Deviance

I was having hard time thinking about what I can write on deviance. What do I know about deviance? I think I’m an upstanding law abiding citizen. What boundaries do I cross, what do I do that I’m not even aware of. Am I guilty by association? In reality, I’m sure I am guilty on some level.

Chapter 6 has opened my eyes to some of my behaviors. In terms of Folkways, I think we all get away with a lot. Crossing over to the other side of the street not to say hello or even not answering the phone when my caller ID tells me its someone I don’t feel like talking to. Yes, I get away with it and it’s not really a crime. But is it wrong or just rude? Mores, well, I think I usually draw the line on Mores. I wouldn’t consciously break the law or even behave in an immoral way. I wouldn’t violate a person or intentionally do anything harmful to anyone. Taboo, well I’m sure I’ve done some forbidding things, but I can say I know what the boundaries are. According to Freud, incest is taboo and to that I most definitely agree. I think some people are just risk takers. They know they shouldn’t, but do. Deviants? Maybe, maybe not. I guess it depends on the situation and circumstances.

Stigmas on the other hand, well, they speak for themselves. According to Erving Goffman, the term stigma is used as an attribute that changes you from a whole and usual person to a tainted and discounted one. There are things people do to normalize things to try and make them more normal. Woman fight for rights and so on. Our race can be a factor when it comes to stigma. Recently, I was sitting in the doctor’s office; I couldn’t help but over hear an elderly woman talk about actor, Tyler Perry. She was saying how he was stopped somewhere in Georgia by a white cop who didn’t know who the actor was until a black officer came to the scene. “Didn’t he know that Tyler Perry could buy and sell him out? Now he knows who he is,” she was saying. I listened and smiled at this woman’s pride. I admit, I wondered if Tyler had been speeding, but what this woman saw was a white cop pulling over a black men. She went on to say " if he didn’t have money, he’d go to jail.” Is she right? In my opinion, yes, she sure is. Was Tyler Perry stigmatized because of his skin color? Or was he breaking law and knew he could pay his way out of the situation? I guess there are two sides to the story, but I found it interesting of how this woman was ready to defend a man she didn’t even know because she saw this as an injustice because of race. I am sure she has seen a lot of racial injustice in her time. Inequalities that have shaped this woman’s beliefs. We ended up chatting and turns out she was a past parishioner at my church. I told her my mother grew up the projects and she seemed surprised but was pleasant and as turned it out, we knew some of the same people.

After reading “Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System,” I empathize with all groups who are no treated with equality. Once again society and status making the decisions for everyone. Trust is lost in over government’s legitimacy and certainly among groups in our society leading to crime and endless suffering that doesn’t seem to change because of societies views in certain situations. Change the can’t be made because of stigma and even taboo. The human is over looked and the individual needs are not met. Until then we will remain in the place we are. For some neutral and for some narrow minded. And that’s just the way it is.