CHAPTER 7
Norm Breaking on Television The study of deviance is one of the most enduring concerns in the discipline of sociology.
Deviance is understood as behaviors that circumvent, flaunt, and even challenge the normative conventions of a given culture. Emile Durkheim suggested that deviance provides boundaries for social groups and help outline the standards for both inclusive and exclusive membership. Norms can be prescriptive, outlining forms of expected and preferred thought and action (what one should do), or they can be proscriptive, emphasizing those behaviors and beliefs that are unacceptable, taboo, and forbidden (what one should not do). Groups typically vary in the degree to which they either express deviance outright, usually severe punishment or group explosion; or work toward restitution of order that is unsettled by deviance. The one show that comes to mind I must write about is “The Sons of Anarchy”. When you think SOA; you think deviance and that is why I choose this television series to write about. This FX series is the most consistent first year drama ever targeting age 18-49 year olds. The Sons of Anarchy is a deviant subculture. This group of people in this club are also outsiders. You can consider many of the members in this club under the structural strain theory, they are innovators; they seek financial success from means such as trading guns, drug dealing, and also embezzling money from other groups. This television series follows a California motorcycle club located in Redwood. It was started by nine male veterans of the US military. The name of the club is SAMCRO, which stands for Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood
Original Chapter. Clay is one of the characters, which is also the president of the club. Clay has a
Wife named Gemma which is like the mother of the club. Gemma’s son, Jackson also known as
Jax is the vice president and his father was John Teller; one of the founding members. You should already start to see the deviance in this series since Clay and John were friends and Gemma is now with Clay. Later in the movie you find out Clay is the one that killed John. The reason many people watch this series is through the labeling process; every women I know thinks Jax Teller is the hottest guy alive! We follow the lives of the male members of the club and their partners, wives, lovers, or girlfriends. SAMCRO work together with police to ensure some level of safety and security in their community and to keep outsiders who may cause trouble out of the city they call Charming Heights. They are valued for their toughness and their desire for freedom. When you think SOA; you think the need for excitement (thrill-seeking). I think this television series has basically every type of deviance there is, including positive. The club under Clay’s leadership works with the Irish Army as innovators to traffic artillery
Into the United States and sell to other clubs and gangs. They also work with illegal narcotics.
Here is an example of the positive deviance they did once; they got some HIV medications and sold them for very cheap to clinics in the area. The connection here with dealing drugs is