Deviance Is Relative

“Deviance is relative” – Evaluate.

Deviance is actions that seem to be abnormal or go against the norms and values of society. What is deviant largely depends on a situation so it is relative. This means that it is only deviant in certain places at certain times or in certain cultures.

There are three types of deviance, cross cultural, situational, and historical. Cross cultural deviant is some cultures but not in others for example in the UK it is seen as normal to wear shoes inside your house, but in japan in is seen as deviant.

Religion is also something that affects what is classed of deviance for example in religions such as Sikhism; they are expected to cover their heads when entering a temple, even if they are outside of the Sikh religion it is mandatory to wear something over your head in respect, if someone was to enter temple without covering their head it would be seen as morally wrong.

Situational deviance is when something is deviant in certain situations; what is seen as deviant in one country might not be in another country, it is hard to find one act that is universally seen as deviant in all types of societies. Deviance is relative to various different factors such as age, social status, and location. For example, deviance is subject to location; shouting in church during a service is considered as deviant but shouting at a party isn’t.

Historical deviance is another type of deviance which is basically something that used to be deviant in the past but is now no longer considered deviant in today’s society. In Victorian times it was seen to that all women wore long dresses that fell all the way to the floor as it was seen as unacceptable behaviour for women to show their ankles to men whereas in today’s society women are free to wear whatever they like, as long it is not seen as inappropriate by society.

The concept of deviance is not always relative, to say, absolute. If the concept is absolute it would mean that the same behaviour will always be considered deviant in all societies and at all times. One example of this is the 10 commandments; in Christianity these are the set rules they follow, all Christian societies follow these commandments as if they were law and as they were etched into stone there was no way that these rules could ever be changed, what was considered deviant in the commandments stayed to be seen as deviant in future generations.

To conclude the concept of ‘deviance is relative’ is true, I feel that this argument is stronger than the other because there is very little evidence of absolute deviance still existing in the world. Deviance is relative because it will always be changed by different factors such as situation, time and cross cultural.