Positive Functions of Deviance
When we hear of the word “deviance”, what we immediately think of is something that is negative, something you would not want to be associated with, that is, we think of universally unaccepted things like murder and rape, or we think of the disabled or blind man begging at the street corner. As a result we view deviance as something that should be removed from society and once society becomes free of deviance, it becomes healthy and close to perfect. According to Aggleton (1987: 7), “deviance could be defined as behaviour which violates certain widely shared expectations or norms.” The problem with such a definition however is that norms vary from society to society despite the fact that globalisation has moved the world towards a single homogeneous culture, based on Western norms, in the last half century. However, most acts of deviance are still universally shared; incest for example is not accepted in most societies. Although deviance is contextual, its functions and consequences are all the same in every society.
Perhaps the biggest positive function of deviance is that it acts as a catalyst of social change as Durkheim points out (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004: 333), virtually all forms of social change start from deviance since deviance goes against what is the norm. A certain amount of change is good for society and necessary for its continued survival (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004: 333), without social change, there is no social progress thus society becomes stagnant. An example of deviance which has led to positive social change can be seen in the struggle against apartheid; activists like Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo had to partake in activities which can be defined as deviant, through their deviant acts however they managed to bring about a better more equal South African society. If they had conformed to the norms of that particular period and had sat back and left the status quo as it was then nothing would have changed. Deviance is therefore a
Perhaps the biggest positive function of deviance is that it acts as a catalyst of social change as Durkheim points out (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004: 333), virtually all forms of social change start from deviance since deviance goes against what is the norm. A certain amount of change is good for society and necessary for its continued survival (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004: 333), without social change, there is no social progress thus society becomes stagnant. An example of deviance which has led to positive social change can be seen in the struggle against apartheid; activists like Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo had to partake in activities which can be defined as deviant, through their deviant acts however they managed to bring about a better more equal South African society. If they had conformed to the norms of that particular period and had sat back and left the status quo as it was then nothing would have changed. Deviance is therefore a
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