Deviation in psychology. What is it, definition, examples

The concept of deviation in psychology

From Latin “deviation” is translated as “deviation”. In psychology there is a concept called deviant behavior. It denotes the actions of a person that do not correspond to the norms established in society. All relationships between people are built on etiquette, accepted rules and laws.

Deviation is divided into the following types:

• self-destructive – suicidal tendencies, bad habits;
• asocial – a person completely ignores established rules and traditions;
• delinquent – ​​the individual commits criminal acts;
• psychopathological – this type is associated with mental illnesses;
• paracharacterological – deviations due to improper upbringing.

Deviation is, in psychology, the behavior of an individual, which can manifest itself in both positive and negative ways. If a person goes against the foundations of society, but with the goal of changing something for the better, transforming, this is a positive manifestation. But, if actions are associated with illegal methods, unwillingness to adapt to the rules of society, this is a negative example of deviation.

Classification of behavioral deviations

There are many psychological classifications of deviations. Due to the fact that deviations are an interdisciplinary phenomenon, sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists study them. The following classification is common in psychology.

Classification of deviations by type of deviation:

It is believed that the concept of “deviation” is also applicable to children starting from 5 years old. In practice, however, teenage deviations are of greater importance.

Deviation concepts

Based on the reasons causing deviations, theories of deviant behavior are distinguished.

Biological theories

The essence of the biological theory is that all deviant actions are a consequence of the inclinations with which a person is born. The individual does not know how to restrain his needs. He strives to satisfy them contrary to all the rules.

Lombroso

The Italian doctor Lombroso adhered to the biological theory of deviance. For many years he studied criminals in prisons. The doctor concluded that more than 1/3 of the prisoners acquired a tendency towards deviant behavior from birth. This is inherent in them by nature.

Such criminals share the same characteristics:

• aggression, anger;
• underdevelopment;
• inability to improve.

These people have a specific appearance. They have long arms, a flat nose, slightly depressed, and a disordered jaw structure.

Sheldon

The theory of the American psychologist Sheldon is biological.

He argued that people's actions can be predicted by their body type:

• thin people with a fragile physique are prone to nervousness and increased sensitivity;
• strong and slender individuals are more prone to deviant behavior than others. They are active, restless;
• People with moderate obesity are sociable and know how to get along well with others.

But in practice, Sheldon’s theory often does not work, since among criminals with deviant behavior there are often people of different builds.

Gove

Author Walter Gove's biological theory is based on age and gender. Gove identifies the greatest propensity for deviant behavior among young people aged 18 to 24 years. He puts teenagers over 13 years old in second place.

There are separate studies on the basis of which statements have been made about the propensity for deviant behavior due to genetic characteristics.

For example:

• adopted children during puberty begin to behave in a manner similar to their biological parents;
• men who have an additional chromosome Y are characterized by an increased degree of deviation.

The biological theory is not accepted by most psychologists. Its opponents only agree that behavior can be influenced by the type of nervous system.

Social psychological theories

The basis of socio-psychological theory is that society itself is to blame for human behavior. It provokes him to break the rules.

Durkheim

Durkgain's theory of anomie is based on the fact that people who find themselves in a state of disorganization begin to behave inappropriately.

This can be observed during crises, during wars, coups and changes in power.

Merton

The author of the adaptation theory, American sociologist Robert Metron, said that deviation is influenced not only by society, but also by the person’s very reaction to ongoing social changes.

Becker

American economist Gary Stanley Bakker developed a socio-psychological theory of stigma and labeling. Bakker describes in his works the process of labeling the lower strata of society.

It is generally accepted that people with deviant behavior are found among drug addicts, alcoholics and gypsies. But even among this category of people there may be those who do not break the law and adhere to the general rules of behavior. And the label often causes them to act against the norm.

Psychological theories

Deviation is a behavior in psychology that takes its foundations from the human psyche.

Existential-humanistic

The authors of this theory say that the reason for a person’s deviant behavior is disappointment in oneself. This may be a loss of meaning in life, suppression of spirituality, low self-esteem and a tendency to self-deprecation.

Psychodynamic

This theory is based on Freudian psychoanalysis. Deviant actions arise in a person due to a conflict between the conscious and unconscious. Most often, the cause of violations is the lack of a close relationship with the mother.

