Final answer:
Individuals are typically more likely to receive positive sanctions for deviant behavior compared to groups, as groups can normalize deviant behavior, reducing the likelihood of positive feedback from others.
Step-by-step explanation:
People are generally more likely to give positive sanctions to an individual being deviant compared to a group. Societies use sanctions as a form of social control to uphold societal norms through rewards and punishments. When deviance occurs, the reaction tends to be negative, whether it be informal sanctions, like disapproval for wearing pajamas to the grocery store, or formal sanctions such as fines for legal infractions.
Informal sanctions, like the reaction to someone breaking a social norm, can also deter future deviance by others who witness these reactions. In groups, behavior can become normalized, making it less likely that positive sanctions will be given to the group, as the act of deviance might be diffused or shared among the group members.
Durkheim's insights about collective conscience can also imply that reactions to deviance will vary based on societal scale and complexity, suggesting that individual deviants might be more noticeable and sanctioned positively in certain contexts compared to groups.