Part VI
 This section looks more closely at the lives
and activities of deviants.
 Best and Luckenbill (1980) have noted in
their analysis of the social organization of
deviants that relationships among deviants
take many forms varying in:
 (1) numbers of members
 (2) task specialization
 (3) stratification within group
 (4) type of authority structure
Part 6
 Such deviants are most solitary interacting
with others but keeping their deviant
attitudes, behaviors or conditions secret
 This category includes sexual asphyxiates,
self-injurers, anorectics, bulimics, computers
hackers, and pedophiles
 Websites now permit many such “loners” to
connect online with others like themselves
thereby presenting potential surrogate
forms of “community”
Part 6
 Such websites provide several latent
functions for participants, they:
 Transmit technical and ideological know-how
enabling deviants to more effectively engage
in and legitimate their deviance
 Bring together persons into common
discourse regardless of age, gender, marital
status, ethnicity, or SES
 Are global spanning several continents
 Such deviant cyber-communities provide a
“space” for deviance to grow
Part 6
 Such deviants have face-to-face relationships
with others like themselves but don’t need
their cooperation to perform their deviance
 This category includes the homeless,
recreational drug users & con artists
 Big advantage over loners is that mutual
association brings possibility of membership
in a deviant subculture or counterculture
 The individual gains social support from
colleagues
Part 6
 Such deviants engage in deviance with
others like themselves but have only
minimal division of labor
 This category includes neighborhood gangs
who congregate with their friends but have
little division of labor except possibly a
leaders
Part 6
 A deviant group of 3-12 persons who band
together to engage in more sophisticated
deviant acts with larger monetary payoffs
such as theft, smuggling, hustling at
gambling
 Especially fascinating to media and the
public, crew deviance involves a complex
division of labor involving specialized
training and socialization
Part 6
 Larger than crews and extending over time
and space, this category includes Cosa
Nostra Mafia “families” and the Columbian
drug cartels
 Such organizations may involve
transnational links to other similar groups
 They are much larger than crews & may
have 100 or more members
 They are ethnically homogenous, employ
violence & are vertically & horizontally
stratified, and have been known to infiltrate
and corrupt law enforcement
Part 6
 Legitimate persons and organizations may
engage in deviant acts although these may
be an occasional or “side” activity to their
main activity
 This is crime that is directly related to those
privileged persons and groups in a position
to abuse financial, organizational or political
power
 Such deviance may be financial but may also
extend to bodily injury and death
 White collar crime can be divided into two
main subsections: occupational and
organizational crime
Part 6
 Pursued by persons acting on their own
behalf
 This includes employees at all levels of
organizations who may steal from their
companies, including embezzlement &
computer crimes
 Corporate executives at firms such as Enron,
Tyco, and WorldCom looted their companies,
shareholders & employee retirement plans
through fraudulent accounting, offshore &
dummy corporations to live in high style
Part 6
 Persons in charge of purchasing for their
firms are in a position to accept bribes to
give business to its vendors
 In government sector persons evade taxes
through offshore companies and false tax
shelters often sold to them by accounting
and brokerage firms who charge millions for
their services
 Politicians may sell political power such as
awarding of military contracts
Part 6
 Professionals may collect money for their
individual benefit such as doctors who
accept gifts from drug companies to steer
patients toward the use of their drugs
 This includes a stockbroker who may engage
in insider trading (e.g., Martha Stewart case)
 Physicians who overcharge and/or overservice patients with Medicare/Medicaid
fraud
Part 6
 Crime committed with support of a
legitimate formal organization & designed to
advance goals of the firm or agency
 Examples: false advertising, fraud, Antitrust
violations, corruption pertaining to
government contracts
 Unsafe products represent another area:
drugs, auto and tire industry, medical
products
Part 6
 Worker safety violations & unsafe working
conditions result in hundreds of deaths and
thousands of injuries annually
 including but not limited to coal mining, oil
and chemical industries, nuclear power
plants, pesticide manufacturers
 Government activity such as illegal domestic
or international police or military
operations
 Secret FBI files, Iran-Contra scandal, secret
CIA prisons, etc
Part 6
Part VI
Chapter 32
 Most research focuses on either eating
disorders or drug use.
