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This paper proposes that the study of deviance be expanded to include organizations as actors to which deviance may be imputed. In contrast to traditional empirical studies which tend to emphasize powerless persons who passively accept attributions of deviance, this study focuses on powerful actors who actively defend themselves. Attention is focused on the types of accounts offered by one organization, the Central Intelligence Agency, in reaction to imputations of deviance to it at key times since its founding in the late 1940s. The various accounts have been aided by powerful third parties willing to use their resources in support of justifying and excusing claims by the CIA. As a result, the agency has escaped virtually unscathed from attempts to label it as deviant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addresses the issue of police compliance with statutory changes using data on police shootings in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania over the period 1970 to 1978. Patterns in the use of lethal force by police; Methodological issues in the measurement of police lethal force behavior; Legal standards for the use of deadly force.