Relationship of Deviant Behavior and Mental Disorder

Relationship Of Deviant Behavior and Mental Disorder

Deviance and social Control 3180

December 3, 2017

There is very vague understanding of deviant behavior and mental disorder. It is still a unresolved theoretical issue. Some Sociologist asserts that mental disorder is a type of deviant behavior. If mental disorders are deviant, how can they be studied sociologically and in what specific way does the sociologist of deviance define them as such is still an unresolved issue that is in need of effective intervention of scientific sociology.

Deviance is defined as deviations from social norm which encounter disapproval. It is belief or characteristics that many people in a society find or would find offensive and which excite, upon discovery, disapproval, punishment, condemnation or hostility. These behaviors stray from the accepted norms and beliefs, values of a group. It is nonconformity of the social norms or the established standards of a group. Therefore, it is referred to any violation of social norms and expectation. It is a breach of social disorder. These behaviors violate social norms including formally enacted rules as well as informal violations of social norms. Deviant behavior is outside the bounds of the group or society.

There are many circumstance in our life which we feel if it is a deviant or not. There is no way that everything that we disagree would be considered as deviant. In that aspect we can consider deviance not just a behavior. So any act can be defined as deviant and not deviant. Deviance involves a moral judgment, that is why it is a product of society.

There are different forms of deviant behavior. The behavior is viewed as deviant in relative to every group, in time and place. It can be justified and it can be tolerated , approved or disapproved. One of the meaningful definition of deviance is explained by sociologist Howard S. Becker (1966), “It is not the act itself, but the reactions to the act, that make something deviant.” Different groups have different norms , maybe something deviant to a particular person may not be deviant to another (Henslin 2005: pg. 134). This principle holds within a society as well cross-culturally. A specific form of deviance is a crime, or the infringement of rules that are written laws Among the list of deviant behavior, mental disorder also occupies the prominent place in sociological and pathological approach.

        Defining mental disorder is not as easy or as straightforward a task as it might appear. The concept of mental disorder is fundamental to the theory and practice in the mental health field too. The first manual of mental disorders was published In 1952 This manual was called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. According to the manual, there are 17 major categories of psychological problems and almost 300 mental disorders. Some of the major categories include mood disorders, eating disorders, sleep disorders, impulse control and addiction disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, post traumatic stress disorder and personality disorders and etc.  But there is no agreed on and adequate analysis of this concept that currently exists. The soon to be published revision of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder has contemplate the definition of mental disorder that has been specified in the manual.