"Any definition of virtue rests on an opposing idea of vice: There can be no good without evil and no justice without crime." - Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
I’ve just sent my UCAS application off for my criminology courses. I’m excited, yet understandably anxious. I’m looking forward to hearing back from the universities. I spent a long time researching the courses I picked. During that time, I noticed there is a familiar subject that is included as a module in all of them, which I didn’t have a full understanding of, so I've decided to write a brief post on it. Deviance.
Deviance is a term used to describe actions and behaviors that violate society’s ‘normality’ and structured guidance that the majority of citizens follow or are absent from.
Deviance varies from culture to culture. For example, in Britain the age of consent is 16, whereas in Japan it is 13. So if a 13 year old had sexual intercourse, it would be seen as wrong and possibly punishable in Britain, but would be considered perfectly normal and acceptable in Japan.
I’ve just sent my UCAS application off for my criminology courses. I’m excited, yet understandably anxious. I’m looking forward to hearing back from the universities. I spent a long time researching the courses I picked. During that time, I noticed there is a familiar subject that is included as a module in all of them, which I didn’t have a full understanding of, so I've decided to write a brief post on it. Deviance.
Deviance is a term used to describe actions and behaviors that violate society’s ‘normality’ and structured guidance that the majority of citizens follow or are absent from.
Deviance varies from culture to culture. For example, in Britain the age of consent is 16, whereas in Japan it is 13. So if a 13 year old had sexual intercourse, it would be seen as wrong and possibly punishable in Britain, but would be considered perfectly normal and acceptable in Japan.
The word deviance is actually a sociological term, but is also used by psychologists and criminologists. (Any study of people, society and cultures)
Emile Durkheim (French philosopher, 1858-1917) believed deviance plays a major part of a functioning society; without deviance, we would not learn to appreciate the good.
After reading Durkheim's beliefs on deviance, I was left thinking long and hard on the subject. I find it incredibly fascinating that we, as a normal, functioning society, deem deviance as wrong and a menace to our safe and structured lives, yet if deviance didn’t exist, what state would are norms and values be in?
Would we find another behavioral trait to counter-act the goodness of the world? Would good even exist? Or would society turn into a ‘neutral’ state, with no fear or hate, thus resulting in no love or joy?
Emile Durkheim (French philosopher, 1858-1917) believed deviance plays a major part of a functioning society; without deviance, we would not learn to appreciate the good.
After reading Durkheim's beliefs on deviance, I was left thinking long and hard on the subject. I find it incredibly fascinating that we, as a normal, functioning society, deem deviance as wrong and a menace to our safe and structured lives, yet if deviance didn’t exist, what state would are norms and values be in?
Would we find another behavioral trait to counter-act the goodness of the world? Would good even exist? Or would society turn into a ‘neutral’ state, with no fear or hate, thus resulting in no love or joy?
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