Many researchers have sought to identify the antecedents of deviant behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore whether family rituals might contribute to social control, and thereby reduce deviant behavior. Walter Reckless' containment theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. This theory suggests that both inner and outer containment variables control social behavior. It was proposed that meaningful family rituals would contribute to the development of inner and outer containment, and therefore, reduce the number of deviant behaviors committed by the respondents. In this study, the inner containment variable was self-esteem, and the outer containment variables were participation in conforming activities with family members both inside and outside the home, and participation in extracurricular activities. Two hundred and seven incarcerated respondents and 217 college students responded to three survey instruments, the Family Rituals Questionnaire, the Culture Free Self-Esteem Inventory, and a Family Information Inventory. Findings indicated that the college students reported experiencing more meaningful family rituals than the incarcerated respondents. Results indicate that the two groups differed significantly on all of the major variables. However, meaningful family rituals had little association with self-esteem, and self-esteem had no relationship with deviant behavior. Meaningful family rituals did account for some variation in participation in conforming activities with family members inside and outside the home and for participation in extracurricular activities. However, the variables that were most significant for explaining deviant behavior were the risk factors of age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, neighborhood crime, and parents's deviance. Future research should explore the role of risk factors in explaining deviant behavior and study the role of meaningful family rituals and the role they might play in creating a qualitative difference in family life.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between differing stated causes of deviant behavior which is commonly labelled mental illness, and the perceived seriousness of these behaviors in determining judgments of the degree of responsibility attributed to described deviant individuals. This was accomplished by having subjects rate four different vignettes as to degree of perceived seriousness and degree of responsibility for behavior. The subjects were 76 undergraduate students enrolled in either introductory psychology and/or introductory anthropology. The subjects were divided into four groups. Each group of 19 subjects received the same four vignettes. Each vignette gave a behavioral description which was characteristic of one of four categories of mental illness: paranoid schizophrenic, simple schizophrenic, depressed neurotic, and phobic compulsive. Each group received a different stated cause for the described behavior. These causes were biological, social learning, unknown, and both biological and social learning. The subjects were asked to rate the individual described in each vignette as to how serious they perceived the individual's behavior to be on a scale of 1-4. Subjects were also asked to rate how responsible the described individual was, in their judgment, for his behavior on a scale of 1-5. The specific questions addressed by this study were: (1) Does the degree of responsibility for deviant behavior attributed by normal individuals to various types of described deviant behavior vary as a function of the stated cause of behavior? (2) Does the degree of responsibility for deviant behavior attributed by normal individuals to various types of described deviant behavior vary as a function of the perceived seriousness of the behavior? and (3) Do stated cause and perceived seriousness of behavior interact in determining the degree of responsibility normal individuals attribute to deviant individuals. The results of this study indicated that there is a significant relationship between the perceived seriousness and degree of responsibility attributed to deviant individuals. More specifically, the paranoid schizophrenic individual, rated as the most serious, was seen as significantly less responsible than the less serious depressed neurotic or phobic compulsive individual. No significant main effect was found for the stated cause of behavior and no significant interaction, cause by perceived seriousness, was found. These results provide support for the notion that perceived seriousness contributes more to the determination of attribution of responsibility than does the stated cause of behavior. The implications of these findings as they relate to psychiatric rehabilitation were discussed as were the limitations of this study which included concerns regarding instrumentation and statistical analysis.

Suicide and accidents are the leading causes of death among American Indian (AI) adolescents. Engaging in health-compromising behaviors (HCB) is higher among AI youth than among multicultural, national samples of adolescents. These HCBs include: smoking, drinking alcohol, drug use, and delinquency. Studies that identify legitimate predictors of these behaviors among AI adolescents are needed to guide research and interventions. Primary socialization theory (PST) suggests that peer groups, family, and school are the only areas where adolescents are directly taught to accept or reject deviant or normative behavior. Gateway theory indicates that use of certain drugs by adolescents, such as cigarettes or alcohol leads to the use of additional illicit drugs. Both of these theories were investigated in the current study as possible guides to identifying risk factors for HCBs among AI adolescents. The behaviors investigated in this study were alcohol use, cigarette use, illicit drug use, delinquency, suicidality (i.e., ideation and behaviors), and self-protection (seatbelt and helmet use) at Time 2. Predictor variables included behaviors and intrapersonal factors at Time 1 (one year earlier). All variables came from measurements provided by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Multiple linear regressions were calculated for all youth together, males only, and females only to determine which combination of predictors accounted for the most variance in the target behavior. Support was found for PST across behaviors in that variables measuring the primary socialization sources (i.e., peer groups, family members, and involvement with school) were significantly predictive ofHCBs one year later in all regressions calculated. Little support was found for gateway theory regarding substance use, as experimentation with alcohol and cigarettes at Time 1 was not predictive of illicit drug use at Time 2. There were 398 self-identified AI adolescents at Time 1, and 298 at Time 2, included in this study. There were 175 females and 123 males, ranging in age from 13 to 20 at Time 2. One limitation of this study is that all information was obtained via selfreport. Other limitations, implications for future research, and areas for prevention or intervention with AI youth are discussed.

This thesis summarizes a study conducted to explore the relationship between emotional intelligence and adolescent deviancy. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the relation between 1) overall emotional intelligence plus its subscales and overall normative deviant behavior, and 2) emotional intelligence subscales and subscales of a deviancy measure. Tapia's Emotional Intelligence Inventory (Eli) and Vazsonyi's Normative Deviancy Scale (NDS) were used to measure the two variables of this study. Subjects included 152 high school students, aged 14-18, from a small city in Northern Utah. One hundred seventeen students came from a local high school comprising grades 10-12 and a junior high school comprising grade 9. The remaining 35 students attended an alternative high school, which comprised grades 9-12. Findings reveal that overall emotional intelligence was not correlated with overall deviant behavior. Two subscales of Eli, handling relationships and self-control, were statistically significant in relation to the vandalism, general deviance, and assault subscales of the NDS. Results may be contingent on the type of sample obtained and testing procedures. Further research is needed to validate these fin dings.

No description available.

This study examines the ways in which men who relate sexually to children, identified in the press as paedophiles, are represented in four leading newspapers in the Republic of Ireland in the period from 2003-2005. Utilising a qualitative research methodology namely critical discourse analysis, a social constructionist approach and informed by post-structural perspectives, this research examines the ways in which the masculinities of the man represented as `the paedophile¿ are constructed. This research demonstrates how the normative is reinforced through the delegitimation of the masculinities of these men. The discursive regimes and cultural scenarios drawn upon in representations of `the paedophile¿ reflect degrees of deviation from hegemonic masculinity in an always already `deviant¿ group of men. Inactive heterosexuality and homosexuality are not hegemonic masculine practices, and the masculinity of supposedly, celibate clergymen and homosexual men is discursively subordinated. A consideration of the material dimensions of these discourses, illustrates how the media representation of men who relate sexually to children, confirms the normative contours of society and strategically excludes hegemonic masculinity and the wider society from association with adult male sexual interaction with children.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-125).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leave 115-125). Also available in print.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences