A study on relationship between the individual, deviance and the power of social control

Starting from the most significant theoretical contributions, the present study aims to analyze the relationship between deviance, social norms and legal norms, investigate the complex field of interpretative problems of the term deviance, delve into the dimension of social role expectations, investigate the phenomenon of labeling and the related processes, understand, finally, how much social control can impact deviant phenomena, also in terms of prevention. Over time, as is known, the social and criminological sciences have focused their interest on individual behaviors linked to deviance phenomena, the latter of which can be classified as the distancing of individuals or groups from shared norms within each specific social context and on criminal behavior, in clear violation of legal-regulatory precepts, to which a sanction is attributed. In the modern panorama and in advanced industrial societies, what increases interest in the study of deviance in general is the growing fear of crime and victimization, which generate feelings of insecurity and fear in members of society. The multiple forms of deviant behavior have therefore, over the years, been increasingly analyzed and debated, given the increase in their visibility, their representation and emphasis on the mass media, but, above all, due to their treatment within public, control and prevention policies. Parsons (1965) underlines that the term "deviance" was introduced into the sociological debate in the 1950s.