In the last decade we have seen a dramatic shift away from sociological explanations of deviant behavior toward developing theoretical perspectives on societal reactions to and definitions of deviance and crime. Labeling and conflict formulations have become major foci of sociological theorizing as well as the sounding boards for most of the controversy and discourse in the field of deviance. This shift in focus was deemed necessary to redress the previous imbalance of attention to the deviant behavior itself (Akers, 1968), and it clearly has had that effect. Unfortunately, it also has led to the neglect of theoretical developments in the etiology of deviant behavior. Neither labeling nor conflict perspectives has offered a general explanation of deviant behavior, although some conflict theorists have offered preliminary but incomplete efforts in that direction (Taylor, et al., 1973; Spitzer, 1975). There have been other efforts directed toward explaining deviant behavior, but these have been fairly narrow in scope; they have usually been limited either to a specific type of deviant behavior or to a restricted range of substantive variables. For example, a good deal of attention has been paid to the modern resurrection of deterrence theory (Gibbs, 1975; 1977; Waldo and Chiricos, 1972, Tittle, 1975; Silberman, 1976; Erickson et al., 1977; Meier and Johnson, 1977; Geerken and Gove, 1977). The scope of deterrence theory has been changed little, however, since its statement by the classical criminologists two centuries ago and is limited to the actual or perceived certainty, severity, and celerity of formally administered legal sanctions for violations of the criminal law. Another example is Travis Hirschi’ s (1969) control (social bonding) theory which is a more general explanation of deviance than deterrence theory, but which is, in turn, primarily restricted to informal social control which comes from individuals being bonded to groups and institutions.

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Social learning and deviant behavior: a specific test of a general theory.

Recent perceptual studies of general deterrence have been guided by an unnecessarily narrow conception of general deterrence, despite the methodological advances in this type of research. These studies, moreover, have failed to recognize the complexity of the perceptual processes that intervene between the threat or experience of legal sanctions and behavioral outcomes. Consequently, the conclusions drawn from the findings about the process of general deterrence are questionable. This paper critically reviews perceptual studies of general deterrence with a view toward expanding the scope of deterrence theory and stimulating research in new directions. Suggestions are made about the kinds of data and analyses needed to test such theory more adequately.

Perceptual research on general deterrence: A critical review.

This study is an examination of the effects of living alone on mental health, mental well-being, and maladaptive behaviors. The findings may be summarized in three basic points. First, there is no ...

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2778539.pdf

Living alone, social integration, and mental health.

American sociology has been dominated by an individualist, psychologistic perspective. This dominance has been so pervasive that American sociologists are generally unfamiliar with a sociological apprehension of social phenomena. That is, American sociologists are largely unfamiliar with the structuralist (sociological) view of social phenomena. The two approaches are so far apart and employ such different terminologies and definitions that they would be more accurately conceived as two entirely different fields of study. This essay attempts to draw out some of the differences between the structuralist and the individualist perspectives and to offer a criticism of the individualist position. The critical aspects of the essay are intended to clarify for individualist sociologists just why structuralists regard individualism not only as a dead end, but, indeed, not even as sociology.

Structuralism Versus Individualism: Part 1, Shadowboxing in the Dark

Human ecology theory is unique in its focus on humans as both biological organisms and social beings in interaction with their environment.1 In this theory the family is considered to be an energy transformation system that is interdependent with its natural physical-biological, human-built, and social-cultural milieu. Emphasis is given to the creation, use, and management of resources for creative adaptation, human development, and sustainability of environments.

