THE USE OF THE WORD "DEVIANT"
Hello. I am confused about the world "deviant". When I was writing about problems related to the Internet, my teacher ( she is Vietnamese, but lived in the UK and the US for 6 years) recommended me the world "deviant" to write about " children's deviant thoughts and attitudes towards sex and violence when watching pornographic and violent websites." However, when I asked my native English teacher, he said that deviant was not suitable because deviant means away from normal/acceptable behaviours so would be a social/moral judgement, I should write "damaging" instead. So I want to ask that in that case, which word should I use, deviant or damaging?
Top answer
Both "deviant" and "damaging" are value judgments, so there is no advantage is changing terms. Not that there is anything wrong with making such judgments. The question is whether the term "deviant" accurately describes the behavior or event.
- Both "deviant" and "damaging" are value judgments, so there is no advantage is changing terms.
- Not that there is anything wrong with making such judgments.
- The question is whether the term "deviant" accurately describes the behavior or event.
- Yes, "deviant" means outside of normal behavior--however it carries a strong negative connotation.
- So if you want a more neutral term, perhaps you want a word like "distorted" (meaning, not realistic or natural).
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Both "deviant" and "damaging" are value judgments, so there is no advantage is changing terms. Not that there is anything wrong with making such judgments. The question is whether the term "deviant" accurately describes the behavior or event. Yes, "deviant" means outside of normal behavior--however it carries a strong negative connotation. So if you want a more neutral term, perhaps you wa
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