Socially Deviant Behavior Issues - Essay Example

? Social Deviance The theory of social deviance and its widespread application in the real world can be said to be imparting a highly significant influence on the construction of multifarious applications in the socio-psychological domain. The term “deviance” is associated with the desecration of various norms or predefined notions prevalent within a communal group or a society. Various stigmas arise due to the social deviance theory within the agents of the society, and some people can be regarded as socially deviant. The stigmas arising from the social deviance theory make the majority attach negative attributes to socially deviant individuals. For instance, it can be stated that in the United States of America, the alcoholics, gamblers, mentally ill, marihuana users, and so on are classified within the deviant group (Schaefer, 2011). The paper will discuss socially deviant behavior in the social structure and the ways it is developed, and will be reaching an optimal solution with positive dynamic social implications. Establishment of Social Control With respect to the sociologists, the term “deviance” does not attach the attributes of perversion and depravity. However, in various societies of the world, the socially deviant are generally regarded to be sources of perversion. On the other hand, if social deviance means only the violation of some predefined norms, then almost any person can be regarded as deviant at any point of his/her life. For instance, though it can be stated that wearing jeans in a wedding ceremony, not attending a class, etc. can be regarded as deviant activities, they are not generally characterized as such. Before the discussion of social deviance, it should be indicated how the norms are formulated with reference of social control theory. This theory generally refers to the agglomeration of several techniques and strategies meant to prevent the deviant behavior in any society. It can be said that the majority of individuals accept and respect social norms designated by the social control theory. However, it is the case that if the members of society fail to abide by the norms, they will be subject to informal sanctions such as fear and ridicule and formal sanctions such as jail sentences or fines (Schaefer, 2011). The crucial question is whether these norms are always rational or they are framed by the authoritative behavior of a group of dominant people with the endeavor to suppress other people by regarding them as deviant. Social Interactions and Rationalizing Justifications The development of the notion of self can be conceptualized as the evolution from the mechanism of social interactions. In general various stigmas, social labeling and deviant behavior can be believed to be the byproducts of the social interaction. The authorities can also be blamed for the development of such stigmas and social labeling. The cases of child abuse by the parents, forced prostitution, and so on can be said to be the precursors of the development of these activities. In such cases, the oppression can lead to self-nullification or neutralization of the social norms. And individuals engage themselves in several delinquent activities without jeopardizing or harming their self-image. They internalize the rationalization of the deviant activities within themselves, and the neutralization of the social norms occurs in advance (Sykes & Matza, 1957, pp. 666-667). Functionalist and Conflict Theory Biological theories opine that the creatures adapt themselves to various environments and live their lives within that adapted environment. It can also be said that the society has been dynamically transformed as regards its political, educational, and regional structure. It can also be stated that the mechanism of deviance arises in the society, occurring from the faults in the fitting mechanism of adaptation. The functionalist theorist proposes the establishment of a perfect balance within the society. From the viewpoint of Durkheim, the crime and agitations are indispensible parts of any healthy society. He also thinks that the anomie is due to the deficiency of the norms within all levels of society (Morrall, 2009, p.23). The strains and restraints can be regarded as natural activities occurring within the society that lead to its continuous growth with transformations in each level, with each following level being more complex than the preceding one. According to Merton, complexities within the society lead to the generation of disequilibrium and give rise to winners and losers (Functionalism, 2012, p.788). From the point of view of the functionalist theorists, the winners or the stable individual group will be formulating various strategies which can be used for the society as a whole (Theodore, 1976). The conflict theory, on the other hand, criticizes the functionalist thinking paradigm. The proponents of this theory state that the society, the winners, or the people with more societal dominance, exposit a theory of deviance for the purpose of fulfilling their requirements and protecting their interests. From the viewpoint of a sociologist Richard Quinney, the system of criminal justice acts as a mechanism imparting a biased support to the powerful people in comparison to little or no support to the weaker stratum of the society (Schaefer, 2011). According to the viewpoint of the scholar Quinney, the agents who are being authorized to take over the social control often generate the system of society organized in terms of a political perspective. The conflict theorists state that the criminal law stands in the way of representing the competing values and interests instead of representing a consistent function of the society as a whole. The form of discrimination can seen in the fact that in the United States there is ban on marijuana for its supposed adverse affects on health but there are no restrictions on the sale of cigarettes and liquor in most countries, though these products have more negative health effects than the former ones (Schaefer, 2011). The conflict theory reflects Marx’s theory of communism which directs towards the neutralization of the bureaucratic domination in the society and proposes a more equitable distribution in the