Cigarette smoking : a case study of deviance among upper class men in the Singapore society.

• Main Author: Sar, Canice Wei Lin.
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/51636
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Any act that goes against social norms is considered deviant and should be avoided. Deviants that are caught are usually sent to correctional institutions for re-socialization. Due to class inequality, the poor tend to be scrutinized and labeled more frequently as deviants. Hence, it has become a consensus that deviance is practiced mainly by the poor. However, in recent studies, it has been found that the upper class contribute equally, if not more, to deviance in many societies. Through the upper class, some deviant behavior have been normalized. Despite normalization, the lower class maintains the negative stereotypes attached to the deviant behavior. It is thus important to analyze how the upper class negotiate such conflicting perception in order to understand how deviance may persist throughout society.