Project for Sociology on Deviant Behavior

Recently in Portland, Oregon, an illegally constructed mountain bike trail was found in the northwest portion of Portland’s Forest Park. The parties involved have not yet been found, but natural areas supervisor for Portland Parks & Recreation, Dan Moeller, believes that it was built sometime within the last two months. This act is considered deviant behavior because park officials and citizens alike want to preserve the park for future generations.
Forest Park, located nearby downtown Portland, covers over 5,000 acres and includes more than 70 miles of trails that attract hikers, runners, bicyclists, and equestrians. The original 3,000 acre park was dedicated as city parkland in 1948 and through acquiring funds, the Friends of Forest Park have been adding to its acreage a piece at a time over the years.
Biologist Marcy Houle conducted a survey in 1982 of Forest Park’s wildlife and she found the numbers very similar to those collected by William Clark in 1806; most city parks show a steady decline in their native wildlife. Houle identified more than one hundred and twelve bird and mammal species that called the park home. Today Forest Park includes over one hundred and twelve species of birds and sixty-two types of mammals. The park’s plant life remains in a “semi-natural condition.” Extensive logging has caused the evergreen trees to decline; however hardwood species have multiplied.
Landslides are an issue in the park; the wet winter climate of western Oregon attributes to poor foundation material. The trail is estimated to have been constructed during the months of December and January; the worst time to be carelessly disrupting the park’s ecosystem. Uncontrolled erosion damages natural habitats and it can take years to rebuild.
The Forest Park Conservancy is more than willing to have volunteer and community help in creating and maintaining trails in the Park.

“FPC supports the evolvement of a sustainable, ecologically sensitive
recreational trail system within Forest Park that balances and respects the
needs of all users, with ultimate consideration given to the ecological health
of the resource.”

Putting their effort into a program like this is a far more productive way for people to help make the Park a better and more enjoyable place.
The guilty parties probably did the deed because of influence from association with each other. The sociocultural learning theory—or interaction action theory—suggests that deviance is learned through interaction and socialization. Edwin Sutherland’s theory of Differential Association also applies because of its position that deviance is learned by association with groups who define deviance favorably.
Another theory that is appropriate to this incident is Robert Merton’s anomie theory. Merton said that conflicts can arise between groups with shared values; perhaps these bikers wanted a trail in that particular area and did not feel that Park officials would be open to that suggestion, so in order to obtain the goal—a new bike trail—they decided to take matters into their own hands and construct one themselves.