What Are the Causes of Deviance?

Deviance is defined as committing an act that is considered taboo by the society in which it was committed. The causes of deviance are explored in four central sociological theories: Labeling Theory, Control Theory, Anomie Theory and the Differential Association Theory.

Labeling Theory

• The theory of Labeling maintains that deviance is in the eye of the beholder, who must define it. The label is the cause, and deviance is a natural part of human behavior. In theory, everyone is doing potentially deviant things, but until they're labeled as such they are not yet officially deviant. Thus this represents deviance in a relative manner. The labeling theory identifies primary and secondary deviance. Both do not conform to social norms. Primary deviance is non-internalized, while it may become secondary deviance when the deviance is acknowledge and continued regardless.

Control Theory

• Rather than asking about the cause of deviance, the Control Theory focuses on why deviance is not more widely committed. Society has laws and social mores that, the theory maintains, lead most people to behave normally. Attachment, commitment, involvement and beliefs are all identified as different examples of driving forces behind social bonds. In a community, a person must have a reputation, be connected to other people, conform to many of that society's rules, and give back to that community. When a person is involved in his community, doing harm to it by being deviant would cause harm to that person as well.

Structural Strain Theory

• The Anomie, or Structural Strain Theory states that deviance results from social structure. Those who do not understand or do not agree with the rules of social structure are confused by their lack of place in society. Deviance is their way of creating a social role for themselves. Innovation, ritualism, retreating and rebellion are all identified as deviant means to approve social goals. Conformity is the only non-deviant, and thus the only socially approved, means proposed by the theory. Social approval, according to the theory, indicates shared values.

Differential Association Theory

• The Differential Association, or Cultural Transmission Theory maintains that all people are deviant, which makes their offspring deviant through learned behavior. The balance of good and bad influences in the learner's life, combined with her age and kind of relationship with a deviant influence, all affect the degree of deviance. Youth is associated with higher deviance, increasing as the age decreases. Essentially the theory states that the longer a person is deviant, the more deviant she is likely to be.