Behavioral

Violation of behavioral norms can be observed as a consequence of the influence of the environment on a person. If from childhood a child was severely punished for deviant actions, then in the future he will avoid committing them, remembering the consequences.

Cognitive

Deviant behavior, according to the theory of American psychotherapist Aaron Beck and psychologist Albert Ellis, is based on maladaptive thought patterns that cause inappropriate actions.

Theories of deviation

In modern science, there are several key theories that reveal the history of deviation and the essence of deviant behavior. Let us list some of the most significant and relevant in the modern world:

• Biological theory - it is associated with the very first attempts to explain deviant behavior precisely through the biological characteristics of the individual. A predisposition to certain forms and types of deviant behavior was attributed to the natural characteristics of a person. Thus, all physical theories developed today say that human actions, including those that do not correspond to social norms, depend on the data that nature has endowed him with;
• Psychological theory - just like biological, as well as some physical theories of deviation, this theory sought an explanation for deviant behavior not in society, but within the individual himself. The main theory is the emergence of a conflict that occurs in the consciousness of the individual himself, and not of a person with society. Thus, when faced with internal contradictions, a person cannot adequately assess the situation, therefore he begins to commit illegal acts and does not control himself.

Separately, I would like to characterize the sociological theory of deviant behavior. The theory of anomie plays an important role here. The term “anomie” was introduced by the famous sociologist Emile Durkheim and was used to interpret the state of social anomy in relation to communities of different sizes: both large and small.

Definition 2

Anomie should be defined as a collective social condition, which is characterized by the decline of the value system.

In this regard, strong changes are occurring in society, mostly in a negative way. People cannot correlate their needs with the possibilities for their implementation, because they simply lack experience and knowledge. For this reason, they resort to illegal actions in order to achieve their goals or results. A person does not have a clear understanding of which society he belongs to, and for this reason does not experience such necessary feelings as reliability, protection, and security in rather unstable social conditions.

Conflict theory is a Marxist theory that states that the upper classes exploit the lower classes and yet escape punishment because they have a special position in society and cannot be held accountable. Working people are victims of capitalist oppression. Therefore, a person, fighting for his life and the right to a normal existence, begins to commit acts that are akin to real crimes. Other types of deviation are alcoholism, drug addiction, and prostitution. These are all products of human moral degradation, which are based in the pursuit of profit and oppression of the poor, women, representatives of national (and in the modern world, also sexual) minorities.

Note 1

Thus, each theory of deviant behavior examines in its own way the reasons for the occurrence of such behavior, and also identifies some specific features that characterize society and its members who encounter deviant behavior.

Today, all these theories are equally adequate and relevant, since each of them affects different aspects of this phenomenon. Researchers emphasize the fact that deviant behavior may also depend on a person’s mental state, characteristics of his physical development, and level of intelligence. A significant role is played by his social position, as well as status in society. people of higher status will be less likely to exhibit aggressive and abnormal behavior, in contrast to people who experience some financial difficulties and are several rungs lower.

Classification

There is no single typology of the phenomenon, since the problem of deviation is studied by psychologists, doctors, criminologists, and sociologists. Each area has its own aspects of behavior, so different classifications have been developed.

Merton classification

The first classification appeared in 1938. Its author was the American sociologist Merton. According to his theory, types of deviation are distinguished based on the ways in which an individual adapts to the world around him. The sociologist describes 5 types of behavior. Of these, only 1 is considered normal, the rest he classifies as deviations.

These types are:

Korolenko's typology

Russian psychiatrist Korolenko has developed his own classification of deviant behavior.

It is divided into:

• non-standard - an individual violates generally accepted rules that go beyond the boundaries of social stereotypes, but at the same time have a positive impact on social development;
• destructive – this type of behavior can be externally destructive, based on a violation of social rules, and internally destructive, characterized by a violation of personality. In the first case, a person often becomes a drug addict and is characterized by consciously committing a crime.

Korolenko further divides intra-destructive behavior into: suicide, fanaticism, narcissism and autism.

Mendelevich

Russian narcologist and psychiatrist Mendeleevich identified the following types of deviant behavior:

• hyperpowers;
• psychopathological;
• addictive – escape from reality;
• pathocharacterological.

Mendeleevich closely connects the concept of deviation with deliquence - an unlawful act that harms others.

