The Four Types Of Deviant Behavior

Deviant behavior is defined as: the fact or state of departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social or sexual behavior.

There are several types of deviant behavior. Understanding the types of deviance, can be important in understanding why some actions are considered deviant. One type of deviance is formal deviance, which is behavior that violates enacted laws. For example, in American culture formal deviance would include: robbery, theft, rape, murder, assault, just to name a few. The second type of deviance is informal deviance, which is behavior that violates social norms which are not codified by laws. These types of deviance actions could be as simple as being naked in public or picking one’s nose. These behaviors

These types of people are categized into innovators, ritualists, retreatists and rebels. The innovators are those who accept culturally approved goals, but disregard the institutional means to achieve them. An example of these type of people is, government officials and low-wage earners who commit graft and corruption to achieve a higher standard of living. Ritualists are those who give up cultural goals, but follows the prescribed norms. For example, these people are religious fanatics; an employee who reports to work but does nothing about it. Retreatists are people who abandon both the cultural goals and the prescribed means to achieve them. These types of people are typically drug addicts, hippies and alcoholics. Lastly, rebels are those who reject both the societal goals and prescribed means to achieved them, but try set up new norms or goals. For example, people walk in public naked might try to make it seem like a norm. Even though rebel’s behavior may seem deviant, their behavior may have a positive affect. One well known historical event that is an example of the positive impact of deviance, is the impact Rosa Parks had. In 1955, a racial war against black individuals was happening in the United States. Blacks were not