 This study reports original research on
college women who used licit
pharmaceutical drugs or illicit street drugs
in an ongoing effort to manage their body
weight.
 Evidence of eating disorders since ancient
times, but before the late 1960s, virtually
unknown to the general public.
 Diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, bulimia
nervosa & other eating related medical
syndromes skyrocketed during the 1970s
Part 6: Ch. 32
Part 6: Ch. 32
 In-depth life-history interviews conducted
with 57 college-age women at large, public
university (N=57)
 Freshman to seniors, living on & off campus
 Ages 18-25 years
 From middle to upper-middle SES groups
 Convenience sampling given difficulty of
finding participants
 Semi-structured interviews
Part 6: Ch. 32
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Licit: pharmaceutical, generally prescribed
 Illicit: “street” drugs
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Instrumental: motivation to use predicated
on substances’ specific effects
 Instrumental drug-using women varied
according to temporal nature:
 Some reported disordered eating before onset
of drug use
 Others reported development of nonnormative weight managing behaviors after a
period of drug use
Part 6: Ch. 32
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Reported history (foundation) of disordered
eating prior to instrumental prescription
drug use for weight loss
 Conventional in that they used more socially
acceptable Rx drugs instead of street drugs
 Overall motivation – achieving cultural ideal
of thinness, thus the goal was to conform
 Conforming became over-conforming
 Most presented as thin, but not too thin
 Largest category in typology (n = 24)
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Reported foundation of disordered eating
after turning to street drugs for weight
control
 Drugs used were described as “dirty,”
“unacceptable” & “inappropriate”
 Access to drugs not as reliable or consistent,
thus they scrounged to find them
 Second largest category of instrumental
users (n = 13)
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Those whose drug use pattern “journeyed”
or “evolved”
 Used Rx drugs recreationally or medicinally
prior to their instrumental use for weight
control
 Journeyers comprised smaller typology
(n = 11)
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Engaged in substance use before they turned
into instrumental drug users
 Initially used street drugs recreationally &
later instrumental patterns for weight
control purposes
 Smallest category (n = 9)
Part 6: Ch. 32
Part 6: Ch. 32
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Individuals engaged in deviance alone as
“loners” (Best & Luckenbill, 1980)
 Examples: sexual asphyxiates, self-injurers,
substance abusing pharmacists, embezzlers,
anorectics & bulimics
 Solitary operators act alone & don’t associate
with deviant others, while subcultural
participants acted alone but their behaviors
heavily influenced by group memberships
(Prus & Grills, 2003)
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Lies & secrecy employed by participants in




this research
They kept their deviant behaviors hidden
Many feared if others found out about their
instrumental drug use, they would be forced
to stop
Chose loner lifestyle to avert potential
negative consequences
Online communities (“pro-anorexia” & “probulimia”) provide community of support that
encourages their deviance
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Often embarrassed about methods of weight
control
 Other methods employed by participants to
control weight:
 Severe caloric restriction
 Episodes of bingeing & purging
 Laxative abuse
 Cigarette smoking
 Dishonesty in the course of medical care
 Obsessive thoughts about weight & body
management
Part 6: Ch. 32
 In general, research participants were high
achievers or perfectionists, included:
 Honor students
 College athletes
 Social leaders
 Award winners
 Future professionals
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Participants worried that instrumental drug
use would be associated with disordered
eating, which was generally negatively
stigmatized
 Obtaining their medications entailed lies &
secrecy:
 Visiting campus clinic during the week
 Created alibis for such visits
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Different kind of secrecy employed in that
street drug illegal & frowned upon socially
 Had to access those who valued and used
psychoactive substances
 Secrecy about their drug use dropped when
around others who engaged
Part 6: Ch. 32
Part 6: Ch. 32
 This was voluntary during episodes of drug
use
 Fear of others finding out would result in
benefits of weight control diminishing
Part 6: Ch. 32
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Participants not truthful with medical
personnel thus they were forced to rely on
self-created systems of interpreting signs &
signals regarding changes in their bodies
 Rx users too felt the need to withhold
negative information from their doctors
 Most Rx users went to psychiatrists, thus no
physical exams conducted to make sure they
were “fit” enough to take medication
 All users reported effects on their moods &
energy levels
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Costs varied depending on dosages of drug use &
specific substances
 On average, cocaine users spent more for their
supply ($50-$100 per gram)
 Rx users costs’ varied (estimated $40-$200/mo)
 Some given generous allowances, others worked



None engaged in selling to support drug use
Some played “middleman” role hooking sellers
with users without benefits for themselves
But more time they spent with dealers & drug
subculture, less their drugs costs
Part 6: Ch. 32
 Rx drug users filled prescriptions & the cost
varied depending on whether they had
health insurance
 Patterns of use depended on supply – the
more available the more they did, however,
money was not a significant concern for
participants
 Overall, financing drug use didn’t force
illicit drug users out of their deviant careers
Part 6: Ch. 32
 How does this form of deviance differ from
other forms in the context of its stigmatizing
effects?
