Lassallete Newton
SS1 SOC 2024 Deviant Behavior
Quiz 3
Due Midnight 06/15/14
Instructions: Type your name at the top. Answer each question. Turn this back in as an attachment in the quiz section. Do not pay much attention to style. You will be graded based solely on the answer you provide. You may use only your book or powerpoint from the week unless stated otherwise in a question.
Time Limit: 45 Minutes
1) It was revealed to the school that you stole from the Rite Aid on University Blvd. Someone who knows you posted a photo of you with the caption “THIEF” all over campus. What actually happened was you accidentally forgot to pay for an item. Explain how this might lead to a selffulfilling prophecy where you start committing crimes despite the fact that you were innocent?
4pts
Even though I took an item and forgot to pay for it, I was already seen as a deviant and I would believe that there would be nothing that I can do to prove my deviance through the belief of other citizens of “once a deviant, always a deviant.” And because of this label, I would believe that I can’t return to a normal life so I would keep stealing from Rite Aid, since this is would be what people would see me as.
2) In the same example, say you really were a full-fledged shoplifter and you came to accept this role. You did it because you are a single parent and make very little money to support your twochildren. Basically this is primary deviance. Using the sequence of interaction leading to secondary deviation explain how this primary deviance turns into secondary deviance. 8pts
The way that primary deviance would turn into secondary deviance is that first, I would have shown primary deviance, which was stealing to support my two kids. Then, there would be social penalties, where society would respond to my action. Third, primary deviance would continue and there would be stronger penalties and reactions from society. 5 th , there will be more deviation but with hostilities and resentment will begin to focus upon those doing the penalizing.
After that, the crisis reached in the tolerance quotient of the community. Then, the strengthening of deviant conduct as a reaction to the stigmatizing and penalties, and lastly there will be ultimate acceptance of deviant social status efforts and adjustment.
3) What is the difference between primary and secondary deviance? 2 pts

The difference between primary and secondary deviance is the way they are caused. Primary deviance is caused by a number of factors and is therefore known as polygenic. Secondary
Deviance is caused through societal reactions.
4) What about the Saints and the Roughnecks applies to labeling theory? 6pts
The way that the Saints and the Roughnecks apply to labeling theory is through the way the community reacted to the actions committed by these two groups. The Saints were seen as upper class kids (good kids), and since they committed less violent crime they were punished less, were not visible in the community and so led conventional adult lives. The Roughnecks, on the other hand, were seen as lower class kids (bad kids), committed more violent crimes so they were punished more, more visible and went into criminal adult lives. So this showed that through the interaction of primary to secondary deviance, the reactions that the Roughnecks received from the community influenced their deviant status in adolescence and into adults.