Theories of Deviance 1

In this complete chapter the focus is on “Different theories of crime, deviance, social order and social control”.

Part 1 features four distinct but related areas:

1. Types of Deviance introduces a range of ideas about the general concept of deviance. These include:

• Societal deviance

• Situational deviance

• The interpretation and classification of behaviour

• Absolute and relative concepts of deviance

• Culpable and non-culpable forms of deviance

2. Functionalist Explanations introduces and evaluates a selection of classical functionalist theories (focused around the work of Durkheim and Merton)

3. Ecological Explanations focuses on the following areas:

• Physical environments

• Social environments

• Concentric Zone theory

• Cultural transmission theory

• Independent and reactive subcultures

4. Critical Theories looks at:

• Orthodox Marxism

• Critical subcultural perspectives

• Hegemony

• Cultural resistance

• Youth and Resistance

• Critical Criminology

The chapter includes full references for featured works.