Routine Activities in Social Context: A Closer Look at the role of Opportunities in Deviant Behavior
Jon Gunnar Bernburg, University at Albany
ABSTRACT: This paper argues that present versions of the routine activities approach to deviant behavior fail to account for the microsocial context of situational motivation and opportunity. This failure, in turn, leads researchers to misspecify the effects of the patterning of routine actitivites on deviant behavior. Using concepts from two distinct theoretical frameworks, social control and differential association theories, I argue that routine activities cannot simply be understood as neutral patternings of structural changes. To the contrary, social activities are guided by aims and practices of social actors. From this perspective, routine activities are less understood as causing behavior, they become part of what is to be explained. Using cross-sectional survey data from a nationally representative sample of 3860 Icelandic adolescents, my findings lend considerable support for these theoretical claims. As hypothesized, the effects of routine actitivites (unstructured socializing with peers) on types of deviant behavior are considerably reduced when differential social relations are controlled-that is, bonding with conventional agents (parents and school) and associations with deviant peers. Secondly, net of the main effects of differential social relations, routine actitivties (unstructured socializing with peers), and favorable definitions (neutralizations) on deviant behaviors, statistical interactions are reported between differential social relations and routine actitivties as well as between favorable definitions and routine actitivties. - http://www.asc41.com/www/1999/absyo011.htm

A Deductive Theory of Deviance
Chris Bader, Department of Sociology, University of Washington
In 1987, Stark and Bainbridge presented a deductive theory in the sociology of religion. They begin with a series of specifically stated assumptions based upon social exchange theory. From those assumptions Stark and Bainbridge generate formal propositions that explain how the exchange of rewards, the avoidance of costs, and differentials in power lead to patterns of interaction and, ultimately, larger social structures.

The current research uses the general assumptions and propositions from the Stark-Bainbridge theory as the basis for an integrated, deductive theory of deviant behavior. Using those assumptions, I derive propositions to explain the emergence of society, culture, norms, and stratification. By placing individuals within these contexts, I am able to derive their stake in conformity and predict the circumstances under which individuals will engage in deviant behavior. The resulting integrated theory utilizes concepts from conflict, labeling, differential association, social control, routine activities, and anomie theory. All of these concepts are derived from the same set of general assumptions. - http://www.soc.washington.edu/people/jobcand/baderabstract.html

Cigarette smoking is becoming a deviant behavior, especially when one engages in this behavior in the presence of others. No longer is it a behavior that only concerns the smoker and his/her health. It is now acknowledged as harmful to nonsmokers through the dangers of secondary smoke. Since smokers and nonsmokers are starting to recognize this potential danger of cigarette smoking, exposure to this harm for nonsmokers can be regulated. This recognition of smoking as a problem for nonsmokers changes the behavior from simply self-regarding behavior, where the smoker is only making decisions about the potential dangers of smoking for him/herself to other-regarding behavior, where the smoker must acknowledge the behavior’s impact on and potential danger to others. Through the use of opinion polls, this paper attempts to show how smoking is being redefined and is now seen as other-regarding behavior by both smokers and nonsmokers. - http://www.ou.edu/special/freeinq/v26n2a3.htm

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN DRUG USE and DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR in TEENAGERS.
AUTHORS: Ron D Hays & Phyllis L Ellickson
Drug use and delinquency share many common antecedents: early antisocial behavior, difficulties in school, impaired family relationships, delinquent or drug-using peers, and rebelliousness. But these common factors could underlie a cluster of problem behaviors or lead to distinctly different behavioral manifestations. Using data from 1,363 West Coast students in grade 10, this study examines the relationship between drug use and deviant behaviour. Analyses of student responses to self-administered surveys revealed three correlated higher-order dimensions of behavior: (1) alcohol use and sociability; (2) deviant behavior, including drug use other than alcohol; and (3) rebelliousness. A close relationship among tobacco and cannabis use and deviant behavior was revealed. Results suggest that drug prevention programs that curb initial and regular use of the gateway drugs, such as alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis, may have a broader, spillover impact on other deviant behavior. Results also suggest that programs aimed at both deviance and drug use are worth pursuing and that schools are an important venue for identifying deviant youth. The strong links between alcohol use and sociability underline the need to counteract the social acceptability of drinking and focus on the social contexts in which it occurs. Contains 38 references. (RJM) - http://www.edinburghtartanarmy.com

