Formal Deviance

Examples of Formal Deviance in the following topics:

• Introduction to deviance

  • Deviance is any behavior that violates cultural norms.
  • Deviance is often divided into two types of deviant activities.
  • The first, crime is the violation of formally enacted laws and is referred to as formal deviance.
  • Examples of formal deviance would include: robbery, theft, rape, murder, and assault, just to name a few.
  • Sociological interest in deviance includes both interests in measuring formal deviance (statistics of criminal behavior; see below), examining how people (individually and collectively) define some things deviant and others normative, and a number of theories that try to explain both the role of deviance in society and its origins.

• Deviance

  • Deviance, in a sociological context, describes actions or behaviors that violate informal social norms or formally-enacted rules.
  • Deviance is often divided into two types of activities.
  • The first, crime, is the violation of formally enacted laws and is referred to as formal deviance.
  • Examples of formal deviance include robbery, theft, rape, murder, and assault.
  • Deviance can vary dramatically across cultures.

• Biological Theories of Deviance

  • A biological theory of deviance proposes that an individual deviates from social norms largely because of their biological makeup.
  • A biological theory of deviance proposes that an individual deviates from social norms largely because of their biological makeup.
  • The theory primarily pertains to formal deviance, using biological reasons to explain criminality, though it can certainly extend to informal deviance.
  • A biological interpretation of formal deviance was first advanced by the Italian School of Criminology, a school of thought originating from Italy during the mid-nineteenth century.
  • Though the debate has mutated, a biological explanation for deviance and crime is still commonplace.

• Norms and Sanctions

  • The act of violating a social norm is called deviance.
  • Studying norms and studying deviance are inseparable endeavors.
  • Like deviance, norms are always culturally contingent.
  • The violation of social norms, or deviance, results in social sanction.
  • Formal deviance, or the violation of legal codes, results in criminal action initiated by the state.

• Sociological Theories of Deviance

  • Sociological theories of deviance are those that use social context and social pressures to explain deviance.
  • The study of social deviance is the study of the violation of cultural norms in either formal or informal contexts.
  • Sociological theories of deviance are those that use social context and social pressures to explain deviance .
  • Four main sociological theories of deviance exist.
  • The study of social deviance is the study of the violation of cultural norms in either formal or informal contexts.

• Sanctions

  • Sanctions can either be positive (rewards) or negative (punishment), and can arise from either formal or informal control .
  • As with formal controls, informal controls reward or punish acceptable or unacceptable behavior, otherwise known as deviance.
  • To maintain control and regulate their subjects, groups, organizations, and societies of various kinds can promulgate rules that act as formal sanctions to reward or punish behavior.
  • For example, in order to regulate behavior, government and organizations use law enforcement mechanisms and other formal sanctions such as fines and imprisonment .

• The Conflict Perspective on Deviance

  • Deviance, in a sociological context, describes actions or behaviors that violate social norms, including formally-enacted rules, as well as informal violations of social norms.

• Deviance and Technology

  • Advances in technology have resulted in new forms of deviance as well as new forms of control.
  • In addition to new forms of deviance in traditional cultural mores, new forms of deviance have arisen within cyberculture.
  • For this reason, all of these behaviors are considered production deviance.
  • More serious cases of deviant behavior involve property deviance.
  • Technology is used in policing to monitor formal deviants and encourage conformity to the law and social norms.

• The Functionalist Perspective on Deviance

  • What function does deviance play in society?
  • This question cannot be answered without investigating deviance .
  • For the structural functionalist, deviance serves two primary roles in creating social stability.
  • Deviance provides the key to understanding the disruption and re-calibration of society that occurs over time.
  • Durkheim formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.

• Strain Theory: How Social Values Produce Deviance

  • Thus, deviance can be the result of accepting one norm, but breaking another in order to pursue the first.
  • According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based upon these criteria:
  • Thus, deviance can be the result of accepting one norm, but breaking another in order to pursue the first.
  • In this sense, according social strain theory, social values actually produce deviance in two ways.
  • Apply Merton's typology of deviance to the real world and give examples for each type