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Sociology / Unit 5   Soc 0651 short lesson, about 20 seconds

"Deviance Means Harmful"

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The idea

Deviance is a relationship to a norm, not a measure of harm: harmless acts are deviant where norms forbid them, and harmful acts are conventional where norms permit them.

In practice

Dyed hair breaks a norm and injures nobody; historically, legal practices caused enormous harm.

Where people slip

Confusing the two makes it impossible to study how norms themselves change.

Your place on the trail

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