Application of Social Theories to Deviance
Introduction
Deviance is usually defined as a behaviors by an individual that does not confine to the accepted cultural and social norms in the society. There are many types of deviant behavior in the society with each having its unique brand of characteristics. However, it is crucial to note that deviant behavior is interpreted differently across different cultural and social settings. Different social and cultural settings have different values and norms which they define as acceptable. A norm may be acceptable in one society while in another society, this norm may be widely abhorred and totally unacceptable in another society. Therefore, what may be considered deviant in one society may actually be acceptable as a normal behavior in another society? However, there are some deviant behaviors which apply across all societies. These deviant behaviors are against the norms of each and every society and therefore when they occur, there is no debate as to whether the behavior is acceptable or not because no society condones that behavior. One of these deviant behaviors is murder. Murder is one of the most extreme forms of deviant behaviors and involves taking the life of one individual by another individual. This paper to look at this deviant behavior using one study subject. The study subject chosen is the American murderer and body snatcher, Edward Gein. Gein was convicted in 1968 for the murder of two women and was sentenced to life imprisonment (Schechter 1990). Gein was the inspiration of various Hollywood movies about killers with the most famous one being “Psycho” directed by Albert Hitchcock. In addition, Gein’s endeavors are articulated in a book written by Harold Schechter titled Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Fiendish Killer.” The paper will use several psychological and social theories to try and establish the factors that could have motivated Gein to engage in these deviant behaviors of killing and body snatching. The exploration if this topic is very important as it will aid readers to establish the motivations behind some of the most atrocious deviant behavior among members of the society.
As mentioned earlier, deviance is a behaviors by an individual that does not confine to the accepted cultural and social norms in the society. Each society has it own set of acceptable and acceptable behavior. Many of these acceptable and unacceptable behavior are similar in every society. Taking the life of another person is a behavior that is totally unacceptable in every society in the world. Society rules calls for the respect of other people’s lives and an individual who engages in this deviant behavior is usually subjected to harsh punishment including death itself. The society understand that life is indeed the most precious thing in. The history of humanity. Allowing people to go around taking the lives of each other would to only be a catalyst of total social chaos and unrest but is actually a threat to human existence. Ina addition, a person who takes the lives of others is taken to be devoid of any human compassion and having such individuals in the society is extremely dangerous and is a threat to the existence of this society. This is why murder is often considered to be the most primary form of social deviant that is punishable even by death. Although not common, body snatching is also an extreme form of social deviance. Bodies of people who have are usual discarded in a secluded place and it is unimaginable that one would attempt to retrieve them especially because they have no use. This is why the behavior of the subject of this stud is considered deviant. In this story, Gein was a notorious body snatcher who exhumed tens of bodies from local graves and fashioned keepsakes and trophies out of them. He also murdered two women (Schechter 1990). His deviant behavior went on for a long time because in his court proceedings, he admitted to have made more than 40 visits to graveyards to exhume bodes between a period of 6 years during which he robbed about 9 graves, most of them belonging to women and brought their body parts home where he tanned the skins and cut off various parts and used them to make different paraphernalia (Schechter 1990). He also did the same with the two innocent victims that he killed himself. This is clearly an extreme form of deviant behavior.
Sociologist and scientists have over the years come up with various theories that can be used to explain social deviance. In Edward Gein’s case, there are two particular theories that are applicable and that can be explain what motivated Gein to commit deviant behavior. These are the social learning theory and the social control theory.
According to this theory, most of the current human behavior is acquired by modeling the behavior of others or observing the behavior of others and then forming a mental construct of how behaviors are essentially performed. People then use this coded information in the brain to guide their actions and behavior at a later time in life (Bandura, 1977).
This theory is particularly accentuated in children when growing up. Children learn to be anti-social (bad) or pro-social (good) from their immediate family members, and the existing institutions of the society (Bandura, 1978)
In addition, people who observe desired and positive outcomes from the observed behavior of a certain individual have a high likelihood of imitating adopting or modeling the exhibited behavior. This is because the social learning theory also postulates that punishment or overt reinforcement contributes towards the learning of a new behavior in people.
