Deviance is defined as the recognized violation of cultural norms but more simply defined as any rule breaking behavior. This extremely broad definition does not do deviance justice. Generally, putting a negative stronghold on society would be considered deviant but this is not necessarily true. Non-criminal deviance, any different lifestyle than the social norms such as: your style of dress, sexual preference, religious beliefs, marital status or any other conduct that is not according to the social norm could make any ordinary citizen a deviant in the eyes of society. It is all essentially the decision of any group of whether or not your behavior follows their norms or defies them.
The decision to live your life can be a breach to society’s norms of acceptable behavior. Even choosing to disagree with a new law that is been implemented would be considered deviant. Smoking was once considered ‘cool’ and movies and music glorified it. In the last decade smoking cigarettes has become a habit that is taboo.
If you smoke you are bombarded with anti-smoking propaganda that has come out from all of the research that has been done about how smoking cigarettes affect your health. Also, because of this research, the Government has raised the taxes on cigarettes so that people who can’t pay $10. 00 a pack will most likely have to quit because they just can’t afford it or they are going to find alternate means of getting them for cheaper. These are ways that society has chosen to enforce their beliefs on smoking. In all public areas in Sudbury, Ontario it is against the city by-law to smoke. This by-law was put in place to make people follow the social norm to be a non-smoker; it is also a really good way to force people to abide by this norm in public at least.
The Essay on The Effects of Social Norms on Society
The Effects of Social Norms on Society In a world where routine is dominant and change is difficult to adhere by, social norms have become major assets for a smoothly functioning day. With the experiment of breaking normative behavior I wanted to do something subtle yet startling. Sometimes the smallest changes in behavior receive the toughest adjustments. First impressions have a strong influence ...
Making smoking more expensive and less convenient was the plan and it is an effective way to enforce the beliefs of society’s beliefs on the subject. To disagree with these new by-laws would be considered to be committing socially deviant acts as is smoking itself. It is socially unacceptable to not follow and abide by the laws provided by the various levels of government in all of their contexts. This would mean that our Canadian Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression would be in violation of society’s norms. All humans are or have been at one point or another, deviant in some way, whether they have committed a societal defined crime or not, we will all be considered deviant by others as long as we live on this earth. No matter what you believe, especially religious beliefs, someone, somewhere would consider your daily activities to be deviant.
As society’s norms change, any activity or behavior can be considered a violation of society’s norms. There is a great difference between criminal and non-criminal deviance. You don’t have to be a criminal to obtain Social Deviant status in society’s eyes; you only have to stray a bit from what is considered normal. none.
