According to the book chapter, because the term “social problems” tends to be self-explanatory, defining social problems has been a challenge for sociologists. Social deviance has had an influential role in terms of helping to define the idea of social problems. Deviance is anything that differs from the norm. According to this chapter, deviance can also be looked at as rule breaking in violation of some norm or “a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an ‘offender’” (Becker). This relates to social problems because anything that does not conform to society’s expectations whether it be in terms of behavior, acts, values or anything else is considered a social problem (e.g., crime, suicide, poverty). It is considered
