Jonathan L. Freedman, Anthony N. Doob, Leon Festinger (EDT), Stanley Schachter (EDT) Deviancy

Annotation

Deviancy: The Psychology of Being Different discusses the effects of deviancy on behavior. The book describes the effect of deviancy per se, in no reference to any particular deviant characteristic. The authors explain the methods they used in this study, as well as some checks made on the study to insure accuracy. Deviants prefer to associate with others of their kind due to fear of rejection, and they tended not to reveal their deviancy. The authors also discuss how deviants and non-deviants react and treat each other, and the degree of aggression that will be shown to a member of either group when some "fault" is assigned. They also note that 1) non-deviants choose deviants for punishment but not for reward and 2) deviants choose others like them for reward but not for punishment. The authors also show that as regards to a change in attitude, deviants are no different from non-deviants in this aspect. They also report other findings such as conformity (deviants conform less compared to non-deviants), attitude change (no effect), and compliance (depends on the circumstances). The text can prove useful for psychologists, counselors, educators, ministers, and social workers.