Disintegration of the family in the etiology of deviant behaviorJarosz, Maria
doi: 10.1080/01639625.1980.9967539pmid: N/A
The research discussed in this paper concerns the dysfunctional syndrome in problem families In Poland that causes maladjustment and deviant behavior of children. Those people shirking payment of alimony for children were surveyed. The results demonstrated that such families experience much worse material and housing conditions than average Polish families and that this syndrome of psychological, social, and material factors is associated with a high incidence of juvenile maladjustment and delinquency. Moreover, different kinds of deviant behavior of children tend to form a complex of syndromes. In only a few cases do they appear separately.
Attributions of dangerousness and stigmatizationBobys, Richard S.
doi: 10.1080/01639625.1980.9967540pmid: N/A
This study empirically assesses whether the attribution of dangerousness to a deviant group can be justified as a valid contributing factor to the stigmatization of that group. The research hypothesis is that the greater the public attribution of dangerousness to a deviant group, the greater the group members are stigmatized in public opinion. Respondents to a mail questionnaire (N = 150) were asked to rate the dangerousness of and the degree to which they stigmatized members of eight different deviant groups: recovered alcoholics, ex‐mental hospital patients, ex‐patients of psychiatrists, ex‐murder convicts, ex‐shoplifters, ex‐homosexuals, recovered drug addicts, and ex‐tuberculosis patients. A newspaper and magazine search for articles depicting incidents that pertained to the phenomenon under study was also conducted. Analysis of data from both the questionnaire and newspaper/magazine search strongly support the dangerousness‐stigmatization hypothesis. Implications of the findings are discussed.
Is neutralization necessary for criminal behavior?Sheley, Joseph F.
doi: 10.1080/01639625.1980.9967542pmid: N/A
Criminological theories currently place much emphasis on neutralization of norms, i.e., extension or distortion of norms to allow guilt‐free infraction, as a key element in criminal behavior. This paper examines the major assumptions underlying the neutralization thesis and a critical alternative thesis, which argues that criminal beliefs rather than neutralizations permit criminal actions. Analysis of data from a sample of college students calls into question the neutralization theory assumption of homogeneity of moral values in this society. The alternative thesis is supported by the finding of variation in moral values and its link to differential criminal involvement. It is argued that this evidence precludes the need for a concept such as neutralization to account for criminal behavior.
Book reviewsSouth, Donald R.; Davidson, J. Kenneth; Decker, Frederic H.; Sagarin, Edward; Globetti, Gerald
doi: 10.1080/01639625.1980.9967544pmid: N/A
Hostility and Aggression by Dolf Zillmann Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1979, 422 pages, $24.95. Sexually Abused Children by David Finkelhor New York: The Free Press, 1979, $13.95, cloth. Damnation and Deviance: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Failure by Mordechai Rotenberg New York: The Free Press, 1978, 232 pages, $12.95. Prison Sexual Violence by Daniel Lockwood New York, Elsevier, 1980,179 pages, $12.95, cloth. Ethnic Drinking Subcultures by Andrew Greeley, William McGready, and Gary Theisen New York, Praeger, 1980,138 pages.