Labeling People as Deviant

¶ … Social Control and Deviance

How does this TV show present deviance?

'Tabboo' airs on National Geographic which shows stories of different people with deviant behaviors. It presents a complete biography along with the history of that particular behavior. One particular episode of deviant behavior that I witnessed in the program was about the Ethiopian Tribe in which beauty represented the strength of a woman. That strength was measured by the amount of scars that were present on the woman's body which were given through whipping. The program showed that in the Ethiopian tribe, a boy's sisters has to suffer before he can become a man, so the women encourage the whipper to whip them. The whole situation of whipping and suffering for a man in your family seemed very confusing but it was normal for the people in that tribe (Bell 2012). Whipping is a negative action, but the program showed that the woman who was whipped was respected in the community thus it was a positive action for them. The total number of scars on the woman's body clearly showed her strength and how she suffered for her family and stood up to them; however in the other countries whipping is considered as illegal. This particular behavior was shown as a part of their culture and tradition and it defined them, so they welcomed it with an open heart. Comparing this tradition to the other countries, the man whipping the woman would receive huge penalty from the law and it would be seen as a negative action among the people in the society. The woman would also receive a negative review because making her suffer so that her brother might become a man is not something to be proud of. The whole episode was not pleasant for me because I kept comparing their culture with mine which was not an easy thing to do and it made it difficult for me to understand why this tradition in the Ethiopian tribe was still being carried on when the world has become so advanced in these matters (Bell 2012).

What is "labeling"?

Labeling someone of a particular thing makes that person represent it for everybody else. Labeling makes it from a different perspective as it asks why some people are labeled as deviant while the others are not. The labeling theory states that many people commit behaviors in their lifetime that do not define the norms of the society they live in, but not all of these people are labeled as deviant. Once a person is labeled as deviant, his entire personality is overlooked and is then seen from the eyes of that particular behavior that he commits (Bryant n.d.). That person might be fulfilling other rules of the society but form the viewpoint of the people; he is a thief, a punk or a hippie. Every label given to a person carries images and prejudices which leads to the interpretation of his behavior as the labeled one. A person who stays late to work might be given a lot of praise and be seen in a positive light but someone who is accused of stealing might be labeled as a thief and people would think he would steal something if left alone. Labeling also leaves imprints on the person being labeled and their behavior changes towards many things and many people. These people might be working to shake off their label but the prejudices in the society against them works as barriers for that resulting in the change of behaviors and attitudes (Bryant n.d.).