Sociological theories of deviant behavior. Theories of deviant behavior

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The concept of deviant behavior

The concept of deviant behavior in psychological science appeared thanks to the hard work of Emile Durkheim. He became the founder of the theory of deviation in general. The very concept of deviant behavior initially meant some discrepancy with the public understanding of how one should behave in a given situation. But gradually the concept of deviant behavior became closer to understanding offenses and knowingly causing harm to others. This idea was supplemented and developed in his works by a follower of Emile Durkheim - Robert King Merton. The scientist insisted that deviant behavior in all cases is dictated by the unwillingness to develop, work on oneself and benefit those who are nearby. The concept of deviant behavior is one of those that affect the sphere of human relationships.

Reasons for deviant behavior

The reasons why a person chooses deviant behavior for himself are very diverse. These reasons sometimes subjugate a person to such an extent that she loses her will, the ability to think sensibly, to make decisions independently. Deviant behavior is always characterized by excessive touchiness, vulnerability, increased aggressiveness and intransigence. Such a person demands that his desires be immediately satisfied, no matter what the cost. Any type of deviant behavior is extremely destructive, they make a person extremely receptive and unhappy. The personality gradually begins to degrade, losing social skills, losing habitual values and even its own positive qualities of character. So, what are the reasons for the formation of deviant behavior?

Unfavorable environment

Personality is greatly influenced by the environment in which it is located. If a person is placed in an environment where he is constantly humiliated and reproached, then gradually he will begin to degrade. Many people simply withdraw into themselves and stop trusting others. A dysfunctional environment makes a person experience negative feelings, and then build defensive reactions against them. Deviant behavior is the result of cruel and unfair treatment. A prosperous and happy person will never hurt others, try to prove something at any cost. The essence of deviant behavior is that it gradually destroys a person, revealing old grievances and unspoken claims to the world.

The reason for the formation of deviant behavior always indicates that it is necessary to change in life. Features of deviant behavior are such that it does not appear suddenly, not immediately, but gradually. A person, harboring aggression in himself, becomes less and less controllable and harmonious. It is very important to change the environment if there are attempts to change deviant behavior to constructive one.

Alcohol and drug use

Another reason for deviant behavior is the presence of excessively negative destructive factors in a person's life. Deviant behavior, of course, does not arise by itself, without apparent reasons. One cannot but agree that toxic substances have a negative effect on our consciousness. A person who takes drugs necessarily begins to degrade sooner or later. The drug addict cannot control himself, loses the ability to see the good in people, loses self-respect, he manifests bouts of aggression directed at others. Even a person without special education can diagnose such deviant behavior. A degrading personality produces a bright repulsive impression. People around, as a rule, try to avoid meeting with such subjects, fearing adverse consequences and simply worrying about their lives. Sometimes it is enough to look at a person to establish the cause of her inappropriate behavior. Deviant deviant behavior cannot be hidden from prying eyes. Relatives and relatives of someone who exhibits deviant behavior, as a rule, begin to feel embarrassed and ashamed of what is happening, although they themselves suffer greatly from the actions of the deviant.

A person suffering from alcohol addiction also has manifestations of aggression and uncontrollable anger. Most often, this person is disappointed first in himself, and then in the people around him. To diagnose deviant behavior, sometimes it is enough to look at the person himself, to determine his essence. The reason why people break themselves and start taking various toxic substances is simple: they cannot fulfill their potential in the world. Deviant behavior of a person always implies the presence of sharp negative manifestations that harm the life and well-being of people around.

Constant criticism

There is another reason for the formation of deviant behavior. If in childhood a child is constantly scolded for something, then manifestations of self-disappointment will not be long in coming. From here come self-doubt, increased sensitivity to criticism, emotional and mental instability. Constant criticism can eventually lead to all forms and types of deviant behavior. All types of deviant behavior, regardless of the form of expression, nullify any efforts to become better and establish themselves in any area of life: personal life, profession, creativity. It's just that at some point a person stops believing in himself and his abilities. He does not understand the causes of his condition, but seeks confirmation of negative manifestations outside. Diagnosis of deviant behavior is a rather complicated and time-consuming process that should be carried out by specialists. You need to be extremely careful with children and adolescents so as not to break their dreams, not to destroy faith in themselves and their own prospects. The reasons for deviant behavior can be completely different. It is better to prevent the development of such a deviation than to try to correct the consequences later.

Classification of deviant behavior

The classification of deviant behavior includes several important concepts. They are all interconnected and mutually condition each other. Those who are close to such a person are the first to sound the alarm. Even a child can diagnose a degrading personality. In other words, deviant forms of behavior are not difficult to recognize. The manifestation of deviant behavior, as a rule, is noticeable to others. Consider the most common forms and types of deviant behavior.

Addictive behavior

Addiction is the very first type of deviant behavior. Addictions in humans develop gradually. By forming some kind of dependence, he tries to compensate for the absence of something very significant and valuable in his life. What kind of addictions can there be and why are they so destructive to the individual? This is primarily a chemical addiction. The use of drugs and alcohol leads to the formation of a stable addiction. After some time, a person no longer imagines a comfortable existence without an addiction. So, heavy smokers say that a cigarette smoked in time helps them relax. People who are addicted to alcohol often justify themselves by saying that a glass of alcohol allows you to discover new possibilities in yourself. Of course, such prospects are imaginary. In fact, a person gradually loses control over himself and his emotional state.

There is also a psychological addiction. It manifests itself depending on the opinions of others, as well as painful focus on another person. There are unrequited loves that take away a lot of vitality. Such a person also destroys himself: endless experiences do not add health and strength. Often the desire to live, set goals and strive to achieve them disappears. Diagnosis of deviant behavior implies timely detection of pathological signs and prevention of their development. The manifestation of deviant behavior always, in all cases, without exception, needs to be corrected. Any addiction is a type of deviant behavior that sooner or later will lead a person to complete destruction.

Delinquent behavior

Criminal or illegal behavior is another type of deviant behavior that can be considered dangerous not only for the individual, but also for society as a whole. A delinquent - one who commits criminal acts - is a person who has completely lost any norms of morality. For him, there are only his own needs of a lower order, which he seeks to satisfy in any way. You can diagnose such a person at a glance. Most people are seized with natural fear as soon as there is a suspicion that a criminal is near them. Some types of citizens tend to immediately apply to law enforcement agencies.

Delinquent will not stop at any obstacles. He is only interested in obtaining his own momentary benefit, and in order to achieve such a goal, he is sometimes ready to take unjustified risks. The main signs that you have an offender are the following. The offender rarely looks straight in the eye, tells a lie in order to get out of a difficult situation himself. It will not be difficult for such a person to substitute even a close relative. Diagnosis of offenders, as a rule, is carried out by the relevant authorities.

antimoral behavior

Antimoral behavior is a special type of deviant behavior, which is expressed in defiant or ugly behavior in public. In addition, in each individual society, different actions and actions will be considered anti-moral. General violations of morality are: prostitution, public insult of other people, obscene language. Individuals who do not have any ideas about how one should behave in a given situation are prone to anti-moral behavior. Often they come into conflict with the law, have problems with the police. Diagnosing such behavior is quite simple: it catches the eye immediately, at the first manifestation.

Suicide

This type of deviant behavior is one of the mental disorders. Suicide attempts are made by those individuals who do not see further prospects and opportunities for the continuation of their existence. Everything seems to them meaningless and devoid of any joy. If a person is only thinking about suicide, it means that his life can still be corrected. He just went to the dangerous line. It is necessary that someone be next to him at the right time and warn against this rash step. Suicide has not yet helped anyone solve pressing problems. Parting with life, a person punishes, first of all, himself. Even close relatives someday are consoled and with all the strength of their souls continue to live on. Diagnosing suicidal tendencies is difficult enough because such people learn to be secretive and succeed significantly in this activity. However, potential suicides are in dire need of timely assistance. Unfortunately, not everyone gets it.

Signs of deviant behavior

The tendency to deviant behavior by psychologists is determined by a number of essential features. These signs directly or indirectly indicate that a person is in an inadequate state, which means that he may be involved in the commission of crimes or be involved in addiction. What are the signs of deviant behavior? By what parameters can you understand that there is a deviant in front of you? There are several forms of negative expression. You can diagnose them simply by observing people and drawing the appropriate conclusions.

Aggressiveness

Any person who does something illegal will show his worst qualities of character. The problem is that even the good personality traits of a deviant are lost over time, as if they go into the void and dissolve into thin air. Deviant behavior is characterized by increased aggressiveness, intransigence and assertiveness. A criminal or any other violator will try to defend his position in everything and do it quite harshly. Such a person will not take into account the needs of other people, recognize alternatives, for her there is only her own individual truth. Aggression repels other people and allows the deviant to go unnoticed by society for a long time. With the help of aggressiveness, a person goes to his goals, avoids effective interaction with other people.

Aggression is always a sign of the presence of fear. Only a confident person can afford to be calm and balanced. Someone whose daily activities involve risk will always be nervous. Every minute he has to be on the alert so as not to inadvertently give himself away, and sometimes not to reveal his presence.

Uncontrollability

The deviant seeks to control everything, but in fact he becomes uncontrollable and nervous. From constant stress, he loses the ability to reason logically, sensibly, and make responsible decisions. Sometimes he begins to get confused in his own reasoning and make significant mistakes. Such mistakes gradually undermine strength, contribute to the formation of terrible self-doubt. Uncontrollability in the end can do him a disservice, make a person aggressive and withdrawn at the same time. And since all social ties by that time are broken, there is no one to ask for help.

No one can convince a deviant that he is wrong. By his own uncontrollability, he discovers the need to constantly be in a state of danger. By defending himself, a person actually loses control over the situation more and more, as he wastes precious energy in vain. As a result, an emotional break with one's own personality occurs, and a person ceases to understand where he should move on.

Sudden change of mood

The deviant has jerky mood swings in the process of life. If someone does not act according to the established pattern, then the offender begins to take an aggressive approach. The most interesting thing is that he can not control his emotions in any way. At one moment he is cheerful, and in a minute he is already screaming with indignation. A sharp change in mood is dictated by the tension of the nervous system, emotional fatigue, depletion of all important internal resources.

Deviant behavior is always aimed at destruction, even if at the very beginning of illegal actions it seems to a person that he has found an easy and carefree way to live. The deception is revealed very soon, bringing with it a deafening force of disappointment. Deliberate gaiety is just an illusion, for the time being, carefully hidden even from the deviant himself. A sharp change in mood always negatively affects the further development of events: a person becomes uncontrollable, loses peace, self-confidence and tomorrow. It is not difficult to diagnose a sharp change in mood, even the person himself is able to notice it in himself.

stealth

Any violator always has to make considerable efforts to remain unnoticed for as long as possible. As a result, the deviant develops secrecy, aimed at deliberately withholding the necessary and necessary information. Secrecy breeds suspicion, unwillingness to share one's thoughts and feelings with anyone. This emotional vacuum contributes to the development of serious emotional exhaustion. When a person cannot trust anyone in this life, he loses everything: he actually has nothing to live for, the most necessary meaning is lost. Human nature is so arranged that you need to constantly have certain ideals in your head for a comfortable existence. The formed outlook leads us forward, to new achievements. In the absence of visible prospects, a person immediately begins to destroy himself and degrade.

Stealth breeds a tendency to deceive. The deviant cannot tell the truth, because he lives according to different laws than the society around him. Over time, deception becomes the norm and completely ceases to be noticed by them.

Thus, deviant behavior is a serious problem that exists in modern society. Such a phenomenon necessarily needs to be corrected as soon as possible, but it seems to be much difficult, almost impossible, to correct it.

