Deviance

summary

 Deviance is any behavior that violates cultural norms. Deviance is often divided into two types of deviant activities. The first, crime is the violation of formally enacted laws and is referred to as formal deviance. While the focus of this chapter is on sociological explanations of deviance, there are explanations from other disciplines as well. Robert K. Merton, in his discussion of deviance, proposed a typology of deviant behavior. A typology is a classification scheme designed to facilitate understanding. In this case, Merton was proposing a typology of deviance based upon two criteria: A person's motivations or her adherence to cultural goals and a person's belief in how to attain her goals. According to Merton, there are five types of deviance based upon these criteria.(conformity,innovation,ritualism,retreatism,rebellion) Deviance can be the result of accepting one norm, but breaking another in order to pursue the first.  Deviant behavior plays an important role in society for several reasons.  Deviance helps distinguish between what is acceptable behavior, and what is not. In addition to clarifying the moral boundaries of society, deviant behavior can also promote social unity, but it does so at the expense of the deviant individuals, who are obviously excluded from the sense of unity derived from differentiating the non-deviant from the deviants.
Finally, and quite out of character for the structural-functionalist approach, deviance is actually seen as one means for society to change over time.

opinion

 I had negative thoughts about the deviance. But Through this exercise, I found that deviance  plays an important role in society.  Deviation is the driving force of social change.

question

I want to know more about the social role of the deviation.