Socia Social Deviance: Think Outside The Norm

“Etiquette is all human social behavior. If you’re a hermit on a mountain, you don’t have to worry about etiquette; if somebody comes up the mountain, then you’ve got a problem…” This quote from American journalist, Judith Martin, illustrates the concept that the presence of others creates or inspires expectations. Social norms, or specific cultural expectations for how to behave in a given situation, are practiced throughout various societies and cultures across the planet. People relay on social norms to provide order and predictability in social situations. Social roles are the part people play as members of a social group. With each social role one plays, the behavior changes to fit the expectations both you and others have of that role. It is most common for people to conform to the guidelines provided by the roles we perform. When one does not conform to the social norms, it is considered abnormal behavior. For this assignment, I faced the challenge to disregard expectations of social roles and norms in society.

Among any community there is a set of boundaries that must be respected under penalty of being labeled as deviant. Consequently, a community will create agencies of control in order to punish and fight against all the forms of behavior considered as deviant. In his Study in the Sociology of Deviance, Kai T. Erikson defends the point that deviant forms of behavior are a natural and beneficial part of social life. One of his main arguments is that, in our modern society, “the agencies of control often seem to define their job as that of keeping deviance within bounds rather than obliterating it altogether” (Wayward Puritans 24:2). Now, what if society gave to its agencies of control the role of annihilating deviance? What if the set of

People consider an act to be a deviance act because of the three sociological theories: control theory, labeling theory and strain theory. It deeply reflected in the movie called "Menace II Society".

Social control is techniques and strategies used for preventing deviant human behavior in any society. All levels of society such as family, school, bureaucratic and government has some form of social control. Examples of family social control include obeying your parents rules, doing your homework and chores. School includes standards they expect of students such as being on time, completing assignments and following school ground rules. The bureaucratic organization emphasizes the rules and procedures among their workers. The government expresses social control through law

Deviance is “any behavior that does not conform to social expectations.” The statement, “Deviance is socially constructed” means that because individuals that rebel against the norms of social group, and use deviant behavior, others will join in and this creates a whole new social group. For instance, gay marriage. This has always been considered something wrong and people shouldn’t do it. Although, people started to become deviant and say that it isn’t wrong and that people should be able to love who they so please. Now, since the summer of 2015, gay marriage has been legalized all across the nation and all of these people fit under one social group. Deviance is relative because the rules for each group vary, so in that case it is relative

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

Whether we choose to admit it or remain completely oblivious, our world is composed of social norms that govern our everyday actions. Everything from brushing our teeth to wearing appropriate clothing in public is predetermined and dictated by society. Violation of these established rules inevitably earn an individual a label of “weird,” “abnormal” or “deviant.” The concept of deviance as been debunked by a plethora of scholars—many of whom have adopted an anthropological perspective on the issue. Collectively, their theories and arguments portray the intricacy of the deviant phenomenon and its embedment within

I hadn 't realized how nerve racking breaking a social norm could be until I decided to purposely go around doing it for a day. For my deviance experiment, I decided to ask ten random people throughout my day on June 30th, 2016 if they wanted to play rock-paper-scissors. The game itself is harmless and fun, but the act of interacting with someone more than a simple “Hello, how are you?" and a quick "I 'm fine, thanks" became a deviant act. The textbook describes deviance as a “recognized violation of cultural norms.” (pg 174) People who go against social norms, who may be considered outsiders or strange are often labeled deviant.

In a culture with such diverse commonalities, the differentials that set precedent come from social norms. These norms set the template for what acceptable behaviors are and are not. Social norms have the potential to change and evolve over time however. Take slavery for instance; in early American history slavery was very commonplace and socially acceptable for its time. Later, slavery was abolished and then in the 1950s and 1960s the Civil Rights Movement worked to gain equality for African American citizens. The evolution of our social norms is often precipitated by the actions of Social Groups that exist within our society. Other times, changes in our society are instigated by the actions of social deviants. Revisiting the example of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks was in fact a social deviant; being a black woman in her time, her refusal to move to the back of the bus was socially unacceptable. Her actions prompted the unity of multiple Social Groups, thus provoking a civil movement that altered the perception of social normality. It can be said that societal change in itself is a social norm in which Social Groups, deviants are both necessary functions to bring about the growth that makes us who we are as a society.

As we all have observed, throughout history each culture or society has unique norms that are acceptable to that group of people. Therefore, to establish and come to the acceptance of these basic norms, each society must develop its’ own strategies and techniques to encourage the fundamentals of behavior, which is clear in our modern society. Most do assume that everyone in a society will follow and respect such norms. However, some tend to deviate from the adequate norms and demonstrate deviant behavior. Nevertheless, we are inclined to ask ourselves, why do people decide to violate such important standards of living?

As mentioned the definition ignores desirability of some behaviours and traits, it also does not take in to account of cultural differences and it is not clear by how much a behaviour should deviate from what’s normal for it to be considered abnormal

Imagine someone rich or powerful committing crimes without the fear of serving consequences. The crime may include murder, robbery, or stealing. Deviance is a label for an action or behavior that violates social norms. Social norms are rules or expectations which usually guide members of society. Deviance is nonconformity to these norms. Social norms can vary from culture to culture and is defined in numerous ways. Many researchers believe that deviance is a violation of social norms. Some believe deviant behavior is breaking the law or acting in a negative manner. Sociologists use specific words to classify deviant actions from a sociological perspective. There are crimes that are deviant actions and not deviant acts. For example; this

Social deviance is a violation of social norms. So what qualifies as a social deviant? According to sociologist, Howard S. Becker the best definition of social deviance is, “It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that do something deviant.” In cultures around the world, there are many practices Americans find deviant, but in other cultures, it’s the norm. In many countries around the world, girls are married as young as 11 years old. To Americans, that is considered child abuse and rape, but that is only because of our social norms. To the men and parents in different countries, it is perfectly normal because their social norms. In America, social deviance comes in many different forms. We have our sexual deviants,

Theories of Deviance are limited in their ability to explain deviant acts if one adopts the view that these theories are universal. There is no universal, right or wrong theory, rather each theory provides a different perspective which only "fully makes sense when set within an appropriate societal context and values framework" .

In the United States of America, societal deviance changes nearly on a daily basis. Depending on the current culture, deviance is modified to make societal heroes like celebrities, political figures, and sport players look less deviant and more like role models for the public. The change in what is considered “normal” is customarily a result of society in general. By using a reference group of people, individuals tend to identify with those who are in the lime light. Then when that role model does something appalling, the public becomes desensitized to this behavior and its abnormality and becomes less distinct thus adding to the change in social deviances.