... is seen as relatively harmless. This essay goes on to explore the different perspectives on whether deviance is a beneficial part of a healthy society. The key Authors used in this study is "Haralambos and Holborn". Discussion In any society, an act that is considered deviant today may be defined as normal in the future. Possible examples are one parent families and polygamy. Deviance varies from time to time, place-to-place, and person-to-person, as it is culturally determined. Functionalists argue that a certain amount of deviance had positive functions as it contributes to the maintenance and well being of society. Durkhiem(1960 ) argues that it a society there will always be differences between people. People will identify differences between themselves and others no matter how small and these differences will constitute a form of deviance. Humans do not just identify differences they also evaluate them good/bad, normal/abnormal and natural/unnatural. Cohen (1966) argued that Deviance could ...

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