Social Construction Of Deviance And Crime

Internationally the act of deviance is being practiced daily. Sometimes is knowingly and unknowingly, the culture, or the society norms. Right or wrong is a prospective, deviance basically a judgmental call. “It is important to remember that when sociologists use the term deviant they are making a social judgment, never a moral one” (Ferris, Stein page 156.) There are three way that you can view deviance from a sociologist’s standpoint, which are, Functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. All three allow us to take an outlook on how to view the act of deviance.

He noted that other sociological theories of crime believed that since crime is bad, individuals involved in crime are also inherently bad. Tannenbaum disputed the notion perpetrated by other sociological theories that crime was the result of the individual’s inability to adjust to the society. On the contrary, he argued that deviants view themselves as part of a particular group in the society, where their behavior is acceptable by other group members.

In any and every society, there is a level of deviance or crime, no matter how big or small. Deviance is when the norms of a society are disregarded, while crime is when there is a defiance of laws within a society. Individuals who are deviant tend to be nonconforming to the society in which they live, challenging social expectations and deviating from what is considered the norm. Meanwhile, crime is a form of deviance that also discards norms, but in a way that breaks the laws of a certain society or community. When looking at deviance and crime in a micro-level perspective, there are three different theories often used to analyze the reasoning for both in a society. These theories include the Differential Association Theory, the Control Theory and the Labeling Theory. In further dissecting these theories, one can gain a greater insight into the workings of society.

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'.

Deviance is an action or behavior that violates social norms, including a formally enacted rule, as well as informal violations of social norms. Deviant behavior is any behavior that is contrary to the dominant norms of society. Norms are rules and expectation by which members of society are conventionally guided. Social norms differ from culture to culture. Deviance can be criminal or non-criminal.

Deviance as a word refers to any behavior regarded as odd or unacceptable. However, from a sociological point of view, deviance refers to any action or behavior that runs contrary to social norms (Macionis and Gerber 200). This includes crimes, which are violations of formally enacted rules, as well as violation of the socially accepted norms. Norms refer to the rules as well as the expectations that guide the conventional behavior of human beings (Macionis and Gerber 204). Thus, deviant acts arise from non-conformance with these norms. Deviance is relative, to both the time and the place. This is because an act that may appear deviant in a particular context may not be deviant in another. For example, fighting at school is a deviant behavior,

Interactionism was quite popular from 1960s to 1970s. Max Weber and George Herbert Mead favour the Interactionist approach and suggest that crime is a social process, that crime is an interaction between the victim, the police/officials and the offender. Crime is shaped by the nature of this interaction and this selective labelling, stigmatisation, negative labelling of those without power and more vulnerable. This approach focuses upon the interaction between deviance and those who define it as such, hence the Labelling Theory. Howard F Becker, the founder of this theory, argues that society creates deviance by making rules. Rules that when broken, constitute deviance, and by labelling those particular people as deviants, they are also labelling them as outsiders.

The next form of deviance is relativist deviance in which focus’s on the norms that bind and define deviance rather than on the deviant act itself. Interactionist, subjectivist approach to defining deviance, social meanings, values and norms in everyday life situations are often uncertain relativist perspective is with constructionism. Relativist perspective can also be defined as the belief that there 's no absolute truth, only the truths that a particular individual or culture happen to believe. If you believe in relativism, then you think different people can have different views about what 's moral and immoral and that morality is relative to the norms of one 's culture. That is, whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. Relivitist

‘social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. From this point of vie, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of the rules and sanctions to an ‘offender’. The deviant is one to whom the label has successfully been applied, deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label. (Becker 1963, pg 9)

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

Deviance can be defined as an absence of conformity to the social norm. Not all deviant behavior is necessarily illegal or harmful to individuals, these behaviors can range from standing in another’s personal space to murdering another individual. In some cases, it can be looked upon as a positive change or a unique and favorable act. Although, considered deviant because it is not the social norm, it still can have a very positive social aspect or lead to social change. Culture and the societies within these cultures have a significant impact on what is considered deviant and what is acceptable or even lawful behavior. The degree of deviance is measured by society’s reaction towards the action and the lawful sanctions that may take

Deviance and crime are wide-ranging terms used by sociologists to refer to behavior that varies, in some way, from a social norm. 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. This essay will evaluate the sociological theories associated with crime and deviance and to compare and contrast these main theories. And find links between these theories to today’s society. There are various Sociological deviance theories, including Structuralist: why do some people break the rules? ,

The interactionist theory regards deviance as an outcome of the labelling interaction process occurring between people . Thus "deviance...... is a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an offender" . Becker argues that there is no such thing as an

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 studying crimes and deviance, sociologists look to explain what types of behavior are defined as deviant as opposed to criminal, who defines deviant behaviors, why people become deviant, and how society deals with deviant behavior. Deviance is defined by sociologists are behavior that significantly goes against expected rules and norms. Criminal behavior is behavior that violates the law. Sociology studies groups as opposed to individuals, so when studying crime and deviance, sociologists are looking at the factors that influence groups as a whole to engage in crime and deviant behavior. In defining deviant behavior, the definition may vary throughout different groups. Not all groups of people will consider the same behaviors