Safety-valve institution

Safety-valve organization or safety-valve institution is a term used in sociology to describe social organizations which serve to allow discontented individuals to act out their opposition to elements of society without coming into direct contact with the elements, analogically "letting off steam".[1] Safety-valve organizations reduce tensions; in the structural-functionalist perspective, it can be said to have a tension-reducing latent function.[2][3] Safety-valve organizations are outlets for behavior that is considered deviant but cannot be eradicated from society, and such organizations prevent tensions from accumulating; thus tolerance of some deviant behavior in various safety-valve organizations prevents more serious problems.[4][5] Hence, a function of the deviant act itself can be said to be a primary safety-valve that, on a scale that is more individual and psychological, precedes contact with organizations that standardly engage in the same function.[6][7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Poloma1979 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference GrunlanMayers1988 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sociology in Perspective was invoked but never defined (see the help page).