Social deviance is a phenomenon that has existed in all societies where there have been norms (Hagan, John). Deviance acts are acts that go against the norms in a society, for example: crime, robbery, rape, assault, murder. Americans today recognize actions such public nudity, pyromania, extreme gambling, alcoholism, lying, unhygienic, prostitution, stealing, and cross dressing as deviant or people acting upon deviant behavior. Although in our society this breaks our norms, he in other societies it may be their norms. The Merton’s Strain Theory displays five types of social deviance: innovation, conformists, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. Violate or conform are two probabilities for an individual's actions in the aspects
