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SECONDARY DEVIANCE

As used by Edwin Lemert secondary deviance refers to deviant behaviour which flows from a stigmatized sense of self; the deviance is thought to be consistent with the character of the self. A person's self can be stigmatized or tainted by public labeling. Secondary deviance is contrasted to primary deviance which may be behaviorally identical to secondary deviance but is incorporated into a ‘normal’ sense of self. One may, for example, get drunk several times because one sees oneself as enjoying a party. However, if one notices that friends are hiding their liquor during visits to their house, one may come to see oneself as a ‘drunk’ and then continue to get drunk because one is a drunk. The first acts are primary deviance and the second act is secondary deviance.

Last updated 2002--0-9-

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© Robert Drislane, Ph.D. and Gary Parkinson, Ph.D.
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