SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY - ABSTRACTS - Deviant behavior of young people: causes and characteristics

SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY - ABSTRACTS - Deviant behavior of young people: causes and characteristics

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Introduction

Introduction

The issue of deviant behavior of young people is quite relevant and interesting. Due to deviations from normal behavior, the calm way of life is destroyed. Young people are the most active psychological subjects and therefore manifestations of socially unacceptable behavior are most expressively manifested in them. At this age, when a stable worldview has not been formed, individuals are most susceptible to external influence. Perceiving the interests and views of others, they choose, absorb and are subsequently guided by them. With the development of deviant behavior in young people, positive feelings become increasingly dulled and they can become a reserve for future crime. Studying the problem of the propensity for deviant behavior among young people, the relevance of which is undoubted, requires, first of all, determining its place in the coordinate system of broader social content. Deviant behavior has recently become widespread, which has put this phenomenon in the center of attention of sociologists, teachers, psychologists, doctors, and law enforcement officials. The reason for this deviation lies in the peculiarities of the relationship and interaction of a person with the outside world, the social environment and himself. Therefore, it is important to consider the basic concepts and theories of deviant behavior, the main approaches, to understand its essence and factors that, as catalysts, influence the dynamics of this behavior.

The concept and essence of deviant behavior

Deviant behavior refers to behavior that does not conform to norms or meet the expectations of a group or the entire society.

There are different approaches to explaining the nature of deviations. Biological and psychological interpretations of the causes and nature of deviations are associated mainly with the personality characteristics of a person characterized by deviant behavior

Today, biological explanations of deviance focus primarily on identifying a genetic predisposition to deviance.

Psychologists and sociologists recognize that personality characteristics and the motives of its actions undoubtedly influence all types of deviant behavior. But personal factors are always closely intertwined with social ones.

One of the psychological mechanisms for the formation of deviations is an addictive model of behavior (addiction is a harmful addiction to something). Without understanding the process of the emergence and course of this phenomenon, in our opinion, it is impossible to analyze alcoholism, drug addiction and other forms of destructive behavior. The essence of addictive behavior is a person’s desire to change his mental state by taking certain substances or fixating attention on certain objects (types of activity). The process of using such a substance, attachment to an object or action, is accompanied by the development of intense emotions and takes on such proportions that it gradually begins to control a person’s life, depriving him of the will to resist addiction.

This form of behavior is typical for people with low tolerance to psychological difficulties, who poorly adapt to rapid changes in life circumstances, and therefore strive to achieve psychophysiological comfort faster and easier. For them, addiction becomes a universal means of escape from real life. To protect themselves, people with an addictive type of behavior use a mechanism called in psychology “thinking at will”: contrary to the logic of cause-and-effect relationships, they consider real only what corresponds to their desires. As a result, interpersonal relationships are disrupted and the person is alienated from society.

Addictive behavior develops gradually and goes through several stages. The onset of deviation is associated with the experience of an acute change in a person’s mental state in connection with the adoption of certain substances or certain actions, the emergence of an understanding that there is a way to change one’s psychological state, to experience a feeling of elation, joy, ecstasy. Next, a stable sequence of resorting to means of addiction develops. Difficult life situations and states of psychological discomfort provoke an addictive reaction. It can be pushed to such a variety of factors as the characteristics of the individual’s upbringing, attitudes, cultural level, social environment, changes in usual living conditions.

Gradually, addiction becomes a habitual type of response to the demands of real life. Any uncomfortable state turns out to be a stimulus that provokes addiction. The formation of addictive behavior as an integral part of the personality occurs, i.e., another personality arises, displacing and destroying the previous one. This process is accompanied by struggle, and a feeling of anxiety appears. At the same time, protective mechanisms are activated that maintain an illusory sense of psychological comfort. Defensive formulas are as follows: “I do what I like,” “if I want, everything will change,” etc.

As a result, the addictive part of the personality completely determines a person’s behavior, complicating his contacts with people on a psychological and social level. Along with this, there is a fear of loneliness, so the addict prefers to be around a large number of people, stimulating himself with superficial communication in the form of phone conversations and gossip. But such a person is no longer capable of full communication, deep and long-term interpersonal contacts, even if the people around him strive for this. The main thing for him is those objects and actions that provide a change in mental state.

Ultimately, dominant addictive behavior destroys a person’s health and psyche. He is spiritually devastated, the main human qualities and truly human emotions disappear.

