Sociology Essay: Deviance, Marginalization of Social Groups Analysis

This essay delves into the sociological understanding of deviance, defining it as behavior that contradicts societal norms. It examines various sociological perspectives, including Structural Strain Theory, Labeling Theory, Social Control Theory, and Differential Association, to explain why certain social groups are marginalized due to deviant behavior. The discussion focuses on the experiences of African Americans and LGBTQ+ communities, highlighting how social constructs like race and gender, along with societal biases, contribute to discrimination and unequal treatment. The essay uses historical context and statistical data to illustrate how these groups face systemic disadvantages, such as higher arrest rates, denial of rights, and social alienation. The conclusion emphasizes that the fear of societal change and the preservation of traditional power structures are key drivers of marginalization, reinforcing the importance of sociological perspectives in understanding and addressing these issues.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
Sociology and Social Science
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
Discussion:.................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................5
References:.................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction:
Deviance in a sociological context is understood as behavior that is contrary to the dominant norms
of a society. There are several perspectives on why an act comes to be seen as deviant and why
some members of a community engage in such behaviors (Craib 2015). Out of the Biological,
Psychological, and Sociological viewpoints, in this essay, the sociological perspectives will be studied
to provide insights into why some social groups are marginalized in society because of deviant
behavior.
Four major sociological perspectives for undestanding deviant behavior are( Franzese 2015):
Structural Strain Theory: Robert K Merton, an American sociologist, postulated the structural strain
theory which extended the functionalist perspective on deviance. Culture establishes goals in a
society, and social structures is the ground through which people can attain those goals. This theory
posited the idea that when a society fails to provide the means to reach the goals the culture has set
then the people who are unable to attain the goals resort to deviant behavior to achieve those goals.
Labelling Theory: Labelling Theory is another important sociological concept to understand deviant
behavior. It falls under symbolic interactionism that states that meaning is derived by people by
interacting with one another's labels, actions, symbols, etc. Hence, because of socialization
conforming members of society who integrate the norms of society will label anything different as
deviant. Labeling theory tries to highlight who is using the labels and to whom. When labeling is
done by a privileged section of a society who wield power, then labeling can lead to systemic
discrimination.
Social Control Theory: Social Control theory was first formulated by Walter Reckless, and this theory
suggests that on an individual both inner and outer control acts to resist deviant behavior. External
controls are the influences of parents, friends, and society at large. And internal control is the self-
control to resist urges in engaging in deviant behavior.
Theory of Differential Association: The term differential association was first coined by Edwin
Sutherland to address the question of how people learn deviance. A person's environment plays a
significant role in determining which norms people will violate. People of a group or university might
be politically inclined in a particular way because of their immediate environment. A person growing
up in a violent neighborhood may not condone violence in the same way people from relatively

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stable places would. Gang members, for example, become deviant by embracing gang culture and
conform to the rules of their gangs. People learn their norms from teachers, their friend circle, their
culture, their co-workerss, and most significantly the media.
Discussion:
African American's are one such social group that has had a marginalized history because they were
not part of the major race wielding power at that time. Race was thought of as biological, and the
cultural understanding for subjugating other races was that one race was inferior to another. The
social agreement was that race was a biological construct. Slavery and the Jim Crow laws were
understood as the natural consequences because of the inferiority of one race. Work of sociologists
has shown how deeply unfair and harmful these ideas have been. Race is now understood as a
socially constructed category for labeling people who may share some biological traits. And it is this
way of being seen because of the social construction that determines the social outcome or the
advantage or disadvantage of a social group. W.B Dubois was the first sociologist to work on this
area as a black American, and he was troubled by seeing the different way in which black people
were treated in America. He then came up with the concept of double consciousness, which showed
how being from a non-dominating race can create a fracture in one's sense of identity. In racial
identity theory, sociologists try to understand how people come to identify themselves belonging to
a particular race. W. B Dubois first tried to understand what it meant to be a black American in
white-dominated America. His study, "The Philadelphia Negro" conducted a statistical study of 9675
African Americans in a neighbourhood in Philadelphia and concluded many interesting findings like
black population was younger than the whites, black people had lower literacy rates, higher crime
rates, higher mortality rates, etc…. Dubois's radical idea then was concluding that the dysfunction
within black communities was not because of inferiority but not having access to quality education
and good jobs that was enjoyed by the whites due to the inherently unfair social structure that saw
the blacks as racially inferior.
Out of a long historical struggle they came out of that social position, but even in the present,
America's race relations are not very good with a high percentage of African American in jails and a
very high degree of discrimination. Young people from these marginalized sections of society are the
ones with the highest proportion in prison. Racial segregation is a prime example of a social group
being pushed to the margins and denied rights that are enjoyed by the privileged classes. Such racial
divide has been there in America since the colonial era when white Americans were socially
sanctioned privileges like education, citizenship, voting rights, immigration, etc. which were denied
to other races and minorities. Perhaps the worst institution that had the deviance of a different

