How the deviance occurred
The case is a perfect example of the adverse negative consequences that are attached to homophobic practices such as gay bashing. What happened to Shepard was in every sense illegal. This is because he was subjected to erroneous attacks due to his sexual orientation. It is illegal given the fact that the constitution that applied during this time did not allow for such acts as the one Shepard was subjected to; the deviance occurred on a high personal level. The two offenders, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson are ideal examples of individuals who are still engulfed in primitive practices and beliefs (Gasq-Dion, 2014). Their explanation of why they did what they did seems to place the fault on Mathew Shepard. In the real sense, the whole fault lies on them and Mathew Shepard did nothing wrong.
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Type of deviance
This situation can be related to a person who attacks a physically impaired individual on similar grounds (O’Riley, 2014). The advances made by these two persons were in every way meant to inflict pain and injury on Mathew Shepard due to what they probably deemed and believed as possession of complex immoral sexual preferences. As such, the deviance that was made against Mathew Shepard is the one motivated by outlawed cultural beliefs related to negative stereotyping of personal behaviors and orientations.
Theoretical perspective
The most plausible theoretical perception relating to this case is that this is a form of homophobic beliefs and treatment and specifically, under the category of labeling (Whitesel, 2014). What followed after they tricked him into following them, further accentuated by the fact that Shepard was drunk, is a perfect explanation of what gay bashing really means.
