Introduction to Sociology / Deviance / Jaehyeon Seo

1. Summary
Deviance is a violation of norms that are formally or informally prescribed to maintain social order. Violations of formal norms are said to be an formal deviance and violations of informal norms is called informal deviance. Descriptions of deviance are not only sociological descriptions, but also descriptions of other fields. Neurology and psychology explains that the brain structure of people who are deviant is different.

2. What was interesting/What did you learn
The sociological explanation is more interesting than the neurological and psychological explanations of deviance. According to the rules of society, social deviations from one society may not deviate from another. People tend to define deviance differently depending on age and culture.

3. Discussion Point

Deviance is relative because people define deviance differently depending on age and culture. But couldn't there be an absolute standard that hasn't changed? Violations of universal values, such as murder, should not be tolerated in any society. Therefore, I think that the universal values of humankind should be an absolute norm.

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