Techniques of Affirmation: Deviant Behavior,Moral Commitment,and Subcultural Identity

Previous studies have examined how individuals act in ways that are considered deviant by mainstream standards and how these individuals neutralize their actions to maintain a positive self concept. But little is known about how individuals who defy social norms by “not doing” socially accepted behaviors construct meaningful subcultural identities. We explore the overlap between “deviant behavior” and subcultural identity through a case study of an abstinence-based subculture called straightedge. Through an analysis of online, textual interaction among participants of an internet forum dedicated to the straightedge youth subculture and focused discussions with forum members, we develop the concept of techniques of affirmation to frame how participants' beliefs regarding abstinence from drugs, alcohol, and promiscuous sex are articulated in subcultural discourse. We identify five affirmation techniques through which straightedge youths remain steadfast to their ideals, beliefs and non-actions: (1) acknowledgment of responsibility, (2) acknowledgment of injury, (3) acknowledgment of the victim, (4) discounting condemners, and (5) reference to priority relationships. We suggest that people and groups who orient themselves to subcultural frames of reference are more likely to utilize techniques of affirmation as part of constructing a positive sense of self.     

青少年网络道德与其网络偏差行为的关系

青少年已经成为中国互联网的最大用户群体,他们在使用互联网中表现出的偏差行为与道德的关系值得关注。该研究使用问卷法探讨了496名青少年的网络道德特点与网络偏差行为表现以及二者之间的关系。结果发现:(1)青少年的网络道德表现较积极,网络道德认知、情感和意向之间存在显著正相关;(2)青少年的网络偏差行为不算严重,但男生的网络过激行为和网络色情行为显著多于女生,且网络过激行为随着年级升高而减少:其中网络攻击性、易怒、敌意和冲突水平都随着年级的增长而呈下降趋势;(4)青少年的网络道德认知和意向对网络偏差行为有反向预测作用,网络道德情感不能预测其网络偏差行为表现。网络道德越积极,表现出来的网络偏差行为越少。     

Deviant Workplace Behavior and the Organization's Ethical Climate

While a number of previous studies have investigated the effects of personal characteristics and interpersonal factors on a specific type of deviant behavior, the present study examined how organizational factors, or more specifically ethical climates within organizations, are related to various types of deviant behavior. The results provided evidence that certain types of ethical climates were related to specific types of deviant behavior, suggesting that the causes for deviant behavior might depend on the specific type of deviant behavior. It was noted that the results of the present study have both theoretical relevance and practical implications with respect to workplace deviance.     

Predicting Deviant Behavior by Neutralization: Myths and Findings

ABSTRACT

Neutralization theory states that deviant behavior is determined by the use of accounts rather than by an individual's acceptance of a social norm. A critical review of neutralization theory shows that (a) neutralization is only a weak predictor of norm-contradictive behavior, (b) high norm-acceptance seems to amplify the neutralization-behavior effect but might not be a prerequisite, and (c) in contrast to Minor's hardening process assumption, prior norm violation should increase impact of neutralization on behavior rather than decrease it. Future directions of neutralization research are suggested, based on a situational analysis of the neutralization process.     

The Relationship Between Socialization and Antisocial Behavior,Substance Use,and Family Conflict in College Students

Gough's (1960) Socialization (So) scale has been widely used as a measure of the extent to which societal values are internalized. It is well documented that antisocial individuals evidence low So scores but less clear that low So scores predict antisocial behavior in nonclinical samples Two studies conducted at different universities in different geographical regions and different decades provided evidence consistent with this hypothesis. Results from Study 1 revealed that self-reports of several types of antisocial behavior and substance use were significantly more common among Low-So than High-So undergraduate men and women. Study 2 replicated principal findings for both men and women using correlational analyses. In addition, Study 2 yielded a significant relation between low So scores and greater family conflict as well as several gender differences reflecting stronger correlations in men than in women. These findings indicate substantial generality for the relations between socialization and antisocial behavior, especially in men, and are consistent with the use of the So scale to identify subjects who share important characteristics with criminal or psychopathic groups.     

家庭功能对青少年冒险行为的影响:自我控制能力与不良同伴交往的序列中介效应

采用问卷法对922名中学生进行调查,考察了家庭功能与青少年冒险行为的关系以及自我控制能力、不良同伴交往的中介作用。结果发现:(1)家庭功能、自我控制能力、不良同伴交往和冒险行为两两之间相关显著;(2)自我控制能力在家庭功能与青少年冒险行为之间起中介作用;(3)自我控制能力和不良同伴交往在家庭功能和青少年冒险行为之间构成序列中介,家庭功能对青少年冒险行为的影响主要通过家庭功能——自我控制能力——不良同伴交往——冒险行为这一路径实现。研究结果进一步揭示了家庭、同伴和个体自身因素影响青少年冒险行为的内在机制。     

Senseless Messaging: Advertising Images of Illegal Driving and Deviant Behavior

We review messaging within automobile advertisements that normalizes and glamorizes reckless driving behavior. Our content analysis of video advertisements illustrates the use of the automobile in ways that are both illegal and dangerous. Advertisements with hazardous driving images occur more often in our sample than all other types of marketing strategies. Messages include deviance from distributional norms (atypical vehicle use); illegal or immoral driving behaviors that put others at risk; and questionable judgments on the part of manufacturers that use advertisement imagery to increase sales while assuming little of the public costs associated with accidents, injuries, and preventable fatalities on roadways.     

