Deviant Identity Adler & Adler

Deviant Identity Adler & Adler Part V

I. Identity Development Part 5

Many people engage in deviance but only a small percentage labeled deviant • Pathway of deviant identity may be a “deviant” (Becker) or a “moral” (Goffman) career • Deviant identity career: seven stages (Adler & Adler) Part 5

A. Stage One • Getting Caught & Publicly Identified • Once labeled a person’s life changes in several ways • Others begin to think differently about newly labeled person Part 5

B. Stage Two • Retrospective Interpretation (Schur) • Reviewing new deviant’s past & current behavior to see if it warrants being seen in a different light Part 5

C. Stage Three • Spoiled Identity (Goffman) • Erikson: commitment ceremonies publicly announce one as deviant • A tarnished reputation is not easy to restore, few if any rites of passage exist Part 5

D. Stage Four • Exclusion (Lemert) • Deriding and ostracizing: the new deviant is excluded from reputable social groups Part 5

E. Stage Five • Inclusion (Lemert) • As membership from some groups is closed, other deviant groups may welcome or include the newly labeled deviant into their deviant circles or groups • A deviant reputation will be repelling to some but attractive to other groups Part 5

F. Stage Six • Treated Differently • Others indicate negative view of deviant through actions & expression of attitudes Part 5

G. Stage Seven • Internalization of the Label (Cooley) • Looking Glass Self: a person internalizes deviant label and begins to think of themselves differently Part 5

II. Deviant Identity Part 5

A. Master Status (Hughes) • Master status is one that defines our primary identity, such as: • Race, • Gender • Age • Religion Part 5

B. Auxiliary Traits (Hughes) • Auxiliary traits are qualities often associated with a master status, such as: • Heroin-user • Sexually promiscuous • Obese • Ex-felon Part 5

C. Primary Deviance (Lemert) • One who commits deviant acts but such acts are unrecognized • As a result, one avoids being labeled deviant and avoids deviant identity • Some persons may remain at this level indefinitely while committing deviance Part 5

D. Secondary Deviance (Lemert) • One commits deviant act and such acts are reacted to by others as deviant • Seven stages above describe this process of secondary deviance • Role engulfment (Schur): one who defines oneself primarily through deviant identity and accepts this as primary status Part 5

E. Tertiary Deviance (Kitsuse) • Identity Embracement: person decides deviant label is unjust not intrinsic to their behavior • They strongly identify with their deviance and often organize with others to combat the deviant label applied to them • May engage in “identity politics” such as protests, rallies, civil disobedience, etc • Gender (view of women as inferior and movement to win women’s right to vote) • Race (view of blacks as inferior and civil rights movement), • Sexual orientation (gay/lesbian movement) offer historical examples Part 5

II. Accounts Part 5

A. Vocabularies of Motive (Mills) • In conversation we present reasons to others to explain meaning and intent of our actions • Such “motive talk” provides normalcy to interactions that are disrupted by certain acts or events Part 5

B. Techniques of Neutralization (Sykes & Matza) • People make “justifications” for deviance seen as valid by deviants but not by legal system or society • Denial of responsibility: • deviance due to acts or situations beyond their control • Denial of injury: • mitigate act by alluding to lack of harmful consequences to anyone Part 5

B. Techniques of Neutralization (Sykes & Matza) • Denial of the victim: • legitimate their behavior by suggesting no specific victim can be identified • that persons hurt “deserve” what happened to them • Appeal to higher loyalties: • behavior justified as serving a greater good • Condemnation of the condemners: • turning the table on accusers • focus on what accusers have done wrong Part 5

C. Excuses (Lyman & Scott) • Deny full responsibility by distancing themselves from blame • Four types of excuses • Appeals to accidents • Appeals to defeasibility • Appeals to innate, biological drives • Scapegoating Part 5

D. Justifications (Lyman & Scott) • Deny wrongfulness of act • Accept full responsibility • Two types of justifications • Sad tales • Self-fulfillment Part 5

E. Disclaimers (Hewitt & Stokes) • Disclaimers in contrast are prospective in nature • Designed as verbal explanations to minimize deviant acts or motives that will occur in future • Argue that Scott and Lyman’s verbal accounts are retrospective in nature to minimize impact of deviant behavior that has already occurred Part 5

E. Disclaimers • Hedging: • Prefacing behavior with remarks suggesting lack of certainty as to what they are can do or will achieve (I am not sure this is going to work but...”) • Credentializing: • Knowing their act will be discredited, they attempt to give a purpose or legitimacy to it • Sin licenses: • Knowing their behavior will not be well received, they suggest this is a time when the ordinary rules should be suspended Part 5

