norms of a society, thus becoming subjective to a label of “deviant”. Deviants often have punishment bestowed upon them by law enforcement officers and their local court systems. The question asked by criminologist throughout time is, “what is the underlying cause of crime?” “Is crime a learned behavior forced by strain due to the depleting environment an individual inhabits?” “Are individuals with a genetic mutation destined to become deviant?” All of these may be a result of biological and social constructionist
Words: 1440 - Pages: 6
Outline and explain the meaning of the term deviancy (15 marks) Deviance is a sociological term that literally means to stray or digress from the normal. Sociologists tend to view deviant behaviour as acts, which provoke a sense of public disapproval. Deviant behaviour is also frequently subject to some form of sanction that serves to promote conformity. The definition of deviance varies from sociologist as deviancy is a complex concept. Clinard and Meier (2001) developed four definitions of deviance
Words: 1051 - Pages: 5
deviancy is a social process usually related to power differences but it doesn’t explain the causes of crime. It does however explain why some people or actions are described as deviant, and can help in understanding crime and deviance. Becker suggests that there is really no such thing as a deviant act. An act only becomes deviant when others perceive it as such. The application of a label to someone has significant consequences for how that person is treated by others and perceives him or herself.
Words: 647 - Pages: 3
theorists are mainly concerned with how and why certain people and actions are labelled as criminal or deviant, and they also look at what effects this has on those who are labelled as such. Edwin Lemert is regarded by many sociological theorists as the founding father of the labelling theory. Lemert theorised labelling theory as the process through which a person may well become classed as a social deviant due to public reaction. He
Words: 1428 - Pages: 6
defines a deviant as one who deviates from the rules of some social group (and who therefore is an outsider to that group). An outsider is also defined from the point of view of the deviant as those from the social group who act as judges and arbiters of the rules. The author explores deviant behaviour as a phenomenon of definition, as opposed to one of characteristics. That is to say that deviant behaviour is more a question of judgement by a group than a characteristic of the deviant person. Therefore
Words: 1717 - Pages: 7
murder. Each society defines what is deviant and what is not, and definitions of deviance differ widely between societies. For example, some societies have much more stringent rules regarding gender roles than we have in the United States, and still other societies’ rules governing gender roles are less stringent than ours. Gender and Deviance In the United States, women who cry in public in response to emotional situations are not generally considered deviant—even women who cry frequently and easily
Words: 5129 - Pages: 21
world because some cultures have very different norms (Stephens and Leach, 1998:17). Most deviant behaviour will attract disapproval from others in the society or punishment from authorities. There are many different types of deviance such as addiction, mental illness, alcoholism, criminality and homosexuality. Throughout this essay six types of theories will be discussed about how and why people are deviant. Four of these theories support the idea of deviance being biological and three support the
Words: 2118 - Pages: 9
(labeling) someone’s behavior as deviant or otherwise. Labeling theory, consequently, suggests that deviance is caused by the deviant’s behaviour being labeled as morally inferior, the deviants internalizing the label and finally the deviant’s acts in accordance to that specific label. In other words it can be said that the social audience is responsible for forming positive sanctions [reward] or negative sanctions [punishment] whereby creating or diminishing deviants in society. 93 words AIM OF
Words: 3081 - Pages: 13
CRIME AND DEVIANCE INTRODUCTION Sociology is a science that involves many norms. When those norms are not respected by at least an individual, then the behaviour of that person is said to be deviant. Most of the time, this type of behaviour is strongly different from a majority of society that is following the norms. The crime, as explained in today’s society, is an action or a behaviour that does not respects the laws set by governments. Criminology, also called criminal justice, is the
Words: 1336 - Pages: 6
person is around a deviant person, they tend to start imitating the deviant. Imitation refers to the engagement in behavior after the observation of similar behavior in others. Whether or not the behavior modeled by others will be imitated is affected by the characteristics of the models, the behavior observed, and the observed consequences of the behavior. If a person sees that the deviant person is getting away with the deviant behavior, they are going to imitate the deviant person to see if they
Words: 426 - Pages: 2
