There are some who believe that it is very possible for a person to be born inherently evil. Arguments against this accusation would state that man himself is never born evil, but is simply capable of evil acts. Every human being is capable of committing an evil act, or better stated as, an act of defiance. Whether it is done in a rebellious manner or done with the best of intentions, a socially unacceptable act is considered deviance. Schaefer (2011) defines Deviance as “behavior that violates social norms” (165). The violation of a social norm can range from disrespecting an elder to committing a murder, and there are ways in which every society tries their best to lessen the amount of deviant behavior that takes place.
A deviant act is any act that violates a social norm. One deviant act in particular that is very popular among college students is the act of plagiarism. Taking the ideas of someone else and expecting credit for it is something that every college student knows is socially unacceptable. A student may be lazy, simply not want to do the work or may be stressed; it may have been the idea of the one who committed the act or maybe they were pressured into it by a friend. No matter what the circumstance, the act of plagiarism is one that violates a social norm, making it a deviant act.
Because plagiarism is a very serious offense, there are very serious consequences that are attached to it. If a teacher or professor happens to find out that a paper has been plagiarized, the student will be faced with a penalty and sometimes that penalty is expulsion. There is a rule against plagiarism, which means that there are formal social controls that were created to combat it. As stated by Schaefer (2011), social control “refers to techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in any society” (159). Expulsion from school is a form of formal social control, because it is enforced by a person of authority, and it is used in the hopes of decreasing the deviant act that took place.
Informal social control is something used “casually to enforce norms” (Schaefer 162). Informal social control can be a phrase, an expression or even just a look. There is a certain look that almost every child has grown to despise. This particular look is one of a disappointed parent. From a very young age this look of disappointment is one that is extremely effective and grows even more effective with each passing day. It is not the case with everyone, but most children want their parents to be proud of their accomplishments. Especially as teenagers turn into young adults, they long to go above and beyond their parent’s expectations of them. They long for approval. This, of course, makes the parental look of disappointment ever more displeasing and it may even seem, at times, a punishment in itself.
Both Informal and formal social control are very effective in their own ways. Honestly, I do not believe that one is more effective than the other. The effectiveness of the two types of social control depends on the person committing the act and on the situation. The parental look of disappointment may be enough to stop one child from a deviant act, but others may need that extra hit on the head that, for them, only comes from penalties such as getting expelled, receiving a ticket or even going to jail.
Acts of deviance are characteristics of the society, not of the individual. A student may plagiarize for a variety of reasons, but where did the idea come from in the first place? This idea came from his/her surrounding; it came from teachers and from peers. As we learned in chapter 1, we are always influencing each other and in doing so we influence our social environment. It is a never ending cycle. Cultural transmission is a term Schafer (2011) explains as learning “criminal behavior by interacting with others” (170). We do not come out of our mother’s womb ready to lie, steal, vandalize or murder. We are constantly being molded by our surroundings, and although we ourselves determine the type of person that we want to be, it is our social surroundings which draw us closer to that conclusion.
Works Cited
Schaefer, Richard T. Sociology: a Brief Introduction. 9th ed. NY: McGraw Hill, 2011. Print.
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