Social Device: Deviant Behavior In Contemporary American Society

Deviant Behavior Deviance, romanticized in the story of Bonnie and Clyde, or maligned by individuals creating chaos and anarchy is present in all societies. Deviant behavior in contemporary American society has a vast range: from harmless, such as getting a conspicuous facial piercing, or as harmful as assaulting an individual. Deviancy is a violation of a social norm. A deviant act is not inherently good or bad; what is deviant in one society may not be the same in another. Social norms are guidelines of acceptable behavior and are rules put into place to establish order in society. Deviancy may flow into crime if the norm that was violated had been transcribed into law. Sociologists have pondered as to what encourages or causes deviant and
He believed that the different groups that we associate with influence whether or not we propagate deviant behavior. These groups give us messages of conformity or deviance. The messages all add up and steer us toward conforming to society or rebelling against it. The groups that influence us the most in order are: family, friends, neighborhoods, and subcultures. Family is very important in guiding social behavior. For example, “Of all prison inmates across the United States, about half have a relative who has served time in prison (Henslin, 2013).” This startling statistic correlates that if people in your family express deviant and criminal behavior, you are more likely to follow in their footsteps. Indeed, your sociological perspective may be altered due to the company that you keep and what is considered deviant to society may be a way of life for you. There is a popular idiom stating that “It takes a village to raise a child”, family is not enough in guiding one’s behavior. The neighborhood in which you abide in also plays a hand in shaping your moral character. If a child lives in a bad neighborhood where the children bond over shoplifting; it is more likely that the child will also shoplift in an attempt to assimilate and make friends. In the community of the delinquent children, it may be considered deviant to report the children’s
The Labeling theory states that society has a hand in leading us to deviant behavior or inspiring us to conform. The labels society gives us have an impact on whether or not we engage in deviant behavior. Labels or the reputation one has in society have a large impact on how an individual may see themselves and how society sees them as well. A positive label, such as being known as an “honest” person will give an individual prestige in society. They may stay away from dishonest behavior in order to maintain their good reputation and receive praise and respect from others. A negative label, such as “lazy” may prevent a person from conforming to society. They may begin to express deviant behavior such as procrastination. Becker stated that: “It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant (Becker 1996; Sutherland 2013).” A negative label may turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. A person who is labeled as lazy may not be seen as working as hard due to the label. The power of the negative label will cause people to focus on actions of the individual that fall in line with the label and ignore actions which do not fit. If a man who is labeled as lazy spends all day working in the hot sun, people will not take much notice of it. If the same man takes a break from his work by sitting