Social Behaviour Norms and Deviations Essay

There are certain norms accepted in a society which regulate human behaviour. If a persons activity goes against these rules, his/her actions are considered to be deviant. To understand it better, five deviant, though not illegal acts, will be analysed.

1. Eating only with fingers at some restaurants or public places. There are several reasons for taking this action as deviant. First of all, there are table manners accepted in a society which determine how and with the help of what certain food should be eaten. Moreover, there are norms of behaviour in a society which consider eating with fingers to be an absolutely unacceptable and deviant act which can be rather disgusting. However, it is just the question of culture. It is known, that some peoples have absolutely different table manners. Japanese people eat with the help of chopsticks while people in Asia very often use only their fingers.
2. Drinking alcohol or smoking while being pregnant. It is widely known that a woman, who is going to give birth soon, should refuse the usage of this element as they can damage a fetus or result in some serious diseases. Such behaviour is absolutely unacceptable, and society condemns and judges would be mothers, who drink alcohol or smoke, considering these actions to be deviant. Moreover, very often, this behaviour can be taken as some defections of the maternal instinct as a woman does not care about her child. Children health and life are appreciated in all cultures; that is why there is hardly a place in the world where such behaviour can be taken as normal and acceptable.
3. Moreover, abortion is also very often treated as deviant behaviour. However, it is very disputable question. There are different points of view on this issue, nevertheless, very often it is taken as a murder of a child. Though it is legal in the UK, the USA and Europe, there are several states which provide punishment for this procedure. There is no use denying the fact that this issue is connected with culture and moral. There is a question whether we can consider fetus to be living being or not. Besides, there are no folks or peoples which consider this procedure to be absolutely acceptable or absolutely wrong as it is very disputable and complicated issue.
4. The next deviant behaviour is a deliberate disregard of some cultural peculiarities or norms of behaviour of some minorities or representatives of other folks or nationalities. Very often, these actions lead to the violation of feelings of people. This behaviour is not illegal, though it can provoke some serious conflict. It is widely accepted that people should respect and be tolerant to peculiarities of some other cultures and try not to insult people with their disregard. Such behaviour is taken as strange and inappropriate in almost all countries. Moreover, sometimes it can lead to some serious problems or ethnic conflicts.
5. The last behaviour in the list is talking, eating or sharing personal feelings with a stranger. There is a certain code in society which regulates relations between people. That is why, in the majority of European cultures it is unacceptable for a person to come to a stranger and start talking with him/her sharing some private feelings and emotions. These peculiarities of culture are the reflection of a reserved character of Europeans, however, somewhere in Asia it is quite usual behaviour.