Running head: ASSIGNMENT 3 DEVIANCE ARTICLE

Assignment 3 Deviance Article

Bronson Hunt
International College of the Cayman Islands
Introduction to Sociology SO201
Dr. S'Rah Yisrael

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March 7th, 2016 marks the most recent wide-scale alteration of the Cayman Islands road
speed signs (Jukham, 2016). On numerous occasions these limit signs have been altered or added
to in other road locations, and this speaks to a form of government response to deviance in the
Cayman Islands. Namely, the deviance of those who disobey the road laws. Deviance is a
sociological term that refers to how ones behaviors and appearances relate to social accepted
norms (Ferrante, 2015). According to her, any act or physical appearance that departs from a
social groups norms are judged as being deviant (pg. 128). In order to understand how deviance
applies into this situation, it must first be explained how behavior has come to affect the speed
changes in Grand Cayman.
The safety of West Bay Road has been put into question many times as Shulleeta (2015)
of the Richmond Times commented. The article focused on the near-death accident of 17-yearold U. S. student Harrison Zierenberg when he was struck by a mini-van while crossing the road,
on the night of April 6. Authorities stated that while the 67-year-old driver had been arrested on
charges of dangerous driving, he was later released and not charged for the incident.
This brings into light the behavior of people and their actions. While the 67-year-old
drivers speed was unknown on that night, it can be assumed that he had been driving recklessly,
evidenced by his inability to avoid the accident. In this case, the act of deviance is in the 67-yearold drivers inability to properly function as a driver on the road, and this act had the effect of
seriously injuring a pedestrian. Such an act is criminal by law and can result in sentencing of
years in prison.
Next, we can now apply a deviance theory to this case study. This scenario involves a
clear set of roles for each individual. Harrison is described as the victim of the accident, and the
67-year-old driver who caused the accident has been labelled as well. One theory that could

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explain the potential result of this would be labelling theory, first described by sociologist
Howard Becker. Ferrante (2015) quotes from Beckers 1963 work, Outsiders: Studies in the
Sociology of Deviance:
All social groups make rules and attempt, at some times and under some circumstances,
to enforce them. When a rule is enforced, the person who is supposed to have broken it
may be seen as a special kind of person, one who cannot be trusted to live by the rules
agreed on by the group. (pg. 135)
Here, Becker defines deviance to be when people notice the act and attempt to seek a
form of punishment against the person who has violated a norm. The result of such a successful
sanctioning is then the labelling of this person as an outsider.
We can see an example of this in a paper published by Smith & Brame (1994) discussing
delinquency where they define it as an adequate answer to the sustainability of delinquency in
those who have previously shown delinquent behavior. They argue that this stability comes about
as a result of seeing peoples reaction to their first act of delinquency, stating, If those reactions
are negative, youths may come to view themselves as bad and engage in behavior that is
consistent with this self-image. (pg. 123) In this instance, labelling theory states that youths
who are labelled as being bad or having become an outsider will seek to maintain, or keep up
their label, and acting out in a manner that enforces this label.
By comparison, the actions of the 67-year-old driver on Harrison Zierenberg take on a
labelling of a different nature. While this driver is the most likely individual in this scenario to be
labelled an outsider according to this theory, it appears as though this is not the case. No known
sources have successfully identified the man, and according to the article by Shulleeta (2015),

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the charges against him were dropped in favor of focusing on Zierenbergs recovery. This seems
to defy Beckers theory of labelling by circumventing the first requirement of the theory itself.
Specifically, no sanction was applied. Despite the behavior being recognized and labelled as a
violation of the norms, no punishment nor public sociological label has been applied to the man,
outside of his reckless behavior, and therefore he fails to take on a publicly recognized sanction.
Despite this, I argue that this does in fact coincide with Beckers labelling theory. The
relevant information to conclude this is within the previously discussed article by Jukham
(2016). She quotes several individuals and their comments about the recent speed sign change
including Tom Mason, manager of the Comfort Suites Inn on West Bay Road, who said,
Perhaps a lower speed limit in this busy area will help [to] ensure the safety for both the
motorist[s] and the general pedestrian public as a whole. It becomes clearer now that, in the
instance of Zierenberg, the 67-year-old driver was not seen as the cause of the violation because
the label of violator fell onto the less physical issue: the governments regulated road speeds.
Because of this, we can now redefine the situation to reflect Beckers theory of labeling.
In this case, the behavior under scrutiny is the governments set road speeds, specifically the
40mph speed of West Bay Road. Next, this behavior is noticed, by those who reported on the
numerous instances of accidents occurring there. To quote Jukham (2016):
There have been several serious traffic accidents, some involving pedestrians, along West
Bay Road in the Seven Mile Beach area. In April last year, a 16-year-old tourist suffered
life-threatening injuries when he was struck by a minivan as he was crossing the road
near the Marriott resort. In December, a 68-year-old tourist was seriously injured after
being hit by a pickup truck near Peppers Restaurant.

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Furthermore, we can label this situation as violating the norms. Norm in this case are
referring to the safety of pedestrians who enter or walk along, roadways. Interestingly, these
norms are not government regulated, and instead belong to multiple smaller public social groups
who comment and observe on them. Finally, we observe that a sanction had been applied. An
article by Cayman News (2016) recovered information regarding the decision to alter road
speeds, quoting government officials as stating that, The key change had been the anticipated
fall in speed along the busy stretch of the West Bay Road as a result of the number and
seriousness of accidents and that, public input during the consultation period was also
considered.
In conclusion, Beckers theory for labeling deviance is adequate for describing the
deviance seen in recent road accidents across Grand Cayman as well as the situation of
Zierenberg in 2015. When applied to the immaterial concept of improperly designated road
speeds, and no specific person, his theory can describe why the accused parties are not typically
held accountable in the instance of road accidents. His presence fell out of the public eye because
they deem the accused to be a symptom of the larger problem. Unfortunately, Beckers theory
does not properly explain why applying sanctions has not yet lead to the abolishment of
violators; historical road speed refinements should have prevented accidents of this nature from
occurring. In my opinion, I believe that this is due to the nature of society. It would be
impossible to impose a sanction that will completely fix an issue because humans can still make
mistakes due to numerous other factors, outside of these theories, and it would be physically
impossible to define human nature without the possibility for deviance. However, this delves into
the topic of mile Durkhams theory of Functionalism (Ferrante, 2015, pg. 134), and therefore
requires further research.

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References
Cayman News. (March 2, 2015). Date set for speed limit changes. Retrieved from
https://caymannewsservice.com/2016/03/date-set-for-speed-limit-changes/
Ferrante, J. (2015) Sociology: A Global Perspective. [Location: title page]: [Publisher name]
Jukham, K. (March 3, 2016). Speed limit changes start Monday. Cayman Compass. Retrieved
from https://www.caymancompass.com/2016/03/03/speed-limit-changes-start-monday/
Shulleeta B. (August 15, 2015). Midlothian teen recovering from Caymans accident. Richmond
Times-Dispatch. Retrieved from http://www.richmond.com/news/local/article_da1d35870002-5ef7-aa3f-b47eddc87895.html
Smith, D. A., & Brame, R. (1994). On the initiation and continuation of delinquency.
Criminology, 32(4), 607. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp01.lirn.net/docview/220689155?accountid=158672