... more simply, society. Given the importance of the impact of deviance on society, many approaches have been used to attempt to understand why people engage in deviant behaviour. Symbolic interactionists argue that deviance is "relative". That is, what might be considered in one group (or society) might not be in another. There are a number of different explanations of deviance from each of the different theoretical perspectives in sociology. Differential association theory is a symbolic interactionist perspective developed by Edwin H. Sutherland. The principal of different association states that a person becomes a deviant because of an "excess" of definitions in favour of violation of the law over definitions unfavourable to violation of the law. In other words, deviant behaviour develops when one is exposed to more social message favouring conduct than prosocial messages (Sutherland, 1947 p.186). Symbolic interactionism suggests that Deviant behaviour is learned through the process of associating ...

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