Week 2

Taylor & Francis. Patterns in Account-Giving Among White Collar Criminals. Deviant Behavior, 35, 101-
115. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
The hypothesis behind this research was that the Swedish subjects various feelings regarding the
functioning of the market in which they worked and feelings about regulation and taxation would
produce different accounts of the white collar crimes. Scott and Lyman offer two account categories:
Excuses (scape-goating, appeal to biological drives, appeal to accidents, and appeal to
defeasibility) which operate to remove the perpetrator from responsibility of the deviance and
justifications (denial of victim, denial of injury, condemnation of condemners, and appeal to
loyalties) in which the perpetrator offers an explanation of why their behavior was positive in nature.
This concept was driven by the rationalization that people who felt conditions were just would be
inclined to take into account their wrong doing and offer an apology (excuse making). Conversely,
people who felt conditions were unjust would be inclined to describe their deviance as necessary means
to overcome a bad situation (justification). The research concluded that those who viewed taxation and
regulation and market functioning as negative were more likely to offer a justification for their crime
where as those who had a positive attitude about taxation and regulation. Both those who offered
excuses and justifications held a negative view of the market. The implications for this research would
be that those who commit the same crimes may have different motivations in giving their own account
of that crime. This article is relevant to our class simply because it gives a better insight into the psyche
of those who choose to deviate. One critique I would have of this article is that the sample, given that
only Swedish white collar crime offenders were examined, may not be representative of the larger
population.
Taylor & Francis. Mature Motorcyclists: Violating Age Norms and Loving It. Deviant Behavior, 35, 233-
242. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
Due to the large number of fifty year olds and up pursing motorcycle riding, this article explores whether
or not there is a certain age at which riding a motor cycle becomes deviant, and if there is such an age,
what are the potential consequences? This behavior has the potential to be seen as deviant as it is
typically thought of as either a younger behavior or just a deviant behavior in itself. One answer to this
question was that no state has set a maximum age that one can ride a motorcycle. Thus, the deviance of
riding a motorcycle at an older age lies in culture rather than in law. In a study conducted of 224
motorcycle riders, those fifty or older all acknowledged that they were violating an informal social norm
but ignored what people thought, didnt care what others thought, or enjoyed the reaction. Most of the
participants also indicated that poor health rather than age would be the determinant of when they
would stop riding. The implications for this article are that although elderly motor cycle riding may be
seen as a form of informal deviance, those riders fifty or older are only continuing to grow and perhaps
one day this behavior will be normalized. I really liked this article because this is never something I
thought about when considering deviance. This article is extremely relevant to our class because it is
very eye opening about not only age expectations but also the nature of informal deviance.
Week 3
Hawdon, J. E. Cycles of Deviance: Structural Change, Moral Boundaries, and Drug Use 1880-1990.
Sociological Spectrum, 16, 183-207. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
This article explores the rates of deviant behavior fluctuation in conjunction with the history of drug use
in the United States. The article explains that an increase in deviant behaviors usually occurs when
behaviors that were once thought of as normal come to be seen as acceptable practices. It states that
there were two separate drug academics occurring after 1880, and that these occurred during times in
which there were high rates of both social mobility and structural chance, and it further explained that
the central idea behind this theory is that social structure changes lead to alterations in morals
standards and thus the deviance structure. This occurs because groups who were once separated, begin
to interact with one another and makes the group, as a whole, blend together, causing behaviors once
seen as deviant to become accepted. If groups remain separated, group unity is enhanced, and thus
beliefs about deviant behaviors remain stable. The first epidemic occurred 1881 and 1920 where social
mobility was influenced by increased immigration and industrialization, and the second wave occurred
during the 60s and 70s when social mobility was increased due to factors such as womens reentry into
the workforce, suburbanization, and increase in immigration. The implications for these findings are that
structural changes in society may affect our views of deviance. Interacting with a group outside our own
may lead us to accept behaviors we previously thought were deviant. One criticism I would have is that
just because drug fluctuation seems to fit this model, this does not mean this explains other forms of
deviance. This is relevant to our understandings of deviance to see how different groups define deviance
and how group interaction can lead to new definitions of deviance.
