A sociological approach introduced by Howard Becker that attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants and others engaging in the same behavior are not refers to…
Howard Becker argued that deviance is not a quality of the act person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of the rules and sanctions to an “offender”, the deviant has been successfully associated with the label which means that the deviant behaviour is behaviour people label. Due to an individual being labelled it can have possible effects as a label defines a person as being a particular character and as it is not neutral, it has master status. Because of this an individual may internalise the label leading to self fulfilling prophecy. This may encourage further deviance. For example, drug addicts may turn to crime to support their habit since “respectable employers” refuse to give them a job. Becker argued that once individuals joined an organised deviant group, they are more likely to see themselves as a deviant and act in terms of this self- concept.…
4. Clinard, B., M., & Meier, F., R. (2011). Sociology: Sociology of Deviant Behavior, (Edition 14). Cengage Learning, Belmont, CA.…
If not accepted into society, an individual may have no choice but to fight against the society by acting out, however, an individual is only one person and one person cannot do much against a society of many. In “Harrison Bergeron”, Harrison is an outcast in the society and is therefore dangerous, “...’has just escaped from jail, where he is held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government’” (Vonnegut 629). When society doesn't accept someone, that someone is forced to either live on their own or fight the society. Unfortunately, most of the time the individual acts alone because they are just that, an individual and not much can be done…
However, in the new perspective, a deviant act becomes deviant only when it is labelled as such. This attracted criticism over the nature of harmful acts that are not witnessed and reacted to and whether or not the theory implies that they are moral as long as they go without social reaction. Becker tackles this criticism by arguing that the theory does not presume to be absolute and by underlining four main categories which include the Secret Deviant. Also, self-enforcement is not dismissed as a deviant might consider their own actions wrong and self –label and self-punish.…
Deviance, social sanctions, and the control theory are other sociological concepts observed in the film. Deviance depicts an action that disobeys social norms. Every character in the film is seen as deviant by either their actions that forced them into detention, or executed actions during the detention. For example, Claire is deviant because she skips class so she can go shopping, and during detention, she instigates a relationship with John. Allison appears in detention because she was bored on a Saturday, and during detention, she steals Brian’s wallet. Andrew is deviant when he smokes since he is a varsity-lettered wrestler. John is incessantly deviant because he challenges and argues with Principal Vernon, does not partake in school clubs…
a) According to Howard Becker, central fact about deviance is that “it is created by society. Becker does not mean that the causes of deviance can be derived from the social environment of the deviant or the “social factors” that causes an individual to engage in deviant behavior. Rather, Becker means that social groups create deviance by creating the rules or norms that must be adhered to and if they are violated—the violation will result in what the group deems as being deviance. Thus, the individuals who go against the norms or rules of a social group will be labeled as being an “outsider”.…
Discuss how members of a military unit could openly bring themselves to commit murder against some individuals and not feel any sense of deviance or criminal wrongdoing for the act.…
Crime and deviance are always been a matter of fact, the ‘collateral effect’ of living among other people. Norms and rules are set in each society, from rural ones to the largest urban environments, but this cannot prevent the attitudes by some individuals, that in the most of case gang up, to not follow these norms. They are the deviant ones and they are condemned to be considered not normal, sometimes just without choosing that. Paradoxically, most of actions and situations that are considered as normal, under a more peculiar analysis may be not so ‘normal’. For example, the norms that consider smoking as a ‘crime’ are the ones that ban this action in public places, since smoking is injurious both to yours and to the others’ health but, in…
Many sociologists have said that the sociology of deviance is dead, such as Colin Sumner in 1975. It was said that behaviors are not deviant but rather just seen as not normal in society, but the term ‘normal’ cannot exactly be defined. Deviance is a discipline in Sociology that many claim is now ‘dead’. Deviance is an act with refers to ‘norm-breaking’ in our society. A social norm is appropriate behavior for a social group and an appropriate behavior for the environment an individual is in. Deviance is the act of breaking these social norms whether it be your behavior or something you do. Once you break…
Definitions of crime and deviance would change according to time, place, situation and culture, as what is acceptable in one would be unacceptable in another. Crime would entail the breaking of the law according to time and place, deviance would be an action that is unacceptable to the majority within the time and place, but both can alter during time, place, culture and social norms including religion. One example of crime would be where a person has broken the law of the land, and has to be tried by a court of law in order to be punished accordingly. In Britain murder would merit a life imprisonment, but in other parts of the world it could merit a different sentence such as, the death sentence or the family would pay compensation (blood money). This range of difference in punishment is subject to the law set according, to the given societies and cultures of the land where the crime was committed, which justifies official intervention.…
On August 25, 2013 the world watched in disgust as celebrity Miley Cyrus twerked and gyrated on stage at the Video Music Awards Show. People caused a fuss over her back up dancers all being African American women with large derrieres, her twerking, pointing to her feminine area on her body, pushing her face in one of her dancers derriere while smacking it, grinding on a foam finger, and grinding on a married man. The sociological perspective on deviance is described by “sociologist Howard S. Becker [as]: It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant” (Henslin 190). Although this behavior is deemed as normal in music videos and clubs, it was considered unacceptable because Miley Cyrus started her career as a child star on Disney Channel; a cable network that targets children of all ages. Miley started on a sitcom called Hannah Montana and quickly became popular with kids. Even though the star is now 20 years old and no longer work as Hannah Montana she is still considered that little girl from Disney and it shocked the world for her to behave in such a way.…
Deviance is behaving out of social normalities and the severity of the deviant behaviour varies from legal issues to everyday problems such as “role problems of old age” (Clinard, 1968), suggesting that it is difficult to determine deviant behaviour due to it’s subjectivity. In fact, the deviant behaviour that concerns issues of legality are created by those who have power in the society to draw a line between those who conform and those who do not. These people with greater power and authority will then be able to alienate those who carry out more “serious” (subjective) acts (Becker, 1963). A friend of mine, Tom (not his real name), shared his experience of owning an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette), which in Singapore would be considered…
Though my background is of the Filipino culture, I was raised here in America throughout my childhood. There was one topic of discussion that started many arguments between my parents and I. That topic was my decision on what I wanted to be when I grow up. Filipino culture always wants their children to become better than their parents, which meant becoming something like a doctor or lawyer, etc. I am sure they are great careers but I chose a whole different path. I have always had an entrepreneurial mindset as a young kid and starting my business is what I felt passionate about. Today, I have an online business, though I won’t go into details, I love it. The problem is that my parents still wanted me to go to school. I…
The deviant activity that we did was, we we’re wearing pajamas inside the campus while walking around and acted like children, we played, talk like a babies and we we’re so friendly to the other student like what children do like smiling and saying hi/hello to them.…