What is the nature of deviance
The term, norm, as it pertains to the field of sociology refers to what is defined by the culture as.Psychological approaches to deviance all have some key things in common.They see them as a social construction (underreporting etc) and so underestimate crime (especially middle class crime).Deviance is often divided into two types of activities.Drinking alcohol is perfectly proper, while at another time or place, it is.
The sociological discipline that deals with crime (behavior that violates laws) is criminology (also known as criminal justice).today, americans consider such activities as alcoholism, excessive gambling.Deviance occurs whenever someone else is harmed by an action.Deviance is defined by federal, provincial, and local laws.Most references attest to the nature of deviance as being something that violates behaviors, thoughts, or actions.What is defined as deviant at one time may not be so as there are shifts in cultural norms or beliefs.
Deviance is any behavior that violates social norms, and is usually of sufficient severity to warrant disapproval from the majority of society.Travis hirschi (1969) argued that human nature is basically selfish and thus wondered why people do not commit deviance.Deviance can be criminal or non‐criminal.First, the individual is the primary unit of analysis.But deviance is also a highly useful field of study.
Thus, deviance not only vanes by time but by place also.