Macrolevel Sociological Perspective

Symbolic Interactionalism: One of the three perspectives of sociology is Symbolic Interactionalism, this is a microlevel theory that concerns

The second sociological perspective is functionalism and it just like conflict has a macro view on issues. When thinking about functionalism break the word up and it will help to give you a clear definition. Each part of the problem with function individually and then they will work together to cooperate. Functionalism like conflict has three questions that need to be answered. “ What parts of society are involved? What functions do the parts play? How are they related to one another/ or how do they impact one another” (Halperin, 2/13/15). If these questions can't be answered then it doesn't fall under the perspective of functionalism.

Jennifer Schrier, Lizbeth Velasco, Alexandra Perez Professor Marenco Sociology 20 October 2017 Youtube Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPwrmfRVwoA Youtube Project For our group project, we have chosen to write about Deviance. Deviance is defined as an action or behavior that violates social norms. Norms are social expectations that guide our everyday behaviors.

“Deviance in sociological context describes actions or behaviors that violate cultural norms including formally-enacted rules (e.g., crime) as well as informal violations of social norms.”

Deviance is the behavior and the standards of expectations of a group or society. It is also behavior that is considered dangerous, threatening or offensive. The people that are deviant are often labeled to be weirdos, oddballs, or creeps. In the United States, people with tattoos, drug addicts, alcoholics, and compulsive gamblers are all considered deviant. Sociologists believe that everybody is deviant from time to time. They believe each person will violate a social norm in certain situations. People are considered deviant if they don't stand for the national anthem at a sports event, dress casually to a fancy restaurant, or skip classes. One category of deviance is Crime. Crime is a violation of norms

In sociology, the term deviance refers to all violations of social rules, regardless of their seriousness (Essentials of Sociology 136). Deviance is an individual or organizational behavior that violates societal norms and is usually accompanied by negative reactions from others. According to a sociologist S. Becker, he stated that it is not the act itself that makes an action deviant, but rather how society reacts to it.

Sociological Perspectives and Theories Sociologists try to explain how society orders itself but there are many different theories for this, which often conflict with one another. Some of these classic theories include Marxism, Functionalism, and Interactionism. There are also more modern or contemporary theories such as Feminism. Each sociological perspective has different beliefs.

Chapter four begins with an experience a socioloogist had when spending time with streetcorner men late at night. This experience is used to explain the two levels of sociological analysis: Macrosociological (the approach that functionalists and conflict theorists use) and microsociological. The macrosociological perspective focuses on social structure which refers to the typical patterns of a group and its significance as it guides our behavior. Social structure consists of culture, social class, social statuses, roles, groups, and social institutions. Social institutions are the ways in which a society develops to meet its basic needs. The functionalists see social institutions as means to meet universal group needs, while conflict theorists see it as means for the elite class to maintain their positions of privilege. Social class divides people and each divided person gets ascribed statuses at birth before we add achieved statuses, which are influenced by the groups we are apart of. These are all what work together to maintain the social structure and hold society together. These hold true even as small, intimate communities become larger and impersonal, but that informal means of control represented in intimate communities is replaced by formal interactions, as pointed out by Ferdinand Tonnies. The microsociological perspective focuses on everyday life and the social interaction that takes place in it. This is where symbolic interactionists come in, as they tend to focus

When defining deviance, it’s a behavior that is recognized as violating expected rules and norms and behavior that departs significantly from social expectations. In the sociological perspective on deviance, there is subtlety that distinguishes it from our commonsense understanding of the same behavior. Sociologists stress social context, not just individual behavior. That is, deviance is looked at in terms of group processes, definitions, and judgments, and not just as unusual individual acts. Sociologists who study deviance and crime look into cultural norms, how they change over time, how they are enforced, and what happens to individuals and societies when norms are broken.

One of the most prominent statements on deviance is contained in the following quotation from Howard S. Becker (1963), one of the early exponents of the interactionist approach. Becker argued:

Deviance is described as being behaviour that is not part of the norms in your particular society. This can be different throughout the world because some cultures have very different norms (Stephens and Leach, 1998:17). Most deviant behaviour will attract disapproval from others in the society or punishment from authorities. There are many different types of deviance such as addiction, mental illness, alcoholism, criminality and homosexuality. Throughout this essay six types of theories will be discussed about how and why people are deviant. Four of these theories support the idea of deviance being biological and three support the idea of it being caused by your social construction. Also the essay will talk about the differences between

I’ve been learning about a behavior that violates significant social norms which are called deviance. It is being used for social life, so it can help clarify norms, unify the group, diffuse tension, and promote change throughout society.

Deviance can be defined as an absence of conformity to the social norm. Not all deviant behavior is necessarily illegal or harmful to individuals, these behaviors can range from standing in another’s personal space to murdering another individual. In some cases, it can be looked upon as a positive change or a unique and favorable act. Although, considered deviant because it is not the social norm, it still can have a very positive social aspect or lead to social change. Culture and the societies within these cultures have a significant impact on what is considered deviant and what is acceptable or even lawful behavior. The degree of deviance is measured by society’s reaction towards the action and the lawful sanctions that may take

Deviance is an action or behavior that violates social norms, including a formally enacted rule, as well as informal violations of social norms. Deviant behavior is any behavior that is contrary to the dominant norms of society. Norms are rules and expectation by which members of society are conventionally guided. Social norms differ from culture to culture. Deviance can be criminal or non-criminal.

This essay will consider whether or not the ideas of deviance have changed over time and if deviance has changed over time whether it is reflected in the law, a common mistake made by a lot of people is that all deviant acts are criminal this is not the case. All criminal acts are deviant but not all deviant acts are criminal. Deviance is a behaviour of a person that differs from the social normality of society (TheFreeDictionary.com, 2003-2015) this can be as simple as antisocial behaviour such as smoking, or it can be a criminal act such as arson. There are two parts of deviance first there is Primary deviance which includes a variety of social groups it doesn’t have many consequences concerning social roles.