This is a presentation on some definitions and theories on the sociology of deviance or rule-breaking behavior,state or trait.

1. WHY DO PEOPLE BREAK
THE RULES?
DEFINING DEVIANCE
SSC 04: SOCIETY & CULTURE
DR. VIVENCIO “VEN” O. BALLANO

2. DEFINING DEVIANCE OR RULE-
BREAKING BEHAVIOR
ABSOLUTIST
DEFINITION
( Popularly espoused in religion,
ethics, morality, especially by
conservatives, “moral
entrepreneurs”)
1. DEVIANCE RESIDES IN THE ACT
ITSELF, THE “EVILNESS” OF AN
ACT IS IN THE NATURE OF THE
ACT ITSELF.
2. DEVIANCE IS ALWAYS
DEVIANCE REGARDLESS OF
TIME, PLACE & MOTIVATION
EXAMPLES
• Abortion is always evil.
• Issue: How about aborting the fetus
to save the life of the mother
• Pope Paul VI: “Masturbation is
intrinsically evil, therefore it is
always a mortal sin”
• Issue: How about masturbation for
purposes of scientific research? Is
it still a serious sin if the intention is
good?
• This definition is obviously
inadequate.

3. DEFINING DEVIANCE
STATISTICAL DEFINITION
• (Popularly used by people to
label the disabled or people
with peculiar
physical/personal traits
1. AN ACT, PERSON OR TRAIT IS
DEVIANT IF IT IS DIFFERENT
FROM THE AVERAGE
STANDARDS SET BY SOCIETY.
2. The law on averages is the
norm to judge an act/person
as deviant or not.
EXAMPLES
• A person is deviant if
his/her height is below the
average Filipino height, like
a woman standing 3 feet
tall.
• A person with 11 fingers is
deviant.
• Issue: Is there a positive
deviance? Like a person
with very high IQ?

4. DEFINING DEVIANCE
POSITIVE DEFINITION
• AN ACT/PERSON/ TRAIT IS
DEVIANT IF IT/S/HE IS
EXTRAORDINARY AND
DIFFERENT FROM THE
MAJORITY
• ISSUE: IS POSSESSING
POSITIVE QUALITIES
DEVIANT?
EXAMPLES
• A WOMAN WHO IS
CONSIDERED EXTREMELY
BEAUTIFUL.
• BEING THE TALLEST
PERSON WITH A HEIGHT OF
7 FEET.
• IN GUINNESS BOOK OF
RECORDS
• BEING A ‘KURYENTE KING’

5. DEFINING DEVIANCE
RELATIVIST DEFINITION
1. DEFINING AN ACT AS
DEVIANT OR CRIMINAL
DEPENDS ON THE
SITUATION, MOTIVATION
OF THE PERSON.
2. AN ACT WHICH IS DEFINED
AS DEVIANT TODAY MAY
NOT BE SO IN THE FUTURE
EXAMPLES
• TATTOOING ONE’S BODY IS
CONSIDERED A MARK OF
CRIMINALITY OR CONVICTION
OF A CRIME, SAVAGERY—BUT
FOR SOME PEOPLE TODAY
CONSIDER TATTOOES AS
COOL AND SMART.
• BEING A MEMBER IN
FREEMASONRY TODAY IS NOT
AS STRONGLY CONDEMNED
AS BEING A MEMBER IN 19TH
CENTURY.

6. DEFINING DEVIANCE
REACTIVIST DEFINITION
1. AN ACT IS DEVIANT IF
THERE IS A DISCOVERY &
CONDEMNATION BY THE
COMMUNITY.
2. IF THERE IS NO NEGATIVE
REACTION TO THE ACT,
THERE IS NO DEVIANCE.
3. ONE IS NOT A SINNER OR
CRIMINAL IF S/HE IS NOT
CAUGHT
EXAMPLES
• 1. A BANK TELLER IS NOT
DEVIANT IF S/HE IS NOT
CAUGHT STEALING MONEY.
• 2. A POLITICIAN IS NOT
CORRUPT IF S/HE IS NOT
CAUGHT OR CONVICTED IN
COURT.
• This is still inadequate. A
person may not be publicly
known as deviant but s/he
still broke a social norm.