 What were some of the major differences
among illicit & licit drug users?
Part 6: Ch. 32
Part VI
Chapter 33
Part 6: Ch. 33
 Those who cut, burn, brand, pick at, or
otherwise injure themselves in a deliberate
but non-suicidal attempt to achieve relief by
harming themselves
 They grew from relatively small & unknown
population into a burgeoning but largely
secretive group in the late 1990s
Part 6: Ch. 33
 The early 2000s saw rise of online
communities of self-injurers
 first just as places where individuals could
find each other and gain non-judgmental
acceptance
 later as support groups composed of likeminded others.
 Self-injurers thus represent a hybrid
associational form, behaving as loners in the
solid world and colleagues in the cyber
world.
Part 6: Ch. 33
Part 6: Ch. 33
 In-depth interviews with 25 self-injurers





conducted between 2001 to 2004 (N = 25)
Ages 16-35 years with most given up
behavior
Self-injury for most occurred in middle &
high school, with just a few continuing past
that age
Three-quarters women, all white
Convenience sampling used
Focus on loner self-injurers – 80% of total
Part 6: Ch. 33
 Characteristics of loners outlined
 Describes ways self-injurers are similar &
differ from Best & Luckenbill’s (1982) ideal
typical model: where some deviants organize
& commit their acts as loners, without the
support of fellow deviants
Part 6: Ch. 33
Part 6: Ch. 33
 Depression, alienation, rebellion, malaise
 A form of comfort during stressful periods
Part 6: Ch. 33
 As loners, on their own in constructing
meaning & set of rationalizations to
legitimize their deviance
 Similar to rationalizations of convicted
rapists where rapists denied violent nature
of act & suggested that victims precipitated
or wanted it
Part 6: Ch. 33
 Nonetheless, self-injurers had a much more
difficult time giving social meanings &
legitimacy to acts
 Some focused on neatness – ability to do it
without making a mess
 For others, control was the issue – they could
control where to hurt themselves & when
Part 6: Ch. 33
 Behavior viewed as private, not to be shared
 A need for focus & concentration of being
alone while injuring themselves
 Given opportunity to interact or meet other
self-injurers, many withdrew from or
avoided interactions
Part 6: Ch. 33
 Without a subculture, self-injurers found
themselves on their own in coping with
practical problems presented by their
deviance
 Unable to anticipate peoples’ reactions
 Prior to 1996, scars could be explained away,
but no now
 Led to cutting in places that weren’t as visible
such as the stomach, thighs, etc.
Part 6: Ch. 33
 Self-injurers socialized by society, not by
fellow deviants, to choose deviance
 Thus they choose it because they face
situations where respectable courses of action
not attractive or satisfactory
 Resulted in condemnation of their behavior
& feelings of shame
Part 6: Ch. 33
 Self-injurers lack of support made deviance
unstable, with difficulty sustaining their
deviance over long periods of time
 Structural strain between normative
expectations & deviant behavior
 Lack of support also made it difficult to
reaffirm meaning of their deviance
 Ceasing of their deviance left strong feelings
of absence
Part 6: Ch. 33
 Why do self-injurers have difficulty
sustaining their deviance over an extended
period of time?
Part 6: Ch. 33