A Non Devient Australia in Accordence to Durkheim's Theory of Deviancy

Topics: Sociology, Deviance, Taboo Pages: 2 (755 words) Published: March 17, 2013
The idea of deviancy presented by Durkheim, in accordance to Australia being/ becoming a deviant free country.

What was Durkheim’s theory of deviancy?
According to Durkheim’s theory a society needs deviancy so that it is able to evolve into a more desirable state. An example of this happening are seen easily in the medical practices through the eras. During the medieval times it was not normal for doctors to dissect people so they had little idea of the anatomy of humans. Normally when a person was found conducting this act they would be most likely put to death for committing what was considered a satanic act in that time. When a doctor was finally able to make some sort of map of the human anatomy it had greatly helped the medical community to take a step forward which lead to a desirable outcome. The problem with Durkheim’s theory of social deviance is that his idea that a society needs deviancy to change is only looking at the “good” sort of deviant behaviour which leads to a more desirable type of social change. This leaves out the kinds of deviancy such as murder, theft, rape and other sorts of deviancy which damages society. With Durkheim leaving out the sort of deviancy that would cause damage to society he has left himself open to criticism.

A non deviant Australia may not be possible.
Australia, the land of the free or so it is called is full of deviancy. If Australia was to become a society where deviancy did not exist, the extent of changes that would have to be made to everyone’s life styles would be gigantic. The idea of there being no deviancy in Australia would mean that everyone would conform to what had been decided was the social norm for the society. The very thought that it would be possible for all Australians to conform to a singular idea of society is incredibly optimistic view.

If Australia did somehow lose the deviant nature of its citizen there would be no change in the way that society operated, as well as no...
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