E. Disclaimers • Cognitive disclaimers: • Try to make sense of something that looks as if it would not be well understood • Appeals for the suspension of judgment: • Aim to deflect negative consequences of offensive remarks Part 5

III. Stigma Management Part 5

III. Stigma Management • Deviant label marks people with a stigma in eyes of society, leading to devaluation and exclusion • Stigmatized persons fall into two categories (Goffman) • Discreditable: easily concealable deviant traits who may manage themselves to avoid the stigma (ex-convicts, secret homosexuals, former or current prostitutes) • Discredited: Those who have revealed their deviance or who cannot hide it (the obese, racial minorities, physically disabled) Part 5

III. Stigma Management • Those with discredited stigma engage in passing as “normal” in everyday life: constant focus on secrecy and information control to conceal deviance through: • Stigma symbols -avoid contact with objects or behaviors that would tip others off about to their deviance Part 5

III. Stigma Management • Disidentifiers: props, actions or verbal expressions to distract or fool others • Leading double life: maintaining two different lifestyles • Others may help others conceal their deviance by covering for them • Disclosure: stigma management if concealment fails Part 5

III. Stigma Management • Disclosure follows one of two courses: • Deviance disavowal: some normal people ignore a person’s stigma • Deviance avowal: deviant person may acknowledge their deviance but present themselves in a positive light Part 5

III. Stigma Management • Stigma may also be managed through group or collective effort • Example: AA, COYOTE • Expressive dimensions: primary function to provide support for members • Instrumental dimension: members gather in addition for political activism: NOW • Groups vary between conformity and alienation Part 5

The Adoption & Management of a “Fat” IdentityDegher & Hughes Part V Chapter 23

Data collection for this study consists of field observations and in-depth interviews • Identity Change Process Part 5: Ch. 23

Identity change involves two levels: • Public (external): social status is socially defined and promoted and involves public cues • Private (internal): as a person recognizes current status is inappropriate they locate new status • Identity change is thus mediated through status cues that exist in environment Part 5: Ch. 23

Status cues are the public or external part of the identity change process • Recognizing and placing comprise internal component of identity change process • Identity change process involves external and internal elements • Status cues transmitted in two ways: • Active cues communicated through interaction: others tell person they are “fat” • Passive cues require individual to inform themselves about their relevance Part 5: Ch. 23

Review Questions • What makes the identity change process possible? • Which cues are more important in changing an individual’s view of themselves – status or passive status cues? Part 5: Ch. 23

Becoming BisexualWeinberg, Williams & Pryor Part V Chapter 24

I. Formation of Bisexual Identity Part 5: Ch. 24

A. Initial Confusion • Becoming bisexual involves rejecting two recognized categories of sexual identity: heterosexual and homosexual • Initial confusion: first stage of bisexual identity formation • Persons report experiencing period of considerable confusion, doubt and struggle about their sexual identity prior to defining themselves as bisexual Part 5: Ch. 24

A. Initial Confusion • They report having strong sexual feelings or both sexes that was unsettling, disorienting and sometimes frightening which they did not know how to handle • Others were confused because they thought same sex feelings or behavior meant end to their long-standing heterosexuality • A third source of confusion was due to unsuccessful attempt to categorize such feelings or behaviors • A final confusion due to homophobia: difficulty for some in facing up to same-sex component of their sexuality Part 5: Ch. 24

B. Finding & Applying Label • Finding and applying the label: second stage of bisexual identity formation • Discovery of category and label of bisexuality a turning point for many • For others, their first gay or straight experience coupled with recognition that sex could be pleasurable with both sexes Part 5: Ch. 24

B. Finding & Applying Label • For others no specific experience but simply recognition that sexual feelings for both sexes just too strong to deny & unnecessary to choose one over the other • Encouragement and support of others who already defined themselves as bisexual including sex-positive organizations Part 5: Ch. 24

C. Settling into Identity • Settling into the identity: third stage of bisexual identity formation • This stage often result of becoming more self-accepting, less concerned about negative attitudes of others about sexual preferences • Self-acceptance often attributed to support from friends, counselors, organizations and reading • While a majority of subjects seemed “settled into” their bisexual identity, 40% report that they could someday define themselves as lesbian/gay or heterosexual Part 5: Ch. 24

D. Continued Uncertainty • Continued uncertainty: fourth stage of bisexual identity formation • Belief that bisexuals are confused about their “true” identity is quite common and has often been promoted by some homosexuals • Subjects report periods of doubt and uncertainty even after discovery and application of bisexual label to themselves Part 5: Ch. 24

Review Questions • What does the formation of a bisexual identity entail and how easy or difficult is this for the individual? Part 5: Ch. 24

Deviant Identity Adler & Adler