Theories Of Deviance Research Articles

Fairer Sex or Fairer System? Gender and Corruption Revisited

Two recent influential studies found that larger representations of in government reduced corruption. Assuming that the observed gender differentials were caused by women's inclinations toward honesty and the common good, both studies advocated increased female participation in government to combat corruption. This study argues that the observed association between gender and is spurious and mainly caused by its context, liberal democracy — a political that promotes gender equality and better governance. Data favor this fairer system thesis. One of the most stunning findings in recent research is the discovery of the negative relationship between in government and corruption. It is claimed that rates of female participation in government are associated with lower levels of corruption (Dollar, Fisman & Gatti 2001:427). Why does female participation reduce government corruption? Several plausible explanations based on extant psychological and sociological theories of deviance have been contemplated, although none has been empirically tested. The argument centering on the rule-abiding tendency of and the rule-breaking proclivity of men follows naturally from models that treat female participation in government as an exogenous factor. Not surprisingly, these studies conclude that women may have higher standards of ethical behavior and be more concerned with the common good (Dollar, Fisman & Gatti 2001:427), and that increasing women's presence in public life can reduce levels of corruption (Swamy et. al. 2001:26). This study examines the new truism that make governments more honest. In the first section I review the two studies that form the main source

Anomie and Strain: Context and Consequences of Merton's Two Theories

Robert Merton presented two, not always clearly differentiated theories in his seminal explorations on the social‐structure‐and‐anomie paradigm: a strain theory and an anomie theory. A one‐sided focus on Merton's strain theory in the secondary literature has unnecessarily restricted the power and effectiveness of Merton's anomie theory. For although structural strain is one way to explain why deviance occurs in the context of anomie, it is not the only way. We contend that scholars who are critical of strain theory should not automatically discard Merton's anomie theory, because the perspective of anomie is compatible with several other theories of crime and delinquency. Offering examples of previous integration efforts, we maintain that Merton's theoretical model can benefit from the input of other theories of crime and deviance as much as these other theoretical perspectives can fine‐tune their models and explanations.

Out of the Disability Closet: Strategic use of perception management by select university students with disabilities

This study examines the ways in which university students with apparent and hidden disabilities actively manage the perceptions of others. Interview data were collected and analysed by theme. Students indicated that they valued their own experience of disability, but were aware that knowledge of their disability altered the behaviors of others toward them. Whereas some perception management strategies have previously been called denial and 'passing,' for our participants these behaviors constituted a set of interpersonal skills. Participants evaluated themselves positively while struggling to project an image as complex individuals rather than stereotypes. Within deviance theory, passing as non-disabled has been conceptualised as a reactive social behavior that is motivated by low self-regard or fear. Our findings do not support this model. We, therefore, examine perception management within the framework of social identity theory.

The Bible Tells Me So: Depictions of Race, Gender, and Authority in Children's Videos

The study of what children learn from media has more recently included measures of diversity in children's programming. This article looks to what Veggie Tales, a popular children's video series, presents in terms of race, gender, and authority. The study finds that nonracialized, normative, predominantly male characters occupy positions of authority and are presented as those from which one can learn key lessons. The series also presents the main characters, those with which the child is intended to identify, as lacking in racially based signifiers, thus permitting them to occupy the position of norm. Using not only theories of children's social learning and prior research of representation in children's media, but also theory of how whiteness is defined through the identification of other and neo-Marxist deviance theory, the study connects these issues to problematize the subtle lesson that difference is suspect.

Victims of crime and labeling theory: a parallel process?

Labeling theory tends to focus largely on the offender. Yet, implicit in interactionist theories of deviance is a concern for the social situation as a whole. This logically includes the victim of crime. This article explores the potential of extending the interactionist perspective on deviance to the experiences of victims of crime. Specifically, I outline a parallel labeling process for victims in which differential social reactions to this status, flowing from varying attributions of sympathy worthiness, have an impact on the behaviors, adjustment, and identities of the individuals concerned. This process is further distinguished from the related labeling of emotional deviance. I then present the results of a qualitative study of individuals who have suffered the murder of a loved one. Through an empirical examination of the varying social reactions to these individuals by extended family, friends, acquaintances, and the community, as well as victims' varying responses thereto, I indicate how familiar terms such as accommodation, labeling, primary, secondary, and tertiary deviance each have their conceptual counterpart in the experiences of victims.

Mediational and deviance theories of late high school failure: Process roles of structural strains, academic competence, and general versus specific problem behavior.

