Deviance is conferred by social reaction rather than inherent in the act.
Becker's 1963 Outsiders: deviance is not a quality of the act but a consequence of rules applied by others. The same act is criminal, eccentric or admirable depending on who is doing the labelling.
In practice
- A pupil placed in the lower set is treated as a lower-set pupil, behaves as one, and is one by the end of the year.
- An employee formally recorded as a performance concern finds every subsequent ambiguity read against them.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Sociology & Culture
- Essay
- How societies hold together, sort people, and change