Formal and informal deviance: Define both and think of 3 examples of each, share with your classmates.
Discussion posts should be 1 page in length (approximately 250 words). Please respond to at least 2 classmates in a thoughtful manner.
Chapter 2
Theories of Deviant Behavior
Lumen. [Biological, Psychological, Social Photograph]. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-psychology/chapter/outcome-contemporary-fields-in-psychology/
There are many different theories on what causes a person to perform deviant behaviors, including biological explanations, sociological explanations and psychological explanations.
Psychological Theories of Deviance use a deviant’s psychology to explain his or her motivation or compulsion to violate social norms.
Sociological Theories of deviance are those that use social context and social pressures to explain deviance.
Biological Theories of deviance proposes that an individual deviates from social norms largely because of their biological makeup.
The following chapters outlines some of the major theories of deviant behavior.
Social Strain Theory
Semantic Scholar. [R.K. Merton Photograph]. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Sociology-Applied-to-Planning%3A-Robert-K.-Merton-and-Fox/c30d73a54fd5933b7e661713de5825735ebddb8e
Social Strain Theory was developed in 1938 by American Sociologist, Robert K. Merton. This theory states that social structures within society may pressure citizens to commit crimes. “Strain” refers to the discrepancies between culturally defined goals and the institutionalized means available to these goals. Strain can be considered structural, which refers to the processes at the societal
level that filters down and affect how the individual perceives his or her needs; or strain can be individual, which refers to the frictions and pains experienced by an individual as he or she looks for ways to satisfy individual needs. Merton proposed a typology (the systematic classification of the types of something according to their common characteristics) 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. These two types of strain can insinuate social structures within society that then pressure people to become criminals (LibreTexts, 2020).
According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based upon these two criteria: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion:
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.
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 achieve them but actively attempts to replace both elements of the society with different goals and means.
Libretexts. [Merton’s typology photograph]. https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Sociology/Introduction_to_Sociology/Book%3A_Sociology_(Boundless)/07%3A_Deviance_Social_Control_and_Crime/7.04%3A_The_Functionalist_Perspective_on_Deviance/7.4B%3A_Strain_Theory-_How_Social_Values_Produce_Deviance
Merton’s Social Strain Theory has received criticism due to the fact that there is ample amount of crime/delinquent behavior that is considered “non-utilitarian, malicious and negativistic”, which highlights that not all crimes are explicable using the Social Strain Theory (LibreTexts, 2020).
Readings: None
Videos:
desoriente0. (2013). What is Deviance? In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb87wfjqD6s
What is normal? Exploring folkways, mores, and taboos | Behavior | MCAT | Khan Academy. (n.d.). Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOEz6RC0aVo
Objectives:
1. To learn biological and psychological approaches to explaining deviance
2. To be able to explain the sociological perspective and the social foundations of deviance
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