secondary deviance


secondary deviance

or

secondary deviation

the process whereby after an act of PRIMARY DEVIANCE an individual adopts a DEVIANT IDENTITY (Lemert, 1961). This involves a reconstruction of SELF in terms of attitudes, feelings and cultural or SUBCULTURAL affiliation. In common with the LABELLING perspective, Lemert sees this adaptation as identified with, and even produced by, SOCIETAL REACTION. see also DEVIANT CAREER.