Deviance Theory Analysis - Identify Deviance for situations and explain
Within any given society, individuals are expected to behave and or conduct themselves in a given acceptable manner. However, there are instances when particular individuals act contrary to the set standards and violate the cultural norms. Such acts may include acts of crime, theft, defiance, breaking of rules, and truancy just to mention a few. Deviance could thus be viewed as the intentional or accidental violation of the particular behavioral aspects and ways that people are expected to act within a society (Hardy).
When an individual breaks the societal rules of conduct, they are said to be involved in deviant behaviors. However, due to the dynamism of the societies, what may be regarded as a deviant act in one society could be regarded as normal within another society. This brings out the issue that deviance may be viewed as relative to both time and location with regard to the differences in societies. Out of this understanding, deviance is viewed as the violation of social norms out of any acts, thoughts, or attitudes that the particular society regards as violation of its values or rules (Long Russ). A deviant conduct is against the definitions of the good and bad conduct as agreed upon by members of a social system. Such behaviors are in a negated direction and bear enough magnitude to surpass the acceptance and accommodation limit of the particular community.
Different sociological theories have been put across in describing deviant behaviors. They include: cultural transmission/differential association theory; control theory; labeling theory; structural strain theory/anomie theory; subcultural theories; and medicalization of deviance (Sociolog...
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Hardy, CL, eHow Contributor. Social Deviance Theory. 199-2011. Available at:
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Long Russ. Introductory Sociology, Deviance, 2008. Available at:
http://www.delmar.edu/socsci/rlong/intro/deviance.htm
Sociological Theories To Explain Deviance. Available at:
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"...social groups create deviance by making rules whose infraction creates deviance, and by applying those roles to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by other of rules and sanctions to an 'offender.' The deviant is one to whom that label has been successfully applied; deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label." Becker (1963)
Goode, E 2006, 'IS THE DEVIANCE CONCEPT STILL RELEVANT TO SOCIOLOGY?', Sociological Spectrum, 26, 6, pp. 547-558, SocINDEX with Full Text, EBSCOhost, viewed 3 June 2014.
Societies are founded on various social norms. Norms can best be defined as a set of acceptable attitudes and practices by a given society. These norms however are found to vary from one society or cultural setting o the other. Deviance on the other hand is simply when one does something that goes against the set societal norms. Deviance is gauged on a scale of attitudes and behavior contradicting to acceptable social standards (Samuels, 2012).
Deviant behavior is sociologically defined as, when someone departs from the “norms”. Most of the time when someone says deviance they think against the law or acting out in a negative behavior. To sociologists it can be both positive and negative. While most crimes are deviant, they are not always. Norms can be classified into two categories, mores and folkways. Mores are informal rules that are not written; when mores are broken, they can have serious punishments and sanctions. Folkways are informal rules that are just expected to be followed, but have no real repercussions.
Since social norms and rules are subject to change, there is a wide concept as to what deviance actually means. The concept of social deviance is explained as the transgression of socially established norms. For example, there is a wide variety in defining social deviance, but one might consider “sex before marriage” deviant, whereas in other places this practice is common. Also, killing someone might be considered deviant until we do further research. One might propose the question of self-defense, and this is where the “ABC’s of deviance” come to play. I was interested in social deviance because it filled a gap of ignorance for me. Often times I wondered why people performed deviant acts and what was their motive. By understanding social control I was able to fill that gap with knowledge.
Before the 1950’s theorists focused on what the difference was between deviants and criminals from “normal” citizens. In the 1950’s researchers were more involved exploring meaning and reasons behind deviant acts. This led to the most dominant question in the field of deviance, “what is the structural and culture factors that lead to deviant behavior?” This question is important when studying deviance because there is no clear answer, everyone sees deviance in different ways, and how deviance is created. Short and Meier states that in the 1960’s there was another shift in focus on the subject of deviance. The focus was what causes deviance, the study of reactions to deviance, and the study of rule breaking and rule making. In the 1960’s society was starting to speak out on what they believed should be a rule and what should not; this movement create chaos in the streets. However, it gave us a glimpse into what makes people become deviant, in the case it was the Vietnam War and the government. Short and Meier also write about the three levels that might help us understand were deviance comes from and how people interact to deviance. The first is the micro level, which emphasizes individual characteristics by biological, psychological, and social sciences. The second level is macrosociological that explains culture and
Deviance is the behavior and the standards of expectations of a group or society. It is also behavior that is considered dangerous, threatening or offensive. The people that are deviant are often labeled to be weirdos, oddballs, or creeps. In the United States, people with tattoos, drug addicts, alcoholics, and compulsive gamblers are all considered deviant. Sociologists believe that everybody is deviant from time to time. They believe each person will violate a social norm in certain situations. People are considered deviant if they don't stand for the national anthem at a sports event, dress casually to a fancy restaurant, or skip classes. One category of deviance is Crime. Crime is a violation of norms that have been formally enacted into a law. Another category of deviance is humorous. Deviance is relative, what is deviant in one group or society may not be deviant in another group or society.
