Bog Entry 7: Is Deviance What It Seems or Are We Just Living?

            After ready Chapter 8 on Deviance I learned about what our society/culture considers as deviant behaviors. Deviance is a behavior that does not conform to basic cultural norms and expectations. It is situational. Deviance is also socially constructed which varies on time, place and setting. For people defined as being deviant it can have a negative effect on them which can last for a very long time. What is defined as deviant in our society has no written rules on how not to cross the boundaries. These six deviant acts are just a few of many I was able to identify as I look around in my own community.

1. Smoking weed in the park/public places:

In my opinion this is a deviant act one because smoking weed is illegal in this state, two because if you are going to break the law you should not do it in the public eye thus exposing the younger generation to this act and three because parks are for the most park for young kids and adolescents to play. Parents are careful not to have their young ones around when people are smoking cigarettes, so you can just imagine how cautious they are when it comes to weed. The behaviors of those smoking weed is label as deviant because of those with enough power to enforce that label. The labeling theory in chapter 8 argues that deviance is the result of how other interpret a behavior and those individuals who are labeled deviant often internalize this judgment as a part of their self identify.

2. Teenage Pregnancy:

Teenage pregnancy is a deviant act because society says people should be married before having kids or they should attend college and pursuit a career before becoming parents. Society expects teenagers to graduate high school and continue to get some sort of higher education and in most cases that’s not the case. Although society frowns upon teenage pregnancy they mostly dislike Hispanics and blacks who are engaging in sexually acts at a young age which results in pregnancy and the mother usually dropping out of school to take care of their offspring. There’s a stigma attached that these children (both parents and kids) will not go to college therefore creating a continuous cycle of uneducated minorities. Stigma refers to the shame attached to a behavior or status that is considered unacceptable or discrediting. I’m somewhat indecisive about this topic because my mother was a teenage mother and here I am doing a blog for sociology class in COLLEGE, and even though she did not attend college it was because she hates school (loll) unlike my dad who did graduate college and made a career for himself.

3. Roaming the streets while under the influence or drugs or alcohol:

Just like the smoking weed in public places, there are many people roaming the street WHILE under the influence of alcohol and drugs. I believe this is a deviant act because being under the influence in public goes against the basic cultural norms and what is expected of people. As members of society we are expected to behave a certain way while in public that does not cause a disturbance to others. Many people get fines and arrested for disturbing the peace such as drunken disorderly or disorderly conduct. This can be a result of labeling people which may lead them into secondary deviance, deviant behavior that is a response to the negative consequences of labeling. A person who is label a drug addict or alcoholic can become hostile or purposely act a certain way because of their label.

4. Homosexuality and Transgender:

These two are consider deviants because they go against the basic cultural norms. Although it is not as severe as it used to be in years before, people are expected to be heterosexual and be happy with the way they were born. Man are deviant if they are gay and women are deviant is they are lesbians. This topic had been causing controversy especially when deciding whether or not to legalize gay marriages. Many people believe that homosexuals and transgender are sick or have a mental disorder and that they will benefit from medical intervention. This referred as medicalization of deviance, when the label of deviant behavior as an illness that can be treated by medical professionals.

5. Auto Clubs/Bike Clubs:

This is another example of deviant behavior in my everyday life. In my community being part of a bike/auto club can be seem as deviant because many times the auto clubs double park on streets playing their loud music at any time of the day and night. The bike clubs usually make commotion as they are driving. Often there are conflicts between these clubs which usually results into altercations. Many times parents do not want their children to become a part of these clubs to due to the fear of them becoming deviants like the people they associate with. This is referred to as differential association theory which is that deviance is learned through association with other people involved in deviant behavior. This theory explains deviance as a behavior that it’s learned.

6. Panhandling:

Last but not least, panhandling is viewed as deviant because it goes against our basic cultural norms. People are not expected to be poor and to be begging on the streets or trains. Society has expectations of people to be educated, working, to be middle class and white, but since we can not all be that being poor, uneducated and any other race is considered deviant. Panhandling is deviant because sometimes the people doing it become aggressive when money is not given to them or if people just walk by them without acknowledging their presences. Panhandler do this act alone which can be tied to loner deviance, the activities of individuals who commit deviant acts without the social support of other participants.  Sometimes panhandlers use their kids to panhandle as well which can also be a deviant act because some may argue that children should not be exposed to that lifestyle but many people should remember that we are not all middle class white men. This deviant behavior occurs with a specific goal which is to receive money to either eat or get another fix.  This example of deviance goes into my next topic, the article by Herbert J. Gans and the undeserving poor.

            Herbert J. Gans wrote an article named “Positive Functions of the Undeserving Poor: Uses of the Underclass in America.” The article speaks about how poverty is described as a social phenomenon which exists based on the consequences it follows. It talks how it affects both the poor and non-poor because the poor usually involve themselves in activities that are hazardous to their physical safety and well being. Among these activities are those which society portrays as deviant such as bearing children during adolescence, not married, failing to work and be an active member of society and depending on welfare. Gans continues on discuss 5 sets functions of the undeserving poor such as microsocial, economic, normative-cultural, political, and microsocial, which he divides into 13 specific functions each having their own sense of importance and how they of positive effect. These functions in divided; two microsocial functions are risk reduction, scapegoat and displacement and three economic functions which are economic banishment and the reserve army, supplying illegal goods, and job creation. Another three normative functions are moral legitimation, norm reinforcement and supplying popular culture villains. Three more include political functions such as institutional scapegoating, conservative power shifting, and spatial purification. The two last ones are reproduction of stigma and the stigmatized and extermination of the surplus. None of these are place by order of importance but as ordered in the article.