While this may make it seem as though we can create a simple, cut and dry definition of deviance, this s not entirely the case. The concept of deviance often times means different things to different people. This is can be explained by individuals having different opinions on whether the actions by another violated some perceived social norm. In the world of sports, for example, deviance is viewed differently on the playing field when compared to actions in normal everyday society. In his book Sports in Society, Coakley states, “what is normal in sports may be deviant outside of sports. ” From time to time, athletes are allowed, and in some cases encouraged, to behave in deviant ways that may even border on criminal behavior if it were to happen outside of the realm of sports participation. Some of this behavior could even be defined as…show more content… For example, if a hockey player were to shove another player after the play had ended it is often encouraged if they are defending one of their own teammates. In contrast, if a person walking down the street were to shove someone after they had made a disparaging remark, this would be seen as deviant behavior.
When looking at deviant behavior in sport, not all deviance is due to underconformity of social norms; often times the type of deviance that is shown by professional athletes is in fact overconformity to the rules and regulations of the game. In an effort to explain this, sociologists have recently turned away from the Absolutionist Approach and have started to look more to the Alternative Approach to explaining deviance in sports. Coakley states that the Alternative Approach explains that, “deviance is not simply one sided but can be either negative or positive. ” This approach states that most behaviors fall into an acceptable range of behaviors even if they do deviate from an ideal norm. Coakley also states, “deviance occurs when