Zmanovskaya

Psychologist-analyst Zmanovskaya offers the following types for classification:

• antisocial - criminal acts dangerous to other members of society;
• immoral - actions aimed at displaying aggression, theft, gambling;
• self-destructive - this includes suicide and fanaticism.

In the latter case, danger arises even for the individual himself.

General classification

Deviation is a phenomenon in psychology that is usually divided into negative and positive. The manifestation of deviation in a negative form is dangerous for members of society and, in certain cases, for the individual himself.

It occurs in the following forms:

• committing a criminal offense;
• inclinations towards terrorism;
• vagrancy;
• prostitution;
• drug addiction;
• theft;
• extremism;
• suicide.

A positive form of deviation is aimed at the benefit of society. But deviations from norms and rules will be noticeable in behavior.

These include:

• genius;
• workaholism;
• self-sacrifice.

A number of psychologists do not accept the form of positive deviance. They believe that even if actions benefit society, they are negative for the individual himself.

Types of deviation

Psychologists and social educators in their work encounter the following types of abnormal behavior:

• delinquent behavior, criminal acts;
• extremism;
• terrorism;
• bad habits;
• prostitution;
• bright makeup, extravagant style of clothing;
• abnormal response of the child to familiar situations;
• various forms of addiction, addiction to gambling;
• vandalism;
• animal abuse;
• extreme form of egocentrism;
• isolation, desire to minimize social contacts, recluse, autism;
• excessive sociability;
• foul language;
• the child ignoring the demands of adults;
• poor development of individual self-control skills;
• mood swings for no apparent reason, which lead to constant internal tension and disruptions in the functioning of the nervous system;
• unmotivated aggression and self-harming behavior;
• tendency to solve problems with fists;
• anxiety, phobias, panic attacks;
• suicide attempts;
• pathological processes in the psyche;
• behavioral deviations caused by mistakes in family upbringing.

Positive deviations include:

• genius or talent of an individual in a particular field of science or art;
• a high level of development of patriotism, performing heroic deeds for the benefit of other people and humanity as a whole;
• the ability to sacrifice oneself and one’s interests for the sake of a common cause or the interests of another person;
• altruistic orientation of the personality, heightened sense of pity;
• pronounced diligence and a heightened sense of duty;
• the presence of certain unique abilities in a person.

Unlike negative ones, positive types of deviations do not cause condemnation from society.

Classification of social deviation

The manifestation of deviation in social terms is divided into the following groups.

Addictive deviance

This is a regular escape from problems, it is expressed in pathological dependence.

Addictiveness can manifest itself in the form of:

• computer addiction;
• alcoholism, drug addiction;
• nymphomania;
• religious fanaticism;
• anorexia.

In turn, addictive deviance is divided into destructive, neutral and socially useful.

Immoral deviance

In this group, psychologists include behavior that violates moral and ethical standards. The person’s actions are not dangerous, but they are contrary to the rules.

Immoral behavior includes:

• humiliation of people;
• increased aggression;
• refusal to study or work;
• promiscuity.

In some classifications, the immoral category is classified as socially neutral.

Delinquent deviance

Abnormal or delinquent behavior manifests itself in 2 forms:

• Pre-criminogenic type - a person violates legal norms, actions manifest themselves in the form of vandalism, hooliganism, fights, beatings, insults.
• Criminal – a person violates criminal norms. This includes murder, fraud, theft, and robbery.

Such individuals pose a serious threat to society.

Types of deviant behavior

Social norms and deviant behavior in combination with each other provide an understanding of several types of deviant behavior (depending on the direction of behavior patterns and manifestations in the social environment):

1. Antisocial. This behavior reflects a person’s tendency to commit actions that threaten successful interpersonal relationships: by violating moral norms that are recognized by all members of a particular microsociety, a person with deviation destroys the established order of interpersonal interaction. All this is accompanied by multiple manifestations: aggression, sexual deviations, gambling addiction, dependency, vagrancy, etc.
2. Antisocial, another name for it is delinquent. Deviant and delinquent behavior are often completely identified, although delinquent behavioral cliches concern narrower issues - they have as their “subject” violations of legal norms, which leads to a threat to social order and disruption of the well-being of people around them. These can be a variety of actions (or lack thereof) directly or indirectly prohibited by current legislative (regulatory) acts.
3. Autodestructive. It manifests itself in behavior that threatens the integrity of the individual, the possibilities of his development and normal existence in society. This type of behavior is expressed in different ways: through suicidal tendencies, food and chemical addictions, activities with a significant threat to life, as well as autistic/victim/fanatical behavior patterns.

