Non-Sociological
Definitions of Deviance
Example:
Example:
Example:
Example:
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Non-Sociological
Definitions of Deviance |
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| Absolutist Definition | "Deviance is that which is unnatural (or evil)." | |
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Example: |
Characterizations of same-sex marriage as contrary to "natural law" or of political leaders as "evil doers." | |
| Statistical Definition | "Deviance is the extreme part of a given statistical distribution, such as a normal curve." | |
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Example: |
Height,
IQ scores, typical number of alcoholic drinks consumed on a single occasion. |
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| Medical Definition | "Deviance is that which is pathological (or abnormal)." | |
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Example: |
Early conceptions of urban social problems and deviance as symptoms of "social pathology." More recent trend toward the "medicalization" of a variety of forms of troublesome behavior ("alcoholism," ADHD). | |
| Legal Definition | "Deviance is that which is illegal." | |
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Example: |
Criminological argument that the study of deviance should be limited to law-violating behavior. | |