conformity-and-deviance-SC-pdf

Every society is a
system of social
control.
Have you experienced breaking a
rule or doing something not
expected of you?
Conformity and
Deviance
At the end of the lesson, you must be able to:
1.Analyze the different functions of deviance;
2.Identify the different forms of deviance
Every society is a system of social control, or
attempts by society to regulate people’s
thoughts and behavior.
Social control encourages conformity to

certain norms and discourages deviance or
norm breaking.
Conformity is an action in
accordance with some specified
standard or authority.
This indicates that conformity is
a type of social influence through
which group members come to
share similar beliefs and standards
of behavior.
Deviance refers to rule-breaking
behavior of some kind which fails to
conform to the norms and expectations
of a particular society or social group.
It is closely related to the concept of
crime, which is law breaking behavior.
Criminal behavior is usually deviant,
but not all deviant behavior is criminal.
The deviant behavior meaning
comes from the term ‘’deviate,’’
which means to stray from a
normal or acceptable behavior or
action.
Deviant behavior is often referred
to as a deviant action.
2 Types of Deviance
❑formal deviance
❑informal deviance
Formal deviance includes
criminal violation of formally-
enacted laws.
Informal deviance refers to
violations of informal social
norms, which are norms that have
not been codified into law.
Deviance and Culture
What is considered a deviant
behavior can change based on a
person’s culture.
Behaviors that are acceptable in
one culture may be unacceptable
in another culture.
Deviance in Society
Deviance in society can vary
depending on which behaviors society
has deemed as deviant and which
behaviors are deemed as normal.
Each society makes its own
determinations regarding deviant
behaviors.
Merton’s strain theory (Macionis 2012: 197–198). Robert
Merton (1910–2003) argued that the extent and type of
deviance people engage in depend on whether a society
provides the means (such as schooling and job
opportunities) to achieve cultural goals (such as financial
success).
Conformity means achieving cultural goals through
approved means.
However, the strain between the cultural goal and
the lack of opportunities to achieve these goals using
approved means may result in deviance.
Cultural Goals
• To be
successful
Schooling
Conventional Means/
Socially accepted means
Robert K. Merton proposed that
deviance, or the state of diverging
from accepted societal standards,
could be divided up into 4 distinct
classifications. They are:
➢Innovation
➢Ritualism
➢Retreatism
➢Rebellion
Innovation
It accepts the goal of success but
eliminating the use of socially accepted
means of achieving it.
Innovation involves using

unconventional means.
Ritualism
It occurs when people deemphasize
or reject the cultural goals but accept
the institutionalized means.
In ritualism, people do not care
much about the goal (getting rich) but
stick to the rules (the conventional
means) anyway in order to feel
“respectable.”
Retreatism
It means withdrawal from society since
both the cultural goals and the
institutionalized means are rejected.
Rejecting both cultural goals and

conventional means so that a person in
effect “drops out.”
Rebellion
Occurs when people reject and
attempt to change both the goals and
the means approved by society.
Like retreatists, rebels reject both the
cultural definition of success and the
conventional means of achieving it, but they
provide alternatives to the existing social order.
Conformity
It involves accepting both
the cultural goal of success
and the use of legitimate
means for achieving that
goal.
The functions of deviance
▪ Affirms cultural norms and values. Deviance is needed
to define and support morality. “There can be no good
without evil and no justice without crime.”
▪ Clarifies moral boundaries. By defining some individuals
as deviant, people draw a boundary between right and
wrong.
▪ Brings people together. People typically react to serious
deviance with shared outrage, and in doing so reaffirm the
moral ties that bind them.
▪ Encourages social change. Deviant people suggest
alternatives to the status quo and encouraging change.

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Every society is a

Social control encourages conformity to

Innovation involves using

Rejecting both cultural goals and

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