DEVIANCE AND CONTROL - THE SECULAR HERESY

• NCJ Number: 51804
• Author(s): T MORRIS
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 157 pages
• Corporate Author: Hutchinson and Co, Ltd
• Sale Source: Hutchinson and Co, Ltd
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

THE PERCEPTIONS OF DEVIANCE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES ARE COMPARED WITH THOSE IN EARLIER PERIODS USING VARIOUS POPULAR SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES, AND PROCEDURES OF SOCIAL CONTROL ARE EXAMINED IN THE SAME LIGHT.

Abstract

DEVIANCE IS DETERMINED BY THE CONCEPTIONS OF CORRECT OF 'NORMAL' BEHAVIOR CHARACTERISTIC OF PARTICULAR CULTURES AT PARTICULAR PERIODS. IN CULTURES WITH RELIGIOUS CONSTRUCTS FOR LABELING THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR, HERESY IS CONSIDERED SYNONYMOUS WITH THE SECULAR SOCIETY CONCEPT OF DEVIANCE. SOCIAL CONTROL THEN BECOMES A COMPLEX EFFORT AT ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A POLITICAL/SOCIAL/ECONOMIC ORDER REFLECTIVE OF THE VALUES AND INTERESTS OF THOSE HOLDING POWER AND AUTHORITY IN A GIVEN SOCIETY. SOCIAL CONTROL IS SOMETIMES REFLECTIVE OF PREVAILING MORAL CONSENSUS IN A SOCIETY, BUT IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES CHARACTERIZED BY MORAL PLURALISM, SOCIAL CONTROL MAY BE EXERCISED IN THE INTERESTS AND BY THE VALUES OF THOSE IN POWER. THOSE WIELDING THE POWER OF SOCIAL CONTROL CLOAK THE CONCEPTS OUT OF WHICH THEY DEFINE DEVIANCE WITH AN AURA OF ABSOLUTISM AND EVEN UNIVERSALITY, SO THAT DEVIANCE IS VIEWED AS ABSOLUTE EVIL. SOCIOLOGICALLY, HOWEVER, DEVIANCE IS VIEWED AS REFLECTIVE OF UNREST AND THE EXISTENCE OF UNMET NEEDS IN A SOCIETY; THUS, CERTAIN MANIFESTATIONS CAN BECOME THE CUTTING EDGE FOR REFORM OF THE CONCEPTS AND CONTENT OF SOCIAL CONTROL. IT IS NOTED THAT MARXISM, POSITIVISM, AND FREUDIAN CONCEPTS ADVOCATE CERTAIN FRAMEWORKS FOR VIEWING DEVIANCE, AND THE AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGES HIS OWN BIAS TOWARD VIEWING DEVIANCE AS ELEMENTS OF SELFISHNESS, GREED, CRUELTY, AND DISPOSITION TOWARD INJUSTICE MINGLED WITH THE CAPACITY FOR LOVE, SACRIFICE, AND JUSTICE PRESENT IN ALL HUMAN BEINGS--AN ACKNOWLEDGED CHRISTIAN VIEW. VARIOUS SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OF CRIMINOLOGICAL DEVIANCE ARE EXAMINED, AND THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE EXTENT AND CHARACTER OF DEVIANCE IN A GIVEN SOCIETY CAN BE ESTIMATED IS DISCUSSED. THE FINAL CHAPTER IS DEVOTED TO EXAMINATION OF THE APPARATUS OF SOCIAL CONTROL. (RCB)