Deviance

                      It is a "normal" thing to live in a world where deviance exists. In fact, society as we know it might be as boring as staring into a blank piece of paper for an hour. By definition, deviance is a (p. 191) "behavior that does not conform to basic cultural norms and expectations." When I was a child I remember doing things that at the moment I didn't think were wrong but in fact, the action indeed was. In elementary school, fifth grade to be exact, calculators had just been distributed for my math class and fell completely in love with it so I decided to take it and so I placed it in my backpack. Looking back at the situation now makes me wonder what was I, a fifth grader, going to do with a calculator!My mother wound up finding the calculator and lecturing me and eventually I returned it. Luckily none of my friends were around to witness the return of the calculator, that would have been humiliating. This act taught me that it is not OK to "take" without someone's approval. That the norm is, your private property is yours and should not be taken away from you therefore you should not steal from others. This shows that culture and religion shaped what we know to be right and wrong.

       Acts of deviance is all around us, always. While walking to school we see deviance--that man sitting on a cardboard box on the sidewalk asking (or begging) for money, help, anything. This we view as a behavior that does not conform to the basic cultural norm and expectation. Furthermore, this man or woman solidifies the collective conscience. This is defined to be the "shared norms, beliefs, and values in a community." (Durkheim 1893/1997) Every one, you, your family members, and even I know that begging for money is not the norm. Being homeless is not the norm. Living on the streets is not the norm and that represents the collective conscience that we all share. The text tells us that "some acts of deviance generate widespread, perhaps even universal, condemnation." (191) When Pablo went to Best Buy and stole that P!nk album that he's wanted since its release date is caught, we tend to lable this deviant act as a thief, a criminal. This most often allows Pablo, along with his now low self esteem, to take these words, theif and criminal and incorporate that into his self-identity. This is known as the labeling theory. "Deviance is the result of how others interpret a behavior and that individuals who are labled deviant often internalize this judgement as part of their self-identity." (192) Irlanda shows up late to class everyday. On a Wednesday she showed up to class fourty-five minutes late and the teacher told her that she's going to be a failure in the "real world." That lable is stigma and Irlanda will now be affected by the labeling theory and this stigma. Stigma is defined to be "the shame attached to a behavior or status that is considered socially unacceptable or discrediting." These are effects of Deviant Labels.

                   The deviant acts that surround us, in fact, are not malignant. Since it is behaviors that does not conform to basic cultural norms, we view them in a negative way. The text reveals that deviant acts, although not the expectations in a culture, helps:

1. define group boundaries
2. create social solidarity
3. and is a source of innovation

   The article by Herbert J. Gans, "Positive Functions of the Undeserving Poor: Uses of the Underclass in America" tells us about how the poor is generally viewed. The reason why the criminality amongst these people is due to their economic status rather than by free will. "Judgement of the poor as undeserving are not based on evidence, but derive from a stereotype, even if, like most others, it is a stereotype with a "kernel of truth". (1) It also describes Functions of the Undeserving poor, the factors that lead to where they are. The Three Economic Factors describes how the people who've been labled "undeserving" can be banished from the formal labor market. The example they give are high school drop outs and their chance in the labor market without their high school diploma.
it finally gives a solution. That the poor stereotyped as underserving should be helped by scholars, writers and journalists. Ultimately the poor fall under the labeling theory, it becomes their self-identity and the "undeserving" feel that their place is out in the streets begging for money without stressing importance of getting out, social mobility.