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Sociology / Unit 5   Soc 0666 short lesson, about 20 seconds

Primary and Secondary Deviance

Captions available

The idea

Primary deviance is an initial violation carrying no lasting consequence for identity; secondary deviance is the conduct that follows from being labeled deviant.

In practice

A first offense passes unnoticed; once labeled, a person is treated as an offender and may act accordingly.

Where people slip

The sequence runs label first, altered identity second — that ordering is the theory's whole claim.

Your place on the trail

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.

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