Human Ecology Theory

The division of labor refers to differences among members of a population in their sustenance activities and the related functional interdependence. It is proposed that the first dimension of the division of labor, sustenance differentiation, may be measured with data on occupational composition. Six alternative measures are presented and evaluated. Emphasis is placed on the attention each gives to the two aspects of sustenance differentiation: structural differentiation (number of classes) and distributive differentiation (distribution of individuals among the classes). The notion of a division of labor has had a strange history in the social sciences. In light of classical studies by Adam Smith (1776) and Emile Durkheim (1893), no economist or sociologist would question the importance of the phenomenon. But since these two classics did not engender a viable tradition of research and theory, there has been little progress in the conceptualization or measurement of the division of labor. (See the recent commentary by

The Division of Labor: Conceptualization and Related Measures

No wonder you activities are, reading will be always needed. It is not only to fulfil the duties that you need to finish in deadline time. Reading will encourage your mind and thoughts. Of course, reading will greatly develop your experiences about everything. Reading status integration and suicide a sociological study is also a way as one of the collective books that gives many advantages. The advantages are not only for you, but for the other peoples with those meaningful benefits.

Status Integration and Suicide: A Sociological Study

There is no aspect of society that is in greater need of sociological study than is man's increasingly efficient organization for providing himself with a quantity and variety of material goods. In recent decades human ecology has been the most notable attempt by sociologists to develop an analytical framework encompassing this sector of collective human behavior. But so widely accepted has become the self evident truth that the early great expectations for human ecology have not been fulfilled that even sociologists with an ecological orientation seem to lack faith in the value of their subject matter. Although each year demonstrates anew that this phenomenon remains too vital to be banished entirely from sociology, human ecologists have come to practice Uncle Tom postures in the presence of colleagues endowed with the current psychological orientation, and to spend their research hours assaying their data hopefully for values, sentiments, motivations, and other elusive psychological elements. The factors which have led to this unseemly situation are too complex to analyze here but, in brief, the difficulty lies in the absence of a coherent theoretical system developed specifically around man's organization for sustenance. The lack of such a system has led to fragmentation with consequent sterility in human ecology, and, correspondingly, a weakening of sociology itself. The development of a theoretical system would do more than anything else to further the advance of human ecology toward a logically sound, empirically productive, and sociologically meaningful discipline. In attempting to move toward a theoretical system in the present paper, it has not been possible to give proper recognition to all those who have advanced similar ideas in the past. The parallels will be evident to persons familiar with the field. In particular it will be noted that the system offered here bears, at certain points, a close relationship to

Toward a Theoretical System of Human Ecology

While most previous deterrence investigations examine the relation between the objective probability of arrest or imprisonment and the official crime rate among states or counties, the present research examined the same relation among ten types of crimes in the same jurisdiction–Tucson, Arizona. We also consider the public perception of the certainty of arrest for eacy type of crime, and the public disapproval of each type of crime is introduced as a control variable. Consistent with two basic premises of the deterrence doctrine, the crime rate varies inversely with both the objective certainty of arrest and the perceived certainty. However, none of the relations are more than moderately close. Contrary to the premises of the deterrence doctrine, the findings indicate that the objective certainty of punishment is not related to the crime rate through perceived certainty. No less important, when the social condemnation of crime is controlled, there is no significant relation between the perceived certainty of punishment and the crime rate.

Objective and Perceptual Properties of Legal Punishment and The Deterrence Doctrine

Six basic conceptual questions about social control are posed, and alternative answers are assessed by reference to the deterrence doctrine and to two contending perspectives on social order, functionalism and Marxism. The Parsonian and Malinowskian varieties of functionalism suggest an unmanageably broad conception of social control. At the other extreme, a focus of social control studies on either the deterrence doctrine or the Marxist perspective would be unrealistically narrow. Something can be said for focusing social control studies on attempts at the prevention of deviance, but a conventional definition of deviance would preclude (1) the analysis of revolutionaries as agents of social control and (2) the postulated control exercised by a dominant

Jack P. Gibbs

Papers

The Division of Labor: Conceptualization and Related Measures

Status Integration and Suicide: A Sociological Study

Toward a Theoretical System of Human Ecology

Objective and Perceptual Properties of Legal Punishment and The Deterrence Doctrine

Social Control, Deterrence, and Perspectives on Social Order