My name is Holly and I’m a single mother/full time student and Sociology major. I recently graduated from UC Davis with Honors and departmental citation. Currently, I’m working towards my Masters Degree in Social Work from Sacramento State. My passion is to alleviate as much human suffering as possible. Social issues and problems are not random acts of nature, and therefore can be solved. Knowing there are solutions to the social issues we face daily, inspires me. Solving these issue is what I aspire towards.
A campsite at a homeless tent city in Sacramento California March 15, 2009. REUTERS/ MAX WHITTAKER
THE SOCIOLOGY OF DEVIANCE: CHANGE IN PERCEPTION AND STEPS
Abstract
According to Doctor Becker’s lecture the process of learning the rules of a society and the norms of a culture is called socialization (2014). In The United States we are told a cultural story of equal opportunity and justice for all. Part of this story’s plot is those who do not succeed are those who just haven’t tried hard enough. If somebody fails, it’s because of that person’s personal choices and character. We have been told that bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people. Through the process socialization people are conditioned to accept subjectively, what is right and what is wrong. They are also made aware of the consequences for both through the approval and disapproval of society. Disapproval is expressed on a continuum from public shunning to the death penalty. If we follow society’s norms we will be rewarded, and if we do not, we will be punished. These ideas are socially constructed, communicated, and learned. Labeling the homeless as being deviant is a way of punishing them, not so much for what they do, but for not conforming to what society has deemed “normal.” The opposite of normal is deviant. Normal is good and deviance is bad. The idea of what constitutes normal is a social construction and not an absolute because these ideas change across time and geographic location (Becker 2014). Who decides what constitutes normal? Those with power determine the rules and are able to enforce them (Becker 2014).
According to Howard Becker, a U.S. sociologist and past president of the American Sociological Association, those who are in the upper levels of society create the rules and the institutions that enforce the rules (1993). These social systems work to promote uniformity, maintain boundaries, and are normatively oriented (Erikson 1960). These systems are put into place by those in power to protect their interests and enable them to remain in power (Rothman 2005; Spitzer 1993). Steven Spitzer points out that those who disturb or disrupt the system of the ruling class, the capitalist’s mode of production, are labeled deviant (1993). “Stealing from the rich, unable or refusing to work for a wage, using drugs for escape, or denying the validity of family life”(Spitzer 1993:143) are all examples of how the homeless population disrupt the capitalistic system. The homeless are punished and labeled deviant for not supporting the system. They are deemed “useless” (Spitzer 1993:146) while those whose behavior and personal qualities promote the relation of production are “useful.”
According to their research, Stephanie Hartwell found that the deviant stigma attached to the homeless population is due to their inability to form social bonds and their lack of commitment to social norms, not because they are criminally minded (2014). When people within a society do not buy into the normative social bonds as a form of social control they are labeled deviant. Every time we look at the homeless with disgust we reinforce the social construction of labeling them deviant. Whether we care to admit it or not, we have all done it; as you approach the light, out of your peripheral vision, you see a pan-handler holding a sign. He looks at you pitifully with all the despair he can muster, and you make the decision not to make eye contact with him, wishing the light would hurry up and turn green already. We tell ourselves that we worked too hard for our money to just give it away to people who are lazy drunks that expect us to feel sorry for them. Why are we so critical? We have learned through socialization to reward good and punish bad. We have been taught that living outside the norm is deviant; this is learned through seeing other people judged and shunned.
We judge people based on their situation and never look at the process that led to their situation or the social structures that keep them unable to change their situation. For example, we’re told that the drug-addicted felon keeps going back to prison because he has a criminal mind and is always trying to cheat the system. He gets what he deserves. This is the picture that most of us see. The system has never “rehabilitated” this individual. This person has been removed from society temporarily and then placed right back into the situation from which he left. We have not given this man any skills or job opportunities. The system has not provided the means for a different lifestyle. Good paying jobs are hard to come by without a degree, and even harder if you are a felon. Within our collective conscience, we label these individuals as deviant. As a society we have been taught to question the characters of the story, but never the story itself. Hartwell found that many of the socioeconomic characteristics of the social system put people at-risk for being homeless (2014). Unemployment, unaffordable housing, limited access to health providers for those with mental illness or drug and alcohol addiction, are all examples of a few socioeconomic characteristics that put people at-risk. We rarely take these into consideration when we only look at someone’s situation and not the process that led them to their situation. Our actions, reactions, and inactions based on our judgments or lack thereof is what keeps these social structures in place. We blame the individual instead of questioning the system. Stigma: “…the negative labels, pejorative assessments, social distancing and discrimination that occur when individuals who lack power deviate from group norms” (Stuber et al. 2008:421).We are partly responsible for empowering the stigma that makes it difficult for the homeless population to fit into society.
