Question 1
Outside the context of sociology, deviance is associated with negative behaviors that are perceived to be illegal or offensive. This perception, however, changes in sociology to take a broader perspective linked to cultural norms. Therefore, deviance implies all forms of human conduct contrary to those practiced by a social system. To elaborate more on deviance, two sociology topics touching on women's roles and gender discrimination shall be used in this question. The two are; "The millennial nuns practicing a forbidden ancient skill," a story covered by BBC Reel, and Grossman-Thompson and Dennis’s, “Citizenship in the Name of the Mother: Nationalism, Social Exclusion, and Gender in Contemporary Nepal.”
I picked on the two topics since they are examples of contemporary issues in the field of sociology. The fight towards gender equality has been ongoing for decades but is still far from being won. Despite the tremendous steps to attain gender equality in leadership positions, economic opportunities, and societal roles, disparities still exist. Women are still perceived to be weaker and undeserving gender. The perception makes them sidelined in roles and rights that should be enjoyed regardless of gender affiliations. Therefore, these two topics shed light on deviance in gender roles and women's rights to bridge the gap between genders.
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Objective and Subjective Approach of Conceptualizing Deviance
A subjective approach to viewing a concept is based on personal opinions. Through subjective eyes, the evaluation and decision-making process is shrouded with feelings that tend to legalize or delegitimize an action. An action is either 'good' or 'bad' without the justification of choice. The objective approach dwells more on the process than the final decision. It looks more on the facts as a route to the final decision. In some cases, facts lead up to conclusions that contradict our personal feelings, making the outcomes of subjective and objective decisions contradictory. However, our feelings may concur with factual analysis, thus aligning both subjective and objective decisions.
Deviance is the state of contradicting the norms that are conceptualized from a subjective or objective approach. The subjective approach follows norms that are passed down to generations with little explanation on the ideas behind the beliefs. An example is the gender role allocation that men are providers in a family while women are caretakers. From a subjective approach, switching these roles is unacceptable deviance. The subjective approach will study this example of deviance by linking it to past practices that have been passed down to us, thus influencing our feelings about gender roles. On the other hand, the objective approach will compare gender performance data to determine the appropriateness in switching or assigning gender roles. The decision-making process may involve statistics that show how each gender performs in each role.
The Conflict Theory of Studying Deviance
The conflict theory is best suited to study deviance in the selected topics related to gender roles, discrimination, and disparities. The theory explains deviant behaviors originating from political, social, and material inequalities in society. A faction of the social group that is unequally represented in opportunities acts in deviance to seek reprieve through a change of laws or beliefs to end oppression in a system that endangers their growth. The conflict theory fits with the objective approach of decision-making since the deviance behavior is based on observable facts in society. A social group that is discriminated against has material facts of their status in terms of wealth distribution and public positions. These facts are indisputable and remain in the public domain of both social groups.
The conflict theory is demonstrated in both topics, “The millennial nuns practicing a forbidden ancient skill,” and “Citizenship in the Name of the Mother.” In the Buddhist tradition, nuns were not allowed to take leadership positions. Taking part in dances and physical activities such as Kung Fu was against the norms. The restrictions made the nuns physically and mentally weak and unrepresented in leadership roles. The nuns in the Drukpa Lineage in Nepal deviantly took on these roles and activities to reclaim an equal representation with men. The Kung Fu sessions have ended up making them more resilient and independent (BBC, 2020). The same applies to the topic of citizenship Nepal, where women are discriminated against. The law illegalizing citizenship through the mother's lineage attracts objective deviant demonstrations to seek equal treatment of women and men in the allocation of citizenship (Grossman-Thompson & Dennis, 2017). The conflict theory would enable the analyses of the deviant behavior in women from an equality point of view. Seeking to determine areas in which women are unequally represented or oppressed will give insights into their deviance and offer recommendations on eliminating equality barriers.
Personal View on Objective-Subjective Continuum
I subscribe to the objective approach to analyzing deviance. The approach is an evidence-based decision-making process that is critical in identifying societal gaps and offering solutions.
Question 2
Choice of News Story and Relation to Deviance
The news story, "Black Lives Matter movement," comes with the weight of deviance that involves deaths. I regard termination of one's life as the highest degree of social injustice, thus finding it essential that this news story gets adequate coverage and mentioning in a bid to seek solutions to similar social problems. Black Lives Matter movement is related to deviance through its mode of reaction to societal injustices. First, it shows levels of discrimination and inequality in the criminal justice system in the U.S. Through an objective analysis of the disparities, demonstrations are staged as a show of deviance.
Description of the News Story
The Black Lives Matter movement was accelerated by the brutal killing of a black man named George Floyd. Floyd was arrested in Minneapolis by a white police officer in the company of four others. In a video clip that circulated on social media, one of the officers kneeled on Floyd's neck. Floyd becomes unresponsive after eight minutes and is later pronounced dead. The actions of the police officers then trigger a global protest about police brutality on the people of color. The demonstrators believe the injustice has been in progress for some time and call for police reforms. The demonstrations are also characterized by damages to properties and further brutalities (Macaya et al., 2020).