Forms of deviant behavior are systematized based on social manifestations:

• negatively colored (all kinds of addictions - alcohol, chemical; criminal and destructive behavior);
• positively colored (social creativity, altruistic self-sacrifice);
• socially neutral (vagrancy, begging).

Depending on the content of behavioral manifestations of deviations, they are divided into types:

1. Dependent behavior. The object of desire (dependence on it) can be various objects:

• psychoactive and chemical drugs (alcohol, tobacco, toxic and medicinal substances, drugs),
• games (activating gambling behavior),
• sexual satisfaction,
• Internet resources,
• religion,
• shopping, etc.

1. Aggressive behavior. It is expressed in motivated destructive behavior causing damage to inanimate objects/objects and physical/mental suffering to animate objects (people, animals).
2. Victive behavior. Due to a number of personal characteristics (passivity, unwillingness to be responsible for oneself, to defend one’s principles, cowardice, lack of independence and an attitude of subordination), a person is characterized by victim behavior patterns.
3. Suicidal tendencies and suicides. Suicidal behavior is a type of deviant behavior that involves a demonstration or actual attempt at suicide. These behavioral patterns are considered:

• with internal manifestation (thoughts about suicide, reluctance to live in current circumstances, fantasies about one’s own death, plans and intentions regarding suicide);
• with external manifestation (suicide attempts, actual suicide).

1. Running away from home and vagrancy. The individual is prone to chaotic and constant changes of place of residence, continuous movement from one territory to another. They have to ensure their existence by begging for alms, stealing, etc.
2. Illegal behavior. Various manifestations in terms of offenses. The most obvious examples are theft, fraud, extortion, robbery and hooliganism, vandalism. Beginning in adolescence as an attempt to assert oneself, this behavior is then consolidated as a way of building interaction with society.
3. Sexual behavior disorder. Manifests itself in the form of abnormal forms of sexual activity (early sexual activity, promiscuity, satisfaction of sexual desire in a perverted form).

Manifestations of deviation

In psychology and pedagogy, the following signs are used to determine deviant behavior:

• violation by a person of all generally accepted social norms;
• causing harm not only to others, but also to oneself;
• repeated repetition of actions directed against society;
• social maladjustment;
• destructive personality orientation.

In practice, in life, deviant behavior is not limited to the presented characteristics.

It also includes:

• uncontrollability;
• aggressiveness;
• secrecy;
• tendency to cruelty;
• deliberate violation of rules, restrictions and laws;
• sudden changes in mood.

Not all manifestations can be detected immediately. Often a person does not outwardly reveal himself. He may have a good job, many friends, in public he will be quiet and correct, but when he goes beyond his environment, he begins to commit illegal actions. For example, participate in gangs, attack people.

Important! Psychologists do not classify eccentricity as deviant behavior. If it is characterized by the oddities of the individual, then it does not harm either the person himself or the society around him.

Aggression

One of the manifestations of deviant behavior is aggression. This is a hostile manifestation that indicates internal tension. The person is not interested in the needs of others. He concentrates only on achieving his own goals. He doesn't care about the opinions of others.

Uncontrollability

The individual's behavior will be aimed only at maintaining his interests. He does not listen to the opinions of others.

It is impossible to predict the actions he will take. Such people have a very cool character that cannot be contained.

Unpredictable mood swings

People with deviant behavior are prone to frequent mood changes without reason. They can turn from a cheerful person into a furious and cruel person in one minute. Such changes are caused by internal tension and serious nervous exhaustion.

Desire for inconspicuousness

The individual withdraws into himself; he does not share his emotions and ideas with others. This behavior can cause degradation.

Prevention

Early age-related prevention of deviant behavior will help to effectively increase personal control over negative manifestations.

It is necessary to clearly understand that children already have signs indicating the onset of deviation:

• manifestations of outbursts of anger that are unusual for the child’s age (frequent and poorly controlled);
• using intentional behavior to annoy an adult;
• active refusals to comply with the demands of adults, violation of the rules established by them;
• frequent confrontation with adults in the form of arguments;
• manifestation of anger and vindictiveness;
• the child often becomes the instigator of a fight;
• deliberate destruction of someone else's property (objects);
• causing harm to other people using dangerous objects (weapons).

