If you do not behave like everyone else, then society will hate you. This opinion is quite popular, and not without reason. Unusual behavior confuses people, their mood spoils, they get upset, and all day rolls to nowhere. Believe me, nobody wants to give a damn about you again, people already have a lot to do. To prevent such misfortunes, there are special disciplines that teach the correct behavior in society. One of these is deviantology. Her goal is to investigate your "bad" behavior, find the reasons and get a "good boy" at the end.
Deviant behavior
Any deviation from social norms of morality is called deviant behavior. This is expressed both in the individual person and in the whole social group. For example, theft, in addition to criminal prosecution, is defined as deviant behavior. There are more “innocent” manifestations of deviations: aggressive behavior, failure to follow the rules, vagrancy, etc. In general, all that the majority does not do.
Types of Deviant Behavior
Among deviant behavior, several classifications are considered. They help to understand the direction and narrow the field of search for the causes of deviant behavior. Most often, these are 4 of the following points:
- Innovation.
- Ritualism.
- Retretism.
- Rebellion.
Innovation is agreement with the public majority for goals, but the exact opposite in means of achievement. For example, fraud. The goal is making money. Approved. Means - to deceive grandmothers and the like for money. Rejected.
Ritualism - a complete misunderstanding or denial of the goals of society, means of achievement, exaggerated to the point of absurdity. For example, bureaucracy. Means - under a microscope, check every tick and curl. Approved with a stretch. The goal - yes there is no goal, just like that. Rejected.
Retretism is a complete denial of both the goals of society and the means to achieve them. For example, an alcoholic. The goal is to get drunk and run away from the real world (retretism from the English retreat - retreat). Rejected. Means - drink as much alcohol as possible in the shortest possible time. Rejected.
Rebellion - a complete denial of the goals and means of society, while the desire to replace them with new, more perfect ones. The goal is a distant bright future. Approved. Means - to cut down "obsolete" foundations and norms at the root. Rejected.
The concept of deviantology
Deviantology is the psychology of deviant behavior. Its purpose is to study deviations in human behavior with subsequent correction and correction. The subject is the behavior itself. Specifically, rejected behavior. The process itself and possible correction options are considered. Moreover, the focus is on both deviations of one person and a group of people as a whole.
Criteria for determining deviant behavior
Since deviantology is the consideration of deviations in personality behavior, there are several criteria for determining deviant behavior: a qualitatively-quantitative assessment, psychopathic, and social-normative criteria.
Qualitatively-quantitative criterion illustrates a saying: "everything is good in moderation." This means that many deviant acts may not be considered as such if performed in moderation. For example, reasonable amounts of alcohol are not condemned. If you start to abuse the drink, the society will brand this as a deviation in behavior.
Psychopathic assessment is carried out from a medical point of view. These are all kinds of mental illnesses that cause a person to act abnormally.
Socio-normative assessment is related to the current situation of the whole society. It is no secret that at different times different things were condemned and approved. What is acceptable from the point of view of modern society is right.
The main methods of behavior correction
There are several methods for correcting deviant behavior; their use depends on the cause of the deviation. We single out a few of the most important:
- To stimulate a person's readiness for positive changes.
- Reduce the effect of fear and anxiety on the person.
- Force a person to face his fears face to face.
Methods for correcting deviant behavior vary, but in general they act in the same path: try on a person to normal behavior, show him what is good and what is bad. A man, he is a fool, does abnormal things only because he does not know how to. It would be easy for him to explain that, they say, only bad people steal - so he will change his mind instantly.
Place in science
Deviantology is an offshoot of sociology with a touch of psychology. Despite its application, it still remains too theoretical, but is still considered a full-fledged scientific discipline.
Two sides of the same coin
Deviantology is actually a hypocrite. For her, there is no good or bad, only successful or unsuccessful. In theory, there is black and white, in practice, only shades.
Specifically, deviantology considers behavior unacceptable only if the result is unsuccessful. For example, a person does not study well at school, doesn’t go anywhere and doesn’t go to work. Deviantology will say: this is a deviant, abnormal behavior. He probably has complexes; it doesn’t help society, and indeed, it is ugly. But should he acquire values that are considered supreme in society - money, for example, so now this person will turn from a marginal into an example to follow.
There are many such cases. But deviantology, being, as befits a decent lady, a sly fox, immediately retorts, calling such cases "a positive deviation from social norms." How to distinguish “positive” from “negative” if you do not know the result? Deviantology is coquettishly silent on this question.
The “seeker” ends up with a bag full of concepts and sheer enthusiasm. Putting theory into practice seems to be a laborious process. This happens not only because of the ambiguity of the human psyche, but also because of the ambiguity of the discipline itself.
Problems of Deviantology
Deviantology, at the intersection of sociology and psychology, boldly takes over the minuses of the latter. In particular, the actions themselves often give in to research, while the processes that accompany them are considered secondary, albeit mandatory. But this is not bad.
Not as bad as the fact that everything is considered without taking into account the "environment" of a particular person. Psychologists talk with the "rejected" in a completely different language. They say: "No, you are thinking wrong. How to think, I’ll tell you now ...". They are trying to solve the problem of man, being in their "environment". The patient simply does not understand them. It’s the same as, in Russian, explaining to the Chinese why the eyes should not be narrow. This is one of the most serious problems of current psychology, and deviantology often takes over it. Of course, there are exceptions, but they rather confirm the existence of the rule.
The problem with the rule "no victim - no crime" deviantology also circumvented very gracefully. For example, in the book "Deviantology" Zmanovskaya E. says:
A feature of deviant behavior is that it does real harm to the person himself or to others.
That is, in the absence of harm to others, you can always indicate that the "suspect" is the "victim". The argument is very convenient, because a rare criminal confesses to a crime if he was not caught by the hand. It is not possible to take a person "in the act" when inflicting mental trauma on himself. Of course, no criminal or administrative punishment will follow, but the diagnosis of "deviant behavior" has been made.
In fairness, it is worth noting that the Deviant Psychology of Zmanovskaya does not always consider the psychology of deviant behavior as negative:
In our opinion, such close social phenomena as radicalism, creativity and marginality do not satisfy this attribute and are not deviating behavior. Despite the fact that they also deviate from generally accepted norms, causing irritation to a conservative-minded part of the population, these phenomena are more likely to be useful to society than dangerous.
However, this confuses the "uninitiated" person even more. Borders become as vague as possible. If, for example, you beat a bad person, it will also be more likely to be “useful” for society, but you cannot escape responsibility. Is it possible in this way to avoid the stigma of "deviant"? In this case, who estimates what will ultimately be useful and what will not? Why, then, did the term behavioral deviations come up with if one part of them can be justified by the fact that it will be useful and the other is covered by the Criminal Code? These questions remain open both in features of behavior in "Deviantology" by E. Zmanovskaya, and in the whole discipline as a whole.