The first attempts to explain the causes of deviations were made within the framework of biological and psychological theories, which were looking for the cause of deviant and criminal behavior in the natural and mental deviations of individuals. And although such explanations have not yet been completely refuted, they have very few supporters today.

Biological theories of deviant behavior arose in abundance at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. C. Lombroso and H. Sheldon tried to prove the connection of criminal behavior with a certain physical structure of the body. Later, already in the 70s. In the 20th century, a number of genetic scientists tried to link the predisposition to aggression with the presence of an additional X or Y chromosome in an individual. Despite the fact that in some cases these theories were confirmed, so far it has not been possible to find a single universal physical or genetic trait that would be responsible for deviant behavior. The same fate befell the psychological theories of deviation - here, too, it was not possible to find a single psychopathic trait that would be characteristic of all violators of public peace.

The weak point of biological and psychological theories of deviation is that, focusing all attention on the personality of the deviant, they lose sight of the social context of his behavior. But it is this context that determines why the same act is considered the norm in one culture, and is regarded as a deviation in another.

Social institutions set the starting point for qualifying behavior as deviant, but individuals from different social classes have different attitudes towards the same social norms and even violate them in different ways. So, petty thefts or burglaries are committed mainly by people from low-income segments of the population, and financial fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion are already the business of wealthy people.

Deviant behavior is a product of society. Following the well-known principle of E. Durkheim, according to which “the social must be explained by the social,” the main causes of deviant behavior should be sought with the help of sociological theory.

The most famous sociological theories of deviant behavior today are the theories of social anomie, theories of subcultures, theories of conflict, the theory of stigmatization and the theory of rational choice.

Social anomie theory originates from E. Durkheim, who believed that the cause of deviant behavior is the collapse of the system of social values. During periods of social crises, when habitual norms are collapsing, and new ones have not yet been established, people lose their bearings - they begin to experience anxiety, fear of uncertainty, they no longer understand what society expects from them - all this leads to an increase in the number of cases of deviant behavior.

R. Merton modified the concept of social anomie and began to use it to denote the tension that arises as a result of the conflict between the individual's desire to follow generally recognized living standards and the limited officially approved means of achieving them.

The modern industrial society proclaims life values that are common for all segments of the population - high social status, career, wealth, etc. It is assumed that the means of achieving success in life are intensive work and self-discipline, regardless of the starting position in life of the individual.

In fact, a significant part of the population is disadvantaged because they do not have sufficient economic resources, neither to receive a good education, nor to start their own business. And here the temptation arises - to achieve success in life by any available means, regardless of the law and, moreover, morality.

R. Merton called this situation “structural social anomie” and outlined five possible behavioral reactions of an individual to the dilemma of “life goals and means to achieve them” proposed by society.

conformism occurs when an individual adheres to generally accepted values and socially approved means of achieving them, regardless of whether he succeeds in life or not. Conformal behavior is typical for the majority of the population and ensures the stability of society.

Innovation observed when individuals accept the living standards of society, but use the means condemned by society to achieve them. In an effort to achieve success in life at any cost, people turn to drug dealing, check forgery, fraud, embezzlement, theft, burglary and robbery, or prostitution, extortion, and buying symbols of success.

ritualism occurs where people have lost their sense of the meaning of life values, but continue to mechanically follow the accepted rules, standards, instructions. Ritualists are usually engaged in tedious and uninteresting work, without prospects and with little remuneration.

retreatism- departure, flight from reality - takes place when individuals reject both the living standards of modern society and the means of achieving them, without offering anything in return. Alcoholics, drug addicts, vagabonds represent this type of behavior. Refusing to fight for success in life and the very struggle for existence, they gradually sink to the bottom of society.

Riot- this is a type of behavior in which individuals reject the existing values in society, along with the means of achieving them, but at the same time put forward new ones in their place and actively seek to establish them in practice. Such behavior is usually characteristic of representatives of radical political and religious groups, revolutionaries and reformers who want to make all of humanity happy against its own will.

The above typology by R. Merton reflects the reality of modern society, but it should not be applied mechanically.

Firstly, the types of behavior identified by R. Merton are precisely types of adaptation, adaptive behavioral response, and not types of personality. A person, depending on changes in life circumstances, can move from one type of adaptive behavior to another or simultaneously combine several types of adaptation.

Secondly, the contradiction between living standards and the means of achieving them will look different for different classes and strata of society, due to their different living standards and different living standards.

Thirdly, the discrepancy between life aspirations and opportunities is typical not only for low-income segments of the population - it is also observed among representatives of the middle and upper classes. On the one hand, “the rich also cry” (retreatism, disappointment in life values), and on the other hand, the “rich” have much more opportunities for an innovative type of behavior than they widely use, violating all norms of morality and rights.

Subculture theories form the next group of sociological theories of deviation, which supplement and refine the theory of social anomie. Sociologists such as Edwin H. Sutherland, Albert Cohen, Richard A. Cloward, Lloyd E. Olin, Walter B. Miller, and others took part in the development of these theories.

The essence of the concept of subcultures is quite simple. In modern society, many differentiated associations or subcultures of very different directions coexist and interact, from socially positive subcultures to delinquent and criminal ones.

The type of subculture to which a person joins depends on his social environment. The mechanism of introducing a person to a subculture is a common mechanism of socialization, which includes communication, imitation, identification, and learning.

Communicating with a law-abiding environment, a person acquires the skills of law-abiding behavior. Communicating with offenders, she learns the skills of the criminal subculture. The subculture of its primary social groups has the strongest impact on the personality - family, educational, work collective, campaign of friends, peers.

Subculture theories show that there is no impassable gulf between normative (conformal) and deviant (criminal) behavior - both types of behavior are formed on the basis of the same mechanisms of personality socialization. Knowing the social environment of the individual and the circle of his communication, it is possible with a certain degree of probability to predict the nature of the behavior of the individual and its predisposition to commit deviant acts. At the same time, these theories cannot explain the mass cases of criminal acts committed by "non-professionals" - people who had no contact with criminal subcultures, communities, and seemingly deprived of any criminal experience and skills.

Theories of conflict offer a somewhat unusual interpretation of the causes of deviation, focusing not on violators of social and legal norms, but on the norms themselves, or rather, on the connection of existing social norms with the interests of the "powers that be".

Conflict theories have their origins in orthodox Marxist theory, according to which the laws of bourgeois society express exclusively the interests of the ruling class, and workers in the struggle for survival are forced to violate these laws. With this approach, "deviants" no longer turn out to be violators of generally accepted rules, but revolutionaries, rebels who oppose capitalist oppression.

The American sociologist Richard Quinney came to the conclusion that the US legal system is more tied to the interests and value system of the ruling class than to the interests of the country's population as a whole. If we take crimes against property, then more severe sanctions are provided in the United States for burglary, robbery, car theft, which are committed, as a rule, by representatives of the poor. At the same time, most business offenses, which cause much more damage to property, are classified as administrative offenses and are punishable only by a fine.

The political interpretation of deviation received further development in stigmatization theories (i.e. labeling or branding). Proponents of this theory focus not on the characteristics of the personality of the deviant or his social environment, but on the process of imposing the status of a deviant on the part of influential groups in society (legislators, judges, leaders, educators, elders).

The main provisions of the theory of stigmatization were developed by Edwin Lemert, Howard Becker and Kai Erickson and are as follows:

1. Not a single act is deviant in itself - deviation is a consequence of the public assessment of the act.

2. All people ever violate social norms (out of inexperience, negligence, out of mischief, out of simple curiosity, in search of thrills, under the pressure of life circumstances, under the influence of others, etc.). These violations belong to the primary deviation, elude the attention of others and remain without sanctions from the society.

3. The labeling of a deviant is not carried out on all violators, but only on some, depending on the characteristics of the offender's personality, the specific situation and those who qualify the very fact of the violation. Members of the less protected and wealthy segments of the population receive such labels much more often than members of the middle class.

4. The resulting stigma of a deviant (loafer, hooligan, thief, pervert, drug addict, criminal, etc.) and expectations from others provoke the individual to actions that confirm his new status - secondary deviation occurs.

5. The bearer of the deviant label, feeling alienated from others, begins to look for a society of his own kind and makes a deviant career within it, moving from weak forms of deviation to stronger ones.

6. Thus, labeling the perpetrator of an often minor and not dangerous offense for society triggers a chain reaction mechanism that, after a relatively short period of time, can turn a recent immature and inexperienced deviant into a full-fledged representative of the criminal world.

The theory of stigmatization helps to understand what role the assessments and opinions of others play in the formation of deviant behavior and why the same act in some cases is considered by others as deviant, while in others it is not. At the same time, this theory ignores the processes that brought to life the very deviant behavior and overestimates the role of stigmatization as chief factor of the individual's movement along the path of a deviant career. People have varying degrees of sensitivity to the opinions of others and react differently to this opinion, and the process of introducing an individual to a criminal culture, in addition to stigmatization, includes many other equally significant factors (the acquisition of criminal experience, an alternative status, new opportunities that are inaccessible under law-abiding behavior, etc.).

Rational Choice Theory closes another "blank spot" in the understanding of deviant behavior. The fact is that the theories discussed above do not analyze the actions of the individual himself. Deviant behavior appears in them either as a result of the pressure of mandatory living standards, or as a result of interaction with the relevant subcultures, or as a form of protest against unfair social order, or as a result of the forced labeling of a deviant. However, people who commit illegal acts are not mechanical robots or puppets and, apparently, should be aware of what they are doing. It is this side of deviant behavior that is analyzed in rational choice theory.

Test work in sociology on the topic:

Deviant behavior

Introduction

The nature and types of social relations

Sociological theories of deviant behavior

3. Functions and dysfunctions of deviation

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The life of people takes place in communication with each other, so they need to unite and coordinate their actions. Any need - for food, clothing, sex, work, education, friendship, fame - a person can satisfy only through other people by interacting with them, occupying a certain position in complex and organized groups and institutions - in the family, school, enterprise team, political parties, sports teams.

Undoubtedly, the world exists solely because the actions of a huge number of people are consistent, but for this they need to understand who is supposed to do what and when. The first condition for organized social life is the existence of certain agreements between people, which take the form of social expectations expressed in norms. Without norms that condition behavior, interactions in a social group would be impossible. We would be deprived of guidelines that tell us what is acceptable and what is outside the scope of what is acceptable. Interaction between people would become a real problem because we wouldn't know what to expect from other people. It is customary to associate reward and punishment with norms. In modern society, the state plays the role of a mechanism for the implementation of a large number of norms - laws. Laws are far from being neutral: they tend to reflect the interests of a certain group and embody its core values.

1. The nature and types of social relations

Normative systems of society are not fixed, forever given. The norms themselves change, attitudes towards them change. Deviation from the norm is as natural as following them. Full acceptance of the norm is expressed in conformism, deviation from the norm - in various types of deviation, deviant behavior. Deviant behavior (Latin - deviation) refers to actions, actions of a person, a social group that do not correspond to officially established or actually established norms in a given society. Consequently, the concept of social norm serves as the starting point for understanding deviant behavior. The social norm determines the limit, measure, interval of permissible (permissible or mandatory) behavior, activities of people, social groups, social organizations that has historically developed in a particular society.

Social norms perform the functions of providing society with standards (standards) of behavior (interaction) and the function of stabilizing (ordering) relations between groups and individuals. Society, accepting certain norms as a model of behavior, creates mechanisms for their appropriate public, moral and legal support, which also implies the existence of appropriate sanctions through public and state influence.

