Process of Deviant Identity

We have looked at the definition of deviance and the different examples of deviant behavior.  Theories have also been discussed in detail and with relevant examples.  Now let’s discuss deviant identity.  Deviant identity can be seen as part of labeling theory because it is the aspect of deviance that “requires that people accept the identity and make it their own.  Identities refer to the way people think of themselves. “(Adler and Adler page 241). This is part of labeling theory because it creates a situation where people can be stigmatized and thus a label is created such as: “nerd, slut, fatty, loser, jock, smarty pants etc.” those are just a few, there are many more in society today. 

There are seven stages to the development of identity, which, is also known as the “deviant identity career”. (To make a side note…not every person that is deemed deviant will go through all stages)

 The first stage is called: “caught and publicly identified as deviant” (page 242). People may start to think of this person in an altered way. For example a person that a sorority girl (we will just call her Betty) is rumored to have slept around with an entire fraternity house.  Then the gossip starts between her sorority sisters.  The continuation of the banter will lead into stage two which is the “retrospective interpretation”.  This suggests that more people besides Betty’s sisters have begun to change their attitudes towards her.  So let’s make sure we get this straight. First the people have changed their thoughts about the person that is deviant. Then the people changed their attitudes towards the person that is deviant. Stage three: “Spoiled Identity”.  In simple terms the person’s reputation has been ruined.  At this point of the story of Betty’s situation is hard to reverse the thoughts and attitudes of the people around her and possibly people she doesn’t even know.  Since she has been labeled now as a “slut or skank” take your pick of labels for her or don’t. It’s up to you…but society is going to expect her to make the rumor real and start to sleep around a lot.   “The dynamics of exclusion” is what Betty’s former sorority sisters and friends are beginning to do to her.  When she is walking into a party her sisters may not acknowledge her, pretend she isn’t there and they may feel uncomfortable when she is talking to their boyfriends or potential boyfriends.  Some people are repulsed by her actions and some may take her under their wing.  She may then shift into a different circle of friends and she might even deactivate from the sorority.  The example of her joining a new crowd is stage 5.  “Treat differently” is stage 6 and this is the fact that they may even stop inviting Betty to social events and if her sisters are really that upset they could send her standards and then consequences or penalized for her actions as not representing the sorority in an appropriate way.  “Internalize the deviant label and come to think of themselves differently… is likely to affect their future behavior” (243).  In Betty’s case she may drop out of school because she cannot handle the label, transfer to a different school, or just continue with her behavior and still be seen as a slut and the labels could get worse.  In the way that her label could get worse is that people may start saying that she has a sexual transmitted disease/ sexual transmitted infection.  Betty’s future love interest may hear these stories and decide that he is not interested solely based in people’s thoughts and attitudes about Betty.  Keep in mind they only have a class together and he asked her on a date to get to know her better.  When he heard the information he stood her up. The next day in class he shrugged it off as “I just forgot…sorry.”

Not everyone goes through all seven stages and some are skipped over, but the person is still labeled and then internalized eventually.  It can be a fast or slow process it all depends on the situation.

I know that I have been labeled in my lifetime and at one point I did accept it but then I left and changed the way I thought about myself.    Think of ways in your life that you may have been labeled deviant…how did you deal or cope with the label; did you accept or deny the label?

Theories 101

There are many theories of deviance that sociologist have come up with throughout years to explain why people can be defined as deviant.  Far too many to go into too much detail about each one and not bore a person to the point of never wanting to read this blog again.  The theories that will be discussed are labeling, conflict, and differential association theory.  Yes, only three theories but it is much easier to concentrate and understand three.  This way I can go into more detail and give more relevant examples for each theory.

Labeling theory, in my opinion, is the most basic theory and this can apply to many situations of deviance.  This comes from an interactionist perspective and their view of deviance is the violation of some agreed upon rule that was made by society.  This would be like a folkway, mores or laws that were discussed in the earlier post. By breaking rule a person becomes an “outsider” and in-turn a label is applied to them.  Take for instance a person in high school that studies a lot and does not go to sporting events or participate in extracurricular activities.  This person enjoys reading and is into comics and may not have that many friends; there best friend might be there parental unit.  The label that the person may receive from their peers is “geek” or “nerd”.  (“Deviance is not a quality that lies in behavior itself, but in the interaction between the person who commits an act and those who respond to it…” (Adler and Adler page 42). In this example above the person is labeled deviant by its' peers because the people are responding to the act of not following the norm of what the “in-group” might be doing.  Another example can be seen in an article titled “Homophobia and Women’s Sport” written by Elaine M. Blinde and Diane E Taub.  This article is refereeing to women that play sports being labeled a lesbian.  This is because the women are breaking the rule of traditional female roles.  To some this is a potential threat and is labeled deviant. Some get trapped in this label and some can escape at times by posing in men’s magazines in a more feminine pose and wearing makeup. When a woman enters a field of work such as politics or business that has been headed by men the woman can be called a “dragon lady or a bitch”.  The reason for this is because she is assertive and gets the job done just like a man is supposed to do.  This is an example of labeling theory because the women gets stuck in this position of having to prove herself in the position of work she is in and each time this becomes more of a masculine quality.  Do you know of anyone that has been in a position where they were labeled but the label failed?

The group that argues that powerful members of society or the “elites” create definitions of human conduct is part of the conflict theory of deviance.  Those “laws” or definitions created are then enforced onto the less powerful groups in society, through the criminal justice systems, insuring that the elite’s interests are protected.  Deviance is then created because of class struggle and people breaking laws for means to an end.  An almost perfect example of this is the documentary “Crips and Bloods: Made in America”.  The law enforcement continues to arrest Black men and put them into jail. When these men get out of jail it is difficult for them to get a job, because they have to put that they had committed a crime on any job application.  This is a continuing cycle of the issue of no work and crimes developing.  The elites/society will say that we did not attribute to this outbreak of crime; it is their fault entirely. Pretty much saying they chose that life style of having to break laws in order to survive.  This documentary sums up conflict theory very well and I would recommend it to anyone that has not seen it yet. 

A theory that believes that deviance is socially learned through close friends and family is called differential association theory. This is more about the attitudes and behaviors that associate with their circle of family and friends to be either deviant or not deviant.  For example if a boy has a close friend that grew up in a good neighborhood, does all the right things, has an education that may exceed others and have a good family unit these boys with grow up to be not deviant.  If we turn the good qualities that society accepts and turn them negative such as: coming from a dysfunctional family, not well educated, does the wrong things these boys will more than likely become deviant in the eyes of the general public. 

Time for strain theory! There are a variety of strains that a person can encounter in their lifetime and some are more easily solved than others.  Some may have lost something good (their job, family/friend, home, significant other leaves them, scholarship, etc.). Another could receive something bad for example: a sexually transmitted disease or infection. There is also the other case of failing to get something they want for instance a promotion, a cure for their disease such as cancer or they may have just failed to succeed at getting the job.  All of those are examples of strains.  The general idea of the theory according to deviance is: “people engage in deviant behavior, such as crime, because of the strains that the person is experiencing.” (Adler and Adler page 77).

In conclusion multiple theories exist and there is not a right or wrong one; it is just how it may fit into the context of the deviance that is being studied.