SOCIETY'S IDEAS OF DEVIANCE AND HARMING OTHERS

Society's Ideas of Deviance and Harming Others

Deviance and Harming Others

Introduction

Crime and deviance can be defined as activities which break the legal norms of a society and are punishable by law and activities which do not conform to the norms of a particular community. All societies have systems of social control for example, the processes by which individuals and groups are persuaded and sometimes forced to conform to the dominant norms and values of society (Zimbardo, 2012).

Relationship between Crime and Deviance

Crime and deviance is believed to overlap in behaviors that are criminal as well as deviant as deviance may be illegal causing an overlap in crime and deviance. “Deviant behaviour may be illegal, but not all deviant acts are against the law.”

The relationship shows how deviance can also be criminal for example parking on double yellow lines, this is unorthodox behaviour as it breaks the social norm but is also criminal as there are legislations against parking on double yellow lines (Cohen, 2004).

Positive and Negative Deviations

Deviation (rejection), tend to be negative. For example, crime, alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide, prostitution, terrorism, etc. However, in some cases, possible and positive deviation, such as sharply individualized behavior characteristic of the original creative thinking, which can be evaluated by society as a "freak," a deviation from the norm, but to be socially useful. Asceticism, and holiness, genius, innovation is the signs of positive deviations.

Negative deviations are divided into two types:

deviations, which are aimed at causing harm to others (various aggressive, illegal, criminal acts);

abnormalities that cause harm to the individual himself (alcoholism, suicide, drug addiction, etc.).

The Causes of Deviant Behavior

The causes of deviant behavior had tried to explain the basis of the biological characteristics of the violators of norms - specific physical traits, genetic defects, on the basis of psychological ...