Essay Deviance: Sociology and Strain Theory

Deviance is an act that goes against the social norms such as rules or expectations. It can be something small such as running through the stop signs or it can be something big such as hijacking an airplane. Deciding if the act is deviant or not depends on the context (society, environment, etc.). According to Howard S. Becker, it is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act that, makes something deviant. Deviance is not a word that is used for judging people, but it is used to refer to an act to which people respond negatively. Norms vary among different cultural groups, therefore, one deviant act in one group might not be deviant to another. For example, it will be considered deviant or going against the norm if someone decided to

Sociologists define deviance as a behavior, trait, or belief that departs from a norm and generates a negative reaction in a particular group (153). Deviance can be anything. A certain sociably acceptable act in one culture can be seen as deviant in another culture it does not matter how large or small the act. Sociologist developed three theories to help explain deviance. Sociologists explored the functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interactionism approaches to deviance.

Deviance is behavior or characteristics that violate important social norms. The difference between how the dictionary defines deviance and how sociologist define deviance is what may be deviant in one place, at one particular time, may not be deviant in another place and time. Basically with times changing something may or may not be tolerated as acceptable behavior.

Introduction Deviance is defined as any behavior that seems to violate cultural norms. Examples of such behavior are the picking of noses in public or even belching out loudly. The social-strain typology by Robert K. Merton outlines what deviant behavior is and elaborates on criteria behind it. The criteria revolve around people’s adherence to cultural goals and their beliefs as to the ways of achieving such goals. The typology classifies deviances into five models, which are conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion.

Deviance is any behavior that violates the standards of established, societal norms, or written law rules.

What is deviance? Deviance is the perpetual nature of behavior that strays from the societal norms based on psychological, social and sociological aspect of a human being. Deviant behavior is known to contribute an aspect of criminal behavior and actions. Based on the written literature of Max Weber, there are three different types of regularities in sociology; charismatic, traditional and legal rational. Each of these types of regularities capture the contemporary aspect of society. It is believed that deviant behavior makes a vital contribution to the fabric of society because it allows different forms of society to work together and conceive a consensus. There are many different examples of regularities, such as; people tend to marry within their own class, people who are 18 and over can vote and only people with licenses can drive.the consequences of not conforming to different types of regularities differ from imprisonment to legal fines. The difference between customary norms and obligatory norms are the severity of social backlash and federal consequences. Customary norms are generally things like, tipping waiters above 15% or wearing seatbelts when driving; whereas, obligatory norms follow the example of obeying the law. The two different types of legitimate orders are based upon who they come from, one example would be from a police officer and another example would be from a parent. The first has a legal obligation and the second has a social hierarchy.

The sociology of deviance is the sociological study of deviant behavior, or the recognized violation of cultural norms. Cultural Norms are society's propensity towards certain ideals; their aversion from others; and their standard, ritualistic practices. Essentially the 'norm' is a summation of typical activities and beliefs of group of people.

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

Deviance is defined as the recognised violation of norms and expectations of a particular social group. Deviance can be positively accepted (rewarded), negatively accepted (punished), or simply accepted without reward or punishment.

Deviance to every individual can be interpreted differently. I personally, did not know how to define the term deviance before learning about it in sociology. Deviance is defined as the violation of social rules and conventions. Deviance ranges widely, from minor cases to major. Taking someone’s stapler from their desk is a form of deviance, but so is murder. So I decided to ask 5 people what their idea of deviance was. The first person I asked replied with “ummm” which was not very helpful. I also got responses such as “sidetracked, going against”, “going away from your focus, meaning getting distracted”, “mischief”, and “behavior out of the norm”. Even though deviance is in our everyday

Deviance is by definition “the fact or state of departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social or sexual behavior.”Social deviance is a very extensive term, which describes actions or behaviors that violate social “norms.” Norms are just rules by which members of any society are expected to uphold. Social deviance has many forms and interpretations. However, deviant acts can vary in different places thus they are primarily relative to setting, because what could be considered deviant in one place could be considered normal in another place.

Deviance is a behavior, trait, belief, or other characteristic that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction (Ferris and Stein p. 153). A way deviance is viewed in our society is by the goals people have and the way they achieve them. It is not deviant to conform to society's’ standards, in which a person shares the goals of society and uses the normal means, such as a 9-5 job, to achieve those goals. It is deviant, however, to have different goals or different means of achieving them, or both, or neither. There are terms for this in Robert Merton’s Structural Strain Theory.

 Sociology is about revealing patterns and identifying underlining forces (TB).   As stated above, deviance can be anything that is different than society's definition of normal. There are rules in place that the mass population upholds; there are means in place to ensure that those rules are followed, ie. police, teachers,  etc.

Author of the 2002 Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, Charles R. states that the word deviance is one that “usually refers to some behavior that is inconsistent with the standards of acceptable conduct prevailing in a given social group, although the term has also been used to designate personal conditions, ideas, or statuses that are stigmatized or disreputable” (p. 1). Assuming this ideal as fact, we must consider those who influence the change in behavior that is deemed “disreputable.” In order to understand this, the Nation must be observed in a large scale while searching for the persons that are most influential. In this way, we must designate which behaviors are considered deviant and how those influential people help those behaviors to be deemed so. Anything similar to gang activity, drug use, violence of any

In sociology, term deviant behavior is any behavior that violates social norms. Relations impart norms that are manners, expectation, and rules. However, studies show these norms are created and alter over time may change. Deviant acts are counteracted in to two groups: formal and informal. Formal deviance could be a criminal act by the law (such as: rape, murder or burning down a house), whereas social norms are informal deviance such as (traffic violation or dressing in gothic.)