Abstract
Social psychological perspectives on deviance provide discussions of the nature of deviance and explanations of the definition, antecedents, or consequences of deviance that implicate both personal (behavioral or intrapsychic) and social (interpersonal, group, macrosocial) structures and processes. In this chapter we draw on empirical research and theoretical works conducted in various subfields of social science and on an integrative theory of deviant behavior first fully developed by Kaplan (Patterns of juvenile delinquency, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, 1984) and modified over the course of several decades. While it was not possible to present every theoretical perspective that addresses our social psychological understanding of some aspect of deviant behavior, those perspectives that are widely regarded as most productive as well as a representative sample of the range of perspectives that persist in the literature have been presented. The chapter concludes with some suggestions for ways to advance the social psychological study of deviance in the future.
Howard B. Kaplan, 2003 (original version revised posthumously by Feodor A. Gostjev and Robert J. Johnson). The theoretical foundation laid out by Howard Kaplan is left largely intact from its original publication. This chapter is revised from the earlier version primarily in two ways. First, as Howard noted recently to one of the co-authors, he had renewed a conversation with others about the application of a general theory of deviance to the field of criminology. This chapter extends that conversation. Second, we expand the chapter to include more discussion about the implications for a wider range of methodological issues and how they can be advance or informed by the foundations of the theory. Some of these were mentioned briefly in the original, and Kaplan himself was well-known for his interest in these methodological advances particularly as they related to longitudinal research. We were honored to be asked (by Diane Kaplan) and entrusted with this task (by John Delamater and Amanda Ward) to revise the chapter for this edition of the handbook. However much the reader finds this chapter falls short of the goals to remain faithful to the original theory and indicate its wider applicability both substantively and methodologically, they should attribute it to our shortcomings in the efforts at revision and not necessarily the scholarly strength and merit of the original chapter.
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Kaplan, H.B., Gostjev, F.A., Johnson, R.J. (2013). Social Psychological Perspectives on Deviance. In: DeLamater, J., Ward, A. (eds) Handbook of Social Psychology. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6772-0_19
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