Social Effects Of Deviant

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Recommended: Implications of labeling theory and how it affects individuals

A person is labeled a deviant when they violate societal norms which in return gets a reaction out of people. Deviation from the norm can lead to a negative or a positive sanction, examples of deviants are criminals who are sent to jail for committing socially unacceptable crimes. While someone like Martin Luther king Jr. who was seen as a deviant along with many other people who supported his fight to stop racism, as they were tired and angry at the way that African Americans were treated in society, faced negative sanction during his time. Now Martin Luther king is praised for his deviant acts because it helped promote social change that favored an oppressed group of people. On Saturday my roommate and I were invited to a quinceanera …show more content…

My friends and I going to a party and dancing an African dance at a Mexican party. The norm of the party was to try to copy the style of dancing that matched the culture that we were at but instead, we pulled away from the culture and did something that is completely different than what people were used to seeing. Getting positive sanctions like people smiling at us and another girl coming up to us to try and dance with us. We did get negative sanctions such as people pointing toward us while they gossip to the people at their table and some laughing as they looked at us. My friend tried to pull us off the dance floor but when she realized that we weren’t leaving instead she tried to make us conform by trying to teach us how to dance properly to the song. When we refused she told me that we were embarrassing ourselves and her. This shows how significant reputation (labeling theory) was for her because she didn’t want us to tint her good reputation because many people know that you become friends with people that have similar values and interest as you. She didn’t want people to think that she befriends deviants. She later told me that I have changed a lot since I started living with my roommate because before I met my roommate I would never have done such an act. My roommate is a very outgoing person who is not afraid to stand out in a crowd, I on the other hand shy away from crowds so …show more content…

Many people know the unpredictability of a deviant. So they automatically assume that anything new that is introduced is bad. While others have a firm belief of their cultural norms that they are unwilling to accept anything new that is shown. While deviants can affirm societal norms and unify a society, it can also bring chaos which most people shun deviants because they are unpredictable and can bring change that unfavorable to a society. Which is why there are institutionalized means are practiced to reach cultural goals and stop deviant acts. While others are more acceptable because they either need society to change or they can empathize with your need for

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