Understanding and preventing high school failure is a national priority. Structural strain and general deviance theories attempt to explain late high school failure. The authors tested the hypotheses that general (vs. specific) deviance and academic competence mediate the relationships between structural strain factors (gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status [SES]) and 12th-grade high school failure. Independent variables of structural strain and mediational variables of drug use, sexual involvement, school trouble, delinquency, and academic performance were assessed in a sample of 754 8th graders and used to predict 12th-grade high school dropout and number of missed months of school (reflecting a latent construct of High School Failure) in the 12th grade. High school failure was directly predicted by earlier General Deviance, poor Academic Competence, low Family SES, and tobacco use. All ethnic and gender differences in high school failure were mediated by deviance and academic ability or accounted for by Family SES discrepancies.

Introduction to the Special Issue on Counterproductive Behaviors at Work

Employees can engage in a wide spectrum of counterproductive, disruptive, antisocial, and deviant behaviors at work. Counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) include, but are not limited to, theft, white collar crime, absenteeism, tardiness, drug and alcohol abuse, disciplinary problems, accidents, sabotage, sexual harassment, and violence. Such counterproductivity costs employers billions of dollars annually worldwide. Additional resources are spent on attempts to forecast such undesirable on-the-job behaviors at the time of hire, sometimes using questionable methods. The objective in this special issue of the International Journal of Selection and Assessment (IJSA) was to publish papers that explore the prevalence, causes and consequences of CWB in organizations. To this end, papers that enhance our understanding of CWB and meaningfully contribute to personnel selection and assessment practices in organizations were sought. Papers that focused on the determinants of and co-variation among various CWB so that effective selection and assessment techniques can be developed and utilized were particularly welcome. The Call for Papers included further specification of the domain. It stated `Specific topics for the special issue may include: theories of workplace deviance, theft at work, white collar crime, absenteeism and tardiness as dysfunctional behaviors, substance abuse at work, workplace violence, sexual harassment, the role of individual differences in disruptive behaviors at work, integrity testing in organizations, and the role of stress in counterproductivity at work. Papers on legal and ethical dimensions of counterproductivity and applicant and other stakeholder reactions to organizational use of selection systems to curb counterproductivity are also invited. Submission of theoretical work that synthesizes and expands the existing literature as well as manuscripts that provide empirical investigations on measurement and prediction are desired. Consistent with the major aim of IJSA to promote international and cross-cultural research of excellence on personnel selection, we especially welcome papers that explore cultural influences on workplace counterproductivity.' It is quite unfortunate that much of the literature on CWB is quite fragmented. There are a multitude of behaviors that are considered counterproductive. These include workplace deviance, theft at work, white collar crime, corruption, bullying, absenteeism and tardiness, substance abuse, workplace violence, and sexual harassment. Researchers tend to specialize in a particular counterproductive behavior. The consequence of such specialization is theory building that is specific to specific counterproductive behaviors, often ignoring relevant developments from other areas. The area also suffers from perhaps too much armchair hypothesizing and too little basic, empirical work. Indeed, many books on CWB suffer from too much qualitative review and unsubstantiated hypotheses and too few primary studies to fuel theory building efforts. For the special issue, I was sensitive to these special needs in the literature, and therefore aimed to accept a broad spectrum of high quality papers, including strong empirical and substantiated theoretical contributions as well as papers geared toward practitioners. This special issue includes 9 empirical articles (reporting over two dozen primary studies), 2 meta-analyses, 3 papers presenting theoretical advances based on empirical data from the literature and 2 papers addressing specific issues of concern for practitioners. Twelve of these papers are presented as feature articles, 2 as short notes, and 2 as practitioner forum papers. True to the international nature of this journal, authors represent multiple countries, including Canada, Germany, Spain, and the USA. The empirical research presented also has been carried out in multiple countries: Argentina, Canada, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, and the USA. The call for papers for the special issue received a total of 27 submissions for consideration. Each paper was reviewed by 2±5 external reviewers who were blind to the identity of the authors. In the review process, double-

High School Curriculum Track and Adolescent Association with Delinquent Friends

Drawing on ecological perspectives and sociological theories of deviance, this study explored the influence on adolescent delinquency of two potential intersections between high school curriculum and student friendship groups: (a) curriculum track as an organizer of delinquent friendship groups, and (b) curriculum track as a moderator of friendship relations. Structural equation analyses of 2,899 students provide support for the second intersection but not the first. Once academic achievement is taken into account, lower-track students were not more likelyto associate with delinquents, though students from all tracks were more likelyto be delinquent a year later when theydid have such associations. Nevertheless, lower-track students were more vulnerable to the negative influences of delinquent friends. Further analysis reveals that this increased vulnerabilitycould arise from lower bonding to conventional institutions and pathways of achievement among lower-track students.

