Sociology??

Question

"asses the view that deviance is merely a label applied by some to the actions of others"

Answer 1

It is probably fair to say that deviance is defined by societal norms. To deviate, after all, is to diverge from a rule or the truth. So, the question is who gets to determine the norms of a society and that is up for debate. If we are talking about North American and/ or western society, there are probably a number of actions which would almost universally be viewed as deviant. The sexual abuse of children, for example. Or torture. However, even these actions have their proponents. There are other actions which are labelled as deviant by a majority, but which have a rather large number of proponents. Use of cannabis might be a good example of this. So, there is no doubt that deviance is labelled by the prevailing notions of a larger group. But to use that qualifier, "merely" I think does some disservice. To use my earlier example, the notion of paedophilia as deviant being "merely" a label, doesn't wash. What people view as deviant is culturally, familially, and individually determined. There will never be 100% agreement. It is a term that can be misused, but also has some value in terms of understanding common standards of behaviour.

Hope that's of some help.