1. Disorganization, like deviant behavior, is inevitably inherent in any social system, as well as its basis - social organization and social norms. Society did not exist and it is impossible to exist without social deviations and crime, sociologists say. Can you give examples of societies that did not know the manifestation of deviant behavior, or at least such an extreme form of it as crime? Does it follow from the above thesis that it is pointless to fight deviant behavior? Justify your answer.
1 answer:
The process of socialization reaches a certain degree of completion when a person reaches social maturity, which is characterized by the acquisition by the person of an integral social status (a status that determines a person's position in society). However, in the process of socialization failures and failures are possible. A manifestation of the shortcomings of socialization is deviant (deviant) behavior - these are various forms of negative behavior of individuals, the sphere of moral vices, deviation from the principles, norms of morality and law. Deviant behavior, understood as a violation of social norms, has become widespread in recent years. It seems to me that this is due to the fact that the more complex society becomes, the more processes take place in it, the more people have the opportunity to show their deviant behavior. Therefore, this problem is in the center of attention of sociologists, social psychologists, doctors, law enforcement officers, and us ordinary people, members of society. 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 work will consist of three interrelated parts. In the first one, I will try to explain what deviant behavior is, find its roots, consider various approaches to the study of deviant behavior. In the second, I will briefly review the main forms of manifestation, and in the third, I will turn to perhaps the most serious problem: deviant behavior among adolescents. And in conclusion, consider the main methods of preventing deviant behavior.
See also:
- HELP TO SOLVE TEST 13. A characteristic feature of an industrial society is: A) the widespread use of non-economic principles
- Adults can tell a lot about their entrepreneurial activities, but in school years, the main activity is studying.
- In country Z, the government provides assistance to small businesses. a direct consequence of this may be: 1) a decrease in consumption
- try to depict separate parts of a human face. Are they easy to recognize if we relate them to the whole face? What m
Besides being memorable, .com domains are unique: This is the one and only .com name of its kind. Other extensions usually just drive traffic to their .com counterparts. To learn more about premium .com domain valuations, watch the video below:
Turbocharge your website. Watch our video to learn how.
Improve Your Web Presence
Get noticed online with a great domain name
73% of all domains registered on the Web are .coms. The reason is simple: .com is the where most of Web traffic happens. Owning a premium .com gives you great benefits including better SEO, name recognition, and providing your site with a sense of authority.
Here's What Others Are Saying
Since 2005, we've helped thousands of people get the perfect domain name
- Spoke to Ryan over the phone, and he helped me with all my questions! Great customer service and readily available. The process was easy and relatively quick, taking place over the course of only three business days. Would highly recommend for those that are considering buying a domain from hugedomains.com. A third-party gets involved called namebright.com but there is no additional charge and they facilitate the transfer of domains from severs. Cheers - Sammy Lam, 10/14/2019
- Frankly speaking before purchasing domain from HugeDomains.com, i was roo much scared as i read some negative review on some website.. but decided to take a chance. After purchase i was surprised, it was unbelievable my domain name purchase was successful and best part was i transferred it with other registrar and again huggggggeeeee surprise because my domain name get transferred within 30 minutes.. total time taken from purchase to transfer was less than 2 hours.... Too much thanks to HugeDomain.com and NameBright.com - Sandip Rajput, 10/14/2019
- Fast and smooth deal and transfer. Can recommend it! - Tom, 10/12/2019
- More
If the condition for the existence of any social formation that develops as a result of the interaction of its members is its orderliness, i.e., at least the relative stability of such interaction, its organization, then an inevitable characteristic of any social system is also the manifestation of elements of social disorganization. Disorganization of the social system manifests itself in the appearance of types of behavior, the content of which deviates from the social norms that characterize the system as a whole. Disorganization, like deviant behavior, is inevitably inherent in any social system along with its foundation - social organization and social norms.