Adolescent Deviant Behavior: Who Is Influencing Our Youth?
Leila Saliba - Elon University
Abstract - This article will discuss adolescent deviant behavior, and how the environment that the child lives in shapes the choices they make. The data was taken by distributing a survey at a small liberal arts university in the southeastern United States. The research looks at basic chi squared data. The findings suggest that there is not a large correlation between how much peer pressure a person felt and the deviant behaviors they took part in.
What draws people, especially young people into criminal activities? What types of social pressures cause them to join such activities? The current research examines what social pressures affect adolescents the most and in what environments are these teens involved. This paper will ask whether peer pressure has an influence over young people’s decisions in taking part in deviant behavior. In the past fifty years there has been a considerable amount of research done on what drives someone to participate in criminal behavior. - http://www.elon.edu/ajones5/Leila's%20paper.htm

An Economic Theory of Deviance
Jeong-Yoo Kim, Gang Lee
Abstract: We develop a model of deviance by incorporating the labeling effect into rational choice theory. In our model, we provide an explanation of the process through which a deviant is being stigmatized and explore theoretically the relationship between the experience of having deviated and the incentive of deviation. Surprisingly, our study finds that an ex-deviant is not necessarily more likely to deviate, contrary to widely held belief. This is because the ex-deviant may hesitate more to violate the norm one more time for fear of being labeled as a pathological deviant. Also, we define the concept of “complete stigma” and demonstrate that a rational individual is not completely stigmatized in equilibrium with positive probability.

Early Deviance and Related Risk Factors in the Children of Narcotic Addicts
David N. Nurco, D.S.W., Robert Blatchley, Ph.D., Thomas E. Hanlon, Ph.D., Kevin E. O’Grady, Ph.D.
Abstract: Expanding upon previous analyses of the impact of addict parenting impact on childhood deviance, this study examines the self-reported behaviors of 285 male and female adolescent children (age 12-17) of narcotic addicts participating in methadone maintenance programs. The children responded to an extensive two and one-half hour interview questionnaire focusing on current and past activities including the variety, and severity of criminal activity prior to age 12. Findings of the study revealed that early deviance in the children of addicts, while not significantly related to most parenting variables, was related to later adolescent drug and alcohol use, association with deviant peers, a negative view of home atmosphere, and psychological symptomtology. These results are contrasted with the retrospective self-reports of adolescent behavior obtained from male narcotic addicts who had participated in our vulnerability study. The marked comparability of study results is discussed in the context of developmental risk factors, prevention and treatment strategies, and other considerations specifically related to the development of children of narcotic addicts. - http://www.friendssocialresearch.org/2003_%20src_abstracts.htm

Adolescent Children of Narcotic Addicts: Deviant Behaviors and Their Correlates
David N. Nurco, D.S.W.
Abstract: This study examines the self reported behaviors of 285 male and female adolescent children of narcotic addicts participating in methadone maintenance programs. These children had responded to an extensive two and one-half hour interview questionnaire focusing on their current circumstances and behaviors including their current and past involvement with drugs, alcohol, and illegal behaviors. The data analyses related these criteria behaviors to family structure, parenting, home atmosphere, peer deviance, adult role models, and psychological status. The findings indicated that the deviant behaviors of the adolescent children of addicts are strongly related to their perception of the home atmosphere, their association with deviant peers, and to numerous psychological factors including hostility, depression, semantic concerns, and decreased energy and interest. These results are discussed in terms of developmental risk factors, prevention and treatment interventions, and other considerations related to adolescent children of narcotic addicts. - http://www.friendssocialresearch.org/2003_%20src_abstracts.htm

