The term "deviance" usually refers to some behavior that is inconsistent with standards of acceptable conduct prevailing in a given social group, although the term has also been used to designate personal conditions, ideas, or statuses that are stigmatized or disreputable. Social scientists disagree, about a precise definition of deviance because they use different approaches in trying to determine exactly what the standards of conduct or the acceptable statuses and conditions are in a given group (Gibbs, 1981). At least five ways of conceptualizing deviance are used.
CHARLES R. TITTLE
See also CRIME CAUSATION: SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES; CRIMINOLOGY: MODERN CONTROVERSIES; DELINQUENT AND CRIMINAL SUBCULTURES.
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