Key Assumption

1
Becoming Deviant(Erdwin Pfhul Stuart Henry)

• Key Assumption
• People know
• Deviation a conscious decision

2
Becoming Deviant Contributing Factors

• The Effective Environment
• Actual circumstances
• interpretation

3
Becoming Deviant Contributing Factors

• Biography
• Our social background
• Effective environment biography shape
• Affinity
• Willingness

4
Factors Contributing (to Affinity Willingness)

• Everyday life
• where we are now
• Role of others
• Friends role models
• Provide reasons, rationales
• Support

5
Factors Contributing (to Affinity Willingness)

• Commitment
• Commitment to conform, P of deviance
• Inverse relationship
• Hirschi
• Definition of self
• Am I the kind of person that would do that?

6
Factors Contributing (to Affinity Willingness)

• Deciding to deviate
• Overcoming moral constraints
• Techniques of neutralization, again (Sykes
  Matza)

7
Additions to Sykes and Matza

• Metaphor of the Ledger (Klockars, 1974)
• one bad act in an otherwise good record
• Claim of Normality (Henry, 1978)
• yes, it's illegal, but . . .
• Rules moral significance is trivialized
• Denial of Negative Intent (Moss, 1990)
• Acknowledge harm, but claim that the harm was not
  intentional
• "just having fun", "never meant for it to go so
  far"

8
Additions to Sykes Matza, contd

• Claim of Relative Acceptability (Moss, 1990)
• others' behavior is worse than the action in
  question

9
Cautionary Notes

• Willingness is NOT commitment
• Willingness has to be renewed (people change)
• People aren't deviant for all time
• Biography is always in the making

10
Continuing the Deviance?

• People evaluate their deviant experience
• Good? bad?
• Motives (affect decision initially and whether
  to continue)
• Recreation
• Status

11
Motives

• Motives (contd)
• Political
• protest desire to change meanings
• Problem-Solving
• Moral emotions humiliation, indignance
• To maintain in a stressful situation
• Self-help
• Interpersonal/Social
• The deviance maintains a relationship

12
Summary Comments

• Emphasis on Agency and Choice
• Irony Common ground with Classical Theory
• BUT
• Still focused on moral entrepreneurs and agents
  of control