Deviance is a word that has instinctively bad connotations around it, to know someone that is deviant is to know someone who has acted in an unacceptable manner. However, who are we to judge, in whose eyes makes a particular act deviant, and who makes the rules around deviance? These questions formulate the answer to why a ‘society of saints’ is an unattainable goal (Roach Anleu 2006, p17). Theories to why humans act out in different ways, has been disputed since the 1800’s, and no exact answer is available to this question. With all of the studies that have been performed, no one group has come up with an exact reason to why people behave deviantly, or what permits one person to label an action deviant. There is no exact definition or answer, why deviance exists, or created in societies (Southern Cross University Study Guide, p.10). However, the psychological perspective, biological perspective, and the sociological perspective, may help determine social processes and phenomena’s.
Our societies have changed and evolved since theorist have tried to give reason to why and how people participate in communities and organized groups. Some perspectives have become less relevant, as we become familiar with and accept new terms and concepts. Some theorists believe that the study of deviance has reached the end, and are a concept used for a particular social and
Bibliography: 1. Bellah, Robert N. 1973. Emile Durkheim: On Morality and Society, Selected Writings. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 2. Bessant, J. & Watts, R. 2002, Sociology Australia 2nd Ed, Allen & Unwin, Australia. 3. Conley, D. 2008.You May Ask Your Self: An Introduction to Thinking Like a Sociologist. Social Control & Deviance, PowerPoint Presentation. W.W. Norton & Co. Retrieved 20th March from http:www.d.umn.edu/~sjanssen/110chapter6powerpntweb.ppt.#256,1,SocialControl. 4. Cummings, J. 2009, Study Guide: Community Education, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW. 5. Kauffman, J.M, C.J.Rebellon, S.Thaxt Selected Writings. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press). R.Agnew. A General Strain Theory of Social Differences in Criminal Offending, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology 41.3 (Dec 2008): 421(17). Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Southern Cross University. 25th March. 2009. . 17, p421, retrieved from Southern Cross University Library Web Site) 6. McClellend, K. 2000, Functionalism, Grinell College, Department of Sociology website. Retrieved 25th March 2009 from Grinnell.edu/coursesoc/s00/soc11101/introtheories/functionalis.htm) 7. Ray, J.L.1999, Theorizing Classical Sociology, Open University Press, Buckingham, UK. 8. Roach Anleu, S.L.2006, Deviance, Conformity & Control 4th Ed, Pearson Education Australia.