Deviance and Social Change

Deviance is inseparable from social norms or cultural values. It is difficult to define the norms of society since they are not directly taught through generations, yet they are deeply instilled in people. Just like norms, deviance is culturally contingent and refers to a violation of the social norms or rules. According to Durkheim’s theory, the definition of moral boundaries is derived from defining deviant behaviour (Gerber, and Linda 2010). Thus deviance influences society’s understanding of morals and hence leads to social change. As rules and society perspective change, what is socially accepted as deviance also changes. Additionally, the emergence of cyber-culture has led to new standards and thus new deviance forms.

According to Hendershott (2002), the tendency of redefining harmful behaviour and breaking down moral boundaries had been a trend since time immemorial. Education systems have brought changes to society through the media. For instance, drug addiction is defiant in many societies; however, academic reports suggest that it is a disease or a condition that the victim cannot control (Conrad, and Schneider, 2010). Some countries are now starting to make it normal to be an addict by providing environments like injecting rooms. The redefining of what society previously knew as deviance in the academic level such as the perspective of suicides makes society to question what is formally known as right or wrong (Conrad, and Schneider, 2010).

Change of language used to refer to deviance behaviour is part of the campaign of changing perceptions. This is an era where experts are taken more seriously than religious leaders or advocates of traditional mortality (Hendershott, 2002). Society is no longer able to negatively sanction deviant behaviours that common sense shouts are evil (Hendershott, 2002). For instance, the turn of paedophilia to a medical condition forces society to shrug whenever intergenerational intimacy is reported (Conrad, and Schneider, 2010). Nowadays, the bond between good, the truth, and freedom is no longer acknowledged (Semin, and Gergen, 1990). People are supposed to uphold the morality of the society but instead, are now overlooking truth and letting freedom define what is good or evil.

References

Conrad, P. and Schneider, J.W., 2010. Deviance and medicalisation: From badness to sickness. Temple University Press.

Gerber, M. and Linda, J., 2010. Sociology 7th Canadian ed.

Hendershott, A.B., 2002. The politics of deviance. Encounter Books.

Semin, G.R. and Gergen, K.J., 1990. Everyday Understanding: Social and scientific implications. Sage Publications, Inc.