Deviance in the Film Sleepers

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Deviance in the Film Sleepers

Deviance is the behavior and the standards of expectations of a group or society. It is also behavior that is considered dangerous, threatening or offensive. The people that are deviant are often labeled to be weirdos, oddballs, or creeps. In the United States, people with tattoos, drug addicts, alcoholics, and compulsive gamblers are all considered deviant. Sociologists believe that everybody is deviant from time to time. They believe each person will violate a social norm in certain situations. People are considered deviant if they don't stand for the national anthem at a sports event, dress casually to a fancy restaurant, or skip classes. One category of deviance is Crime. Crime is a violation of norms that have been formally enacted into a law. Another category of deviance is humorous. Deviance is relative, what is deviant in one group or society may not be deviant in another group or society.

In the movie Sleepers the boys, Shakes, Michael, John, and Tommy were all perfect examples of deviant people. You can see why the boys are deviant through Travis Hirschis' Social Bond Theory. This theory states that there are four bonds which let an individual decide whether or not they will be deviant. The four bonds are Commitment, Attachment, Involvement and Belief. Commitment says that before a deviant act is committed a person always weighs their costs and rewards. By doing this they are calculating their possible losses. If their stake in conforming is high then there is a low chance of deviance. If a person has nothing to lose then the deviance is more likely. Attachment is the emotional tie to those who conform and are non-deviant. If a person has affectionate and strong emotional ties, cha...

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... the guard from Wilkinson House for Boys, they felt nothing wrong about it. They just thought it was another day in their lifestyle. However, Shakes and Michael were two totally different stories. These two had grown up and conformed. They now followed the law instead of breaking it and were no longer deviant people. Michael had grown up to have a real job as a lawyer and Shakes had also gotten a legit job working for a newspaper. These two were able to conform and not be deviant because of the people they were involved with. Michael and Shakes were no longer surrounded by deviant people, but rather conformers. If they had committed crimes and broken the law then they would have felt out of place with the people they now associated with. The frequency and duration of time they did spend with deviant people was low enough to keep them from being deviant themselves.

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