Ep 6 - Ch 5 - - Deviance in Sports: Is it Out of Control?

We begin episode 6 with a sociological definition of deviance and several concrete examples. This leads into a discussion of how formal (written) norms and informal (unwritten) norms create distinction between what might encouraged in sports but deviant in other parts of society, and vice-versa. Recognizing that deviance varies across different institutional spaces based on the formal and informal norms of those institutions leads into a discussion of absolutist approaches to deviance that are rigid and moralistic versus constructionist approaches used in sociology. We then move into a discussion of "deviant overconformity" that may sound like paradox, but is in fact a concept that captures the paradoxes and contradictions of deviance. We use "doping" in sports as a case in point. The complexity and contradictions do not stop there as we delve into the shifting world of sports gambling. Finally, we conclude the episode with a discussion of hazing.