Sociology Of Deviance

In reading the articles and gaining understanding of the sociology of deviant behavior from research, I have found it rather interesting to see the different ways in which deviance is defined. Many sociologists have different interpretations as to what the term means. Deviance is a study that is not limited to crime, but it is the part that I have found to be interesting. Crime is a norm violation and it is interesting to see how different parts of the world view this aspect. For example, it is interesting to note that in Islam culture a woman must wear a hijab. It is considered deviant in their culture for women not to wear one in their country. I watched a very interesting film titled ‘’Not without My Daughter’’ with Sally Field where she

Once a person grasps the idea of defining deviance and behavior, it allows seeing different types of deviance there are. In the Charles Tittle and Raymond Parenoster reading, I saw an interesting point in the way the term ‘’middle class’’ has played a role in our societies today. The overview of the reading explained the middle class population is the largest population in the American society. It is somewhat the fall between of where most Americans lifestyle falls into place. The term middle class is somewhat of a definite norm in our society. Title and Paternoster have come up with a Typology that sets stage for considering how to define the term deviance and the standards for acceptable behavior. The question raised is perhaps if deviance is grounded in issues that have close relations with factors such as race, gender, income, religion, amongst other contributing factors. They seem to have many relations with these kinds of factors. I think deviance is rooted in some way of the issues that are related to these factors. We see today the importance that race has had on our societies with all that is happening in the current news. The senseless crimes and the outpour of media have been dominating our societies. As it relates to deviance based on middle class norms, it seems that it’s more of an understanding on who is deviant and how our society labels each other like ‘’middle

Often time’s people are posed with questions as to why people can do such evil things to others. For example, one can take a look at what serial killers to do to people. There have been many serial killers that have made national news. To think that the crimes these people have committed and the behaviors they have committed show correlation to what I feel should be categorized as the term deviant. Those who commit such heinous crimes don’t value morals but rather their acts and their own sick reasons why they chose to commit them. To understand the behavior of criminals, one can take a look at two different views of defining deviance. This area of study falls in criminology, which are the scientific studies of criminal behavior. According to Hills, there are two basic ways in which looking at a subject stand out. The two ways are the relativist and the absolutist viewpoints. Both of these views share their differences. They both however, encompass writings on social deviance, research topics and social control policies amongst many other factors. An absolutist outlook is the largest and most significant by the public. The absolutist believes that many persons agree on basic goals one should pursue. The Absolutist believes in a set of fundamental values and in the general good. The absolutist believes that no normal, balanced person would join a deviant group or