Social norms are historically conditioned and mobile. But the intensity and nature of their changes in different social conditions are different. In a reformed society, which is also the modern Kazakh society, a difficult situation arises when some norms are destroyed and others have not yet been created, which in itself is fraught with the growth of deviant manifestations in various forms. At all times, society has tried to suppress undesirable forms of human behavior. Sharp deviations from the average norm, both positively and negatively, threatened the stability of society, which at all times was valued above all else.

Sociologists call deviant behavior deviant. It implies any deeds or actions that do not correspond to written or unwritten norms.

In most societies, the control of deviant behavior is asymmetrical: deviations in a bad direction are condemned, and in a good direction they are approved. Depending on whether the deviation is positive or negative, all forms of deviation can be placed on a certain continuum. At one extreme, there will be a group of people who display the most disapproved behavior: revolutionaries, terrorists, traitors, criminals, vandals. At the other extreme, there will be a group with the most approved deviations: national heroes, outstanding artists, scientists, writers, artists and political leaders, missionaries, labor leaders.

If we make a statistical calculation, it turns out that in normally developing societies and under normal conditions, each of these groups will account for approximately 10-15% of the total population. On the contrary, 70% of the country's population are "solid middle peasants" - people with minor deviations. Deviation from the norm can be positive (aimed at developing the social system, overcoming outdated, conservative or reactionary standards of behavior) and negative, negative. It is the latter that represents the object of professional interest of the social pedagogue.

Negative deviant behavior is divided into immoral (actions are contrary to the norms of morality accepted in society), delinquent (Latin - to commit misconduct, offender), when actions are contrary to the norms of law, except criminal, and criminal, when the norms of criminal law are violated. There are certain approaches to the classification of deviant behavior. One of the first to propose such a classification in the 60s of the twentieth century. American sociologist G. Becker. He divided deviations into primary and secondary. Primary deviations - deviant behavior of the individual, which generally corresponds to cultural norms. In this case, deviations are insignificant and do not cause noticeable damage to society and the individual, although they can be widespread. In this case, the deviation remains within the framework of the social role (for example, crossing the street in the wrong place). Secondary deviations - cause significant damage to social relations and society as a system and therefore are unambiguously classified as deviations. Such behavior calls for sanctions.

Secondary deviations, in turn, can be classified according to the type of norm violated:

a) deviations related to the violation of legal norms, i.e. offenses. An offense is a guilty behavior of a capable person that is contrary to the rule of law and entails legal liability. Offenses are divided into misdemeanors (civil, disciplinary, administrative) and crimes. A crime is a guilty socially dangerous act (action or inaction), prohibited by the Criminal Code under the threat of punishment. The delinquent behavior of individuals and groups is sometimes referred to as "delinquent behavior".

b) deviation in the sphere of public morality:

1. Drunkenness and alcoholism. Drunkenness is the abuse of alcohol. Alcoholism (alcohol dependence syndrome) is a disease that develops as a result of drunkenness, manifests itself in the form of mental and physical dependence on alcohol and leads to personality degradation.

2. Drug addiction (Greek nark - deviation; mania - madness). Drug addiction is considered as the abuse of narcotic substances, as well as a disease expressed in mental and physical dependence on narcotic drugs. Substance abuse - the use of drugs and other drugs that are not narcotic, but entail intoxication.

3. Prostitution (lat. - exhibit publicly) - entry into casual, extramarital sexual relations for a fee, not based on personal sympathy.

4. Vagrancy - the systematic movement of a person for a long time from one locality to another within the same locality without a permanent place of residence with the existence of unearned income.

5. Begging or begging - the systematic soliciting of money and other material values from strangers under any pretext or without it (pretext).

6. Suicide (suicide) - a conscious and voluntary deprivation of one's life, when death acts as an end in itself, and not a means to achieve anything other than itself.

It should be noted that this is not an ideal classification, because, for example, many offenses can also be classified as immoral acts (hooliganism). Therefore, the classification of deviations according to the target orientation is also applied: a) deviations of mercenary orientation - a mercenary crime; b) deviations of aggressive orientation - violence as a means of achieving any goal: profit, jealousy; violence as an end in itself: hooliganism; c) deviations of the socially passive type: withdrawal from public life (drunkenness, alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide).

Sometimes the so-called. addictive forms of deviant behavior (eng. addiction - addiction). The essence of addictive behavior is to get away from reality, to achieve psychological comfort by taking psychoactive substances (including alcohol) or by constantly fixing attention on certain activities. For example, alcohol, drug addiction, gambling. Here, attachment to an object or action is accompanied by the development of strong emotions and takes on such dimensions that it begins to control a person), there may be computer games, the Internet, etc.)

The general pattern of deviant behavior is the fact of a relatively stable relationship between various forms of deviations, and then one phenomenon reinforces the other: for example, drunkenness contributes to hooliganism.

Sociological theories of deviant behavior

The study of deviant behavior. Why do people violate social norms? Why are certain actions characterized as deviant? Why is the behavior of some individuals called deviant when they perform essentially the same actions as other individuals who manage to avoid punishment, and sometimes even achieve recognition? And why does the number of deviations from the norm vary from group to group and from society to society? These are the questions sociologists are interested in.

Other sciences are also dealing with the problem of deviant behavior, in particular, biology and psychology. But we are primarily interested sociological explanations of the causes of deviation. This does not mean ignoring or underestimating the contribution of other sciences. The problem should be studied from different angles. For example, both biology and psychology have made significant contributions to our understanding of schizophrenia, a serious form of mental illness characterized by hallucinations, disorganized and illogical thinking, inappropriate emotional responses, personality degradation, erratic behavior, and a gradual escape from reality. Biologists and psychologists have proven that hereditary factors predispose individuals to certain forms of schizophrenia. The hereditary component may be due to genes responsible for proteins that regulate brain activity, especially neurotransmitters (chemicals released by nerve cells that determine the levels needed to excite other nerve cells). However, understanding the biological and psychological factors involved in the development of schizophrenia does not provide a complete picture of this phenomenon. Social factors should also be taken into account.

Deviance from the norm is not a property inherent in human behavior, but a property conditioned by social definitions. Let us consider the four most common sociological approaches to the problem of deviation: the theory of anomie, the theory of cultural transfer, the theory of conflict, and the theory of stigmatization.

Theory of anomie. E. Durkheim argued that deviation plays a functional role in society, since deviation and punishment of the deviant contribute to the awareness of the boundaries of what is considered acceptable behavior, and act as factors that encourage people to confirm their commitment to the moral order of society. Durkheim's idea anomie - a social state that is characterized by the decomposition of the value system, caused by the crisis of the whole society, its social institutions, the contradiction between the proclaimed goals and the impossibility of their implementation for the majority. People find it difficult to coordinate their behavior according to norms that are currently becoming weak, unclear, or conflicting. During periods of rapid social change, people no longer understand what society expects from them, and experience difficulties in reconciling their actions with existing norms. The "old norms" no longer seem appropriate, and the new, nascent norms are still too vague and ill-defined to serve as effective and meaningful guidelines for behavior. During such periods, a sharp increase in the number of cases of deviation can be expected.

The American sociologist Robert Merton tried to apply Durkheim's concepts of anomie and social solidarity while analyzing the social reality of the United States. For most Americans, success in life, especially in terms of material possessions, has become a culturally recognized goal. However, only certain factors, such as a good education and a well-paid job, were approved as a means to success. There would be no problem if all American citizens had the same access to the means of achieving material success in life. But poor and minority people often only have access to lower levels of education and scarce economic resources. If, however, they have internalized the goals of material success (and this is not the case for all individuals), strong restrictions may push them to non-conformity and unconventional acts, since they are unable to achieve the generally recognized goals by legal means. They try to achieve a prestigious goal by any means, including vicious and criminal ones.

Today's professional criminals, organized mafia members, and drug dealers have much in common with Al Capone, the notorious smuggler and robber of the 1920s and early 1930s, who stated:

“My scams strictly follow American rules, and I intend to continue in the same spirit. This American system of ours ... provides each and every one of us with a great chance, we just need to be able to grab it with both hands and get the best out of it.

However, the “lack of opportunities” and the desire for material well-being are not enough to create pressure towards deviation. A society with a rigid class or caste structure may not give all its members an equal chance to advance, but at the same time praise wealth; so it was in the feudal societies of the Middle Ages. It is only when a society promulgates common symbols of success for the whole population, while limiting the access of many people to the recognized means of achieving such symbols, that the conditions for antisocial behavior are created. Merton identified five responses to the ends-means dilemma, four of which are deviant adaptations to anomie conditions.

conformism occurs when members of a society accept as cultural goals the attainment of material success, as well as the means approved by the society to achieve them. Such behavior is the backbone of a stable society.

Innovation observed when individuals firmly adhere to culturally established goals, but reject the socially approved means of achieving them. Such people are capable of dealing drugs, forging checks, cheating, embezzling, stealing, engaging in burglary and robbery, or prostitution, extortion, and buying symbols of success.

ritualism occurs when members of a society reject or downplay cultural goals, but mechanically use socially approved means to achieve those goals. For example, the goals of the organization cease to be important to many zealous bureaucrats, but they cultivate means as an end in themselves, fetishizing rules and paperwork.

retreatism consists in the fact that individuals reject both cultural goals and the recognized means of achieving them, offering nothing in return. For example, alcoholics, drug addicts, vagabonds and degraded people become outcasts in their own society; "they live in society, but do not belong to it."

Riot is that the rebels reject the cultural goals of society and the means to achieve them, but at the same time replace them with new norms. Such individuals break with their social environment and join new groups with new ideologies, such as radical social movements.

Merton's types of individual adaptation characterize role behavior, not personality types. A person can change his mind and move from one type of adaptation to another.

Using the theory of anomie. Some sociologists have applied the theory of anomie to the problem of juvenile delinquency. So, A. Cohen suggested the following: boys belonging to the lower strata of society are attracted to gangs by the fact that they are constantly evaluated by the standards of the middle class, and they find that they lose in their school environment, where good command of speech is valued, neat appearance and ability to deserve praise. In response to these demands, the boys "stray" into teenage groups, where "tough guys", "arrogant guys", "troublemakers" are held in high esteem - the standards that allow teenagers from the lower classes to succeed. According to research by Delbert S. Elliot, young bullies who drop out of school are less likely to commit offenses than those who continue to attend. Clearly, leaving a hated school represents for these children a temporary solution to the problems they faced in a school environment where they were approached with inflated standards.

Estimation of the theory of anomie. Merton's theory of anomie focuses on those processes of establishing recognized cultural ends and means by which society initiates deviant behavior. In particular, with the help of this theory, it is possible to uncover the essence and causes of crimes related to money, committed on the basis of profit and greed, crimes among "white collar" and corporate crimes, crimes of "warmongers" and crimes of representatives of power structures and those who strives for power.

However, critics of Merton's theory point out, firstly, that he overlooks the processes of social interaction through which people form their ideas about the world and plan their actions. Merton describes violators of social norms as individualists - people who are mostly self-sufficient, developing solutions for themselves to get out of stressful situations without taking into account the actions of others. Second, not all deviant behavior can be explained by a gap between core values and goals. But its critics argue that American society, with its many subcultures, is pluralistic. The life of American society gives many examples when the deviant behavior of an individual can be explained by the unacceptability for him of certain norms that are prevailing in most groups of the population. Thus, the Indians violate the laws of hunting and fishing; representatives of some ethnic minorities enter into common marriages; teenagers use drugs.

