heir exact form and degree vary from, person to person in ways that are sometimes referred to as "tastes."For deviant motivation to emerge, those predisposed toward it by an imbalanced control ratio must comprehend, or perceive, the possibility that deviance will alter their control ratios in an advantageous way. Since the variables that are likely to create a perception that deviance will advantageously alter control ratios, are mainly situational, they are called provocations. Although some degree of provocation is necessary to activate the causes of deviance, the extent and intensity of situational provocation also represent a contingency under which the causal mechanisms of the theory operate with greater or lesser efficiency. For deviance to occur, individuals must become fully conscious of their control ratios and of the possibilities for changing them through the use of deviant behavior. People have a general sense of their control ratios, but most of the time they operate with only secondary awareness of their deficits or surpluses. Everyday life is such a routine that most people rarely contemplate their control ratios. Yet everyone, from time to time, experiences circumstances that bring to mind the balance of control.An opportunity to commit a particular kind of deviance is defined as a circumstance where that behavior is possible (Tittle 1995). Situational features that make deviance possible, vary with the type of deviance in question. An opportunity for exploiting others, for instance, necessarily involves access to a potential victim (or a victim-related object or thing of value) for that particular type of exploitation and a set of physical realities making the predatory act feasible. A robber must have access to another person with something of value to he predator and must not be diverted by physical barriers; in addition, for eventual triumph, the would-be robber must show superior physical strength, cunning,...