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group punished was the institution of Slavery. Slavery continued in America in the 18th and 19th
centuries and was an institutionalized social structure that legalized human enslavement, mainly of
African Americans and African origin people.
Crime is another deviant factor that sociologists study to see the more significant ramifications
deviance has on society. Even though all crimes are not reported, from the data collected
sociologists have inferred that wealthy white Americans are less likely to be seen as criminally
deviant than poor, marginalized communities. Race and ethnicity are closely linked to social standing
and wealth, and people from the lower social classes are more likely to get arrested. The amount of
discrimination faced by black Americans can now be explained by studying the crime reports closely.
For example, despite accounting for 13.3% of the total population, African Americans account for
26.6 % of the total arrests made. The arrests don't include embezzlement, tax fraud, or drunk
driving. Another instance of deviance causing marginalization is the fact how despite similar drug
uses by whites and blacks, mostly black people are arrested for drug-related crimes.
Theories of Deviance can also shed light on why people from the LGBTQ communities have always
been historically marginalized. Despite having had their existence acknowledged from ancient times,
there have been numerous persecution including lynchings and deaths in the history of oppression
of LGBTQ people. People with different sexuality was looked at with varying degrees of
abnormality throughout history and especially in religious societies, the persecution was highest.
Gender was seen as biological and not something fluid as now sociologists understand. Socially
constructed ideas of gender were either of masculine or feminine, and anything other than that was
seen as unnatural. Sex is biological, and gender is a social construct, but this idea has been lost on
almost all the cultures and societies spanning the world and gender or sexuality has been used as a
label to systematically discriminate people who do not fall under the socially constructed ideas of
gender and sexuality. Sexuality has also been socially constructed, and people are understood to be
naturally heterosexual, but as we know now, sexuality is also a spectrum with people exhibiting
different approach to it (Warhol and Lancer 2015). There are homosexual or pansexual or asexual
depending on people. The marginalization, because of socially constructed ideas of gender and
sexuality, has also deepened the divide between people who do not fall under the majoritarian ideas
of what gender and sexuality should mean. The discrimination includes not legally allowed for
marriage for LGBTQ people, discrimination in employment, and the huge alienation of having to live
in a society that won't accept them for something they were born with.
It is only in this century that criminalization of LGBTQ communities have been lifted slowly in some
countries, but still societies in different parts of the world have been reluctant to accept people from

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the LGBTQ community as their own. People from the LGBTQ community show us that just by virtue
of being born with certain qualities in a culture that considers them to be unnatural cause's very high
degrees of discrimination throughout their lives.
Conclusion:
The reason for marginalization seems to have one thing in common, the people living in a particular
society feel threatened when their traditional ways of thinking are questioned, and then sanctions
are imposed on people whose existence threaten the way of life of those people who gain from
maintaining the traditional way of life. Thus, various sociological perspectives such as structural
functionalism, symbolic interactionism, or conflict theory can help us understand why the deviance
of a social group causes them to be marginalized in the society they live in.

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References:
Craib, I., 2015. Modern social theory. Routledge.
Franzese, R.J., 2015. The sociology of deviance. Charles C Thomas Publisher.
Warhol, R. and Lanser, S.S., 2015. Narrative theory unbound: Queer and feminist interventions. The
Ohio State University Press.