As we the people of the world enter a new millennium many sociological problems can be viewed in everyday life. Problems, which often are confused and not well understood through the worlds outlook. One such problem that this paper will focus on is Deviance In Sports. This paper will discuss and elaborate on certain points and topics such as: 1. What is deviance? 2. How do acts of deviance influence the society of today when committed by athletic role models? 3. Why are male athletes found to engage in deviant acts more so than women? First, to understand and discuss the idea of deviance in sports one must ask the question what is deviance? The Random House College Dictionary defines the word deviate as characterized by deviation from an accepted norm, as of behavior; a person or thing that departs from the accepted norm or standard. Alex Thio, the author of Sociology A Brief Introduction Third Edition defines deviance as an act that is considered by public consensus or by the powerful at a given place and time to be a violation of some social rule. In todays society we find the word deviance to mean different things to different people, this is due to people having different opinions on whether an act violated a social norm or not. In the world of sports deviance is viewed differently on the playing field than if it were seen in the streets of a city or small town. In Jay J. Coakleys Sport in Society Sixth Edition, Coakley states, what is normal in sports may be deviant outside of sports. Athletes are allowed and even encouraged to behave in ways that are prohibited or defined as criminal in other settings. For example, much of the behavior of athletes in contact sports would be classified as felony assault if it occurred on the streets. To better understand this, most sociologist like to use the Alternative Approach rather than the Absolutist or Relativist approaches. Coak...
