
specify rights for everyone.

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The Law as an Instrument of Oppression

Oppression is the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel,

or unjust manner.

Key Points

• Anarchists and other libertarian socialists argue that police and

law themselves are oppression. The term oppression, in such
instances, refers to the subordination of a given group or social
category by unjust use of force or authority in order to achieve
the effects of oppression.
• In psychology, racism, sexism and other prejudices are often
studied as individual beliefs which, although not necessarily
oppressive in themselves, can lead to oppression if they are
codified in law or become parts of a culture.
• In sociology, prejudices are often studied as being institutionalized
systems of oppression in some societies.
• In sociology and psychology, internalized oppression is the
manner in which an oppressed group comes to use against itself
the methods of the oppressor.

Key Terms

• anarchist: One who believes in or advocates the absence of

hierarchy and authority in most forms (compare anarchism),
especially one who works toward the realization of such.
• prejudice: An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand
or without knowledge of the facts.

Oppression is the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel,

or unjust manner. It can also be defined as an act or instance of oppressing,
the state of being oppressed, and the feeling of being heavily burdened,
mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions, and anxiety. Injustice
refers to the absence of justice. The term may be applied either in reference
to a particular event or act, or to a larger status quo. The term generally refers
to misuse, abuse, neglect, or malfeasance that is uncorrected or otherwise
sanctioned by a legal system. Misuse and abuse with regard to a particular
case or context may represent a systemic failure to serve the cause of justice.

Anarchists and other libertarian socialists argue that police and laws
themselves are oppression. The term oppression, in such instances, refers to the
subordination of a given group or social category by unjust use of force,
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authority, or societal norms in order to achieve the effects mentioned above.
When institutionalized, formally or informally, it may achieve the dimension of
systematic oppression. Oppression is customarily experienced as a
consequence of, and expressed in, the form of a prevailing, if unconscious,
assumption that the given target is in some way inferior. Oppression is rarely
limited solely to formal government action: An individual may be the particular
focus of oppression or persecution, and in such circumstances, have no group
membership in which to share, and thus maybe mitigate the burden of
ostracism.

In psychology, racism, sexism and other prejudices are often studied as

individual beliefs which, although not necessarily oppressive in themselves,
can lead to oppression if they are codified in law or become parts of a culture.
By comparison, in sociology, these prejudices are often studied as being
institutionalized systems of oppression in some societies. In sociology, the tools
of oppression include a progression of denigration, dehumanization, and
demonization which often generate scapegoating, which is used to justify
aggression against targeted groups and individuals.

In sociology and psychology, internalized oppression is the manner in

which an oppressed group comes to use against itself the methods of the
oppressor. For example, sometimes members of marginalized groups hold an
oppressive view toward their own group, or start to believe in negative
stereotypes.

Anarchists at the G20 Summit in London, 2009: Sometimes the oppressed unite to fight back
against the oppressors.

Control Theory

Control theory explains that societal institutions without strong control of

society can result in deviant behavior.

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Key Points

• Control theory advances the proposition that weak bonds

between the individual and society allow people to deviate.
Establishing strong social bonds, such as family ties or close
community groups, will prevent crime.
• According to Travis Hirschi, people will conform to a group when
they believe they have more to gain from conformity than by
deviance.
• Decentralized control or market control is typically maintained
through factors such as price, competition, or market share.
• Centralized control such as bureaucratic control is typically
maintained through administrative or hierarchical techniques
such as creating standards or policies.
• Mixed control is typically maintained by keeping a set of values
and beliefs or norms and traditions.
• Mixed control is typically maintained by keeping a set of values
and beliefs or norms and traditions.

Key Terms

• control theory: The theory states that behavior is caused not by

outside stimuli, but by what a person wants most at any given
time. According to control theory, weak social systems result in
deviant behavior.
• deviance: Actions or behaviors that violate formal and informal
cultural norms, such as laws or the norm that discourages public
nose-picking.

Control theory advances the proposition that weak bonds between the
individual and society allow people to deviate. In other words, deviant
behavior occurs when external controls on behavior are weak. If the individual
has strong social bonds with positive influences, deviant behavior is less likely
than for another individual who has no family or friends.

Social Bonds

According to Travis Hirschi, norms emerge to deter deviant behavior,

leading to conformity and groups. People will conform to a group when they
believe they have more to gain from conformity than by deviance. Hirschi
argued a person follows norms because they have a bond with society. These
social bonds have four elements: opportunity, attachment, belief, and
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involvement. When any one of these bonds are weakened or broken a person
is more likely to act in defiance.

