Social Institutions Are Universal And So Is Deviance

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

These institutions and social relationship structures, to remain, put in place hierarchies of power, which evolves with a stint of inequality. As systematic means of maintaining order in such society may necessitate the need for control via force or putting in place an ideology. Thus controlling the way the specific society sees the world and current social relationships appearing natural, normative and inevitable.

Institutions are the result of past historical and social developments. Since different countries have different pasts, institutions will vary.

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?

Interactionists do not believe that deviants and criminals are different to others, they believe that everyone commits deviant acts however only some are caught, stigmatized and ridiculed for them.

1. a. deviance is any behavior or physical appearance that is socially challenged or condemned because it departs from the norms and expectations of a group (154)

This textbook example would be extremely deviant to the American culture. American laws would not be accepting of such a criminal act to be performed as punishment for adultery. In America it is not illegal to commit adultery, but it is illegal to tie up and beat someone. Americans do feel by majority that the adultery act is deviant, but punishment that the Pokot women carried out are not accepted as a valid punishment in America.

Although these examples are drawn from very different institutional environments, there is a common thread. In both kinds of contexts, the formal constraints have established the parameters of legitimate action, providing the institutional mold within which emergent norms and networks

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

Deviant behavior is a behavior that violates the norms. It is a behavior that breaches the social norms. Deviant behavior is a behavior that does not conform to social norms and values. A deviant behavior elicits negative response. In my opinion all crimes are not deviant behavior and all deviant behavior is not a crime. Picking of the nose in public and licking of the ground is an example of deviant behavior since it violates the normative rules, understanding, or expectations of social systems. However picking of the nose and licking of the ground is not criminal behavior. Anyone doing those actions is looked down upon because they are violating the social norms. In many cultures picking of the nose is considered disgusting and licking of

Institutions (collective means of dealing with basic social functions in government, family, mass media, and economy)

First it is of vital importance to define what we precisely mean by institutional change. In his acclaimed book, Douglass North mentions that institutional change will only be driven when relative prices and preferences of organizations change. Institutions are overwhelmingly incremental and will adapt and change its organization through continuous marginal adjustment. Institutions conforming nation-states are thus, non-static and will continuously adapt to different circumstances. North also mentions that change in preferences and prices can be exogenous, namely a plague, an economical crisis, or a colonizing power. However, North stresses the importance that the process of institutional change also includes “maximizing efforts of endogenous

When defining deviance, it’s a behavior that is recognized as violating expected rules and norms and behavior that departs significantly from social expectations. In the sociological perspective on deviance, there is subtlety that distinguishes it from our commonsense understanding of the same behavior. Sociologists stress social context, not just individual behavior. That is, deviance is looked at in terms of group processes, definitions, and judgments, and not just as unusual individual acts. Sociologists who study deviance and crime look into cultural norms, how they change over time, how they are enforced, and what happens to individuals and societies when norms are broken.

Institution consist of two bodies; formal and informal institution. Informal institutions are not formally and legitimately established, but are carried out and acknowledged in the society, such as norms, religious and languages. Informal institutions in each society are verities throughout the context of each cultural practice, nevertheless the common things in informal institutions is that they are recognized by people in society and a solid structure in societies. Informal institutions are constructive and shape people’s idea and norms moreover informal institution embedded the value in people’s

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.