Social Constructionism And Identity Essay

This led to Becker to suggest that deviancy was the consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions directed at an offender: the deviant was a person ‘to whom that label successfully been applied, deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label’ (Becker, 1963:9)

There are various kinds of identity (individualized or shared) that people are expected to possess. (Hollinger, 2004) namely; personal identity which is known as a

In the movie “looking for alibrandi the director presents the viewer with the idea that people can attain an enduring sense of both identity and belonging. The director believes that many life experiences compel us to alter our sense of self. Both text, movie and the story of my friend suggest that our identity changes depending on

According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, meaning and reality are constructed through social interaction; through sharing and communication of symbols (Cartwright, p.156). Through this concept comes the idea of the labeling perspective, which states that deviance is a social construct. Using a number of theories connected to the labelling perspective such as primary/secondary deviance, self-fulfilling prophecy and master status, will demonstrate the subjectivity that many would consider it to be deviant.

The social identity theory is a theory developed by Henry Tajfel, in which Tajfel believes that who we are socially determines how many positive feelings we have towards ourselves. Basically, if we like where we stand socially, then we will like who we are and display happiness. In this theory, Tajfel labels the “in group” and the “out group” and says that we will always compare our “in group” to another’s “out group.” By comparing these groups, we develop a better personal view on ourselves (King, 2009). A big factor of the social identity theory is that the groups will tend to critique the differences of the groups, and overlook the similarities. A modern day example of the social identity theory would be your everyday high school cheerleaders versus band members. The cheerleaders think of themselves as the queen bees of the school,

Deviance can also be explained by context; if an individual member of a gang does not join in on an activity along with the rest of the gang members, the individual can be seen as deviant. Macionis and Gerber explain that “the social welfare and criminal justice system blame individuals, not the system, for social problems.”(p.219). Deviance is constructed by institutions to be a problem stemming from the individual rather than society. Basically, because society makes up a majority, what most of a society's members do is considered normal. Doing something unlike what a society does is considered abnormal and people are usually uncomfortable with this sort of disparity. Macionis and Gerber go on to clarify that “people become deviant as others define them that way.”(p.219). Without defining the boundaries between normal and abnormal, deviance would not exist. Essentially, deviant acts are constructed through stigmatizing actions that are deemed dissimilar or immoral in a society. Fundamentally, deviance is a violation of the social norm. It is constructed by certain institutions and individuals; and it can be condemned by society, the law or both.

++Deviance, in sociology, is the study of violating societal norms, whether formal or informal (boundless). The act of deviance is relative to time and place and can be defined by moral judgment. Any act cannot be isolated as a deviant, for even murder can be allowed (in a case of self-defense, or fighting a war). Murder, and other heinous acts such as rape, assault, and theft, fall under the formal category. These acts have severe consequences, for the victim involved and especially for the perpetrator. Informal deviance refers to behavior that is seen disapproving in society, but doesn't have a huge negative impact; this can include things such as picking one's nose, taking one's shoes off in a business setting, and speeding (Boundless). Correspondingly, there are three social foundations to deviance such as symbolic interaction, structural functionalism, and social conflict (Moffitt). Structural functionalism is a theory that allows large

Within the study of deviance, the labeling perspective as well as symbolic interactionism aid in our understanding of the stigmatizing process that takes place. More specifically, these theories help us understand the process of being labeled by other individuals, and our response to this labeling

In general we differentiate between two “kinds” of identity. On the one hand there is the so called social identity, which stresses self-interpretation as a member of a certain social group and on the other hand there is the personal identity, which puts it´s emphasis on individuality and distinctiveness. This distinction is widely known as “patchwork-identity”. Both identities are only a subgroup of many different subjectively interpreted identities that everyone of us has innate.

In order to gain a better understanding of Sociological Perspective of Deviance it is important to understand the broad consensus of behavior and its place in society. Situational deviance pertains to a group who engages in behavior that is considered “non- defiant and acceptable “however the behavior is still viewed as societally deviant. “Bad” deviance pertains to criminal behavior such as murder, rape, theft, and physical, mental or emotional abuse inflicted on

Deviance regulation theory seeks to explain why people choose to deviate from behavioural norms in order to create definitive identities for themselves (Blanton 2003:115). The theory states that people want to choose how they are viewed by people, by deciding in which way they are different from others (Blanton 2003:115). Deviance regulation theorists believe that differences in behaviour is what gives people their individuality (Blanton 2003:115). However, people have the opportunity to choose specific ways in which way they would like to deviate from these behavioural norms. Deviance regulation theorists believe that people decide to deviate in ways that are positive and favourable as opposed to the ways that are viewed as negative (Blanton

The world has become modern and global. Identification of the self is a complicated, though, an important problem of every individual. Self- identity is based on inner values and reflections on culture, politics and social interactions. The main point is that people label themselves to any particular group in the society (Worchel etc., 1998). According to Ferguson: “Identity commonly refers to which it makes, or is thought to make

Nevertheless, social constructionist’ theory is contradictory. Having considered that social constructionism points out that we need to doubt the existing social science, and also to question the existing view that conventional knowledge is based on objective and value-free observation (Burr. V, 1995). Accordingly, social constructionists appear unbiased and objective in terms of producing knowledge and analyzing previous social science. However, a value judgment is involved in how they define social phenomena. According to Hacking’s (1999) statement, Social constructionists concentrate on evaluating things and transforming things in order to satisfy themselves. Take the feminist movement as a typical example to illustrate how social constructionism’

I think more like a functionalist when discussing the issue of deviance. The textbook states that Durkheim’s Anomie Theory claims deviance occurs when social norms have been broken down and there are weak or no control mechanisms in a society. I agree with this because if people do not understand how they should act, then they may act out of character in some people’s opinions. In order to keep people in control, we need laws and social norms that are coherent throughout a society. A conflict theorist might claim that deviance stems from inequality. When someone is not treated fairly and do not have the benefits that another person does, they are more likely to act out. A symbolic interactionist may use the labeling theory to support the idea that people act out only when they believe they are seen as a deviant.

Social identity theory, it is a person’s sense that is based around the group they are in, either by their personal identity or with different kinds of social identities. That is, people will try to improve their own image of themselves. The theory was proposed by Henri Tajfel. People can increase their self-esteem by both their own achievement and interaction with a successful group of people. This shows the importance of social belonging. This theory is based around three mental processes, social categorization, social identification and social comparison.