Deviance, And Howard Becker's Outsider-Defining Deviance

Deviance as a sociological term does not mean perversion or depravity, deviance is exhibiting behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society. When on the topic of deviance, we are discussing the violation of social norms. Social norms are the rules that a group uses for appropriate and inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit, meaning they are either expressed clearly or simply implied indirectly. There are many different causes of deviance, willingly or unwillingly. When talking about deviance, a person can get a deviant identity in many ways. You can look at it in terms of physical or behavioral characteristics. When people acquire a deviant role, it is common to be viewed in a negative way by many people.

“Deviance in sociological context describes actions or behaviors that violate cultural norms including formally-enacted rules (e.g., crime) as well as informal violations of social norms.”

Deviance is an act that goes against the social norms such as rules or expectations. It can be something small such as running through the stop signs or it can be something big such as hijacking an airplane. Deciding if the act is deviant or not depends on the context (society, environment, etc.). According to Howard S. Becker, it is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act that, makes something deviant. Deviance is not a word that is used for judging people, but it is used to refer to an act to which people respond negatively. Norms vary among different cultural groups, therefore, one deviant act in one group might not be deviant to another. For example, it will be considered deviant or going against the norm if someone decided to

In sociology, the term deviance refers to all violations of social rules, regardless of their seriousness (Essentials of Sociology 136). Deviance is an individual or organizational behavior that violates societal norms and is usually accompanied by negative reactions from others. According to a sociologist S. Becker, he stated that it is not the act itself that makes an action deviant, but rather how society reacts to it.

Deviance is defined as the fact or state of departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social or sexual behavior. There are many different forms of deviance in today 's society. Something that is viewed as being deviant in one culture might be seen as normal in another. There are many different types and theories in which define deviance, however their are 3 broad categories, these 3 categories are positivist, relativist, and critical conceptions of deviance. These 3 categories are important in defining deviance because they break down deviance as a whole and better help understand the different acts in which we label as being deviant. Deviance as a whole is important to study especially in today 's society with their

‘social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. From this point of vie, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of the rules and sanctions to an ‘offender’. The deviant is one to whom the label has successfully been applied, deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label. (Becker 1963, pg 9)

Sociologists define deviance as a behavior, trait, or belief that departs from a norm and generates a negative reaction in a particular group (153). Deviance can be anything. A certain sociably acceptable act in one culture can be seen as deviant in another culture it does not matter how large or small the act. Sociologist developed three theories to help explain deviance. Sociologists explored the functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interactionism approaches to deviance.

For sociologist deviant behavior is the behavior that fails to conform to the rules or norms of the group in question. (Durkheim, 1960) So if we are to determine whether an act is deviant or not, it is relative to the group who is enforcing the rule. This view is based on society as a whole and how they choose to govern themselves.

Everyone in today's society has participated in forms of deviant behavior whether they're aware of it or not. Deviant behavior refers to violations of social norms. Norms are behavioral codes or prescriptions that guide people into actions and self-presentations conforming to social acceptability. American sociologists, William Sumner (1907) formed three types of norms: folkways, mores, and laws. The behavior I partaken in is considered to be Mores.

Deviance is behavior or characteristics that violate important social norms. The difference between how the dictionary defines deviance and how sociologist define deviance is what may be deviant in one place, at one particular time, may not be deviant in another place and time. Basically with times changing something may or may not be tolerated as acceptable behavior.

1.) Describe the definition of deviance in class and or/ the textbook, which you will use for this assignment. • Sociologists use the term deviance to refer to any violation of norms (or rules or expectations) 2.) Commit a legal act of deviance. You may not use previous deviant experiences for this assignment.

Sociological explanations of the causes of crime and deviance: an evalutation. Unusual behaviour, such as cross-dressing can be seen as deviant in some places, criminal in others and acceptable else where. According to sociologist William Graham Sumner ‘deviance is a violation of established contextual, cultural, or social norms, whether codified by codified by laws or not.’ According to Howard Becker 1963, defining deviance has is not a straightforward task. ‘Deviance is not the quality of the act.

"Social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitute deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders-deviance is not a quality of the act of a person commits, but rather a consequences of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an 'offender' The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied. Deviant behaviour is behaviour that people so label."

To understand deviant behavior you must first understand the definition. Deviant behavior is one that differs from a norm, especially from a person whose behavior and attitudes differ from accepted social standards; the behavior that differs from a norm or from the accepted standards of a society.

Deviance is the behavior and the standards of expectations of a group or society. It is also behavior that is considered dangerous, threatening or offensive. The people that are deviant are often labeled to be weirdos, oddballs, or creeps. In the United States, people with tattoos, drug addicts, alcoholics, and compulsive gamblers are all considered deviant. Sociologists believe that everybody is deviant from time to time. They believe each person will violate a social norm in certain situations. People are considered deviant if they don't stand for the national anthem at a sports event, dress casually to a fancy restaurant, or skip classes. One category of deviance is Crime. Crime is a violation of norms