According to sociology, deviance refers to a behavior or action that infringes social norms, including a rule formally enacted like crime and social norms' informal violations like rejecting customs and folkways. Even though deviance occasionally has a negative implication, violating social standards is not constantly a hostile act; a positive deviation occurs in varying circumstances (Telysheva et al., 2019). Although there is a norm violation, a behavior may still get categorized as acceptable or positive. Therefore, there are varying social norms in society and among different cultural backgrounds. For instance, a particular behavior or action may get categorized as deviant and get punishments in one community but get embraced with positivity in another society. Furthermore, a society's comprehension of social norms changes with time, and so does the accumulative deviance perception (Telysheva et al., 2019). This essay addresses deviant activities in society and how society embraces the actions currently as opposed to initially.
For instance, justification for deviant behavior may happen when people do not have the moral obligation to kill one another but only accepted when governments allow the actions during self-defense or warfare (Stepanova et al., 2018). The violation of norms falls under two broad categories; informal and formal deviance. Formal deviance acts are criminal activities that violate societal laws, while informal deviance conducts are minor violations that contradict unwritten social life rules. Norms possessing a higher ethical connotation are called mores which disagree with societal taboos under informal deviance. In sociology, a taboo is a resilient social behavior form that the more significant majority considers deviant. The public mentioning of the taboo receives condemnation and hence almost wholly evaded. Therefore, some taboos are legally prohibited, and contraventions may result in harsh penalties, while other taboos lead to disrespect, shame, and humiliation (Stepanova et al., 2018). However, taboos are not widespread but exist in most societies, and they may include child molestation, incest, rape, or murder.
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With the evolution of society, different people have varying ideas and opinions on whether specific behaviors are deviant or not. However, society's behaviors considered unorthodox in the past are currently regarded as normal and acceptable (Stepanova et al., 2018). For instance, it was taboo initially to marry from the same sex or gender but now, especially in the first world countries, societies embrace such relationships. Homosexuality has been originally a deviant behavior but is currently accepted in many developed communities. The behavior has even gone to the extent of acquiring legal acknowledgment. Societies have developed the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) movement to support their deviant actions. A romantic engagement between a man and his fellow man is called gaysim, while that of a woman and her fellow woman is called lesbianism (Kalinina et al., 2017). Such deviant behavior only affects those who participate in it and not the whole society, making it consensual.
In conclusion, another deviant action that is currently embraced by society is the involvement of women in the male-dominated workforce, since initially, it was taboo. Women's primary role was to perform house chores like cooking, washing, and caring for the children (Kalinina et al., 2017). A woman was not allowed to acquire education and get a career like a man, but currently, that is not the case. Women are now the frontrunners in getting a higher education and even holding leadership titles in the workforce. However, women are still exposed to unfair work practices like getting low incomes compared to men. Additionally, sex before marriage was initially taboo because people shared varying opinions on sexual relationships. On the contrary, it is currently normal and common to have many sexual relationships before getting a suitable partner for marriage (Kalinina et al., 2017). Society even considers people who do not engage in premarital sex as deviant and old-fashioned.
References
Kalinina, N. V., Salakhova, V. B., Artamonova, E. G., Efimova, O. I., & Kalinin, I. V. (2017). Psychological prevention mechanisms of minors' deviant behavior. Eurasian Journal of Analytical Chemistry , 12 (5b), 663-672.
Stepanova, O. P., Gridneva, S. V., Menshikov, P. V., Kassymova, G. К., Tokar, O. V., Merezhnikov, A. P., & Arpentieva, M. R. (2018). Value-motivational sphere and prospects of the deviant behavior. International journal of education and information technologies. ISSN , 2074-1316.
Telysheva, N. N., Erofeeva, M. A., Ulyanova, I. V., Pokrovskaya, S. V., Nikitskaya, E. A., Gorokhova, I. V., & Kochetkov, I. G. (2019). Socio-ecological determinants in the deviant behavior formation system. Ekoloji , 28 (107), 5077-5081.
