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The Role Of Deviance In Sociology

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Deviance is a big concept in Sociology and understanding deviance, why it occurs and why we react the way we do to it is an essential part in understanding the norms of a society. Deviance is defined as, the violation of norms (rules or experiences) placed on us by society. In one of our articles The Outsiders (1963) author Howard S. Becker states that all social groups make rules and attempt to enforce them. He continues by saying that social rules define situations and the kind of behavior deemed appropriate. It is important to recognize that different social groups have different definitions of deviance. Where one group may find deviance in things like smoking cigarettes or having facial piercings, another may see these acts as ‘normal’. …show more content…

I think another sociological theory that come into play in this situation was control theory. It was clear that the woman’s inner ideals or controls didn’t line up with the outer controls of the society/ group around her. Where she probably thought nothing of lighting up in the bar area, it was clearly something that was unacceptable for the bartender and the other people in the restaurant. Differential Association Theory also comes to mind for me when thinking about this scenario. It was obvious that the man with her didn’t view her act as being deviant and where we might have thought it ridiculous that she lit the cigarette in the first place, he found the harsh reactions of the people around them to be ridiculous. I thought it was really interesting that he mentioned anarchy in his rantings as a joke. Though the act may not have been anti-government or anti-conformity, it was clearly an act that went against the ‘norm’. In his mind they were only having a good time. Which I think really helped me in my understanding of different definitions of deviance and how different groups view deviance. I think the idea of social order and the preference for predictability is very apparent in this situation. We were so surprised by what the woman was doing that it took everyone a good minute to really register and react to what was going on. After the yelling the the trips back and forth to the bar and the frustrated tension around us we really weren't sure what they were going to do

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2.) Deviance – Deviance is the idea of an action of event that goes against the morals / ideals of the culture or society that the event occurs within. 3.) Snitch – Someone who tells authorities about illegal activities perpetrated by those within their peer group. C.)

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Deviance Sociologists general defines deviance as “an action that is perceived as violating a society’s or groups cultural norm”. Deviance can be perceived in many different ways. Vegetarians and Muslims are both groups that do not consume meat. Although these groups are not breaking the law. Their behavior is different than what is accepted to be normal.

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After reading these articles I garnered a greater insight on what deviance is and how it is formed. According to the Outsiders reading, deviance is essentially a label that is put on a person of whom commits an act or exhibits behaviors that stray from what is normal or expected. These people are therefore also labeled as “outsiders”. Outsiders in that they are seen as those who are to be placed outside of a certain group do to their deviant behaviors. There exist many views of deviance.

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Deviance is categorized as a violation of cultural norms. In order for one to express deviance, they must act out against societal norms which are known as expectations and rules that "lead the way" for how an individual should act. Therefore, its much easier to depict from there that mostly one's society is what ultimately differentiates what the rules and expectations are as well as what it needed to break those rules that they have somewhat instilled and ingrained into our daily lives. To add, due to society and different eras of socialization deviant behavior evolves over time.

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a. Deviance: Page 194, the violation of norms (or rules or expectations). This gang is a deviant group of people because they are breaking the rules of law. They extort money from business owner for protection. They are taking over large areas of entire cities and they are expecting non-gang membered people to follow their rules or face the consequences.

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Deviance is defined as "any violation of norms, whether the infraction is as minor as driving over the speed limit, as serious as murder, or as humorous as Chagnon 's encounter with the Yanomamo" (Henslin 194). One statement that stuck out to me was sociologist Howard S. Becker 's definition of deviance: "It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant" (Henslin 194). One reaction that acts as a punishment for a deviant or minor criminal is the criminal justice system. On page 211 in our book, it is stated that "the working class and those below them pose a special threat to the power elite" (Henslin). As a result of this threat, the law and punishment comes down harder on the lower class than it does on the upper class.

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Deviance has many functions in society. Although deviance violates social norms, without it, we would not have rules, so it helps form, guide, and shape society’s norms and goals. Social norms are different from culture to culture. Norms that may be acceptable in one culture may be frowned upon in another. Emile Durkheim quotes that “deviance and deviant behavior is an integral part of all healthy societies (Adler, 2014, p74).”

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the last but most important point deviant behaviour is labelling that is most of the people after this are thought bad or good depending on deviation . and the group or that organization is always thought to be the same and not accepted by the society later . “Once the deviant label is attached, it is pretty hard for it to be

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According to Hunt and Colandar (2011), a word deviant refers to when an individual’s actions contradict with society’s norms. For instance, majority peoples followed norms because society expect individual to behave in morally tolerate with each other. Those failing to conform the norms noted as deviant. In a social context, the task of the society is to blind the action of the social community together. Once failing to act them to the society’s reaction that seem as deviant.

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Deviance is any behavior that violates social norms and is usually of sufficient severity to warrant disapproval from the majority of society. Deviance can be criminal or noncriminal. Media helps us frame the way we think, act, and choose. Children have growing brains

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Crime is any act which breaks the laws of society, such as murder, rape, speeding etc. Social control is enforced by agencies such as police and the courts, more specifically defined than deviance. Deviance is behaviour which moves away from controversial norms and values such as burping, pass wind in public and queuing. It Can be positive e.g. extreme intelligence. Although in some situation in nature – time dependent of factors, place, who is involved.

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Although the term deviance usually carried a negative characteristic in first impression trough out history, afterward the term positive deviance was also introduced and analyzed. To begin with according to (“positive deviance.org”2015), “Positive Deviance is established on the inspection that in every community there are certain individuals or groups whose uncommon behaviors and strategies enable them to find better solutions to problems than their colleagues, while having access to the same resources and facing similar or even worse challenges”. “Positive deviance somehow exceeds social expectations. Moreover positive deviance can also be defined as individual or acts of individuals in a society that are superior because they super pass

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Deviance is a term used when a person violates a social normality. Deviance can be minor or they can be extreme. Using public behavior for example, if a person were to walk around without shoes in public, it would be considered odd and deviant behavior. Or if a person invaded someone 's space it would be considered rude and questionable behavior. My reasoning for not breaking social normality is simple: to break a social normality would be considered odd and I would rather not be percieved as such.

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responsibility of the individual committing or partaking in the crime. Though this is a common thought it is simply untrue because it eliminates many of the social and environmental factors that encourage deviant behavior. The truth is, society plays a significant role in whether or not deviant behavior stops or continues for a specific individual who has already committed a crime. Ideas and concepts under the Labeling theories emphasis society’s roles and states that, “efforts [of] social control (…) ultimately trigger processes that trap individuals in criminal careers” (Cullen, Agnew & Wilcox 2014). Essentially, society forces invasive labels and social reactions that then cause many Individuals with criminal past to create self-fulfilling

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Many groups or cultures have different views on what is considered deviant.

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