Family Measurement Techniques

Abstract

This study examined the extent to which a brief, structured couples therapy program based on Imago Relationship Therapy was associated with improvements on the COMPASS scales of individual psychological functioning as well as on a measure of relationship satisfaction, the Marital Satisfaction Inventory. An examination of pre- to post-treatment differences revealed statistically significant differences on three of the four COMPASS scales and all three MSI scales. The rate of improvement in individual distress per couples therapy session was approximately equal to the improvement, found in previous studies, yielded by individual therapy. The results support previous findings that couples therapy may be an effective modality for the treatment of intrapersonal difficulties, and suggest that both relationship and individual distress indices should be utilized in the evaluation of the efficacy of marital therapies.     

The Family and Partisan Socialization in Red and Blue America

How do competing social influences shape individual partisanship over the course of the life cycle? People enter and exit a host of environments over the course of the lifespan, and these environments provide social pressures that can conflict or reinforce early socialized attitudes. Socialization could be an agent for either opinion change or opinion stability. Using the Youth‐Parent Socialization Study and constructing partisan environmental measures at the county level, I explore this question. The findings demonstrate that environments exert significant socializing influence over the lifespan, moderating the persistence of early forces. This helps us understand when early socialized pressures persist and when they do not. When environments throughout life provide reinforcing social pressures, parental influence endures over time. However, when early socialized influence is challenged over time by the political environment that citizens reside in, the influence of early parental socialization is offset and nullified.     

工作越轨行为的结构与组织公民行为的关系：一项实证检验

新近出现的绩效结构理论认为员工绩效包括角色内行为、组织公民行为和工作越轨行为三种类型。然而在后两种行为的关系上,当前研究者还未达成一致意见。文章综合采用三种方式证实了组织公民行为和工作越轨行为是两种完全不同的行为类型,而不是一种行为的两种性质不同的表现,从而为三维绩效模型的合理性提供了间接支持。在此基础上,研究还证实了工作越轨行为中两种成分（组织越轨和人际越轨）的不同。文章最后对研究结果进行了讨论,并指出了未来研究方向。     

Self-reported Deviant Computer Behavior: A Big-5, Moral Choice,and Manipulative Exploitive Behavior Analysis

Many criminological theories about individual violation can be broadly classified into two groups: (1) those that attempt to explain the violation of personally held conventional norms and values (normative violations) and (2) those that attempt to explain the following of deviant norms and values (cultural deviance). We argue that each set of theories focuses on a unique dependent variable, but that social learning is one example of a theory that explicitly integrates these dependent variables under one explanatory heading. This important difference in what theories are trying to explain has been downplayed in criminology, with potentially serious consequences. The failure to provide accurate, focused measures of the correct dependent variables may have produced empirical findings that are weaker than expected. This article takes a step toward rectifying this important problem. It presents a discussion of the different sets of theories and of the attempt by social learning theory to explain both of behavior; in addition, it spells out the implications for research of this difference.     

The Consequences of School Environment and Locus of Control on Adulthood Deviant Behavior

We examine the long-term effect of school environment on individual deviant behavior. Specifically, we contrast the effects of school deviance and students’ perception of school deviance on personal deviance later in life. Using longitudinal data from four waves of more than 3,100 participants in the Kaplan Longitudinal and Multigenerational Study, we are able to show that school deviance in 7th grade has only a short-term effect on individual deviance. However, when students perceive a lack of deviance in their school at 7th grade, it decreased their personal deviance in their mid-forties if they were both deviant in 7th grade and reported an external locus of control.     

Deviant Peer Affiliation and Problem Behavior: A Test of Genetic and Environmental Influences

This study uses a multitrait, multimethod (MTMM) approach to investigate the genetic and environmental etiologies of childhood deviant peer affiliation (DPA) and problem behavior (PROB). The variability of genetic and environmental estimates by agent and method is also examined. A total of 77 monozygotic and 72 dizygotic twin pairs and each twin's close friend were assessed. The informants included parents, teachers, and twins, and the methods involved questionnaire reports and coder ratings of videotaped dyadic interactions between each twin and their close friend. Twin intraclass correlations and univariate models attributed DPA and PROB to genetic, and shared and nonshared environmental effects. Parameter estimates differed by rater and method, however. Results accentuate the imperative to attend to method effects inherent in MTMM behavioral geneticresearch.     

Techniques for Group Family Enrichment

This article introduces a creative approach to family enrichment. The program emphasizes educational skill-building techniques using nontherapuetic approaches that enable families to resolve difficulties of family members. The meetings, which employ coaching and videotape feedback, enable parents and children to practice communication, cooperation, and problem-solving skills. Evaluation results indicate that participants become successful in the home environment as a result of their involvement in the multiple-family, group-training sessions.