Deviance and Three Theories Behind it

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According to Ballatine and Roberts, deviance refers to violation of society’s norm, which then evokes negative reactions from others (Our Social World p.146). Every society has laws guiding it, law breakers are known as being deviant. Some general act that most societies regard as deviant is; theft, rape, and murder. There are always penalties enforced by the society for perpetrators of such act. This can be in terms of long or short term imprisonment, life imprisonment or even death penalties. Acts that are regarded as deviant differ between societies. Deviance can be said to be socially constructed; the society decides what is deviant, people or an individual can be labelled as deviance due to their social status, race, ethnicity or historical records. A good example of a deviant act, was the murder of a 13 months old boy in his stroller by two teenagers at Georgia. In Brunswick, Georgia two teenage black boys were charged with the murder of a 13-months old boy. Sherry West, the mother of the 13-months old victim, Antonio, was reported to have been coming from the post office at about 9am with her baby in a stroller when two boys, De’Marquise Elkins, 17, and a 14 year old minor approached her, and her son demanding for money. She said she told them continuously that she did not have money; the elder of the boys, who had the younger one hiding behind him then threatened to shoot her son. Elkins, 17, went ahead and shot the toddler at point blank range, and he passed out instantly. The two boys are being held by the Brunswick Police Department awaiting trial (CNN). This deviant act might have been caused by peer pressure, or negative influence of social environment. There are theories that do suggest why individuals engage in cr... ... middle of paper ... ...uent occasions have been labelled as deviants by the society. If they had a background of crime or have been apprehended previously, the society may tagged hem as potential offenders. This can negatively affect their self image and they chose to act based on that image. These theories adequately analysis the deviant act above. Individuals engage in criminal activities due several reasons. The theories covers almost all possible social reasons for the crime to be committed. It gives a good and logical explanation, that would have been the possible cause of the crime been committed. Work Cited Roberts, Jeanne H. Ballantine and Keith A. Our Social World. Los Angeles: Sage publication, 2012. Textbook. —. Our Social World. Los Angeles: Sage publications, 2012. Textbook. Tom Watkins, Nick Valencia and Phil Gast. "CNN." 23 March 2013. www.cnn.com. PDF. 15 February 2014.

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