Discussion Paper on Deviance Theories

Discussion Paper on Deviance Theories

  • Submitted By: Lala88
  • Date Submitted: 04/20/2011 9:41 AM
  • Category: Social Issues
  • Words: 1073
  • Page: 5
  • Views: 526

Lauren Alexander
Sociology Wed. 6:30-9:15
Discussion Paper (Deviance Theories)
In our world today we see so many different acts of deviance. Just turning on the television to watch the news it normally begins with a story about someone being killed, or a robbery, any type of story about something people have done that goes against the norm of what people consider to be good. One story in particular that happened a little less than a year ago was about a woman who couldn’t handle being a mother and killed her two sons and drove her car into a lake to make it look like an accident. Now she is not the first mother to do this. Many mothers break under the pressure of being a mother, even more stressful a single mother, and end up hurting their children thinking that if they are gone that is one less responsibility they will have in their life. With this story I am going to explain the theories of deviance and how they affected the mother, Shaquan Duley, in her decision.
The first theory is Individual blame. This theory the person puts the blame on an individual for their deviant act. In the case of this story Shaquan had been in a fight with her mother about how she was caring for her children. She felt that if she didn’t have them she would be “free.” She put the blame on her children, they were too much for her to handle and that she couldn’t live her own life with them in it. System Blame is the next theory. This theory is defined as Deviant behavior is a manifestation of inequality, or the attempts of the powerful to force their views of right and wrong on those with different views who are powerless to resist. In this case the mother of Shaquan plays a role in this theory. The act that was played out was led up to by a fight with Shaquan and her mother. Her mother did not feel Shaquan was doing a sufficient job in raising her children and caring for them. Shaquan was on the defense and felt she was doing the best she could but how her mother felt...

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