The theory of cultural transfer. A number of sociologists emphasize the similarity between the way deviant behavior is developed and the way any other style of behavior is developed. One of the first to come to this conclusion was the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde (1843 - 1904), back at the end of the 19th century. formulated imitation theory to explain deviant behavior. As a district magistrate and director of crime statistics, he became convinced that repetition plays a significant role in human behavior. Tarde argued that criminals, like "decent" people, imitate the behavior of those individuals with whom they meet in life, whom they knew or heard about. But unlike law-abiding citizens, they imitate the behavior of criminals.

In the 1920s and 1930s, sociologists at the University of Chicago, trying to explain the high crime rate in some areas of Chicago, conducted a series of studies, as a result of which they found that in certain neighborhoods of the city, the crime rate remained stable for many years, despite changes in ethnic composition of the population. Scientists have concluded that criminal behavior can be passed on from one generation to another, i.e. youth living in high crime areas adopt criminal behavior patterns. Moreover, when representatives of other ethnic groups enter these areas, deviant behavior patterns are passed on to their children from local youth.

In other words, young people become delinquents because they associate and make friends with those teenagers in whom criminal behavior patterns are already ingrained.

Edwin G. Sutherland, using the findings of Chicago sociologists, developed the theory differential association, which is based on the ideas of symbolic interactionism and emphasizes the role of social interaction in the process of shaping the views and actions of people. According to Sutherland, individuals become offenders to the extent that they belong to an environment that follows deviant ideas, motivations, and methods. Such individuals may learn to use and obtain illicit drugs or steal and then sell stolen goods. The sooner contacts of an individual with a criminogenic environment begin, the more often, more intense and longer these contacts are, the higher the likelihood that such an individual will also become an offender. But there is more than mere imitation involved in this process. Deviant behavior is acquired on the basis of not only imitation, but also learning; very much depends on what exactly and from whom individuals learn.

The differential association theory confirms the old adage, “Good companies make good guys, bad companies make bad guys.” When the parents move to a new location "to get Mike away from his bully buddies," they unknowingly use the principle of differential association. The same principle is followed by the guards in the prison, who try to limit the communication of the prisoners they supervise. According to the same principle, imprisonment can lead to clearly negative consequences if young offenders are placed in the same cell as hardened criminals.

Using the theory of cultural transfer. In pluralistic societies, where many subcultures coexist, different population groups may have different views and motivations for behavior. Sociologist Walter B. Miller, based on this principle, conducted research on deviant behavior among young people from the lower social strata. He defined their behavior as an adaptation to the cultural patterns acquired by such people in the process of their socialization in the ghetto and urban environment. The culture of the lower strata, according to Miller, attaches great importance to a number of such "primary" principles as disturbing the public peace (skirmishes with policemen, school authorities, social workers, etc. are welcome); proof of their "coolness" (the presence of physical strength and the ability to win in a fight); arrogance (the ability to outwit, cheat, make fools of other people); excitement (thrill-seeking, risk-taking, playing with danger); fate (the belief that most of the most important events in life are beyond control, that the world is ruled by chance and fate); autonomy (the desire to be free from external control and coercion). While all of these principles are not inherently or necessarily criminal, their adherence creates situations in which there is a high likelihood of engaging in behaviors that are illegal. Thus, the desire to look "cool" entails verbal abuse of others and physical violence against them, and the desire for thrills can lead an individual, for example, to steal a car.

Evaluation of the theory of cultural transfer. So, the theory of cultural transfer shows that socially condemned behavior can be caused by the same processes of socialization as socially approved. This theory allows us to understand why the number of cases of deviant behavior varies from group to group and from society to society. However, it cannot explain some forms of deviant behavior, especially those offenders who could not borrow from others either methods or suitable definitions and views. Examples of this include persistent breaches of financial agreements; counterfeit check makers; people who accidentally broke the law; unprofessional shoplifters; people who commit crimes "on the basis of love." Individuals may find themselves in the same situations but perceive them differently, with different results.

Theory of conflict. Supporters of the theory of cultural transfer emphasize that individuals belonging to different subcultures are characterized by somewhat different behavior patterns, since the process of their socialization is based on different traditions. Adherents of the theory of conflict agree with this provision, but try to answer the question: "Which social group will be able to express their principles in the laws of society and force members of society to obey these laws?" Since the institutional order causes a clash of interests of major groups - classes, genders, racial and ethnic groups, business organizations, trade unions, etc., another question arises: "Who receives the lion's share of the benefits from a particular social system?" Or in other words, "Why does the structure of society give advantages to some social groups, while other groups remain at a disadvantage and even stigmatized as transgressors of the law?"

Using the theory of conflict. The theory of conflict has prompted sociologists to study the influence of the interests of the ruling class on the drafting and enforcement of laws. Many sociologists point out that crime is defined mainly in terms of damage to property (car theft, vandalism, burglary, robbery), while corporate crime seems to remain in the background. Moreover, the punishment for crimes against property is imprisonment, and the most common form of punishment for a business offense is a monetary fine. American sociologist Amitai Etzioni found that in 1975 - 1984. 62% of the largest US corporations were involved in one or more illegal transactions; 42% - in two or more, and 15% - in five or more. Violations included price fixing and overcharging, bribing local and foreign officials, fraud and deceit, and patent infringement. However, unlike thieves and fraudsters, corporations and their officials do not bear criminal or other liability. And if the FBI is investigating every case of murder, rape, assault, and auto theft registered in the United States, then no government agency keeps a record of crimes committed by corporations.

Assessing the theory of conflict Much is true in conflict theory. It is quite obvious that the laws are made and enforced by individuals and social groups vested in power. As a result, laws are not neutral, but serve the interests of a particular social group and express its core values. However, firstly, according to critics of the conflict theory, such intuitive guesses do not meet the requirements of scientific research. For example, according to sociologist Stanton Wheeler, the development of the theory of conflict and the rediscovery of Marx set a new direction for our understanding of deviance, but there is "a strong impression that all these achievements are nothing more than rhetorical."

Many formulations of conflictologists require clarification. Thus, it is not always clear what specific individuals or groups are meant when one speaks of the "ruling elite", "ruling classes" and "the interests of those in power". Second, the conflict theory needs to be tested. For example, William J. Shambliss and Robert Seedman state: "The most severe sanctions tend to be imposed on people of the lower social classes." However, the results of studies do not always agree with this statement: some studies find little or no relationship between the status of lawbreakers and the punishment assigned to them; in other studies, this relationship is clearly traced; some studies show that this relationship depends on the specific circumstances. While corporations often seek to influence justice and public policy, their interests do not necessarily dominate those of other groups. It is clear that more research is needed. The premises of conflict theory cannot be taken for granted without rigorous scientific research.

Theory of stigmatization. Proponents of the theory of stigmatization (from the Greek stigmo - stigma) took as a basis the main idea of conflictology, according to which individuals often cannot get along with each other, as they differ in their interests and outlook on life; at the same time, those in power have the opportunity to express their views and principles in the norms that govern institutional life, and successfully hang negative labels on violators of these norms. They are interested in the process, as a result of which certain individuals receive the stigma of deviants, begin to consider their behavior as deviant.

Adherents of the theory of stigmatization Edwin Lemert, Howard Becker and Kai Erickson argue that, firstly, no act in itself is criminal or non-criminal in nature. The “negativity” of an act is not due to its internal content, but to how others evaluate such an act and react to it. Deviation is always a subject of social definition.

Secondly, all people are characterized by deviant behavior associated with the violation of some norms. Supporters of this theory reject the popular idea that people can be divided into normal and those with some kind of pathology. For example, some drive over the speed limit, shoplift, cheat on homework, hide income from the tax office, get drunk, vandalize the victory of their favorite football team, trespass on private property rights, or roll in their buddy's car without asking. Supporters of the theory of stigmatization call such actions primary deviation, defining it as behavior that violates social norms but usually escapes the attention of law enforcement.

Thirdly, whether specific actions of people will be considered as deviant depends on what these people do and how other people react to it, i.e. this assessment depends on what rules the society chooses to strictly follow, in what situations and in relation to what people. Not everyone who exceeded the speed limit, committed shoplifting, withheld income, violated the rights of private property, etc., is condemned. Of particular importance is the social environment and whether it stigmatizes a particular individual as a violator or not.

Fourth, labeling people has consequences for those people. It creates the conditions leading to secondary deviation - deviant behavior developed by an individual in response to sanctions from others. Stigmatization theorists argue that this new deviation from the norm is initiated by hostile reactions from legislatures and law-abiding citizens. The individual receives a public definition, which is stereotyped and declared to be a delinquent, "nutty", counterfeiter, rapist, drug addict, slacker, pervert, or criminal. The label helps to fix the individual in the status of an outsider (“a person not of our circle”). Such a "main" status suppresses all other statuses of the individual in the formation of his social experience and, as a result, plays the role of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Violators of the norms begin to perceive their status as a specific type of deviance and form their own life based on this status.

Fifth, those who have been branded as delinquents usually find that law-abiding citizens condemn them and do not want to "do business with them"; friends and relatives may turn away from them; in some cases they may be imprisoned or placed in a mental hospital. General condemnation and isolation will push stigmatized individuals into deviant groups consisting of people whose fate is similar to their own. Participation in a deviant subculture is a way to cope with a critical situation, find emotional support and an environment where you are accepted for who you are. In turn, joining such a deviant group strengthens the individual's self-image as a delinquent, contributes to the development of a deviant lifestyle and weakens ties with a law-abiding environment.

So, according to the theory of stigmatization, deviation is determined not by the behavior itself, but by the reaction of society to such behavior. When people's behavior is seen as deviating from accepted norms, it sets off a range of social reactions. Others define, evaluate, and label behavior. The violator of the norms begins to coordinate his further actions with such labels. In many cases, the individual develops a self-image that matches this label, as a result of which he is able to enter the path of deviation.

Assessment of the theory of stigmatization. The theory of stigmatization does not focus on the reasons for committing deviant acts, but helps to understand why the same act can be considered as deviant or not, depending on the situation and characteristics of the individual in question. Many supporters of the theory of stigmatization turned to the provisions of the theory of conflict, primarily to the inequality existing in society, in order to understand what is the basis of the structure of social institutions, how laws are drawn up and enforced.

The stigmatization theory has its critics. First, while stigmatization theory provides insight into how individuals become "professional" apostates, it does not show what underlying factors caused the deviant behavior. Indeed, in many forms of deviation, it is the conditions of life that are responsible for labeling such people. Thus, it seems obvious that the vast majority of people admitted to mental hospitals experience acute disorders associated with internal psychological or neuralgic pathologies. Their confusion and suffering cannot be explained solely by the reactions of others. Nevertheless, a large body of evidence suggests that professional psychiatrists provoke the social manifestation of mental illness through the use of systems of stigmatization, and not simply "discover" internal pathologies or mental illnesses. Labels also play an important role in shaping the image of former mental patients in other members of society, and in the former patients themselves.

Secondly, deviation cannot be understood in isolation from social norms. If behavior is not deviant until it has been assessed in this way, then how are such secret and unsolved crimes, such as embezzlement of public money, tax evasion, or clandestine sexual abuse, to be classified? Moreover, many criminals live this way, convinced that the crime "pays off". One study found that a third of crimes against private property are committed out of the conviction of criminals that they can get much more in this way than through honest, legal work, and another third of crimes are committed by the unemployed.

Thus, no sociological theory is able to fully explain deviant behavior. Each highlights one important source of behavioral deviation from the norm. And deviant behavior can take many forms. Therefore, each form of deviation should be carefully analyzed to determine the specific factors involved in it.

