Question

Question 1 (1 point) Miguel walks around his house in a dress, but no one sees him. True or false, Miguel is considered deviant. True False Question 2 (1 point) The majority of crimes are committed by African Americans. O True False Question 3 (1 point) Saved Which theorist argued that deviance is a result of a disconnect between wants and means? Marx Durkheim Becker O Merton

Answer 1

Answer 1 True

Here Miguel who walks around his house in a dress is a deviant if it's not approved socially irrespective of whether someone sees him or not.

W.H Sumner a sociologist defines deviance as a violation of established contextual, cultural, or social norms, whether folkways, mores, or codified law. Here Folkways are norms based on everyday cultural customs concerning practical matters like what type of clothes are appropriate for different situations, or how to greet someone politely.

So simply a deviant is someone whose behavior is outside the society's norms. So, it really just depends on society and culture and community etc.

Two key insights of the sociological approach to deviance are :

1. Deviance is defined by its social context. To understand why some acts are deviant and some are not, it is necessary to understand what the context is, what the existing rules are, and how these rules came to be established. If the rules change, what counts as deviant also changes. So Miguel may be considered deviant or not depends upon social context or norms or rules.

2. Rules or Norms may change : As rules and norms vary across cultures and time, it makes sense that notions of deviance also change. The norms themselves, or the social contexts that determine which acts are deviant or not, are continually defined and redefined through ongoing social processes—political, legal, cultural, etc. So, Miguel being considered deviant or not may vary across time. Initially He may have been considered deviant but as time passes and societies develop, norms may change and he may no longer be considered a deviant.

Answer 2 False

Majority of crimes means more than 50% of crimes. Here we should note that data does not support the statement in question that the majority of crimes are committed by African Americans.

As per the UCR (Uniform Crime Report) 2017 by FBI, majority of arrests in various crimes were of 'Whites' and not the Afro-Americans or Blacks. "Arrests, by Race and Ethnicity, 2017" as part of the UCR 2017 by FBI asserts that In 2017, 68.9 percent of all individuals arrested were White, 27.2 percent were Black or African American, and 3.9 percent were of other races.

These biases and prejudices against Afro-Americans  have negative effect on their personality and it affects them both psychologically and socially.

Answer 3. Merton argued that deviance is a result of a disconnect between wants and means.

Explanation : R.K Merton gave a postulate that deviance arises as a consequence of inequality which results when the society pressurises people to achieve certain goals that the same society finds acceptable but the individuals lack the legal means to achieve those very goals.