Deviance Homework Help

Sociology of Deviance

Deviance is a crucial field in social sciences, such as sociology, pyschology, and criminology. It is a behavior that goes against social norms and ignites negative social reactions. In other words, deviant behavior refers to actions that do not adhere to social standards, norms, rules, and regulations. It involves violations of societal norms, including failure to comply with mores and folkways. Deviant conduct might violate a social standard in one community but may be considered normal in another area. 

Since some actions are harmful, societies and governments have written laws that prohibit certain behaviors. Rules and regulations guide people on how to act and interact with others in a peaceful way.

People also address deviance by providing education and creating awareness of positive conduct and the impact of deviant behavior. They may also throng the streets or other places to condemn or protest against deviant actions.

Crime denotes actions that break the law. It is undoubtedly a vital form of deviance that create among a considerable number of Americans.

The fact that both deviance and crime elicit negative social reactions shows that every society must ensure public adherence to social norms during daily interactions.

Criminologists, sociologists, psychiatrists, and psychologists how people implement the formation of societal standards, how they change over time, and their implementation.

Our writers and tutors understand the standpoints used to explain deviance by philosophers or theorists. They provide deviance homework assistance to students struggling to describe deviation using a theoretical perspective. Let’s now delve into sociological theories of deviance.

Deviance in Physical and Online Spaces

Physical world refers to spaces that we see around us. Deviance in the physical world occurs when people violate social norms and laws in real-life situations. Such demeanors occur during face-to-face interactions or under normal conditions. Examples of deviant activities that take place in the real world include theft, robbery with violence, physical attack, sexual assault, verbal abuse, and burglary. These behaviors reflect deviation in the real world of wrongdoing.

On the other hand, digital deviance occurs in the virtual spaces. It involves how deviant individuals express themselves through virtual tools or online media. This entails how they interact with other people, play games, and present their deviant identities using anonymous and non-anonymous means. Online criminals manifest deviant behaviors through cyberbullying, phishing, trolling, identity theft, sexting, violent content, and pornography.

How Theories of Sociology Explain Deviance

Society influences deviation by shaping compliance with rules, norms, and regulations.  

Theoretical application is one of the most important sociological strategies for understanding crime and deviant behavior.

The primary theories that explain the social structures of deviance include structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and conflict models.  

Structural Functionalism

Deviance is any habit that violates societal standards and is usually severe enough for condemnation by members of society. Deviance can be either noncriminal or criminal in nature. Based on social ecology, the type of environment defines the crime rate. Such characteristics as poverty, population turnover, high population, and thronged environment contribute to deviance in urban areas.

Durkheim posited that society functions like a human body. It has many institutions that act like body organs, which must work properly to ensure stability (Barkan, 2011). In a functioning society, deviance can help promote conformity, improve social bonds among individuals responding to nonconformists, and create positive change.

Conflict Theory

Typically, individuals with greater power over others have the authority to impose laws. They create rules and regulations that disproportionately address deviance based on race, class, gender, and social status (Barkan, 2011). The underprivileged and minorities are more likely to face arrest and imprisonment for engaging in deviance due to their race, gender, and social class.

Symbolic Interaction Perspective

Based on this theoretical perspective, deviance is not a set of group or individual characteristics but rather a process of interaction between deviants and non-deviants and the context that defines criminality. According to Edwin H. Sutherland, people learn criminal behavior through interactions with close friends and family members (Barkan, 2011). They gain knowledge about values, motives, and rationalizations that justify law-breaking.

Deviant behaviors arise from being labeled deviant. Order enforcers try to create social stability by implementing boundaries of acceptable behavior. People like police officers, judicial officials, professionals, and school administrators provide the primary source of labeling. By applying these labels to people and classifying deviance, these individuals strengthen social class structures and hierarchies.

In conclusion, deviance assignments or homework can be challenging for university students due to subject complexity and numerous topics. You need profound insights into sociological models to comprehend deviance from diverse perspectives.

References 

Barkan, S. E. (2011). Sociology: Understanding and changing the social world. Flat World Knowledge. https://open.lib.umn.edu/sociology/chapter/7-2-explaining-deviance/