Running Head: LAW, CRIME AND DEVIANCE

Law, Crime and Deviance

Professor George Ansalone
Jessica Johnson
4 December 2014
Florida Gulf Coast University

LAW, CRIME, AND DEVIANCE

When studying the subject of criminology and deviant behavior, one can quickly see that
there is a complex relationship between law, crime, and deviance. Deviance can be difficult to
define, and once one does, they must then figure out how it relates to law and how it is both
different than and similar to crime. Two very important concepts that one also must understand
within this topic are neutralization/rationalization theory and stain/anomie theory, and how they
may explain criminal behavior when paired together. This paper will serve to examine these
concepts, their definitions, and their multifaceted relationships with each other.
While the definition of crime (an act that breaks written law and is punishable by
imprisonment and/or fines) is relatively straightforward, trying to embody what deviance is in a
short definition is not at all simple. According to Chambliss and Eglitis (2014), the definition of
deviance is, any behavior, practice, or condition, including those that violate cultural norms or
societal laws, that results in disapproval, hostility, or sanction if it becomes known. What this
definition suggests is that the term deviance can sometimes be used to describe criminal
behavior, if that behavior breaks law, but that the behavior doesnt have to be breaking a law to
be labeled as deviant; rather, the only thing that a behavior, practice, or condition must entail to
be considered deviant is the breaking of a cultural norm. With that said, I would personally
define deviance as a behavior or practice that is not necessarily breaking a law, but is breaking a
norm, and is therefore labeled as deviant, which may result in judgment and sanctions from
certain members of society.
This comprehensive definition persists the tem deviance is not used to describe acts
that break law, necessarily, but more so to define acts that break norms, resulting in the one who
commits the act to be labeled as deviant. Thus, deviance has a different relationship with law
than crime does. Although deviancy may be used to describe behavior that breaks law, this

LAW, CRIME, AND DEVIANCE

behavior would then also have to be deemed as a crime. However, while crime breaks written
law, deviant acts usually do not, but tend only to break unwritten cultural norms. Crimes are
punishable because of written laws, which is not usually the case in acts of deviance. An example
of deviant behavior would be a man in America who tattoos his face to resemble the devil and
wears satanic clothing and jewelry. This person may face punishment in the form of being
shunned by other members of society because of his deviance from cultural norms, but he is not
breaking any written laws, and therefore is not committing a crime.
Many theories in the sociology of crime and deviance tie into Durkheims concept of
anomie, so before exploring any theories, this concept is important to understand. According to
Emile Durkheim (1973), anomie is a weakened condition in society where crime increases
because of the disintegration of social order. This may be why Mertons theory of structural
strain is actually sometimes referred to as anomie theory; Mertons strain theory says that
structural strain exists when members of a society do not have the means to achieve culturally
defined goals presented by a society, and when this happens, deviancy rates will be high
(Merton, 1938). Merton also suggests that five different kinds of personalities develop in a
society where this strain exists, including the conformist, innovator, ritualistic, retreater, and
rebellious personalities. These different personalities occur out whether or not each type chooses
accept cultural goals and the means needed to accomplish them. (Chambliss and Eglitis, 2014).
For instance, a person with a conformist personality accepts the goals of the society and, though
frustrated with the level of difficulty, also accepts what they need to do in order to achieve those
goals. However, one with an innovator personality accepts the goals but not the means to achieve
them and may turn to white collar crimes to achieve the common American societal goal of being
rich.

LAW, CRIME, AND DEVIANCE

Another theory that when paired with anomie theory might explain criminal behavior is
rationalization, or neutralization theory. Originally theorized by sociologists Matza and Sykes,
this theory claims that in order to rid of the guilt that comes from committing a crime, criminals
come up with rationalizations or excuses for their criminal behavior (Liddick, 2013) One
example would be a person that tells their self it is okay for them to steal from a large department
store because the company has so much wealth, justifying to themselves that it is okay to steal,
and becoming a thief. These types of people continue committing crimes because they no longer
have neutralized the guilt that stops most people from being a criminal. A way that this theory
can be combined with Anomie Theory to explain criminal behavior as a whole is as follows:
Criminals are perhaps created through two different venues; they either commit criminal acts at
the fault of a personality that they obtain because of an inconsistency between societys goals for
success and their means of reaching them, or they behave as criminals because they come up
with justifications for their criminal actions. Combined, these two theories may explain why
criminal behavior generally occurs.
In brief, although crime, law, and deviance may seem to have a complex relationship,
with research, one can see that an important difference exists in that criminal behavior always
breaks written law while deviant behavior usually does not. Also, the two theories mentioned
(Anomie/Strain and Rationalization/Neutralization) when combined may help to bring light to
why exactly criminal behavior often occurs in society. One can see through these two theories
that there are many different reasons that they may not have thought of as to why people exhibit
deviant behavior and why people commit crimes.

References

LAW, CRIME, AND DEVIANCE

Chambliss, W., & Eglitis, D. (2014). Discover sociology SAGE Publications.
Durkheim, E. (1973). Emile Durkheim on morality and society (Heritage of Sociology Series). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1922)
Liddick, D. (2013). Techniques of neutralization and animal rights activists. Deviant Behavior,34(8),
618-634
Merton, Robert K. 1938. Social Structure and Anomie. American Sociological Review 3:67282.