Deviance is described as “the recognized violation of cultural norms”(Macionis 238). While deviance can include crime, it is not always such. Deviance can mean trying to sneak into a hospital room, desperately searching for someone like the character of Benny in the movie Benny and Joon. Or it could be preforming on the streets for people to watch. Deviance isn’t always a criminal act. The movie Benny and Joon gave several examples of deviant behavior portrayed by the three main characters, Benny, Joon, and Sam.
Social deviance is when people who are faced with social norms either choose to conform or to rebel
"Sociological Theories To Explain Deviance." Sociological Theories To Explain Deviance. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013. .
Deviance is amongst other things a consequence of the response of others to a persons act. Students of deviance can not assume that they are dealing with a homogenous category. When they study people who have been labelled deviant (Howard Becker)
There exists conflicting theories among sociologists in the area of determining why a person is considered to be a deviant, and the reasons behind why he or she has committed a deviant act. From a positivistic perspective, deviance is based on biological or social determinism. Alternatively, from a constructionist perspective, deviance is created and assigned by society. Both perspectives seek to give a theory for why a person may become known as deviant. Although they both view similar acts as deviant, the basic differences between positivists and constructionists theories are clear.
Deviance is defined as actions or behaviors that violate socials norms. In turn the concept of deviance is dependent on the social observation and perception. “By it’s very nature, the constructionism through which people define and interpret actions or appearances is always “social.” ”(Henry, 2009 , p. 6) One’s perception of a situation may be completely different from another depending on cultural and social factors. The way someone talks, walks, dresses, and holds themselves are all factors that attribute to how someone perceives another. In some cases what is socially or normally acceptable to one person is deviant in another’s eyes. For this reason there is a lot of gray area involving the topic of deviance because actions and behaviors are so diversely interpreted.
Some of the behaviors characterized by certain groups of people forming subcultures that are determined by social aspects such as sexual orientation, ethnicity, and racial can be regarded as deviant in some societies. Therefore, deviance can be defined as going against the established cultural, social norms, and contexts within a certain communities. This deviance is sometimes established as crime in some societies. The deviant behaviors thus depends on factors such as the audience, location, or on individual basis in regard to the act in question. Additionally, the development of cultures has been characteristic of social control, and as such, as new subcultures rise, they provide for a threat towards the social constructs as determined by such cultures. As a result of the development of the subcultural facets within the societies both on the social media platforms and on the streets, new developments on how to deal with the problems inbound has also been under development. As Marenin (2016) states, as problems and solutions arise as a resultant of the development in new subcultures, conflicts between the police and the societal are also on the
There are 5 basic techniques of managing deviance. There is secrecy, manipulating the physical setting, rationalizations, change to non-d`eviance, and joining deviant subcultures. The act of secrecy is easily defined as the word itself. The deviant keeps secrets from those around them. The thought behind it being that if nobody ever knows about their deviant behavior there is no one who can place negative sanctions upon the deviant. Next, manipulating the physical setting, the deviant chooses to avoid negative sanctions by appearing to be legitimate in their reasons for taking part in the act or situation. For example a prostitute may work under the guise of being an escort or masseuse. Another technique of managing deviance is rationalizations. An example of a rationalization would be a shoplifter who justifies their actions by saying that the store has insurance and can afford to suffer the loss. A fourth technique of managing deviance would be to make a change to non-deviance. For example, criminals will refer to the technique as “going straight.” The fifth and final technique of managing deviance is to join a deviant subculture. Joining the subculture makes the deviant feel like they are less deviant because they are surrounded by their deviance.