Deviant Behavior:

Lecture-2

THEORETICAL ANALYSIS
OF DEVIANCE
 BRAINSTORMING
• It is important to note that under some circumstances
deviant behavior can have constructive consequences
(Cohen, 1966).
• Today society is dominated by complex organizations that
prescribe a bewildering variety of rules and procedures.
Frequently these become time consuming and
counterproductive. It may be necessary to circumvent rules
if effective action is to be taken.
 ANOMIE
• A concept introduced to sociology by Emile Durkheim to
mean normlessness; an upheaval in social values often
associated with rapid social change and lack of order.
• The notion that the lack of rules leads to psychological
impacts of worthlessness, frustration, despair, and lack of
purpose.
• For Durkheim, anomie arises more generally from a
mismatch between personal or group standards and wider
social standards; or from the lack of a social ethic, which
produces moral deregulation and an absence of
legitimate aspirations.
 STRAIN THEORY
• Strain theory is a theoretical perspective that aims to explain
the relationship between social structure, social values or
goals, and crime. Strain theory was originally introduced
by Robert King Merton (1938), and argues that society's
dominant cultural values and social structure causes strain,
which may encourage citizens to commit crimes.
 STRAIN THEORY (CONT.)
• The theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to
achieve socially accepted goals (such as
the Independency Dream), even though they lack the
means to do so. This leads to strain, which may lead
individuals to commit crimes, like selling drugs or becoming
involved in any unethical or criminal activity as a means to
gain financial security.
 STRAIN THEORY (CONT.)
• Strain could be:
• Structural: this refers to the macro-level processes at the
societal level which filter down and affect how the
individual perceives his or her needs, i.e. if particular social
structures are inherently inadequate or there is inadequate
regulation, this may change the individual's perceptions as
to means and opportunities; or
• Individual: this refers to the frustration and strain
experienced by an individual as they look for ways to satisfy
their needs, i.e. if the goals of a society become significant
to an individual, actually achieving them may become
more important than how they achieved the goal.
 MERTON'S TYPOLOGY OF
INDIVIDUAL ADAPTATION
• Merton outlined five ways that individuals may respond to
the strain between their cultural goals and the opportunities
available to them. These are commonly referred to as
Merton's typology of individual adaptation. Each type of
individual adaptation is defined by its acceptance or
rejection of the cultural goals (monetary success), and
acceptance or rejection of the socially acceptable means
to achieve the goal (e.g. high socioeconomic status,
education, high-income job opportunities).
 1. CONFORMITY
• Conformity is the most common response to cultural goals
and institutional means. individuals who conform accept
and value the cultural goals, as well as the approved
means. They pursue cultural goals through the socially
approved means, and do not experience strain.
 2. INNOVATION
• Individuals who accept and value the society's goals, but
reject the accepted means to achieve the goal. These
people accept the goals, but create their own unapproved
means for achieving them, usually because they do not
have access to the institutional means.
• Merton referred to this response as the most related to
deviance because of innovators' "illegitimate adaptation"
to strain. Innovators often resort to illegitimate means, to
obtain the culturally approved goals (e.g. wealth).
Example: organized crime, stealing, or selling drugs to
achieve financial security.
 3. RITUALISM
• Individuals adopt the accepted means so severely that it
becomes a ritualistic practice, meaning that they no longer
value the cultural goal (wealth), yet they still blindly conform
to the means as an end in and of themselves.
 4. RETREATISM
• The least common response to strain.
• Retreatists are people who had previously accepted
cultural goals and the institutional means but eventually
abandon both the goals and the means.
• Retreatists still feel a moral obligation to use the institutional
means, but their acceptance of the cultural goal pressures
them to pursue the goal illegitimately. These conflicting
values lead the individual to reject both the goal and the
means, and instead find a way to escape the requirements
of society.
• Example: substance abuse, social isolation
 5. REBELLION
• Usually due to frustration, oppression, or marginalization,
these individuals reject the cultural goals and the accepted
means to achieve the goals. Instead, they attempt to
introduce new cultural goals and new institutionalized
means, ultimately aimed at producing a new social order.
• Example: social movements, leftist movements, and any
social change aimed at creating a society with more
modest and equally accessible goals, as well as equal
opportunity means.