Abstract:

A widely used concept in social and forensic psychology, sociology and criminology, social deviance covers a wide variety of behaviours that, broadly defined, divert and deviate individuals from social norms and values. Its scope is much wider than crime, delinquency or criminality, as it includes not only violations of criminal law, but all deviations from socially accepted and desirable behaviour. In the present study, we aimed to collect the perceptions and the way of reporting of convicted criminals serving custodial sentences in a penitentiary in the South-Muntenia Region of Romania on social deviance, in order to raise awareness and prevent recidivism. Nineteen men aged 26 to 50 years participated in the study (M=35.84; SD=8.89). The study was conducted in two phases: the first phase consisted of a qualitative focus group approach and the second phase consisted of a face-to-face interview with each participant. The results of the interviews allowed the identification of major interlinked themes of interest, namely 'rightness-rightness' towards individuals and society, risk factors and self-control. The results are discussed based on the literature.

Keywords:

Social deviance, perceptions, focus group, and prevent recidivism, delinquent population.