Study Deviant Behavior

“Deviance in sociological context describes actions or behaviors that violate cultural norms including formally-enacted rules (e.g., crime) as well as informal violations of social norms.”

Teens who have found it hard to deal with authority, emotions, and or puberty have found it easier to kill rather than to seek help. Some have thoughts of caring out these deviant acts at an early age. When medication is mixed with the feelings that puberty bring there is a mixture for disaster. Sometimes psychological mishaps lead to problematic circumstances making it harder for teens to deal with these complications. Teens also who are ridiculed daily by classmates, peers, and even adults found themselves hopeless and sought out murder or suicide sometimes a combination of both. Those teens who are made fun of daily by everyone they cross may feel as though they will be made fun of further after searching for help. So they tend to hold in all the feelings and bottle the emotions making them go to darker places and possibly looking for revenge for those who put them down. Sometimes these individuals that do the harm don’t notice the demolition of a person’s character. That just one person could make a difference in the downward spiral of the life a stake. In many cases all it ever takes is for one person to morally treat another person right and it could change the person who is suffering’s life. “Lanza used to be a mild-mannered student in high school, making the honor roll, and living with his mother, Nancy Lanza, who in turn loved playing dice games and decorating their upscale home for the holidays. A student in his tenth grade Honors English class recalled he was

A norm either calls for a given type of behavior or does not allow for it. All human beings follow defined norms; these norms are followed by sanctions. These sanctions can vary from disapproval to either physical or emotional punishment. Social norms convey sanctions, of which advocate conformity and shelter against non-conformity and misbehavior. Sanctions are known as either rewards or punishments for the behaviors that are expected in society. Crime is defined as an action or behavior that breaks the laws that have been established by the government or by an administrative power. Members of society who break the law are punished by the law enforcement by being arrested and taken to jail or prison.

++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

According to www.teenrehabcenter.org, 68% of 12th graders have tried alcohol and high school seniors are about as likely to smoke weed as they are to drink. Throughout high school I knew numerous people that smoked and drinked or that have tried it, but I am proud to say that I was part of the 32% of high school seniors that never experimented with smoking nor drinking. Not having contributed to this deviant behavior or having contributed results because of different theories that one believes or has gone through.

In the United States there appears to be a trend of young male Hispanics dropping out of high school at alarming rates. A social pathologist would blame this trend on the young males themselves and argue that the demographic group is inherently deviant. Perhaps they haven’t evolved the correct brain structures to succeed in school or maybe they have a faulty gene or a hormone imbalance. Whatever the reason, a social pathologist would argue that there is something in the group that makes them defectively different from the rest of the population and unable to stay in school. Since the cause of the deviance is inherent, there is little that society can do to help the individual. The best thing to do, in the eyes of this perspective, would be to remove these males from the society and prevent them from reproducing and spreading the defect.

Crime is a word that most of the people can relate to, according to Collins dictionary it means; violation of the law. (Collins 2005) Deviance is a more difficult word to identify , Collins dictionary definition is; people who have diverged from usual or accepted standards of society, especially in social or sexual behaviour. Su Epstein (2005) who has a PhD , describes deviance in cultural societies as; there are no laws about norms, no norm police, but there is social expectation that we'll follow norms and if we do not we are deemed deviant, a rule breaker or a norm violator.(Epstein 2005) Sociologists have many theories on crime and deviance, the two

People who suffer from personality disorders often display deviant behavior. The mental illness itself is not deviant. They typically have problems with social skills, mood swings, emotional states, and are often unable to maintain healthy, stable relationships. Many sufferers do not possess the capability to have genuine emotions, including empathy for others. A personality disorder is the basis of many circumstances of maladaptive behavior including substance abuse, self-harm, suicide, and criminality.

One current even from the news that I am going to discuss regarding deviant behavior is last week’s shooting of the news crew in Roanoke, Virginia. I chose this for several different reasons. This happened close to where I live, my husband was one of many Special Agents who responded to this, and it is something that I am sure most of you all have heard about.

I’m on my way to Sociology class one day this semester, my Tuesday and Thursday 2:00pm session with Gloria Clay. I find myself in a bit of a rush this afternoon. Slept in late, had a lot of errands to run, lost track of time. At least I’m grateful that the weather is nice and the traffic is sparse today, but this doesn’t eliminate the fact that I’m not going to be on time for class. I am trying to stay relaxed in this situation but little do you know, I really hate running late for everything. It’s about time my lead foot kicks in-- I find myself exceeding the speed limit. I actually get halfway to school when I notice the sporadic movement of blue and red lights in my rear view mirror. So here I am, hanging out in the shoulder of I-95,

The idea of labeling theory is not to define deviance, but rather to complement the idea that deviant behavior can be affected by the views individuals place on those who don’t adhere to societal norms. Labeling theory can also explain personal bias individuals have towards members of society that may stray away from societal norms. An example of this can be seen around heavily religious communities and among deviants who violate the laws of god. The example that comes to my mind based on personal experience living in Utah for the latter half of my life, is the stigma tattoos create. In some cases individuals upon seeing tattoos will either label you a deviant or not depending on their personal societal

The labeling theory suggests that when a society labels certain individuals as deviant and these individuals then accept this label, they begin to act in a deviant manner. Primary deviance is one of the steps in the labeling theory. It refers to an individual’s engaging in the beginning acts of deviance. For example, an adolescent who is caught by an adult drinking for the first time is labeled a deviant because society views under aged drinking deviant behavior. Secondary deviance is another stage in the labeling theory that proposes that once a person is labeled a deviant and accepts that label they continue to exhibit deviant behavior. An example would be if the same adolescent is then shunned by his peers because of his primary deviance.

I enjoyed reading your post. Deviant behavior is any type of behavior that violates expectations that is considered acceptable in society. These expectations follow a set of understandings and rules (“Deviant Behavior,” 1968). With that said, I agree with you that the athletes in the article Interpretations and Explanations of Deviance Among College Athletes: A Case Study (1994), displayed deviant behavior(s) (Snyder, 1994). Grand larceny, conspiracy, and even the knowledge of such deviant acts is wrong.

The study of deviant behavior is one of the more complex studies of sociology. “Deviants are those individuals who do not live by the rules that the majority of us follow.”(Giddens, A., Duneier, M., Appelbaum, R. P., & Carr, D) “Some do so by choice; others are incapable of following the rules because they lack the resources to do so.(Giddens, A., Duneier, M., Appelbaum, R. P., & Carr, D) In the reality of our societies, we are all different, and no one society or individual is better than the next. Nor can our behaviors honestly be classified as better than the next. The common day practices in society are based on power, class, and conformity. These divisions of society play a major role in what is normal and what is considered to be deviant behavior.

Deviance, in sociology, referrers to behaviors or actions that violate social norms (Macionis & Gerber, 2010). Such violations range from informal to formally implemented rules. On the other hand, norms can be defined as the expectations and rules by which society members are required to follow. Therefore, deviance can be termed as a lack of conformity to such norms. With the existence of several cultures around the world, these social norms also tend to differ (Brym & Lie, 2006). For instance, behavior or action that may be considered to be socially wrong by one society may be rendered to be normal in another. Bearing in mind that deviance is a social norm violation, sociologists have considered it as any action, feeling or thought which social