The Jesus Movement: A Social History of Its First Century

The Jesus Movement: A Social History of Its First Century, by Ekkehard W. Stegemann and Wolfgang Stegemann, trans. 0. C. Dean, Jr. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999. Pp. xx + 532. $45.00. This major work, published in German under the title Urchristliche Sozialgeschichte: Die Anfange im Judentum and die Christusgemeinden in der mediterranen Welt (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1995) deserves a careful reading by all scholars in NT studies and related fields. It represents an achievement of substantial erudition and wide-ranging synthesis. The work divides into four parts: (1) Economy and society in the Mediterranean world of the first century: Ancient Mediterranean societies can be classified, following Lenski, as advanced agrarian societies. Technological level, power structure, population, cities, division of labor, money, writing, and social inequality are all important dimensions of the social picture. The authors examine production, distribution, consumption, and daily living conditions for various social strata. Power is a key variable in agrarian social stratification, and the economy is embedded in politics. The book's seven pyramidal models for stratification support careful discussions of social location. (2) The land of Israel, the social history of Judaism, and the followers of Jesus: The authors trace the development of political economy in Hellenistic-Roman Palestine; include a solid discussion of taxation; follow changes in social structure of HellenisticRoman Palestine; note the problem of debt; examine currents in a situation of crisis; characterize religious institutions and explain why deviance theory is preferable to sect theory; pay attention to various groups in relation to ideology and stratum of origin; and examine the relationship of religion and politics. Discussion then turns to Jesus and his movement. Pre-70 and post-70 C.E. contexts are distinguished. The Stegemanns prefer Weber's notion of charisma over sect or millenarian theoretical approaches to Jesus. They consider the relationship of the Jesus movement to other groups; focus especially on information in Matthew and John about conflict; and discuss the relationship of Christ-followers to synagogue and rabbinic movements. (3) The social history of Christ-confessing communities in the cities of the Roman empire: The urban Christ-confessing assemblies fostered unrestricted social interaction, especially at meals, between Jew and Gentile. Innovation is attributed to charisma. Ancient analogies are found in household, political structures, and voluntary associations, but not in army or ethnos. The authors trace stratum membership of Christ-confessing groups and show a mix of mostly upper non-elite and some lower elite; discuss conflict and persecution due to upper-stratum inclination to criminalize Christianity; consider Roman suspicions of Christians after 70 C.E. as an anti-Roman Jewish group; show political pressure on Diaspora Judaism; and draw on deviance theory as a way to understand social dynamics. (4) The social roles and social situation of women in the Mediterranean world and in early Christianity: With careful nuance in terms of stratum and culture, the authors examine the gendered nature of space and roles for ancient women; assess occupations women could engage in by stratum; and attempt to determine the role and status of women in the earliest Jesus movement. The reputation of such women in the entourage would have been questionable. The Stegemanns show how a certain equality of role and status for women reverted in the later church to conventional norms. The book's carefully constructed framework situates the social history of the groups behind the NT such that the political domain is a primary variable in the discussion. This is the proper emphasis. Attention to social structure is central for the analysis, and the social location of various Jesus and Christ-confessing groups is established in the account of historical developments. …

Mediational and deviance theories of late high school failure: Process roles of structural strains, academic competence, and general versus specific problem behavior.

Mediational and deviance theories of late high school failure: Process roles of structural strains, academic competence, and general versus specific problem behavior.

“Showtime” in Texas: Social Production of the Branch Davidian Trials

ABSTRACT: This article analyzes the two major legal trials involving surviving members of the Branch Davidian sect that was involved in the fiery conflagration outside of Waco, Texas, in 1993. The criminal trial, which took place in 1994, and the wrongful death civil trial against the federal government, which occurred in 2000, are analyzed from the perspectives of the sociology of law and deviance theory. The analysis presumes that both trials were social productions designed to present a certain definition of the situation and the parties involved in that situation. Using the analogy of the trials as socially produced dramas, this article describes the ways that discretion operated within a judicial system acting in a normative role, with special attention paid to the role of the judge in both cases.

