Secondary Deviance Theory

With the stigmatization that is placed on acts of deviance and deviant individuals, many of these individuals feel pressured by society to conform, or else be shamed and cutoff. Therefore, the deviant individuals in question need to be able to manage the stigma given to them. Managing a stigma plays a significant part of secondary deviance. Secondary deviance is a type of deviance associated with the Label theory, which was put forth by Edwin Lemert and Howard Becker. Secondary deviance only makes up one part of the Label theory. The other part of the theory is primary deviance. Primary deviance only involves individuals that commit and acts of deviance once and learns from their “mistake.” However, when it comes to secondary deviance, it is not defined by one act. Secondary deviance is a label that sticks with an individual for either as long as the lifestyle resides in the individual or for the rest of the individual’s life. Stealing a cookie and learning a lesson from that act would be an example of primary deviance. On the other hand, robbing ten houses over the course of two months would constitute as

The stigma put on display to show that it is a part of their life. For example, Leon Anderson, David A. Snow, and Daniel Cress talk about the stigmas that homeless people have to manage within society. While they focus on the homeless, the concepts and strategies given can be expressed towards any deviant group, especially those of secondary deviance. There are various avenues that are used by deviant individuals for managing a stigma, and there are two sets of strategies that these avenues are categorized under. The first set of strategies is in-group strategies. These sets of strategies are undertaken when the actions involve either a sole individual or the individual along with those that are affected by a similar stigma or label of secondary