As a citizen of the a small community in the country walks down the streets of a large city like Montreal or Toronto, it is quite obvious that they will probably find the behaviour or even the appearance of some individuals or groups they walk into somewhat intimidating or even offending. Now if a citizen of one of those two cities were to walk down the exact same street, they would see the same individuals that intimidated the country folk as the normal and probably walk right by without looking twice. Obviously the two different individuals have different views on what is normal or acceptable in society and what could be considered deviant. Who decides what is acceptable behaviour and who is right when it comes to deciding what is deviant?
             Deviance is any behaviour that is not acceptable to society's norms. Who is it that decides what is the norm and what would be considered abnormal? As with anything, those who have the money have the power. Those individuals who live in upper or middle class situations have a lot to do with setting the social norms. From elementary school to the everyday lives of adults, someone is always trying to do as well as or be like someone else. That someone else could be a co-worker, a friend, a celebrity or even a family member. Usually when you are trying to be like someone else, you begin to accept their beliefs as a way of getting closer to that final goal of being them. This leads to a very large powerful group of people who share a lot of the same beliefs of what is normal and what is unacceptable in society. Economics of course plays a huge role in people wanting to be like others.
             Another factor to how the social norms are derived is through the media. When our favourite celebrities voice their opinions on social issues and what they believe to be acceptable and unacceptable, we tend to lean toward these views. A great example of this would be the television show All in the Family, wh...