Purging behavior in a sample of college females: a research note on general strain theory and female deviance

Tests of theories of deviance tend to focus on criminality, delinquency, or types of deviance more typically engaged in by males. Prototypical female deviance has been largely ignored. This article reports the findings from a pilot study of female deviance. Using a sample of 96 college women, we examine the utility of General Strain Theory to explain one prototypically female type of deviant behavior, purging. We explore the relationship of strain variables to purging, mediated through negative affect. Two forms of negative affect, anger and depression, are included in the model. Our findings suggest that the relationship is complex, with an interaction between anger and depression. Anger is associated with purging at high levels of depression only. The preliminary findings, when viewed in conjunction with prior research, suggest that different negative affective states may be associated with different types of deviance outcomes, and that typically "female" or self-directed types of deviance may result from the interaction of anger and depression.

Theories of Deviance

Part I. FUNCTIONALISM. Emile Durkheim. Kingsley Davis. Kai T. Erikson. Melvin Tumin. Keith F. Durkin and Clifton D. Bryant. Part II. SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION. W. I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki. Robert E. Park. Robert E. L. Faris and H. Warren Dunham. C. Wright Mills. Finn-Aage Esbensen and David Huizina. Part III. ANOMIE. Emile Durkheim. Robert K. Merton. Richard A. Cloward. Albert K. Cohen. Part IV. DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION AND NEUTRALIZATION. Edwin H. Sutherland and Donald R. Cressey. Donald R. Cressey. Gresham M. Sykes and David Matza. Ross L. Matsueda. Donald L. McCabe. Part V. CONTROL THEORY. Walter C. Reckless. Travis Hirschi. Michael R. Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi. LaMar T. Empey. John H. Laub and Robert J. Sampson. Part VI. LABELING AND DEVIANCE. Frank Tannenbaum. Edwin M. Lemert. Howard S. Becker. Thomas J. Scheff. Milton Mankoff. Penelope A. McLorg and Diane E. Taub. Part VII. POLITICS AND CLASS IN THE STUDY OF DEVIANCE. Joseph R. Gusfield. Richard Quinney. Alexander Liazos. Steven Spitzer. Robert F. Meier. William J. Chambliss.

Commitment, Deviance, and Social Control

This article extends earlier work (Ulmer 1994) in applying Johnson's (1991) threefold commitment framework to deviance and social control. The central individual-level theories of deviance (differential association/social learning, opportunity, social control, and labeling) share the generic sociological goal of theorizing continuity in lines of action. This suggests the centrality of the concept of commitment, and in fact the concept is used throughout the study of deviance and social control. The threefold framework provides a superior conceptualization of commitment for the field of deviance. In addition, it integrates insights from the central deviance theories and directs attention to a wide variety of un- and underexplored directions for further research in deviance and social control. In addition, I briefly discuss broader implications of the commitment framework for other areas of inquiry, such as the study of social protest and the sociology of organizations.

Harsh Physical Discipline in Childhood and Violence in Later Romantic Involvements: The Mediating Role of Problem Behaviors

This study examines the impact that experiencing harsh physical discipline in childhood and engaging in problem behaviors during adolescence and young adulthood have on experiencing and perpetrating intimate violence. Using LISREL 7, we tested a model based on social learning theory, Freudian theory, and theories of deviance. The 608 cases analyzed are from a longitudinal study of adolescents conducted in 1982 and 1992–1993. The results suggest that harsh physical punishment in childhood is directly related to greater perpetration of violence against an intimate partner later in life. The enactment of problem behaviors in adolescence and young adulthood was also found to increase the level of perpetration of violence against an intimate partner. In addition, harsh physical punishment in childhood was found to be indirectly but significantly related to increased perpetration via the intervening variables of adolescent and young adult problem behavior. We hypothesized that perpetration and victimization are significantly related to one another bidirectionally, but the results only support that greater levels of perpetration lead to increased levels of victimization.

Threat transcendence, ideological articulation, and frame of reference reconstruction: preliminary concepts for a theory of subcultural schism

Schism is the division of a social group into two or more relatively distinct and sometimes antagonistic factions. Recent case studies suggest that schism is common among contemporary deviant youth subcultures. Explanations of subcultural schism, however, remain largely neglected. Thus, in response to theoretical deficiencies among existing academic literature, this article elaborates a conceptual foundation for a theory of subcultural schism. Building upon traditional and phenomenological theories of deviance, this article argues that deviant youth subcultures are collective reactions to commonly perceived moral or material threats. In turn, drawing upon theories of schism in new religious groups, this article proposes generally that subcultural schism occurs when intra-subcultural differentials in perceived threat cause internal subcultural social networks to galvanize respectively around alternate sets of subcultural norms, values and beliefs.

