What Does It Mean To Be Deviant?

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Sociology is defined as the scientific study of human behavior and how it is shaped by groups. Before taking this course, I did not understand the many complexities of humanity. Human behavior is defined not only by internal stimuli, but external stimuli as well. External stimuli being the many different roles we play in society and the social norms that define how the modernized world behaves. Within society a person/person(s) presentation of self is created in order to create specific impressions that show conformity. When we do not conform we are defined as deviant- any person who commits a deviant act. So, what defines the act of being deviant? No action is inherently deviant because deviance is learned; we are not born deviant. Societal norms are changing every day; criminal acts that were once defined as deviant are now accepted by society as social norms. An example of this can be seen in the legalization of same sex marriage on January 16, 2015. What was once handled on a state by state bases is legalized on the federal level. …show more content…

The world’s outlook is evolving; in different parts of the world deviance is defined differently. Society uses social control as an attempt to regulate people’s thoughts and behaviors. In the process, they create stigmas that negatively affect a person’s self-concept and social identity. An example of a stigma would be a person with some form of a disability being labeled as incompetent and unfit to care for oneself. This has personally affected me on many levels and it gives me peace of mind knowing that society is wired to behave this way. Everything is geographically clustered. People who behave this way in a community/society are not the only thing we have to look too. In another region, a person may be exhibiting the opposite

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