Deviant Behavior and Associated Factors

Crime is one of the main social issues that affects communities and the population at large. Criminal behavior is linked to deviance, which involves failure to comply with existing rules and norms in society. Considering the increasing rate of crime in the United States, including gun violence, robberies, and cybercrime, a proper understanding of the underlying factors associated with deviant behavior is important for social change stakeholders. Furthermore, deviant behavior and associated factors allow law enforcement personnel to initiate practices that keep communities safe. Community stakeholders need to get a better understanding of deviant behavior and associated factors to tailor strategies based on population issues to improve behavior change and security. This paper will describe factors that influence deviant behavior to inform interventions for change in communities.

Family Relations and Satisfaction

Family members help shape individual perspectives and norms that influence behavior. Effective family relations and support for children help them to develop meaning about issues in life and determine the appropriate behavior. A lack of effective family relationships, for example, poor attachment between the father and children, influences poor satisfaction, which is linked to deviant behavior (Dullas et al. 7). Furthermore, children without close interpersonal relationships with parents fail to comply with existing norms in society, which contributes to negative behaviors. There are many children who engage in crime as a result of poor satisfaction in their families, which requires an individualized family-level approach to facilitate behavior change.

Personality

The individual emotional patterns, behavior, and cognitive characteristics influence their level of adherence to shared norms and existing rules in society. Individuals with negative emotional patterns tend to engage in activities that fail to comply with set guidelines or norms. Furthermore, low levels of openness to new experiences and agreeableness are linked to deviant behavior (Dullas et al. 7). This is because individuals with a willingness to experience new adventures can comply with norms and address their challenges through innovation, which prevents deviant behavior. Proper support to children to create a supportive environment for shared activities and new adventures facilitates appropriate behaviors to prevent deviance.

Peer Influence and Life History

Some factors, like negative peer influence, have a significant effect on deviant behavior. Children and adolescents with bad peer influence, for example, engaging with friends who consume illegal drugs, increase the risk of deviant behavior (Zhu et al. 5). Other factors that contribute to criminal behavior include trauma and high-crime neighborhoods. Individuals who grow up in an environment with drug abuse and violence tend to exhibit deviant behavior. Therefore, proper evaluation of individual friends and life history is important to inform practices for addressing deviant behavior.

In conclusion, this paper highlights unique factors that influence deviant behavior. Family relations and satisfaction are important variables that contribute to deviance. Poor family relations are more likely to trigger behavior change among children. Furthermore, peer influence and personality traits are linked to deviance. Community-level strategies to address crime should focus on parental support, engagement between stakeholders, and interventions that address peer influence.