3. Functions anddysfunctiondeviations

Deviation functions. Deviant behavior can also contribute to the efficient functioning of society. First, deviations can reinforce compliance with norms. Secondly, they are not expressed in firm rules or codes of laws. According to the position of E. Durkheim, whenever members of a group condemn a certain act as a deviation from the norm, they more clearly outline the contours of what is considered the norm. Their negative reaction clearly indicates what kind of behavior is unacceptable for the "collective consciousness". The American sociologist Kai T. Erickson notes that one of the remarkable features of control bodies is the advertising of their activities. Once upon a time, violators of law and order were punished in the market square in front of a crowd of people. Now the same results are being achieved with the help of the media, which widely covers criminal trials and court verdicts. Third, by drawing attention to norm breakers, the group can strengthen itself. A common enemy evokes common feelings and strengthens group solidarity. At the same time, the arising emotions kindle passions and strengthen bonds between people of “our type”. Frictions and antagonisms between ingroups and outgroups help emphasize group boundaries and group membership. Similarly, campaigns against witches, traitors, perverts, criminals consolidate social ties between "good people". For example, Erickson showed that members of the Puritan community, feeling their safety threatened, deliberately initiated "crime waves" and "witch-hunt" hysteria to ward off trouble from their community and redefine group boundaries.

Fourth, deviation is a catalyst for social change. Every violation of a rule serves as a warning that the social system is not functioning properly. Of course, the political elite cannot take a high level of looting as a signal that looting should be legalized and public goods redistributed. However, this fact suggests that there are many dissatisfied people in society, that the institutions for the socialization of young people do not cope with their task, that the balance of social forces is in question, and the moral principles of society need to be revised. Thus, deviation often serves as an impetus for recognizing the need to make changes in the social system. We can say that this is a call for a revision of the old norms and at the same time a new model.

Deviation dysfunctions. Undoubtedly, most societies are able to assimilate a considerable number of deviations from the norm without serious consequences for themselves, but constant and widespread deviations can disrupt or even undermine the organizational life of society. The social organization of society consists of the coordinated actions of many people. If some individuals fail to perform their actions at the proper time and in accordance with societal expectations, institutional life may be severely damaged.

Conclusion

To reveal the nature and causes of social deviations, it is necessary to proceed from the fact that they, like social norms, are an expression of people's relations that are taking shape in society. Social norm and social deviation are two poles on the same axis of socially significant behavior of individuals, social groups and other social communities.

Many actions do not fall under the norms and at the same time are not deviations from them simply because they lie in the sphere of relations not regulated by specific norms (the process of artistic or scientific creativity).

Social deviations are as diverse as the social norms themselves. Moreover, the variety of deviations exceeds the variety of norms, because the norm is typical, and deviations can be very individualized.

The immoral act of one person may be completely different from the act of another, even the signs of a crime, which are clearly recorded in the criminal code, are as diverse as the people themselves who commit them.

Deviations from social norms, despite their great diversity, have some common causes that support their existence, and sometimes lead to their growth and prevalence. In their essence, they come down to objective and subjective contradictions of social development, which disrupt the interaction of the individual with the social environment and lead to forms of behavior of individuals that are not consistent with the existing normative system. Moreover, the same contradiction “can underlie both socially undesirable forms of behavior (crime, alcoholism, suicide, etc.) and socially approved ones (cognitive activity, creativity, everyday activity, etc.).

During the transition to a market economy, the financial situation of many segments of the population has changed. Most live below the poverty line, and the number of unemployed has increased. All this creates conflict situations, and they lead to deviations. Who is forgotten in a bottle, who is forgotten in a narcotic dope, and who is weaker takes his own life. The only way to somehow change the current situation is to improve life, to help people overcome their problems for this, social services and other organizations are now being created. But if their activities are not supported by the state, the growth of crime, drug addiction, alcoholism, etc. will only grow.

Bibliography

Volkov Yu.G., Sociology - M.: Gardariki, 2008-450 p.

Gilinsky Ya. Sociology of deviant behavior - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2009-507 p.

Kasyanov V.V., Sociology of Law - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2008-217 p.

Kurganov S.I., Sociology for lawyers. M.: Jurist, 2007-114 p.

Osipova O.S. Deviant Behavior: Good or Evil? Sociological Research, 2008, No. 9.

State Academic University of the Humanities

Psychology faculty

Course work

on the topic: Psychology of deviant behavior

Completed by a 2nd year student

Baryagina Ksenia

Moscow 2011

Introduction

The concept and types of deviant behavior

The concept of norm in the psychology of deviant behavior

Methods for studying deviant behavior

Theories of deviant behavior

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

It is common for the whole world, social being and every person to deviate from the axis of their existence and development. The reason for this deviation lies in the peculiarities of the relationship and interaction of a person with the outside world, the social environment and himself. The diversity arising on the basis of this property in the psychophysical, sociocultural, spiritual and moral state of people and their behavior is a condition for the flourishing of society, its improvement and the implementation of social development.

Deviation in behavior - deviant behavior - is thus a natural condition for the development of a person, the life of the whole society. In other words, deviant behavior was, is and will be, and this is the relevance of its study. The main purpose of this work is to conduct a comparative analysis of various scientific concepts of deviant behavior.

The concept and types of deviant behavior

To proceed to the analysis of concepts, it is necessary to first give a concept to the term "deviant behavior". Deviant behavior (from lat. deviation- deviation) - the commission of acts that contradict the norms of social behavior in one form or another. That is, all actions that are contrary to the rules of conduct traditionally accepted in a particular society. The main types of deviant behavior include, first of all, crime, alcoholism and drug addiction.

Numerous forms of deviant behavior indicate a state of conflict between personal and public interests. Deviant behavior is most often an attempt to leave society, to escape from everyday life problems and hardships, to overcome a state of uncertainty and tension through certain compensatory forms. However, deviant behavior is not always negative. It may be associated with the desire of the individual for something new, an attempt to overcome the conservative, which hinders moving forward. Various types of scientific, technical and artistic creativity can be attributed to deviant behavior.

The process of socialization (the process of assimilation by an individual of patterns of behavior, social norms and values necessary for his successful functioning in a given society) reaches a certain degree of completeness when the individual reaches social maturity, which is characterized by the acquisition by the individual of an integral social status (a status that determines the position of a person in society). However, in the process of socialization failures and failures are possible. Consider types of social deviations:

1. Cultural and mental deviations.

One individual may have deviations in social behavior, another in personal organization. If these two types of deviations are combined, then the deviation from cultural norms is committed by a mentally abnormal person. People often try to associate cultural deviations with mental ones. Naturally, personal disorganization is far from the only cause of deviant behavior. Usually, mentally abnormal individuals fully comply with all the rules and norms accepted in society, and vice versa, individuals who are mentally completely normal commit very serious deviations. The question of why this happens is of interest to both sociologists and psychologists.

2. Individual and group deviations.

Individual - when an individual rejects the norms of his subculture. Such a person is usually regarded as an individual deviant. At the same time, in every society there are many deviant subcultures, the norms of which are condemned by the generally accepted, dominant morality of society. Group deviation is considered as conformal behavior of a member of a deviant group in relation to its subculture.

3. Primary and secondary deviations.

Primary deviance refers to the deviant behavior of the individual, which generally corresponds to the cultural norms accepted in society. In this case, the deviations committed by the individual are so insignificant and tolerable that he is not socially qualified as a deviant and does not consider himself as such. For him and for those around him, deviation looks like just a little prank, eccentricity, or, at worst, a mistake. Secondary deviation is a deviation from the norms existing in the group, which is socially defined as deviant.

4. Culturally acceptable deviations.

Deviant behavior is always evaluated in terms of the culture accepted in a given society. This assessment consists in the fact that some deviations are condemned, while others are approved. It is necessary to highlight the necessary qualities and ways of behavior that can lead to socially approved deviations:

· Superintelligence.

Increased intelligence can be viewed as a way of behavior that leads to socially approved deviations only when a limited number of social statuses are achieved. Exaltation on the basis of intellectuality is possible only in separate, strictly limited areas of human activity.

· special tendencies.

They allow to show unique qualities in very narrow, specific areas of activity.

· Overmotivation.

It is not clear why people become highly motivated. Obviously, one of the causes of overmotivation is group influence. The influence of external conditions, combined with group influence, contributes to the emergence of a large number of individuals with over-motivation in various fields of activity. Many sociologists believe that intense motivation often serves as a compensation for hardships or experiences suffered in childhood or adolescence.

· Personal qualities.

Personal traits and character traits that help to achieve the exaltation of personality. Personal qualities are, of course, an important factor in achieving exaltation, and often even the most important. It is no coincidence that many great personalities possessed some outstanding personal quality.

· Lucky case.

A happy occasion can contribute to the manifestation of a person's abilities in certain activities. Great achievements are not only a pronounced talent and desire, but also their manifestation in a certain place and at a certain time.

5. Culturally condemned deviations.

Most societies support and reward social deviations in the form of extraordinary achievements and activities aimed at developing the generally accepted values of the culture. These societies are not strict about individual failures to achieve the deviations they approve of. As for the violation of moral norms and laws, it has always been severely condemned and punished in society.

The concept of norm in the psychology of deviant behavior

The subject of the psychology of deviant behavior was discussed above. It included those deviating from a variety of norms:

situational reactions.

mental states,

personality development, leading to maladjustment of a person in society and / or a violation of self-actualization.

Based on this, it is possible to make the most general list of normsof psychological interest:

) The norms according to which a person should (and can) direct and regulate his behavior in a given situation. Obviously, the selection of such norms can be based either on the concept adequacy, or on the concept typicality, or, finally, on the concept ideal, ideally due behavior. It should be noted that inappropriate behavior can also be typical, for example, in a situation of panic. Adequate behavior involves a rational assessment of the situation, or instinctive behavior in it. In other words, different criteria of adequacy are possible.

) Norms associated with the characteristics of certain mental states.

Mental state is understood a relatively stable level of mental activity that has been determined at a given time, which manifests itself in increased or decreased activity of the individual.

The state is the effect of mental activity and the background against which the activity takes place. States differ in relative duration (days, weeks).

Mental states are divided into:

motivational - based on needs (desires, interests, drives);

states of organization of consciousness are manifested in various levels of attentiveness, efficiency;

emotional - stress, affect, frustration;

volitional (states of initiative, purposefulness, determination, perseverance, etc.)

It should be noted that the norms associated with mental states cannot be universal. On the one hand, they are associated with the bearer of this norm (Who?), on the other hand, with the situation in which this norm is applied (Where? When? Under what circumstances?).

) Norms related to personal development. They are also conditional, that is, literally: dependent on conditions. But, strictly speaking, they also depend on who exactly evaluates compliance with this norm? On what theoretical or experimental grounds was the norm itself derived? To what categories of people does it apply?

For the most part, the norms associated with personality development can be defined as describing the permissible range of normativity, and not rigidly and discretely fixing the fact of this normativity.

At the same time, such norms are dynamic in the temporal aspect, but their fixation is carried out taking into account ages or certain statuses (age, family, social, professional, etc.). Looking ahead, it is appropriate to note here that Jung emphasized the need to study the personality, both from the standpoint of causes and from the standpoint of goals (why he became the way he became - what he aspires to in the future).

But besides what has been said, there are also other criteria for deriving norms.

Thus, it is possible to correlate an individual with the norms of mental health, an approach is possible that is associated with his adaptation in society, and which has as its deep foundation either the concept of homeostasis, on the one hand, or the idea of an active transformation of reality, on the other.