society. According to Marx, the productive activities are organized within a mechanism of capitalist organization defined as "the process that transforms, on the one hand, the social means of subsistence and of production into capital, on the other hand, the immediate producers into wage laborer” (Spitzer, 1975, p.641). The manifestation of this notion can be found in the next segment. Deviance and Feminist Perspective The women are generally exposed to various stereotypical behaviors and are victims of social oppression. But the feminist criminologists such as Freda Adler and Meda Chesney-Lind have propounded that the deviant behavior of the females in the society can be represented as a germinating seed sowed by the dominant male societies in the world (Schaefer, 2011) It has been a common phenomenon in the United States of America that for many years the husbands forcing their wives to engage in sexual intercourse against their will were not regarded as people committing rape. The social norm, which is basically existent, is that rape is an obnoxious phenomenon occurring between unmarried people. For example, in the Asian country of Bangladesh, men have generally been protective of their female relatives and women were usually discouraged from going outside after the sunset. Violence against women is very common and they quite often suffer from physical abuses from their male partners. In the workplace, they also face sexual harassment such as assaults, rape and even acid attacks (People's Republic of Bangladesh, Family, 2012). The law generally ensured the dominant male composition in the governmental structure at that time. The feminists protested rigorously for the purpose of bringing the changes within the purview of the criminal law regarding the women assaults in the countries. In the beginning of 1993, in the United States of America, the husbands in all the 50 states fell under the purview of legal framework which regarded them as rapists if they raped their wives. But there remains an alarming exception in no fewer than 30 states. These understandings lead to the development of a perception that the contract of marriage gives the entitlement of sex (Schaefer, 2011). The women are generally visualized in a stereotypical fashion as regards crime and deviance. The women who have sexual relationships with multiple partners are more prone to be looked upon with disrespect as compared to men. The attitude towards women in male-dominated societies has been labeled and their behavior has been stigmatized as deviant. The feminists argue that deviance including that of crime generally evolves from the realms of economic relationships. In the traditional sense, it could be said that men possess more earning power as compared to their wives. Due to this, women feel reluctant to complain about their husbands to the authorities. In the occupational frontier, men are seen to be imparting greater dominance than women and are often seen committing several types of crime, for example, cheating and fraud. The crime rates have increased in the United States fast, and this can be shown in the following graph: Fig.1 Imprisonment rates in USA from 1980-2008 (Schaefer, 2011). It can be stated that the incarceration rates in the United States can be estimated to be among the highest ones in the world. They are around three times greater than the rates in Mexico or Canada. Due to this, it can be stated that the validity of the social control theory must be scrutinized and the theory will have to be transformed in relation to its social implications. As regards feminism, the future can expect to see protests against different sentences for various crimes –white collar crimes, drinking behavior, drug abuse – among the genders. It can be said that these protests can be visualized as the positive contribution to the society, as important as the formulation and implementation of acceptable social norms based on equitable scenario, with the meaning of deviance changed according to the attributes of universal rationality (Schaefer, 2011). The fact is that the social theories develop on the basis of the ongoing phenomena in society, and it is the duty of the sociologists to frame these theories in an unbiased manner so that they can be applied for the overall good of humanity. Conclusion The paper discussed different aspects of the social deviance mechanism and its implications in the world. It sought to highlight the fact that the deviant behavior is not always incorporated in with adverse implications in the society. The paper pointed out that several behaviors and constructions of social stigma actually occur due to the irrational dominant group in the society. The significance of conflict theory was exhibited as a departure from the functionalist theory in the endeavor to establish a society where the deviance activities will be judged from an unbiased point of view, which will lead to the accelerated propulsion of the global society. References Functionalism (2012) In Frank N. Magill (ed.), Survey of social science: Sociology. Retrieved from http://www.sitemason.com/files/lzMSnm/articlefunctional%20theory.pdf Morrall, P. (2009). Sociology and health: An introduction for health practitioners. Taylor & Francis. People's Republic of Bangladesh, Family (2012). Retrieved from http://online.culturegrams.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/secure/world/world_country_sections.php?&contid=3&wmn=Asia&cn=Bangladesh&sname=Family&snid=11&cid=16 Schaefer, R. T. (2011). Deviance and social control. McGraw-Hill Company Sykes & Matza (1957). Techniques of neutralization: A theory of delinquency. American Sociological Review, 22, 664-670. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/pdfplus/2089195.pdf Spitzer, S. (1975). Toward a Marxian theory of deviance. Social Problems, 22(5), 638-651. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.librarylink.uncc.edu/stable/pdfplus/799696.pdf Theodore, K. D. (1976). Marxist and functionalist theories in the study of stratification: Common elements that lead to a test. Social Forces, 54(3), 559-578. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=15&sid=971fab26-1d5d-4355-aed4-78364e580836%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=5281250 Read More