Ma`rifat Farhangi Ejtemaei

This article examines the relationship between power and wealth and the phenomenon of elite social deviance with an interdisciplinary approach. By criticizing the traditional focus of criminology on the deviance of the deprived, it raises the "deviance of the powerful" as a central issue. Using the method of content analysis of Islamic texts (the Quran and Hadiths) as well as reviewing key theories of conflict and critical sociology, it is argued that the powerful and wealthy are not only less "labeled" as deviants due to their greater access to social control tools, but also, through structural and psychological mechanisms, they themselves create the conditions for wider and more consequential deviances. The findings show that this relationship is formed through several main pathways: 1) shaping dominant cultural discourses and defining norms, 2) creating and maintaining unjust economic structures (such as usury and profit-oriented capitalism), 3) reinforcing the sense of need, pride, and “power madness” in the personality of the powerful, and 4) seizing the means of formal control (jobs, positions, media). Finally, by presenting an integrated analytical model, the article shows how macro (structural) and micro (psychological) factors interact to produce a specific pattern of economic-political deviations among those with power and wealth. This research emphasizes the necessity of shifting the focus of social control towards elite deviations and the richness of Islamic foundations to formulate an Islamic social theory in this area.