As we have all observed, throughout history, every culture or society has unique standards that are acceptable to that group of people. Therefore, to establish and achieve acceptance of these fundamental norms, each society must develop its own strategies and techniques to encourage the fundamental principles of behavior, which is clear in our modern society. Most assume that all members of a society will follow and respect these standards. However, some people tend to deviate from proper norms and engage in deviant behavior. Nevertheless, we are inclined to wonder why people decide to violate such important norms of life? To understand why people behave deviantly, we need to understand how society enforces basic norms. The “techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behavior in a society” are called social control (Schaefer, 2009). By respecting and recognizing these social norms, we expect others to do the same. Thus, depending on our behavior, sanctions are applied whether positive or negative. Conforming, which refers to "following one's peers, people of one's own status who have no particular right to direct one's behavior" (Schaefer, 2009), is one of the ways in which social control occurs. produced at the group level and influences the way we act. On the other hand, obedience is obedience to a higher authority, resulting in social control at the societal level. Sanctions used to promote these factors can be informal and formal social control. Informal social control may be very casual in the enforcement of social norms using body language or other forms of discipline, however formal social control is carried out by authorized agents when the desired behavior is not obtained by a informal sanctuary. .....elements. Yet everyone in our society will need to develop their own perspectives on deviance and social control. Works cited LISKA, A. E (2001). Social control. In Edgar F. Borgatta and Rhonda J. V. Montgomery (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Sociology, Vol. 4 (2nd ed., pages 2657-2662). New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved May 20, 2010, from the Gale Virtual Reference Library via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.prx-01.lirn.net/gps/start.do?prodId=IPS&userGroupName=lirn_crevcDeviance. (1998). In Robert D. Benford Macmillan Compendium: Social Issues (). New York: Macmillan Library Reference USA. May 20, 2010, Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.prx-01.lirn.net/gps/start.do?prodId=IPS&userGroupName=lirn_crevc Schaefer, RT (2009) . Sociology: A Brief Introduction, 8th Edition. New York, New York, United States: McGraw-Hill.