In the sociology of deviant behavior, there are several directions that explain the reasons for its occurrence. For example, R. Merton, using the concept of “anomie” put forward by E. Durkheim (anomie is a state of society when old norms and values ​​no longer correspond to real relations, and new ones have not yet been established), considers the cause of deviant behavior to be the inconsistency between the goals put forward by society, and the means it offers for their implementation. Another direction has developed within the framework of conflict theory. According to this point of view, cultural patterns of behavior are deviant if they are based on the norms of another culture (A. Cohen). The criminal is considered as a bearer of a certain subculture, conflicting in relation to the dominant type of culture in a given society.

In modern Russian sociology, the position of Ya. Gilinsky, who considers the source of deviation at the social level to be the presence in society of social inequality, a high degree of differences in the possibilities of meeting the needs of different social groups, and at the individual level, social disorder, is of undoubted interest.

Types of deviant behavior

Depending, firstly, on the degree of harm caused to the interests of the individual, social group, society as a whole and, secondly, on the type of norms violated, the following main types of deviant behavior can be distinguished.

1. Destructive behavior. Causing harm only to the individual himself and not corresponding to generally accepted social and moral norms - hoarding, conformism, masochism, etc.

2. Antisocial behavior that causes harm to the individual and social communities (family, group of friends, neighbors) and manifests itself in alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide, etc.

3. Illegal behavior, which represents a violation of both moral and legal norms and is expressed in robbery, murder and other crimes.

Deviant behavior can be expressed in the form of:

a) action (hitting a person in the face);

b) activity (permanent extortion or prostitution);

c) lifestyle (criminal lifestyle of the organizer of a mafia group, a robbery gang, a community of counterfeiters).

The following types of deviant behavior can be distinguished:

· crime is the most dangerous deviation from social norms and is becoming especially widespread among young people.

· drunkenness and alcoholism have become widespread among young people. According to research, 70-80% of respondents have already tried drinking alcohol at the age of 13-15 years.

· suicide, the rate of which, as research shows, increases during periods of economic and social crises. Dramatic changes in society lead to a decrease in human adaptive capabilities. Teenagers and young adults commit suicide due to misunderstandings, conflicts in the family, unhappy love, etc. Many suicides are associated with antisocial behavior of the individual (drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, etc.).

Drunkenness and alcoholism

There are differences between these concepts. Alcoholism is a pathological attraction to alcohol and subsequent social and moral degradation of the individual. Drunkenness is excessive consumption of alcohol, which, along with a threat to an individual’s health, disrupts his social adaptation.

Most often, the motive for drunkenness is: entertainment, influence of the immediate environment, adherence to drinking traditions, celebration of memorable dates, marital and family troubles, troubles at work.

Alcohol addiction develops gradually and is determined by complex measurements that occur in the body of the drinker. The attraction to alcohol is manifested in human behavior: increased fussiness in preparation for drinking, “rubbing hands,” emotional elation. The longer the “alcoholic experience”, the less pleasure drinking brings.

The formation of alcoholism is influenced by several factors: hereditary factors, character, individual personality traits and environmental characteristics. Factors contributing to alcoholism include low financial status and education.

Crime

A crime is a criminal, punishable, socially dangerous act that encroaches on social relations protected by law and causes significant harm to them. A misdemeanor is the same illegal and guilty act, but does not pose a great public danger. Misdemeanors are regulated by administrative, civil, labor and other branches of law. Delinquency in the form of a misdemeanor manifests itself in adolescents in defiant behavior, foul language, pugnacity, petty theft, drunkenness, and vagrancy.

Adolescents and young men aged 14-18 years are characterized by both selfish and violent motivation for illegal behavior. Selfish offenses are of an incomplete childish nature, since they are committed out of mischief and curiosity, unmotivated aggression. Today, teenage and youthful offenses include theft of vehicles, possession of youth fashion items (radio equipment, sports equipment, fashionable clothing, money, sweets, wine, etc.). Violent offenses are caused by the needs of self-affirmation, herd mentality, falsely understood duty to one’s company, and shortcomings in upbringing. Especially in families where drunkenness, rudeness, and cruelty were the norm. Typical youth violent offenses include youth “squabbles,” which are accompanied by swearing and violence.

All manifestations of crime are an extreme degree of deviant behavior, when the interests of the individual, social institutions and society are threatened. Of course, no society remained indifferent to what it considered illegal behavior and what means and methods it used to combat them.

Suicide _ _

Suicide (suicide) is the free and intentional termination of one's life.

Suicidal behavior is destructive behavior itself, which, in addition, can include such forms of deviant behavior as alcohol abuse, drug use, persistent refusal to receive treatment, drunk driving, self-torture, conscious participation in fights and wars.

