Free Essays on Deviant Behavior

, people’s behaviors must be viewed from the framework of the culture in which they take place. To be considered deviant, a person may not even have to do anything. Just the way a person or people are can make them deviant. Sociologists use the term stigma to refer to certain attributes that describe people. These attributes include violations of the norms of ability (blindness, deafness, and mental handicaps) and the norms of appearance (a facial birthmark, obesity). They also include involuntary membership in some groups, such as being a certain race or having a peculiar accent. The stigma becomes a person’s master status, defining him or her as deviant. For my deviant behavior project I focused very closely on the irrelevance of the action and the importance of the reaction. The experiment itself was very quick, but through the aid of a handheld video camera I was able to closely scrutinize every aspect over and over. For the first part of my experiment we went to a very busy restaurant at the base of a local ski resort. Once inside and comfortably situated, I had my subject, a friend of mine who graciously volunteered, calmly stand on a chair and scream quite loudly. The reactions were not quite as we had hoped for. A large majority of the room seemed to dismiss the whole thing right away. Interestingly the only people who did seem to take notice were all in the same group. The best explanation of this would be the need to try to conform to the group. The scream itself was quite loud enough for everyone in the room to... Free Essays on Deviant Behavior Free Essays on Deviant Behavior Deviant Behavior Sociologists use the term deviance to refer to any violation of norms- whether the infraction is a minor as shouting, or as serious as murder. This deceptively simple definition takes us to the heart of the sociological perspective of deviance, which sociologist Howard S. Becker identified this way: it is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant. In other words, people’s behaviors must be viewed from the framework of the culture in which they take place. To be considered deviant, a person may not even have to do anything. Just the way a person or people are can make them deviant. Sociologists use the term stigma to refer to certain attributes that describe people. These attributes include violations of the norms of ability (blindness, deafness, and mental handicaps) and the norms of appearance (a facial birthmark, obesity). They also include involuntary membership in some groups, such as being a certain race or having a pec uliar accent. The stigma becomes a person’s master status, defining him or her as deviant. For my deviant behavior project I focused very closely on the irrelevance of the action and the importance of the reaction. The experiment itself was very quick, but through the aid of a handheld video camera I was able to closely scrutinize every aspect over and over. For the first part of my experiment we went to a very busy restaurant at the base of a local ski resort. Once inside and comfortably situated, I had my subject, a friend of mine who graciously volunteered, calmly stand on a chair and scream quite loudly. The reactions were not quite as we had hoped for. A large majority of the room seemed to dismiss the whole thing right away. Interestingly the only people who did seem to take notice were all in the same group. The best explanation of this would be the need to try to conform to the group. The scream itself was quite loud enough for everyone in the room to... Free Essays on Deviant Behavior 1. Describe an experiment, which influenced your thinking about alcoholism. I found the experiment presented for â€Å"matching† intrigued me the most. This commonsense idea resides on the principal of pairing drinkers with the program best suited to them. McLachlan (1974) presented a study that correlated drinkers performance at follow up to be affected by the style of treatment and the treatment they received. The matches or mismatches were occurring naturally, no intension to match clients with therapists was done. The experiment consisted of 94% of alcoholics that received treatment. They were extensively interviewed twelve to sixteen months after completion of the program. A four point Conceptual Level was assessed. 1. Poorly socialized, egocentric, impulsive, cognitively simple 2. Dependant and compliant 3. Independent, questioning, self-assertive 4. Interdependent, empathetic, and cognitively complex The therapists were assessed in the same fashion. Follow up treatment was also rated- high or low in structure. It was noted on the amount of contact and counseling completed after treatment ceased. An analysis of this data showed how recovery rates were correlated to matching or mismatching of drinkers Conceptual Level to the therapists Conceptual Level as well as the structuredness of the aftercare. Drinker and therapist matched 70% Drinker and therapist mismatched 50% Drinker and setting matched 71% Drinker and setting mismatched 49% Drinker, therapist, and setting matched 77% Drinker, therapist, and setting mismatched 38% The data was statistically significant, showing â€Å"matching† increases recovery rates. The data presented in this experiment increased my belief for Fingarette’s need to fully appreciate the heavy drinker as an individual. By understanding the background and lifestyle of the drinker we are able to better treat them. I believe we can increase the success rate by improvi...