Deviant behavior is always (albeit to varying degrees) present wherever social norms operate. These can be norms of behavior of a moral, ethical, aesthetic nature. Alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution are examples of types of behavior related to the types of social deviations within the framework of accepted systems of social assessments. Certain types of deviant behavior are regarded by the state as offenses, crimes.
Society did not exist and it is impossible to exist without social deviations and crime. Moreover, in any social system, in a society of any type, social deviations (including crime) perform a certain social function. This is the function - to ensure the possibility of deviations from the average, normal type, to maintain the necessary level of openness of the social system to inevitable changes.
In this sense, it is necessary to clarify the concept of "social disorganization". Its most obvious manifestation is social deviation. In the case of their disproportionate growth, the very existence of a social organization of this type is threatened. However, a disproportionately small number (or complete absence) of social deviations also leads to social disorganization, as it marks the loss of such an organization's most important condition for its survival - the ability to adequate social change, to timely adaptation. “In order to be able to express the individuality of an idealist whose dreams are ahead of time, it is necessary that there also be the possibility of expressing the individuality of a criminal who is below the level of his contemporary society. One is unthinkable without the other."
This circumstance also determines the functions of social control. An inevitable condition for the existence of any social organization is the presence of explicit, obvious definitions of a polar nature (good and evil, moral and immoral, permitted and criminal, etc.). Sanctions applied for negative (from the point of view of the dominant system of values) deviations serve as a clear, obvious manifestation of such values, their obvious confirmation. Visual confirmation of the boundaries of the accepted social norm is an important function of social control that ensures the stability of a given social organization. The problem is that when denoting such boundaries, it is important not to bring the system into a state of stagnation, to deprive it of another important condition for survival - the ability to change, to renew itself.
It is necessary to consider the question of how those limits of the objective social norm are determined, beyond which
entails the recognition of the act as a deviation, an anomaly, subject to appropriate action. To resolve this issue, it should be taken into account that the concept of a social norm includes two components: a) an objective (material) characteristic of a certain type of behavior that takes place in objective reality; b) its subjective (social) assessment in terms of desirability or undesirability, usefulness or harmfulness for society and the state.
It is this kind of assessment that serves as an external expression of the boundaries of the social norm, beyond which lies the area of social deviations. The material essence of a certain kind of human activity and their social assessment are inseparable elements of the social norm, but they are not interconnected by a rigid connection. This relationship is mobile, since the indicated social assessments of specific objective characteristics may, on the one hand, be late, lag behind the development, changes in the essence of social phenomena; on the other hand, such a social assessment may change depending on social (subjective) factors, in the course of the evolution of sociocultural values. It is through the evaluation component that the role of the political component in determining the social norm is manifested. The evaluative element of the social norm also embodies the basic social, religious, ethical and other values and categories of public consciousness.
It is important to emphasize that this fusion of the objective (material) and evaluative, subjective (social) is manifested in specific acts of action by real individuals, is a set of socially significant actions that are not indifferent to society, and therefore receive an appropriate assessment. This assessment is usually embodied in a rule of law, in which the description of a behavioral act (the disposition of the norm), deviation from the norm (the hypothesis of the norm) and the type of legal response (the sanction of the norm) are merged. The assessment of the norm, expressed in an imperative form, becomes a measure of behavior (for the individual) and a measure of behavior assessment (for the state). The measure of behavior is guided by the individual, the assessment belongs to society (the state).
The problem, however, is to ensure that the measure of behavior embodied in the rule of law is in optimal proportion with the actual behavioral acts that form the social norm. At the same time, one should keep in mind the difference that exists between the social norm and social ideals, i.e., ideas about the desired state of social phenomena (processes, objects, objects, etc.), which has not yet been achieved, but the achievement of which (with point of view of the prevailing social values) is the goal of social development.
Offenses and crime. The growing social disorganization leads to the loss by the social institutions of a given society of the opportunity to realize the main function - the satisfaction of a specific social need. Unsatisfied social need leads to spontaneous manifestations of normatively unregulated activities, seeking to fill the function of legitimate institutions, however, at the expense of existing norms and rules. In extreme manifestations, such activity can manifest itself in illegal, criminal actions.
