“The Incorrect use, Rejection, and the Disregard for face masks during the

Pandemic”

Deviance, according to the book, is the behavior that violates the standards of conduct or
expectations of a group or society. There are different views on deviance and there were
different theories on it. One is biological, which states that one’s makeup is the cause of
one’s deviant behaviors. It states that one becomes deviant because of how they look, their
body builds, their race, and how close one looks to a primitive human. For psychology, it
mentioned something about the self-fulfilling prophecy, which states that if society thinks
you should act like this because you look like this, you will act based on their views.
However, these two do not provide a complete explanation for deviant behavior. So, let us
turn to sociological theories.

For now, I’ll be using the following example. The incorrect use, rejection, and Disregard
for face masks during the Pandemic with the 3 sociological perspectives. For Structural
functionalism, these exist because they serve a purpose. The people who do not use face
masks correctly show society how one should wear a face mask. Those who disregard and
reject wearing face masks also show society that if you do not wear face masks, you’re
more prone to COVID-19. The government also provides sanctions to those who refuse to
wear masks, therefore instilling to the society that those who deviate will be punished. For
symbolic interactionalism, peer pressure, influence, and media can influence how a person
acts with face masks. Let us assume a friend teaches you how to wear face masks, but he
teaches you the incorrect way, you’d then be influenced to wear face masks like how he
does, therefore making you a deviant. For those who reject or disregard it, assume you see
a protest or a Facebook post explaining how face masks shouldn’t be worn or shouldn’t be
given importance to. You’d then be influenced to not wear face masks and disregard them,
therefore making you a deviant. As for the conflict theory, I’ll be using the rejection and
disregard for face masks as the only example. Some people protest the use of face masks
because it “breaches” their free will. They also said that face masks are only being given
because the higher-ups are using these as a means to control the people in society, therefore
they protest against it and its use, making them deviant. Some also believe that buying,
contributing, and participating in the use of face masks only contribute to the capitalists,
which makes them richer, therefore people refuse to wear them, making them deviant. We
can compare this to the “deviant rebellion”. Which is the rejection of culturally defined
goals, which is to stop the spread of COVID-19, and means, which is wearing face masks,
and active replacement with culturally unacceptable ones.
References Used:

Schaefer, Richard T. Sociology : A Brief Introduction. New York, Mcgraw-Hill Higher

Education ; London, 2012.

“Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.” ReviseSociology, Nov. 2017, revisesociology.com/tag/self-fulfilling-

prophecy/.

“Theories of Crime and Deviance | Boundless Sociology.” Lumenlearning.com, 2011,

courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-sociology/chapter/theories-of-crime-and-deviance/.