Overview of The Concept of Deviant Behavior

According to Sumner (2011), deviant behavior constitutes any behavior that is divergent to the contextual, cultural, or social norms of society. Three main theories have been adopted to define the concept of deviant behavior, that is, the Functionalism Theory, Conflict Theory, Symbolic Interactionism. A functionalism theorist highlights deviance as a social necessity of reminding people of the effects of acting against the social norms. Conflict theorists point out that inequality is the root of deviant behaviors. Finally, the theorists of Symbolic Interactionism argue that deviance is socially constructed from nature or the environment (Wallace & Wolf, 1999).

Deviant behaviors range from consensus crimes, like sexual assault, conflict crimes such as prostitution, and social deviations, which are legal but harmful, for instance, provocative dressing code. The collective perception of deviant behaviors, changes with time. Deviant behavior differs from one generation to the next, and some of these deviant behaviors may become convectional with time (Wallace & Wolf, 1999).

Fifty years ago, homosexuality was considered deviant behavior in the USA and the UK. Men who engaged in homosexuality were policed aggressively and were even arrested. According to Tatchell (1992), 420 men in the UK were convicted of homosexuality as it was considered as gross indecency, and by 1974 there were over 1700 men with such convictions. This was actually after the 1967 Act that legalized male homosexuality. Today, homosexuality is considered normal and is largely acceptable. There are several reasons as to why homosexuality is now a convectional behavior. There has been a law passed to decriminalize the act. In 2000 a ban barring homosexual people from serving in the army was raised. Gay marriage was legalized in England, Wales, and Scotland in 2014. Also, discrimination based on sexual preference was banned in 2007. In the US, on June 26, 2015, US Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage throughout the United (Yoshino, 2015). The changes in the social imagination have led to the change in society's attitude towards homosexuality as deviant behavior. Between 1974 and 1990, Americans had a social imagination of homosexuality as deviant behavior. In contrast, after 1990, there was an increased imagination of homosexuality as a collective identity, which led to public and institutional support. From a structural-functionalism perspective, homosexuality was viewed to fracture society but is now considered to reinforce social stability through social adjustment and development. By having homosexually oriented persons, the society has, with time has been able to see the injustice in the system (Kirsch, 2013)

Fifty years back, it was legal to drink alcohol while driving in the United States of America. It was allowed that you drink while driving as long as you weren't drunk when getting into the car. Today it is considered a deviant behavior as it poses a significant danger to human life. The federal government commenced the enforcement of Open Container Laws to stop drinking while driving in 1998. However, only 39 states follow these Open Container Laws encompassing six TEA-21 laws. Other states have developed their Open Container Laws. Drunk driving was normal as a police officer was the one to determine whether you were too drunk to drive. From the late 1970s to 1990, laws and penalties against drunk driving were effected following intense pressures from organizations such, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and Student Against Destructive Decisions (Fell & Voas, 2006). Social control, regulation, and enforcement against driving while drinking has indeed been effective in curbing this norm. According to Innes (2003), social control is organized action with the goal of changing people's behaviors. The government has also engaged in social control by enacting and enforcing laws against drinking while driving (Ross, 1984).

With time, some deviant behaviors will become convectional in the future. One notable example is polygamy. Polygamy is considered a deviant behavior but will probably be okay in the future. In today's society, consider polygamy as a deviant behavior with the federal and state government outlawing it. One of the reasons for this is because the government has limited ability to regulate intimate relations as those in a polygamy relationship (Jones, 2015). Therefore lows prohibiting polygamy will most likely go. There is also no social harm that occurs from consenting relationships of polygamy. The society is likely to change the social imagination of polygamy. This is because, in the modern world, people are more consenting to polygamy as they were so year back. This trend means that in the future, polygamy will be a normal behavior.

Driving is an acceptable norm that may be considered deviant in the future. The society may consider outlawing driving cars as human error can be very dangerous. With the robust growth in technology, self-driving cars have been produced, and in the new future, there will be efficient, error-free cars in the market. Autonomous car under test has been observed to be more effective than human as they have never caused an accident. The society is going to change its view on the risks of human driving and opt for the safer way. According to Travis Hirschi Control Theory, under the Symbolic Interactionism theory, the belief of a society can change the view of defiant behavior. Accordingly, the society will hold a common belief that autonomous cars are safer than human driving, which will lead to consideration of the later as a defiant behavior (Hirschi, 1969).

References

1. Fell, J. C., & Voas, R. B. (2006). Mothers against drunk driving (MADD): the first 25 years. Traffic injury prevention, 7(3), 195-212.
2. Hirschi, T. (1969). A control theory of delinquency. Criminology theory: Selected classic readings, 1969, 289-305.
3. Innes, M. (2003). Understanding social control. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
4. Jones, V. (2015). A Sexual Revolution in the Court: An Examination of the Constitutionality of Morally Based Sexual Laws (Doctoral dissertation).
5. Kirsch, M. H. (2013). Queer theory and social change. Routledge.
6. Ross, H. L. (1984). Social control through deterrence: Drinking-and-driving laws. Annual review of sociology, 10(1), 21-35.
7. Sumner, W. G. (2011). Folkways-A study of the sociological importance of usages, manners, customs, mores and morals. Read Books Ltd.
8. Tatchell, P. (1992). Europe in the Pink: Lesbian & Gay Equality in the New Europe. Heretic Books.
9. Wallace, R. A., & Wolf, A. (1999). Contemporary sociological theory: Expanding the classical tradition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
10. Yoshino, K. (2015). A New Birth of Freedom?: Obergefell v. Hodges. Harv. L. Rev., 129, 147.