Crime that arises in connection with the dysfunction of social institutions is predominantly instrumental, i.e., aimed at achieving a specific goal, and structured, i.e., internally interconnected. Its features are the planning of criminal activity, systematicity, elements of organization, i.e., the distribution of criminal roles. Similar features of structured crime are associated with its function - illegally satisfying a need that is not recognized or not adequately provided by social institutions. Such its narrow functionality, i.e., the satisfaction of a particular social need, leads at the same time to the disorganization of more general social systems.
Dysfunctions of political institutions that grow out of the disorganization of society, often associated with a change in forms of government, in the face of a weakening of the legitimacy of state power, can cause an increase in political, i.e. anti-state crimes (forcible seizure or retention of power, violent change in the constitutional order, public calls for such a change, terrorism, etc.). Crime is functionally connected with the course of social processes that determine the nature and direction of social development, the content of social changes.
Modernization, stability and political violence. As the dominant type of social change, the process of modernization is considered, which covers to varying degrees the countries of the world, divided according to this criterion into developed (modernized), developing and traditional countries. As indicators of the level of modernization are considered: the percentage of urban residents; percentage of gross national income derived from agriculture; the percentage of those employed in agriculture; per capita income; prevalence of mass media and communication; the level of participation in politics (voting, stability of the executive branch); social benefits (education, literacy, life expectancy). These are the main conditions that affect the level of political violence in society.
As a general rule, modernized countries exhibit less levels of political unrest and violence than those found in less developed countries. Economic modernization, modernized media, health, education, and political participation are associated with lower levels of political violence.
Political violence is directly related to the level of stability of a given society. On a scale ranked by the degree of increase in the level of political instability, the following indicators of the growth of instability are noted: from 0 (maximum stability) to 6 (maximum instability). The zero level - a sign of a normal level of political stability - is considered to be regularly held elections; the first level of growth of instability is frequent changes (layoffs or resignations) of the government; the next sign of rising instability is the demonstrations and their accompanying arrests; an even more serious indicator of the level of instability is the murder (or attempt on the life) of political figures (except for the head of state); a further indicator of the growth of this level is the assassination (or attempt on the life) of the head of state or terrorism; the next level is a coup d'état or guerrilla warfare; the highest (seventh) level is civil war or mass executions.
Political development and level of violence. The level of political violence also depends on the nature of the current regime. The nature of the regime can be assessed by the degree of predominance in the process of regulating social relations, either coercive methods or permissive methods (coercive regime and permissive regime). The categories that make it possible to judge such characteristics of the political regime in a particular country are data on the presence of legal competition, competition in the political system (multi-party system, etc.), on the level of restriction of freedoms of citizens by the police. As a general rule, countries with the most permissive regime are characterized by the least violence. Political violence increases with the growth of the coerciveness of the regime, but decreases somewhat under conditions of extreme, maximum coercion of such a regime.
The level of political development is also related to the level of violence. Indicators of political development are indicators of the participation of the population in political issues, government decisions and political groupings, as well as the existence of an influential legislature and the level of freedom of the press. In conditions where the military or a political party play only their own, specialized role in politics, there are conditions for democracy and pluralism. In conditions when these structures monopolize the sphere of politics, conditions are created for the domination of the authoritarian elite.
Political development associated with the growth of democratic structures is closely related to economic and social development. The higher the level of political development of society, the higher the level of income and literacy of the population. Trends in political violence look different. With the growth of the economic and social sectors of society, the political system also changes. Such changes, the development of the economy and the social sphere lead to an increase in social conflicts and political violence, and a decrease in the level of political stability. However, when a country reaches full modernization (an important indicator is the literacy rate of the population), and the economy reaches the level of mass consumption (per capita income far exceeds the level sufficient only to maintain existence), political stability increases and the level of violence falls.