Social leaning is hugely applicable when it comes to murder. It is possible to learn murder through learning. In many cases, murder is an individual who has undergone some humiliation during his childhood or during their early development (Hale 1993). A child who later on becomes a murderer in later life usually experiences a humiliating experience. This child cannot distinguish between non-rewarding and a rewarding experience which is usually a component of the social learning theory. The child therefore looks ate certain scenarios and situations negatively and frustrations rise. When an individuals is frustrated from a past humiliating experience, the person inadvertently choses a vulnerable outlet aggression and this is usually in the form of murder (Hale 1993).
The social control theory stipulates that individuals result to deviance when their societal bonds breaks. This theory was developed by Travis Hirschi and is also sometimes referred to the social bond theory (Wiatrowski 1981).
There are four main types of social bonds. The first is attachment (usually to other individuals). The second is commitment (to the following of rules). The third bond is involvement while the final is the belief which the basic value system in the society (Wiatrowski 1981).
According to this theory, when one these bonds breaks down, an individual can be oriented towards deviant behavior. For example, if the involvement bond breaks downs, it means that an individuals has ceased engaging in typical social behavior. When the attachment bond breaks, it means that an individual no longer has social contact with other people and once may therefore have the opportunity to start being involved in deviant activities.
This theory further postulates that the presence of internal and external controls can help and individual to refrain from acting in a deviant manner. The theory goes on to suggest that engagement in deviance is an indication of lack of control from both one’s family and even the immediate law enforcement (Wiatrowski 1981).
The two theories are hugely applicable to the case of Edward Gein. The first of these is the social learning theory which shows how murder can be learned. This theory postulates that a child undergone some humiliation during his childhood or during their early development. A distinguish between non-rewarding and a rewarding experience which is usually a component of the social learning theory and may result to vulnerable outlets to let out frustrations. Gein was humiliated from early age and in later life, frustrations from this humiliation led him to exert his aggression on others. His mother greatly controlled him from early age. In addition, he was openly rejected by his father and was the subject of a lot of abuse as he grew up. He hated his mother and this hatred later on spewed over to other women., his mother had taught him that all women were whores except for herself and this could be the reason that he exhumed their bodies and dismembered them since he felt they did not deserve any respect or dignity at all.
Gein’s rejection and humiliation at the hands of his mother and even his alcoholic and abusive father all contributed to him becoming the murderer and the body snatcher that he was. His deviant actions were him seeking power for the humiliation that he went through as a child.
The social control theory is however the one that is best applicable in explaining Gein’s social deviance. This theory usually attributed the development of deviance to the breakage of societal bonds.
Attachment is one of the bonds described under the social control theory. This was bond was clearly absent in Gein’s case. The only attachment he had was to his mother and as observed this bind was clearly destructive. Gein at first tried to please his mother bit his mother was never pleased by anything that he did. Therefore the brake of this attachment bond was one of the contributing factors to Gein becoming deviant.
In regards to commitment, Gein was not allowed to do anything else part from his following his mother’s order and in fact going to school was the only exception. Gein became used to this and after some al he wanted to do was follow his mother’s order. He therefore disregarded other orders like those of law enforcement that prohibit his deviant actions including murder.
The belief system also applies to this case, because as observed, the beliefs that Gein’s mother had were transferred to Gein. Gein acquire the belief that all women were whores and worthless.
Finally, all the three factors eventually contributed to the involvement of Gein in criminal activities where he started exhuming bodies that had resemblance to his mother.
Conclusion
This paper has shown that deviance is a behaviors by an individual that does not confine to the accepted cultural and social norms in the society. There are many types of deviant behavior in the society with each having its unique brand of characteristics. Using a case study of Edward Gein, a convicted murderer and body snatcher, the paper has shown that there are various social theories that can be used to explain why criminals engage in deviant behavior. The applicable theory in this case has been the social learning theory and the social control theory. One limitation form this study however is that it does not fully explain how some individuals go through the similar experiences dictated by the theories and turn out alright and not deviant. This is an area that should be the subject of more research in the future.
Works Cited
Bandura, Albert. 1977. "Social learning theory.” 305-316.
Bandura, Albert. 1978. "Social learning theory of aggression." Journal of communication 28: 12-29.
Hale, Robert L. 1993. "The Application of Learning Theory to Serial Murderer “You Too Can Learn to be a Serial Killer”." American Journal of Criminal Justice 17: 37-45.
Wiatrowski, Michael D., David B. Griswold, and Mary K. Roberts.1981. "Social control theory and delinquency." American Sociological Review 1: 525-541.
Schechter, H. 1990. Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Fiendish Killer. Simon and Schuster.
