Deviance

Deviance can be defined as behavior or activities that break generally shared social norms. This simple definition belies a number of complexities: Is behavior still deviant if the norm breaking is not visible to any one else or is not sanctioned by others? Given the plurality of social life, can it be said that there is widespread agreement on social norms? In reality, there is more likely to be disagreement on appropriate behavior, standards, and expectations. Who has or what groups have the power and authority to determine the social rules and enforce them? For example, while there is considerable diversity in dress codes and body presentation, employers have considerable power in enforcing both formal and informal dress codes. Types of norms range from informal, unwritten social rules or etiquette, to mores or ethics, convention, organizational rules, and laws (especially criminal law). Even though there are significant cultural differences in the determination of what constitutes deviance, the existence of activities deemed by others to be deviant is universal; all societies define some behavior as deviant, as offensive to legal or moral norms. This is not to say that certain forms of behavior or activities are regarded as deviant in all societies or historical periods. In Western societies over the course of the twentieth century, there was widespread normative change regarding alcohol use, smoking, sexuality, women in paid work, parenting, the use of violence, and gender relations.

The concept of deviance includes a wide range of behavior. A related concept—social control—usually is defined as all those mechanisms or sanctions aimed at achieving conformity and eradicating or containing deviant behavior. Social control responds to deviance, and the sanctions applied may be informal—a glance, ridicule, gossip, a reprimand, persuasion, or social ostracism—or formal—including fines, probation, and imprisonment, administered by the criminal justice system. Medicine (including psychiatry), welfare, and education also sanction behavior they define as deviant, unacceptable, or abnormal, but their social control functions are less visible than formal legal sanctions and are legitimized by concerns such as treating patients or helping clients and their families.