Suffering, Sacrifice and Stigma
Clare Gerada, Zaid Al-Najjar in Beneath the White Coat, 2020
In the sociological literature stigma invariably appears as part of a trinity, that is deviance, labelling and stigma. It is worth looking at these before examining the issue of stigma in doctors specifically. Being ‘normal’ is a socially constructed and negotiated process, via norms of conduct, values and behaviours. It is through adherence to these that individuals obtain membership of their social groups. There is undoubtedly tremendous variability in social norms, but the designation of stigma involves the boundaries between membership and non-membership based on conformity. Becker observed:Social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance and by applying these rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders ... deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits but rather a consequence of the application by others of the rules and sanctions to an offender.19
The Drug Choice
Albert A. Kurland, S. Joseph Mulé in Psychiatric Aspects of Opiate Dependence, 2019
Hawks et al.13 have suggested that any “universality” that exists to explain the selectiveness of drug dependence resides in the relationship between variables rather than in one variable itself. The complexity of the problem and the long-term studies that may have to be undertaken to resolve major aspects of the mechanism contributing to the deviant behavior are suggested by such studies as those of Robins and Murphy.14 Studying a normal population of Black urban boys, they found that the earlier the individual begins using drugs the greater the risk of his progressing to heroin or amphetamines, of his eventually using more and stronger drugs, and of his becoming a regular user or an addict. Poor high school attendance and dropping out before graduation were related to moving from marijuana to a more serious drug. Delinquency was a predictor of high risk of subsequent heroin use or addiction. The combination of an absent father, delinquency, or dropping out of high school characterized a group of Black boys having a high risk of addiction. Observations such as these have often been replicated, emphasizing the complex and subtle psychological factors encouraging the drug propensity.
Addictive Behavior in Women: A Theoretical Perspective
Bernard Segal, Caesar Korolenko in Addictive Disorders in Arctic Climates, 2014
One form of deviant behavior is addictive behavior. Addictive behavior may be defined as a desire to escape from reality by means of changing one's mental state, usually achieved by using substances with narcotic effects, including alcohol. Such an alteration of consciousness, however, is not limited to using drugs. Prolonged listening to rhythmically accentuated music, for example, or psychological exercises (meditation, yoga), can also induce an altered state of consciousness to help an individual escape from reality. Other forms of addictive behavior involve gambling or eating, either of which is qualitatively and quantitatively different from drug use or self-induced psychological change. As such, alcoholism and other forms of drug abuse both represent different forms of the overall problem of addictive behavior, which itself is a representation of the much broader problem of deviant behavior.
Social Control of Deviance and Knowledge in Social Work from an Anti-oppressive Perspective
Published in Journal of Progressive Human Services, 2021
For constructivists, on the other hand, “child abuse and neglect” cannot be studied without taking in consideration the process through which certain behaviors are labeled “deviant” (conflict perspective). Analysis should shift from the behaviors and the characteristic of people who break rules to the process through which some individuals are defined as deviants by others. This shift leads a researcher to problematize what is generally taken for granted (Kitsuse, 1983), in our case, the systems of norms and values that should regulate the behavior of adequate parents. Becker (1966, pp. 8–9) gives a highly effective statement of the constructivist view of deviance: “(…) it is created by society. I do not mean this in the way it is ordinarily understood, in which the causes of deviance are located in the social situation of the deviant or in “social factors” which prompt his action. I mean, rather, that social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an “offender.” The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label”.
Silences around occupations framed as unhealthy, illegal, and deviant
Published in Journal of Occupational Science, 2019
Niki C. Kiepek, Brenda Beagan, Debbie Laliberte Rudman, Shanon Phelan
In 1963, Howard Becker published seminal work for labelling theory in social deviance studies. He advocated that human engagement in deviant occupations be studied with the intent of understanding the nature of the phenomenon, considering multiple and contradictory perspectives and situations. He cautioned against efforts to identify an underlying value or truth of the phenomenon. Becker portrayed deviance as an interpretation shaped by societal processes, rather than a quality of the person or occupation. He stated: Social groups create deviance by making the rules whose infraction constitutes deviance, and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them outsiders. From this point of view, deviance is not a quality of the act the person commits, but rather a consequence of the application by others of rules and sanctions to an “offender.” The deviant is one to whom that label has successfully been applied; deviant behavior is behavior that people so label. (p. 9)
Mental disorder and social deviance
Published in International Review of Psychiatry, 2021
Awais Aftab, Mohammed Abouelleil Rashed
Social deviance refers to actions or behaviours that violate social norms, and it has existed for as long as societies and norms have existed in human history. Social norms can be explicit or implicit, formal or informal, and violations of these norms can range anywhere from serious legal crimes to benign violations of etiquette (Goode, 2015). All societies have developed ways of managing social deviance through formal and informal means of social control. The ways in which societies exercise their power for control has received tremendous attention from philosophers, sociologists, ethicists, and criminologists, among others (Goode, 2015). Notions of “madness” and “insanity” have historically been intricately related to social deviance, and the lens of psychopathology is one of the ways by which social deviance has been viewed (Scull, 1977; Szasz, 1997).
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