Functions That Deviance Provides For Society

Do you agree with Emile Durkheim that deviance provides certain functions for society? What functions might deviance provide?  In your answer be sure to describe Durkheim’s main thesis regarding deviance and provide examples or evidence to support your position.

Deviance can get described as actions or activities that violate the society’s cultural norms. Deviance may range from something very minor such as traffic violation to significantaction such as murder. Thepatternsof a particular culturedictate how things are being done and also categorizes actions as either acceptable or unacceptable. An example of deviance is acrime.  Emile Durkheim in his deviance theory argued that deviance is not only natural and unnecessary part of society, but then it is abnormal to find no deviance in a functional society.It means(Shoham, 2000) that Durkheim believe that deviance gets expected in any given and functional society.

I agree with Emile Durkheim’s argument that deviance provides certain functions to the community. Firstly, deviance provides an affirmation of the cultural norms(Cohen, 1966). For example, when someone gets punished, it reinforces the cultural norms. Secondly, deviance provides a boundary to our morals and teaches us to know what is right and what is wrong(Shoham, 2000). For example when one gets punished for a wrong thing, they learn that it was wrong and therefore, they may repeat the same action. By so doing, people learn what is right and what is wrong.

Thirdly, it brings about togetherness to the people involved. People become united when they share the same response to deviance. For example, in the United States people became united in grief and shock after an attack that occurred on 11th of September. Lastly, deviance provides for social changes(Cohen, 1966).One of the examples of social change is that women maintaining their maiden name in the present is not an issue as it used to be in the past.

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