Sociology Paper

Answer

• Deviance and Crime

  Social problems are described as a behavior or condition that negatively influences or has significant consequences on several individuals. The phrase social problem is often used to refer to social circumstances that damage or disrupt society. Examples of social issues often include racism, deviance, crime, poverty, and homelessness, among other issues (Rebellon, Anskat & Triplett, 2018). This paper aims to evaluate deviance and crime as a social problem. The paper discusses the sociological causes and explanations linked to deviance, considering different theoretical perspectives. Moreover, the paper analyses the social factors that significantly contribute to deviance and what sociologists and other experts suggest as possible solutions to this social concern.

  1. Theoretical Perspective of Deviance and Crime

  Deviance is often described as the state of diverging from accepted or custom standards, especially in social or sexual behavior. Examples of formal deviance include theft, robbery, rape, murder, and assault. In other words, deviance is described as a crime (Downes, Rock & McLaughlin, 2016). Considering the preceding ages of sociology, scholars have generated different hypotheses that demonstrate what deviance and crime suggest to the community. These opinions can be categorized into three significant sociological models that include symbolic interactionism, conflict, and functionalism theories.

  1. Functionalism Theory

  Sociologists who often adhere to the functionalist strategy are often involved with how the community's various aspects add to the whole. On most occasions, these sociologists observe deviance as a significant element of an active community. Studies indicate that the strain theory, cultural deviance theory, and social disorganization theory present three functionalist prospects of deviance in the community (Rebellon, Anskat & Triplett, 2018). Deviance is a fundamental element of a prosperous society. Rebellon, Anskat, and Triplett (2018) argue that deviance is practical, given that it stimulates an individual's existing perspectives. For example, African American scholars across the United States engaged in sit-ins throughout the civil rights movements that confronted the community's segregation scheme. Furthermore, sociologists notice that when deviance is corrected, it reaffirms current cultural models contributing to the community.

  Under the functionalism theory perspective, there is social disorganization speculation. Scholars revealed this theory at the University of Chicago. The conjecture affirms that deviance or crime is anticipated to transpire in societies with incompetent cultural affinities and a lack of cultural control (Meier, 2018). A person who develops in a poor community with high incidences of substance use, disorder, juvenile misconduct, and poor parenting is more inclined to become a perpetrator than a person from a rich or affluent community with a reliable school system and relatives who are often engaged positively in the society.

  1. Conflict Theory

  The conflict system looks at financial and cultural aspects as the origins of deviance and delinquency. Unlike the functionalists' theory, conflict philosophers do not consider these determinants as concrete purposes of culture. Instead, they see them as an indication of an imbalance in the system (Rebellon, Anskat & Triplett, 2018). Moreover, they also challenge social disorganization and control theory. Rebellon, Anskat, and Triplett (2018) argue that these theories ignore socioeconomic and racial concerns and oversimplify social trends.

   

   

  • Symbolic Interactionism or Labeling Theory

  All individuals violate different standards regularly; some would contemplate themselves deviant. Those who do are constantly labeled as deviant by the community and have continuously come to accept. The labeling system evaluates the ascribing of a deviant character to another individual by members of the community (Meier, 2018). Therefore, what is deemed unnatural is not restricted by the characters of the individuals who perpetrate them but by others' responses to these characters (Boman & Mowen, 2019). Consequently, what is regarded as deviant alters as time pass and can change beyond cultures.

  All the significant sociological paradigms discussed in this work provide different explanations for deviance and crime motivation. Functionalists indicate that deviance is a cultural requirement, given that it strengthens standards by warning individuals of the outcomes of breaking different norms. According to studies, disrupting patterns can open the community's eyes to the inequity in the system (Rebellon, Anskat & Triplett, 2018). On the other hand, conflict scholars maintain that crime or deviance emerges from a practice of imbalance that keeps those in authority up and those without down. Symbolic interactionists center concentration on the culturally developed reality of the labels associated with deviance (Meier, 2018). According to these theories, deviance and crime are acquired from society and strengthened or inhibited by individuals in society.

