Becoming Vegetarian: An Analysis of the Vegetarian Career Using an Integrated Model of Deviance Joseph E. Boyle Submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Sociology Clifton D. Bryant Carol A. Bailey Donald J. Shoemaker Ellsworth Fuhrman April 19, 2007 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: vegetarianism, deviance theory, accounts, social learning theory, conversion models, becoming deviant, affinity, affiliation, signification, career model of deviance Becoming Vegetarian: An Analysis of the Vegetarian Career Using an Integrated Model of Deviance Joseph E. Boyle ABSTRACT This dissertation attempts to explore the nature of a particular food consumption pattern using a number of different deviance theories in order to outline the career path of vegetarianism. Using semi-structured interviews with 45 practicing vegetarians from two regions of the United States, the career path of the vegetarians was developed around David Matza’s (1969) theory of becoming deviant. Within each stage of Matza’s classic work, more specific theories were applied to explain the friction between vegetarianism and the more socially-accepted practice of meat eating within the United States. The framework of the stages includes the affinity for, affiliation with, and signification of vegetarian ideology and practice. Each stage within the theory is also a stage in the development of the vegetarian identity. The more specific theories utilized to explain phenomena within each particular stage attempt to show a progression from initially being interested in the ideals and practice of vegetarianism to becoming and verbalizing as a mature, practicing vegetarian. Finally, the vegetarians interviewed were asked to give the prognosis for the future of vegetarianism. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. Statement of the Problem ..................................................................................1 II. The Case for Vegetarianism as Deviance ..........................................................9 The Norm of Meat Consumption in the United States ................................9 The Origins of Western Vegetarianism .....................................................13 Sociological Perspectives on Deviance .....................................................14 Vegetarianism as a Norm Violation...........................................................21 Vegetarianism as Positive Deviance..........................................................22 III. Methodology....................................................................................................28 Rationale for Methodology........................................................................29 Research Approach ....................................................................................30 Sampling ....................................................................................................32 Access to the Participants ..........................................................................34 Sample Demographics ...............................................................................36 Data Analysis.............................................................................................39 Confidentiality ...........................................................................................40 Conclusion .................................................................................................41 IV. Developing Tensions for Vegetarianism .........................................................43 Developing Awareness: The Affinity or the Predisposing Conditions for Vegetarianism....................................................................50 The Pre-Conversion Tensions Among Vegetarians...................................51 Personal Biographies of Vegetarians.........................................................65 V. Beginning the Affiliating Process with Vegetarianism: The Turning Point............................................................................................69 Dealing with Building Tensions: The Turning Point for Vegetarians ............................................................71 A Typology of Turning Points for Vegetarians .........................................74 iii Abrupt vs. Gradual Conversion: Critiquing Beadsworth and Kiel ................................................................86 Conclusion .................................................................................................89 VI. Continuing the Affiliating Process: Sources of Vegetarian Socialization ................................................................91 Learning to Become Vegetarian: Other People .........................................98 Learning to Become Vegetarian: Written Publications and Manuscripts.....................................................108 Learning to Become Vegetarian: The Internet and Other Forms of Mass Media.........................................115 Conclusion ...............................................................................................124 VII. Signifying Vegetarianism: The Internalization of a Deviant Lifestyle....................................................129 Initial Eating Patterns of Early or Developmental Vegetarians...............131 Initial Accounts of Vegetarians ...............................................................134 The Maturation of Vegetarianism............................................................145 Passing, Deviance Disavowal, and the Cuisine Counterfeiters ...............159 Conclusion ...............................................................................................162 VIII. Prognosis for Vegetarianism and Conclusions ...........................................166 Concluding about Becoming Vegetarian.................................................172 Becoming Vegetarian: An Integrated Theory of a Positively Deviant Career ........................................................................175 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................191 APPENDIX A. Tables .....................................................................................................202 APPENDIX B. Vegetarianism Interview Guide..............................................................208 APPENDIX C. Informed Consent for Participants..........................................................211 iv LIST OF TABLES Page Table 7-1. Initial Eating Patterns of Vegetarians Interviewed.........................................202 Table 7-2. Current eating Patterns of Vegetarians Interviewed.......................................203 Table 7-3. Changes in Eating Patterns from Developing to Mature Vegetarianism .......204 v CHAPTER ONE Statement of the Problem The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the potential friction of a particular food consumption pattern, vegetarianism, and the normative food habits in the United States. Among certain segments of people in the United States, vegetarianism is seen as a marginalized food practice. Nonetheless, the number of adults who engage in this practice in the U.S. is estimated between 2.3% and 6.7% of the population depending on how you sample and how you phrase questions regarding the elimination of meat from one’s diet (Haddad & Tanzman 2003; Stahler 2006). During the 1990s, there has been a “discovery” of the sociological aspects of food consumption (McIntosh 1996). Physical anthropologists and physiological psychologists have long integrated the relation of food habits to culture and/or biomedical practices (Sobal 1992). The sociological interest in food consumption has been gaining prominence as sociologists of food have begun to investigate the relationship between food and societal forces. Sociologists of food have utilized applied and/or clinical processes to answer questions regarding nutritional practice (Sobal, McIntosh, & Whit 1993). Vegetarianism as a particular food consumption pattern has recently become of interest to sociologists. Although contested, research into this practice has been dominated by those who have attempted to examine this behavior from the theoretical lens of vegetarianism as a form deviant behavior. Consistent with this approach, the overarching structure of the dissertation will be grounded in the 1969 theory developed by David Matza in his classic text, Becoming Deviant. Matza’s work emphasizes the importance of social interaction within the 1 evolution of the early stages of the deviant career. This theory provides the overall construct where other more specific theories can be employed to explain vegetarianism. Matza’s theory was chosen because of its versatility and overall compatibility with many theories within the symbolic interactionist paradigm. Based on in-depth interviews, this dissertation examines the pathways to and understanding of vegetarianism from the perspectives of a sample of those who self- identify as vegetarians. This dissertation investigates the entering and being stages of the noninstitutional deviant career of vegetarianism. Vegetarianism has historically been (Spencer 1995) and continues to be (Stiles 1998; Maurer 1997; Willard 1997; McIntosh 1996; Beardsworth & Keil 1992 & 1997) regarded as a marginal, or deviant, food option. Within the existing literature on vegetarianism, there has not been a study to date that has investigated vegetarianism