DEVIANCE For my scenario in exploring the concept of deviance, I decided to pick not only a true event, ut a true event

that involved myself! "his event #as my first and only D$I arrest, follo#ing a company Christmas party in Decem er of %&&'! "he la el of deviance manifested itself much more prominently in this case, and resounded #ith a greater sense of deviant ehavior #ithin myself than it #ould have evoked through a general traffic(moving violation stop! From a relativist standpoint, it serves to la el a D$I as an incident that occurs as a direct result of a particular deviant ehavior) driving #hile under the influence of alcohol! *hile the act of driving drunk could e speculated as a universal act of deviance, #e can explore further into it+s su ,ective nature #ithin our culture! In exploring the creation of deviance, #e can look to the first step in this process) anning! "hrough the action of moral entrepreneurs, it defines the act of driving drunk as #rong and immoral through the pu lic eye- this lays out the concrete ideal that it is indeed a deviant act! "he norm #hen it comes to driving is driving responsi ly- driving under the influence as an act itself can e considered a deviant act, ut through the la eling theory of deviance #e can more importantly infer it is a violation of the norms that have een set in place! It is namely the perspective of la# enforcement, #ho carry out and punish those in violation! It can also, ho#ever, e seen as deviant through the perspective of passer y.s- as I+m standing out in the cold #ith la# officers assessing me, I can feel the stares of passengers in vehicles, as they drive y and undou tedly assume it is in fact a possi le D$I! /astly, again through the la eling theory of deviance, I myself vie# myself as deviant! I cannot speak for others, ut the mere fact alone of me kno#ing and understanding that I am driving drunk invokes deviant ehavior that has een internali0ed through la eling theory! In terms of social reaction to this incident, I found #ithin myself the o ,ective effects of the D$I charge to e the most immediately prominent! 1eing held overnight in the 2drunk tank3 along #ith other 2deviant individuals3 like myself really hammered home the point here) I #as essentially a criminal #ho had committed a deviant act, and #as eing punished as appropriately so! Even after release, I 4uickly reali0ed the immediate conse4uences- losing my drivers license, losing the privilege to drive a vehicle, these #ere all direct results of my actions! It #as after this ho#ever, in dealing #ith various re4uired programs and AA meetings, that I also egan to feel the su ,ective effects! *hatever I had een efore, ho# I felt a out myself efore, it had all changed- I felt like a deviant! "he entire procedure put into place y la#makers regarding D$I+s #as designed to make sure you fully understood the severity of #hat you had done, and I felt it prominently override #hatever other feelings I had of myself in the current moment! /ooking ack on the entire ordeal, I felt like the idea of a 2pu lic degradation ceremony3 egan as soon as I #as pulled over, and did not end until I had completed all court5appointed tasks and actions! In exploring #hat it felt like to e a deviant to me, I personally did not feel good a out it! 6articularly in my case, a D$I is a direct cause of your o#n personal decisions! In the creation of deviance, one point that stands out is the attri ution stage of an act of deviance! Earlier I had mentioned ho# much more severe a D$I feels as opposed to a routine traffic stop in relation to feelings of deviance! For o vious reasons, a D$I is indeed #orse than an illegal turn or speeding- ut can e expanded upon #hen looking at attri ution of the crime! An illegal turn, or even speeding can e attri uted to accidental or careless ehavior- a D$I involves you making the ,udgment call to enter your vehicle and choose to operate it, #hich makes it that much #orse in the event you get caught! In the case of driving drunk, it can e very easy to attempt to engage in neutrali0ation of this ehavior- it is something I regularly did prior to my conviction! "o shrug off the idea of driving drunk as really eing that serious y e4uating that 2everyone does it3, this creates the act as something of the norm! *hile I #ould still maintain this to e relatively true 7I #ould assume a copious percentage of the population does drive under the influence8, it nonetheless does not let one off the hook for doing it! *hat I did find est to help myself in this case #as through destigmati0ation- namely I found the

concept of purification to #ork in my est interests! I took the mandated D$I and AA meetings very seriously, and honestly can say I feel I came out a much etter person as a result! "ypically those #ho get D$I+s #ill not drive drunk again, mainly out of fear of getting caught again! *hile there admittedly is that fear factor #ithin me pertaining to driving drunk to a small extent, the est #ay I can descri e myself in regards to this is I simply don+t feel it+s #orth the risk anymore! If it means not eing a le to go out to an event ecause there is a solutely no #ay to go other than driving, I simply #on+t go! "o me, it+s not so much out of fear, ut rather out of the affirmation that it+s the right thing to do!

9ources Arrest photo taken from ###!mortlockla#!com D$I 9atire Video taken from :outu e "heories of Deviance video taken from :outu e Article on Field 9o riety "ests taken from ###!,acksonsun!com