Social Deviance: A Reflection On The Meaning Of Social Deviance

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Aiman Boudjada Reflection Paper #1 What is Social Deviance? Social Deviance can be defined as the violation of rules and norms (henslin 2009). Looking at this definition however does not give you the proper understanding of what deviance is . What are social norms, how does one become a deviant, who decides whether someone 's deviant or not. These questions ask about several ideas that help to define the meaning of social deviance, which is why a definition can 't give you the full meaning. To be able to understand social deviance we first have to talk about social norms. Henslin (2009) defined social norms as expectations, or rules of behavior, that reflect and enforce values. This is saying that in a society there are rules for the type of behavior that society considers to be acceptable. Going against these rules makes one a deviant. Every society has norms whether they 're based on laws based on a society 's customs or their laws. For example in the united states a male professor’s attire would be something along the lines of a suite and dress pants. This is what society expects of him. However if he comes to work wearing a skirt he would be going against society 's norms and thus he becomes a deviant. According to Erickson( 2005) “deviation is hard to study because it is defined differently …show more content…

According to Becker (1991), “deviance is among other things a consequence of the response of others towards a persons act” (pg. 40). What he 's saying is that what we do doesn 't make us deviant. This shows that deviance varies from place to place and from one time period to another. For example during prohibition it was illegal for businesses to sell alcohol. Doing so would make one a criminal and thus a deviant. Fast forward today it is now legal for business to sell alcohol which means this is no longer a deviant act. This proves that deviance is a social

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