A number of preventive measures implemented at all levels of society (national, regulatory, medical, sanitary, pedagogical, socio-psychological) have a positive effect on overcoming the prevalence of deviant behavior:

1. Formation of a favorable social environment. With the help of social factors, an individual’s undesirable behavior with possible deviation is influenced - a negative background is created regarding any manifestations of deviant behavior.
2. Information factors. Specially organized work to provide maximum information about deviations in order to activate the cognitive processes of each individual (conversations, lectures, creation of videos, blogs, etc.).
3. Social skills training. It is carried out with the aim of improving adaptability to society: social deviation is prevented through training work to build resistance to abnormal social influence on the individual, increase self-confidence, and develop self-realization skills.
4. Initiation of activities opposite to deviant behavior. Such forms of activity can be:

• testing oneself “for strength” (risky sports, mountain climbing),
• learning new things (travel, mastering complex professions),
• confidential communication (helping those who have “stumbled”),
• creation.

1. Activation of personal resources. Personal development, starting from childhood and adolescence: involvement in sports, personal growth groups, self-actualization and self-expression. An individual learns to be himself, to be able to defend his opinions and principles within the framework of generally accepted moral norms.

Only with the adequate formation of a person as a personality, an understanding of deviant behavior as an unacceptable and unacceptable form of interaction between the individual and society is created in his consciousness.

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Causal factors of deviation

Deviation is a psychological phenomenon that is characteristic of any society. But the percentage of such people will vary depending on the state of society itself, the economic and moral aspects. Psychologists identify more than 200 factors that cause deviation.

The primary reasons include:

• financial crisis in society;
• the close environment in which a person develops. For example, a child lives in a dysfunctional family where the parents use drugs or alcohol. Since childhood, he takes negative behavior for granted;
• influence of society, perception of habits from friends;
• heredity;
• rejection of moral and moral standards;
• mental disorders;
• feeling of impunity.

In psychology, individuals often have a misunderstanding of the combination of social norms. He cannot build a competent behavior strategy without help. As a result of its action, deviation is observed.

Reasons and background

Psychologists began to study the causes and prerequisites for the formation of deviations in order to develop effective methods to combat them. Factors causing behavioral abnormalities are:

• genetic predisposition;
• age (deviations often occur in adolescents, accompanying the process of formation of elements of an individual’s self-awareness);
• low intellectual potential of the individual;
• presence of character accentuations;
• unfavorable level of economic development of the region in which the person lives;
• awareness of social inequality;
• a person’s material difficulties;
• political instability in the country;
• raising a child in an antisocial environment;
• mistakes of family education;
• low level of development of the moral foundations of the individual;
• a person’s dubious social environment, copying incorrect patterns of behavior under group pressure;
• difficulties in personal socialization;
• stress;
• pathological processes in the nervous system and brain;
• psychosomatic disorders;
• interests and inclinations of the individual, peculiarities of perception;
• open propaganda of sexual liberation in the media;
• inconsistency of social norms, which leads to the difficulty of choosing the only correct model of behavior;
• a person’s lack of opportunities to meet their needs;
• a sense of permissiveness and confidence in impunity;
• learned helplessness, the habit of shifting responsibility for one’s life to others;
• desire to become famous on the Internet;
• adolescent desire to gain recognition from members of the reference group;
• a teenager’s desire to look like an adult;
• desire to make the world a better place.

Deviant behavior in children

The main reason for the emergence of deviant behavior lies in the theory of violation of personal socialization. If a child is raised in a normal family, he develops rules of behavior, social interest, and the perception of norms as the only true and correct ones.

If children see around them immoral behavior and parental conflicts, they develop a negative attitude towards society from birth. There is no orientation towards the future, a constant feeling of anxiety and restlessness develops.

Basic Concepts

In simple words, deviant behavior is persistent (constantly repeated) behavior that deviates from generally accepted social norms. There is another concept for this phenomenon - social deviation. Society is forced to respond to it with certain sanctions: isolation, treatment, correction, punishment.

Since deviant behavior is the subject of study of various sciences, each of them gives it its own specific definition.

Sociology

Sociologists call deviant behavior any social phenomenon that poses a threat to human life, caused by a violation of the process of assimilation of norms and values, self-development and self-realization in society.

