Essay on Deviance: Criminology and Whip

Submitted By hhess7
Words: 617
Pages: 3

The movie Flight shows many different forms and levels of deviance. In the movie Whip’s deviant lifestyle spins his life out of control. Whip has a serious problem abusing alcohol and drugs. This ends up leaving him without a job, separated from his wife and son and facing time in prison for manslaughter. As seen in the movie deviance can range from minor deviance, such as premarital sex to major deviance, such as manslaughter. In the movie you see a good example of the labeling perceptive of deviance. The labeling perceptive of deviance does not focus on why some people come to commit deviant acts; it instead attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants and others whose behaviors are similar are not seen as deviants. Even though Nicole is a recovering junkie most people wouldn’t consider her behavior as deviant. They would probably expect it more from her and it wouldn’t be as surprising. However when it is someone like an airline pilot, or someone else of power who society sees as a respectable and responsible individual, they are labeled as deviant. Once a person is labeled as deviant it is very hard to remove that label. Despite Whip being one of the only pilots in the world capable of landing a plane amidst engine failure, saving almost everyone on the plane in the end his addiction defeats his heroic actions. You see a lot of people enabling Whip in the movie. They are trying to help him get out of the situation he has created for himself but in reality they are enabling him. In the scene where he is in the hotel, the night before his NTSB hearing he goes on a drinking binge. When the union representative and Whip’s attorney show up to get him for the hearing they find him completely wasted. What they do next can be seen as a corporate crime. Corporate crime is the illegal actions of a corporation or people acting on its behalf. The 2 enlist the help of Whip’s best friend to come give him some cocaine to wake him up and again you see another enabler in Whip’s deviant behavior. When you are an enabler it can easily turn into corporate or organized crime. The union representative knew the truth from the beginning but hired an attorney to squash the