most people in society regard deviant behavior as inherently wrong. What do you think and why?

Question

this is for a class and I am having some trouble coming up with an answer. Please help!!

Answer 1

A wise man once said, "Without deviation from the norm, there can be no progress."

I don't think he was refering to coprophagia or anything like that, but a certain amount of deviancy is necessary in any society to keep from becoming stagnant.

Answer 2

Most people in any society would agree what sort of behaviour is described as deviant by that society.

In a democracy, at least, they are also then likely to agree that it is wrong.

I have a little trouble with the word "inherently" or am I trying to analyze it too much?

I don't think any behaviour is "inherently wrong" but others ie the general public in a society might think it is. It has to be labelled as wrong depending on the values held by that society.

Some behaviours, in some cultures, which are not regarded within the society as deviant I think are wrong - e.g. so called "honour killing" - ("honor killing" for the USA) where a women who has been raped is killed by her own family members because she has brought "shame" on the family.

As usual with sociology no straightforward answer.

Answer 3

It helps to understand what a norm is. Basically, they're unspoken rules that dictate human behavior in society. Nobody tells you that you can't run around naked and throw empty beer cans at random people, but we all know that it's considered juuuuust a little strange.

When someone breaks a norm, they're considered either strange or hostile, and sometimes both. This is why when new styles arise (such as violent rap music in the early 90's), most people are quick to say that it's destroying society. We know it didn't, and what it actually was, was just people afraid of a norm being broken. This is why "deviant" behavior is considered "wrong", when it's really just breaking norms. As long as no laws are broken in the process, it's fine.

Answer 4

Deviant behavior is contrary to socially acceptable behavior. Being right or wrong isn't always the case. Morality plays a lot in determining deviant behavior. But so does public opinion and what is normal in the social arena.

Answer 5

I agree-but within certain limits. Deviant behavior is inherently wrong in that every person has within him or herself a natural knowledge and understanding that certain behaviors are wrong because they disrupt the peace of the community.Even the most rock-headed, hardcore criminals admit that they know what they did was wrong. There are alot of factors involved with this very broad question that alot of people simply do not care to investigate. The consensus of alot of people is ,"Throw 'em in jail. Throw away the key." Then these same people ***** and whine because their tax dollars have to feed and clothe the "deviants". The most salient feature of your question that disturbs me most is, "Who decides what is considered deviant behavior?" I don't want super rich, spoon-up-their-noses, "upstanding citizens" of the community deciding for me what is right or wrong. I remember when I was a kid there was a place I used to go to about a quarter of a mile behind the football stadium to party and hang with my friends. It was a wooded area and we always kept the noise down and cleaned up after ourselves(beer bottles, wine bottles, condoms, etc.,). Then, some rich guy moved into this big brownstone about 200 yards from our area. One night while out walking Fe-Fe in his professionally manicured yard, he heard us and came back to where we were, demanding to know what us "hooligans" were doing. Being the mouthpiece of the group I looked at him with that , "Yawn-you're boring me" look on my face and said, "And you are?" He went on about how were nothing but future criminals (I couldn't resist retorting that, "Well you're presently an asshole") and he was going to call the police and have us all arrested, yatta,yatta,yatta. The point is, this guy knew us not at all and had, within two minutes of meeting us, branded us as "future criminals". We knew better, but the idea that of what he said was well taken in by all of us- and we were'nt even out of ninth grade yet. Those kind of words stick with you and if you let them, they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. In this manner I believe that society, which is far too tight-assed as it is, actually helps create the mindset that leads to those "future criminals". The power of words.

Answer 6

Most people accept that what is defined by the dominant power in their society as "deviant behavior" is wrong because that power, typically some form of institution, tells them it is wrong...and because the penalties for such behavior are so severe, that people come to understand that the behavior must simply be wrong.

What many people, however, do not understand is that "deviant behavior" is an arbitrary term assigned for whatever the dominant power of a society is attempting to suppress. In other words, what gets labelled deviant varies from culture to culture. For example, during the period of the Inquisition, the Church essentially defined anything that it didn't officially sanction as deviant, including among other things: alternate forms of Christianity, female sexuality, Judaism, and the practice of science. Another good example would be the persecution by the former Soviet Union of such "deviant behavior" as demanding black market capitalism, free speech, demanding civil and human rights, and wanting to emigrate out of the Soviet Union. Many of the people who practiced such "deviancy" were literally imprisoned in mental hospitals where they were more or less tortured indefinitely.

At present in the United States, many Americans think that anyone who dissents against the President and his illegal actions in Iraq is a "deviant." What gets defined as deviant is equally defined as "wrong." If one looks carefully at what a society defines as deviancy, one can learn much about that culture. Are there behaviors which are harmful to society and that need to be addressed, typically by imprisonment? Of course. Criminal behavior is criminal specifically because of the harm it causes to society one way or another. However, we all have to look closely at what gets labelled deviant. Although much of what we commonly consider deviancy is considered such precisely because of its extreme criminality and/or harm to others, we have to stay vigilant that more vital activities that benefit society, such as the right to assemble and protest or the right to organize unions, do not get labelled deviant just because those in power wish to suppress them.

Answer 7

Whose values and whose morals? i individually discover the act of codifying hatred and intolerance plenty extra damaging than letting some consenting adults get married. i could somewhat we no longer make hatred, anger, bigotry, condemnation, suppression, offensiveness, slender-mindedness, and inequality mainstream/ideal interior the call of a few one-sided morality no longer all of us even subscribes to. i'm all in favour of morality, yet in basic terms in this: your rights bring about basic terms the place yet another's rights initiate. the only morality is the wear and tear we do unto others. For the self, do what you will (see you later as you do no longer inflict it upon others). "morality could be legislated! homicide and theft are unlawful because of the fact they're immoral" No...homicide and theft are unlawful because of the fact they infringe upon the rights of others. It has no longer something to do with any inherent immorality of the act or what God could or won't think of approximately it. there are a number of stuff which many evaluate "immoral" that are criminal and particularly some issues that are unlawful which at the instant are not seen "immoral." Legality isn't a similar element as morality...NOR could or no longer it particularly is. Morality is between you and your God. Legality is between your rights and the rights of others. "This international locations morals and values got here authentic out of the bible." No, they got here from the writings of English regulation and the writings of such philosophical visionaries as John Locke, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Paine, and Charles de Montesquieu that have been heavily study, referenced, or maybe copied by skill of the Founders.

Answer 8

Its wrong and its mostly people that crave attention.