"You're one of THOSE, I can tell!!!" WHAT IS DEVIANCE?
When a person breaks the social rules and violates the norms they are considered or labeled deviant. Often this process happens verbally with the norm violator called names or physically when people behave differently around the norm violator. The person with blue hair may be called “weird,” “strange,” or some more offensive derogatory name. Others stop having typical interactions with that person. When the young man with blue hair is seen on the sidewalk other pedestrians may cross the street; he may be ignored if he asks a question or denied service in a store. Through this process the deviant is labeled. The rest of the community then responds to that person because of the label rather than because of the person. A clear example of this is the repeated contemporary cases of teenagers called “witches” by themselves or peers who are then expelled from school because of this status.
Labeling in this manner almost always has negative effects. As with any name-calling, it is psychologically hurtful to the person labeled. Likewise, it can often be the case that the label becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The person once labeled and treated based upon that label will start to act in accordance with the label, regardless of whether the label was initially correct or not. A well documented example is the small child whom upon entering first grade is dubbed a trouble maker by the teacher. Often this label is a result of the family’s or older siblings’ reputation. The child may not be deserving of the label initially, but having received the label is consequently treated in a particular manner. Because of the treatment, the child eventually acts in the ways s/he is being accused of. Sometimes these actions are intentional as the child rationalized if s/he is going to be accused, punished or treated as having behaved in a particular manner they might as well. Other times the treatment and label unconsciously encourages the child to engage in the behavior.
In most cases those who are labeled deviant are simply behaving in a manner that is different. The norms that they are violating, such as that of appropriate hair color, have no great significance in the social arena and do not cause any physical or emotional danger to the public. However, it is only by analyzing our norms and evaluating them can we determine if they are rules out of habit or
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