Cross-cultural evidence suggests that what is considered deviant may vary from culture to culture. For example, different attitudes about what is acceptable for women and what is considered appropriate in their group or society. Since norms vary with culture and time, it makes sense that notions of deviance would change as well. Fifty years ago, public schools in the United States had strict dress codes that, among other things, often prohibited women from wearing pants in class. Today, it is socially acceptable for women to wear pants, but less so for men to wear skirts. In wartime, actions that are normally considered morally wrong, such as taking someone else`s life, can actually be rewarded. Whether an action is deviant or not depends on the reaction of society to that action. To understand the continuum from social acceptance to social deviance, it may be helpful to look at concrete examples, such as substance use. The following table shows some examples of common addictive behaviors that illustrate the continuum from socially deviant to socially problematic behaviors to socially acceptable behaviors in dominant Western cultures. Social integration is attachment to groups and institutions, while social regulation is adherence to the norms and values of society. Durkheim`s theory attributes social deviance to the extremes of social integration and social regulation. He named four different types of suicide in the relationship between social integration and social regulation:[8] This article discusses what causes deviant behavior and how it differs from socially acceptable behavior.
It also covers different types of deviant behaviors and how certain behaviors, such as addiction, can range from socially acceptable to deviant. Historical and cross-cultural evidence also suggests that what is classified as criminal behavior can change over time and vary from culture to culture. Like what. Alcohol consumption was illegal in America in the 1920s and is still restricted in some countries today. Control theory holds that weak ties between the individual and society allow people to deviate. Strong bonds, on the other hand, make deviance costly. This theory asks why people refrain from deviant or criminal behavior, rather than why people commit deviant or criminal behavior, according to Travis Hirschi. Control theory has developed when norms emerge to deter deviant behavior. Without this “control,” deviant behaviors would occur more frequently. This leads to compliance and groups. People will conform to a group if they believe they have more to gain from compliance than deviation.
If a strong bond is reached, the probability of deviation is lower than if a weak bond has occurred. Hirschi argued that a person follows standards because they have a connection to society. Attachment consists of four positively correlated factors: opportunity, attachment, faith, and commitment. [3]: 204 If one of these links is weakened or broken, one is more likely to act defiantly. Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi founded their Self-Control Theory in 1990. He noted that acts of violence and fraud are committed in the pursuit of self-interest and self-control. A deviant action is based on the self-control of a criminal. Plummer (1979) discusses two aspects of the definition of deviance, using the concepts of social deviance and situational deviance. The historical period – Definitions of deviance change over time in the same society as norms of normal behavior change. For example, smoking used to be very popular, now it is illegal to smoke in restaurants or buses. Deviance is a sociological concept that refers to behaviors that violate social rules and norms. People with substance use disorders are often described as socially deviant because they do not meet society`s expectations of what is considered acceptable behaviour.
As mentioned earlier, we usually learn these social norms as children and develop them with experience. But the relativity of deviance can have important societal implications, including the perception and prosecution of crimes. They can often be based on racial, ethnic or related prejudices. When Elizabeth Eckford, 15, of Little Rock Nine, tried to attend her legally abolished high school, she obeyed the law; But she was considered deviant by the white crowd who harassed and insulted her. (These events are discussed in more detail in the chapter on education.) Becker, H.S. (1963). Outsiders: Studien zur Soziologie der Devianz. New York: Free Press. p.14 Frank Tannenbaum and Howard S.
Becker created and developed the labeling theory, which is an essential facet of symbolic interactionism and is often referred to as Tannenbaum`s “dramatization of evil.” Becker believed that “social groups create deviance by establishing the rules that deviance violates.” To address what a law is and what is an ethical consequence, it is important to examine the birth of criminal justice (CJ) in America. Originally, America was a group of 13 colonies and colonists rejected English rule under a king as supreme authority beginning in 1775. At the same time, the American colonist rejected the laws of England and the application of those laws. What happened next is common knowledge, even for anhistorical students of American origin. The nation`s founders declared themselves free from English rule by issuing the Declaration of Independence. A long and costly war with England ensued. America, however, emerged victorious and was a new sovereign nation with a new system of government and an untested constitution. Psychological theories about deviant behavior come from a variety of perspectives. The psychoanalytic approach, for example, might suggest that everyone has repressed, unconscious impulses that lead to social deviance.
Biological explanations of deviance suggest that genetic influences play an important role in deviant behavior. When it comes to addiction, for example, research has revealed that genes play an important role in the development of substance use problems. Claimed by Fagin (2015) through the review of laws by the courts resolved the benchmarks used when reviewing the legality of a law. They are: What exactly is deviance? And what is the relationship between deviance and crime? According to sociologist William Graham Sumner, deviance is a violation of established contextual, cultural or social norms, whether folk melodies, customs, or codified laws (1906). Simply put, deviance is the violation of a norm. To further explore the relativity of deviance and its relationship to perceptions of crime, consider the game. Excessive or high-risk gambling is generally considered deviant, but more moderate gambling is generally accepted. Nevertheless, gambling has long been restricted in most of the United States, making it a crime to participate in certain types of gambling or to do so outside of certain locations. For example, a state may allow betting on horse racing, but not on sports.
There are changes to these laws, but for decades, generally non-deviant behavior has become criminal: when law-abiding people decided to engage in low, non-excessive gambling, they broke the law. Sociologists can examine the essential question that arises from this situation: are these actors deviant by breaking the law, even if the actual behavior is not generally considered deviant? Historical evidence suggests that what is considered deviant may change over time. For example, sociologists have defined expected behaviors as norms. Deviance is an act that contradicts socially accepted behaviours (McMaghy, 1979). Deviant behavior is a violation of the folk customs or customs discussed earlier. Then deviant behavior is any behavior that contradicts the dominant norms of society. Deviance is ultimately judged by others in society and may not be as simple as it is described in these initial definitions. Becker (1963) establishes deviance as a process: deviant behavior can have various causes. Genetic, psychological and sociological factors can all influence different types of social deviance.
Social deviance refers to forms of deviance that most members of a society consider deviant because they share similar ideas about approved and unauthorised behaviour – murder, rape, child abuse and driving across the alcohol line in the UK generally fall into this category.