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Deviant

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General Aspects

Public sociology · Social research
Social theory · Sociological theory
Sociological practice

Related fields & subfields

Comparative sociology · Criminology
Demography · Social movements
Social psychology · Sociolinguistics
Sociology of: culture · deviance
economics · education · gender
knowledge · law · politics · religion
science · stratification · work

Categories & Lists Journals · Publications · Topics Criminology and Penology Theories Anomie Differential Association Theory Deviance Labeling Theory Rational Choice Theory Social Control Theory Social Disorganization Theory Social Learning Theory Strain Theory Subcultural Theory Symbolic Interactionism · Victimology Types of crimes Blue-collar crime · Corporate crime Juvenile crime Organized crime Political crime · Public order crime Public order case law in the U.S. State crime · State-corporate crime White-collar crime · Victimless crime Plaid-collar crime Penology Deterrence · Prison Prison reform · Prisoner abuse Prisoners' rights · Rehabilitation Recidivism · Retribution Utilitarianism Criminal justice portal See also: Wikibooks:Social Deviance This box: view • talk • edit "Deviant" redirects here. For other uses, see Deviant (disambiguation).

Deviance describes actions or behaviors that violate cultural norms including formally-enacted rules (e.g., crime) as well as informal violations of social norms (e.g.nose-picking). Sociologists and criminologists study how these norms are created, challenged, and enforced.

The sociology of deviance contains a number of theories that seek to accurately describe trends and patterns that lie within social deviance to help better understand societal behavior. There are three broad sociological classes describing deviant behavior: structural functionalism, symbolic interactionism, and conflict theory.

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