Socila Psychology- SOC 240

Devince

A deviant behavior is an action or type of behavior that leads to violation of formally-enacted rules or a social norm of the society. Deviance could be formal including actions such as thefts, murder, assaults, and robbery, or informal such as standing close to another person unnecessarily, nose-picking others in public, belching loudly, or rejecting mores and folkways (Crawford & Novak 444). One of the deviant behaviors I can easily relate to is bullying because I was once a victim in my elementary school. Bullying can really affect children whether it has short-term or long-term effects on them. While explaining the general strain theory, Crawford and Novak (459) point out that some of the acts that cause strain such as bullying end up increasing an individual’s stress levels, which could further lead to the development of negative emotions such as anger, unhappiness, and frustration. Patchin and Hinduja (p. 729) as cited in Crawford and Novak (p. 459) link bullying to loneliness, anxiety, low self-esteem, school absenteeism, drug abuse, school failure, and antisocial behavior. Therefore, bullying ends up affecting children even as they grow into adults as some find it difficult to accept that they were treated poorly when they were young. I believe no child deserves to be stressed their entire life just because another individual did not like how they act or their personality.

Another deviant behavior of much interest to society is rape, which is a form of sexual assault that involves sexual intercourse. This deviant behavior involves individuals who are below legal age, incapacitated, or unconscious, and is carried out by coercion, physical force, or without someone’s valid consent. Crawford and Novak (p. 500) view rape as a highly deviant act that results in major trauma hence further making the victim suffer posttraumatic stress disorder accompanied by physical injury, psychological harm, risk of pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases. Sadly, after this deviant act, most victims end up receiving threats or might face violence from the rapists. Some of the reasons that lead to this deviant act include anger, power, and socioeconomic reasons and for some individuals, it’s the desire to revenge following an act of sexual abuse when they were young. Therefore, society should become the voice that most victims of this deviant act never had to help individuals who have undergone suffering and tremendous pain. Each individual deserves to enjoy life and live in safety without fear every time.

In the 1970s, it was normal for people that did not have cars to hitchhike a ride that could take them to their destination. Although studies conducted by Chesters and Smith (p. 65) revealed that this traveling method had issues especially when it came to women, hitchhiking was viewed as a way of showing unselfishness and cooperation hence this method of travel was widely accepted. As time has passed by, hitchhiking has become less socially acceptable and increasingly rare. This is because our modern society associates hitchhiking with high risks for hitchhikers while most people now own personal cars and require less assistance from strangers. Therefore, increased concern over “stranger danger” contributes to the negative perspective held on the art of hitchhiking. Additionally, parents in our modern societies are training their children on keeping their distance from strangers by warning them that they could be dangerous. While this could be true, from a different perspective most violent crimes are committed by acquaintances, family members and friends. I believe that one day the art of hitchhiking will be socially accepted again as a method of transport and with the introduction of companies such as Uber and Lyft, transportation could be more controlled.

Works cited

Crawford, Lizabeth A., and Katherine B. Novak. Individual and society: Sociological social psychology. Routledge, 2018.

Chesters, Graeme, and David Smith. “The neglected art of hitch-hiking: Risk, trust and sustainability.” Sociological Research Online 6.3 (2001): 63-71.

Patchin, Justin W., and Sameer Hinduja. “Traditional and nontraditional bullying among youth: A test of general strain theory.” Youth & Society 43.2 (2011): 727-751.