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1.2: Deviance, Rule Violations, and Criminality

  • Page ID
    15890
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    [1]

    Deviance is behavior that departs from the social norm. Goode argues that four things must happen in order for something deviant to take place or exist:

    [2]

    Applying Knowledge

    Assignment: Apply Goode’s definition of what needs to happen in order for something to be considered deviant in no less than 500 words and following the example below.

    Example: The awkward outfit to the gym: knee socks, athletic shorts, and an oversized Broncos t-shirt mentioned above could be deviant. Based on Goode’s definition of deviance, this attire departed from the social norm at the gym in 2018. Whether we realize it or not some specific rules or norms established in the gym (1); sometimes we have a dress code, but other times, you have to keep up with current ‘hip trends’ such as yoga pants for women in 2018. Next, I violated that norm by my attire (2); since it was a busy Monday night lots of people saw my attire, my audience, that was able to witness my act and then judge it (3). Lastly, they cannot kick me out for not dressing cool, but the awkward smirks, stares, and giggles were all I needed to know that my clothes were deviant and not cool (4). This could certainly have not been true in 1950, 1980, or even early 2000s. If I think back to when I started lifting over a decade ago, yoga pants were unheard of and no one wore anything ‘tight’ to the gym. Today yoga pants are regular and in some parts of the country for women and men.


    1. By Tuerto - [1], CC by-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26526042
    2. Goode, E. (2015). Deviant Behavior, (10th ed.). New York: Pearson, Education.

    This page titled 1.2: Deviance, Rule Violations, and Criminality is shared under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Alison S. Burke, David Carter, Brian Fedorek, Tiffany Morey, Lore Rutz-Burri, & Shanell Sanchez (OpenOregon) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.