Deviance from a sociological perspective sees it as “a behavior, trait, belief, or other characteristic that violates a norm and causes a negative reaction” (Ferris, Stein 2018). Sociologists spend a lot of time studying what causes deviant behavior, how it is enforced, what the end result of situations looks like for the individual and the law enforcement. As this article from ThoughtCo explains, deviance and social vary, of course among societies, communities, and the period of time. This is overall behavior that differs and departs significantly from regular social expectations. This article describes that is it not just within the individual which causes such behavior, but the social context that follows along and influences a social being and is looked at from group processes, definitions, and judgements.
Something that comes from the study of deviant behavior is the explanation upon a variety of different things people do that change over time; something that could be considered normal then and isn’t now, and vice versa. These are things such as tattoos, body piercings, clothing, eating disorders, drug use, and underage drinking. A big topic that controversial throughout studies is the condition under what makes suicide behavior acceptable. “Would one who commits suicide in the face of a terminal illness be judged differently from a despondent person who jumps from a window?” (ThoughtCo. 2018). This article explains the four different theoretical approaches, structural strain theory, structural functionalist standpoint, conflict theory, and labeling theory. Looking at things from these different perspectives, gives sociologist reacts to such acts. Deviant behavior lies within not just self-behavior and reacts from social responses behavior from others. This article states that from a study done, it is common that deviant people continue participating in criminal and deviant acts because of the fact of them already being labeled and seen as people who would do such things and at times this falls within their class, race, gender, or at all times. They believe that since they are seen as such thing by society, is it against their personal being to change and go against that label.
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https://www.thoughtco.com/sociology-of-crime-and-deviance-3026279
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