Medicine

For doctors, deviance is a borderline neuropsychic pathology that leads to deviation from generally accepted norms of interpersonal interactions. At the same time, doctors recognize that not all cases are the result of personality and behavioral disorders. Mentally healthy people often demonstrate deviant behavior.

Psychology

In psychology, this is a deviation from social and moral norms, an erroneous conflict resolution pattern directed against society. It can be measured quantitatively (which determines the degree of neglect of the problem) - through the damage caused to public well-being, others or oneself.

Based on these definitions, it is not difficult to understand who a deviant is. This is a person who demonstrates traits of deviant, unacceptable behavior and needs the help of specialists: psychologists, psychotherapists, neurologists.

The psychology of deviant behavior is a scientific discipline that studies the essence, causes and manifestations of persistent inappropriate behavior. Various specialists work in this area - clinical and developmental psychologists, teachers, lawyers and sociologists. Currently, special attention is paid to methods of prevention and correction of deviations in adolescence and youth.

Deviantology is a science that studies deviations and society's reaction to them. It includes work in this direction, carried out by various sciences: psychology, psychotherapy, criminology, sociology.

Deviant behavior in adolescents and ways to resolve it

Among the cases of deviant behavior, the bulk occurs in adolescence. This is due to the psychological peculiarities of personality development. During this period, adolescents experience adolescence, the most difficult and responsible stage. They still do not know how to correctly assess problems, react sharply to difficulties, and cannot adequately approach their solution.

To resolve the situation, prevention of deviant behavior is used.

It is based on a set of measures that include:

• improvement of the social development situation;
• creation of favorable conditions;
• identification of negative factors.

For younger schoolchildren, the most effective methods are individual conversations with a psychologist and educational work.

Various psychotherapeutic techniques are selected for adolescents. They include group trainings, the use of visual materials, and role-playing games. Psychologists actively involve parents in their work. In especially severe cases, sedative medication is prescribed.

Diagnosis of deviant behavior

Psychology of deviations in a child, teenager (signs of deviations):

• school maladjustment;
• low level of socialization;
• asociality;
• psychophysical retardation;
• inadequate self-esteem;
• desire to imitate.

Inadequate self-esteem as a sign of deviation.

Characteristics of deviant behavior in preschool children:

• aggression (biting, pinching, pushing);
• whims;
• manipulation;
• self-harm.

Children with deviations come from dysfunctional families. But we are not only talking about alcoholics, drug addicts or single-parent families (the latter is not a determining factor at all). Families where parents are constantly absent from work or are busy with their lives, as well as families where the child is cared for by a nanny, and overprotective families are also at risk. Only one style of parenting is considered favorable - democratic. In other cases, there is a risk of developing negative deviations.

General diagnostic methods

To identify deviant behavior in minors, as well as determine the level and dynamics of deviations, the psychologist uses the following methods:

• conversation, observation during the conversation (identifying negative factors, opportunities for self-realization, studying the characteristics of the client, his lifestyle);
• environmental survey (identifying the client’s image in the eyes of other people);
• surveys, tests, other methods for studying personality (identifying temperament, accentuations, anxiety, etc.);
• highly specialized techniques for identifying deviations and propensities for them;
• projective tests to identify subconscious anxieties, phobias, and psychotraumas.

Conversation to identify deviations.

Tests and questionnaires

In the process of diagnosing deviant behavior in adolescents and adults, several groups of tests are used: general personality, projective, to identify relationships in the family, to identify individual personality indicators and deviations.

Personality tests:

• Eysenck technique (suitable for children, adults);
• Pathocharacterological diagnostic questionnaire (for adolescents 14-18 years old);
• Minnesota Multifactorial Personality Inventory (for persons 16 years and older);
• Leonhard-Schmishek test (detection of teenage accentuations).

When working with young children, you can use art therapy and projective techniques.

Projective techniques:

• Sondi test (for children over 10 years old, adults);
• Rosenzweig test (a modification has been developed for children from 4 to 13 years old, a modification for children from 15 years old and adults, both modifications are suitable for adolescents 12–15 years old).

Tests to identify family relationships:

• Varga test (questionnaire for parents to identify their attitude towards their child);
• Shafer test (questionnaire for children and adolescents to identify their attitude towards their parents).