It is important to realize that context matters when dealing with socially stigmatized people in society. A study in the Oxford Journal found people have different emotional and neurological reactions when evaluating homeless individuals based on the perceived controllability of their stigmatized condition (Krendl et al. 2012). People were rated on their levels of disgust, empathy, and willingness to help; when homelessness was an uncontrollable condition, people felt more sympathy and a desire to help (Krendl et al. 2012). During the study respondents were shown homeless people paired with controllable and uncontrollable factors; those with controllable factors elicited feelings of disgust while those with uncontrollable factors elicited feelings of pity and a willingness to help (Krendl et al. 2012). Rayburn and Guittar (2013) found through their research that homeless people try to “normalize” themselves through their own narratives. More times than not, they are unsuccessful because most people just see a picture and never hear their story. The problem is subordinate groups rarely have the power or agency to change societies view of them. The solution must come from those with power.
The powerlessness of the homeless leaves them without agency to change their situation and makes them an easy target for the violation of their civil rights. The criminalization of homelessness is increasing in the US (Becker 2014). City ordinances and policies have been implemented that restrict begging, penalize the homeless for engaging in necessary life activities like sleeping or sitting in public, and conduct street sweeps that lead to the destruction of personal property (Becker 2014). According to Doctor Jamie Becker, a survey about homelessness and poverty showed that of the homeless respondents, 73% reported being arrested and/or cited for public urination/defecation, 55% were arrested and/or cited for sleeping in public, and 19% were arrested and/or cited for sidewalk-sitting (2014). As a society we generally agree that regardless of your socioeconomic status, everyone is entitled to their civil rights. What is the solution? Those with a voice to be heard must be the voice for those without one. Developing accepting relationships is one way to lessen the effects of stigmatization and labeling.
Research has found many ways to manage and resist the labeling of deviance. Hathaway and Atkinson claim that through mass media the homeless are cast as failing to “measure up” (2001) to the rest of society. Media is major tool for informing the public. Although mass media gives us a negative snapshot of an individual or group of people; social media can give us the process and tell us how this happened and why help is needed. The good news is through the use of social media we are able to tell the whole story and show society the social structures that perpetuate the problem; not all homelessness is due to controllable factors. The sad truth is not everyone has equal access to success or even help when they are struggling. All across America people watched on Facebook and Youtube an elderly man being arrested for feeding the homeless in Fort Lauderdale. Because of social media there was enough public awareness which led to outrage. Consequently, a judge has recently given a court order that for thirty days the police department in Fort Lauderdale, are not to make any arrests for feeding the poor and homeless (Becker 2014). Bogden and Taylor discuss four major types of caring relationship: friendships, family, religious, and humanitarian (1987). These accepting relationships are not based on a denial of difference, but rather on the absence of impugning the different person’s moral character because of variation (Bogdan & Taylor 1987:5).
Developing caring relationships with people who are homeless can start with just saying hello; at this point the differences may seem great, after regular visits the difference will fade, and eventually anyone with contempt towards the homeless person will be considered the outsider (Bogdan & Taylor 1987). When the police were arresting the elderly man for feeding the homeless the public had a respect for the caring relationship and found contempt for the police. Another way to normalize the stigmatization of the homeless is to publicize the need for human rights and encourage those who are directly affected by the criminalization of poverty to take a participatory role in political activism (Herman 1993). When family, friends, religious members, and humanitarian workers stand up and beside the stigmatized person and demand basic rights on the basis of simply being human, we are able to reframe deviance and normalize the injured population. By involving them in political activism we begin to reject the validity of the standards that they were unable to live up to as well as the labels placed on them, we provide them with a new identity that is non-deviant, they can experience self-respect and a sense of purpose (Herman 1993:25). We can allow those negatively affect by socially constructed stigmatization the ability to take an active role in shaping their personal outcome (Herman 1993).
My analysis suggests that in order to understand why homelessness remains a problem we first need to understand the barriers that stand in the way of seeing the social structures that perpetuate the problem. Framing homelessness as a self-imposed condition implies that being homeless is the result of deviant behavior and not the cause. Members of our society are legally punished and socially sanctioned by being labeled deviant and criminalized for not supporting the systems of power, and for simply being poor. These labels serve as a way to control public perception and behavior. This socially constructed perception makes it difficult for the public to feel enough empathy to demand social change; regardless of whether a person is deviant because they are homeless or homeless because they are deviant, all human beings deserve basic rights. By forming accepting relationships and demanding basic human rights, we are able to decrease the stigma attached to homelessness and work to form social bonds. Accepting relationship form social bonds that help to manage and resist the labeling of deviance to an impoverished population. This must be done by people with agency and a voice that can be heard. Together there is hope.