 Dear students, in this module, we are going to ask a very important question from a functionalist point of view that can deviance really be functional for the society? The functional perspective suggests that deviance can serve as a function for society. It can be considered positive for the society, such as reinforcing the social norms and promoting social change. So, deviancy, which is considered a negative behavior, but the functionalist says that it is equally a positive function that is being performed. How? For us, the social norms are redefining them. When a criminal act performs, it will be clear to the rest of the people that the society is looking at such actions negatively, therefore, we need to be aware of this and we need to prepare ourselves to adopt such a behavior that the society is looking at positively. Along with this, the mechanism of social change is also considered as deviancy positively. For example, there are a lot of practices in the society in which people are perhaps practicing those acts and practices for years and never pay attention to these things that perhaps these practices can be counterproductive for the rest of their life. And deviancy or antisocial behavior can be considered positive for those practices. For example, we have seen that early marriage is considered a negative or deviant behavior in today's world. So, the practice of early marriage was going on for years, but when this moment started that early marriage should be discouraged, it was considered a deviant behavior. That's why we are discouraging the early marriage. But now, fortunately or unfortunately, early marriage in itself is considered a deviant behavior. However, the functional perspective is often criticized for ignoring the negative consequences of deviance, such as the social disorganization and inequality. So, deviance behavior or deviance, where there are a lot of positive functions that are highlighted by the functionalist, on top of the functionalist perspective, there is also a objection that the negative consequences of this are those of its positive functions which are very high. That's why the functionalist is not justified to say that deviance in itself can have positive functions within the society. In Pakistan, for example, the use of protests to challenge the government corruption can be seen as functional in nature. But it has also led to violence and social disorganization. So, you see that its temporary consequences may be negative, but later on, if such moments get successful, then its positive consequences may also be wrong. So, balancing the potential functions of deviance with its negative consequence is important for promoting the just and equitable society. For social scientists or sociologists, it is important to see that they can apprehend these consequences and see what is the net balance of the negative and positive consequences of any deviance, which can influence the different social aspects of the society or different cultural aspects of the society or affect it in the future.