Deviance: Going Against Cultural Norms

From the sociological perspective, deviance is viewed as going against cultural norms. In fact, Howard S. Becker believed that deviance was not the act itself, but societies reaction to said act. Similarly, Ervin Goffman added to this by proposing “social stigma”, where people disapprove of something creating certain standards for everyone else. Adding to that theory is the Functionalist Perspective, which states that deviance promotes social unity. By someone deviating from the norms of society, others band together to disapprove creating the social stigma of conformity. Another theory is the illegitimate opportunity theory, which is when social classes exhibit different styles of crime, like someone stealing who is from an impoverished area;