Thus, the legitimacy of power, the characteristics and pace of social change, the degree of modernization of society, the nature of the regime, the level of political development - these are the sociological characteristics that determine the conditions for the emergence, state and trends of political crime, revealing its derivative nature, its dependence on the state of the political institutions of a given society. and the social processes that take place within it. At the same time, modernized countries are characterized by a lower level of political unrest and violence, while less developed countries are characterized by a higher level.
The nature of the political regime and violence. The level of political violence depends on the position of the given country on the scale "permissive regime - prohibitive regime". Permissive countries have the lowest level of political violence. The latter increases with the growth of the coerciveness of the regime, but decreases to some extent under conditions of extreme coercion. The same trend is shown by the indicator of political instability. In contrast, the level of modernization falls as one moves from a highly permissive regime (the highest level of modernization) to a highly coercive regime (the lowest level of modernization).
Democratic countries are characterized by a low level of political indignation, although the governments of countries with a repressive, totalitarian regime are able to effectively suppress open expressions of popular discontent. It is governments in countries with a medium level of political development and a moderately permissive regime that face the greatest political indignation.
Economic crime is a phenomenon that occurs during and in connection with the interaction between the state and the economy. As a result of this interaction, state structures that have a political and legal resource of power intersect with economic institutions, subjects of economic relations that have material (property, monetary) resources. Fundamental in this regard is the scope of the state's powers in the sphere of economic relations, where the economy, property relations serve as an object, and the state is the subject of economic regulation.
The liquidation of the institution of private property in Soviet Russia, its delegization created a situation where the state was both the owner and the sole regulator of property relations. The function of possession (possession, disposal) merged with the function of control and regulation; The violent methods of the command economy ensured the absolute monopoly of state property, complete, uncontrolled freedom to dispose of it by agents of political power. Where there is no separation of the object and subject of regulation, where they are merged together, regulation ends and arbitrariness begins, since real regulation presupposes an expediently oriented restriction of the activity of the object of regulation by the regulatory entity on the basis of principles, rules and norms that are binding on both of them.
In reality, private property in Soviet Russia was not completely eliminated, along with market relations, it continued to exist in fact, illegally, being a real and inseparable feature of the economy, constituting the backbone of economic crime within the framework of the legislation of that period. The illegal position of a private entrepreneur in the economy has led to the emergence of a special kind of symbiosis of political power holders (resource - power, violence) and an illegal private owner (resource - money), in which the economic entity buys the very possibility of existence through criminal means. For their part, in such a situation, the holders of power become dependent on illegal "tributaries", there is a vital interest in maintaining their illegal status - a guarantee of an abundant "tribute". The legalization of private property deprives the holders of power of such a way of enrichment.
Legalization of private property, development of market relations in Russian society in the 1990s. introduce new elements into the interaction between the economy and the state. Normal, legal market relations are threatened by two dangers. The first is in the form of criminal encroachments by state officials who abuse their power and trade in their right to make decisions in the economic sphere. The merging of figures of illegal, criminal business (drugs, arms trade, smuggling, etc.) with patrons from among corrupt officials who mutually feed and protect each other remains. The second danger is from the market participants themselves, those who seek to make a profit not as a result of fair competition, but by obtaining unjustified privileges and benefits through bribing officials.
Under these conditions, the illegal gain of some means a corresponding loss of others, since the purchased privilege shifts benefits, the volume of which is always limited, in favor of the bribe-giver at the expense of those who do not give bribes, or puts the briber in a more profitable compared to others, but not deserved them a position. The market economy is undermined by consumer fraud, profit-making by hiding from taxes, as a result of conspiracy to fix prices on the market, etc. Finally, there may be a complete rejection of competition in cases of criminal encroachment on the property of a competitor or on his life (contract killings).
