Each social society has its own norms or rules by which it lives. They can be attributed to unwritten laws that reflect the nature of human behavior in various situations. Non-compliance with these norms is considered a social deviation, which is also called deviation. This concept can be viewed from different angles. First of all, deviant behavior always violates the norms of law and standards prevailing in society. But besides this, he is considered a social phenomenon that finds expression in any mass forms of people's activity and does not comply with the unwritten rules of conduct.
Where is deviant behavior and its types studied? Social studies is the subject that for the first time acquaints schoolchildren with the scientific explanation of this
social phenomenon.Basic concept
Unfortunately, there is no such society, all members of which adhere to general regulatory requirements. Existing deviant behavior and its types can take many forms. So, people with behavioral disorders include criminals and hermits, ascetics and geniuses, saints, etc.
Deviant behavior is a type of behavior that does not have approval in society. At all times, there has been a struggle to eliminate undesirable forms of human activity and their carriers. At the same time, various means and methods were applied that corresponded to the country's socio-economic relations, public consciousness, as well as the interests of the ruling elite.
Deviant behavior and its types have always attracted the interest of researchers.
Role in society
Deviant behavior is a type of behavior with a dual character. On the one hand, it threatens the loss of stability in society. On the other hand, it supports this stability. How can this be explained? Successful work of all social structures is possible only if order and predictability of the behavior of all members of society is ensured. It is important for each person to know how other people will behave and what kind of behavior they expect from him.
However, in every society there are subcultures. They have their own norms, which are in conflict with generally accepted morality. Such deviations are considered group and sometimes contribute to the further development of society.
Types of Deviant Behavior
Sometimes an individual violates social norms only from time to time. This behavior is referred to as primary deviation. The second type of this concept is secondary. In this case, the person receives the mark of the deviant and feels that he is treated differently from other people.
Deviant behavior always violates moral standards and at the same time can be both individual and collective in nature. The first type of deviation is often transformed into the second. Most often this happens when criminal subcultures influence those categories of people who are predisposed to commit deviant acts, that is, they belong to a risk group.
Types of Deviant Behaviors
Allocate:
- delinquent acts that have a pronounced antisocial orientation, which in their extreme expressions acquire a criminally punishable character;
- Addictive acts, the purpose of which is to escape reality through the use of psychoactive substances or with excessive fixation on a certain type of activity;
- patho-characterological acts that are caused by pathological changes in character that occur due to defects in education;
- psychopathological acts resulting from mental disorders ;
- actions based on human hyper-abilities, manifested with special giftedness or genius.
Deviant behavior and its types can have a slightly different classification. In relation to society, deviant actions are:
1. Socially approved. They are expressed in such behavior of the individual, which is positive in nature and is aimed at eliminating obsolete standards. As a rule, this type of deviant is associated with social creativity and contributes to qualitative changes in the entire social system. An example of this is genius, sporting achievements, heroic deeds and leadership abilities.
2. Neutral. This deviant behavior is a type of behavior that does not cause any public concern and does not contribute to its change. Such deviant actions include eccentricity and eccentricity, the desire to surprise everyone with their demeanor and uniform.
3. Socially disapproved. Such behavior violates and disorganizes the social system.
It carries the traits of negativity and dysfunctionality. Such deviant actions harm society. These include various deviations that harm people and the individual. They are expressed in the form of a variety of unlawful, aggressive and criminal acts, as well as in alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide, etc. Thus, the following types of deviant behavior are classified as socially disapproved: addictive, delinquent.
Typology of R. Merton
The concept of deviant behavior is relative. For example, criminals believe that extortion is a normal way of earning money. However, for most of the population, this behavior is deviant. The same applies to some types of social actions. Some of them are considered deviant, while others are not.
In modern sociology, the most recognized are the types, types of deviant behavior, classified by R. Merton. He compiled his grouping of concepts in line with the ideas of this process as destroying the basic elements of culture, including ethical standards. Based on this, Merton identified four types of deviation, which include:
1. Innovation. This type of behavior implies agreement with the general goals of society, but at the same time, the denial of accepted methods of achieving them. Innovators include prostitutes and blackmailers, great scientists and creators of financial pyramids.
2. Ritualism. This behavior is associated with the denial of the main goals of society and the absurd execution of methods for their achievement. An example of this is the bureaucrat. This official requires careful filling of any document, its repeated verification, drawing up in four copies, etc. At the same time, the main thing is overlooked - the goal.
3. Retretism. This is nothing but an escape from existing reality. This type of deviation is expressed in the rejection not only of socially significant goals, but also of the ways in which ordinary people achieve them. This type of behavior is typical for drug addicts, alcoholics, homeless people, etc.
4. Riot. This behavior denies the goals and methods available in society. The rebel seeks to replace them with new ones. A vivid example of this is the revolutionaries.
