The three perspectives
Camalae Thomas
Deviance and Social Control
5 April 2011
The Three Perspectives
Every interaction that occurs is a product of societal teachings of what is considered deviant. It has a hand in every aspect of a person’s actions and emotions. The teaching of society dictates when it is appropriate to initiate the use of a certain action and express a particular emotion so that no act of deviance occurs. These teachings of deviance are made under this notion to understand people who act different from the social norm. This creates the question, why do these acts of deviance occur or why is this person a deviant? Society uses the question why, as a basis to create theoretical perspectives regarding deviance and social control to produce an answer relative to that time period. The perspectives are molded around what the majority of society does, the social norm, in order to fix or scare the deviant behavior out, thus the root of social control is created. As society progressed and the same question why was ask, perspectives shifted to fulfill the question of the origin of deviant acts. The three key perspectives start with Christian demonology then shift to Classical criminology followed by Medicalization of deviance. These three theoretical perspectives were each molded out of the social norm associated with that era. These perspectives each highlighted a point of reality in which to build upon in the creation of the perspective and discounted other aspects to generate what is considered deviant.
The oldest known of the three theoretical perspectives, Christian Demonology, is the start to answering the question of why deviance is occurring. This question leads to the social control being induced so that society will stay in the hegemonic circle relative to that era. The regulation and differentiation of people is known to begin with Christian Demonology. “The deviance related with this perspective is through sin. Humans succumb to deviance in one of
Deviance and Social Control
5 April 2011
The Three Perspectives
Every interaction that occurs is a product of societal teachings of what is considered deviant. It has a hand in every aspect of a person’s actions and emotions. The teaching of society dictates when it is appropriate to initiate the use of a certain action and express a particular emotion so that no act of deviance occurs. These teachings of deviance are made under this notion to understand people who act different from the social norm. This creates the question, why do these acts of deviance occur or why is this person a deviant? Society uses the question why, as a basis to create theoretical perspectives regarding deviance and social control to produce an answer relative to that time period. The perspectives are molded around what the majority of society does, the social norm, in order to fix or scare the deviant behavior out, thus the root of social control is created. As society progressed and the same question why was ask, perspectives shifted to fulfill the question of the origin of deviant acts. The three key perspectives start with Christian demonology then shift to Classical criminology followed by Medicalization of deviance. These three theoretical perspectives were each molded out of the social norm associated with that era. These perspectives each highlighted a point of reality in which to build upon in the creation of the perspective and discounted other aspects to generate what is considered deviant.
The oldest known of the three theoretical perspectives, Christian Demonology, is the start to answering the question of why deviance is occurring. This question leads to the social control being induced so that society will stay in the hegemonic circle relative to that era. The regulation and differentiation of people is known to begin with Christian Demonology. “The deviance related with this perspective is through sin. Humans succumb to deviance in one of
Cited: Pfohl, Stephen J. Images of Devaince and Social Control: a Sociological History. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2009. Print. Police Resume Search for Bodies After 3 More Sets of Human Remains Found on New York Beach Published April 05, 2011