The Spielberger Scale test is suitable for studying anxiety in adults; the Phillips test is suitable for identifying childhood anxiety; and other methods for identifying school maladjustment.

To identify motives, goals, hidden desires, you can use the Rorschach test, the method of unfinished letters or unfinished sentences. These techniques are suitable for all ages.

The questionnaire “Deviant Behavior” (authors: M.Yu. Kolosnitsyna, E.A. Kadatskaya) helps to identify which deviations one is prone to. In addition to the deviations themselves, destructive character traits are identified that hinder the development of personality. These traits need to be worked on. Another technique that allows you to determine the tendency to deviate and establish its type is “Methodology for diagnosing a tendency to deviant behavior” (author – R.V. Ovcharova).

Types and examples of deviation

Social disorders are divided into the following types:

• primary and secondary deviation;
• cultural anomalies;
• deviations of a group and individual nature;
• culturally rejected and approved violations.

The last type includes behavior that can be directed both for the benefit and harm of society. For example, a person is a workaholic, he works 20 hours a day, trying to do as much as possible for society. But at the same time, he harms himself, since he spends a lot of time at work and gets little rest.

Examples of deviations

I will give examples of negative, neutral and positive deviations:

1. The child was born into a prosperous full family. The parenting style was overprotective. Having reached adolescence, the child became uncontrollable: he began to blackmail his parents and insult his mother. Parents believed that adolescence is difficult for all children; they need to be patient. They did not take active measures to solve the problem; they reduced control and custody of their son. As a result, the parents did not notice how the boy got involved with bad company, where he became addicted to drugs.
2. The girl has been shy since childhood. It is difficult for her to talk to a stranger, to make a request to someone. Mom believes that shyness is synonymous with modesty, so she makes no attempt to eradicate this character trait of her daughter. The girl has few friends; in class she is considered withdrawn because she does not greet her classmates and refuses to play group games during breaks. On the part of the teachers, there are no complaints against the girl regarding her studies, no sanctions can be applied to her, her shyness does not harm others, but is at the same time a form of neutral deviation.
3. For many years, an employee of the research institute has been developing his own methodology for teaching preschool children to read. After defending his doctoral dissertation, he opened a linguistic center and began working with children according to his own program. After a few months, 4-5 year old children learned to read. The innovative activity of a scientist in this case is an example of positive deviation.

Forms of deviant actions

In psychology, there are 2 forms of deviant behavior: positive and destructive.

1 includes:

• success in creativity;
• participation in charity;
• self-sacrifice;
• scientific achievements;
• increased diligence in school or work.

The behavior is considered a deviation from the norm, but at the same time it is positive.

Negative deviant behavior is divided into 3 forms:

• unconscious - a person cannot understand why his actions are condemned by society and considered a deviation;
• aberrant - a person understands the unacceptability of actions, so he commits them secretly;
• nonconformist – a person realizes that his actions go beyond the generally accepted, but consciously continues to carry them out.

In psychology, predeviant syndrome is distinguished. It consists of exhibiting signs that lead to negative behavior. The syndrome is expressed in conflicts with others and aggressiveness.

Forms

Forms of deviation were identified by R. Merton. When analyzing deviation, he did not consider the act itself, but tried to establish what element of a person’s life served as the motive for this or that action. He paid close attention to the methods by which a person achieves an asocial or prosocial goal. He associated the concept of deviation with the contradiction between the needs of the individual and his capabilities to satisfy them.

When Merton was asked to name the main forms of negative deviation, he said that they could be any attempt by an individual to express himself or express his opinion. Only comfortable behavior did not fall into his definition of deviation, since it presupposes complete submission to norms and rules. Giving up individuality.

Followers of Robert Merton's concept divided deviations into negative and positive forms. Sociologists believe that both of these forms of deviation will always exist in society. After all, if there are rules established by someone, there will definitely be those who will break them. Deviations are most often observed during periods of crisis, when legislative reforms take place and strict sanctions and restrictions are introduced. This leads to increased dissatisfaction among the population with their income and living conditions. A natural consequence of personal dissatisfaction is cynicism, egocentrism, corruption, and attempts to satisfy one’s own interests by illegal means.

