Deviant behavior is often defined as any act committed by an individual or group which defies the values and behavior of society. Before researching more about deviance in our society, I assumed deviant behavior was limited to violent, or discriminatory acts. However, deviance can be any form of risky behavior that challenges the status quo, or balance of society.
I came across an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the hunger strike at UC Berkeley. Over 20 students have gone a little over two weeks without food (and over 200 have joined them in protest) until they are given a face-to-face meeting with the Chancellor. The hunger strike started in response to Arizona's Senate Bill 1070, where police are allowed to question and detain anyone who they suspect is an illegal immigrant.
After I read this article, I realized the actions of these students could be viewed in different perspectives. Some groups may perceive the students protests as deviant, while others can perceive the cause of protest as deviant. I would relate this act of "deviance" to functionalism, where groups of people determine the social expectations and behaviors. Different groups and institutions determine what is expected of others and what society expects of them. In this case, students, policy makers, school officials, the media and the general public are all groups and institutions that view this deviance differently. Supporters of the protesters may see this as a necessary act of deviance in order to bring the immigration law to the attention of the media and public and challenge sociological principles like hegemony. Supporters of the bill could see the protesters as radical attention seekers hoping to corrupt society and change the traditional views of dominant ideology and culture.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/11/BAC21DCK4C.DTL#ixzz0nhB83lZ4
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