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Developed by Leslie Wilkens, this term is used more frequently in
Britain. Deviance amplification refers to the unintended outcome of moral panics or social
policies designed to prevent or reduce deviance.
Typically, the attention given to deviance by the media and
moral entrepreneurs serves to attract new recruits and provides them with a definition of
what the public expects, thus amplifying the amount of deviance in society.
African Delinquency as Social Amplification of
Deviance
Foreign Title: Delinquance africaine comme amplification sociale de la deviance
Journal: Revue internationale de criminologie et de police technique Volume:35
Issue:2
It proposes instead, a look at statistical and morphological aspects of the problem and at
the workings of criminal justice and child protection services. It finds labeling effects
arising from inappropriately criminalized behaviors, from the discretionary practices of
arrest and prosecution authorities, and the absence of diversion alternatives.
Particularly in the cultural milieu of African communities, judges should not be making
disposition decisions regarding status offenders and other less serious forms of juvenile
deviance. A model is proposed, whereby child protection committees would function within
their communities and, in coordination with medical and social assistance agencies,
prescribe appropriate intervention measures in line with indigenous customs. A variety of
measures should be available, including temporary placement with another branch of the
extended family and individualized forms of community service, reparation, and
restitution. A total of 39 footnotes are given. -
ncjrs.gov/app/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=89361
Cycles of Deviance: Structural Change, Moral Boundaries, and Drug Use,
1880-1990
J E Hawdon - Journal: Sociological Spectrum Volume:16 Issue:2 Dated:(April-June 1996)
Pages:183-207
Abstract: The model tracks changes in the structure of deviance, explains when a boundary
crisis will develop, clarifies how the amplification of deviance eventually ends, and
explains how deviant behaviors sometimes become acceptable. The historical data support
the explanation that changing moral definitions and rates of behavior depend on
demographic and economic changes in society. The two drug epidemics that occurred in the
United States since 1880 occurred when structural change expanded pluralism. Contrary to
the common view, moral panics were waged after these epidemics began to subside rather
than during them. In fact, the findings indicate that the rates of deviance as a socially
constructed definition vary inversely with the objective number of persons engaging in the
particular behavior. Figure, footnotes, and 91 references (Author abstract modified) -
ncjrs.gov/app/publications/Abstract.aspx?id=169223
Aggregation and amplification of marginal deviations in the social construction of
personality and maladjustment
GIAN VITTORIO Caprara, Philip G. Zimbardo
Correspondence to GIAN VITTORIO Caprara, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Universita di Roma,
La Sapienza, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy - www3.interscience.wiley.com
Abstract: Some social maladjustment in children is understood from a new perspective
focusing on the cyclical interaction between personality variables and social
psychological processes in the development of risk mechanisms. A profile of originally
marginal deviations between a child and peers on selected behavioural tasks and
personality functioning is a risk indicator of eventual significant perturbations in
social adjustment. The aggregation of reciprocal effects between the child's behaviour and
the reactions of teachers and peers becomes amplified over time into increasingly greater
deviations and more negative reactions. Our multi-causal model centres the at-risk child
within a complex psycho-social system and identifies a series of processes that influence
behaviour along this path of transformation from marginal to significant social deviation.
Empirical support for aspects of this model is emerging from a long-term, longitudinal
study with Italian school children. |
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