Control aimed at a marginal group increases its deviance, which justifies further control.
Wilkins's 1964 model. Enforcement isolates the group, isolation strengthens internal norms and weakens external ones, and the resulting deviance justifies more enforcement.
In practice
- A club that responds to a small group of disruptive members by tightening rules finds the group more cohesive and more disruptive.
- A school that isolates a set of pupils in a separate unit produces a group with its own norms and a stronger reason to hold them.