Deterrence

      Deterrence Theory, the idea that is the costs of a particular action are high enough, then people will not engage in the stated behavior. Or the costs are larger than the benefits would be.
      With Sociology we talk about how norms and mores can shape how people expect certain behaviors. These behaviors are not just for individuals and communities, but countries also work with deterrence, to try and keep other countries from doing things that they disapprove of. In the past there was the build up of military might to keep countries from picking a fight with them. Even today countries try to keep from getting attacked, because that is not in their best interest. Currently the United States is trying to deter other countries from launching a nuclear attack against the United States, mainly by showing that the United States also has the capabilities to launch a nuclear attack as well.
      Back to the idea of deterrence theory, it assumes that people are acting rationally, and are thinking about the potential consequences of what they are about to do, instead of just looking at the people who do violate certain norms and mores. There are also concerns, or theories that consider the idea of deviance(socially disapproved of behavior) to be a construct, and then the deterrence is also a way of controlling people better, by using the standards of society.
      So society can influence a lot of things about the way that people live their lives. There is a lot more pressure against 'smaller' crime, such as drugs, while there is less stigma attached to people who steal money from other people for a living. When the second group is doing more damage to the rest of the country than the first group is. So how did the United States get there? Is it about racial issues, or is it about money, and the power that having money has? Is there something else as well? It seems that there are many different reasons behind the ideas of deterrence, and that they all have to be discussed, because they are all intertwined. Deterrence is also one of those things that can be used to prevent harmful things, but it can also be used to try and create a sense of normal as acceptable, and what is not normal is not acceptable.

article about U.S. defense/deterrence-
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=116551