Suicidal behavior in adolescents is often explained by a lack of life experience and the inability to determine life guidelines. In addition to these reasons, there are special reasons. The following reasons are common:

* loss of a loved one from your inner circle or arrogantly rejected feelings of love;

* wounded self-esteem;

* extreme fatigue;

* destruction of personality defense mechanisms as a result of alcohol intoxication, use of psychotropic drugs;

* substance abuse and drug addiction;

* identifying oneself with an authoritative person who committed suicide;

* a state of frustration or affect in the form of acute aggression, fear, when a person loses control over his behavior.

To establish the causes of suicidal behavior, their motives and reasons are of great importance, allowing one to judge the specific circumstances that lead to this.

Addiction

Drug addiction is a disease that is expressed in physical or psychological dependence on drugs, an irresistible attraction to them, which gradually leads the body to physical and psychological exhaustion.

Drug addiction has social consequences. This is an easy way for criminals to make money. Drug abuse leads to increased mortality, especially among young people, and the development of a whole “bouquet” of somatic and mental illnesses.

Crimes are committed due to drug addiction, since in a state of “withdrawal” a drug addict is capable of any crime. The purchase of drugs becomes the background for the commission of a number of crimes against the person: theft, robbery, robbery. Drug addiction negatively affects offspring. Children are born with serious physical and psychological disabilities, which in turn leads to family breakdown. The drug addict degrades as a person, since his slavish dependence on drugs forces him to commit immoral acts.

One of the psychological subjective causes of drug addiction is dissatisfaction with life due to a variety of circumstances: personal difficulties, shortcomings in the socio-cultural sphere, unsettled leisure time, social injustice, unsettled life, failures in school or work, disappointment in people.

The personality of the drug addict occupies a significant place in the ethnology of the causes of drug addiction. This refers to demographic, age and socio-medical aspects. Men predominate among drug addicts. Another important circumstance is that this disease mainly affects young people.

Motives of drug addiction and substance abuse:

1) Satisfying curiosity about the effects of a narcotic substance;

2) Experiencing a sense of belonging with the goal of being accepted by a particular group;

3) Expression of independence, and sometimes hostility towards others;

4) Experiencing pleasurable, new, exciting or dangerous experiences;

5) Achieving “clarity of thinking” or “creative inspiration”;

6) Achieving a feeling of complete relaxation;

7) Avoiding something oppressive.

The microenvironment is the breeding ground for drug addiction. Family and the street environment play a big role. The appearance of at least one drug addict in the yard, on the street, at school or at work has a detrimental effect on those around him. Initially, drugs are given as a treat, for free, then on credit, then they demand money.

Substance abuse is a disease caused by the consumption of toxic substances, i.e. tranquilizer tablets, caffeine obtained from strong tea - chigir, inhalation of aromatic substances of household chemicals. In a state of intoxication, in addition to euphoria, visual hallucinations occur.

Prostitution

The term "prostitution" comes from the Latin word prostitution - desecration, dishonor. Scientists identify the following essential features of prostitution:

1) occupation - satisfying the sexual needs of clients;

2) the nature of the occupation - systematic fishing in the form of sexual relations with different persons, without sensual attraction and aimed at satisfying the sexual passion of clients in any form;

3) the motive for the activity is a pre-agreed reward in the form of money or material assets, which are the main or additional source of existence for the prostitute.

The causes of prostitution, as well as many other social deviations, are socio-economic, moral and ethical factors. However, there are also specific reasons. So, some women have a strong libido and their needs are above average, hence the access to sports sex. Another reason for prostitution is the environment that surrounds the prostitute. These are racketeers, pimps, “raspberry” owners, etc., who establish their own standards of relationships with prostitutes and subject them to their “charter”.

The vast majority of experts believe that prostitution is inevitable, since the need to reproduce is the strongest physiological need. Prostitution is the same social problem as crime, alcoholism and other forms of deviant behavior.

Eliminating prostitution is a hopeless matter, since sexual needs are the primary needs of a person. Therefore, we should not talk about the eradication of prostitution, but about its civilized regulation.

Factors restraining prostitution could be an increase in the standard of living of the population, the implementation of a sex education program, the smoothing out of social inequality, the introduction of criminal liability for the activities of pimps, owners of “huts” and others parasitizing on prostitution.

Involvement of minors in prostitution is especially dangerous. Nowadays, prostitution has widely developed the business of “selling love.” Meanwhile, the growth of prostitution and sexual disharmony inevitably leads to the spread of AIDS. According to scientists, in 10-15 years this epidemic will become problem No. 1.