Subcultures and Deviant Behavior in the Organizational Context
PUB YEAR: 1998 - JOURNAL: Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 1998, 15, 3-34.
ABSTRACT: Utilizes an integrated theory of white-collar deviance to explore the role subcultures play in the etiology of deviant behavior by individuals & groups in organizations & organizations themselves. The theory is based on the notion that both motivation & opportunity must come together to produce deviant behavior. In the organizational context, subcultures influence both motivation & opportunity by fostering & diffusing the symbolic structures & rationalizations central to the motivational process & by helping to shape the distribution of opportunities available to individuals & groups. This subcultural influence does not always work to encourage deviant behavior, & it is argued that the likelihood that any particular subculture will, in fact, promote deviance is determined by two general factors - its degree of deviant orientation & the strength of the influence it exerts over its members.

What are deviant behavior and social control? In chapter 1 of Deviant Behavior Erich Goode begins by debunking what he considers false conceptions of deviance. His "Five Misleading Definitions of Deviance" correspond to the misconceptions of many laypersons and several scholars as well.  www.extend.indiana.edu/courses/soc/socs320b/lesson1/disc1a.htm

The Scientist - Is There Room in Science for Self-Promotion? ... such as eponymizing oneself; the under-acknowledgment of collaborators; ad hominem attacks; and publicity seeking ("Deviant Behavior and Social Control in ... www.the-scientist.com/yr1987/dec/opin4_871214.html

The Nature and Extent of Deviance
How Do Deviant Groups Come into Being?
http://www.northern.wvnet.edu/~gnorton/soc125/soclec8.htm

Goode: A Brief Definition of Deviance. What are deviant behavior and social control? In chapter 1 of Deviant Behavior Erich Goode begins by debunking what he considers false conceptions of deviance. His "Five Misleading Definitions of Deviance" correspond to the misconceptions of many laypersons and several scholars as well.  www.extend.indiana.edu/courses/soc/socs320b/lesson1/disc1a.htm

Deviant Identity as a Moderator of the Relation between Negative Self-Feelings and Deviant Behavior 
Howard B. Kaplan, Texas A&M University 
Cheng-Hsien Lin, Texas A&M University 
The Journal of Early Adolescence, Vol. 20, No. 2, 150-177 (2000) DOI: 10.1177/0272431600020002003 © 2000 SAGE Publications
Informed by a general theory of deviant behavior, it was hypothesized that the positive effect of negative self-feelings on later deviant behavior would be observed only for youth who are not characterized by a deviant identity. Data from a panel of youths tested during early adolescence and retested 3 years later (N = 1,041) were used to estimate structural equations models. As hypothesized, for youths without a deviant identity, negative self-feelings had both direct and indirect (via contemporary deviant behavior) positive effects on later deviant behavior. For youths characterized by deviant identities, however, no overall effect of negative self-feelings on deviant behavior was observed due to the operation of countervailing effects. Countering the indirect positive effects of negative self-feelings (presumably reflecting alienation from the conventional order) were inverse direct effects of negative self-feelings on later deviant behavior (presumably reflecting alienation from the deviant identity stemming from its association with concomitant negative self-feelings). - jea.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/150

