Deviance theory in sociology explores why individuals and groups violate social norms and the societal reactions to such violations. Deviance is defined as any behaviour, belief, or condition that deviates from a norm and elicits a negative reaction within a particular group. Sociologists generally consider deviance to be relative, meaning it is socially defined and can vary across cultures, time periods, and situations.
Key Takeaways
- Definition: Deviance is any behavior, belief, or characteristic that goes against social norms, ranging from minor infractions to serious crimes. It is defined by cultural context and can vary widely across societies.
- Types: Sociologists distinguish between formal deviance, which breaks laws, and informal deviance, which violates unwritten social rules. Both can provoke reactions from others or from institutions.
- Theories: Major sociological perspectives—such as Functionalism, Strain Theory, Labeling Theory, and Conflict Theory—offer different explanations for why deviance occurs and how society responds.
- Causes: Factors like social inequality, peer influence, cultural values, and structural opportunities can all contribute to deviant behavior. These influences often interact rather than act in isolation.
- Consequences: Deviance can lead to sanctions, stigma, or criminal penalties, but it can also challenge existing norms and spark social change. The same act may be judged differently depending on time and place.
What is Deviant Behavior?
Deviance is a behavior, trait, or belief that departs from a social norm and generates a negative reaction in a particular group.
In other words, it is behavior that does not conform to the norms of a particular culture or society.
It includes those behaviors that attract negative responses and social controls. It also involves crimes committed in society.
What is considered acceptable or rude varies depending on the culture you are in. For example, eating with your left hand in Arab nations is considered rude.
Some behaviors are acceptable for certain age groups and some activities are illegal for some age groups.
For example, some people who engage in deviant behavior do so in order to challenge existing social norms and bring about change.
Additionally, deviance can also be a way for people to express themselves and their individuality.
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).
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.
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).
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).
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.
Sociological Explanations Of Deviance
Sociological explanations of deviance fall primarily into three major paradigms – functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism—with postmodernist perspectives also contributing.
These approaches focus on social environments and interactions, distinguishing them from biological and psychological theories that attribute deviance to internal individual traits.
Functionalist Perspectives
Functionalists study how different parts of society work together to maintain stability.
They see deviance as an inevitable – and even necessary – part of a functioning society, serving several purposes:
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Clarifying norms: Identifying and punishing deviance reinforces shared rules and expectations.For example, a student receiving detention for skipping class signals to others that such behaviour is unacceptable.
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Strengthening social bonds: Deviance can unite people in shared disapproval, increasing social solidarity—especially when crimes target vulnerable groups.
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Promoting social change: Deviant acts can expose flaws in existing systems and inspire reform. For example, Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat challenged racial segregation laws.
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Acting as a safety valve: Minor deviance may provide harmless outlets for frustration, preventing more serious offences.
However, excessive crime can destabilise society, while an absence of deviance might suggest oppressive over-control.
Key Functionalist Theories
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Durkheim’s Anomie: Deviance is normal and inevitable; anomie—normlessness—arises when social norms are weak or unclear, often in times of rapid change.
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Merton’s Strain Theory: Deviance occurs when there’s a gap between cultural goals (e.g., wealth) and legitimate means to achieve them, leading to adaptations such as conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion.
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Social Disorganization Theory: Crime thrives where community ties are weak due to poverty, housing decay, or high mobility.
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Cultural Deviance Theory: Adhering to subcultural norms may lead to law-breaking.
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Control Theory (Hirschi): Strong social bonds—attachment, commitment, involvement, belief—discourage deviance; weakened bonds increase risk.
Conflict Perspectives
Conflict theorists view deviance through the lens of power and inequality. They argue that laws and norms reflect the interests of dominant groups, and enforcement often disadvantages the less powerful.
Conflict theorists argue that deviant behavior is a result of social inequality. They believe that people who have less power in society are more likely to engage in deviant behavior as a way of challenging the existing order.
For example, people who are poor or members of minority groups may turn to crime as a way to get the resources they need to survive (Bartos & Wehr, 2002).
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Marx’s Influence: Capitalism fosters inequality, with laws protecting the wealthy elite over the working class.
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Power and Inequality: Marginalised groups often face harsher punishments for similar behaviour compared to privileged groups.
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White-Collar Crime: High-status offenders committing corporate crimes often receive lighter sentences despite significant social harm.
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Feminist Approaches: Women’s deviance must be understood in the context of patriarchy, gender inequality, and economic constraints.
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Intersectional Perspectives: Race, class, and gender intersect to shape both deviant behaviour and social responses.
Symbolic Interactionist Perspectives
Symbolic interactionism examines deviance at the micro-level, focusing on social interaction and meaning-making.
