The Sociological Theory Of Deviance In 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, behavior that do not match norms, occurs in society. Thus, there exists several theories that help illustrate why deviance occurs in society. An example of one of the theories is the Conflict Theory. The Conflict Theory stresses the occurrence of conflict, competition, change, and constraint in a society.

According to sociologist Edwin Lemert, the majority of sociological theories for deviance fall under the concept of primary deviance. However, Lemert considered secondary deviance to be more important. Everyone is guilty of primary deviance. However, this does not mean that they perceive themselves to be a bad person. This is perception is where secondary deviance comes in. With secondary deviance, the individual, is labeled by the act of deviance that they committed, whether it is by themselves or by others. Eventually, this label is accepted by the individual, as a part of their identity. While primary deviance consists of an act that takes up a small amount of time in a person’s existence, secondary deviance is something that sticks with the individual for the long term. Potentially, this type of deviance can stick with an individual for the rest of their lives. There are two different theories that can compare and contrast how a concept such as secondary deviance can gain a foothold in an individual’s life. These two theories are the differential association theory and the control theory.

Marxist claim that the bourgeoisie choose what they consider is criminal and deviant behaviour within society. They say the proletariat are the main culprits of the criminal behaviour, and they and those who are in a lower class are forced into committing crimes to survive as there is no other option for them. The main reason for the high crime rate is due to how the system works. White collar crimes seem to usually be ignored while lesser crimes such as burglary, vandalism and every day street crime tend to be highlighted more within the public eye and seen as much worse. This may well be because the ruling class have the funds to provide good lawyers and the power to cover their crimes up. Because the working class are policed heavier, as they are expected to break the law more, they are more likely to be caught for any offences. Marxists value the norms and values of society believing that if you do not conform and obey the rules you should be punished. This is why schools, religion and the justice system (prison) are used to encourage people to conform to what society expects of them.

1) What do sociologists mean when they describe deviance as being relative? Provide an example of a deviant behavior and identify how it is relative.

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.

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.

What is social deviance? Social deviance is acting against the norms of a society. There are a few things that can can be caused from the act of deviance. The social norm in our society here is to talk in the first person, not the third person. On Wednesday, my act of deviance was talking in the third person, a subtle approach to this assignment, but everyone knew I was being different. My goal in this essay is to inform on the different sociology ideas I thought of while I was being deviant. The five ideas I first thought of were: privilege of ignorance, social-self, agents of socialization, sanctions, and memory.

What defines deviance in today’s society? Is it the abnormal things that people don’t usually do or is it just criminal behavior? Deviance has brought up many questions on what could be defined as it. Deviance is usually shaped by society. It can be defined as the violation of established contextual, cultural, or social norms, whether folkways, mores, or codified law (OpenStax 142). Sociologist want to see why deviance has so many different areas and how it effects a group in a society. For example, deviance can be a male cross dressing as a female or female making a scene on public transportation. It all goes about on how people see things that is not acceptable to society. In a sense, it’s like social control. Social control can be defined as the regulation and enforcement of norms (OpenStax 144). Social Control lies under social order to make sure everything is maintained. For example, when you have a job and you violate the guidelines, the boss usually steps in to enforce them. Deviance can be viewed in three different theoretical views. These views are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Whether an act is labeled deviant or not depends on many factors, including location, audience, and the individual committing the act (Becker 1963) (OpenStax 143).

Social deviance: is considered a behavior that goes against social norms for example: Murder. Take away the life of some else is unacceptable to society and is something that if committed that person will serve time in prison. However there some behavior considered deviant for any individual in society and but not for others, such as having tattoos’: some society disqualifies a person for any job or considered a person with visible tattoo’s an as delinquent. United States is one of the country where open mind society in comparison with countries such as Turkey that have a legal ban for tattoo’s.

Deviance is defined by the social norms that a person breaks. Looking at my life, I have committed deviance in many instances, at least once a day, so the act of deviance I am going to focus on is a something bigger than just the minute daily cases. A specific deviant act that I can clearly remember is a time that I swam in the Johnson Hall fountain in the middle of the night. Aside from my deviant act, I have a deviant identity that I achieved from going to bed very early as a college student. My peers noticed my secondary deviance of going to bed early, which is how it became my deviant identity. I am also part of a deviant group on Meredith College’s Liberal campus by being an open Republican and Donald Trump supporter. There is a small fraction of us but we stay together as a group that stands out on the campus. Reflecting on my past, I found that these three instances are bold examples of deviance as they have drastically set me apart from my college-aged peers.

Deviance is a violation of a social norm in a society. In the sociological perspective, it is not one’s individual characteristics that lead to deviant behavior but rather the social interactions, structures, and processes that lead to one’s deviant behavior. In turn, deviance is socially constructed by a society or group itself. A group dictates what is the norm in their community and what is abnormal, or deviant, in their eyes. Deviance is functional in a society.

Deviance is defined as the violation of social norms. Someone who is deviant usually breaks a rule and is engaged even in a small negative act such as a fistfight. Deviant acts can be considered serious offenses in our society, but may be tolerated in another. Let’s say for example, an earthquake hits the United States and the victims steal bread, water, clothes or any such thing to feed their families, this act is deviant but understandable. Different groups of people define deviant acts differently from one another. For example, a parent may define their 16 year old as deviant for smoking, meanwhile their son defines his best friend as deviant for not smoking. “Deviance is socially constructed and dependent on the time and social context.” (Page 147. Ballatine,Roberts,Korgen)

In the 1998 film American History X, Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for brutally murdering two black men who were breaking into his truck. Through his Brother Danny’s narration of a paper he is writing, it is learned that Derek was the leader of a large Neo-Nazi group known as D.O.C., or Disciples of Christ, that committed many acts of racial crime throughout Los Angeles. During his time in prison Derek decides that hate is a waste of time after being violently raped by fellow white supremacists, and his only friend being a black man, who was only in prison for a misunderstanding. After getting out on parole, Derek learns that Danny is headed down the same racist path as him, and decided that he must put a stop to it. Throughout this film there are many examples of the five theories of deviance; Functional, Conflict, Labeling, Broken Windows, and Differential Association. From Derek’s initial exposure to racism, all the way to him deciding to change, all five theories are exemplified through Derek, Danny, their Father, Cameron, or the D.O.C. as a whole.

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" .