It is important that each approach will give its own list and its own interpretation of the norms.

Yu.A. Kleiberg notes the borrowing by psychologists of the understanding of the norm and deviations from medicine, in particular from psychiatry, i.e., ultimately, from the dichotomy "norm - pathology". Analyzing the concepts of "norm" and "deviation", the specified author identifies the following understandings of the norm:

a) norm as a prescription or prohibition;

b) the norm as an ideal, as compliance with the requirements of the social environment in which a person lives and acts;

c) the norm as a range of variation inherent in the majority of members of a given population;

d) the norm as a correspondence to one or another theoretical and psychological constructs.

Methods for studying deviant behavior

sociological methods. Polls and interviews.

Among the sociological methods borrowed by deviantologists are surveys and interviews. The main stages of the survey include the compilation of the questionnaire, its pilot testing, sampling (with respect to representativeness), the survey itself, processing, analysis and interpretation of the results.

In relation to the compilation of the questionnaire, it is important to observe several fundamental requirements. Firstly, the thematic selection of questions that should best correspond to the problem under study. Secondly, an acceptable structure of questions - closed and open questions Answers to the first type of questions are easier to analyze, but the free opinion of the respondent in this case is adjusted to the template, which reduces the information content of the answers. Free responses are informative and reflect the real opinion of the respondent, but they are more difficult to analyze. It is also necessary to ensure that the questions do not push the respondent to a particular answer. Thirdly, questions should be formulated in such a way that the respondent can easily understand them.

Conducting interviews is quite difficult, but the information obtained as a result is usually much deeper and more interesting than in surveys.

Further, among the methods borrowed from sociologists, it is worth noting the method of document analysis. All documents can be conditionally divided into two large groups - personal and official. Among the latter, a special group is made up of printed publications - the press. Searching for information in official documents can be done in different ways. It is possible, for example, to compare points of view competing in print media on some issue (say, on the problem of drug addiction, or child homelessness). You can make a rating of the deviantological problems mentioned in the press, or analyze the criminal chronicle separately. Official documents also include official statistical information.

Personal documents are, first of all, diaries, letters and photographs. The study of letters and photographs allows you to reconstruct the inner world of a person. In this case, the views, habits and problems of a person appear before the researcher in clean form. Studying personal documents, the scientist gets an invaluable opportunity to look at the problems of interest to him through the eyes of the one he studies. Secondly, personal documents should include documents in the literal sense - certificates, certificates, characteristics, and so on.

Psychological methods. Questionnaires and tests.

With the help of test methods, mainly mental properties, intellectual, professional and creative abilities are diagnosed, while characterological features, personality traits, motivation structure, etc. are studied through questionnaires. There is a fundamental difference between questionnaires and tests. First of all, the test compares the results of a given subject with the existing norm, and, therefore, the possibilities of its use as a method are the less, the less certain something that is being studied with its help. The questionnaire is a tool for informing the researcher aboutsubjective opinion of the subject - even if rather "pure" psychological properties are indirectly studied with its help.

The use of test and survey methods has a number of difficulties.

Difficulties associated with the reliability of the information received:

compliance of the methodology with the problem (must measure exactly what is needed);

the adequacy of the answers of the subjects (accuracy, sincerity, the absence of a socially desirable component in those);

the subjectivity of the researcher in interpreting the results.

Experiment.

So-called " classical experiment» consists in the following: the object is exposed to any factors that (according to the hypothesis) influence the phenomenon we are studying. The danger for the researcher here is that there is a temptation to believe that the changes that he fixes occur precisely because of his influence. The researcher should take into account factors other than those introduced by him, as well as take into account the possible effect of residual, unaccounted for factors. In this sense, many comparative empirical studies cannot, strictly speaking, be called experiments.

So, if certain properties are compared in groups between which there is an obvious qualitative difference, then even if these properties also turn out to be authentically different, the question still remains unexplained, what exactly caused these differences? Sometimes they try to call such studies a “stating experiment”, but this is not true. Any experiment necessarily states some fact (even this one: “Nothing could be established”), but not every study is an experiment, and some of them can only be called measurement- no more.

observation.

Here the scientist becomes a direct participant in the processes that he studies. Plunging into the social reality under study, looking at events through the eyes of a participant, the scientist must penetrate into the specifics of the worldview of the category of people he is interested in. It is worth noting that usually such information is inaccessible to the researcher, because to penetrate into the essence of the life world of any social group, one can only becoming one's own in her. In psychology, a distinction is made between direct and indirect observation. According to the nature of contacts with the objects under study, observation is divided into direct and indirect, according to the nature of interaction - included and non-included (from outside) observation.

In general, observation is a general scientific method. It must be emphasized that it acquires and retains the status of scientificity only when it is not passive contemplation, and does not snatch out of what is seen unsystematic, random impressions, moreover, passed through the filter of interests, attitudes and prejudices.

The scientific nature of observation is ensured by the following:

strict planning of what exactly should be seen;

predetermined criteria for how to identify what you are looking for;

fixing the results of observation (according to a pre-compiled scheme).

Conversation.

The main purpose of the conversation is to obtain the necessary information about him and other persons in the process of communication with the subject. During the conversation, an opinion is formed about the individual development of a person, his intellect, mental state, about his attitude to certain events, people. And although with the help of a conversation it is far from always possible to obtain exhaustive information, nevertheless, it helps to get to know the subject better, to determine the most correct tactical line of behavior in relation to him.

Self-reports and self-descriptions.

When studying issues related to deviant behavior, the analysis of such sources can provide the researcher with invaluable information. Moreover, it can be used in three broadest aspects:

for diagnostic purposes in relation to a particular individual;

for diagnostic purposes related to identifying in such self-descriptions the most typical features inherent in this category of people;

in therapeutic terms - as a way of introspection.

Summing up the conversation about the methods of studying deviant behavior, it should be said about the difference between qualitative and quantitative methods. They are especially effective on a large scale - when you need to reflect the state of large groups of people or the most general patterns. These methods primarily include surveys, formalized interviews and the analysis of official documents.

Qualitative methods are more in-depth, and aimed at discovering special . The researcher tries to reveal the meaning that people put into their behavior and into their experiences. The processing of data collected using qualitative methods implies their meaningful interpretation. In addition, however, a statistical analysis of the occurrence of any meaningful categories can be carried out - this is how the inductive transition occurs from single , special - to general, typical .

Theories of deviant behavior

social deviation deviant behavior

Attempts at a theoretical explanation of human nature were rooted in two fundamentally different foundations: one of them is nature, the other is society. The first is the ground for theories, where the main idea is the biological determination of human behavior, the second is its social determination. The most justified would be general methodological approachtrying to take into account interactionall circumstances. Each theory brings new research opportunities, and at least this enriches knowledge.

I propose to get acquainted with the most famous theories:

Biological theories

Theory of Cesare Lombroso.Traditionally, the Italian scientist C. Lombroso is considered one of the founders of the biological trend.

Lombroso worked as a prison doctor for a number of years, which gave him the opportunity to summarize significant factual material. The main determinant of propensity to crime, according to Lombroso, were hereditary biological factors(for example, the special structure of the skull), supported by the influence of the environment. At the same time, Lombroso considered the causes of deviance in the widest possible range: from climatic, natural and hereditary factors to economic, cultural and gender. However, the primacy, nevertheless, was given to factors of a hereditary-biological nature. A significant place in his research is given to the analysis of family and kinship ties of criminals, within and between generations.

Lombroso's theory quickly gained considerable popularity, but the subsequent development of sociology and psychology was not conducive to maintaining it. First of all, because causal relationships were not traced to the end: it was not clear whether heredity determines the tendency to deviance, or other, external factors affecting, among other things, heredity.

There are many more biological theories, such as "Constitutional Theories", "Chromosomal Theory", "Endocrine Theory".

Constitutional theoriescan be considered a continuation of Lombroso's attempt to link deviance with physical and constitutional factors. The most famous work is "Personality Typologies", developed by Kretschmer (1925) and Sheldon (1954). According to the ideas of these authors, people can be divided into three types according to their psychophysical constitution: mesomorphic (athletic) type, ectomorphic (thin) and endomorphic (fat) type. Mesomorphs are more prone to dominance, activity, aggression and violence. Ectomorphs are described as timid, inhibited, and prone to loneliness and mental activity. Endomorphs are distinguished by good nature and a lively and cheerful character. But the theory was called too simplified, and Kretschmer's typology was derived mainly from mentally ill people.

Chromosomal theoryaggression and crime appeared in connection with the development of genetics. Studies were conducted on persons who committed criminal acts. These studies have confirmed a high degree of association between delinquency and the presence of an XYY chromosomal abnormality. As you know, the female chromosome set is formed by a combination of two X chromosomes. In men, this combination is represented by one X and one Y chromosome. But sometimes there is a combination of XYY - one extra male chromosome is added. Patricia Jacobs, who conducted a survey of prisoners in a number of British prisons, found that the percentage of people with this kind of anomaly among prisoners is several times higher than among the general population. However, subsequent studies have shown that there is no direct cause of a high level of aggression by the presence of an extra Y chromosome. Rather, the matter is in the lower level of intellectual development of persons with this anomaly. In fact, they are no more likely to commit crimes and acts of aggression than people with a normal chromosome set, they are only more likely to be caught at the scene of a crime and punished, which explains their high percentage among prisoners.

endocrine theorythis is another direction of biological theories of aggression, associated with the study of the role of hormonal influences on criminal and aggressive behavior. Back in 1924, the American scientist M. Schlapp, who studied the endocrine system of criminals, found that a third of the prisoners examined by him suffer from emotional instability associated with diseases of the endocrine glands. Subsequently, the stability of sex differences in the manifestations of aggressiveness, regardless of nationality and culture, led scientists to think about the possible influence of androgens (male sex hormones) on aggressiveness. It is known that the level of tetrosterone in the body of men is more than ten times higher than that of women. Since tetrosterone influences the formation of secondary sexual characteristics, it would be quite possible to assume that it contributes to the development of higher levels of male aggression and propensity to crime. Numerous experiments to test this hypothesis have given very conflicting information. On the one hand, enough evidence has been collected in favor of the main assumption (the impact of gender differences). At the same time, there are practically no direct data confirming the hypothesis about the influence of androgens on deviance. Although the level of tetrosterone may play a role in the formation of a tendency to aggression, nevertheless, most researchers are inclined to think that other factors may play a much more important role in this. Most likely, tetrosterone affects the level of aggressiveness, interacting with a whole range of individual and social factors.

In conclusion of the description of biological theories, I will add that today most serious scientists come to the conclusion that a biological predisposition to various forms of deviance manifests itself only in the presence of a favorable influence of the social environment.

Sociological theories

Speaking of sociological theories, we should first of all mention Émile Durkheim, because the first significant sociological study that touches on the problem of deviance should be considered his work Suicide . Suicide actually represents aggressive behavior directed against the subject himself. Durkheim was the first to show that a deviant act (suicide) is the result of the relationship between society and the individual. The level of suicides is determined by the specifics of social relations, and not by the personal qualities of people.

However, in addition to the actual study of suicide, this work of Durkheim is of considerable methodological interest. He carried out an extensive statistical analysis of the patterns of suicide in certain localities, at different times, for different social strata and both sexes. The analysis was accompanied by a critical analysis of some of the provisions of his contemporaries and predecessors, and often served as a very convincing refutation of the theories that they had built. By the way, the reasoning of the aforementioned Lombroso also turned out to be a target for this.

