The Sociology Book

283

Durkheim, G.H. Mead, and the
Chicago School in the US—is
particularly associated with the
work of US sociologists Howard
S. Becker and Edwin Lemert.

Types of deviancy
Lemert distinguished between the
ideas of “primary” and “secondary”
deviancy. According to him,
primary deviance is when a crime
or other act is committed, but is
not officially labeled as deviant,
either because it went unnoticed
or because the perpetrator was
considered to be acting out of
character. Either way, it does not
attach a label of “deviant” to the
individual. Secondary deviance
is the effect that society’s reaction
has on an individual. If someone
commits a crime, and is caught
and labeled as criminal or deviant,
they may change their behavior
in the future to live up to that label.
In Outsiders (1963), Becker
developed a number of Lemert’s
ideas and laid the foundations for
what became known as labeling
theory. He argued that there is
no such thing as a deviant act:
how we respond to an act depends
on whether a particular form of

behavior has become sanctioned

within a given society. For example,

“terrorists” are accused of murder,

but the army may legally kill

terrorists. And among Western

nations, as recently as the 1990s,

a husband forcing intercourse on

his wife was not guilty of rape,

according to the law. Becker claims

that it is not the act itself that is

deviant; the response of society

defines it as such and, crucially,

the responses of the powerful

determine how society is expected

to view such behaviors. Only those

who have power can make a label

stick; institutions such as the

criminal justice system can ensure

that a deviant label will follow an

individual. Rather than being

universal, deviance is relative—

it depends on who commits it

and how it is responded to.

Moral entrepreneurs

Coining a label that has proved

extremely useful in the social

sciences, Becker identifies ❯❯

See also: Émile Durkheim 34–37 ■ Ferdinand Tönnies 32–33 ■ Edward Said 80–8 ■ Elijah Anderson 82–83 ■
G.H. Mead 176–77 ■ Erving Goffman 190–95 ■ Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis 288–89 ■ Stanley Cohen 290

THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS

Deviant behavior

is behavior that

people so label.

Howard S. Becker

A group of privileged undergraduates who smash up a restaurant

when fueled by alcohol may be accused of student high jinks, while

a group of working-class boys displaying identical behavior may

be labeled as delinquents.

Working-class youths

Criminal damage or youthful exuberance?

Privileged students

HIGH JINKS DELINQUENT