Social control over deviant behavior

Obviously, the use of criminal punishment against criminals, prostitutes and drunkards does not lose its meaning, since most of them are sick people and need medical, psychological, and social help.

Our correctional labor system does not so much correct as punish a person. It is places of deprivation of liberty that are the main breeding grounds for homosexuality, schools in which the formation of deviant behavior and self-awareness is completed.

As a rule, deviant behavior is initially unmotivated. A young man, as a rule, wants to meet the requirements of society, but due to social conditions, inability to correctly define his social roles, ignorance of methods of social adaptation, and poor standard of living, he cannot do this.

Main factors of social control:

1) Methods and means of social control must be adequate to specific types of deviant behavior. The main means of social control should be the satisfaction of the various needs and interests of persons prone to “abnormal” behavior. Thus, scientific, technical and other types of creativity can serve as a serious alternative to various forms of illegal and immoral behavior.

2) Significant narrowing of repressive measures. Deprivation of freedom leads a person to social and moral degradation and can only be used as a last resort measure. Consequently, in relation to young offenders, it is permissible to reduce the terms of imprisonment, defer the execution of the sentence, parole and, most importantly, change the conditions of detention.

3) Creation of a flexible and extensive system of social assistance, including state, public, charitable and other structural units. Public organizations based on the principle of “self-help” (groups of anonymous alcoholics, drug addicts, or those released from prison) have proven themselves to be quite good.

4) Moral reward and spiritual development of citizens on the principles of universal morality and spiritual values, freedom of conscience and speech, individual search for the meaning of life (a crisis of the spirit or loss of the meaning of life is an important factor in deviant behavior). Creation of “institutions of consent” and “institutions of mediation” that would assume the functions of criminal and administrative law enforcement in accordance with the severity of the offense or crime, the identity of the offender, and the conditions for the commission of the unlawful act.

5) Strict control over the flow of videos containing scenes of violence, cruelty and natural sex. The orientation of young people towards “products” of the black market, where the cult of violence and primitive sex is preached, creates criminal attitudes and a flawed self-awareness.

6) Changing the mentality of citizens who grew up under totalitarianism. Formation by the media, educational and educational organizations of a more tolerant and merciful attitude towards dissidents and dissidents (sexual minorities, etc.).

7) Training and retraining of personnel who would be able to work with representatives of the “social bottom”: law enforcement officers, especially specializing in working with young offenders in prisons; social educators and social psychologists; narcologists and social workers - all those who already today work in the contact zone with deviants.

Conclusion

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

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

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

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

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

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

List of used literature

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4.Ivanov V.I. Deviant behavior: causes and scale // Socio-political magazine. - 1995. - No. 2. - P. 47-57.

5.Kazakov A.N. Social conditioning of deviant behavior in modern Russian society: Author's abstract. dis. for the job application scientist step. Ph.D. social Sciences/Kazan. univ. - Kazan, 1996.

6. Knukhova Zh. Anomie and corporate deviance // Bulletin of Moscow University. Ser.18. Sociology and political science. - 1996. - No. 2. — P.74 -77.

7. Kovaleva A.I. Personality socialization: norm and deviation. - M., 1996.

8. Lantsova L.A., Shurupova M.F. Sociological theory of deviant behavior // Socio-political journal. - 1993. - No. 4. - P. 32-41.

9.Modern Western sociology: Dictionary. - M., 1990.

10. Social deviations: Introduction to general theory / Ed. Kudryavtseva V.N. - M.: Legal. lit., 1984.

13.Shilova V.N. Sociology of deviant behavior // Sociological studies. - 1994. - No. 11. — P.68-72.

Features of deviant behavior

Deviant behavior manifests itself through aggression, sadism, theft, deceit, vagrancy, anxiety, and depression. Teenagers with this type of behavior are often purposefully isolated from society, attempt suicide, suffer from various phobias and have eating disorders.

Types of deviations in psychology are considered as separate mental disorders and as symptoms of a certain syndrome or disease. Diagnosis is carried out using clinical and psychological methods, and the treatment process consists of the use of medications, psychocorrection and therapy, and social rehabilitation measures.

In general, the category “deviation” represents a certain “deviation”. Deviant behavior is deviant behavior or social deviation. This behavior is characteristic of 40 - 64% of the total number of adolescents, which can be explained by mental characteristics characteristic of this age (social, physiological and psychological immaturity).

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Boys and girls aged 14 to 18 years are more susceptible to behavioral deviations. As a rule, they are brought up in unfavorable social conditions and have hereditary burdens (mental disorders, drug addiction, alcoholism, etc.).