Question

For our discussion, please address the following:

Define deviance. Does it vary per culture?

Share an example of a deviant behavior you have participated in or encountered (jaywalking, tattoos, piercings, fighting, public display of affection, etc.)?

What are informal and formal social controls? Which do you feel are more effective?

Answer 1

Deviance can be defined as the actions that people take that opposes the social norms of the society. This means people purposely do something that goes against the normal rules of the society and are aware of their actions.

Although the acts of deviance are similar among different cultures, there is a higher report of a certain amount of cases in particular regions that the other this includes cases such as drug abuse, rape and social topics such as abortion and other processes.

I have seen teenagers vandalize a property because it was empty and they thought they thought there would be no legal ramifications for their actions. This included breaking and entering, vandalism, graffiti and spray tagging and all the other activities that are included in deviant behaviour.

Formal and informal social controls are the ways by which society tried to control the behaviour of deviance. While formal social control includes the formation of rules, regulations and policies and how they are implemented to overcome this problem. Informal social control can be considered as educating people about the negative effects of such behaviour which includes schools, peers as well as parents.

I feel that while formal social controls are useful to an extent. The main problem is overcome by educating the masses about the effects of deviance on the society which essentially discourages them from committing such actions in the first place.