From a medical point of view, deviation is any behavioral deviation from the norm. V.D. Mendelevich identified such forms of this phenomenon as:

1. Criminal form (delinquent behavior). Psychiatrists believe that this type of deviant behavior is based on personal dissatisfaction with one’s own life and desperate attempts to defend one’s interests by any means.
2. Psychopathy. Organic pathology distorts human perception. The patient develops psychosis, obsessions, and phobias. The individual sees an enemy in everyone he meets. In most cases, such patients are recognized as insane by the conclusion of a forensic medical examination.
3. Addiction. A person, using chemical or non-chemical methods, tries to escape from a reality that does not suit him.

Consequences

Not only the individual himself, but also the entire society is affected by the consequences of deviant behavior.

They are expressed:

• in relation to the individual – in physical exhaustion, mental disorder, loneliness;
• in relation to society - in the suffering of those close to them, the risk of violence, death from an individual with deviant behavior;
• in relation to society – increasing the level of criminalization.

Deviation is not only a disease that needs to be treated. This is a problem of society, the solution of which must be approached comprehensively. State and public organizations, schools, secondary specialized and higher educational institutions should be connected.

Classification of sexual deviations

Sexual deviations include:

• Porn addiction;
• Fetishism and transvestism;
• Phobias;
• Incest;
• Bestiality;
• Pedophilia and gerontophilia;
• Exhibitionism and voyeurism.

The listed types of sexual deviations have different significance, since some of them are today considered as a variant of the norm, and some as symptoms of a mental disorder. More information about sexual deviations is described in the article “Sexual perversions, or what is usually kept silent about.”

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Correction methods

Deviation in behavior must be treated.

Correction methods include:

• drug therapy;
• work with psychologists;
• breathing exercises, yoga.

Medications are prescribed if there are biological reasons that provoke deviation. To relieve increased nervous excitability and calm the patient, tranquilizers are used. When diagnosing a severe form of deviation, treatment may be recommended in a psychiatric clinic.

Psychotherapy

Particular attention in the treatment process is paid to psychotherapeutic methods of behavior correction. The specialist’s task is to discover the cause of deviant behavior and eliminate it.

The following methods of psychotherapy are used:

• group classes;
• individual conversations;
• family therapy;
• art therapy treatment.

The maximum effect can be achieved by combining methods with each other.

Other control methods

To combat deviation, additional methods are used, such as:

• physiotherapy;
• physiotherapy;
• hardening;
• breathing exercises.

To correct the behavior of adolescents and children, sports, hobbies, and tourism are used.

Deviation is a complex phenomenon in psychology that requires attention and control. If left unattended and no measures taken for treatment, a person can pose a threat not only to others, but also to himself.

Signs

Traditionally, signs of behavioral deviations include:

• tough temperament, aggressiveness;
• egocentrism;
• painful perception of criticism;
• causeless change of mood;
• poor development of self-control skills;
• isolation, craving for loneliness;
• the individual has symptoms of a mental disorder;
• connection of a person with a criminal group, communication with criminal personalities;
• a person’s desire and willingness to resist the opinion of the majority.

Correction

Deviation as a social phenomenon and society’s reaction to it is the subject of sociological study. Pedagogy and psychology deal with it as an individual personality trait.

In order for society to survive, to create prosperous conditions of existence, norms of behavior - laws - are established in it. Possible control over their implementation is organized. If cases of deviation are noted, corrective measures are taken depending on the scale of the problem. The main forms of control are:

• prevention of persons at risk (most often schoolchildren);
• isolation of persons who pose a danger to other members of society - hardened criminals, terrorists, extremists;
• isolation and appropriate treatment of persons suffering from mental disorders and various types of addictions (drug dispensary, mental hospital);
• rehabilitation of persons who want and can return to normal life.

Imprisonment is the traditional way of punishing offenders. However, it cannot be called an effective method for correcting deviant behavior. People often become embittered, lose the skills of normal life in society, become withdrawn, join the subculture of prisoners, and acquire criminal interests. Therefore, the statistics are not surprising: 60% of those released within 4 years commit a crime again and end up behind bars.

For younger schoolchildren, the most effective methods of correction are educational conversations and individual work with a psychologist.

Psychotherapeutic techniques are selected for adolescents who have been diagnosed with deviant behavior. Group trainings, role-playing games, the use of visual material (videos, illustrations, audio recordings), art therapy - all this with the active participation of parents can solve this problem. Sometimes medication is prescribed in the form of sedatives.