On the Origin of the Concept of “Deviant Subculture” in Criminology: W. I. Thomas and the Chicago School of Sociology

Abstract

ABSTRACT“Deviant subculture” has been a key concept in sociology of deviance and crime for a long time. It has often been argued that Albert K. Cohen was the person who first developed the concept. However, this article argues that the concept first emerged in the work of the Chicago School of Sociology and that W. I. Thomas’ notion of “the definition of the situation” was at the core of it. The notion allowed Thomas to redefine the problem of deviance and crime from one caused by psychological and physiological defects to one caused by normative disorganization.