Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
INTRODUCTION
The minority group in society represented by delinquents provides an interesting case for at least two reasons. One concerns the nature of moral norms for behavior and how they are defined. The other relates to the behavioral control mechanisms that ensure compliance with these norms and make societies viable. However, to appreciate what lessons may be derived from a consideration of this particular minority, it is important to understand why and how it recruits and retains members, and members' reactions to apparent pressure to renounce their minority status. These issues form the focus of this chapter.
DELINQUENCY AND THE SOCIAL ORDER
There is a view, rooted deeply in the psyche of the social sciences, that viable societies are constructed around norms of conduct to which the majority willingly adhere. Without this consensus there can beno orderly social life. The questions toward which the social scientist may then turn address the means by which this consensus is created and maintained. An important thread to the ensuing analysis has been provided by the observation that norms, and particularly norms of conduct, vary. That is, they show a tendency to differ across time and cultures. One response to this has been to conclude that all social norms are inevitably arbitrary and relative, and that their power and authority to secure compliance are based purely on the capacity they have at a particular time and in a particular place to attract a consensus.
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