Social And Psychological Factors On Deviant Behavior example essay topic

There are many different kinds of deviancy in today's society. In this essay I will tell you the meaning of deviance, the different kinds of deviancy, the biological, social, and psychological factors on deviant behavior, and how they differ from each other. According to James M. Henslin, Editor of Down to Earth Sociology, "For society to exist, people must be able to know what to expect of others."People develop norms to provide regularity to social life."Deviancy is the violation of these rules and expectations". So according to Mr. Henslin, we all have deviant tendencies in us at some point in our lives. We all violate rules and expectations others have created whether it is a minor or large-scale offense. In today's society, the word deviant is used very commonly and its meaning becomes distorted.

People might associate the word deviant with being twisted, nasty, or perverted. "Deviance is not a term for negative judgment". It just means anyone to violate the expectations of others. The norms that we create cover three basic aspects of human behavior: our appearance, manner, and conduct. The rules of appearance and manner, if broken, are usually called civil disobedience and conduct is usually called criminal disobedience. The first major type of deviance that will be mentioned is against the appearance norm.

The expectations of appearance concerns clothing, make-up, hairstyle, and other "social extensions of a person". There are even certain expectations on things that represent a person like their car, home, or even pets. Deviance could be achieved by just not conforming to people's expectations. For example, "goths" do not adhere to society's expectations of appearance. They generally wear all black, they pierce parts of their body that many other people would not, men usually have longer hair while girls sometimes shave their head, and generally men wear make-up unlike men who live by societies expectations. The second norm that is mentioned is manner.

By manner, I mean the way we do things. "People have a certain expectation of the style of which we express ourselves, such as our facial expressions, gestures and other body languages". Manner includes personal style and group style. Personal style is the expectations that people have on us because of how we have acted in the past.

Group style is the expectations people have because of our membership to a specific group of people. For instance, race, ethnic background, gender, occupation, age, etc. are all types of group styles. There are both small and large incidences where people do not abide by society's rules of how a specific group is supposed to act. An example of small deviant behavior in occupational and racial standpoints against group style is when people do not sing in society's designated styles of music. For example, 'white' people are expected to stay to country music and heavy metal, but people like 'Eminem' and 'ICP' do not comply with this type of expectation. Both of them 'rap,' a place designated for African-American males.

A larger example of group style deviancy is when Rosa Parks, in the 1960's, did not act in accordance with society's rules, and sat in the front seat of a bus. A spot designated by society, as a place for 'whites,' where 'blacks' where supposed to sit in the very back. The last examples are on deviancy against conduct, what we say and what we do. 'The rules of conduct include the rules of obligation, authority, and account giving. ' Society's rules of conduct are probably the ones that get broke the most. For example, getting a speeding ticket (against authority) behavior.

You " re not abiding by society's laws and are therefor breaking their rules. It can go all the way from small things like speeding tickets to huge things, which are mostly against authority, like serial killers and rapists. There are factors that influence deviant conduct. There are social, psychological, and biological factors. The most common social factor that begins deviant behavior is peer pressure. Kids are peer-pressured all the time to smoke, drink, steal, fight, etc.

The second factor is psychological. Many times children, who are abused, will grow up to be abusers themselves. People who are raised up with this kind of behavior begin to think that that behavior is O.K. and will later become that way too. The last factor that causes deviant conduct is biological. Many people are born with brain chemical deficiencies. They are missing certain chemicals that cause there brain to function normally, and are therefor more subjective to act a certain way that might be socially deviant.

For example, many kids with chemical deficiencies become very violent unlike how 'normal' kids are supposed to act.