Deviance and Its Social Control

Deviance and its Social Control

Introduction

A behavior that violates the standards of conduct in a society is deviance. However, deviance does not imply immorality. A general set of norms of conduct, behavior, and conditions that people can agree (Inderbitzin, Bates, & Gainey, 2012). The norms are the rules of behaviors that guide the actions of people. In general, deviance is characterized in a negative perspective (Smith, 2012). When people heard the word deviance, it simply connotes to them us an acceptable behavior. In sociological sense, deviance is a violation of norms in a group or society (Hartwell, 2003). It ranges from minor to major violation. For example, tardiness from class is a minor violation while murder is a major violation. Some behaviors such as wearing clothes of the opposite sex is deviant in other places, it could be criminal in some places and just acceptable perfectly, elsewhere (Saylor, 2013). Every society has its own weight to consider a certain behavior as deviant or the definition of deviance varies from different society. For example, some society has strict rules with regards to gender roles while others have less strictness or even not. It only shows that, from time to time people act deviant; each person violates social norms in a certain situation. It is not possible to remove something that is already rooted or has been part in the society for years. In the case of a deviant behavior, it is something that is not possible to be removed. People have different views and interpretations of what certain acts are deviant in behaviors or not deviant at all (The Rules of Sociological Method, 1964). In the social environment, issues on deviant behavior has no shortage, it is everywhere. Different forms of deviance exist that ranges from simple act to crimes, criminals of all ages (Smith, 2012). The social services have challenges that require vast capacity to communities across age lines to people in certain situations that are unsettled and chaotic. For every 10,000 Americans, there are 20 homeless individuals, and of those 20 individuals, 15 individuals have a lifetime history of alcohol or drug use related issues (Hartwell, 2003). The lives of people are persistent in deviance in adulthood. The associations between negative self-attitudes and patterns of deviant responses include dishonesty, cheating, felonies, delinquencies, alcoholism, drug abuse, suicidal behavior, and homicide (Kaplan, 1976). The control theorists have suggested that deviance occurred when the controls are not developed in early life experiences in the family. The social control is important for all the social units and the issue of control is more sensitive than any other forms of social organizations (Parilla, Hollinger, & Clark, 1988). Research shows that the best predictor to the future behaviors is the past behaviors (Flores, 2003). Another research