Formality of Deviance

The type of deviance which Banksy takes part in is formal deviance. This is due to the fact that the artist is known for consistently vandalisibng public property to get their message accross. This is an illegal act crowning Banksy's actions as formally deviant.

Social Status

Banksy would be considered one of the commoners and not a large corporation or government entity that can express art freely. According to Banksy "The people who run our cities don’t understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit… the people who truly deface our neighborhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff” (BBC News, 2021). This quote shows that although Banksy's actions are deviant to a majority of soceity, they view themselves as simply "defacing the neighborhoods" the same way governments and corporations are. They believe their social status shouldn't be a deciding factor when discussing whether or not the acts are deviant.

Culture

In western and english culture, where the majority of Banksy's work is displayed, it is quite uncommon for large buildings to have graffiti on them. Some people consider it an eye sore, despite the pieces’ beauty due to the simple fact that they are not used to seeing it around. This culture that exists in many first-world countries deems actions such as Bansky's graffiti extremely deviant, though that may not be the case everywhere in the world.

Age

According to society, an adult should not be defacing property even if it is in the name of “freedom of expression.” According to the rules of society, graffiti is barely passable if done by a teenager and adults should know better than to create artwork in public places.

Location

The location chosen for these displays of deviance have been quite busy with high traffic. The streets, walls and bridges Banksy chooses for their canvases have proven to have a heavy traffic flow which is considered inappropriate because everyone can see it and some consider it an “eyesore” (BBC News, 2021). Although that is the point, to get the message across to as many people as possible, the location choice makes this action even more deviant to some. Had this artwork been displayed in a predetermined socially acceptable location, such as a museum, this would not have been considered deviant and unacceptable.

Definition: This theory explains how there is a societal pressure put on people to achieve certain status and goals. These people may not have the means necessary to achieve said goals and may therefore ruin themselves while trying to succumb to the pressure. A perfect example of this is the “American Dream”

Applicability: Banksy constantly ridicules these unachievable dreams and ideals through his artwork. For example his painting seen in the top left corner of the dream shows how terrible of a reality the “American Dream” is. The beauty of all this artwork is that it is bold enough for people to understand the overall message, yet vague enough to leave things up for interpretation. This is important as it allows people to relate to the message Bansky is trying to get across, due to the fact that many of them have experienced the same defeat.

Criticism/Limitation: The strain theory focuses predominantly on the inequalities that happen within the lower and middle class, ignoring that of the higher class (Farnworth & Leiber, 2001). This is not the case with Banksy however as they highlight the crimes of all the people in society. This can be seen with the example in the bottom left where there is an image depicting two officers in a compromising position. Like much of their work, Banksy left this up for interpretation however, it can be inferred that this was done to highlight the corruption within the people in power, also known as the upper class.

Definiton: This theory was introduced by Karl Marx and states that so long as there is an inequality in balance in societal status, conflict will occur. This conflict is further amplified by the limited resources available to the population.

Applicability: All the photos on the left and below are examples of Banksy’s artwork that highlight differences in social status. They highlight the issues mentioned in Marx’s conflict theory as well as the negative implications that come with these social titles.

Criticism/Limitation: It does not take into account the deviant person’s personality. This is especially difficult when we don’t know Banksy’s personality due to their mysterious identity.

We saw it happen more recently in 2020 with the traction BLM movement gained and the deviance that came with it. The movement itself managed to enhance societies in more ways than one. For example, police reform occurred in multiple states making it safer for people of color to interact with authority (DoSomething.org, 2015). And this is just one of the most recent examples we have seen. From 1954 to 1968 we saw it happen with the Civil Rights movements now known as one of the biggest movements in history and is the reason segregation in public places was abolished (History.com Editors, 2010).