Deviance What is deviance? What does it mean? What determines a behavior as deviant? Deviance is anything that violates a social norm. For example, when a child burps at the supper table but doesn’t excuse himself. Who we socialize and spend time with will determine what we deem as deviant behavior. There are many types of deviant behaviors, some of these behaviors may not be considered deviant to one culture but to another they are. In the television show The Simpsons episode Marge Be Not Proud there are many instances of deviant behavior. There were two that stood out to me. The first example of deviance in this television show was in the store when the young boy, Gavin, is telling his mother he wants the new video game. When asked by …show more content…
In our society if this type of behavior were to occur out in public, many people would look at the family and shake their head in shame. Many would be astonished that such horrid words would be uttered to the very being that takes care of them. As if the name calling was not bad enough, Gavin’s mother proceeds to engage in conversation about the video game as if he had not called her such names. It seems as though she has become accustomed to being called these names by her son. This type of behavior and the lack of intolerance can be described as primary deviance because it does not have a major effect of the individuals’ self-concept. Sure, the other people in the store may think of his mom as someone who needs to implement discipline but the overall concept of Gavin is the same. The second instance of deviance I noticed was when the boys came up to Bart and showed him how they were shoplifting in order to get the things they wanted. This is an example of innovation, a theory of Merton’s Strain Theory, which states that an individual uses “unconventional means” …show more content…
In this case the boys stole the football and vest instead of working to earn the money so they could purchase the desired items. Bart had been looking at the new video game that had recently just been released. After hearing the two boys talk about stealing items they wanted, Bart got an idea. Bart began to argue with himself whether or not he should steal the popular game. Bart looks around, and when he sees no one is looking he takes the game and puts it inside his coat. These actions are an example of Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory which states that a person’s actions are influenced by the actions of others. In this case Bart sees his friends shoplifting, knowing he is not able to purchase the game he wants he uses his friends’ method and steals the game. Unknowingly, Bart was being watched so as soon as he thought he got away with the crime, the security officer caught him. The police officer is demonstrating social control as he tells Bart to never enter the store again. His parents, especially his mother shows how disappointed she is in his behavior by not treating him like a baby. Bart then realizes how much he misses the treatment his mother notmally gives him and it causes him to think
Differential association theory was founded by Edwin H. Sutherland (Lilly, 2012, p. 43). This theory states that “any person will inevitably come into contact with definitions favorable to violation of the law and with definitions unfavorable to violation of the law” (Lilly, 2012, p. 44). Whichever definition is more prominent in a person’s mind, will lead to their decision of “whether the person embraces crime as an acceptable way of life” (Lilly, 2012, p. 44). Sutherland composed nine propositions that explained the theory. He explained that “crime is learned through the process of differential association” (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). The nine propositions explained that “criminal behavior is learned” (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). He explained that by communicating with others, especially those that are close to them they are more likely to pick up behaviors from those people. Differential association theory also explains that learning criminal behaviors “involves all the mechanisms that are involved in any other learning” (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). While learning a criminal behavior one not only learns “the techniques of committing the crime” but also the “specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes” involved with crime (Lilly, 2012, p. 45). This is theory is shown throughout the book when the young Mr. Moore was influenced by the life of crime that was present in his
The clip ‘Trouble with Evan’ narrates the struggle of a boy named Evan that puts his stepdad Mike and his mother Karen through stress because of his ill manners. Despite him being at a tender age of 11 years and in 6th grade, his mannerism is worrying because he is already engaging in morally unacceptable activities such as shoplifting, smoking, and gross disobedience, bullying other children and even stealing from his parents. Therefore, this puts his parents under severe psychological stress as they try to figure where their parenting is going wrong in a bid together to make him grow morally upright (Henning, 2016). Evan’s behavior was also straining his relationship with his parents and this stressed the parents as they tried to figure out different ways in which they could once again improve their relationship with their son. In addition, the clip revolves around trying to uncover the mystery as to what could be causing Evan’s unacceptable behavior.
