Sociological Theory Analysis

In Wayward Puritans Erikson argues that there is no notable difference between people who participate in deviant acts and those who do not. Deviance therefore is a social construction; it is defined by what society deems normal. What is considered deviant in one society is not necessarily deviant in another. The label of deviance is conferred upon certain behaviors, often by those in power. Dominant groups in society set expectations for what is acceptable behavior, which helps to keep people in line with dominant group expectations.

The documentary called The Hunting Grounds, had multiple concepts that relate to sociology. Using a sociological perspective, it was very prevalent to see the ways college campuses use patriarchy and gender stratification to keep women who have been sexually assaulted on campus from disclosing information or even getting help about these issues. Through the discrimination against women at these gender institutions the women formed a Feminist movement to bring awareness and help to the victims on campuses all around the world and to stop the assaults from reoccurring. The Hunting Grounds is a documentary that reveals the untold stories of women on college campuses and how these women have fought to have their voice heard about sexual assault on campuses. Sexual assault and rape on campuses has always been a major problem for colleges all over the world yet very little has been done to protect the students.

The “Outsiders” made me think about the rules that groups give us are strongly founded on what they see as defiance. It made me think that some rules are given within a group are not remotely necessary and that we as a society are to blame for what is deemed as “socially acceptable”. Deviants may not even be actually deviants but that’s what they are labeled by society because they think, what the deviant did was wrong, which could be made up by what society thinks is okay behavior. The relation to this reading and the sociology course shows how society controls us and how they consider we should act. It reminded me of how society tells us as women that showing off our body parts is deemed as trashy and not lady like, but men can do so without

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.

In other terms, deviance can be defined as an attractive alternative if the norms of a society are out of reach (Haskings-Winner, Collishaw, Kritzer & Warecki, 2011). Bender is unable to achieve the goals that the school sets out for him so he resorts to deviance in order to make him seem like a bad boy which turn in will get him attention. When he gets the group to go to his locker, he explicitly states, “Being bad feels pretty good, huh?” (Hughes, 1985) This statement is looking for reassurance from his peers to ensure his

1. How does Strain Theory define and explain deviance? Strain theory defines deviance as the situation whereby there exists a gap or difference between societal success goals and the determined means available to the society for achieving these goals. In a society, individuals share similar goals towards success and thus have agreeable means of achieving the same, however, when such an agreement is foregone such a society has a high rate of deviance.

Deviance can be defined as behavior that violates social expectations and norms. Deviance can be something small like dressing like a hippy or in gothic clothing, or something big like robbing a bank. Each society has laws and rules to keep one from committing deviant acts. Colin Kaepernick is going against NFL policies, going against his duty as an American citizen, and finally, he is disrespecting the men and women who fought and died for this country. I believe Colin Kaepernick is being deviant when kneeling to the flag.

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).”

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.

Deviance and crime is a common characteristic of Canadian society. Deviance is defined as: “recognized violation of cultural norms” (2013, pg.465). While crime is defined as: “recognized violation of society’s formally enacted criminal law” (2013, pg.464). There are some universal similarities about what we as humans consider morally deviant, still, what is regarded as deviant or criminal behavior in Canada may not resonate with other societies. Some behavior “can fall right in between deviant and criminal” (Healy, 2012).

As indicated by Agnew, deviance happens when an individual has neglected the idea of accomplishing positively valued goals, positively valued goals are dismissed, or a individual has a confrontation with the negative stimuli. The main strain, failure to achieve the positively valued goals, is the sort that is normally alluded to by exemplary strain and anomie. When dealing with children or juveniles, a study noted that it was more proper to gauge the

Deviance and crime happen in our daily life and society. Why we always pay attention to deviance and crime? According to Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs”, the feeling of being safe is the seconds most important to us after the physiological needs. To know why deviance and crime happen in our daily life, firstly we need to know what is deviance and crime. Deviance is violation of norm while crime is violation of laws.

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

Where he discusses how one must be strong with their social bonds, family and religion, civic and other groups. And how if one has strong bonds with these groups they are less likely to commit crimes. But overall the people who behave deviantly most likely have personal, environmental, or societal influences. An example can be seen as people who are deviant heroes.

In sociology, deviance is a term that is used to describe actions or behaviors that break rules as well as the rejection of society’s traditions and values. The term is not as black and white as many believe. Deviance can range from committing a felony to simply not conforming to a certain style of dress or way of life. Even overachieving is considered deviance because it is out of the norm. Norms dictate what falls into the categories of ‘good’ and ‘bad’.