Hawdon, J. E. The Role of Presidential Rhetoric in the Creation of a Moral Panic: Reagan, Bush, and the
War on Drugs. Deviant Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 22, 419-440. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
This article questioned what type of rhetoric, used by presidents, can aid in creating, sustaining, and
terminating moral panics. It argued that moral panics begin when presidents use proactive and punitive
statements and that moral panics subside when reactive and rehabilitative rhetorical statements are
issued. The article explained that there were 4 main implementation styles, punitive, which assumes
drug use is a choice, rehabilitative, which sees drug choice as a disease, proactive, which tries to prevent
future crimes, and reactive which is enacted in effect of previous crimes. It also explained the difference
between communitarianism, which focuses on the whole rather than individuals, and individualism,
which blames dysfunction on the group and assumes the individual is naturally good. The article showed
how Regan helped create moral panic by first using collectivist or communitarian rhetoric to glorify the
group, individualize the problem, and identify folk devils, then used proactive or punitive statements to
sustain the moral panic, and lastly implemented policy which was eventually abandoned, and fear
decreased. They show that the end of this moral panic could also have been perpetuated by Bush who
used rehabilitative rhetoric. The article found its hypothesis to be true, excluding the hypothesis
surrounding punitive policies. The implications for this research are that moral panics about things such
as drugs, may reflect the agenda of those in power rather than an actual moral dilemma. Thus, what
society sees as deviant may be a result of politics. One critique I have for the article is that it did not
have much of a discussion about Bushs rhetoric. This is relevant for our study of deviant behavior to see
how certain things become the focus of deviance and may be seen as more deviant than another at a
given time.
Week 4
Bernburg, J. G., Krohn, M. D., & Rivera, C. J. Official Labeling, Criminal Embeddedness, and Subsequent
Delinquency: A Longitudinal Test of Labeling theory. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 43,
67-88. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
This article proposed that official labeling tends to embed the individual in deviant social groups,
thereby increasing the likelihood of subsequent deviance and crime. The findings of this study supported
the idea that official labeling can increase involvement in deviant groups. It was shown that teenagers
who receive interventions become more likely to become gang members and subsequently tend to
associate with increasingly delinquent groups. The findings also show that official labeling is tied to the
maintenance and stability of delinquency and crime through early and mid-adolescence. Those youth
who received an intervention had an increased probability of serious delinquency following the
intervention. The study mentioned that although the findings supported labeling theory, the results
could also have been affected by juvenile justice interventions which actually places these individuals in
the presence of other delinquent youths. The implications for these findings are that while interventions
are meant to help combat delinquency, they may actually have the reverse affect. One thing I would
want to know is how labeling theory works in contexts of other deviant behaviors besides gang
membership and drug use. This is relevant for us in our study of deviant behavior because it helps us
gain a better understanding of how or why some people become involved in deviant behavior.

Chambliss, W. J. (n.d.). The Saints and the Roughnecks. . Retrieved June 22, 2014, from
https://www.d.umn.edu/~bmork/2306/readings/chambliss.w99.htm
This article hoped to explain the outcomes of two groups, The Saints and the Roughnecks in terms
of the self-fulfilling prophecy. The article described the Saints as being upper class kids who were
perceived as being good and were less visible in the community even though they committed more
crime. They committed less violent crimes, were punished less and went on to live successful lives with
one going to law school, another going to med school, and another working for his PhD. Conversely, the
Roughnecks were lower class kids who were perceived as being bad kids. The committed less crimes
than the Saints, but the crimes they did commit were more visible. They were thus punished more often
and most, besides two who now have stable families, went on to lead criminal adult lives, with two
never finishing high school, one pleading guilty to second degree murder, and another serving a
sentence for first degree murder. The implications for these findings are that labeling people as deviant
may play a crucial role in their outcomes. One thing I would want to know was the race of the subjects in
each group They were both white, stated towards the beginning of the piece. This is relevant in our
study of deviant behavior as it shows an example of how the self-fulfilling prophecy works in creating
deviance.
Week 5
Marcum, C. D., Higgins, G. E., Ricketts, M. L., & Wolfe, S. E. Hacking in High School: Cybercrime
Perpetration by Juveniles. Deviant Behavior, 35, 581-591. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
The researchers aboard this project used the General Theory of Crime as well as the Social Learning
Theory to better understand the predictors of hacking behaviors amongst young people They explained
that hacking is defined as the access and unauthorized use of a computer system for criminal
purposes, and can include actions like breaking into a computer system, developing viruses, using
viruses, credit card fraud, infiltrating software, and destroying or altering a file. The research that this
team used indicated that individuals 18 and below have a high likelihood of engaging in cyber-crimes.
The researchers delivered a survey to freshman through seniors in four different high schools within a
rural county in North Carolina. The results of their surveys indicated that low self-control and association
with deviant peers were predictors of hacking behavior. Their results also showed that those students
with better academic performance were more likely to engage in hacking behaviors, but juvenile non-
whites were more likely to engage in hacking behavior than their white counterparts. The implications of
these findings are that there may be certain factors present that could predict hacking behavior, and if
correctly identified, there is the potential that we could stop this deviance from happening. It is relevant
to our study of deviance because it helps explain why people choose to engage in this deviant behavior.
