From a young age, children are taught to behave in a way that meets their society's standards of behavior. Every society has its own standards of behavior, also known as norms. One set of norms may be similar to that of another society, or one society's set of norms may be completely opposite to that of another society. But no matter how different or similar, norms are part of the core of a society because they are the guidelines for how members are expected to act and draw a line between what is acceptable and what is unacceptable. Despite efforts to enforce norms through social control, there are many people who deviate from these norms. Deviance is behavior that violates the standards of a group or society (Witt, 2013, p. 135). The act of deviance comes in many forms ranging from harmless acts such as a girl shaving her head, or it could be a more extreme action such as committing murder. While not always bad, deviant acts can sometimes be seen as terrible and evil acts (Witt, 2013, p.136). You might wonder why another person would want to stray from what society deems acceptable. There are many answers to this question, but one unifying factor depends on who holds the power and authority. In a lecture on the psychology of evil, psychologist and Stanford University professor Philip Zimbardo (2008) said: "Evil is the exercise of power." As stated before not all acts of deviance are evil, but if this view is applied to all deviant acts in general, it is evident that power and authority have a great influence on deviance. Two studies titled “Status, Endorsement, and the Legitmacy of Deviance,” “The False Enforcement of Unpopular Norms,” and the film The Invention of Lying, are all excellent examinations of… middle of the paper… deviance. The level of power and authority is not everything when relating them to deviance, but they are very important factors. Works Cited Gervais, R., Robinson, M. (producers), & Gervais, R., Lin., D. (directors) . (2009). The invention of lies [Film]. United States: Warner Bros. PicturesTED Talks. (Producer). (2008, September 23). Filippo Zimbardo: The psychology of evil [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsFEV35tWsgWiller, R., Kuwabara, K., & Macy, M. W. (2009). The false application of unpopular rules. American Journal of Sociology, 115(2), 451-490. doi: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal/ajs.html Witt, J. (2013). Soc 2013. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.Younts, C.W. (2008). Status, approval and legitimacy of deviance. Social Forces, 92 (1), 561-590. doi: http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/