Not all deviance is criminal: deviance in everyday life and the development of a non-criminal deviance scale

The field of deviance generally encompasses two major forms of deviant behavior: Formal and informal deviance. Formal deviance refers to acts that violate a law, while informal deviance refers to acts that violate a social norm. Yet, as a total proportion of deviance in a given society, formal devia...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mowen, Thomas J. (Author)
Contributors: Heitkamp, Amanda ; Schroeder, Ryan D.
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2023
In: Deviant behavior
Year: 2023, Volume: 44, Issue: 12, Pages: 1806-1824
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Keywords:
Devianz
Legalverhalten
Skalierbarkeit
deviantes Verhalten
Description
Summary:The field of deviance generally encompasses two major forms of deviant behavior: Formal and informal deviance. Formal deviance refers to acts that violate a law, while informal deviance refers to acts that violate a social norm. Yet, as a total proportion of deviance in a given society, formal deviance - crime - is rare. While the focus on crime is warranted, it has resulted in far less quantitative assessment and understanding of informal deviance. The goal of this study is to develop and test a quantitative scale called the non-criminal deviance scale (NCDS). Drawing from expert evaluations, we create a 13-item NCDS, then test it against theoretically informed covariates using a sample of 780 young adults. Findings reveal key constructs (e.g. self-control, age) influence variations in the NCDS. Results demonstrate that much like scales used in crime research, non-criminal deviance can also be captured quantitatively via a scale. Given the relatively common nature of informal deviance - particularly compared to formal deviance - this is a crucial first step in understanding general patterns in non-criminal deviant behaviors.
Item Description:Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 1819-1822
Physical Description:Diagramm
ISSN:1521-0456
DOI:10.1080/01639625.2023.2234069