Deviance: A Sociology of Unconventionalities

The sociology of deviance has become a focus for four different debates. The first has probably to do with the fact that since the late 1960s–1970s, no major theoretical or paradigmatic shifts have been introduced. The last analytical upheaval was the introduction of labeling theory, and since then nothing of that magnitude or caliber has taken place. Examining deviance from a revised Durkheimian perspective implies that people can look at deviance as part of processes of cultural change and stability. Politics and deviance can be classified into three basic types of deviance that come from: the periphery and are aimed at the center; the center and are aimed at the periphery; either the center or the periphery and are aimed at the same level (center to center, periphery to periphery). These forms of deviance are always connected to issues of political justice, political trials, criminals as heroes, and political criminals.