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Assignment No.2

The document discusses social deviance and different theories that attempt to explain deviant behavior. It defines deviance as actions that violate social norms or laws. Deviance is divided into formal deviance which breaks laws, and informal deviance which violates unwritten social norms. What is considered deviant can vary between cultures as norms are relative.

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53 views3 pages

Assignment No.2

The document discusses social deviance and different theories that attempt to explain deviant behavior. It defines deviance as actions that violate social norms or laws. Deviance is divided into formal deviance which breaks laws, and informal deviance which violates unwritten social norms. What is considered deviant can vary between cultures as norms are relative.

Uploaded by

beeshort
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Student Name. Sidra Abro Tutor Name.

NIAZ ALI MASTOI

Roll No.  CB648573 Tutor Name Address. AAGHI LMS portal

Student Address. E74/A Railway Colony Nawabshah.

Course Name. Citizenship Education and Community Engagement.

Course Code. 8606. Semester. Autumn 2020

Assignment No. 02

Program:       B.ED(2.5YEARS)
Q.1 (a). Define the concept of social structure?

Ans. Social deviance is a phenomenon that has existed in all societies where there have been
norms. There are two possibilities for how an individual will act in the face of social norms;
conform or violate. There are implicit social norms and explicit social norms. Explicit social
norms are not necessarily laws (such as a sign at a computer lab that says food and drink are
prohibited). In reality, there is often a blend of conformity and deviance in the ways people
behave. Rarely if ever does a person deviate from or conform to all norms. Furthermore, some
behaviors in themselves reflect both conformity and deviance at once. Consider breaking the
speed limit, which is technically a legal violation, but which is also conformist, particularly on
freeways where motorists "go with the flow." That is a critical feature of deviance, conformity,
and norms. Relativity abounds. That is, norms can change over time (e.g. women in the paid
labor force), depend on situational context (e.g. laughing at a party as opposed to doing so at a
funeral), depend on statuses (e.g. an adolescent blowing up neighbors' mailboxes as opposed
to an elderly woman doing so), and any number of other factors. But it's not all relative. There
are forms of deviance (and certain norms) that are about as universal as anything in the social
sciences can be, such as when one maliciously harms a child. In light of the way we think about
norms, deviance, and conformity, many thinkers throughout history have tried to explain the
causes behind deviance.

Social science theories are just what they are: theories. The philosophers who have come up
with these theories believe in them because they have made a set of the assumptions by their
observations and they have made conclusions based on these assumptions. However, as the
reality of the world is open to interpretation, each theory describes the world in its own unique
way. No theories are wrong if they are supportable by facts and observations. These theories
you will learn are just ways that thinkers have used to describe the world around them. Just
remember that you do not have to agree with a particular theory, but you must be able to
understand all theories in order to make a conclusion about the world in which you live.
The best way to understand a particular ideology is to think as a philosopher would think. How
would believers of a particular theory present a solution to a particular problem? Thinkers in
different schools of thought will come up with different answers because of the differences in
their assumptions. Make sure you understand how different theorists think.

Most importantly, understand that these theories are constantly being altered, borrowed from,
and in some of the cases, discredited completely. Theories are not rules to the world but rather
ways to look at the world. A person can look at the world in different perspectives and can
combine different assumptions of theories to describe it. No matter how different theories can
be, they can almost always be combined because they are almost never mutually exclusive.

Deviance, in a sociological context, describes actions or behaviors that violate informal social
norms or formally-enacted rules. Among those who study social norms and their relation to
deviance are sociologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and criminologists, all of whom
investigate how norms change and are enforced over time.

Deviance is often divided into two types of activities. The first, crime, is the violation of
formally enacted laws and is referred to as formal deviance. Examples of formal deviance
include robbery, theft, rape, murder, and assault. The second type of deviant behavior involves
violations of informal social norms (norms that have not been codified into law) and is referred
to as informal deviance. Examples of informal deviance include picking one’s nose, belching
loudly, or standing unnecessarily close to another person.

Deviance can vary dramatically across cultures. Cultural norms are relative, which makes
deviant behavior relative as well. For instance, in the United States, Americans do not generally
impose time-based restrictions on speech. However, in the Christ Desert Monastery, specific
rules govern determine when residents can and cannot speak, and speech is banned between 7:30
pm and 4:00 am. These rules are one example of how norms vary across cultures.

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