What defines an action as deviant or violation of social norms? Why do some people consider other people’s behavior as acceptable or not? Who defines what is and what is not deviant? Deviance is a behavior that fails to conform to the rules or norms of a group as defined by Durkheim. Also, deviance is a “behavior or characteristics that violate important group norms and as a consequence are reacted to with social dissapproval.” Important concepts found on both definitions are “failure to conform” or “violation” “norms” and “groups” according to Anderson and Taylor. These social rules or group rules (norms) are the bases of a group’s definition of situations and behavior, specifying them as “right” or “wrong."
