Sunday, February 18, 2024 1

DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL

CONTROL

Miss Sara Ayub

2nd semester
OT/SLP
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Deviance
Failure to conform to the expectation of other people.

Any behavior or act that go against society's definition of

normal behavior. i.e. breaking formal rules.

 According to sociologist William Graham Sumner,

deviance is a violation of established contextual, cultural,
or social norms, whether folkways, mores, or codified law
(1906).

It can be as minor as picking one’s nose in public or as

major as committing murder.
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• Although the word “deviance” has a negative connotation

in everyday language, sociologists recognize that deviance
is not necessarily bad (Schoepflin 2011).
• In fact, from a structural functionalist perspective, one of
the positive contributions of deviance is that it fosters social
change.
• For example, during the U.S. civil rights movement, Rosa
Parks violated social norms when she refused to move to
the “black section” of the bus, and the Little Rock Nine
broke customs of segregation to attend an Arkansas public
school.
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“What is deviant behavior?”

• It cannot be answered in a straightforward manner.
• Whether an act is labeled deviant or not depends on
many factors, including location, audience, and the
individual committing the act (Becker 1963).
• Listening to your iPod on the way to class is considered
acceptable behavior. Listening to your iPod during your 2
o’clock sociology lecture is considered rude. Listening to
your iPod when on the witness stand before a judge may
cause you to be held in contempt of court, and
consequently fined or jailed.
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• As norms vary across culture and time, it makes sense

that notions of deviance change also.
• Fifty years ago, public schools in the United States had
strict dress codes that, among other requirements, often
banned women from wearing pants to class. Today, it’s
socially acceptable for women to wear pants, but less so
for men to wear skirts.
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Types of Deviant behavior

• Formal Deviant Behavior
• Formal deviant behavior is defined as behavior that
violates formally enacted laws. This type of deviant
behavior is often criminal in nature, and can result in
punishments such as fines, imprisonment, or even death.
• Examples of formal deviant behavior include but are not
limited to: murder, robbery, assault, rape, and child
molestation (Griffiths et al., 2012).
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• Informal Deviant Behavior

• Informal deviant behavior is defined as behavior that violates
informal social norms. This type of deviant behavior is often seen
as more minor than formal deviance, and typically does not result
in legal punishment.
• Instead, people who engage in informal deviant behavior may be
ridiculed or ostracized by their peers.
• Examples of informal deviant behavior include but are not
limited to: littering, jaywalking, public intoxication, and loitering
(Griffiths et al., 2012).
• Although informal deviant behavior is often seen as less serious
than its formal counterpart, it can have serious consequences.
Showing up late to work, for example, is an act of informal
deviance that can result in dismissal from one”s job.
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• Subcultural Deviant Behavior

• Subcultural deviant behavior is defined as behavior that violates
the norms of a particular subculture. A subculture is a social
group within a larger culture that has its own distinct values,
beliefs, and behaviors.
• Examples of subcultural deviant behavior include but are not
limited to: gang violence, drug use, and prostitution.
• While subcultural deviant behavior is often seen as criminal or
harmful, it can also be a way for people to express their identity
and solidarity with others in their group.
• For example, many gangs use violence as a way to establish
their turf and protect their members, as well as to create a
shared sense of identity as “strong” and ready to take action
(Copes & Williams, 2007).
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• Serial Deviant Behavior

• Serial deviant behavior is defined as a pattern of repeated deviant
behavior. For example, being convicted of multiple crimes.
• For example, a teenager who shoplifts every time they enter a
department store for the excitement is committing serial deviant
behavior.
• Those who habitually show informally deviant behavior can also
be considered to exhibit serial deviant behavior.
• For instance, someone who belches loudly and stands
unnecessarily close to others may develop an image characterized
by this unacceptable behavior, resulting in social punishment
(Chercourt, 2014).
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• Situational Deviance
• Situational deviance is defined as behavior that is considered deviant
in a particular situation but not in others.
• For example, public nudity is considered deviant in most public places,
but is expected on nude beaches. Similarly, using profanity is only
considered deviant when it occurs in settings where cursing is not
allowed or frowned upon, such as at work or school (Chercourt, 2014).
• Even within these settings, the attitudes of those around the person
committing the deviant act influence how deviant the behavior is
considered to be.
• While some forms of situational deviance may be seen as harmless or
even humorous, others can have serious consequences.
• For example, while being inebriated in many situations may be
interpreted as entertaining or humorous by others, driving under the
influence of alcohol can result in accidents, injuries, and even death.
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Robert Merton: Strain Theory

