What is deviance? According to John J. Macionis, "deviance is the recognized violation of cultural norms or, in different terms, it is behavior that a large or powerful segment of the population disapproves of." There are two types of deviance - the formal deviance and informal deviance. But what are the differences between the two of them? How come they are classified into two?
Formal Deviance
Formal deviance includes criminally violation of formally-enacted laws [https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/deviance-social-control-and-crime-7/deviance-59/deviance-362-4916/]. These types of deviance or violation can land you in jail or worse, even give you a death penalty. These violations include robbery, theft, rape, murder and assault. All of these are against the laws of all countries.
Different violations:
- Robbery - essentially theft accomplished through the use of physical force or fear;
- Theft - unauthorized taking of property from another;
- Rape - unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration;
- Murder - the crime of unlawfully killing a person essentially with malice aforethought; and,
- Assault - a threat or attempt to inflict offensive physical contact or bodily harm on a person (as by lifting a fist in a threatening manner) that puts the person the person in immediate danger of or in apprehension of such harm or contact.
Violating the laws is an example of formal deviance,
and you may get yourself in jail because of it.
Informal Deviance
Informal deviance, on the other hand, refers to violations of informal social norms, but not norms that are included in the law. Most of these are just violations against one's culture. For example, belching after you eat is quite acceptable if you're in China because they would take it as a compliment. If you belch, it means that you are happy with your meal and you're full. However, if you belch after you eat in another country, people may look down on you. Belching, to some people, is like the equivalent of farting. It is rude and immature.
Belching is an example of informal deviance.
Sources:
http://blogs.findlaw.com/blotter/2015/01/whats-the-difference-between-burglary-robbery-and-theft.html
dictionary.reference.com/browse/rape
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/murder
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assault
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