Acceptable deviance as social control: The cases of fashion and slang

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Abstract
The concept of “acceptable deviance” is introduced as a bridge between the ideal types of conformity and deviance. It is argued that as a form of social control it ensures conformity in the guise of individual freedom. The principle has its roots in the work of Goffman ("role distance") and is developed in this paper as a basis for explaining the social control effects of two forms of social action: fashion and slang. In both cases, acceptable deviance exemplifies Sapir's principle of “adventurous safety” by melding the “imitative” and “differentiating” functions discussed by Simmel. Rule‐bending is allowed but only within predefined limits of propriety; beyond these boundaries behavior becomes “unacceptably deviant”. It is suggested that normality is an achieved status for actors whose expressive capacity is limited by the ability of their audience and others to read their statements. Acceptable deviance regulates such reading and consequently assures conformity.

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