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Deviance in a sociological context describes actions or behaviors that violate cultural norms including formally-enacted rules (e.g., crime) as well as informal violations of social norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and mores). It is the purview of sociologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and criminologists to study how these norms are created, how they change over time and how they are enforced Norms are the specific behavioral standards, ways in which people are supposed to act, paradigms for predictable behavior in society. They are not necessarily moral, or even grounded in morality; in fact, they are just as often pragmatic and, paradoxically, irrational. (A great many of what we call manners, having no logical grounds, would make for good examples here.) Norms are rules of conduct, not neutral or universal, but ever changing; shifting as society shifts; mutable, emergent, loose, reflective of inherent biases and interests, and highly selfish and onesided. They vary from class to class, and in the generational "gap." They are, in other words, contextual Deviance can be described as a violation of these norms. Deviance is a failure to conform to culturally reinforced norms. This definition can be interpreted in many different ways. Social norms are different in one culture as opposed to another.
Functionalist theory
Social integration is the attachment to groups and institutions, while social regulation is the adherence to the norms and values of the society. Those who are very integrated fall under the category of "altruism" and those who are very unintegrated fall under "egoism." Similarly, those who are very regulated fall under "fatalism" and those who are very unregulated fall under "ano Social integration is the attachment to groups and institutions, while social regulation is the adherence to the norms and values of the society. Those who are very integrated fall under the category of "altruism" and those who are very unintegrated fall under "egoism." Similarly, those who are very regulated fall under "fatalism" and those who are very unregulated fall under "anomie". Durkheim's strain theory attributes social deviance to extremes of the dimensions of
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the social bond. Altruistic suicide (death for the good of the group), egoistic suicide (death for the removal of the self due to or justified by the lack of ties to others), and anomic suicide (death due to the confounding of self-interest and societal norms) are the three forms of suicide that can happen due to extremes. Likewise, individuals may commit crimes for the good of an individual's group, for the self due to or justified by lack of ties, or because the societal norms that place the individual in check no longer have power due to society's corruption.mie". Durkheim's strain theory attributes social deviance to extremes of the dimensions of the social bond. Altruistic suicide (death for the good of the group), egoistic suicide (death for the removal of the self due to or justified by the lack of ties to others), and anomic suicide (death due to the confounding of self-interest and societal norms) are the three forms of suicide that can happen due to extremes. Likewise, individuals may commit crimes for the good of an individual's group, for the self due to or justified by lack of ties, or because the societal norms that place the individual in check no longer have power due to society's corruption.
Three sociologist views about Functionalist theory Emile Durkheim Robert Merton Albert Cohen
Emile Durkheim ideas on deviance: Anomie leads to deviance. Anomie exists when there are no social standards to guide behavior in a particular area of social life. Emile Durkheim viewed deviance on social facts which is inevitable. People in modern society enjoy more freedom compared to people in traditional society. As a result, deviance is essential to occur. Deviance will be there, but its limit kept at an acceptable level. Durkheim believes deviance is necessary society. For 2 reasona) He thinks deviance is an innovative force. Through deviance new
rule & changes are brought which sometimes appear beneficial for the society in long run. b) Deviance draws a boundary between good & bad.
Anomie leads to deviance. Anomie exists when there is conflict between social norms & socially accepted means to achieve those. As a result, of this conflict the unsuccessful person who failed to achieve the norms refers to any means, be it illegitimate to achieve those.
a) Conformist: - These people accept both the social norms & the means to
meaning of the norms. They follow the norms like rituals; they follow these just for the sake of following.
d) Retreatists: - They do not accept both the social norms & socially accepted
means to achieve those norms. They have given up of the social system.
e) Rebels: - The rebels work to replace the social norms & means by the new
ones.
Albert Cohen ideas on deviance: Deviance emerges from subcultures. The subcultures have limited access to researches than the people of mainstream culture. It creates a sense of deprivation in them which leads to deviance.
Interactionist theory
Deviance is learned. People learn it through interaction with deviant people. Edwin Sutherland has called this phenomenon differential association.
Labeling theory
Powerful section of the society creates law to protect their privileged position & they create some institutions such as, court, police etc. To interpret & implement these laws. The artificial mechanism creates by the ruling class is labeling the working class of the society as deviant people.
No act is intrinsically deviant or criminal. We label certain people doing an act as deviant depending on which social class he/she belongs to & also depending on the immediate reality. There are two types of deviance I.
II.
Primary deviance- First crime committed by a person. Secondary deviance- If first crime is handled in a way that involves giving strong punishment, propensity to commit crime increases.
Conflict theory
It is offered by sociologists who uphold Marxist view. Class struggle between rich & poor in capitalist society, drag the poor towards deviance & crime.
domestic violence, or child abuse (Smart 1977). Furthermore, it was claimed, left idealists neglected the comparative aspect of the study of crime, in that they ignored the significant quantities of crime in socialist societies, and ignored the low crime levels in capitalist societies like Switzerland and Japan (Incardi 1980).
Control theory
Deviance/crime take place due to lack of control on human impulse to take advantage of opportunity. Travis hirew sugs human beings are selfish and take calculative decisions. We do cost benefit analysis before getting involved in an action. People get involved in crime to get advantage of opportunities.
Human impulse instinct to take advantage of opportunities has to be controlled to reduce crime control theorists believe that in modern society number of opportunities is increasing day by day. In- TV, refrige, AC and so on. Homes remain empty during day time is more women work outside home now-a-days there opportunities are targets for criminals. According to control theorists the control on targets. Should be tightened to reduce crime, which they have termed as target hardening. In- security, watch dog etc. The criticism of control theory talks about its inability to find out the red reason behind crime. It gives all emphasis on target of crime. Besides, target hardening is unlikely to reduce crime since criminal will shift their attention from tightly controlled target to loosely control ones.
Conclusion
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 non-criminal. The sociological discipline that deals with crime (behavior that violates laws) is criminology (also known as criminal justice). Today, Americans consider such activities as alcoholism, excessive gambling, being nude in public places, playing with fire, stealing, lying, refusing to bathe, purchasing the services of prostitutes, and cross-dressingto name only a fewas deviant. People who engage in deviant behavior are referred to as deviants. The concept of deviance is complex because norms vary considerably across groups, times, and places