A specific number sociological theories and empirical studies suggest that
deviant identity is the result of being formally or informally sanctioned by social
audiences. The process by which individuals develop a deviant identity has been
well documented by the literature. Most of this literature has linked the
development of a deviant identity to the performance of deviant behavior. There is
less evidence documenting the maleficent effects of bearing personal deviant
characteristics such as stigmatizing health conditions, and/or being an involuntary
member of a group socially defined as deviant (e.g. being the child of an alcoholic
parent) in the development of a deviant identity. It is also noteworthy that,
although parenting has been the focus of hundreds of studies examining deviant
behavior and its consequences for individuals and their families, researchers rarely
have been concerned with the effects of parenting in the development of a deviant
self-concept.
This dissertation examines the effects of parental emotional support on the
development of a deviant identity by using a longitudinal data set that incorporates
information of adolescents aged 12-19 who report their race, gender, level of selfesteem,
parental relations, parental deviant behavior/characteristics, and peers
and teacher stigmatization. Various models were estimated to test whether the
relationship between deviance and deviant identity was significant, the mediating
effects of stigmatization by peers and by teachers, and the moderating effect of both
maternal and paternal emotional support on the development of a deviant identity.
The results indicate that both maternal and paternal emotional support
moderated the effect of maternal deviance but not the effect of paternal deviance.
In the case of personal deviance, however, maternal deviance tended to increase as
opposed to decrease deviant identity. Paternal emotional support did not moderate
the effect of health limitations but it did diminish the effect of contact with the
police. These findings were independent of the effects of gender, race,
socioeconomic status, age, family structure, and earlier deviant identity. The
implications and significance of these findings are discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2010-05-7748 |
| Date | 2010 May 1900 |
| Creators | Espinoza Sandoval, Evelyn Janeth |
| Contributors | Kaplan, Howard B. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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