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Differential Association (Sutherland): Deviance is learned through close relationships with others who hold favourable views of it.
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Techniques of Neutralisation (Sykes & Matza): Offenders rationalise their actions—denying harm, shifting blame, or appealing to higher loyalties—to neutralise guilt.
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Labeling Theory (Becker, Lemert): Deviance results from societal reactions. People who are labeled as deviant are more likely to engage in deviant behavior.
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Primary deviance: The initial act of rule-breaking that doesn’t significantly affect one’s self-image or interactions.
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Secondary deviance: Occurs when a person’s self-concept and behaviour change after being labeled deviant, leading them to fulfil that deviant role.
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Tertiary deviance: When a labeled person seeks to normalise their behaviour by relabeling it as nondeviant.
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Stigma: Labels can create a “spoiled identity” that overshadows other traits.
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A person moves from primary deviance (the thing that gets him/her labeled in the first place) to secondary deviance (a deviant identity or career).
The importance of the distinction between primary and secondary deviance is that everyone commits primary deviance acts from time to time, with few social consequences.
Labeling theory argues that the act of labeling someone as deviant causes them to be seen as different from others. This difference can lead to discrimination and social exclusion, which can in turn lead to further deviant behavior.
For example, someone who is labeled as a criminal may have difficulty finding a job or housing. As a result, they may turn to crime in order to make ends meet.
Postmodernist Perspectives
Postmodern theorists, influenced by Michel Foucault, argue that the study of deviance reveals how the powerful control the powerless by restricting their free will.
Institutions use knowledge, norms, and values to categorise people into “deviant” subgroups (e.g., slow learners, criminals) and control them through discipline.
Foucault’s work on prisons showed a shift from physical torture to surveillance techniques as a means of social control.
Examples
Examples of Deviance
Deviance can be formal (violating laws) or informal (violating unwritten norms), and what counts as deviant depends heavily on culture, time, and situation.
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Dress and Appearance: Wearing very revealing clothing in a conservative religious community may be considered highly deviant, while being unremarkable in another society.
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Political Protest: Acts like Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat in 1955 challenged segregation laws in the U.S., sparking civil rights change but seen as deviant at the time.
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Crime and Law-breaking: Graffiti vandalism is criminalised in many countries but celebrated as street art in others, such as parts of Berlin and Melbourne.
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Religious Nonconformity: In some countries, openly rejecting the dominant religion is seen as deviant or even punishable by law, while in secular societies it may be normal.
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Body Modification: Full-body tattoos or extreme piercings may be deviant in certain professional or cultural settings but viewed as artistic expression elsewhere.
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Dietary Practices: Eating beef is commonplace in the U.S. but taboo in Hindu-majority regions of India; conversely, eating dog meat is accepted in some East Asian cultures but condemned in many Western ones.
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Gender Norm Challenges: Men wearing skirts or makeup may be labelled deviant in traditional cultures but embraced in progressive fashion communities.
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Civil Disobedience: Blocking roads during climate change protests may be praised by activists but condemned by authorities and commuters.
Negative Consequences of Deviance
- Erosion of Trust and Disorganisation: Deviance undermines trust within society. If norms are consistently violated without consequence, it can lead to unpredictability and chaos in social life. A society with widespread suspicion and distrust cannot function smoothly.
- Stimulation of Further Deviance: If deviant behaviour is not punished or corrected, it can encourage nonconforming behaviour in others, potentially leading to more widespread deviance.
- Economic Costs and Resource Diversion: Deviant behaviour can be expensive, diverting human and monetary resources away from other important societal functions. For example, law enforcement may spend time dealing with minor infractions instead of more serious duties.
- Stigma and Spoiled Identity: Being labelled as deviant can lead to stigma, an undesirable characteristic or label that denies an individual full social acceptance. This results in a “spoiled identity,” where one negative label (e.g., “jailbird”) discredits an individual’s entire social worth.
- Stigma can be physical (e.g., impairments), moral (e.g., flawed character), or tribal (e.g., membership in an oppressed group).
- It affects relationships and interactions, potentially leading to social exclusion and making it difficult for labelled individuals to avoid a continued life of deviance.
- For instance, job applicants with a criminal record are less likely to be hired.
- Anomie/Normlessness: Rapid social change or weakened social ties can lead to anomie, a social condition where norms are weak, conflicting, or absent, causing individuals to feel uncertainty and futility. This “normlessness” often results in increased crime and deviance.
- Alienation: In a capitalist system, the exploitation of labour can lead to alienation, weakening the social bonds that should connect people and explaining the occurrence of crime.
- Disproportionate Impact on Less Powerful Groups: Conflict theory argues that definitions and punishments of deviance are applied unequally by powerful groups to protect their own interests.
