Deviance has several functions: (a) it clarifies norms and increases conformity, (b) it strengthens social bonds among the people reacting to the deviant, and (c) it can help lead to positive social change. Certain social and physical characteristics of urban neighborhoods contribute to high crime rates.

Social context strongly defines what is considered deviant. Consider Rosa Parks and her deviant behavior – she didn’t do what she was told to do and was arrested as a criminal. Now, our society sees her as a brave woman who did the right thing standing up for her rights. She is a ‘Positive Deviant’.

Behavior that violates norms. Deviant behavior is behavior that violates the normative rules, understandings, or expectations of social systems. This is the most common usage of the term and the sense in which it will be used here.

Key Terms. Formal Deviance: Deviance, in a sociological context, describes actions or behaviors that violate social norms, including formally-enacted rules (e.g., crime), as well as informal violations of social norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and mores).

As we have noted, deviance is generally perceived to be disruptive in society. It can weaken established social norms, and create division and disorder. But it also has other functions which are not necessarily harmful and may actually be beneficial to society. It is one way that social change occurs.

Émile Durkheim believed that deviance is a necessary part of a successful society and that it serves three functions: 1) it clarifies norms and increases conformity, 2) it strengthens social bonds among the people reacting to the deviant, and 3) it can help lead to positive social change and challenges to people’s …

In a society, the behavior of an individual or a group determines how a deviant creates norms. Three broad sociological classes exist that describe deviant behavior, namely, structural functionalism, symbolic interaction and conflict theory.

An act can be deviant but not criminal i.e. breaking social, but not legal, rules. Examples, of this include acts that are seen as deviant when they occur in a certain context, such as a male manager wearing a dress to the office or someone talking loudly in the middle of a concert.

There are four basic different ways that a society can react: deterrence, retribution, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. Deterrence, or more commonly known as punishment, is providing a negative consequence to a particular deviant action to discourage people from doing the deviant action.

Causes of Deviance in Society

• Broken Family and Improper Socialization. Family is the first institution teaching norms of social life.
• Lack of Religious Education and Morality.
• Rejection by Neighborhood.
• Lack of Basic Facilities.
• Parentless Child.
• Mass Media.
• Urban Slums.

Also it should be noted that the main factors of deviant behavior often appear in cognitive distortions, negative life experiences, emotional problems, self-esteem and inadequate level of aspiration, poor development of reflection, conflict of values, the differences of needs and ways to meet them.

Since the early days of sociology, scholars have developed theories that attempt to explain what deviance and crime mean to society. These theories can be grouped according to the three major sociological paradigms: functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and conflict theory.

Deviance is behavior that violates social norms and arouses negative social reactions. Crime is behavior that is considered so serious that it violates formal laws prohibiting such behavior.

Terms in this set (7)

• 6 types of crime. violent, property, public order, white collar, organized, high tech.
• violent crime. murder, assault, kidnapping, manslaughter, rape.
• property crimes. arson (to an extent), vandalism, burglary, theft, shoplifting.
• public order crimes.
• white collar crime.
• organized crime.
• high tech crime.

What is the difference between deviance and crime? Deviance is behavior that violates norms and rules of society, and crime is a type of deviant behavior that violates the formal criminal law. Criminology is the study of crime from a scientific perspective.

All deviant acts are typically considered crimes. There is little discretion in the criminal justice system. A professional code of ethics refers to broader questions of morality in society. Mala in se crimes are acts that are criminalized because they are inherently bad.

Émile Durkheim believed that deviance is a normal part of every society. Whether a behavior is considered deviant depends on the circumstances under which it occurs. Considerations of certain behaviors as deviant also vary from one society to another and from one era to another within a given society.

Strain theory is a sociology and criminology theory developed in 1938 by Robert K. Merton. The theory states that society puts pressure on individuals to achieve socially accepted goals (such as the American dream), though they lack the means.

Crime occurs when a law is broken. Deviance occurs when someone breaks an accepted code of behaviour. Deviant behaviour is not necessarily illegal and the code that has been broken is usually an unwritten code that everyone understands.

social-conflict approach