  1. Social Factors Contributing to Deviance and Crime

  In these modern times, social deviance has become a significant social concern, given that society is what develops and sets the standard of what may be considered to be deviant or crime. In the coming years, deviant and crime acts may become less deviant due to society becoming more lenient. Such habits can lead to poverty conditions, given that they are seen as deviant within the community (Meier, 2018). Various social cultures or factors significantly contribute to the increase in deviance and crime in modern society. Some of the factors include education, community, and peers, family, and alcohol. Studies indicate that maternal behaviors significantly affect modeling a child's risks of late engagement in crime.

  1. Family

  Deprived familial practices, such as poor maternal administration and parent's dismissal of a child, are considered reasonable predictors of succeeding delinquency by the child. Studies indicate that a child who often encounters critical or unrelenting familial practices has enhanced rates of conduct issues, drug use, grief and fear, and violence while in the teenage years, compared to those whose folks did not utilize discipline (Rebellon, Anskat & Triplett, 2018). Moreover, a child's family disorder and punishment have notable inter-generational influences on a person's probability of becoming engaged in deviance and crime. Researchers suggest that punishment in the adolescence stage increases a person's likelihood of becoming deviant and participating in different crime types.

  1. Education

  Education has a significant function in influencing a person's probability of prosperity in society. Not participating in academy level education is considered a risk determinant for future deviancy and criminality activities. Studies indicate that education alters the relative opportunities afforded by deviance and crime, most significantly property crime than legitimate employment (Meier, 2018). Higher levels of literacy guarantee higher yields from employment or entrepreneurship, making it more engaging than crime.

   

  • Economic

  The economic aspects that impact deviance and illegal behaviors include property (inequality), poverty (divestment), and unemployment. Studies indicate that unemployment is a significant predictor of crime engagement, particularly poverty crime, not a destructive crime (Downes, Rock & McLaughlin, 2016). However, the effectiveness of the association between unemployment and crime is often disputed. It is not clear how effective this association is contrasted to other social and economic aspects.

  1. Community and Peers

  Community and peer influence on deviance and crime are complex to evaluate, but they appear to impact antisocial behavior and crime (Downes, Rock & McLaughlin, 2016). Community effects become more essential as an individual gets older. Studies indicate that antisocial peer groups play a significant role in the extension of deviance and crime.

  1. Alcohol and other substances

  The precise nature of the association linking alcohol and other substance use and crime is complicated. Researchers indicate that not all substance and alcohol use directly lead to deviance and criminal offending, but sustained use can motivate an individual's urge to engage in crime (Downes, Rock & McLaughlin, 2016). Offenses often committed by people under the influence of alcohol and other substances are often influenced by other aspects, such as personality, geographic situation, peer pressure, and mental health.

  1. Solutions

  Deviance is considered as the breaking of developed contextual, cultural, or developmental standards. Downes, Rock, and McLaughlin (2016), offer a typology to distinguish deviant actions in terms of their anticipated harm, the extent of agreement concerning the standards disrupted, and the response's austerity (Downes, Rock & McLaughlin, 2016). For instance, the most extreme deviance acts are accord crimes about a near-unanimous common understanding. Acts, such as killing and physical assault, should be considered potentially offensive, dangerous, and subject to severe punishments.

   Deviance practices such as smoking weed and wantonness are prohibited, but there is a significant community controversy about their enormity. Sociologists and other experts believe that the potential solution to deviance and crime is enforcing social control (Meier, 2018). Social control necessitates implementing policies and rules described as sanctions. Studies indicate that sanctions can be positive or negative (Meier, 2018). Negative punishments incorporate penalties for dishonoring standards, such as being detained. On the other hand, positive consents are awards offered for conforming to norms. For instance, a raise at school or professio