Deviance and Juiced Atheletes

Deviance and “juiced athletes” – SOC*1100 Paper #3

In this paper I will be discussing how athletes who use enhancing drugs for their own benefit has become more popular and further analyze the situation from a sociological perspective. I will also be talking about how C. Wright Mills would analyze the structural sources of the issue at hand.

Deviance is the recognized violation of cultural norms. Norms guide almost all human activities . Why do athletes who are paid millions of dollars do play the sports they love put their job in jeopardy and go against the social norm of being a clean athlete? Even athletes in low level competition – or personal use for that matter, will use enhancing drugs to better their performance. There are various reasons as to why these athletes decide to use illegal enhancements. The following is from “The Sociological Imagination” by C. Wright Mills which ask certain questions and analyze the structural sources:

What is the structure of this particular society as a whole? What are its essential components, and how are they related to one another? How does it differ from other varieties of social order? Within it, what is the meaning of any particular feature for its continuance for its change?

The society of professional sports involves the athletes and management. Management sets the norms and rules to be followed, and the players must cooperate. The trend of players continuing to use banned substances although knowing the consequences that follow their actions happens for various differing reasons for athletes who juice. Some sources are ego issues of the athlete, some purely want to improve their stats, it enables faster training. The reasons are endless, and the issue is still quite relevant in professional sports today so obviously either the consequences for doing so aren’t as bad as they should be, or the players are committed to juicing