Essay about Deviance, The Violation Of A Social Norm

Deviance, the violation of a social norm, usually leads to some type of negative sanction, whether it be as simple as being ignored or as serious as violence or jail time. The norms and punishments vary across different groups with different values or expectations. Deviance too, can vary between groups, especially between social classes. For example, Most street crime is committed by poorer classes and white-collar crime is more often committed by upper classes. White-collar crime is a rarely punished because society, and the criminal justice system, looks more favorably on those with more power and prosperity. White-collar crime has fewer negative sanctions than other forms of deviance because society is biased in favor of wealthy individuals. White-collar crime is crime that is committed by people of high statues and usually involves illegitimate business deals or economic escapades. Most white-collar crimes involve some sort of deceit, fraud, or scam. Fraud, counterfeiting, embezzlement, Ponzi schemes, securities fraud, insider trading, tax evasion, and money laundering are common types of white-collar crime (Thomson Reuters, 2015; Henslin, 2015). Most white-collar crime falls into the Innovation deviant path, where cultural goals, like making money, are accepted, but the institutionalized, in this case legal, means. Ironically, some street crime, like robbery and drug dealing, are considered innovation deviance as well, although are more likely to be prosecuted and…