Control Theory in sociology can either be classified as centralized,

decentralized, or mixed. Decentralized control, or market control, is typically
maintained through factors such as price, competition, or market share.
Centralized control, such as bureaucratic control, is typically maintained
through administrative or hierarchical techniques that create standards or
policies. An example of mixed control is clan control, which contains both
centralized and decentralized control. Mixed control is typically maintained
by establishing a set of values and beliefs or norms and traditions.

Critique

While control theory gives an adequate explanation of non-serious forms

of youthful delinquency, it fails to explain adult criminal behavior and serious
instances of youth crime. Moreover, control theory is met with some resistance
for its compliance to a conservative view of the broader social order. From a
control theory perspective, children who are properly bonded to their parents
would be involved in less crime than children who have weaker parental
bonds; control theory assumes that the family is a naturally law-abiding
institution. The theory’s biggest weakness is that it places too much importance
on the bonds relative to an individual and society, without looking at other
concepts like autonomy and impulsiveness.

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Control Strategy: Control theory advances the proposition that weak bonds
between the individual and society allow people to deviate.

Labeling Theory

Labeling theory holds that deviance is not inherent to an act, but instead
the result of the externally-imposed label of “deviant”.

Key Points

• George Herbert Mead posited that the self is socially constructed

and reconstructed through the interactions which each person
has with the community. Thus, if the community labels an
individual as “deviant”, the individual will integrate this label into
his sense of self.
• A social role is a set of expectations we have about a behavior.
They are necessary for the organization and functioning of any
society or group.
• Deviant roles are very special roles that society provides for
deviant behavior.
• Mental illness and homosexuality are two examples of labels
given to individual displaying deviant behavior.
• People who believe in hard labeling believe that mental illness
does not exist. According to them, these illnesses are entirely
socially constructed when we attach the label “mentally ill” to a
behavior.
• Soft labeling supporters believe that mental illnesses are not
socially constructed.
• People who believe in hard labeling believe that mental illness
does not exist – they are entirely socially constructed.
• Soft labeling supporters believe that mental illnesses are not
socially constructed.

Key Terms

• Labeling theory: Labeling theory is closely related to social-

construction and symbolic-interaction analysis.

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 • Deviant roles: Labeling theory concerns itself mostly not with the
normal roles that define our lives, but with those very special roles
that society provides for deviant behavior.
• social role: Labeling theory concerns itself mostly not with the
normal roles that define our lives, but with those very special roles
that society provides for deviant behavior, called deviant roles,
stigmatic roles, or social stigma.

Labeling Theory

Labeling theory is closely related to social-construction and symbolic-

interaction analysis. It holds that deviance is not an inherent tendency of an
individual, but instead focuses on the tendency of majorities to negatively
label minorities or those seen as deviant from standard cultural norms. The
theory is concerned with how the self-identity and the behavior of individuals
may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify
them. The theory was prominent during the 1960s and 1970s, and some
modified versions of the theory are still popular today.

Sociology – Labelling theory: Short presentation on labeling theory.

Theoretical Origins

Labeling theory had its origins in Suicide, a book by French sociologist

Émile Durkheim. He argued that crime is not so much a violation of a penal
code as it is an act that outrages society. He was the first to suggest that
deviant labeling satisfies that function and satisfies society’s need to control
the behavior. George Herbert Mead posited that the self is socially
constructed and reconstructed through the interactions which each person
has with the community. The labeling theory suggests that people are given
labels based on how others view their tendencies or behaviors. Each individual
is aware of how they are judged by others because he or she has adopted
many different roles and functions in social interactions and has been able to
gauge the reactions of those present.

Social Roles

Labeling theory concerns itself not with the normal roles that define our
lives, but with those very special roles that society provides for deviant
behavior, called deviant roles, stigmatic roles, or social stigma. A social role is
a set of expectations we have about a behavior. Social roles are necessary
for the organization and functioning of any society or group. We expect the

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postman, for example, to adhere to certain fixed rules about how he does his
job.

Labeling theory hypothesizes that the labels applied to individuals

influence their behavior, particularly that the application of negative or
stigmatizing labels promotes deviant behavior. They become a self-fulfilling
prophecy: an individual who is labeled has little choice but to conform to the
essential meaning of that judgment. Consequently, labeling theory postulates
that it is possible to prevent social deviance via a limited social shaming
reaction in “labelers” and replace moral indignation with tolerance.

Social roles:. A social role is a set of expectations we have about a behavior.

Social roles are necessary for the organization and functioning of any society
or group.

