Deviant Behaviour: Definition, Changes, and Societal Views

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
SOCIOLOGY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIOLOGY
Q1. What is deviant behaviour?
Deviant behavior is any behaviour that departs from societal and group norm. It can
range from criminal behaviour to certain behaviours that may be inappropriate for the society.
Deviant behaviour outside these maybe positive that is, over conforming or negative, that is,
lower conforming. Sociologically, deviance means the violation of significant social norms.
These norms are highly important to most of the members of the society and deviant is a person
who violates these norms. It is very difficult to define deviant behaviour because it depends on
social expectations that may be ambiguous and unclear and may change over time and from one
society to another. Taking these problems into account, sociologists often define deviance as a
social behaviour that is viewed as a departure from group norms and incurs social isolation,
correction or sometimes even punishment of the violation. It also refers to an action which
transgresses commonly held norms (Denzin, 2017).
Q2. Do you feel society’s definition of deviance has changed much since 1965?
In simple words, to deviate means to stay away from the accepted path. The concept of
deviance changes alters and develops over time. From the 1950s the sociological explanation of
deviance began to compete with the biological and psychological explanations as the sociologists
advocated that the cause of deviant behaviour was found outside the individual. Definition of
deviant behaviour changes over time period. In Britain homosexuality was former considered a
crime and homosexuals as deviant but since 1965 homosexuality is not considered to be deviant
behaviour. However, there have been new developments in the concept of deviance in the 20th
century (Schwartz, 2013).