Chapter 7. 7.1 What Is Deviance?. Deviance – Behavior That

The study of deviant behavior is one of the more complex studies of sociology. “Deviants are those individuals who do not live by the rules that the majority of us follow.”(Giddens, A., Duneier, M., Appelbaum, R. P., & Carr, D) “Some do so by choice; others are incapable of following the rules because they lack the resources to do so.(Giddens, A., Duneier, M., Appelbaum, R. P., & Carr, D) In the reality of our societies, we are all different, and no one society or individual is better than the next. Nor can our behaviors honestly be classified as better than the next. The common day practices in society are based on power, class, and conformity. These divisions of society play a major role in what is normal and what is considered to be deviant behavior.

Outcast, school shooters, people who litter, murderers,people who just don 't fit in to the norm of what we believe society should be. anyone who doesn 't really fit into society based of their action or choice of appearance can be considered to be so-called “deviant”. before you go into the subject of deviance, you must first know the definition of a deviant. Deviance is “the recognized violation of cultural norms”. The mention of the word deviant leaves a bad connotation. The very word sparks the idea in the human mind the this “deviant” might be something or someone, they should be weary about. The act of deviance can vary over a variety of situations, different cultures and moments.

Rebellion – Deviance is necessary to change or transform existing structure whether it is cultural tradition or institution. (Roach Anleu, 2006).

In complex societies, the process can be quite complicated since breakdowns in social control are often the consequence of becoming a participant in a group whose own culture and social controls operate at cross – purposes to those of the larger society. Important factors in the genesis of deviant behavior, then . may be sought in the processes by which people are emancipated from the controls of society and become responsive to those a smaller group.

All Sociologists characterize deviant conduct as conduct that is seen as disregarding expected standards and principles. Deviance is significantly more than simply basic non-similarity; it is conduct that hauls out fundamentally from social desires.

Humans have always ineptly had some form of deviance in their nature as it is something that has contributed multiple times to the structure of any society and their views. The terms “good” or “bad” deviances are more so labels branded from the current society’s views on what is and isn’t accepted. At its core deviance can be hard to measure and examine as it forms from many different personas and behavioral ways. What is true however is that acts viewed as deviance has changed many times throughout recorded history. While interracial marriages at one time may have been labeled a negative deviance in the U.S., today

Deviance can be effected by labels as well. The labeling theory was created in order to explain how labels are given to individuals which then shape who those individuals become. In other words, labels affect self-perception and the perception of others which can cause changes in someone's personality, usually causing one to become more deviant (Henslin 164). Deviance is also affected when it is medicalized. Deviance is often medicalized, meaning deviant actions are explained by blaming mental issues. This means actions that are considered negative are often associated with sickness. When deviance is classified as a sickness, it is neither metal nor an illness but a problem behavior. Deviant actions are other ways of coping with stress yet these actions cause society to see certain individuals as mentally unstable (Henslin 184). Both processes affect deviance by causing it or misinterpreting it.

The Rebellious discards communally permitted objectives and the communally appropriate ways, and in its place marks their individual aims and methods of accomplishment them. A rebellious may be incapable to discover an employment and make wealth, so individual instigates endorsing a collectivist administration as an approach to offer social equivalence.

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

Our society is made up of many subcultures that have different beliefs, norms, and morals as we do. A subculture is a distinct group within the larger culture that has its own subset of norms, values, behaviors, or characteristics. Subcultures are seen everywhere whether it be a religion such as the Amish, or profession such as exotic dancing. Out society may see their behavior and norms as deviant, but to the members of the subculture it is normal, and our lifestyle is considered deviant. Throughout this paper concepts on subcultures will be explains, polygamy, the Amish, sexual deviance are just some of the topics that will be covered. Although most subcultures are hidden within our society, some subcultures are easily identified and singled out.

Not everyone is able to realize and achieve these goals, which creates a sense of hopelessness and frustration within the individual. The gap between approved goals and the means people have to achieve them creates what Merton terms social strain. The dominant goals and values in American society highlight success through individual achievement. His theory of social strain states that people respond to the break between society’s standards and their own circumstances in these five ways: rebellion, conformity, retreatism, innovation and ritualism. First, conformists are people who accept both, the established cultural goals of society and the legitimate means of attaining those goals. An example would be a successful businessman who is reasonably successful because of their pay or hard work. Second, ritualists are individuals reject the established cultural goals of society but, accept the means of attaining those goals. An example would be a low pay worker who cares little for wealth or a promotion but, still continues to ascend the socioeconomic ladder through accepted means and hard work. Third, innovators are those who accept the cultural goals of society but reject the conventional methods of reaching those goals. These people usually chose illegitimate way to gain success and material comfort are generally those we regard as

In order to understand deviance, one should first understand the contradictions of deviance. No agreement reliably identifies behavior, people or

In order to achieve certain goals, people sometimes tend to be deviants because access to easier means is all it takes to decide for a person to become a deviant or not. According to Emile Durkheim, deviance brings in social order and unity. Hence, deviance is functional. It helps decide and clear the boundaries of a society and norms as to how people should think and act. One major advantage of deviance is that it helps in bringing a chance in the society which can be a positive one. if majority of the people follow the same deviant act, it becomes a permanent change with new behaviors and conduct in a society. As explained by the Strain theory which was given by Robert Merton, there are cases when the goal of the individuals is a moral and cultural goal but the means to achieve the specific goal is immoral or is not legitimate. Basically there is a strain that people experience when they wish to achieve a certain goal which can only be accomplished by unfair means. The team for this kind of a strain used by Merton is “anomie” which was coined by Durkheim. To achieve a certain cultural goal, there are five kinds of reactions. One is by directly following all the rules and regulations and achieving the goals. The rest of them are the deviant means including innovative ideas, ritualism which means sacrificing the goals in order to maintain the proper code of

Deviant behavior is categorized into primary and secondary behavior. Certain people committing these deviant acts do form a deviant self-image and embark to seek on deviant careers, however others don’t. Let's begin with primary deviance. Primary deviance usually doesn’t have long-term consequences as opposed to secondary deviance. In most cases, primary deviance does

Deviance is said to be in the eye of the beholder, so what one may see as deviant another might see as normal. So how does one particular behavior get labeled deviant by society and not another? When our minds fail to coordinate and function normally, almost every part of our body is usually affected. When my best friend was 16 she was diagnosed with a mental illness, depression, after her dad passed away. When I saw her for the first time after his death I knew right away she was going to struggle based off her frail voice and vulnerable mindset. She was sent to counseling two weeks after the incident, and was immediately prescribed Celexa- a serotonin reuptake inhibitor that treats depression. She always told me she felt like she was in a constant bubble that was continually being filled with pity, sorrow, and grief by her peers and own emotions. The never ending, “I’m sorry for your loss” and “What happened” caused her to ball up inside and feel virtually empty, even though it was something individuals were saying out of kindness and curiosity. For awhile I thought I had lost my best friend mentally, and I was afraid that I would never get her back. It was expected for her to be mournful, but society pressured more agony on her than she had intended to feel. Her routine turned into eating, sleeping, going to counseling, and watching wistful movies. She felt she was categorized as “different” than anyone, and she felt like she couldn’t escape her own head because of not