The purpose of my project was to try to pinpoint the origins of deviance in American society today. I am concerned about the increasing rates of deviance and fear what will happen to our society if nothing is done rectify the situation. For purposes of my investigation, I begin with the assumption that deviance is, indeed, a social problem rather than the consequence of individuals' biological or psychological make-ups.
Deviant behavior is nothing less than the departure from social norms.
I stumbled across many problems in this investigation of the origins of deviance, the first of which came with choosing variables to represent deviant behavior. In order to pinpoint the causes of deviance, I found out that it is imperative to first narrow its definition. This study did indeed locate several possible origins of social deviance. Further study should extend the definition of deviance to incorporate other types of crime and deviant behavior. This will become more difficult to do as our society is continuously formulating new laws that function to increase the number of acts labeled as deviant.