What is Deviance?

The most common definition of deviance is when an individual is appearing to stray from or violate social norms and tendencies. In the broadest sense, this is understood to occur when someone does not conform to social expectations or share the same values. Deviance comes in three forms, admired behavior (such as extreme heroism that breaks social expectations), odd but tolerable behavior (such as eccentric individuals), or bad behavior (such as criminals). This can occur through the scope of formal and informal modes of social violation depending on the individual's intent. For example, when someone intentionally commits a crime they are formally deviant but when someone inadvertently strays from traditional social conduct they are informally deviant.    

It is important to note that deviation is relative since it can only be defined in relation to a particular context or social standard which is not fixed or absolute. For example, roughhousing can seem appropriate at a hockey game but would be inexcusable if done in a hospital. Furthermore, since societies continually change and progress, forms of conduct that would be considered deviant in a past era can become acceptable from a modern viewpoint. Sometime ago in Western society, it had been considered deviant for women to smoke, use make-up, and consume alcoholic drinks in public. Today this is no longer the case.

A famous sociologist, Robert Merton, argues that deviance does not result from pathological personalities but from the culture and structure of society itself. Looking at society as a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of equilibrium, we can see the significance of shared social values. However, since members of society are placed in various positions in the social structure (like social class) they may deviate since they do not have the opportunity of realizing the shared values. For instance, individuals in an American society may adhere to American culture norms and desire to live up to the standard of "The American Dream". Most people desire to attain a position of power, high achievement or wealth and as a result, there is great social importance attached to success. This results in less concern to the means by which people acquire success because people who are powerful and rich are well-respected regardless of how they earned it (otherwise known as high power distance). Therefore, competition for success may cause people to become deviant through illegal business deals or potentially turn towards crime (such as fraud, theft, or gang involvement as a means of survival).

To summarize, deviance occurs whenever individuals stray from social expectation and this phenomenon can often be seen as a natural result of culture and the structure of society.