Lecture 1A: Deviant Identity
Deviance Construction
The process of defining and applying deviance is a "moral enterprise," involving the construction of moral meaning and its association with acts or conditions.
This process draws on the power and resources of organizations, institutions, agencies, symbols, ideas, communication, and audiences.
Moral Entrepreneurs
Individuals involved in "making" deviance, categorized into two types:
Rule Creators: E.g., politicians, public figures, teachers.
Rule Enforcers: E.g., police, courts, RAs.
They manufacture public morality through a multistage process:
Create awareness: Use "danger messages," testimonials from "experts," statistics, and case examples.
Moral Conversion: Convince others to gain support, attract media attention through visibility (demonstrations, marches), enlist sponsors and opinion leaders, and form alliances or coalitions.
Moral Panic
Highly successful efforts of moral entrepreneurs can lead to a "moral panic" – a perceived threat to society, often amplified by media.
Usually triggered by a specific event, occurring in a ripe historical period, targeting individuals or groups, revealing "meaty content," and heightened by mass media and grassroots communication.
Eventually dies out but leaves residual effects (e.g., post-\text{9/11} airport security).
Rules may remain norms or become laws (e.g., smoking bans).
Differential Social Power - Labeling
Certain groups possess greater social power to construct and apply definitions of deviance.
Social power is derived from multiple factors:
Money: Influences politicians, funds research, lobbies against legislation.
Race and Ethnicity: Behaviors of dominant groups (e.g., whites) are less likely to be defined as deviant.
Gender: Men historically and currently dominate women across multiple spheres.
Age: Young and older individuals hold less respect and influence than their middle-aged counterparts.
Numbers and Organization: Larger, more organized groups exert greater sway.
Education: Well-educated professionals act as experts, organize campaigns, and advocate from a legitimate knowledge base.
Social Status: Prestige, tradition, and respectability associated with positions (e.g., religious, heterosexual, married individuals).
Differential Social Power - Resisting Labeling
Powerful groups and individuals benefit from a "halo effect," making them less likely to be perceived as deviant.
They engage in proactive "collective identity protection" to build and sustain a positive social image (e.g., pharmaceutical companies).
People have preconceived biases in favor of powerful groups, assuming them to be responsible and prosocial.
Perceptual biases based on appearances, occupations, and behavior often lead to instantaneous positive judgments.
These dynamics reinforce social inequality and the status quo.
Deviant Identity Development
Labeling occurs when an individual's "secret deviance" is exposed or an abstract status impacts their personal experience.
This process unfolds as a "deviant" or "moral" career, with individuals passing through stages from innocent to labeled as "different."
The Deviant Identity Career: Seven Stages
\textbf{I} Caught and Publicly Identified: The initial stage of formal or informal labeling.
\textbf{II} Attitudes Changed and Retrospective Interpretation: Others' attitudes shift, leading to a re-evaluation of the individual's past behavior.
\textbf{III} Spoiled Identity: Reputation is tarnished and hard to reverse; "commitment ceremonies" (like trials) officially label individuals.
\textbf{IV} Dynamics of Exclusion: Former friends ostracize the individual.
\textbf{V} Invited into Deviant Circles: The tarnished reputation becomes attractive to other deviant groups.
\textbf{VI} Treated Differently: Others' feelings and attitudes shift negatively; deviants are seen as less trustworthy.
\textbf{VII} Internalization of Label: Individuals internalize the deviant label ("looking glass selves"), affecting future behavior.
Master Statuses
A "master status" is a dominant identity that overrides other statuses, shaping self-concept and others' reactions (e.g., race, heroin addict).
Linked to "auxiliary traits" – common social preconceptions associated with these statuses (e.g., heroin addicts assumed to be prostitutes/thieves).
The relationship is reciprocal: a master status implies auxiliary traits, and recognizing auxiliary traits can lead to attributing a master status.
Primary vs. Secondary vs. Tertiary Deviance
Primary Deviance: Deviant acts are committed but go unrecognized.
Secondary Deviance: Deviant acts are discovered, leading to labeling and the initiation of the seven identity career stages. Individuals may use a "vocabulary of motive" (e.g., Matza's Neutralization Techniques) to explain actions.
Tertiary Deviance: Individuals embrace their deviant identity, using justifications and excuses, and often joining deviant groups, leading to further deviant acts.
Stigma Management
Individuals labeled as deviant learn to "manage" their stigma to avoid devaluation and exclusion, requiring considerable social skills.
This involves constant secrecy and information control.
The Discreditable
Individuals with easily concealable deviant traits (e.g., ex-convicts, secret homosexuals).
Strategies for stigma management:
"Passing" as normal, concealing deviance.
Avoiding "stigma symbols."
Using "disidentifiers" (props, actions, verbal expressions to mislead).
Leading a double life.
Employing others to "cover" for their deviance.
Disclosing deviance for cathartic, therapeutic, or preventive reasons.
The Discredited
Individuals whose deviance has been revealed or cannot be hidden (e.g., obese, racial minorities).
Disclosures of deviance follow two courses:
Deviance disavowal: Initially ignoring the deviance, then progressing to more relaxed interaction, and eventually overlooking the stigma.
Deviance avowal: Openly acknowledging the stigma and presenting oneself positively, often using humor to bridge with others.
Group/Collective Stigma Management
Stigma can be managed through voluntary associations of stigmatized individuals (e.g., Gay Liberation Front, 12-step programs).
These groups serve two dimensions:
Expressive dimension: Providing support, organizing social activities, and helping members adapt to their stigma.
Instrumental dimension: Combining support with political activism (a form of tertiary deviance) to challenge and change social definitions.
Conformity vs. Alienation
Groups managing stigma can vary along a continuum:
Conformity: Adhere to societal norms and values, helping members fit in.
Alienation: Either willing to use unconventional means to fight for changed definitions (e.g., Black Panthers) or possess multiple conflicting values with society (e.g., KKK descendants, Amish, nudist communes).