Relativist View Of Deviance Essay

Deviance is used to “describe acts or attributes that depart in an undesirable way from group’s norms and evoke negative social reactions” (pg.234). Do we consider the same things to be right or wrong? The answer is no. What I believe to be acceptable or unacceptable can vary from someone else because it would be dependent on our culture and periods of history. One cannot truly escape deviance; we all participate in some act that would cause someone to see the action as deviant even though to us it would seem normal. Sociologist further argue that not all norm violations are harmful to society, some could be beneficial. One idea that stood out to me in this chapter was relativist view of deviance. Relativist view is groups in a society who

If a deviant act has been done, society before judging tries to see what caused it. Intention is an important in defining a person as deviant. As a society we see whether or not the person did the act willingly or was the act done because of outside influences. For example, I had a friend who was always angry and outsiders looking in thought it was internal, they are just bad-tempered but I knew what his home life was so I saw external, his dad beat and yelled at him for no reason so he acted out this way because something bad happened to him. I based my inference off beyond his control, therefore, I did not see him as deviant. In individuals labeling him as an angry person on a daily basis he took on that trait. The author writes, “cultural stereotypes about certain statuses or characteristics, including seemingly minor and inoffensive ones, create expectations that impose constraints on the actions and interactions of those targeted, making it difficult for them not to internalize and live up to those expectations” (pg.246). My friends anger dominates over the fact that he is sweet and kind, so he internalizes this stereotype that is applied to him by regarding himself as an angry