I found this research to be very limiting as they only surveyed 4 high schools that were all in the same
area. I think that they should develop a wider scale and more diverse population to see how that effects
their results.
Rafferty, R., & Ven, T. V. I Hate Everything About You: A Qualitative Examination of Cyberbullying and
On-Line Aggression in a College Sample. Deviant Behavior, 35, 364-377. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
This study aimed to find the motives of cyber bullying and online aggression. Rafferty explained that
cyber bullying includes any repeated unwanted, hurtful, harassing, and or threatening interaction
through electronic communication media and that online aggression is defined as hurtful, harassing,
and or threatening behavior that is not repeated. The authors explain why cyber bullying is an issue by
relaying all the harm it can bring and provided the example of 15 year old Phoebe Prince who hanged
herself after enduring close to three months of cyber bullying. They used a symbolic interactionist
approach for their study, and developed a survey to answer the question How are cyberbullying and
online aggression experienced and understood by both perpetrators and victims of these actions? A
survey was taken by 221 Midwestern university students, and results determined that motives for cyber
bullying and online aggression were cyber sanctioning, power struggles, and entertainment. The
implications for these findings are that there seems to be certain standardized motivations for these
actions, and perhaps if greater education was given about the consequences of cyber bullying and online
aggression, these motives could be removed and ultimately but an end to the problem. I think the
sample they used is very limiting and I think that they should interview different age people, including
some in high school, as well as people from different areas to develop a more representative sample
and accurate results. This is relevant to our study of deviant behavior because it adds to the discussion
of why certain people choose to engage in such deviant acts.
Marcum, C. D., Higgins, G. E., Ricketts, M. L., & Wolfe, S. E. Hacking in High School: Cybercrime
Perpetration by Juveniles. Deviant Behavior, 35, 581-591. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
The researchers aboard this project used the General Theory of Crime as well as the Social Learning
Theory to better understand the predictors of hacking behaviors amongst young people They explained
that hacking is defined as the access and unauthorized use of a computer system for criminal
purposes, and can include actions like breaking into a computer system, developing viruses, using
viruses, credit card fraud, infiltrating software, and destroying or altering a file. The research that this
team used indicated that individuals 18 and below have a high likelihood of engaging in cyber-crimes.
The researchers delivered a survey to freshman through seniors in four different high schools within a
rural county in North Carolina. The results of their surveys indicated that low self-control and association
with deviant peers were predictors of hacking behavior. Their results also showed that those students
with better academic performance were more likely to engage in hacking behaviors, but juvenile non-
whites were more likely to engage in hacking behavior than their white counterparts. The implications of
these findings are that there may be certain factors present that could predict hacking behavior, and if
correctly identified, there is the potential that we could stop this deviance from happening. It is relevant
to our study of deviance because it helps explain why people choose to engage in this deviant behavior.
I found this research to be very limiting as they only surveyed 4 high schools that were all in the same
area. I think that they should develop a wider scale and more diverse population to see how that effects
their results.
Rafferty, R., & Ven, T. V. I Hate Everything About You: A Qualitative Examination of Cyberbullying and
On-Line Aggression in a College Sample. Deviant Behavior, 35, 364-377. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
This study aimed to find the motives of cyber bullying and online aggression. Rafferty explained that
cyber bullying includes any repeated unwanted, hurtful, harassing, and or threatening interaction
through electronic communication media and that online aggression is defined as hurtful, harassing,
and or threatening behavior that is not repeated. The authors explain why cyber bullying is an issue by
relaying all the harm it can bring and provided the example of 15 year old Phoebe Prince who hanged
herself after enduring close to three months of cyber bullying. They used a symbolic interactionist
approach for their study, and developed a survey to answer the question How are cyberbullying and
online aggression experienced and understood by both perpetrators and victims of these actions? A
survey was taken by 221 Midwestern university students, and results determined that motives for cyber
bullying and online aggression were cyber sanctioning, power struggles, and entertainment. The
implications for these findings are that there seems to be certain standardized motivations for these
actions, and perhaps if greater education was given about the consequences of cyber bullying and online
aggression, these motives could be removed and ultimately but an end to the problem. I think the
sample they used is very limiting and I think that they should interview different age people, including
some in high school, as well as people from different areas to develop a more representative sample
and accurate results. This is relevant to our study of deviant behavior because it adds to the discussion
of why certain people choose to engage in such deviant acts.