Final answer:
Deviance is a violation of established contextual, cultural, or social norms and can be viewed as the natural outgrowth of values, norms, and structure of society. It can foster social change and serves different purposes from different sociological perspectives.
Step-by-step explanation:
Deviance is a violation of established contextual, cultural, or social norms. It can be seen as the natural outgrowth of values, norms, and structure of society. William Graham Sumner defined deviance as a violation of norms, whether they are folkways, mores, or codified law. Deviance is not necessarily bad and can even foster social change. For example, during the civil rights movement, sit-ins challenged society's notions of segregation. From a structural functionalist perspective, deviance serves to reinforce norms and maintain social order. Conflict theorists argue that crime stems from a system of inequality, while symbolic interactionists focus on the socially constructed nature of deviance.