Positive deviance

An oxymoron

Bibliographic Data

ID2152141
AuthorsEdward Sagarin (City University of New York, corresponding author)
Year1985
Volume6
Issue2
Pages169-181
Publication date1985-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDeviant Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0163-9625 • E-ISSN: 1521-0456
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01639625.1985.9967668
OpenAlexW2046960119
LanguageEN
Citations received27
References cited18

By general agreement among sociologists and other specialists, and by speakers of the English language, deviance refers to rule‐breaking and other nonconformity which is viewed in the society in a negative way, and hence reacted to with scorn, hostility, punishment, or an effort to effectuate change. Deviance is a special type of deviation, but the two terms are not interchangeable. The concept of "positive deviance" is and should remain an oxymoron or self‐contradicting phrase, because it would obfuscate rather than clarify, would collapse into one group two ends of continua that have nothing in common except that they do not meet in the middle, and would deprive social analysts of the opportunity to determine why and with what consequences people depart from the normative in a manner that elicits dire consequences, as well as why a more conforming public reacts with hostility to some forms of behavior and statuses. The traditional and accepted concept of deviance should be retained, as it links the study of deviant behavior with law, social control, formal and informal sanctions, and the very nature and purpose or need of society itself

Criminology · Deviance (statistics · Epistemology · Hostility · Linguistics · Nonconformity · Norm (philosophy · Normative · Nothing · Oxymoron · Political science · Sanctions · Sociology · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Engineering · Law · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Psychology

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