Less powerful individuals, particularly the poor and minorities, are disproportionately criminalised and punished more harshly. Laws and norms may be established to benefit those in power, not reflecting an absolute standard of right and wrong.
Positive Functional Consequences of Deviance
- Clarification of Social Norms and Boundaries: Deviance, when punished, reaffirms existing social norms and clarifies moral boundaries for society. It reminds people of the rules and the consequences of violating them, thus increasing conformity. For example, a student caught cheating reminds others of the rules and penalties.
- Strengthening Social Bonds and Unity: Public reactions to deviant acts, especially those against vulnerable groups, can unite law-abiding members of society in collective moral outrage. This strengthens communal feelings and increases social solidarity, reinforcing shared values.
- Promotion of Social Change: Deviance can challenge current views and provide the impetus for social change. Individuals or groups may violate norms or laws to highlight injustices, leading to reassessment and eventual changes in laws and societal definitions of deviance. Examples include the U.S. civil rights movement and women’s suffrage.
- Creation of Jobs: Deviance creates jobs for those segments of society whose main focus is to deal with deviants, such as police, prison guards, and criminologists.
- Safety Valve: Minor acts of deviance can act as a “safety valve,” allowing individuals to express discontent or relieve pressure without causing major societal disruption. For instance, certain minor crimes might be tolerated to prevent more serious ones.
- Redefining Stigma (Tertiary Deviance): In some cases, individuals labelled deviant may attempt to normalise their behaviour by relabelling it as non-deviant. This is known as tertiary deviance.
For example, drug users might argue that marijuana use is no more deviant than alcohol consumption. Some even choose to embrace and celebrate their deviant identities (deviance avowal), rejecting mainstream judgments and forming in-group orientations.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How is deviance socially constructed?
Deviance is socially constructed because it is defined by the norms, values, and expectations of a particular society or group rather than by any inherent quality of the behaviour itself.
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Norm-based definition: An act is considered deviant only if it violates the rules or expectations set by a social group.
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Cultural variation: What counts as deviant in one culture or time period may be normal in another.
Example: Tattoos were once stigmatised in many Western societies but are now widely accepted. -
Power dynamics: Those with social power—such as lawmakers, religious leaders, or influential groups—often shape what is labelled deviant to protect their interests.
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Changing definitions: As norms evolve, behaviours can shift from deviant to acceptable (or vice versa), reflecting broader social change.
In short, deviance exists because people collectively agree to label certain behaviours as outside the norm.
2. Can deviance be positive as well as negative?
Yes — in sociology, deviance can be both positive and negative, depending on the context and societal values.
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Negative deviance involves harmful or disruptive behaviour, such as theft, assault, or fraud, which undermines social order.
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Positive deviance refers to norm-breaking that benefits society, challenges injustice, or inspires change.
Example: Civil rights protests, whistleblowing against corruption, or acts of heroism that defy rules.
Sociologists note that positive deviance often becomes redefined as acceptable over time, once society adapts to the change.
Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her bus seat in 1955 was seen as deviant at the time but is now celebrated as a pivotal act of courage.
3. What are some of the main causes of deviant behavior?
Some of the main theoretical perspectives that sociologists use to explain deviance include functionalism, conflict theory, and labeling theory.
Sociologists have found that deviant behavior is often a result of social inequality.
For example, people who are poor or members of minority groups may turn to crime as a way to get the resources they need to survive.
Additionally, people who are labeled as deviant by society may be more likely to engage in deviant behavior due to discrimination and social exclusion.
4. What is the difference between deviant and criminal behavior?
Deviance is behavior that violates social norms and arouses negative social reactions. Crime is behavior that is considered so serious that it violates formal laws prohibiting such behavior.
Not all deviant behavior is criminal. For example, social norms around clothing styles for hairstyles may vary from place to place.
So, someone who wears unconventional clothes or has an unconventional haircut may be considered deviant in one community but not in another.
Similarly, people who break minor laws, such as jaywalking or littering, may be considered deviant but not criminal.
Similarly, not all criminal behavior is deviant. For example, breaking a law against selling alcohol on a Sunday does not involve committing an act of deviance in a society where selling and consuming alcohol is acceptable.
5. Is deviant behavior a form of non-conformity?
Deviance is a concept that describes non-conformity to social norms, values and civic expectations. Hence, it is a form of non-conformity.
Nonetheless, not all non-conformity is deviant.
Social norms vary from place to place, so what is considered deviant in one society may not be considered deviant in another.
Additionally, social norms change over time, so something that was once considered deviant may become acceptable (and vice versa).
For example, tattoos and piercings were once considered deviant but are now widely accepted. Nonetheless, in a place where they remain uncommon, they may be non-conformist.
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