Burgeoning Sociologists:This is my younger son many years ago when we took my grandson (his son) to the park. My son thought it would be fun to play on the springy horse, even though he's clearly too large for it. It was a little deviant, but it made for funny memories.
Besides providing humor, does deviance serve any other functions? And is deviance always negative? Is it deviant to try tell "little white lies" to spare someone hurt feelings? What about a German politician's proposal to limit marriage to 7 years?
Some deviance can cause great disruptions to society but the outcome is not always perceived negatively. So, what's deviant and what's not? Does our definition change over time?
Deviance is simply a violation of norms and since we all violate norms from time to time, to sociologists we're all deviant. In the next class we'll be reviewing several theories. It's a practice in understanding the theories rather than coming to firm conclusions, but put on your theorist hat because next week we'll break into groups to try to decide which theory best explains certain types of deviance in society.
Christa