Analysis of the News Story
From this news story, the concept of discrimination and inequality as a root cause of deviance behavior is clearly depicted. Reports from multinational organizations and scientific studies continue to indicate that blacks are unfairly treated by the criminal justice system in the U.S. A black man is more likely to be arrested, arraigned, and given a longer sentence than a white man, if they are both found engaging in a similar unlawful activity (Balko, 2019). In an attempt to seek audience and transform the criminal justice system, the social group that feels oppressed (blacks) take on a wave of deviant character through demonstrations and destruction of property. However, the deviance is objective since discrimination and inequality is factual and proven. The sociological labeling theory of deviance is also depicted. Blacks have been, in the past, labeled as being violent and criminal. They assume this imposed label through violence, as seen in various arsonists' attacks that characterize the demonstrations in Minneapolis and Atlanta (Macaya et al., 2020).
The media frames deviant populations as being peaceful in most of the scenes aired on the television. The demonstrators are seen seeking an audience and even sharing a platform with some police officers who believe in their slogan about the quality of black lives. However, some demonstrators are depicted as being violent and destructive. Examples of cases of violence and destruction are aired through arsonist attacks, looting, and pulling down of historical sculptures. What misses in the portrayal is that some factions in the demonstrations could be distractors serving against the interest of the demonstrators. It is argued that the violence and destruction are not being advanced by legal demonstrators but those who seek to distract demonstrators from attaining the objective of the demonstrations. As individual observers, studying the media is vital in enabling objective decision-making and segregation of facts from fake news. Verifiable information empowers society to be more harmonious as individuals can eliminate notions seeking to fuel polarity and discrimination.
Question 3
Theoretical Concepts of Stigma and Stigma Management
According to Fredrick (2015, p. 1128), stigma was initially identified as a fixed identity that resided within stigmatized individuals. The perception changed later when stigma was rightfully defined as manifesting from cultural processes and beliefs. Goffman's theory of social stigma identifies stigma as an attribute or behavior that discredits an individual, leading to undesired classification and stereotyping that does not fall in what the society regards as the normal category (Fredrick, 2015, p. 1128). Different stigma taxonomies have been identified in a move that elaborates causes and proper management in the affected individuals. The widely used taxonomies are self-stigma, structural stigma, public stigma, and stigma by association. However, for management purposes, identifying them as invisible and visible stigma is sufficient.
Management of invisible stigma can take either a passing or a revealing approach, whereas visible stigma can only be managed by a revealing approach. The passing options deploy the use of techniques such as fabrication, concealment, and discretion. In the fabrication strategy, the stigmatized person presents false information to dupe the public into believing that the persons are not stigmatized. The approach is related to the concealment strategy where the accurate information is withheld from the public, rather than distorted. Under discretion strategy, the individual attempts to protect their condition by avoiding revealing information or using ambiguous language. The revealing approaches, widely used for the management of visible stigma, involves the use of signaling, normalizing, and differentiating strategy. Under the signaling approach, the individual gives partial details and withholds other critical information while the normalizing approach involves full disclosure, followed by minimizing effects to normalcy. The most different approach is a differentiating approach, where individuals reveal their stigma and seek a fair judgment to eliminate the stigma.
Frederick’s Research on the Relationship between Stigma and Deviance
Fredrick’s research identifies stigma as being attributed to individuals with an out-of-normal character acquired through factors beyond human control. Visually impaired mothers are examples of stigmatized persons since the reason for their condition is out of their ability. Stigmatized individuals are pitied as innocent and victims of natural circumstances (Frederick, 2015, p. 1128). An example of a stigmatizing action is when impaired mothers are sterilized or their pregnancies terminated due to deformities in the fetus.
The society also holds a concept of good mothers and bad mothers without considering the mothers' physical disabilities. In Fredrick's research, deviantization of blind mothers is portrayed when their motherhood skills are seen to be below par, thus not within what the society describes as normal or good motherhood. Asking the visually impaired mothers to offer their kids for adoption or assigning them to social workers portrays deviantization actions.
Medical Professionals’ Treatment As Shaped By Societal Conceptions
Societal conceptions have classified mothers from their abilities to offer what is termed as good motherhood skills. Mothers who provide skills that are regarded as below par are stigmatized and discriminated upon. The discrimination victims are mostly women of color, teenage mothers, substance abusers, single mothers, and mothers from a low socioeconomic class (Frederick, 2015, p. 1129). Medical practitioners, such as midwives, have adopted the same classification and discrimination through uneven surveillances and unjustified rating of risk mothers.
A Macro-Level and Micro-Level Analysis of Stigma
The micro-level of analysis preferred by Goffman emphasized on identifying causes and impacts of stigma at an individual level. The objective of the analysis was to offer individual management options and access damages that stigma has on individuals. However, Fredrick's macro-level analysis shifts to structural causes of stigma and its impact on a population level. The macro-level approach dwells on the concept that collective responses provide a more comprehensive understanding and more in-depth preventive and management recommendations.
