Sociological Explanations of Deviant Behavior - Literature review Example

Deviant Behavior Order No. 425562 March’10 Deviant Behavior   Deviant behavior can be explained as a behavior that does notconform to normal or widely accepted social or cultural norms. Many factors influence a person’s behavior. There are many theories that explain deviant behavior. A study of these theories helps us to understand deviant behavior. It helps us to understand the motivation behind such behavior and this can prove to be valuable to people who deal with issues such as treatment of the sick, criminal justice law enforcement, etc. For instance doctors may be interested to know why some patients do not follow medication regimen prescribed by them. Deviant behavior is very common in persons who are ill. Illness behavior as a concept was first recognized during the second half of the 20th century. It can be broadly defined as any behavior carried out by an individual who is ill to relieve himself of the consequences of illness. Some individuals while experiencing illness may turn to the medical system for help; others may try to help themselves while others may ignore the symptoms and not do anything about it. Usually illness behavior is a mixture of behaviors. Many studies have been conducted on the various perspectives of illness behavior. Talcott Parsons developed the model of the sick role to explain behavior during illness and described it as a medically sanctioned and a temporary form of deviant behavior. This model which he designed in the 1950s can be considered as the first theoretical concept of medical sociology. According to sociologists, social roles are the expected behaviors, that includes rights and obligations, of an individual who has a given position or status in society. Parsons used this concept as a basis to construct his theory about individuals who are sick, and hence the term, “sick role.”  Parsons also took ideas from Freuds psychoanalytic theories and from Max Weber to create a theory that throws light on the social forces that are involved in illness. Parson’s theory outlines two rights and two obligations of individuals who are ill. According to Parsons the two rights are: 1) the person who is ill can be temporarily relieved from his normal social roles and more severe the sickness greater should be the exemption. 2) The sick person should not be held responsible for his condition as a person’s illness is usually beyond his control. As for obligations, there are two obligations: 1) the sick person is under obligation to try and get well as soon as possible since the exemption from normal social roles is only a temporary measure. 2) Also the sick person is obliged to seek assistance usually from a doctor to recover from his illness.( Parsons, 1951) Parsons also believed that the specific rights and obligations of the sick role mentioned above reflected two underlying characteristics, vulnerability and deviance. According to him illness made the sick vulnerable to exploitation by others. Also he believed that it was important to identify the genuinely sick people exhibiting deviant behavior from malingerers, and hypochondriacs who use sickness as an excuse to evade their social responsibilities. Parsons saw the sick role as a means to stabilize society as it meant upholding the rights and obligation of individuals who are sick. It helps the doctor to make the patient once again take on his social role as soon as possible. Deviant behavior during sickness is only temporary and a logical extension of illness behavior. According to Parsons, since sickness comes in the way of performing normal roles prescribed by society it can be regarded as a social deviance. Parsons was the first sociologist to put forth a sociological definition of illness. According to him deviance behavior in a sick person was a result of his incapacity to perform the roles prescribed by society. Also deviance behavior when unmotivated was illness whereas motivated deviance was a crime. Based on this theory it can be said that sick role can be considered as a deviant role. The sick person here does not perform his normal social role as he is not able to do so and he is exempt from performing “normal” social roles and social responsibilities.  However, this exemption depends on the nature as well as the severity of the illness.  The more severe the illness, greater is the exemption. Also this exemption must be certified or legitimized by a physician. The deviant role or the sick role is temporary and the sick person has an obligation to get well. The sick role is a temporary stage of deviance that should not be allowed to prolong. In the sick role the sick person must seek competent medical care to get well. Another theory of deviant behavior was put forth by Howard S. Becker, a leading sociologist. He said that "social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance." According to his labeling theory deviance is caused by the negative label given to a deviant person who then begins to act according to the label given to him. For instance in a prison system people convicted of theft are labeled as thieves and soon they begin to view themselves as thieves. Several sociologists after Parsons constructed his theory have also conceptualized illness as a deviance from normal behavior. Eliot Freidson, another eminent sociologist incorporated ideas from the above mentioned labeling theory to put forth his views on the sick role or deviant role. .Freidson uses the labeling theory to explain the social experience of illness.  Here he uses the ideas of primary and secondary deviance. Primary deviance is when a person who has been diagnosed with a certain illness has a label that is associated with the “diagnosis” attached to him. For example, the label may be “schizophrenia”, “cancer”, epilepsy, etc. Secondary deviance refers to the changes that take place in the behavior of person after he has been labeled. It refers to the subsequent behavior one displays after being diagnosed and also other people’s behavior towards the labeled person. According to him certain illnesses label a sick person and this in turn alters his social responses permanently. As soon as the physician diagnoses the disease and puts the label of that disease on the sick person he changes the behavior of the sick person especially if the diagnosed disease has a stigma attached to it. Certain diseases like HIV, epilepsy have a certain stigma attached to them and cause changes in the person’s behavior. These kinds of diseases set the people suffering from them apart. Here a person takes on a sick role or a deviant role more because of the label. In conclusion it can be said that illness or sickness has typically been related to deviant behavior by sociologists. This view has been corroborated by eminent sociologists like Parsons and Freidson. Both believe that illness is not merely a biological state but is also a social state. Illness is also a cause for deviant behavior. According to Freidson illness bestowed on an individual certain exemptions, privileges and obligations. Here exemption includes things a sick person does not have to do because he is sick, privileges are things you get to do because you are sick and obligations which means responsibilities of a sick person. All this causes deviant behavior. According to Parsons (1951), illness is a deviation from expected behavior and prevents individuals from fulfilling their normal role responsibilities. It exempted people from work and other social responsibilities resulting in deviance from normal behavior. This if uncontrolled could prove to be detrimental to society. Hence there was need to develop a legitimized “sick role” so that deviant behavior could be controlled. References 1. Parsons, T.(1951) The Social System, Glencoe, IL: The Free Press. Read More