Construction Of Deviance

The fourth edition of Constructions of Deviance is a compilation of peer edited articles from multiple authors, addressing social-psychological concepts surrounding deviance. The book is di-vided into ten sections, each section of articles discuss a selected issue related to deviance. It starts with how to define it, established social theories, studying deviance, stigma association, individual verses organizational deviance, and the differences between a deviant act and deviant personality. Deviance is anything that violates a society’s established norms at a given time, both informal and codified. Penalties for violations of such norms range from being considered odd or strange to social condemnation, and even fines or prison. The book makes

The attitudes, behaviors, and conditions that cultures identify as deviance speak to the values that shape a society. Understanding culture is a large part of any military operation, which is exemplified in the military’s use of the PMESII/ASCOP variables in defining an operational environment. Understanding cultural deviance is especially important for those who conduct counterintelligence activities. Cultures consider individuals who commit espionage to deviant and are likely to have other associated deviant thoughts or behaviors. Studies show certain behavioral patterns are associated with the conduct of espionage. Behaviors like patterns of lying, risk-taking/thrill-seeking, vindictiveness, lack of remorse/empathy, manipulativeness, and grandiosity are all deviant behaviors that increase the risk of espionage. The control theory of deviance postulates that a weak societal bond is one of the root causes of deviance. The Defense Personnel and Security Research Center released a report asserting that a weak societal/organizational bond between the society/organization and its members increases the vulnerability to insider espionage. Societies can also consider traits/behaviors some might consider to be positive as deviance. For example, religious belief is generally considered positive in most cultures, however excessive religious belief could exhibit with extremist