Research Paper - Rey Writer

Medium Stakes #1

For those that have the privilege to live in the city-big or small, they have come to realize apart from the many benefits a city may have, life can be a negative, problematic and downright detrimental experience for an individual. In explaining this, it is necessary to look into deviance and normalcy. The two are directly opposing forces that exist in the society. In a sociological perspective, deviance depicts the acts that happen to be contradictory to the set social norms. It is this paper’s purview to state how and why the experience of a city can be negative in regards to normalcy and deviance.

Primary and secondary deviance forms a major part of this elaboration. Primary deviance has been found to have rather negligible effect on individuals and the society as a whole. This is because it mainly entails random and casual acts of defiance that have no significant implications, an example being a child’s mischief in illegally eating candy. On the other hand, secondary deviance is what is perceived as the crimes that we engage in due to the society’s view and influence. For those who fall prey to such societal reactions, they are put in self-concept crises, as they fail to know where and how they fit in the society. This leads to having rather negative experiences as they often resort to further misconduct.

Through the Labeling Theory, one is able to understand the concept of primary and secondary deviance. This is because it is closely related to symbolic interaction analysis and social construction. The theory holds that deviance is a result of people’s tendency to negatively label those perceived as deviant from the set societal norms; a perception that is considered contrary to the common belief of deviance being inherent to an act. Continued negative influence and experience of an individual sequentially leads to degradation of societal norms.

The theory of ‘Differential Association’ provides a different analogy of deviance which leads to detrimental experience to an individual. According to this theory, it is presented that deviance is a learned trait, stating that people get to learn the behaviour based on the groups they associate with. This is a counter-theory to the previous depiction of deviance as a biologically oriented trait or a result of personality. From the theory’s explanation, one will experience a negative life due to his or her deviance that as a result of associating with individuals whose mannerism that is deviant.

The strain theory has also been used in explaining the plight of detrimental experiences to persons living in the city. In regards to negative experience, people engage in criminal activities due to pressure from social structures that exist in the society. The structural structures being mentioned in this case are the societal processes which affect an individual’s perception of his or her deeds.

The conclusive projections indicated in insight to deviance and normalcy has been reached upon following a series of mathematical and statistical study. These form the basis if the empirical investigation that has been done systematically to each quantitative research. Heteropathological traits are still shunned in most societies and significantly contribute to the problematic experiences that go through in the city. The society has not yet come out of its cocoon of having an autopathological society; a position that is causing many their happiness and freedom to have a great experience.