7. DEFINING DEVIANCE
NORMATIVE DEFINITION
• A ACT, PERSON OR TRAIT IS
DEVIANT IF IT/SHE/
VIOLATES THE SOCIAL
NORMS IN SOCIETY.
• SOCIAL NORMS IN SOCIETY
CAN BE INFORMAL
(CUSTOMS, TRADITIONS)
OR FORMAL (LAWS, RULES)
EXAMPLES
• RAPE IS DEVIANT & CRIMINAL BECAUSE IT
VIOLATES THE LAW ON RAPE.
• USING HANDS IN A FORMAL DINNER IN A
HOTEL IS DEVIANT. WHY?
• ISSUE: A MARRIED WOMAN HAVING
INTERCOURSE WITH ANOTHER WOMAN IS
NOT GUILTY OF ADULTERY? WHY?
• This definition is more acceptable and
scientific. But some powerful people broke
social norms and yet they are not condemned
as deviant. E.g. Pres. Erap Estrada is a known
womanizer and yet he is not always
condemned for this publicly.
• White-collar crimes of CEOs or corporate
officials are rarely condemned for breaking
corporate laws in their discretionary powers.

8. SOCIOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF DEVIANCE
• The sociological definition considers both the
normative and reactive definition.
• Deviance or rule-breaking behavior or
character is one that breaks social norms
and/or generate public condemnation.
• Thus criminals are deviants because they
break the criminal law and their acts generate
public condemnation.

9. OVERVIEW
1. Deviance is any behavior that violates social norms, and is usually
of sufficient severity to warrant disapproval from the majority of
society. Deviance can be criminal or non-criminal.
2. The sociological discipline that deals with crime (behavior that
violates laws) is criminology (also known as criminal justice).
Today… such activities as alcoholism, excessive gambling, being
nude in public places, playing with fire, stealing, lying, refusing to
bathe, purchasing the services of prostitutes, and cross-dressing—to
name only a few—as deviant.
3. People who engage in deviant behavior are referred to as
deviants
Source: (http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/CliffsReviewTopic/Theories-of-
Deviance.topicArticleId-26957,articleId-26873.html)

10. OVERVIEW OF THE DEFINITIONS
NON-SOCIOLOGICAL
• ABSOLUTIST
• STATISTICAL
• POSITIVE
SOCIOLOGICAL
• REACTIVIST
• NORMATIVE

11. TYPES OF SOCIAL NORMS
FORMAL NORMS
• WRITTEN
• OFFICIAL
• SYSTEMATICALLY
ENFORCED BY AUTHORITY
(government, church, other
organizations)
Examples
• RULES
• REGULATIONS
• LAWS, like:
• Constitutional Law
• Civil Law
• Criminal Law
• Tax Laws
• Legal Ethics
• Commercial Laws, etc.

12. TYPES OF SOCIAL NORMS
INFORMAL NORMS
• UNWRITTEN
• UNOFFICIAL, HANDED
DOWN BY TRADITION
• ENFORCED
PYSCHOLOGICALLY
• WITH INFORMAL
PUNISHMENT
EXAMPLES
• CUSTOMS: EXISTING
PRACTICES
• FOLKWAYS
• TRADITIONS
• MORES

13. WHY DO PEOPLE BREAK
RULES?
• THEORIES
• 1. BIOLOGICAL
• 2. PATHOLOGICAL
• 3. SOCIOLOGICAL
• EXPLANATION
• Some people are born
criminals; deviance is in
the blood/biological
make-up
• Deviance is caused by
mental illness
• Deviance is socially
learned in society

14. SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
• 1. FUNCTIONALIST
• 2. CONFLICT
• SYMBOLIC
INTERACTIONIST
• Deviance has functions
in society
• Deviance is created by
the rich and powerful to
control the weak;
prisons are for the poor
& weak
• Deviance is a result of
social interaction

15. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
ON WHY PEOPLE BECOME
RULE-BREAKERS

16. Social Differential Theory
1. According to this theory, the environment plays a major role in deciding
which norms people learn to violate.
2. Specifically, people within a particular reference group provide norms of
conformity and deviance, and thus heavily influence the way other people
look at the world, including how they react.
3. People also learn their norms from various socializing agents—parents,
teachers, ministers, family, friends, co-workers, and the media.
4. In short, people learn criminal behavior, like other behaviors, from their
interactions with others, especially in intimate groups.
5. People learn deviance from the people with whom they associate.
6. They became criminals because they learn more bad norms from bad
people than good norms from good people. People learn deviance from
the people with whom they associate. People learn deviance from the
people with whom they associate.

17. ANOMIE THEORY
ORIGINATOR: ROBERT K.
MERTON
1. Anomie refers to the confusion that arises when social norms conflict or don't
even exist.
2. In the 1960s, Robert Merton used the term to describe the differences
between socially accepted goals and the availability of means to achieve those
goals. Merton stressed, for instance, that attaining wealth is a major goal of
Americans, but not all Americans possess the means to do this, especially
members of minority and disadvantaged groups. Those who find the “road to
riches” closed to them experience anomie, because an obstacle has thwarted
their pursuit of a socially approved goal. When this happens, these individuals
may employ deviant behaviors to attain their goals, retaliate against society, or
merely “make a point.”
3. People become criminals if they are social expectations are high but the
legitimate means to attain them are limited.
4. Example: A poor father is forced to steal to fulfill his obligation to his sick
child.

18. Control Theory
Originator: Travis Hirschi
1. According to Walter Reckless's control theory, both inner and
outer controls work against deviant tendencies.
2. People may want—at least some of the time—to act in deviant
ways, but most do not. They have various restraints: internal
controls, such as conscience, values, integrity, morality, and the
desire to be a “good person”; and outer controls, such as police,
family, friends, and religious authorities.
3. Travis Hirschi noted that these inner and outer restraints form a
person's self-control, which prevents acting against social norms.
The key to developing self-control is proper socialization, especially
early in childhood. Children who lack this self-control, then, may
grow up to commit crimes and other deviant behaviors.

19. Labeling Theory
1. A type of symbolic interaction, labeling theory concerns the meanings
people derive from one another's labels, symbols, actions, and reactions.
2. This theory holds that behaviors are deviant only when society labels them
as deviant. As such, conforming members of society, who interpret certain
behaviors as deviant and then attach this label to individuals, determine the
distinction between deviance and non-deviance.
3. Labeling theory questions who applies what label to whom, why they do
this, and what happens as a result of this labeling.
4. Powerful individuals within society—politicians, judges, police officers,
medical doctors, and so forth—typically impose the most significant labels.
Labeled persons may include drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, delinquents,
prostitutes, sex offenders, retarded people, and psychiatric patients, to
mention a few.
5. Social research indicates that those who have negative labels usually have
lower self-images, are more likely to reject themselves, and may even act
more deviantly as a result of the label.

20. CONCLUDING REMARKS
ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT
BORN CRIMINALS OR RULE-BREAKERS.
CRIMINALITY OR RULE-BREAKING
BEHAVIOR IS SOCIALLY LEARNED FROM THE
ENVIRONMENT OR CULTURE.
ONLY 10% OF PEOPLE’S BEHAVIOR IS INFLUENCED
BY HEREDITY OR BIOLOGY.
IF PARENTS ARE CRIMINALS, IT DOESN’T FOLLOW
THAT THEIR CHILDREN ARE ALSO CRIMINALS,
UNLESS THEY ARE INFLUENCED BY CRIMINAL
SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT