The Consequences Of Deviance In Society: What Is Deviance?

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What is Deviance? Deviance is a diversion of an accepted societal behaviour; these can be seen in both positive and negative ways. Without deviance we would not have social change, thus leading to an overall block within the culture we live upon today. Deviance is able to range from a variety of aspects, this can include something simple such as going faster than the speed limit or something more complex such as murder or vandalism. The definition of deviance is determined by the individual’s society they live upon. Theorist Lemert (1972), believes we have two sections of deviance, thus being primary and secondary. Primary deviance is the common acts within a society. An example of primary deviance is where a small child steals from a store, this would be recalled as ‘childish behaviour’ by the store assistant, the child is now aware of it being a deviance towards the society he lives within, as no action was taken. Because of its common occurrence Lemert believes it is futile research. Lemert sees the main focus should be within primary deviance, this being a crime caused by the societal reaction. If a member of society was to be labelled negatively they would see themselves as that label, this brings around the cycle of the self-fulfilling prophecy. The individual involved will revert to a series of criminal events to live up …show more content…

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