From Primary to Secondary Deviance: A Story of Transformation
The concepts of primary and social deviance, two sequential and related concepts of social behavior, explain the various degrees to which members of society violate social norms or rules. These two can be traced in the story of a 14-year-old teenager, Jake, who comes from a poor family and is involved in criminal activity.
Jake and his two friends made an attempt to steal a car. However, they were unsuccessful, as when they were breaking in, the neighbor caught them and called the police. The guys were charged with attempted theft and put on the primary deviance list. Nonetheless, they were dismissed, as teenagers are not eligible for real charges. Five years later, Jake was expelled from the college due to absenteeism. He was reposted to engage in gang-breaking in accommodations and stealing cars. The other day, he and his accomplice were arrested for hijacking a Ford Mustang. This is how a primary deviance can turn into a secondary one.
Conflict Theory and Secondary Deviance
The foundation of conflict theory is the idea that there are always underlying conflicts of interest in society. According to this point of view, secondary deviance was a means of expressing a protest against societal rules. The major proposition is that the social order is maintained by a balance of power where the interests of the powerful control and steer the needs and desires of the weak (Aye 35). Hence, by imposing laws and regulations on human behavior, individuals have the inner conflict of either sticking to the norms or being rebels.
Jake might have relied on the idea that if the law is pressing, he would oppose it by committing a crime. According to the theory, the dominant class in society, which is usually the ruling class or elites, controls institutions, resources, and laws that advance their interests and preserve their privileges and power (Ritzer and Stepnisky 69). Hence, there is pressure on the vulnerable groups, and they commit crimes. The major weakness of the discussed theory is that it ignores the roles of other social institutions like family, education, and others.
Merton’s Strain Theory and Secondary Deviance
Merton’s strain theory states that society puts pressure on people to achieve socially acceptable goals, although they do not have the means to do so. This leads to tension that can push people to commit crimes, such as selling drugs or engaging in prostitution as a means of obtaining financial security (Tibbetts and Piquero 56). Therefore, Jake might have been affected by his affluent classmates and was pressed to fight against his poverty by stealing a car.
The theory also highlights inequality in the sense of forcing individuals to chase money while ignoring social norms. The role of social institutions is to emphasize the disparities; for instance, there are elite and regular schools. The main drawback is that stress theory works only when it comes to the lower classes, who have a harder time achieving their objectives because they have fewer resources.
Labeling Theory and the Path to Deviance
Finally, according to the labeling theory of social behavior, people’s actions are greatly impacted by the labels that other members of society place on them. Therefore, by receiving the label of a deviant at the age of 14, Jake was prone to committing more crimes in the future. Its key proposition is that the role of social institutions is indispensable in the formation of one’s personality, which further fosters social disparities (Harding 67). Nonetheless, it is criticized for failing to provide an explanation for primary deviance, paying insufficient attention to the labeling of certain groups of individuals, and failing to outline the circumstances in which official labeling is effective.
Works Cited
Aye, Than Than. Conflict Theory in Sociology. GRIN Verlag, 2020.
Harding, Jamie. Criminological Research: A Student’s Guide. SAGE Publications, 2022.
Ritzer, George, and Stepnisky, Jeffrey N. Modern Sociological Theory. SAGE Publications, 2021.
Tibbetts, Stephen G., and Piquero, Alex R. Criminological Theory: The Essentials. SAGE Publications, 2021.