Labeling Deviants

The social construction of deviant behavior plays an important role in the

labeling process that occurs in society. This process involves not only the
labeling of criminally deviant behavior, which is behavior that does not fit
socially constructed norms, but also labeling that reflects stereotyped or
stigmatized behavior of the “mentally ill.” Furthermore, the application of
labeling theory to homosexuality has been extremely controversial. It was

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Alfred Kinsey and his colleagues who pointed out the big discrepancy
between the behavior and the role attached to it.

Hard Labeling and Soft Labeling

There are two distinctions in labeling: hard labeling and soft labeling.
People who believe in hard labeling believe that mental illness does not exist.
It is merely deviance from the norms of society that people attribute to mental
illness. Thus, mental illnesses are socially constructed illnesses and psychotic
disorders do not exist. People who believe in soft labeling believe that mental
illnesses do, in fact, exist. Unlike the supporters of hard labeling, soft labeling
supporters believe that mental illnesses are not socially constructed but are
objective problems.

End of Module 7

LEARNING ACTIVITY/ASSESSMENT:

1. What is shaming as a social control?

2. Explain conflict theory of Marxist perspective.

References:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sociology/chapter/theoretical-perspectives-on-
deviance/
https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-
magazines/deviant-behavior
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244017706596
https://study.sagepub.com/system/files/Akers%2C_Ronald_L._-
_Social_Learning_Theory.pdf
https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1162&context=
jpps

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Prepared by:

MARIEL G. NAMALATA, RSW

BSSW Instructor

Attested by: Noted by:

CHED ACCREDITED COURSES

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MAJOR IN

HUMAN MANAGEMENT

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN MIDWIFERY

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE MAJOR IN:

1. ANIMAL SCIENCE
2. CROP SCIENCE

BACHELOR OF TECHNICAL-VOCATIONAL TEACHERS EDUCATION MAJOR

IN:

1. AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY
2. FOOD AND SERVICE MANAGEMENT

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CRIMINOLOGY

STII TRAINING & ASSESSMENT CENTERS

AGRICULTURAL CROPS PRODUCTION NC II

ANIMAL PRODUCTION (POULTRY CHICKEN) NC II

ANIMAL PRODUCTION (RUMINANTS) NC II

ANIMAL PRODUCTION (SWINE) NC II

260
BARTENDING NC II

BOOKKEEPING NC II

BREAD & PASTRY PRODUCTION NC II

CAREGIVING NC II

DRIVING NC II

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS ASSEMBLY SERVICING NC II

EVENTS MANAGEMENT SERVICES NC III

FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICES NC II

FRONT OFFICE SERVICES NC II

HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR (HYDRAULIC EXCAVATOR) NC II

HOUSEKEEPING NC II

MOTORCYCLE/SMALL ENGINE SERVICING NC II

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION NC II

PHARMACY SERVICES NC II

RUBBER PRODUCTION NC II

SHIELDED METAL ARC WELDING NC I

SHIELDED METAL ARC WELDING NC II

TRAINERS METHODOLOGY COURSE

SHIELDED METAL ARC WELDING NC II

AUTOMOTIVE SERVICING NC I

AUTOMOTIVE SERVICING NC II

HEALTH CARE SERVICE NC II

HEAVY EQUIPMENT OPERATOR (BACKHOE LOADER) NC II

MOTORCYCLE/SMALL ENGINE SERVICING NC II

CAREGIVING NC II

BARTENDING NC II

261
 SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (VOUCHER PROGRAM)

INDUSTRIAL ARTS

➢ DRIVING NC II
➢ SHIELDED METAL ARC WELDING NC II
➢ AUTOMOTIVE SERVICING NC I
➢ AUTOMOTIVE SERVICING NC II

HOME ECONOMICS

➢ FRONT OFFICE SERVICES NC II

➢ HOUSEKEEPING NC II
➢ FOOD AND BEVERAGE SERVICES NC II
➢ BREAD AND PASTRY PRODUCTION NC II

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

➢ 2D ANIMATION NC II
➢ COMPUTER SYSTEM SERVICING NC II
➢ ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS ASSEMBLY SERVICES NC II

AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY STRAND

➢ ANIMAL PRODUCTION (POULTRY CHICKEN) NC II

➢ ANIMAL PRODUCTION (RUMINANTS) NC II
➢ ANIMAL PRODUCTION (SWINE) NC II
➢ RUBBER PRODUCTION NC II
➢ ORGANIC AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION NC II

ACADEMIC TRACK

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

➢ FRONT OFFICE SERVICES NC II

➢ EVENTS MANAGEMENT NC III

ACCOUNTANCY BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

➢ BOOKKEEPING NC III

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS

➢ ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS ASSEMBLY SERVICING NC II

262