![]() The protesters were deviating from social norms of coherence in order to articulate grievances against the extremely wealthy. Angered at the extreme inequalities in wealth distribution in the United States, protesters began to organize more communal ways of living in Zucotti Park-near Wall Street in New York City-in order to protest the lavish means of life of those at the top of the socioeconomic ladder. An example of conflict theory would be the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in the fall of 2011. In response to these inequalities, certain groups will act deviantly in order to change their circumstances, change the social structure that engendered their circumstances, or just to “act out” against their oppressors. Conflict theory suggests that deviant behaviors result from social, political, or material inequalities of a social group. The third main sociological theory of deviance is conflict theory. With changing norms in response to deviance, the deviant behavior can contribute to long-term social stability.Ĭonflict Theory Punks: Labeling theory argues that people, such as punks, become deviant as a result of people forcing that identity upon them and then adopting the identity. Deviant behavior can imbalance the social equilibrium but-in the process of restoring balance-society will adjust norms. Finally, deviance is actually seen as one means for society to change over time. In addition to clarifying the moral boundaries of society, deviant behavior can also promote social unity by creating an “us-versus-them” mentality in relation to deviant individuals. This is an important function that affirms the cultural values and norms of a society for the members of that society. It draws lines and demarcates boundaries. Deviance helps to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. ![]() This approach argues that deviant behavior plays an active, constructive role in society by ultimately helping to cohere different populations within a particular society. The second main sociological explanation of deviance comes from structural functionalism. Thus, deviance can be the result of accepting one norm, but breaking another in order to pursue the first. who sell illegal drugs have rejected the culturally acceptable means of making money, but they still share the widely accepted cultural value of making money. Merton’s typology is fascinating because it suggests that people can turn to deviance in the pursuit of widely accepted social values and goals. According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based upon these criteria: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism and rebellion. Merton typology of deviance was based on two criteria: (1) a person’s motivations or adherence to cultural goals (2) a person’s belief in how to attain her goals. Merton proposed a typology of deviant behavior, a classification scheme designed to facilitate understanding. The first is the social strain typology developed by American sociologist Robert K. ![]() \)įour main sociological theories of deviance exist. ![]()
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