Question

When control/ critical theorists look at deviant behavior, they focus on: ?

1) how people interact and define the world around them
2) how deviance fulfills certain purposes from the macro view of society
3) how inequality causes the less powerful to engage in deviant and criminal acts because they have few ways of succeeding in society
4) how individuals learn deviant behavior from family members and friends

Answer 1

Control/critical theorists attribute deviant behavior primarily to systemic inequality that compels the less powerful to commit deviant and criminal acts as a route to success.

Step-by-step explanation:

Understanding Deviant Behavior through Control/Critical Theory

When control/critical theorists examine deviant behavior, they focus on how inequality causes the less powerful to engage in deviant and criminal acts because they have few ways of succeeding in society. This perspective sees crime and deviance as a result of systemic inequality, which maintains those with power at the top of the social hierarchy and those without power at the bottom. Conflict theory, a subset of control/critical theory, argues that social and economic factors drive the occurrence of crime and deviance rather than them being natural parts of a functioning society like functionalism would suggest. Conflict theorists such as Karl Marx believe that the unequal distribution of power and resources in a society leads to deviant behavior especially among the less powerful who find few legal avenues to succeed.