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The Nature And Consequence Of Labeling Deviant In Nigeria
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Having such a conception renders the universal nature of deviance
questionable. Decades ago, Durkheim, acknowledged the impossibility of
deviance or crime free society, especially in periods of rapid social
change, or in his jargon, anomie. Consequently, he suggested a
collectiveresponse to deviance – social control– toensure moral bound to
boundless desires of individuals. Absence of crime or deviance, implies
social solidarity, as there is complete consensus over norms and
values. For Durkheim, though, this situation is not only impossible to
achieve, but the very idea is not congruent with the values placed on
individualism in a modern society.Thus, Durkheimasserted that the
existence of crime is unavoidable, and as Roshier, pointed out,
responses to it must be collective. In the specific case discussed by
Erikson, it could be asserted that the deviance of the dissenting group
was not a necessary precondition for the acceptance of the new moral
boundaries. If no split had occurred, then expectedly,the moral
boundaries would have been universally agreed upon, anyway.It should be
noted that, deviance, crime, and social control or social sanctions are
key areas of criminological enterprise.As Jock Young [1998:451] aptly
opined, criminology in general has much to offer to social science: Many
of us were attracted to the discipline [criminology] because of its
theoretical verve, because of the centrality of the study of disorder to
understanding society, because of the flair of its practitioners and
the tremendous human interest of the subject. many of the major debates
in the social sciences in the 1960s and 1970s focused quite naturally
around deviance and social control (quoted in Bell, 2010:157).
Similarly, Tierney (2010:1) shared the same view with Young by opening
his introductory remark with the following argument: Since the late
1960s the area of study broadly described as criminology hasexpanded
enormously in Britain. Nowadays all sorts of writers, researchers
andteachers make many and varied contributions to issues of crime and
social control,and represent various political and theoretical
positions. This paperdiscusses social control, its genesis, typology,
and some of its theoretical explanations. Much of the work has been
adapted from Clinard and Meier’s, (1998), Sociology of Deviant Behavior,
but other literature has beenreviewed to enrich the paper with adequate
insight into the subject of social control, and related concepts
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The
social understanding of the study of deviance and crime examine
cultural norms; how they change over time, how they are enforced, and
what happens to individuals and societies when norms are broken.
Deviance and social norms vary among societies, communities, and times,
and often sociologists are interested in why these differences exist and
how these differences impact the individuals and groups in those areas.
What is deviant to one group may not be considered deviant to another.
Sociologists define deviance as behaviour that is recognized as
violating expected rules and norms. It is simply more than
nonconformity, however; it is behaviour that departs significantly from
social expectations. Sociologists stress social context, deviance is
looked at in terms of group processes, definitions, and judgments and
not just as unusual individual acts. Furthermore, they recognize that
established rules and norms are socially created, not just morally
decided or individually imposed. It is in view of the above that the
researcher intend to explore the nature and consequences of labeling
deviant in Nigeria.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]The aim of the article is to provide a theoretical nexus between social values, deviance and security in Nigeria. In Nigeria today, society at large is threatened by deviance, crime, conflict and violence which are violations of societal values and norms of security and welfare of the citizenry. People now show an increased interest in personal well-being and a decreased interest in the welfare of others. Citizens are not safe and secure on the streets, in their homes and offices. The paper posi ... Continue reading---
