The Role of Communication in the Sociology of Deviance: A Comparative Analysis of Classical and Contemporary Perspectives

Document Type : Research paper

Authors
Alireza Mohseni Tabrizi 1
Hadi Zamani 2
1 Professor of Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 PhD Student in Sociology, University of Tehran, Kish International Campus
Abstract
In the contemporary world, communication is not merely a means of message transmission but a fundamental mechanism for the social construction of reality and the shaping of social order or disorder. Social reality is the product of intersubjective interactions and communication networks that become institutionalized within social structures and institutions. This study, adopting an analytical-theoretical approach, investigates the role of communication in explaining social deviance and seeks to clarify the position of communication within classical and contemporary sociological theories. The research method is based on a systematic literature review, conceptual coding, and comparative theory analysis. The theoretical frameworks analyzed include Durkheim's anomie and Merton's strain theory; Shaw and McKay's cultural transmission theory; Cohen's delinquent subculture theory; Sutherland's differential association theory; Bandura's social learning theory; Hirschi's social control theory; as well as Becker's labeling theory and the power-status model articulated by Goffman and Kemper. The findings indicate that communication plays a causal and structural role in the formation or control of deviance at three levels: micro (family and peers), meso (neighborhood and social institutions), and macro (media and institutional structures). Weakness or disruption in institutional communication intensifies anomie; intra-group communication can reproduce deviant patterns; and labeling, along with the reduction of social status, reinforces pathways to deviance through the activation of negative emotions. The study concludes that communication should be considered an independent and structural variable in the analysis of social deviance. Strengthening healthy communication networks, enhancing social capital, reforming media narratives, and teaching communication skills are among the proposed policy and cultural strategies for preventing and reducing deviance. This conceptual framework may serve as a basis for the empirical testing of proposed hypotheses in future research.

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