Test 2 soc 1014 Chapter 5--Deviance First, whether something is deviant depends on who is evaluating it. Second, when important norms, or rules, are violated, norms and social control function to maintain social organization, social relationships, and the meanings that underlie them. Social Properties of Deviance Deviance is behavior that a considerable number of people in a society view as reprehensible and beyond the limits of tolerance. Without norms, and without the application of norms in interpreting behavior, there is no deviance. Put another way, deviance is not a property inherent in certain forms of behavior; it is a property conferred upon particular behaviors by social definitions. ^The Relativity of Deviance As norms vary from one society to the next and from one time to another, so too does deviance. A social audience, through the application of norms, decided whether or not some behavior is deviant. To the Etoro of New Guinea, sexual activity involving children is a normal part of everyday life...