Very important is his anomie conceptand the thesis that for modern society it is in this state that the greatest danger lurks. Anomie- this is a state of society when the former system of regulatory norms and values has been destroyed, and a replacement has not yet been formed. This is closely related to Durkheim's view of normal society.

A normal society requires a "consensus of minds" - a common system of norms, beliefs and values shared by members of society and governing their lives. In a state of anomie, society is a clash of individual ambitions of its members and is governed by the law of force. This is due to the fact that each person, in the words of Durkheim, is "an abyss of desires." Only society can restrain these desires and regulate their direction, because a person does not have instinctive regulators. It is society that creates ideas about the norm and deviance, which are blurred in a state of anomie.

A similar condition is present in modern society, because. most of the crimes, mental disorders and suicides are connected with it. In this regard, Durkheim pointed to the pathological nature of the development of civilization, since it is this development that stimulates the state of anomie.

Theory of social tension.It is one of the most popular theories of deviant behavior. It was developed by R. Merton. When creating this theory, Merton used Durkheim's concept of anomie in relation to the problems of the sociology of crime.

The main idea of this theory is that the main cause of crime is the contradiction between the values that society aims people at and the possibilities of achieving them according to the rules established by society. The emerging social tension leads to the fact that a person who has not been able to obtain certain values will react to this with one form or another of deviant behavior (including those associated with aggression and violence). Total Merton distinguished five types of reactionson the values established by society and the institutionalized means of achieving them (conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreat (retreatism), rebellion). Traditionally, these five types of behavior are interpreted in relation to such a generally recognized cultural goal in modern society, which is the desire for material well-being. Education and a career are considered to be the main socially acceptable means of achieving this goal.

The only "normal" behavior would be conformism, recognizing both ends and means. One of the deviant responses to stress can be innovation. In this case, the subject recognizes social goals (eg, material well-being), but, not being able to achieve them with the help of socially approved means (successful career), uses his own means, often not approved by society (eg, criminal activity).

ritualism- this is the non-recognition of goals, using institutionalized means to achieve them. For example: the subject does not consider himself capable of achieving social success, but continues to work hard in unpromising areas, without hope of any achievement.

Retreat- this is a denial of both goals and means to achieve them, a departure from society. An example would be the behavior of a person who uses drugs and thus tries to hide behind from society. Rebeldoes not recognize social ends and replaces them with his own, as well as means. For example, instead of economic benefits, a person may seek to destroy an unjust social system through violence.

The theory of tension refers to the functional direction in sociological theorizing. It shows how some elements of the social structure can be socially dysfunctional due to the impossibility of realizing cultural goals. However, this theory is less effective in explaining the deviant behavior of privileged groups, since the social position of the representatives of the upper strata of society does not prevent, but, on the contrary, contributes to success.

Subcultural theory. The founder of this direction can be considered T. Sellin, who published in 1938 the work Cultural conflict and crime . In this work, Sellin considered the conflict between the cultural values of different communities as a criminogenic factor. Based on Sellin's theory, the American sociologist A. Cohen developed his own concept of subcultures.

Cohen, on the scale of small social groups, considered the features of the cultural values of criminal associations (gangs, communities, groups). In these microgroups, a kind of minicultures (views, habits, skills, stereotypes of behavior, norms of communication, rights and obligations, punishment measures for violators of norms developed by such a microgroup) - this phenomenon is called subcultures.

Subcultural theory pays special attention to the group (subculture) as a carrier of deviant ideas. There are subcultures that profess norms and values that are completely different from those generally accepted. People belonging to these subcultures build their behavior in accordance with group prescriptions, but dominant social groups define this behavior as deviant.

Cohen generalized the idea that most deviant groups are a negative reflection of the culture of the majority of society.

The subcultural theory, which explains deviant behavior by the socialization of an individual in a system of deviant values and norms, does not explain why deviant norms and values appear in society, why some members of society accept a deviant value system, while others, being in the same conditions, deny it.

Theory of conflict.It is based on the premise that in any society there is an inequality in the distribution of resources and power. K. Marx is considered to be the ancestor of this trend. Conflict theorists highlight the principles by which society is organized to serve the interests of the rich and powerful members of society, often to the detriment of others. For many conflict theorists, the main source of deviance in Western societies is the capitalist economic system.

Although deviance is found at every level of society, the nature, extent, punishment of deviance is often related to the social class position of the individual (Burke, Linihan and Rossi, 1980; Braithwaite, 1981). Usually people from high society - rich, powerful, influential - play a major role in determining what is deviant and what is not.

Conflict theory emphasizes the inequality in the distribution of power and wealth in society. Conflict theorists of the Marxist school see inequality as a product of the capitalist economy. However, scholars of other schools noted that inequality in the distribution of power and privileges exists in all societies, regardless of the type of economy or political regime.

Psychological theories

Classical and modern psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis(German psychoanalysis) is a complex of psychological theories and methods of psychotherapy put forward by Sigmund Freud at the beginning of the 20th century. This method has become widespread in Europe (from the beginning of the 20th century), the USA (from the middle of the 20th century) and Latin America (from the second half of the 20th century). Subsequently, the ideas of Z. Freud were developed by such psychologists as A. Adler and K. Jung.

Psychoanalysis has been proposed Freudas a scientific theory about the human psyche.

The concept of psychoanalysis

The theory of human behavior, the first and one of the most influential theories of personality in psychology. Usually refers to classical psychoanalysis created by Sigmund Freud, but is also applied to any derivative (even a theory very different from it), such as Jung's analytical psychology or Adler's individual psychology, which they prefer to refer to as "neopsychoanalysis".

A set of methods for studying the main motives of a person. The fundamental subject of study of psychoanalysis is the unconscious motives of behavior, originating in latent disorders. They are revealed through free association expressed by the patient.

Method and methods of treatment of mental disorders based on the analysis of free associations, manifestations of transference and resistance, through the techniques of interpretation and elaboration. The goal of the psychoanalyst is to help the patient free himself from hidden mechanisms that create conflicts in the psyche, that is, from habitual patterns that are not suitable or create specific conflicts in the realization of desires and in adaptation to society.

Topical model of mental apparatus

Unconscious- special mental forces that lie outside of consciousness, but control human behavior.

Consciousness- one of the two parts of the psyche, realized by the individual - determines the choice of behavior in the social environment, but not entirely, since the choice of behavior itself can be initiated by the unconscious. Consciousness and the unconscious are in antagonistic relations, in an endless struggle, the unconscious always wins. The psyche is automatically regulated by the pleasure principle, which is modified into the reality principle, and if the balance is disturbed, a reset is carried out through the unconscious sphere.

Structural model of the psyche

Freud proposed the following structure of the psyche:

Ego ("I"), Superego ("Super-I"), Id ("It")

Defense mechanisms

Sigmund Freud identified several protective mechanisms of the psyche:

substitution , Jet formation , Compensation , crowding out , Negation , Projection , Sublimation , Rationalization , Regression.

« normal"behavior will be in the event that the instinctive impulses of the "It" do not conflict with the normative requirements of the "Super-I", reflected in the consciousness ("I"), giving rise to an internal conflict. Consciousness - "I" - in an effort to prevent conflict, is forced to resort to the sublimation of aggressive and sexual impulses. Sublimationis a mechanism for translating the dark, elemental energy of instincts into a culturally acceptable framework. For example, if a person is prone to aggression, he can "let off steam" by engaging in hard physical labor or aggressive sports.

However, the pressure of subconscious drives on the "I" may be too strong to be completely sublimated. On the other hand, the immature, undeveloped "I" may be incapable of sublimation, which requires creativity. In this case, a person begins to feel anxiety, in connection with a brewing internal conflict. In these cases, consciousness, in order to mitigate the conflict between the "It" and the "Super-I" and protect itself from anxiety, uses defense mechanisms. Their action is associated with the distortion of reality and self-deception, thanks to which the consciousness is protected from traumatic and unacceptable experiences. As mentioned above, Freud described several basic defense mechanisms - this repression, projection, substitution, rationalization, reactive formation, regression and denial. Let's look at each mechanism in more detail.

crowding out- this is the suppression of subconscious drives and experiences that pose a threat to self-consciousness and their displacement into the sphere of the unconscious. In this case, a person is forced to spend a significant amount of psychic energy, but the repressed desires still periodically “break through” into reality through slips of the tongue, dreams, etc.

Projectionis attributing to others one's own unacceptable experiences.

substitution- this is the direction of the energy of attraction to a safer object.

Rationalization- this is what in everyday life is called self-justification. A person seeks to give a rational explanation for actions committed under the influence of instinctive drives.

Jet formationis a more complex defense mechanism that includes two stages. At the first stage, the unacceptable experience is suppressed, and at the second stage, the opposite feeling is formed in its place.

Regression- this is a return to childish, early forms of behavior. As a rule, immature, infantile personalities resort to this type of protective mechanisms. However, normal adults in situations of mental overload can use this defense mechanism.

A variety of "childish" reactions of the psyche can be considered negation. Let's say a person in a state of intoxication commits a crime and then refuses to believe it.

Freud argued that defense mechanisms operate on a subconscious level, and all people resort to them from time to time. In those cases when it is not possible to reduce tension with their help, neuroses arise - whiter or less noticeable disorders of normal mental activity. At the same time, people differ among themselves in their ability to sublimate and control impulses. Much depends on the degree of development, maturity of the individual, the foundations of which are laid in early childhood. The roots of many neuroses and more severe disorders - psychoses - should, according to Freud, be sought in early childhood experiences.

Individual psychology of Adler

According to Adler, a baby is born with two basic feelings - inferiority and community with their own kind. He strives for perfection as compensation for his inferiority and for the establishment of meaningful social relationships.

Compensation "on the useful side of life" (according to Adler) leads to the formation of a sense of self-worth, which implies the dominance of a sense of community over the individualistic desire for superiority. In the case of "compensation on the useless side of life", the feeling of inferiority is transformed into an inferiority complex, which is the basis of neurosis, or into a "superiority complex". At the same time, Adler saw the roots of deviations not so much in the complexes themselves, but in the inability of the individual to establish adequate contact with the environment. As an important factor in the formation of personality, Adler singles out the structure of the family. The place of the child in it and the appropriate type of upbringing have a significant impact on the occurrence of deviant behavior. For example, overprotection leads to the development of suspiciousness and an inferiority complex.

Jung's Analytical Psychology

A short list of concepts that are directly related to the study of deviant behavior:

Jung's personality structure:

Ego- conscious mind.

Personal unconscious- repressed conscious impressions, experiences at the time of appearance that were too weak to make an impression on the level of consciousness.

complexes- an organized thematic group of experiences that are attracted to the so-called core of the complex. The complex can seize power over the personality. Can be realized through associations, but not directly.

collective unconscious- hidden memories inherited phylogenetically (refuted on a rational level by modern genetics). This is the innate foundation of the personality structure. Symptoms, phobias, illusions, and other irrational phenomena may arise from the rejection of unconscious processes.

Archetypes- a universal mental form containing an emotional element. The most developed archetypes can be considered as separate systems within the personality - persona, anima/animus, shadow.

A person- a mask worn in response to:

a) the requirements of social conventions;

b) internal archetypal needs.

This is a public personality, as opposed to one's own personality, hidden behind external manifestation in social behavior.

If the Ego is consciously identified with the Person, the person is aware and appreciates not his own feelings, but the accepted role.

Anima/animus- the bisexual nature of man. As an archetype, they arose with the constant coexistence of both sexes.

Shadow- the embodiment of the animal side of human nature. The projection of the Shadow outside is realized in the form of a devil or an enemy. The shadow is responsible for socially disapproved thoughts, feelings, actions.