Without achieving real dominance in the market of legal, influential private capital, a serious growth in the productive economy is impossible. The achievement of such dominance leads to two consequences of sociocriminological significance. The marginal (secondary, marginal, subordinate) position of private capital leads to the fact that the relations between economic entities established in the course of economic interactions are unsystematic, often random, and largely chaotic. In such a situation, there is a tendency to use the current situation at once, not restrained by the need to take into account the further consequences of the existing interaction, there is a desire to get the maximum gain by any, including illegal, criminal ways (get a loan and hide, establish a fictitious company and disappear, appropriate profits by robbing partners, ruining shareholders, etc.).
Only under conditions of domination of private capital in the economy does the regularity come into play, according to which the maximum profit is achieved not by economic robbery, but by stable, forward-looking production and trade activities. Only under these conditions does it become obvious that real economic success depends on the orientation towards stable, predictable actions of partners, that honesty is economically beneficial, and a reliable business reputation is a condition for obtaining real profits that far exceed criminal “booty”. Under these conditions, the algorithm of market entrepreneurship is implemented: credit (loan) + + investment (investment) = profit.
In translation, the word "credit" means "trust". This moral category is built into the structure of stable market relations. The initial, elementary cell of market relations (the exchange of money for goods or goods for money) has an important feature. The specified exchange can never be synchronous, instantaneous (one counterparty sends money and then receives the goods or sends, transfers the goods and then receives the money), a time gap is inevitable here, someone must trust someone, be sure of the guaranteed continuation of this interaction , in inviolability of the respective contractual relations. The prospects for a successful fight against economic crime, therefore, are directly related to the formation and development of legal private capital and a stable market in the economy.
- See: Grounds for a criminal law prohibition / Ed. V. N. Kudryavtseva, L. M. Yakovleva. M., 1982.
- 2 Durkheim E. Norma and pathology // Sociology of crime. M., 1966.
- See: Yakovlev L.M. Sociology of economic crime. M., 1988.
A person, like any other living being, is characterized by a certain activity - the ability to respond to environmental influences. The activity of people in external (motor) and internal (mental, mental) forms in the process of interaction with the environment is usually called activity. Externally observable manifestations of the individual's activity, actions and deeds, as well as their specific sequence are defined as behavior. The behavior of an individual in one way or another affects the interests of other people, groups, and the whole society. Human behavior acquires a social meaning, becomes personal when it is directly or indirectly included in communication with other people, is in connection with their actions, is directed to certain social objects (groups, communities, institutions).
To explain the specifics of a particular behavior, sociologists widely use the concept "identity". This term was first used in psychoanalysis to refer to the unconscious process of imitating the behavior or certain qualities of the person with whom the individual identifies himself. In sociology, this socio-psychological category means an individual's identification with a certain person, social group, model or ideal. Identity as an awareness of one's group membership can be considered as the most important mechanism for the formation of a deviant personality. The process of gradually gaining or changing an identity is defined as personal identification. In the study of deviant behavior, the term " deviant identity" can mean a person's awareness of himself as a member, participant in a criminal group, gang, community of drug addicts or alcoholics.
In the sociology of deviant behavior, there are a number of concepts that analyze both deviant and conformal behavior. These are the theories of anomie by R. Merton, differentiated association by E. Sutherland, the theory of social control.
Personal behavior is considered conformal if it corresponds to social norms and expectations of the social environment (groups, society as a whole).
The degree of conformity, as well as deviance in behavior, depends on the extent to which a person identifies himself with the social environment. The terms "conventional", "normative" or "normal behavior" are sometimes used to refer to conforming behavior. For a long time, conforming behavior was opposed only to deviant behavior. Recently, however, nonconformal behavior has also been considered as independent, changeable, reactive behavior.
It is well known that not all people are characterized by behavior that is consistent with generally accepted social norms. In society, along with law-abiding citizens, there are offenders: bribe takers, thieves, drug addicts, rapists and murderers. Along with ordinary people, there is always a place for geniuses and altruists. Moreover, these variations are no less statistically significant than socially approved, conforming (normal) behavior.
