Outsiders—Defining Deviance - Lee Clarke

outsiders DefiningDevianceHOWARDBECKERIn this article, Howard Becker defines outsiders as individuals who breaka rule agreed on by a group. Becker also claims that rule breakers mayperceive a person who enforces the rule as an outsider. In other words,Becker argues, many different facets of deviant behavior are relative. This1963 piece established an early foundation for what has become known asthe interactionist theory of deviant social groups make rules and attempt, at some times and undersome circumstances, to enforce them. Social rules define situationand the kinds of behavior appropriate to them, specifying some actions as right and forbidding others as wrong. When a rule is enforced, theperson who is supposed to have broken it may be seen as a special kind ofperson, one who cannot be trusted to live by the rules agreed on by thegroup. He is regarded as an outsider.

processes deviant or identify them as symptoms of social disorganization. They discriminate between those features of society which promote stability (and thus are “functional”) and those which disrupt stability (and thus are

Loading..

Tags:

  Defining, Deviance, Outsiders, Deviant, Outsiders defining deviance

Information

Related search queries