After reading Outsiders by Becker what I got from it was that Becker defined a deviant as someone who strays away from the rules and norms of some social group, so subsequently they then become an outside of that group. Also, that the deviant behavior is more of a certain group having a question of judgement about ones behavior or norms rather than just one person having a set of characteristics that makes them “deviant”. So ultimately, in order to label someone deviant, really means that you are accepting the norms and values of that social group who had the question the judgement about the person in the first place. Since we all don’t accept and practice the same values and norms, whether or not certain behavior is deviant really becomes reliant upon who your asking.
To find something that would better represent this, I googled “Deviant Article” – pretty basic right? Well I found an interesting and relevant article to help us consider and understand this theory. The article is called “Deviant Chrismas” by Su Epstein and basically it just supports what Becker is saying. To someone who celebrates Christmas, its the norm to be happy and joyful during this time of year. Becker uses the example of the reaction people get who celebrate Christmas and don’t partially like this time of year – they get called Scrooge or Grinch. These terms dont exactly hold the best associations attached to them, and these people can be considered deviant by others who celebrate and fit into the norm of having a joyful spirit around Christmas. However, if you ask someone who isn’t part of that group and doesn’t share those same values they could care less! Your not deviant to them! So again, when defining behavior as deviant, it really depends on WHO your asking.
