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Deviant Act

Essay by   •  May 19, 2016  •  Essay  •  5,499 Words (22 Pages)  •  1,475 Views

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 Deviant behavior is behavior that violates the normative rules, understandings, or expectations of social systems. SOCIOLOGY OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR presents a theoretical and empirical overview of the nature and meaning of deviance, examining in detail a number of forms of behavior commonly regarded as deviant. Deviance is actually an inescapable feature of modern, complex societies because such societies are characterized by a system of ranked social differentiation (stratification) that is generally associated with many types of social

Deviance. Every once in a while sociologists go bad—but for a good purpose. We call it a “breaching experiment. “There are some things in life that everyone knows are wrong, such as, arson, robbery, etc… (Well, just about everyone. There are a few exceptions who we call psychopaths). Society outlaws these activities and pays people to enforce these laws.

Have you ever been in a place where you saw a person doing something out of the ordinary, and just thought to yourself, “How could that person be so weird?” We all are guilty of judging people at some point. If someone does not fit in with the norms in our society, see it as weird. Breaking a social norm was something I thought I would never have to do, it was hard for me to even think about doing. I like to fit in with society, and do all the normal things people do in society and follow all the norms. When I was given this assignment I was really nervous, I did not want people to judge me and think I was weird. Thinking of a social norm I should break was really challenging, I had to think about all the social norms I do every day. I thought the most bazar social norm that I could break would be, shopping for people. I thought it would be a good idea to select a shopping at grocery store with full cart, and walk up to my cart and start putting random items. This idea of shopping at grocery store was very interesting. There are no rules that are written down that say, you cannot shopping at grocery store with full cart. Some people would think that breaking this social norm would be deviant. Most people would look down on you and think you are being rude, and inconsiderate.

The deviant behavior which I chose for my contract is to go to the grocery store .It was interesting to do this deviant behavior .I standed in the grocery store with a full cart and I have too many items in my cart at that time it’s not illegal but it’s actually a deviant behavior because it is actually violating the norms of a society. I was doing all this by standing in the express lane .this act creating difficulties for those people who were standing behind me  and the people were compelled to stand behind me due to my cart because I had put a lot of things in my cart and the cashier told me to stand in different lane but I stand in the express lane with full cart to prove that it’s a deviant act  and this Deviant behavior is  contrary to the dominant norms of society. The main reason for choosing this deviant behavior is that this deviant behavior all tell me a lot about society. What a society values, and what it accepts and does not accept, is a reflection of the society. I all also get to know that what causes it and how it might be prevented. By adopting this deviant behavior it is very important to focus on how what any given person considers to be deviant behavior is shaped by their culture, or "socially constructed", to use the official jargon. Thus any society is going to have its set of approved behaviors determined by its norms and values. This will differ from the behavior of other societies. Any person committing an act outside the "acceptable behavior" of their society is going to be labelled a deviant. 

The deviance serves two primary roles in creating social stability. First, systems of recognizing and punishing deviance create norms and tell members of a given society how to behave by laying out patterns of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. In order to avoid unsettling society, one must be aware of what behaviors are marked as deviant. Second, these social parameters create boundaries between populations and enable an "us-versus-them" mentality within different groups. Deviance allows for the majorities to unite around their normativity, at the expense of those marked as deviant. Conversely, being marked as deviant can actual bolster solidarity within the marked community, as members take pride and ownership in their stigmatized identity and create cohesive units of their own .Deviance provides the key to understanding the disruption and re-calibration of society that occurs over time.

Deviance is a very interesting act in this respect that it provides a way in which some individuals and groups can introduce their agendas to the rest of society, and elevate their own personal status while doing it and by adopting any deviant act then it helps people adjust to change. It provides examples of alternate lifestyles and eases the shock of social change because "deviants" introduce these changes gradually.  Over time individuals get used to seeming different styles of dress, behavior, etc.

Deviance has a way of promoting social solidarity by distinguishing "we" form "them." In this way it increases social cohesion in the larger society by establishing social boundaries defining what acceptable behavior is. These were the same reasons why I choose this deviance act because it gives me a lot of chances to know the moral values of society. By doing this deviant act I also get to know that which thing violates the rules of society?

The concept of deviance takes many forms, but agreement remains elusive about which specific behaviors and conditions constitute deviance. This ambiguity becomes especially evident when some people praise the same behavior that others condemn. If the concept were not confusing enough already, many discussions of deviance evoke strong political and moral attitudes, prompting some groups to call on the law to support their views of certain acts.

In view of my deviant act when I was standing in the express lane with a full cart and the people faced difficulties due to my behavior and at that time the cashier told me to don’t do this act because the society considered these acts as a deviant behavior and this behavior is against the values of society .By doing any deviant act anyone can easily get to know the values of society and people behavior about that act. Sociologists who are interested in deviance are interested in what makes the behavior deviant, the nature of the deviant act, how one comes to commit deviant acts, and

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