Term "deviation"(from lat. deviatio - deviation), as well as in general deviant (deviant) behavior usually and quite strictly defined using the concept of social norms. Indeed, if there is no social norm, then it makes no sense to talk about deviation from it. Therefore, d evasion - it is an act of deviance that goes beyond one or more social norms.
For sociologists, it is important to evaluate not only a single action in relation to the norm, but also behavior - outwardly observable manifestations of an individual's activity, the sequence of his actions and actions.
Thus, deviant behavior is a retreat, a refusal to constantly follow, by doing actions, generally accepted social norms.
A deviant or deviant individual is one who, in his behavior, does not comply with the norms established in a group or social system. Consequently, deviant behavior is a capacious sociological term covering a wide range of behavioral deviations. In criminology, this concept has a narrower interpretation and is understood as “behavior that is contrary to legal or moral norms accepted in society, criminal or immoral behavior; the result of asocial development of the individual ... "
Many American sociologists associate deviant behavior not only with the violation of social norms, but also with social expectations, values, and social roles. Thus, the functionalist sociologist Albert Cohen defines deviant behavior "as one that goes against institutionalized expectations, that is, expectations that are shared and recognized as legitimate within the social system."
According to Cohen, a sociology of deviant behavior must deal "with the structure of systems of interaction, with the distribution and interconnection of events within these systems, and not with human personalities." From the object of study, functionalists derive some psychological aspects of social interaction - everything that relates to the psyche in the structure of personality. Neurotic, psychotic and other pathologies in the behavior of the individual are excluded by supporters of this scientific direction from the subject of the sociology of deviant behavior. In this regard, Cohen argues that in order to "create a sociology of deviant behavior, we must constantly have in mind precisely deviant behavior, and not types of people." The theory of deviant behavior, according to functionalists, should explain not only deviant behavior, but also its absence, that is, conformism.
Another functionalist sociologist N. Smelser considers "deviant behavior that is seen as a deviation from group norms and leads to isolation, treatment, correction or punishment of the offender." Moreover, he associates the concept of norm not only with expectations, like Cohen, but, first of all, with the rules of behavior, the standards that regulate the interaction between people. There are interpretations of deviant behavior that consider not norms and expectations as a starting point, but social roles, that is, typical patterns of behavior. The approach to deviance as behavior that violates social norms and roles has become widespread in modern criminology and sociology. It is being developed by functionalists: R. Merton, R. Eikers, A. Liska, A. Tio, M. Klinard, R. Meer.
From the positions of symbolic interactionism and understanding sociology, social groups themselves create rules and breakers, naming them in this way. This means that deviation acts as a consequence of excessive social control, when society reacts to the behavior of an individual with negative sanctions. Among the supporters of the interactionist or constructivist orientation in the sociology of deviant behavior are well-known American researchers G. Becker, D. Black, K. Erickson, E. Shur, E. Lemmert, E. Good. In their opinion, deviation is not an inherent quality of this or that action, but a consequence of correlating the action with the rules for applying sanctions to the violator. And, consequently, deviance acts as a "reactive construction". From the positions of symbolic interactionism and constructivism, the phenomena of deviant behavior do not so much exist objectively, per se, sui generic, as they are artificially “constructed”. Therefore, within the framework of this approach, such concepts as "crime", "corruption", "terrorism", "prostitution" are social constructs. The key role in such "design" activity belongs to the political regime and legal institutions, which are controlled by those in power.
In the works of the famous American social psychologist R. Harre, deviant behavior is seen in the psychological state of the individual, due to a change in its position in the system of socio-political coordinates. This researcher comes to the conclusion that "deviant and normative behavior are two equivalent components of social role behavior."
In domestic sociology, a capacious formulation of deviant behavior has received some recognition, in fact, combining it with the concept of deviation, which is given by Ya. Gilinsky:
deviant behavior- This:
“1) an act, an action of a person that does not correspond to officially established or actually established in a given society (social group) norms and expectations;
2) a social phenomenon, expressed in relatively massive and stable forms of human activity that do not correspond to officially established or actually established norms and expectations in a given society».