In compiling his classification, Merton emphasized the fact that deviant behavior and its types are not a product that demonstrates an absolutely negative attitude to generally accepted norms. After all, a thief does not at all reject such a goal of society as material well-being. And the actions of the bureaucrat do not conflict with generally accepted rules of work. In this case, there is only literal execution, reaching the point of absurdity. But at the same time, both the bureaucrat and the thief are deviants.
The main causes of deviant behavior
There can be many explanations for the deviant phenomenon. To understand it, you need to know what kind of deviant behavior the species has. And the reasons in this case will be much easier to identify. For example, the propensity for drug addiction and alcoholism, as well as mental disorders are explained not by social, but by biological causes. After all, these negative phenomena are sometimes transmitted to children from their parents.
In sociology, there are several directions according to which the causes of deviant behavior are explained. One of them is the existence of a state of society in which the old values and norms have already come into conflict with existing relations, and there are no new ones yet. In this case, the reason for deviant behavior is the inconsistency of the goals that are put forward by society, and those means that are offered to achieve them.
Marginalization
This is one of the causes of deviation, characterized by a break in social ties. The most common option is the initial break in economic relations. After this, social ties are lost, and at the next stage, spiritual ones.
A characteristic feature of marginalized people is a decrease in the bar of social needs and expectations. In this case, the primitivization of their production, domestic and spiritual life occurs.
Social pathology
This is another category of causes of negative behavior. It has a close relationship with such phenomena as drug addiction and alcoholism, an increase in the number of mental illnesses and a deterioration in the genetic fund of members of society.
Begging and vagrancy
This behavior is a special way of life. Its main reason is the refusal to participate in work for the benefit of society and the desire to receive unearned income.
It is worth noting that begging and vagrancy have recently become quite widespread. However, society is trying to combat this socially dangerous phenomenon. Indeed, often such individuals act as intermediaries in the sale of drugs, as well as commit thefts and other crimes.
Addiction
Often the cause of negative behavior is the desire to avoid existing internal discomfort, as well as to change their own socio-mental state, expressed by internal struggle and intrapersonal conflicts. All this is addictive behavior. Such a path, as a rule, is chosen by those who do not have a legal opportunity for self-realization, whose individuality is suppressed in connection with the hierarchy that has developed in society, and personal aspirations are invariably blocked.
It is impossible for such people to make a career and change their social status using legitimate channels. That is why they consider generally accepted norms of society to be unjust and unnatural.
Features of Negative Behavior
In our modern society, deviant actions are becoming more and more rational and risky. The main difference between such a person and an adventurer is a reliance on professionalism, and not faith in chance or fate. This is a conscious choice of personality, thanks to which it is possible self-realization, self-affirmation and self-actualization.
Deviant behavior of adolescents
In modern society, the issue of child neglect, drug addiction and crime is relevant. In this regard, there is an increase in the number of adolescents with deviant behavior. Such a deviation in the behavior of children is the result of political, social, economic and environmental instability, the growing influence of pseudocultures, changes in the existing value orientations of young people, troubles in the family and household sphere, lack of control, which is a consequence of the constant employment of parents, an epidemic of divorces and lack of work educational institutions.
The main types of deviant behavior of adolescents, as a rule, find expression in such forms as addictive, autoaggressive (suicidal), and also heteroaggressive.
What are the most common causes of negative youth behavior? Their list contains the following:
1. Improperly organized education. Such a teenager usually lives in a difficult family. Before his eyes there are conflicts between parents who are not interested in his inner world. Sometimes such a problem is quite deeply hidden. And it is revealed only after the teenager begins to stand out with his negative behavior.
2. Biological factors. Among such reasons, heredity stands out, which reduces the activity of protective mechanisms and limits the adaptive functions of a person. This factor can manifest itself in mental deficiency, inheritance of abnormal traits in character, as well as such a negative phenomenon as alcoholism. In addition, in adolescents with deviant behavior, the inferiority of brain cells is revealed, which has become a consequence of some serious diseases that they suffered at an early age. Factors of the biological type include a feature of the adolescent period. It is at this age that a person has rapid growth of the body, puberty begins and comes to an end, and the functions of many systems and organs, including the central nervous system, are improved.
3. Mental factors. In adolescence, the formation of the character of a person ends. Violations of this process sometimes lead to negative characterological reactions that go beyond the norms accepted in society. Among them are the following: active protest (disobedience and rudeness); passive protest (leaving home); active avoidance of contacts with people; imitation or imitation of the behavior of others; increased desire for self-affirmation on the basis of denial of the experience of elders; hypercompensation (reckless actions) as a protective reaction, masking the weaknesses of the personality.
So, we examined deviant behavior and the reasons that cause it.