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Deviance Goes Against Social Norms

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Deviance is doing anything that goes against societal norms. Criminality is doing anything that goes against society's laws. They are connected in that most of our laws deal with deviant behavior. You can't murder someone and steal from someone. These are laws. You can wear a block of cheese on your head, paint your face various colors, get tattooed all over your body. These are deviant acts. I believe everyone is deviant in at least one aspect of their lives, the norms that a society forms are what the average common behavior is for that society so it's going to be somewhere in the middle of how people behave. We also need to consider that not all criminal behaviors are deviant. I usually speed when I'm driving. It's against the law to do so, but it's in no way deviant. I've got plenty of company when I'm driving fast. Illegal immigration is against the law, but there are lots of illegal immigrants here. That's not a deviant act. Deviant behavior is behavior that is a known violation of social norms. Formal and informal social controls attempt to prevent or minimize deviance. One such control is the effect of deviance. It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant. …show more content…

It also means not doing what the majority does or alternatively doing what the majority does not do. For instance, behaviors caused by cultural difference can be viewed as deviance. It does not necessarily mean criminal

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