Social deviations are understood as social processes, which are based on the deviant behavior of individuals and groups. These are crises, wars, revolutions, etc.
As you can see, deviant behavior has many definitions, which, according to the American sociologist Alex Tio, can be summarized in two main groups: scientific and humanitarian.
Supporters scientific approach consider the deviation from “normal” behavior to be objective, inherent in human nature. This position is most clearly presented in the works of functionalist sociologists (R. Merton, R. Eikers, M. Clinard, R. Meyer, A. Cohen, N. Smelser), who developed the views of E. Durkheim regarding the natural origin of deviations. However, the deviant behavior itself, according to the functionalists, is defined as non-normative, dysfunctional, destroying the balance of the social system, leading after exceeding a certain threshold to its disintegration. In this case, the system of social control extends to deviant behavior.
However, it is impossible not to see that deviant behavior, using the findings of R. Merton, is not only dysfunctional, but also adaptive, its various types continue to exist and develop even in economically prosperous countries. It is no coincidence that one of the highest crime rates is observed in the United States, many times higher than all known world indicators.
From positions humanitarian approach, deviation is considered as a product of society, as a result of excessive social control, which does not have internal, objective properties, as a social construction.
The modern "Encyclopedia of Criminology and Deviant Behavior" contains another approach to understanding deviance. It is interpreted as a violation of human rights (G. Schwedinger, J. Schwedinger).
A broad sociological interpretation of the social norm presupposes the dual nature of social deviations from it. Obviously, some of them contribute to constructive social changes. For example, social creativity in science, art, technology acts as a violation of generally accepted norms and standards. It always defies time, serves progress, overcomes reactionary stereotypes of consciousness and clichés of behavior. These deviations are called positive apo terminology of Higgins and Butler - "creative".
Negative deviations are dysfunctional, because they disorganize the social system, threatening its existence. These include such social pathologies as crime, alcoholism, drug addiction, corruption, and prostitution. Most often, negative deviations arouse the interest and attention of researchers, since they create problems for society. Moreover, most of the research is devoted to delinquent (criminal) behavior understood as a deviation from legal norms.
The ratio between positive and negative deviations in the behavior of an individual or group is relative. For example, killing in war is not only permitted but also encouraged, while in peacetime it is prosecuted. In addition, sanctions for violating certain social norms are relative and differ significantly. Thus, it is well known that in different US states the same crime (for example, rape) leads to different forms and terms of punishment.
Thus, deviations are changeable in time and socio-cultural dimension.
In social systems, as well as in biological ones, the processes of organization, self-organization and disorganization take place simultaneously. Therefore, when studying deviant behavior, sociologists widely use the concept of "disorganization", usually associating it with the weakening of the influence of norms and rules of behavior in society.
Disorganization is a social process in which the established social order and habitual actions become unsustainable. This is a state of confusion in society, the case when the inability of social institutions to constructive activity is growing. Personal disorganization is understood as a state in which an individual cannot behave in a socially approved manner. Social disorganization occurs, as a rule, in conditions of rapid social change, a lack of social identity, and a number of social reasons.
The presence in the transitional Russian society of a steady trend towards an increase in the level and scale of socially dangerous deviations (for example, corruption, terrorism and drug addiction) leads to an increase in disorganization processes, which provokes the state and its legal institutions to take repressive measures. However, it is not possible not only to “eradicate”, but also to limit social problems only by traditional prohibitive and repressive actions. This is especially evident in the sphere of drug control and terrorism.
In general, the organization and disorganization of social life coexist in an inseparable connection, the norm and deviation mutually complement each other. They manifest themselves in unity, and only their joint consideration can lift the veil of secrecy. Control over deviant behavior makes sense only with a comprehensive and systematic study of the problem, which requires knowledge of the mechanisms of rule-making and law enforcement, explicit and latent functions of deviations, processes of stigmatization and deviant identity, the formation of deviant careers and subcultures.