Divergent Responses to Deviant Behavior
The objective of this study is to examine two theories of deviant behavior that represent today's changing trends. This work will additionally examine three theories that may be considered outdated including: (1) Sheldon's Theory of Body Types; (2) Lombroso's Theory; and (3) Y Chromosome Theory, and will explain why they have been discredited.
Positivist Perspective
The positivist perspective views deviance as "absolutely or intrinsically real, in that is possesses some qualities that distinguish it from conventionality." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 4) Deviant individuals are views as having specific characteristics that make them different from conventional individuals. It was held by criminologists around the turn of the last century that criminals were in possession of specific biological traits that were not present in individuals that were law-abiding. Included in these biological traits were "defective genes, bumps on the head, a longer lower jaw, a scanty beard, and a tough body build." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 4) These are all inherited traits therefore, the belief was held that criminals were born rather than made and that they were "feebleminded, psychotic, neurotic, psychopathic, or otherwise mentally disturbed." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 4-5) However, it is reported that positive sociologists in the present day "have largely abandoned the use of biological and psychological traits to differentiate criminals from noncriminals." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 5) Rather, the role of social factors in the determination of the individual's criminal status is now recognized. The positivist sociologist holds that deviant behavior is "an observable object in that a deviant person is like an object, a real something that can be studied objectively." (Pearson Higher Education, nd, p. 5) It is the assumption of positivist sociologists...
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