Sociology Discussion: Analyzing Deviance, Norms, and Social Control

This discussion post examines the concept of deviance, encompassing both behaviors and personal attributes, and explores how certain actions or characteristics are deemed deviant within a society. The author provides a rating scale (1-5) to classify various acts and attributes, such as honesty, stealing, and lying, based on their level of deviance. The post then delves into the criteria used to determine deviance, including adherence to social norms and ethical codes of conduct. It discusses the sanctions, both formal and informal, that arise from nonconformity to these norms, using examples like legal penalties for crimes and personal consequences for social transgressions. Finally, the post integrates sociological theories, such as Robert Merton's anomie theory, to provide a framework for understanding the development and control of deviant behaviors, emphasizing the role of conformity to socially accepted goals and means. The author suggests strategies like education and parental guidance to prevent and manage deviance.

Running head: DEVIANCE
Deviance
Student’s Name
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Deviance
Deviance incorporates both behaviors and personal attributes. Among the practices that are
regarded as deviance include stealing, killing, abusing elderly people, gambling, and even telling
lies. The characteristics of being deviant may consist of being a gang leader, and a judge who
conducts injustices (Downes, Rock & McLaughlin, 2016). The degree of deviance varies with
the behavior of the atypical character (Goode, 2015). For instance, acts such as murder and crime
can be categorized as very deviant (a rating of 5). Some cases, such as lying for a good reason
such as giving something to the poor and when asked you say that you are fine, which is not the
case, can be regarded as a neutral degree of deviance or, in other terms, “not so deviant” (a rating
of 3). There are other behaviors that, in some instances, can be regarded as not deviate at all,
such as farting when it is uncontrollable (a rating of 1). Honesty has a deviance rating of 1, that
is, it is not deviant at all. Stealing on the other hand is very deviant (a rating of 5). Stealing is
considered to be a wrong act in the society (Goode, 2015).
There are a variety of criteria that I have used to describe deviant behavior. One way is through
the use of accepted social norms in society. These are a set of values that the general society
regards as “good,” and thus, if one fails to abide by them by doing the opposite, then it becomes
deviance (Clinard & Meier, 2015). The second aspect is through ethics, which refers to an
accepted code of conduct. Ethics, in this case, is a set of values that guide a person in making
different decisions for the common good. Different deviances have various sanctions depending
on whether the behavior is a result of not conforming to the law of social norms. For example,
some deviances such as rape, murder, crime can be punishable by law, and penalties may include
being sentenced in the court. Not conforming to the social norms sanction depends on the
behavior and parenting discipline. For instance, for a child to fart in front of visitors can be caned
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or sent out of the house. Abusing the elders can earn a personal punishment from the elders, such
as being disowned from the village, among others (Bryant, 2012).
There are different theories that describe criteria of identifying deviant behaviors. For instance,
there is the anomie theory by Robert Merton that describes the development of deviance through
nonconforming to socially accepted objectives and means of achieving these goals. This theory
thus introduces the criterion of conformity in terming whether a behavior of character is deviant
or not. Deviant behaviors and acts can be controlled in different ways. For example, and stealing,
murder can be controlled through general education to the public on possible repercussions of the
same. Other deviant behavior associated with socialization can be controlled by good parenting
and talking to the children from tender age to the young adults. Administering minor punishment
to behaviors regarded as less deviant can also help avoid occurrences of too deviant behaviors.
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References
Bryant, C. D. (Ed.). (2012). Routledge handbook of deviant behavior. Taylor & Francis.
Clinard, M. B., & Meier, R. F. (2015). Sociology of deviant behavior. Nelson Education.
Downes, D., Rock, P. E., & McLaughlin, E. (2016). Understanding deviance: a guide to the
sociology of crime and rule-breaking. Oxford University Press.
Goode, E. (Ed.). (2015). The handbook of deviance. John Wiley & Sons.
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