Deviance Essay Quiz

1.) Deviance is a nonconformity from a set of social norms or shared social expectations.
The four dysfunctions of deviance are its can disruption to social order, it disrupts the
will of others to conform, it can destroy trust, and it can divert resources. By disrupting
social order, deviance can disrupt the predictability of life. For example, a teacher who
refuses to teach can cause a disorder in the system and create conflict. Letting social
norm violations go unpunished can disrupt the will of others to conform. Individuals
would not make the effort to do the right thing and it ends up being dysfunctional.
Deviance would destroy our trust in others because we expect others to be honest and
trustworthy. Lastly, deviance diverts resources, more specifically money, to fund those
who control deviants.
2.) Conformity to social norms is generally explained in terms of two social control
processes: internal means of control and external means of control. Internal means of
control is when members of a group conform to the norm because they believe they
should, even if some group members are not present. External means of control are
responses to an individuals behavior, and the punishments and/or rewards given to
control the individuals behavior.
3.) A violation of the law is considered a crime, and it is usually accompanied by a
punishment. Crimes that are deviant are usually those that harm another person, a victim,
and the degree of harm varies. Those crimes committed that harm only the person
committing the crime are not considered deviant. Such crimes are prostitution and drug
use. Murdering a person is not the same crime as smoking marijuana. Though the latter

may be morally unacceptable to some people, it is not against the law in few states,
though it has some restrictions
4.) A lack of standards and values within an individual or a group to regulate behavior is
called an anomie. Merton applied his Anomie Theory of deviance to crime and it is
separated in five ways: conformity, innovation, retreatism, and rebellion. Conformity is
considered nondeviant to both the achieving the goal and the goal itself. Innovation is
accepting societys values and goals, but not obtaining goals in acceptable ways.
Ritualism sticks to traditions and stays within the comfort zone, with little regard to
goals. Retreatism rejects both cultural goals and the means to achieve them, and is
considered the least common form of adaption. Lastly, rebellion reject a society they
feel is unjust and set and follow their own standards for society. Rebels are the ones most
likely to become violent.
5.) The labeling theory suggests that labeling an individuals behavior as deviant can affect
their behavior. Giving an individual a label that is considered deviant can lead to loss of
respect, and may drive them further into their deviance. All their qualities and
characteristics would be overlooked and they may be alienated depending on the culture
or society. An example of Primary deviance would be if a man cheated on his wife or
girlfriend once, he may be silently judged by those close to her. Secondary deviance
would be if the man routinely cheated on his significant other, and most fellow peers
would consider him deviant, and would probably label him as a cheater.