Self-Perceptions of Friendship-Making Ability and Perceptions of Friends’ Deviant Behavior: Childhood to Adolescence 
Carolyn McNamara Barry, University of Maryland 
Allan Wigfield, University of Maryland 
The Journal of Early Adolescence, Vol. 22, No. 2, 143-172 (2002) DOI: 10.1177/0272431602022002002 © 2002 SAGE Publications
Stability and change from middle childhood to middle adolescence in participants’perceptions of their friendship-making ability and their friends’ deviant behavior were examined. Third-grade, fourth-grade, and sixth-grade children completed questionnaires that assessed those constructs and did so again 5 years later. Participants perceived their friendship-making ability as greater during childhood than during adolescence. Adolescents perceived their friends as more deviant than did children. Each of the two perceptions was not highly stable over 5 years. Aspects of children’s perceived social competence were examined as predictors of adolescents’ perceived friendship-making ability and the deviant behavior of their friends. Children’s perceived friendship-making ability and value, and frequency of friend interaction significantly predicted adolescents’ perceived friendship-making ability, whereas children’s perceived deviant behavior of friends, friendship-making ability (a negative predictor), and popularity with boys and with girls significantly predicted adolescents’ perceived deviant behavior of their friends. - jea.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/22/2/143

The Implications of Respondent Loss in Panel Studies of Deviant Behavior 
Sheila Cordray, Department of Sociology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon 
Kenneth Polk, Department of Sociology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Vol. 20, No. 2, 214-242 (1983) DOI: 10.1177/002242788302000205 © 1983 SAGE Publications
While the panel design offers many advantages to social scientists, especially those studying deviant behavior, a major source of potential bias and error of this design is the loss of respondents over time. The present investigation draws upon a secondary analysis of data from seven panel studies which followed adolescent populations through time to examine the impact of such attrition on univariate, bivariate, and multivariate estimates obtained from individuals who remain in panels. Those who remain over time in panels are found to provide relatively accurate estimates of bivariate and multivariate relationships. Univariate estimates such as incidence or prevalence measures of deviance are found to be slightly but systematically biased, this tendency being more clear when the panel is constructed from a broadly representative population base. - jrc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/20/2/214

The Conception of Criminality Illustrated by a Stochastic Process Model for Deviant Behavior 
Eggert Petersen, University of Copenhagen, Health Research Institute, Copenhagen 
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, Vol. 9, No. 1, 31-45 (1972) DOI: 10.1177/002242787200900104 © 1972 SAGE Publications
It is common knowledge that individuals vary regarding criminal tendency. That the surroundings vary correspondingly - as will become clear from the investigation described below - is less evident. The everyday view of criminality which is also widespread among scientists and theorists is namely "one-dimensional"- absolute and static. The concept of "criminal" (denoting criminal persons) is a pure Aristotelian classification, i.e., a collective name, deriving from one criterion of the fact that different individuals in widely different situations have shown widely different behavior. From a psychological point of view the concept is without any actual contents. From a relativistic dynamic conception of criminality, however, criminality does neither characterize the person in himself nor the current environment as such, but must be seen as an effect of the interaction between the person and the current environment. 
By means of a stochastic model operating with parameters for the individual person, and parameters for the specific current environment, there is an account of how naval criminality may be described from a model of interaction given below. 
The investigation introducing individual-centered stochastic models of interaction in criminology also illustrates the problems of comparison which criminology faces, together with the conception of criminality. - jrc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/9/1/31

Adolescent Sexual Activity and Mildly Deviant Behavior 
Sibling and Friendship Effects 
JOSEPH LEE RODGERS, University of Oklahoma 
DAVID C. ROWE, University of Arizona 
Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 11, No. 3, 274-293 (1990) DOI: 10.1177/019251390011003003 © 1990 SAGE Publications
This article addresses the relationship between two related behavioral domains in adolescents: sexual activity and mildly deviant behavior (defined as behaviors of which parents would disapprove, but which are not illegal). Previous work has demonstrated overlap between these behavioral domains. We use a unique data set - the data from the Carolina Population Center's Adolescent Sexuality (ADSEX) Project which contain linkable responses of siblings, best friends, and other friends - to quantify the degree of overlap and separation between sexuality and mild deviance. We cast our work in a conceptual context identifying the prominent members of a respondent's environment, including siblings, same-sex friends (best friends and other friends) and opposite-sex friends (best and other friends). Results support previous research showing overlap between sexuality and mild deviance; however, the two domains are also distinguishable. Furthermore, theoretical predictions generated by the conceptual framework - by considering the relationship of adolescents to others in their environment - are supported by the data. - jfi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/11/3/274

