University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Doctoral Dissertations Student Scholarship Spring 1985 TOWARD A THEORY OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE DRUANN MARIA HECKERT University of New Hampshire, Durham Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation Recommended Citation HECKERT, DRUANN MARIA, "TOWARD A THEORY OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE" (1985). Doctoral Dissertations. 1450. https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1450 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. 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Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 / Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 8521496 Heckert, Druann Maria TOWARD A THEORY OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE University of New Hampshire Ph.D. 1985 University Microfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TOWARD A THEORY OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE BY DRUANN MARIA HECKERT B.A. (Political Science, Sociology), Frostburg State College, 1976 M.A. (Sociology), University of Delaware, 1980 A DISSERTATION Submitted to the University of New Hampshire in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy i n Sociology May, 1985 )i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. This dissertation has been examined and approved. Dissertation director, Stuart H. Palmer, Professor of Sociology and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Bud B. Khleif, Professor of Arnold S. Linsky, Professor of Sociology Solomon Poll, Professor of Sociology L. Diller, Professor of Education X w / Robert M. Mennell, Professor of History Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To my mother and her mother To my father and his father Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Tennyson so simply stated, "I am a part of all that I have met." I feel blessed to have met some very gracious people in my life. I am very grateful to have been so fortunate in this respect. In the first place, I must express my sincere thanks to the member of my committee. I am very grateful for the help of each of the members of my committee. Dean Stuart Palmer has been a consistent source of help on this project since the beginning. I respect him and deeply appreciate the calm and always professional manner in which he has offered invaluable help on this dissertation and in my graduate program at the University of New Hampshire. Dr. Solomon Poll has also been a continual source of academic inspiration. Dr. Poll is not only a brilliant professor, but also a truly remarkable individual. Dr. Bud Khleif has also been a constant source of important, intriguing, and insightful ideas. I admire his abilities to allow students to pursue standards of excellence as well as his keen sense of humor. Dr. Linsky has also been kind enough to lis te n on several occassions. iv i i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Page 2 In addition, I am grateful for the helpful attitudes of almost all of the people associated with the department. More s p e c ific a lly , I want to especially thank Kim Vogt for a ll of her extreme patience and instruction in regard to matters related to computers. Considering the fact that prior to utilizing the computer for my dissertation, I thought that the only personally sig n ifican t reason for the existence of computers was to play video games when extremely bored, this was an impressive accomplishment. I must also thank the many great people that I have met at UNH. I especially want to thank the following very special friends: Mary Sullivan, Janet Gravallesse, Emily LaFalce, Gladys Gonzalez, Joe Figa, Evelyn LaBree, Sima Farshi, Mimi Kotell, Marion Donnenwirth, Kim Vogt, Karen Geuther, Brooke Izzat, .P Sreekumar, Jennifer S a v ille , and Chuck D arnell. F in a lly , I must thank my family; my parents, my Aunt Maggie, my brothers and their wives and children (Paul, Sue Jessica, Corina, Alan, Debbie, Alex, Gale), and my extremely talented young s is te r, Diane, who keeps me on my toes. What can I say? They are a ll very good people and they have always been there. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION....................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................ iV,V ABSTRACT.........................................................viii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION............................................. II. DEFINITIONS OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE................................................ 6 Definitions of Deviance (i.e., Negative Deviance)..... 6 The Debate Over the Existence of the Concept of Positive Deviance....................................... 9 Discussions of Positive Deviance...................... 10 Discussions of Positive Deviance (Using Other Terminology............................................ 11 Definitions of Positive Deviance (Using a Norm-Violation Approach............................................... 17 Definitions of Positive Deviance (Using an Interactionist Approach)...............................18 Definitions of Positive Deviance (Specifying One Type of Behavior............................................ 27 A Definition of Positive Deviance..................... 29 III. THE RELATIVITY OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE......................32 The Transition from Negative to Positive Deviance: The French Impressionists..................................36 Positive Deviance as an Originally Applied Label: The Institutionalization of Science....................... 43 Conclusions............................................ 49 IV. A TYPOLOGY OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE V. INNOVATION AS A FORM OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE............... 57 Acceptance of Innovations..............................61 Innovations and Innovators as Positive Deviance and Positive Deviants...................................... 66 Conclusions............................................ 74 VI. ALTRUISM AS A FORM OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE................. 76 Altruism............................................... 76 ! An Historical Note..................................... 76 i iI i v i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Definitions of Prosocial Behavior and Altruism........ 78 Altruism as Positive Deviance........................ 83 Altruists as Positive Deviance........................88 Conclusion............................................ 95 VII. SUPRA-CONFORMITY AS A FORM OF POSITIVE DEVIANCE........ 97 Supra-Conformity...................................... 98 Supra-Conformity as Positive Deviance............... 105 Supra-Conformists as Positive Deviants.............. 115 Conclusion..........................................