1.2. Deviance, Rule Violations, and Criminality 
SHANELL SANCHEZ 
Nude Ultimate Frisbee 
Imagine you recently moved to Oregon for work from Georgia after graduating college and hope to make new 
friends. Georgia has been your home forever, so Oregon is entirely new. Then one day at the dog park you run 
into a guy that seems like someone you would like to hang out with and he tells you to come out and play ultimate 
frisbee this weekend. You decide to take the leap and meet new people, play a new sport, and have some fun. 
You arrive on the field, but notice something that stands out as different to you and wonders ‘is this allowed 
in Oregon?’ Some women and men are naked, some fully and some just certain parts exposed, but no one seems 
uncomfortable. You look around at the topless players, all adults, and wonder if this is the wrong place. Other 
people in costume walk around like Unicorns, Mario, Rainbow Brite, among others. Suddenly, thoughts start 
racing through your mind: “Why are people dressed strangely? Is it legal to be nude in public in the state of 
Oregon? Why does no one seem to mind? Can I keep my clothes on? What will my family in Georgia think? 
Should I just go back to my apartment now?” 
Suddenly, the guy from the dog park runs up and tells you to come on over so he can introduce you to the 
team. Situations like this are often examples we use in the college classroom to demonstrate the difference between 
deviance, rule violations, and criminal violations. Sometimes there are times that behaviors that appear to be deviant 
are not illegal, but other times behaviors that are illegal are not deviant. 
Just about everyone in society has done something that someone else would disagree with and see as deviant. 
For example, I recently wore clothes to the gym that were out of style but how did I know they were out of 
style? Well, easy! The reaction of others to my lack of style in the gym was clear that it is no longer cool to 
wear knee-high socks with athletic shorts to the gym. 
Another time I was at Thanksgiving dinner with my family and I expressed open support for a politician 
that no one else in the family supported. Their reactions to my support of him made it evident that I 
was the deviant one that was not going along with the typical political views expected in my reasonably 
conservative, Republican family. 
Alternatively, perhaps I am deviant when I tell you my favorite show on television is, and always will 
14