Self- the archetype of integrity - the core of the personality, around which all systems are grouped. The goal of life is an ideal that has the property of unattainability. The archetype of the self is not evident until a person reaches middle age, when he begins to make efforts to shift the center of the personality from the conscious to a balance between it and the unconscious.

Settings- extraversion and introversion, one of which dominates, while the second is unconscious.

Functions - thinking, feeling, feeling, intuition.(Thinking is rational; feeling is an evaluative function that determines the value of things, gives subjective experiences; sensation is a perceptual realistic function; intuition is perception based on unconscious processes and contents.)

Interaction of personality systems:

Systems can: compensateeach other; resistand unite.

Compensation:

between extraversion and introversion,

between the ego and anima of men/animus of women.

Opposition

between the ego and the personal unconscious,

between ego and shadow

between persona and anima/animus,

between the persona and the personal unconscious,

between the collective unconscious and the person.

Combining allows the components to create a qualitatively new one, aimed at integrating the personality (self).

The unity of opposites is achieved through transcendent function.

Personality dynamics.

concept psychic energy- manifestation of vital energy, the energy of the body as a biological system. It is a hypothetical construct that cannot be measured, but obeys the same physical laws as energy in the ordinary sense.

mental values- the amount of energy invested in one or another element of the personality, a measure of tension (or strength in motives and behavior control). It is possible to detect only the relative value of an element (in comparison with others, but not objectively, that is, only within a given personality).

Principle of equivalence- if energy is spent on one, then it will appear in another (one value weakens, another increases).

Entropy principle- the distribution of the energy of the psyche tends to balance. The state of the ideal distribution of energy is the self.

Personal development according to Jung

The goal is self-realization, as the most complete differentiation and harmonious combination of all aspects of the personality. The new center is the self, instead of the old center - the ego.

Causality and teleology- two approaches to the study of personality, one of which considers the causes, the other - proceeds from the goals, from what the person is moving towards. Jung promoted the idea that in order to properly understand what drives a person's actions, it is necessary to use both approaches.

Stages of personality development:

Before the age of five - sexual values appear, and reach a peak in adolescence.

Youth and early adulthood - the basic life instincts dominate, a person is energetic, passionate, dependent on others (even in the form of resistance to them).

Forties - a change of values - from biological to more cultural (culturally determined), a person is more introverted, less impulsive. Energy yields to wisdom (both as a goal and as a tool to achieve it). Personal values are sublimated into social, religious, civil and philosophical symbols.

This period is both the most significant for the individual and the most dangerous if violations are observed in the transfer of energy to new values.

The advantage of the Jungian approach to the interpretation of personality is the statement about the internal tendency of a person to develop in the direction of harmonious unity. (Revelation of the original innate wholeness.)

Erich Fromm

The main theme of Fromm's work is human loneliness, caused by alienation from nature and from other people. Such isolation is not found in animals.

Such a theme is closely related to the theme of freedom, which Fromm, in this regard, considers as a negative category. Every liberation leads to a greater sense of loneliness and alienation.

Consequently, (according to Fromm) two ways are possible - to unite with others on the basis of love and cooperation, or to seek submission.

According to Fromm, any device (reorganization) of society is the realization of an attempt to resolve basic human contradiction. It consists in the fact that man is both a part of nature and separate from it - both an animal and a human being. That is, a person has both needs (animal) and self-consciousness, reason, human experiences (human).

Fromm identifies five basic needs:

The need to connect with others- stems from the torn out of man from the original unity with nature. Instead of the instinctive connections that animals have, man is forced to create his own relationships, and those based on productive love turn out to be the most satisfying. (Mutual care, respect, understanding.)

Need for transcendence- the desire of man to rise above his animal nature, to become not a creature, but a creator. (With obstacles, a person becomes a destroyer.)

The need for rootedness- people want to feel part of the world, to belong to it. The most healthy manifestation is in the feeling of kinship with other people.

The Need for Identity- the need for the uniqueness of their individuality. If this need is not realized in creativity, then it can be realized in belonging to a group or in identification with another person. (Not being somebody, but belonging to somebody.)

The Need for an Orientation System- a system of reference points, a stable and consistent way of perceiving and understanding the world.

According to Fromm, these needs are purely human in nature. Moreover, they are not generated by society (with one device or another), but arise evolutionarily.

The forms and methods of meeting these needs and the development of the individual are determined by a particular society. The adaptation of a person to society is a compromise between internal needs and external requirements.

Five types of social character,determining the way individuals relate to each other:

receptive - consuming,

exploitative,

accumulative,

market,

productive.

Later, he put forward another dichotomous way of classifying characters - on biophilic(aimed at the living) and necrophilic(pointing at the dead). Fromm said that the only initial force is life, and the death instinct comes into play when the vital forces are frustrated.

According to Fromm, it is important that the character of the child is brought up in accordance with the requirements of a given society, so that he wants to preserve it. This is explained by the fact that, according to Fromm, any change in the social structure leads to violations in the social character of the individual. Its former structure does not correspond to the new reality, which enhances the feeling of alienation. The latter reinforces the danger of uncritical choice (or acceptance from others) of ways to escape loneliness.

Fromm's beliefs:

1) a person has an innate essential nature,

) society must exist in order for this nature to be realized,

) so far no society has succeeded,

) but it is possible in principle.

Humanistic psychology

It proceeds from the fact that when an individual reacts to various external circumstances, a personal interpretation of the situation is essential. Depending on how exactly a person comprehends certain social interactions, he can act either “normally” or, on the contrary, “deviantly”. Attention is focused on the content of human consciousness: “How different ideas, views, attitudes, “ideas” affect human behavior. This makes us turn to the problem of a general worldview, the most important component of which is the individual's value system.

Carl Rogers - "human-centered" theory

The concept of self-concept.I-concept means: “... an organized, coherent conceptual gestalt built from perceptions of the characteristics of "I" or "me" and perceptions of the relationship of "I" or "me" to other people and various aspects of life, as well as the values associated with these perceptions. This gestalt is available to consciousness, although not necessarily always conscious. It is a fluid and changeable gestalt, it is processual, but at each moment it forms a specific integrity.

organism- represents the locus of all experience - everything accessible to self-knowledge and constantly happening in the body at any moment. The individual's behavior depends on the "phenomenal field" (subjective reality) and not on the stimulus situation (external reality). The phenomenal field is formed at every moment by conscious (symbolized) and unconscious (not symbolized) experiences.

I- a part of the phenomenal field, differentiated taking into account the introduced values and norms.

According to Rogers' theory, in addition to the real "I", as such, its structure, there is an ideal "I" - what a person would like to be. When the symbolized experiences that form the Self faithfully reflect the experiences of the organism, the person is said to be adapted, mature, and fully functioning. Such a person accepts the full range of organismic experiences without a sense of threat or anxiety. He is capable of realistic thinking. The incongruity between the Self and the organism makes individuals feel threatened and anxious. Their behavior becomes defensive, their thinking becomes limited and rigid. In Rogers' theory, however, two other manifestations of congruence are implied. One of them is the presence or absence of congruence between subjectively perceived reality and external reality - the world as it is. Another is the degree of correspondence between the real and the ideal "I". In the case of significant discrepancies, the person is dissatisfied and ill-adjusted.

Thus, according to Rogers, the body has a basic tendency - the desire to actualize, affirm, strengthen itself. This actualizing tendency is selective, aimed at those aspects of the environment that contribute to the constructive movement of the personality towards actualization, towards completeness and integrity. That is, self-actualization in itself is a motivating factor that encourages activity by force, since the goal of every person's life is to become a self-actualized, integral personality.

Rogers specifically puts forward two leading needs: in a positive attitude and in a self-attitude. The first develops due to the care of parents in childhood, the second is formed by receiving a positive attitude from others.

Rogers focuses on how, especially in childhood, the assessment of the individual by others increases the discrepancy between the experiences of the organism and the experiences of the "I". In the case of only a positive attitude, the self-attitude will not be conditioned by anything, and will remain in accordance with the organismic assessment. But, since assessments from others are not always positive, a dissonance arises between the organismic assessment and the experiences of the “I”. Unworthy experiences tend to be excluded from the self-concept, even if they are organismically valid. Consequently, the self-concept is excluded from the sphere of organismic experiences - the individual (child) tries to meet the expectations of others. The self-concept, over time, becomes more distorted due to other people's assessments.

The organismic experience of experiences contradicts the self-concept, and is experienced as a threat, it gives rise to anxiety. To protect the self-concept, such threatening experiences are given distorted symbolization. Rogers argues, therefore, that people often maintain and try to reinforce an image of themselves that does not correspond to reality. In this case, the mechanism is either the exclusion of negative information about oneself from consciousness, or, on the other hand, data that contradicts a negative assessment of oneself is interpreted by the individual in such a way that the possibility of this negative assessment still remains.

Behaviorism

Skinner

For a psychologist, the only real fact can only be human behavior - something that can be measured and analyzed.

Behavior always has a reason. This reason is a stimulus - something that pushes a person to action from the outside. The actions themselves are carried out according to the “stimulus-response” scheme, such behavior Skinner called respondent. However, a person, thanks to his mental abilities, is also capable of operant behavior. ( operant- spontaneous reaction without the action of the stimulus that causes it.)

All human behavior is a more or less complex set of various stable or short-term reactions. In general, a person tends to receive positive and avoid negative incentives. This is the basis of the mechanism of learning - fixing in the mind of typical reactions to typical stimuli. Reinforced behavior is reinforced and becomes "natural".

According to the behaviorist direction, all human behavior is a set of various stable or short-term reactions. A person seeks to receive positive and avoid negative incentives. This is the basis of the mechanism learning- consolidation in the mind of typical reactions to typical stimuli. Reinforced behavior is reinforced and becomes "natural", as mentioned above.

From these positions, deviance is the result of learning associated with a different set of incentives in the environment of each person. A prosperous family and a positive environment stimulate the positive development of the individual, and vice versa. Exceptions are explained by the action of secondary stimuli. Thus, deviant behavior is taught like any other behavior.

Conclusion

So, we have determined that deviant (deviant) behavior is the behavior of an individual or group that does not correspond to generally accepted norms, as a result of which these norms are violated by them. Deviant behavior is a consequence of an unsuccessful process of personality socialization: as a result of a violation of the processes of identification and individualization of a person, such an individual easily falls into a state of “social disorganization”, when cultural norms, values and social relationships are absent, weaken or contradict each other. This condition is called anomie and is the main cause of deviant behavior.

It should be noted that there are also a variety of interrelated factors that determine the genesis of deviant behavior.

Namely:

individual factor.acting at the level of psychobiological prerequisites for deviant behavior that make it difficult for an individual to socially and psychologically adapt;

pedagogical factor,manifested in defects in school and family education;

psychological factor,revealing the unfavorable features of the interaction of the individual with his immediate environment in the family, on the street, in the team, and which, first of all, manifests itself in the active-selective attitude of the individual to the preferred environment of communication, to the norms and values of his environment, to the psychological and pedagogical influences of the family, school , the public to self-regulation of their behavior;

social factor,determined by social, economic, political, etc. conditions for the existence of society.

Given that deviant behavior can take a variety of forms (both negative and positive), it is necessary to study this phenomenon, showing a differentiated approach.

Bibliography

1.Andreeva V.E. Deviant behavior of teenagers. Thesis project.

2.Shafranov-Kutsev G.F. Sociology.

.Khomich A.V. Psychology of deviant behavior.

.Frolov S.S. Sociology.

.Kleiberg Yu.A. Psychology of deviant (deviant) behavior.

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