Deviance Essay

The way individuals learn to interact with society as children tends to predict how they will interact with society and respond to its environments as adults. There are social theories that help the understanding of why individuals choose deviant behaviors and how they progress through life. Social process theories view criminal and deviant criminal behaviors as evolving mechanisms learned through societal interaction. Social development theories view deviant and criminal behaviors as part of a maturation process. Social theories are conclusions that have come about based on the response of individuals to

The labeling theory, an example of constructivist perspective is the theory put forth to define how deviance is experienced and why people continue to be deviant. The labeling theory was developed by a group of sociologists in the 1960’s. It is a version of symbolic interactionism defining deviance as a collective action involving the acts of more than one person, and the

The Three Main Theories of Deviance and Their Strengths and Weaknesses A functionalist analysis of deviance looks for the source of deviance in the nature of society rather than in the biological or psychological nature of the individual. Although functionalists agree that social control mechanisms such as the police and the courts are necessary to keep deviance in check, many argue that a certain amount of deviance can contribute to the well-being of society. Durkhiem (1895) believed that: * Crime is an 'integral part of all healthy societies'.

People who suffer from personality disorders often display deviant behavior. The mental illness itself is not deviant. They typically have problems with social skills, mood swings, emotional states, and are often unable to maintain healthy, stable relationships. Many sufferers do not possess the capability to have genuine emotions, including empathy for others. A personality disorder is the basis of many circumstances of maladaptive behavior including substance abuse, self-harm, suicide, and criminality.

There are many different theories on what causes a person to exhibit deviant behavior. Some explanations can be biological, sociological as well as psychological. Sociological explanations for deviant behavior focus on how social structures, forces, and relationships foster deviance whereas biological explanations focus on physical and

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.

(TCO 6, 7) The local newspaper reports that a middle school had been broken into, damaged, and vandalized to the tune of $50,000. Security cameras show the vandals were four high school students, three of whom are on the honor roll. Compare and contrast the explanation given by labeling theory to the explanation given by anomie theory of deviance.

Deviance is explained by this theory because criminal behavior is more prominent in rundown areas with citizens who have lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Two sub-theories such as differential association theory and strain theory explain more in depth why people join violent gangs or are subjected to be dangerous consumers. Differential association theory puts a focus on the idea that people learn criminal behavior from the people they associate with. For example, the gang members who shot the woman’s son learn to do that from the previous gang members of whom they associated with. Strain theory is when an individual undertakes deviant acts because there is a discrepancy between the larger society and the means available for that individual to achieve a goal in the larger society. An example is the people in New Orleans that the cops arrested who had drugs and were trying to sell them to innovate a quicker way to make

This theory assumes that deviance results from when an individuals bond to society is broken or weak (Chriss, 2007). When an individual has strong bonds they are less likely to commit crimes. The theory suggests that the more attached a person is to people in a society the more they will believe in the values, and the more they invest in and are involved the less likely they are to deviate (Chriss, 2007). There are four main elements to the social bonding theory they are attachment, commitment, involvement, and belief. One of the best predictors of delinquency is the childs attachment to their parents, if there is less of an attachment they are more likely to partake in delinquent activities. The attachment is most important as the bonds people form with those around them help guide their lives, and all other elements are contingent on attachment. The content of beliefs also plays a crucial role as well through the idea that parent may be distant from a child who is about to commit a deviant act, and the parents could have been present when the temptation rises (Chriss, 2007). The child is not asking themselves what their parents may think because they do not have a bond sufficient enough with them to care. Where as children who do ask themselves this exhibit a stronger moral component of attachment, if they have the belief that their parents would not agree they are less likely to

To come to understand why people act with deviant behavior, we must comprehend how society brings about the

Social learning theory and social bonding theory are two theories that may be compared and contrasted because they both overlap and differ. Although these theories have their similarities and differences, one theory may prove to be more convincing in terms of applying the theory to the understanding of crime and delinquency.

All these adaptations Merton believes help us understand that deviance is a socially created behavior rather than pathological (Schaefer, p. 162). The interactionist’s perspective offer their own interpretation of the meaning of deviant by way of Edwin Sutherland’s the cultural transmission theory and Phillip Zimbardo’s integration of the social disorganization theory by Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay. The cultural transmission theory that was discovered by Edwin Sutherland stated that an individual undergoes the same basic socialization process in learning conforming or deviant acts (Schaefer, p. 162). His ideas, that have been the dominating force in criminology, have been mainly drawn from the cultural transmission school of thought that emphasizes that criminal behavior is learnt by interacting with others (Schaefer, p. 162). The learning includes, not only techniques such as, breaking the law, but also the motives, drives and rationalizations of the criminal. Sutherland maintains that people acquire proper or improper behavior through the interactions that one has with his group and close ones. The term that he used to describe these people who are exposed to attitudes that are favorable to criminal acts, that leads to the violation of rules, is differential association (Schaefer, p. 162). An example that Sutherland uses to explain this theory is of two boys growing up in the same neighborhood that has high delinquent rates, one boy is very sociable and athletic and is

The limitation of the differential association theory lay in the question: if deviant behaviour is learned and is indeed "contagious", then why do so many in high crime areas, including criminals own siblings not become criminals? . Sociological conceptions, which regard an individual as a hapless victim of pernicious influences, are limited in providing a critical explanation of deviance, as they ignore the role of personal choice .

Deviance is described as being behaviour that is not part of the norms in your particular society. This can be different throughout the world because some cultures have very different norms (Stephens and Leach, 1998:17). Most deviant behaviour will attract disapproval from others in the society or punishment from authorities. There are many different types of deviance such as addiction, mental illness, alcoholism, criminality and homosexuality. Throughout this essay six types of theories will be discussed about how and why people are deviant. Four of these theories support the idea of deviance being biological and three support the idea of it being caused by your social construction. Also the essay will talk about the differences between

Social constructionist use the term social construction to imply that our understanding of the world in which we live is constructed from the social interactions we have on a daily basis. In reference to identity, social constructionist theory (SCT) proposes that we as social beings actively construct our identities using social tools as the means in which to construct our identities, the foremost one being language.