Nonparametric Analysis of Adolescent Deviant Behavior 
YUNLING DU, Columbia University 
MICHAEL G. AKRITAS, Pennsylvania State University 
STEVEN F. ARNOLD, Pennsylvania State University 
D. WAYNE OSGOOD, Pennsylvania State University 
Sociological Methods & Research, Vol. 30, No. 3, 309-340 (2002) DOI: 10.1177/0049124102030003002 © 2002 SAGE Publications
The impact of certain personal characteristics on marijuana use while controlling for routine activities in everyday life is analyzed. The assumptions underlying several logistic regression models, as well as the parametric analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) model, are violated in this example. More critical from the practical point of view is the fact that the covariate is measured on an ordinal (noninterval) scale, implying that the results from such analyses depend on the chosen scale. The analysis of main effects and interactions while accounting for the presence of the covariate using this nonparametric model is compared with similar analyses using the parametric ANCOVA and logistic regression models. The formal analysis is supplemented by new exploratory data analysis plots. Significance tests for certain ordered and other patterned alternatives are proposed and evaluated via simulations. Results are compared with those using logistic regression models treating the levels of the factors as ordinal. smr.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/30/3/309

The Morality of Employee Theft: Teaching about Ethics and Deviant Behavior in the Workplace 
Roland E. Kidwell, Jr., Susan M. Kochanowski, Niagara University 
Journal of Management Education, Vol. 29, No. 1, 135-152 (2005) DOI: 10.1177/1052562903261180 © 2005 The Organizational Behavior Teaching Society
Deviant behavior at work is an important topic for management education because of its prevalence and cost to both organizations and people. This article demonstrates how the ethical ramifications of workplace activities identified as deviant can be actively discussed by students and by educators in the classroom by using an original case study. The case study includes behaviors that appear to break company rules and norms. Workplace deviance is discussed in the context of the following questions: What is deviant workplace behavior? Is it always negative? How can it be influenced by organizational culture? Possible connections between the way deviance is handled in the classroom and its subsequent occurrences in the workplace are discussed. - jme.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/29/1/135

The Influence of Adolescent Substance Use and Socialization on Deviant Behavior in Young Adulthood 
SYBILLE M. GUY, University of California, Los Angeles 
GENE M. SMITH, Harvard University School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital 
P. M. BENTLER, University of California, Los Angeles 
Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 21, No. 2, 236-255 (1994) DOI: 10.1177/0093854894021002004 © 1994 American Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology
This study examined the impact of adolescent substance use on adult substance use and criminal behavior. Longitudinal data from 657 participants were assessed over 12 years (1969-1981). Latent variable models were used to determine what effect, if any, adolescent drug use had on later deviance. In addition, constructs relevant to traditional theories of social control, such as the extent of socialization and obedience to rules, were also included as predictors. The results showed that a general drug use factor in adolescence significantly predicted adult illicit substance use, theft, and interpersonal aggression. Drug-related accidents (automobile and other) were also predicted from adolescent drug use. These findings are consistent with several theories suggesting that different forms of deviance may influence each other over time. - cjb.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/21/2/236