The first of the two example behavior is a major part of the episode, it is the episode entire purpose, Bart Simpson shoplifting the video game. This behavior is deemed deviant from many things. The most important being that all aspects of stealing is looked down upon both morally and religiously. It has always been said that stealing is wrong, this is something we are all taught from a young age. This is more than just a biblical moral of understanding, society has molded stealing into a cruel and hurtful thing. Peer pressure is another reason that steeling has been deemed deviant. In the episode of the Simpsons, it was one of
Deviance is described as “the recognized violation of cultural norms”(Macionis 238). While deviance can include crime, it is not always such. Deviance can mean trying to sneak into a hospital room, desperately searching for someone like the character of Benny in the movie Benny and Joon. Or it could be preforming on the streets for people to watch. Deviance isn’t always a criminal act. The movie Benny and Joon gave several examples of deviant behavior portrayed by the three main characters, Benny, Joon, and Sam.
Much of society mistakenly interchanges the two concepts of crime and deviance, assuming that they are one in the same. "A crime is what the law proclaims it to be, and is an act punishable by law" (Winterdyk 9). Deviance, on the other hand, is a contested concept; it can be defined as differing from a norm or accepted standard of society (dictionary.com). Deviance involves acts that fluctuate from social norms; although such actions can be, they are not necessarily against the law (Winterdyk 9).
The first deviant act that we witness in the film is the affair that Gilbert has with Betty Carver, who is a married woman with two children. She sends a note to the grocery where Gilbert work saying that she needs a delivery. Gilbert already knows what this means; she wants him to come over because her husband isn 't home. When Gilbert gets there, she tells the children to go outside and then the kissing commences. Their affair continues until about halfway through the film, when Gilbert meets Becky. The second deviant act happens right after Gilbert and Betty get interrupted by her husbands unexpected arrival; Arnie snuck off and climbed the water tower. This is deviant because you can get in serious trouble if you were to climb the water tower in our town. Another example of deviance is when Gilbert and his friends Tucker and Bobby are sitting at the diner. Bobby is a coroner and Tucker asked him if he ever thought about fooling around with the dead bodies. This is deviant because necrophilia is a crime in America and pretty much all around the world. Throughout the entire movie, except for the end, Gilbert makes snide remarks about his mother and lets other make fun of her as well. This is deviant because it is disrespectful and hurtful to his mother, even though she doesn 't know that it is happening. You don 't go walking around disrespecting your mom and making fun of her because of her weight, it 's not right.The
Social deviancy is the violation of social norms. A deviant is someone who rejects folkways and mores. Any action that violates the values or rules of a social group is deviant behavior. In order to actually be characterized as a deviant, the individual must be detected committing a deviant act and be stigmatized by society. A stigma is a mark of social disgrace, setting the deviant apart from the group. Criminality is healthy for society. Deviance affirms our cultural values and norms. Responding to deviance clarifies moral boundaries and brings people together. There will always be people who break society’s rules and that’s important.
The last sociological concept present in Black Mirror is deviance. Like a lot of other shows and movies, there is obviously a lot of deviance. In the episode titled “Shut Up and Dance”, a boy’s webcam camera is hacked while he is in his room. He ends up watching pornography while the webcam is rolling. We can all infer what comes next… The person who hacked the boy’s computer threatens to leak the video, which makes this boy do anything the hacker says. The hacker makes the boy do a whole bunch of things. Everything the boy does displays deviance. The different things the boy is forced to do end up escalating to robbing a bank and fighting someone to the death. It goes without saying that these are all forms of deviance. The worst part is the fact that the twist at the end is the boy ending up completing all of these acts of deviance for the hacker to still leak the video. That’s not even the hardest part. The watcher comes to find out the boy was actually watching child pornography, which is the reason the hacker made him go through hell to end up getting screwed over in the end anyways. Deviance was a key part of this episode of Black Mirror, which helped drive along the plot of the episode and make everything a lot more
The movie The Boondock Saints provides an excellent example of positive deviance through innovation. The Social theory of deviance can easily explain the brothers’ actions. The movie can be used to study deviance as the brothers kill people who are mafia members, breaking the norms of society. Even though the acts they are committing are clearly illegal and deviant, the people of South Boston do not react in a negative way. Since the Social theory is very broad, it will be easier to look at the brother’s acts under three sub theories: Labeling, Conflict and Strain theories.
