Theories of Deviance (7)
Crime vs Deviance
Crime: is an act that violates criminal law and is punishable
with fines, jail terms, and other sanctions
Deviance: any behaviour, belief, or condition that violates
cultural norms in the society or group in which it occurs
Deviance is relative: an act becomes deviant when it is socially
defined as such
 Eg- Members of a gang may shun mainstream conformity, yet
conform to the group’s code of dress, etc.
Brainstorm
 What do you think causes deviant behaviour?
 Make a list (in order) of contributing factors that can
lead someone to become deviant
Theories on Deviance
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Strain Theory
Opportunity Theory
Control Theory
Differential Association Theory
Labelling Theory
Feminist Theory on Deviance
Conflict Perspective on Deviance
You should be familiar with these theories
1. Strain Theory
 People feel strain when they are exposed to cultural goals
that they are unable to obtain because they do not have
access to culturally approved means of achieving those
goals
 Eg: a study of Canadian Mohawks involvement in the
organized crime of smuggling in the early 1990s
 The Mohawk didn’t have the economic structure to achieve
wealth
Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of
Thomson Canada
2. Opportunity Theory
 For deviance to occur people must have the opportunity to
acquire through illegitimate activities what they cannot get
through legitimate channels
3. Control Theory
 Idea that deviant behaviour is minimized when people have
strong bonds that bind them to families, peers, religious
organizations, and other institutions
 American Criminolgist Travis Hirschi proposed that the
probability of deviant behavior increases when a person’s
ties to society are weakened or broken
Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of
Thomson Canada
4. Differential Association Theory
 Criminologist Edwin Sutherland (1947):
“individuals have a greater tendency to deviate from societal
norms when they frequently associate with persons who
favour deviance over conformity”
5. Labelling Theory
 Deviants are those people who have been labelled
as such by others
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Primary deviance: the initial act of rule breaking
Secondary deviance: occurs when a person who has been
labelled deviant accepts the new identity and continues the
deviant behaviour
Copyright © 2004 by Nelson, a division of
Thomson Canada
6. Feminist Theory on Deviance
1. Women’s deviance and crime as a rational response to
oppression and discrimination
2. Low-paying jobs force women in to illegal activity like
prostitution and shoplifting
3. Female victims of child abuse are more likely to
become involved in crime than those who have not been
abused
7. Conflict Perspective on Deviance
 Economic elites define what is considered deviant
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The marginalized commit crime in order to survive, not to
become rich
Frequently, in the struggle for survival, marginalized persons
victimize other marginalized persons
Law protects the interests of the affluent and the powerful and
not, as is claimed, the “common good”