Personal Narrative: My Relationship With Deviance

Words: 1060
Pages: 5

Essay #1 My relationship with deviance started at the early age of 10 years old. Growing up in a Mexican household I was given very strict rules to follow and not given a lot of attention. My mother had me at 43 years old and my father was 50 years old, they both worked full-time and didn’t have much time for me. Growing up in my household I felt so out of place mainly because of the huge age difference between my parents and siblings. My interaction with my family was very limited because my parents often worked over-time. It was very hard for me to understand why my family dynamics weren’t the same as other families. Alcoholism part a big part in my upbringing and …show more content…
I didn’t have positive role models growing up and believed it impacted my life significantly. The earliest primary deviant act I committed was when I was 12 years old. One day I decided that I would take the vodka to my junior high school and share it was my friends. Since my parents were never around I had free range of the bar. I fill up my water bottle with vodka and went to school. The first thing I did was round up my girlfriends and headed to the bathroom to drink the alcohol, we all took a swig and went off to class. I thought I was the coolest kid in my group. I was finally getting the approval that I always wanted from my peers, Hirsch describes this at the control theory. The only thing I wanted was to fit in and get approval from others. It never crossed my mind that there would be any consequences associated with my wrong doing. As I sat in my class a little buzz, I remembered feeling like the most badass kid. That quickly ended when I was called into the principal’s office. As I entered the principal’s office I saw my mother and a security guard, I knew I was in big trouble. I had to explain why I brought the alcohol to school and who I shared it with. I remember feeling confused, scared and lost. I have no reasoning behind my actions, just that I wanted to look cool in front of my peers. The thing that I was most concerned about was exposing who drank the alcohol with me. I knew …show more content…
The theories that I most related to was the Labeling Theory created by Howard Becker and Control Theory created by Travis Hirschi. A social group influenced my behaviors and allowed myself to be exposed to labels and stereotypes throughout my life. But by allowing myself to be influenced by society and developed weak bonds with my family. That lead to no guidance or support until I asked for it. Thankful my deviant behaviors were temporary and didn’t become a long-lived career of