• Sociologist Robert Merton agreed that deviance is an
inherent part of a functioning society, but he expanded on
Durkheim’s ideas by developing strain theory, which notes
that access to socially acceptable goals plays a part in
determining whether a person conforms or deviates.
• Merton defined five ways that people respond to this gap
between having a socially accepted goal but no socially
accepted way to pursue it:
• 1. Conformity: Those who conform choose not to deviate.
They pursue their goals to the extent that they can
through socially accepted means.
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• 2. Innovation: Those who innovate pursue goals they

cannot reach through legitimate means by instead using
criminal or deviant means.
• 3. Ritualism: People who ritualize lower their goals until
they can reach them through socially acceptable ways.
These members of society focus on conformity rather than
attaining a distant dream.
• 4. Retreatism: Others retreat and reject society’s goals and
means. Some beggars and street people have withdrawn
from society’s goal of financial success.
• 5. Rebellion: A handful of people rebel, replacing a
society’s goals and means with their own. Terrorists or
freedom fighters look to overthrow a society’s goals
through socially unacceptable means.
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Dimensions of Deviance
• Severity of Social Response:
• Definition: The intensity of societal reaction or response to a deviant
behavior.
• Explanation: This dimension assesses how strongly society reacts to a
particular behavior. Some deviant acts may be met with mild disapproval,
while others might provoke strong condemnation or legal consequences.
The severity of the social response can vary widely.
• Example: Jaywalking, or crossing the street outside of designated

crosswalks, may be met with a relatively mild social response, such as

disapproving glances or verbal warnings. In contrast, a more severe
social response might be reserved for a violent crime like armed robbery,
leading to arrest, trial, and imprisonment.
• Severity of social response

• Perceived harmfulness
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• 2.Perceived Harmfulness:
• Definition: The degree to which a deviant act is perceived as
harmful to individuals or society.
• Explanation: This dimension considers the perceived negative
impact of a deviant behavior. Some acts may be seen as relatively
harmless, while others are perceived as posing a significant threat
to individuals or the community. Perceptions of harm can
influence societal reactions and attitudes toward deviance.
• Example: Smoking in a designated smoking area may be
perceived as less harmful and generally accepted, while smoking
in a crowded, enclosed public space might be perceived as more
harmful due to secondhand smoke exposure. The level of
perceived harm can influence how society views and responds to
the deviant act.
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• Degree of Public Agreement:

• Definition: The level of consensus or agreement within the public
regarding the deviant nature of a behavior.
• Explanation: This dimension examines the extent to which society
collectively agrees that a particular behavior is deviant. In some cases,
there may be widespread consensus on the deviance of an act, while
in other instances, opinions may be divided. Public agreement plays a
role in shaping social norms and reactions to deviance.
• Degree of Public Agreement:
• Example: Attitudes toward recreational drug use can vary widely. In
some societies, there might be a strong public agreement that drug use
is deviant, leading to strict legal consequences. In contrast, in other
communities or subcultures, there may be less public agreement, and
drug use may be viewed more leniently or even accepted.
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Deviant behavior is punished according to the severity of

act by

• Formal punishment
• Informal punishment
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Theoretical Perspective of Deviance

• Functionalism Sociologists who follow the
functionalist approach are concerned with how the
different elements of a society contribute to the
whole.
• They view deviance as a key component of a
functioning society.
• From a functionalist perspective, deviance is not simply
seen as a violation of societal norms but is viewed as a key
component of a functioning society. Several key points
highlight the functionalist approach to deviance:
• Social Order and Stability
• Social Change
• Clarification of Norms and Values
• Social Cohesion
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Émile Durkheim: The Essential Nature of

Deviance
• Émile Durkheim believed that deviance is a necessary
part of a successful society.
• One way deviance is functional, he argued, is that it
challenges people’s present views (1893).
• For instance, when black students across the United
States participated in “sit-ins” during the civil rights
movement, they challenged society’s notions of
separation.
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• Moreover, Durkheim noted, when deviance

is punished, it reaffirms currently held
social norms, which also contributes to
society (1893).
• Seeing a student given detention for
skipping class reminds other high schoolers
that playing hooky isn’t allowed and that
they, too, could get detention.
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Social Disorganization Theory

• Developed by researchers at the University of Chicago in
the 1920s and 1930s, social disorganization theory
asserts that crime is most likely to occur in communities
with weak social ties and the absence of social control.
• An individual who grows up in a poor neighborhood with
high rates of drug use, violence, teenage delinquency,
and deprived parenting is more likely to become a criminal
than an individual from a wealthy neighborhood with a
good school system and families who are involved
positively in the community.
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• Social disorganization theory points to broad social factors

as the cause of deviance.
• A person isn’t born a criminal, but becomes one over time,
often based on factors in his or her social environment.
• Research into social disorganization theory can greatly
influence public policy.
• For instance, studies have found that children from
disadvantaged communities who attend preschool
programs that teach basic social skills are significantly less
likely to engage in criminal activity.
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Cultural Deviance Theory

• Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay:
• Cultural deviance theory suggests that conformity to the
prevailing cultural norms of lower-class society causes
crime.
• Researchers Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay (1942)
studied crime patterns in Chicago in the early 1900s.
• They found that violence and crime were at their worst in
the middle of the city and gradually decreased the farther
one traveled from the urban center toward the suburbs.
• Shaw and McKay noticed that this pattern matched the
migration patterns of Chicago citizens.
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Social Control
• Social control refers to the measures and mechanisms
through which societies regulate and manage the behavior
of individuals to maintain order, uphold norms, and ensure
social cohesion.
• When a person violates a social norm, what happens?
• A driver caught speeding can receive a speeding ticket.
• A student who wears a bathrobe to class gets a warning
from a professor.
• All societies practice social control, the regulation and
enforcement of norms.
• The underlying goal of social control is to maintain social
order, an arrangement of practices and behaviors on which
society’s members base their daily lives.
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Social Control
• Refers to the control of society over the
individual.
• The techniques and strategies for preventing
deviant human behavior in any society.
• Social control seeks to discourage and prevent
deviant behavior, which refers to actions that
violate established norms and expectations.
Deviance is often seen as a threat to social
harmony and is addressed through various
means, including formal sanctions and informal
social pressure.
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Social control occurs on all levels of society

i.e.
• In families
• Peer groups
• Institutions
• Government
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• We expect from others to follow social norms

• Institutions expect us to act “properly”

• Have penalties and rewards for conducts

concerning a social norms
• We receive competing messages about how to

behave
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• State clearly define acceptable

behavior

• Functionalist: people must respect

social norms if any group or society is
to survive.
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(Need of Social Control)

 Social control is necessary for an orderly social life.
 The society has to regulate and pattern individual behaviour to maintain normative
social order.
 Without social control the organization of the society is about to get disturbed.
 If the individual is effectively socialised, he confirms to the accepted ways from force
of habit as well as from his desire of being accepted and approved by other persons.
 Exercise control over people in an effective manner
 Social control bring about social “compliance”
 Bring about “solidarity” (unity)
 Through social control, Society has to make use of its mechanism to accomplish the
necessary order and discipline.
 Assures the “continuity” (stability) of social group or society.
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Sanctions
• In sociology, "sanctions" refer to social reactions or responses
to individual or group behavior.
• Serve as a mechanism for regulating and influencing behavior
within a society.
• The means of enforcing rules are known as sanctions.
• Sanctions can be positive (rewards) or negative
(punishments).
• Positive sanctions are rewards given for conforming to norms.

• A promotion at work is a positive sanction for working hard.

• Negative sanctions are punishments for violating norms.
Being arrested is a punishment for shoplifting.
• Both types of sanctions play a role in social control.
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Sanction used to encourage conformity and

obedience and discourage violation of
social norms are carried out through both…
• Formal sanctions

• Informal sanctions
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• Formal Sanctions:
• Definition: Formal sanctions are official, organized
responses to behavior, typically enforced by institutions or
authorities within a society.
• Examples:
• Legal Penalties: Fines, imprisonment, or other legal consequences
imposed by the justice system for violating laws.
• Educational Sanctions: Disciplinary actions within schools or
universities, such as suspension or expulsion, for academic
misconduct or behavioral violations.
• Employment Consequences: Workplace sanctions, including
warnings, suspension, or termination, in response to employee
misconduct.
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• Informal Sanctions:
• Definition: Informal sanctions are unofficial, spontaneous
reactions from individuals or groups based on social
norms, customs, or peer pressure.
• Examples:
• Social Disapproval: Gossip, exclusion, or criticism from peers in
response to behavior considered socially unacceptable.
• Peer Pressure: Informal expectations within a group that
encourage members to conform to established norms.
• Community Shaming: Public expressions of disapproval or
ostracism within a community for behavior deemed inappropriate.
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Agencies of Social Control

Society maintain social control by
creating its own agencies which may
enforce formal or informal control.

Control by law:
Only in societies with political
organization “government”
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Characteristics of law:

• General conditions of human activity

prescribed by the state
• Enacted by law making authority
• Clear and precise
• Violation is followed by penalties and
punishment
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• written and recorded

• Need enforcing agencies
• Pay attention to other’s right and to act
in cooperation
• Suppresses the destructive activities.
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Control by Education;

• Education is define as
• The knowledge or skill obtained or developed by a
learning process

• Includes every experience which modifies thoughts,

feeling or action
• Important in making “good society”
• To train people to distinguish b/w truth and error to arrive
at reality.
• Learn social norms and penalties for violation
• Converts social control into self control
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Control by public opinion

• Opinion held by public at a certain time

• or
• Mass of ideas which people have to
express on a given issue

• Collective opinion of majority of members

of a group
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Public opinion
• The influence of public opinion as a means of social control is
greater in simple societies.

• In a small groups people are known to one another personally.

It is difficult for a person to act contrary to the public opinion of
the group.
• because of the fear of criticism we do not indulge in immoral or
anti-social activities.

• Every individual wants to win public praise and avoid criticism.

The greatest efforts of the human race are made to win public
recognition or at least to avoid criticism. Thus, public opinion is
one of the strongest forces influencing the behavior of people.
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Control by Custom (norms, routine practices)

• Routine activities are regulated by customs i.e. dressing,

eating, speaking, working all are controlled by custom.

• Customs are conformed unconsciously

• Save from objection of the society
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Control by religion
• Regulates human conducts
• Enforce discipline by supporting moral,
spiritual and social norms.
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• Control by Morality:

• Concerned with the conception of goodness and evil.

• Helps to make a distinction b/w right and wrong or good and bad
• Act as a guide of human behavior.
• Honesty, fairness, faithfulness, truthfulness, kindness represent
moral concepts.
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