Deviance In Society

From a young age, children in are taught to behave in a way that satisfies their society's standards of behavior. Each society has its own standards of behavior, also known as norms. One set of norms may be similar to those of another society, or one society's own set of norms can be the complete opposite of those of another society. But no matter how different or similar, norms are a part a society's core for they are the guidelines to how members are expected to act, and draws a line between what is acceptable and unacceptable. Despite efforts to enforce norms through social control, there are many people who deviate from these norms. Deviance is behavior that violates the standards of a group or society (Witt, 2013, p. 135). The act of deviance comes in many forms that range from harmless acts like a girl shaving her head, or it might be an action that is more extreme like committing murder.

Although they are not always bad, deviant acts can sometimes be seen as terrible and evil acts (Witt, 2013, p.136). One might ask themselves why another person would want to stray from what society finds acceptable. There are many answers to this question, but a unifying factor comes down to who holds the power and authority. In a lecture on the psychology of evil, psychologist and Stanford University professor, Philip Zimbardo (2008), stated, "Evil is the exercise of power." As stated before not all acts of deviance are evil, but if this viewpoint is applied to all deviant acts in general, it is evident that power and authority have a great influence on deviance. Two studies called "Status, Endorsement, and the Legitmacy of Deviance," "The False Enforcement of Unpopular Norms," and the movie The Invention of Lying, are all great exam...

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... deviance. The level of power and authority is not everything when relating them to deviance, but they are very important factors.

Works Cited

Gervais, R., Robinson, M. (Producers), & Gervais, R., Lin., D. (Directors). (2009). The invention of lying [Motion Picture]. United States: Warner Bros. Pictures

TED Talks. (Producer). (2008, September 23). Philip Zimbardo: The psychology of evil [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFEV35tWsg

Willer, R., Kuwabara, K., & Macy, M. W. (2009). The false enforcement of unpopular norms. American Journal of Sociology, 115(2), 451-490. doi: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal/ajs.html

Witt, J. (2013). Soc 2013. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Younts, C. W. (2008). Status, endordorsement, and the legitimacy of deviance. Social Forces, 92 (1), 561-590. doi: http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/