Deviant Behavior Theories Research Paper

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Divergent Responses to Deviant Behavior

The objective of this study is to examine two theories of deviant behavior that represent today's changing trends. This work will additionally examine three theories that may be considered outdated including: (1) Sheldon's Theory of Body Types; (2) Lombroso's Theory; and (3) Y Chromosome Theory, and will explain why they have been discredited.

Positivist Perspective

The positivist perspective views deviance as "absolutely or intrinsically real, in that is possesses some qualities that distinguish it from conventionality." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 4) Deviant individuals are views as having specific characteristics that make them different from conventional individuals. It was held by criminologists around the turn of the last century that criminals were in possession of specific biological traits that were not present in individuals that were law-abiding. Included in these biological traits were "defective genes, bumps on the head, a longer lower jaw, a scanty beard, and a tough body build." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 4) These are all inherited traits therefore, the belief was held that criminals were born rather than made and that they were "feebleminded, psychotic, neurotic, psychopathic, or otherwise mentally disturbed." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 4-5) However, it is reported that positive sociologists in the present day "have largely abandoned the use of biological and psychological traits to differentiate criminals from noncriminals." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 5) Rather, the role of social factors in the determination of the individual's criminal status is now recognized. The positivist sociologist holds that deviant behavior is "an observable object in that a deviant person is like an object, a real something that can be studied objectively." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 5) It is the assumption of positivist sociologists that "they can be as objective in studying deviance as natural scientists can be in studying physical phenomena.

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" (Pearson Higher Education,, nd, p. 5) Therefore, from this view the individual is treated as if they were an object just as those that natural scientist study. The positivist view is that deviance is "determined or caused by forces beyond the individual's control." (Pearson Higher Education,, nd, p. 5) It is however, the assumption of positivist sociologists in the present that human beings are in possession of free will and that this assumption "does not undermine the scientific principle of determinism…" in that "No matter how much a person exercises free will by making choices and decisions, the choices and decisions do not just happen but are determined by some causes." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 5)

II. Constructivist Perspective

The constructivist perceptive challenges the positivist perspective and holds that the "relativist view that deviant behavior by itself does not have any intrinsic characteristics unless it is thought to have these characteristics." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 5) It is held by the constructivist that the characteristics that are inherently deviant do not arise from the behavior itself but arise instead from the minds of some people. In other words "an act appears deviant only because some people think it so." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 5) It is reported that in the study of law enforcement agents, that constructivists have "found a huge lack of consensus on whether a person should be treated as a criminal. The police often disagree among themselves as to whether a suspect should be arrested, and judges often disagree among themselves s to whether those arrested should be convicted or acquitted." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 8) In fact, the varying of laws from one state to another is such that while….....

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