Attachment, Adolescent Competencies, and Substance Use: Developmental Considerations in the Study of Risk Behaviors

Social-control-based deviance theories highlight parental bonding as a protective factor for problem behaviors in that bonds are viewed as reflecting the adolescent's adoption of conventional societal attitudes and values. Developmental theory and research suggest an alternative conceptualization of the linkages between family bonding and adolescent risk behaviors. This conceptualization requires concurrent examination of a range of adolescent competencies as well as consideration of parent and peer contexts. Support is found for several hypotheses derived from a developmental approach proposing: (a) positive associations between adolescent-parent attachment and adolescent competencies–autonomy, peer relationship competency, and coping; (b) coherence in the pattern of negative associations between attachment/competencies and substance use problems; and (c) a disjunctive pattern of associations with substance use reflected by positive associations with peer competencies but not with parental attachment.

Are Deviants Different from the Rest of Us? Using Student Accounts of Academic Cheating to Explore a Popular Myth

This paper outlines a useful classroom exercise designed to facilitate a critical examination of the above myth and to enhance student appreciation of a sociological perspective. The exercise is mainly designed for use in deviance and criminology courses, but may be helpful in any course, or course section, where motives for offending are the focus of study. In particular, students are asked to consider their personal involvement in academic cheating and to describe the surrounding circumstances and motivations that led to this behavior. By exploring their personal accounts of cheating behavior, students more easily grasp the applicability of deviance theories to their own actions, recognize how the motivations of other offenders may not differ fundamentally from their own, and are better prepared to critically examine the belief that deviants are different from the rest of us. Before describing the details of this exercise, I provide a brief review of relevant sociological arguments and existing teaching techniques.

Self-Control, Accidents, and Crime

According to self-control theory, crime and accident involvement are positively related. Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) argued that this relation is spurious and results from the fact that both accidents and crime are the result of a lack of self-control. In particular, they argued that a positive relation is supportive of their theory and cannot be explained by competing theories, such as strain or cultural deviance theory. This study explored two questions: (a) Is there a relation between crime and accidents? (b) Is there support for the spuriousness thesis, that is, can the relation between crime and accident involvement be accounted for by a measure of self-control or by a measure of social control? The answer to both questions was largely affirmative. There was a relatively strong positive relation between crime and accidents, with delinquents more involved than nondelinquents in accidents. The analysis also showed that, although measures of self-control and social control were related to delinquency and to accident involvement, the relation between crime and accidents became weaker when these measures were taken into account, but it did not disappear. Thus, the spuriousness thesis was partially supported.

Status, Network, and Structure: Theory Development in Group Process

Introduction Jacek Szmatka, John Skvoretz and Joseph Berger Part I. Theory Construction, Tests, and Strategies: 1. Building and testing multilevel theories Barry Markovsky 2. Theoretical research programs: a reformulation Joseph Berger and Morris Zelditch Jr 3. Use of computer simulation for theory development: an evolving component of sociological research programs Barbara F. Meeker and Robert K. Leik 4. Testing elementary theory for universality Jacek Szmatka 5. Informal theory testing through mathematical analysis M. Hamit Fisek Part II. Status, Sentiments, and Comparison Processes: 6. Social structural analysis and status generalization: the contributions and potential of expectation states theory J. David Knottnerus 7. Where do status value beliefs come from? New developments Cecilia L. Ridgeway 8. Status, emotion, and structural power Michael J. Lovaglia 9. Status, affect, and multiple standards for competence Martha Foschi 10. Operation of status in the middle grades: recent complications Elizabeth G. Cohen and Rachel A. Lotan 11. Derivation of predictions in comparison theory: foundations of the macromodel approach Guillermina Jasso Part III. Structure, Social Networks, and Rational Choice: 12. Structural formulations and elementary theory David Willer and Jacek Szmatka 13. Power and dependence in exchange networks: a comment on structural measures of power Karen S. Cook, Toshio Yamagishi, and Shawn Donnelly 14. Toward a formal theory of equilibrium in network exchange systems Tadeusz Sozanski 15. Strategy in exchange networks: exploitation versus accommodation Phillip Bonacich and Elisa Jayne Bienenstock 16. Synthesizing theories of deviance and control: with steps toward a dynamic sociocultural network model Thomas J. Fararo and John Skvoretz 17. Affective attachments to nested groups: the role of rational choice processes Edward J. Lawler 18. Endorsement as nonlegitimate domination: an application of experimental research to historical settings Richard Bell.