Deviant Behavior and Victimization Among Homeless and Runaway Adolescents 
LES B. WHITBECK, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
DAN R. HOYT, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
KEVIN A. YODER, Iowa State University 
ANA MARI CAUCE, University of Washington 
MATT PARADISE, University of Washington 
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 16, No. 11, 1175-1204 (2001) DOI: 10.1177/088626001016011005 © 2001 SAGE Publications
This study used a high-risk population of runaway and homeless adolescents to investigate the effects of a history of caretaker abuse and deviant subsistence strategies on victimization among adolescents. Based on a multisite sample of 974 homeless and runaway adolescents, logistic regression models were used first to examine factors predicting involvement in sexual and nonsexual deviant subsistence strategies and then to investigate the effects of deviant subsistence strategies on physical and sexual victimization when adolescents were on the streets. Results indicated that when controlling for all other factors, including histories of physical and sexual maltreatment in families of origin, street behaviors, sexual orientation, and informal support systems, engaging in nonsexual deviant subsistence strategies increased the likelihood of physical victimization more than two times. Engaging in sexual deviant subsistence strategies increased the likelihood of sexual victimization almost four times. The results are interpreted in terms of life course developmental theory and lifestyle exposure theories. - jiv.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/16/11/1175

Sex with informants as deviant behavior: an account and commentary 
Goode E.
Source: Deviant Behavior, Volume 20, Number 4, 1 October 1999, pp. 301-324(24)
Abstract: Engaging in sex with informants in social research is regarded as deviant; hence, it is rarely admitted in print. The author argues that such behavior is likely to influence what the researcher sees, how conclusions are reached, and what is written about. He summarizes what has been discussed on the issue of sexual self-disclosure and indicates how his own intimate relations with informants on three projects may have shaped his vision and conclusions. Sex with informants both provides benefits and poses risks; some of them are discussed as well. In addition, ethical issues are raised and discussed. Some possible reasons are advanced as to why reticence tends to be the rule in ethnographic sexual experiences. - ingentaconnect.com

Geneticization of Deviant Behavior and Consequences for Stigma: The Case of Mental Illness 
Phelan, Jo C.
Source: Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Volume 46, Number 4, December 2005, pp. 307-322(16)
Abstract: One likely consequence of the genetics revolution is an increased tendency to understand human behavior in genetic terms. How might this "geneticization" affect stigma? Attribution theory predicts a reduction in stigma via reduced blame, anger, and punishment and increased sympathy and help. According to "genetic essentialist" thinking, genes are the basis of human identity and strongly deterministic of behavior. If such ideas are commonly accepted, geneticization should exacerbate stigma by increasing perceptions of differentness, persistence, seriousness, and transmissibility, which in turn should increase social distance and reproductive restrictiveness. I test these predictions using the case of mental illness and a vignette experiment embedded in a nationally representative survey. There was little support for attribution theory predictions. Consistent with genetic essentialism, genetic attributions increased the perceived seriousness and persistence of the mental illness and the belief that siblings and children would develop the same problem. Genetic attribution did not affect reproductive restrictiveness or social distance from the ill person but did increase social distance from the person's sibling, particularly regarding intimate forms of contact involving dating, marriage, and having children. - ingentaconnect.com

Medicalization in Nepal: A Study of the Influence of Westernization on Defining Deviant and Illness Behavior in a Developing Country 
L. Allen Furr, Department of Sociology, 125 Lutz Hall, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA, allenfurr@louisville.edu 
International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Vol. 45, No. 1-2, 131-142 (2004) DOI: 10.1177/0020715204048314 © 2004 SAGE Publications
One point of debate in discussions of the modernization of developing societies concerns the effects of Westernization on how people in these societies see the world and develop a sense of meaning in light of rapid and often broad-sweeping social and cultural changes. Where Western culture has little influence, traditional and religious based ideologies that define "why people misbehave" dominate modes of thinking, and medicalized definitions of deviant behavior are absent (Conrad 1992).This study of 276 Nepali teachers investigates if definitions of deviant behavior may be influenced by encroaching Westernization. Subjects were presented with a scenario of a 12-year-old girl engaging in deviant behavior. Results indicate that those who were in agreement with certain Western values and cultural tastes were more likely to label the girl’s behavior as a mental illness and to refer her to a Western-style social agent for treatment rather than to a traditional Nepali helper. These findings lend tentative support to the notion that medicalization is a function of Western culture. - cos.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/45/1-2/131