Lesson 18 - Deviance

What is deviance?

Like most of the new words we look at, the original meaning of "deviate" is to turn away from a path or route. For example, the a ray of light deviates when it passes through a piece of glass. The word later came to mean doing something different or unexpected. When we look at society, deviance means not following cultural norms. This can take many different forms: anyone from a criminal to an LGBT person can be a deviant.  As deviance is based on social norms, what is considered deviant differs from culture to culture. In many cultures, eating raw meat or fish could be considered deviant, but raw fish, horse and chicken are all eaten in Japan. In fact, sashimi is so popular in Japan that not eating it could be considered deviant.

Types of deviance

There are 4 different types of social norm which people can deviate from, going from least to most serious.

The least serious norms are called folkways. These are things like waiting in a line and generally being polite to others. As with all norms folkways change from one culture to another. Taking your shoes off to enter someone's house is a common folkway in Japan, but not in some other cultures. Greetings are a good example of folkways which differ among cultures, from bowing in Japan, to shaking hands in most western countries, to kissing on the cheek in Mediterranean cultures.

The second type of norms are mores. Mores are more serious, they tell a society what is right and wrong, what is ethical and moral. Being unfaithful to a partner would be an example of a more, it isn't illegal but many people would say it's morally wrong. Religions are often a source of mores. Religious rules, like not eating pork in Islam or Judaism, or sex before marriage in many religions are mores. In societies where different religions coexist, differing mores can lead to arguments betweeen religious groups. These mores can affect even non-religious people's views of right and wrong. For example, a non-religious person might still think it is wrong for a couple to live together before they are married.

Even more serious than mores are taboos. People will react with disgust and anger when taboos are broken. Some taboos are fairly universal, they are found in almost every culture. These include incest and cannibalism (eating other humans). Other taboos are also religiously based, such as abortion, and so are only considered taboo by some people.

The final form of norm is a law. A law is a norm which has been defined by the government, and is protected by the police and courts.

Sanctions

Deviance, breaking social norms, is usually met by sanctions. Sanctions are societies ways of making people behave by punishing deviant behaviour. The strength of the sanction is usually appropriate to the level of the norm being violated. Violations of folkways will normally attract funny looks and some tutting, but most people will not say anything to you unless you are a close friend or family. Taboos are likely to result in ostracism, excluding people from the group. Breaking laws will result in formal sanctions (if you are caught), which include fines (having to pay money) and time in prison.

Lesson 17 Reading

Article 17a - 1,000 women die in ‘honor killings’ annually
Article 17b - Vietnam plans etiquette code for social media users
Article 17c - How US abortion debate got to this point
Article 17d - Northern Irish abortion law violates women's rights
Article 17e - Are HK’s social norms cold, or convenient?