Societies are founded on various social norms. Norms can best be defined as a set of acceptable attitudes and practices by a given society. These norms however are found to vary from one society or cultural setting o the other. Deviance on the other hand is simply when one does something that goes against the set societal norms. Deviance is gauged on a scale of attitudes and behavior contradicting to acceptable social standards (Samuels, 2012).
Deviant behavior is sociologically defined as, when someone departs from the “norms”. Most of the time when someone says deviance they think against the law or acting out in a negative behavior. To sociologists it can be both positive and negative. While most crimes are deviant, they are not always. Norms can be classified into two categories, mores and folkways. Mores are informal rules that are not written; when mores are broken, they can have serious punishments and sanctions. Folkways are informal rules that are just expected to be followed, but have no real repercussions.
Deviant behavior usually consists of a society expectation or norm which is being violated, and it is often met with some sort of reaction to correct the behavior, which is known as a sanction (Newman 109). Deviance does not always have to be criminal, it can also consist of breaking societal norms such as saying unacceptable things at the wrong times. This is often the type of deviance which is met by folkway sanctions, which are less severe sanctions such as eye rolling or sighing (Newman 110). In the context of this episode, I know that a certain behavior is deviant based on whether or not it is taken to court or by how certain individuals react to it such as tone of voice, and
Deviance is the term that s used for the type of behavior that does not comply or rather, goes against the norms of the society. Crime is an evident example of deviance and this has been used in a great way in this film. The film revolves around Derek who chooses to leave the path of deviance
What is deviance? Deviance describes actions or behaviors that go against the social norms of a society. There are two types of deviances. Positive deviance is when someone over conforms to the norms of society. Like a straight “A” student in middle school or high school, this makes everyone else not like them because they make them look bad by doing extra. Negative deviance is the more recognized of the two. It’s when someone under conforms to society’s norms. For instance, a student who skips class and doesn’t do any work. Deviance is determined by three circumstances. Social status and power of the individuals involved; social context in which the behavior occurs; and the historical period in which the behavior takes place. Social status and power also manipulate deviance. During times of racial segregation whites were the ones in charge, if a white and black man committed the same crime the white man would get the minimum punishment if any, while the black man got the maximum and be labeled deviant for his crime. On another note, deviance is based on social definition and over a period of time. For immigrants, if they were in their homeland coming to America for a better life, it is considered a norm for their homeland. However if they are in America and did not complete the necessary process to become a citizen, then they are deemed a deviant for violating our norm, which is to go through the full process of becoming a citizen. Illegal immigration is not considered to be deviant in some countries since it’s their norm, but in the U.S. it is against the norm. Illegal immigration is a negative deviant because they did not follow proper procedure for entering the U.S. and currently the U.S. is trying to con...
Deviance is defined as actions or behaviors that violate socials norms. In turn the concept of deviance is dependent on the social observation and perception. “By it’s very nature, the constructionism through which people define and interpret actions or appearances is always “social.” ”(Henry, 2009 , p. 6) One’s perception of a situation may be completely different from another depending on cultural and social factors. The way someone talks, walks, dresses, and holds themselves are all factors that attribute to how someone perceives another. In some cases what is socially or normally acceptable to one person is deviant in another’s eyes. For this reason there is a lot of gray area involving the topic of deviance because actions and behaviors are so diversely interpreted.