By Edwin Cooney
Back in 1992 New York, United States Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a giant of a man physically, spiritually and intellectually, was invited to give an address at the inauguration of the newly elected president of the American Sociological Association. Both a historian and a sociologist (in addition also a politician) Moynihan's topic that day was our tendency to “define deviancy down” (or deviant behavior) in order to cope with it. For the last two weeks or so, I've given that observation a lot of thought and so I've decided to share my understanding of what "defining deviancy down" is all about.
Deviancy is behavior that's often both troublesome and hard to handle. As you can imagine, deviancy is one of the most constant threads that runs through history not only here in the United States, but throughout the world. As I understand it, “defining deviancy down” is occasionally both necessary as well as beneficial to the community. Keep in mind that deviant behavior may be viewed as "bad behavior," but it's far from always being criminal behavior since deviant behavior can be brought on by the attitudes, mores, and prejudices of society.
During the first 50 years of our republic, chronic indebtedness meant jail time and ruined countless careers and lives. That was because 16th and 17th century indebtedness meant a loss of profit to everyone. Today, we encourage people to go into debt. We buy and sell debt because debt can be quite profitable to those who are sufficiently enterprising!
The questions for me are multiple. Is defining deviancy down always unwise? Can it be a good thing? Are parents, teachers, preachers, siblings, or politicians more likely to define deviancy down in order to cope with it? (My guess is that siblings are least likely to put up with deviant behavior! Offended young brothers and sisters demand justice and even retribution for offensive or bad behavior!)
As a student of history, I've lately been examining historic events that most indicate our tendency to define deviancy down. Above I mentioned Colonial Era indebtedness as an example of deviant behavior that once was a sin but something we actually encourage today.
Pat Moynihan says that we occasionally alter our reaction to certain types of behavior for altruistic reasons. However, he insists that failure to conscientiously and systematically recognize societal deviancies is the reason why one in every three black men is under the supervision of the Department of Corrections, something that is invariably damaging to society. Broken families translate into broken communities. Here are a few historic events where failure to cope with deviant behavior has been catastrophic.
In late February of 1877, President Ulysses S. Grant, President-elect Rutherford B. Hayes, and the Republican Party leadership swapped the fate of free Blacks in the South for political victory in the seriously contested 1876 presidential election. That swap ended the era of Reconstruction and inaugurated the era of “Jim Crow.” Powerful elements of that era remain a part of 21st Century America.
In his book "The Gathering Storm,” Winston Churchill writes that had Britain, France and other League of Nations countries militarily responded to Adolf Hitler's March 7th, 1936 occupation of the Ruhr Valley (which was located between Germany and France in violation of the Versailles and Locarno treaties), it's likely that the German generals’ aristocracy might have removed Hitler from power. The Ruhr Valley was officially part of Germany. Hence European and other League of Nations officials minimized Hitler's violation by asserting that all he really did was to go into his own back yard! Hitler claimed that the 48 hour period over the weekend of March 7th, 1936 was the most anxious period of his time as Germany's Führer.
Two presidents, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, have escaped conviction in the United States Senate largely due to the unwillingness of their own party leaders to hold them to the high standards of behavior while in office.
I'm convinced that President Clinton was guilty of obstructing justice and I like to believe I'd have voted to convict him were I a member of the Senate. As for Mr. Trump, what's more bothersome than his personal fate is the almost complete lack of either truth or patriotism on the part of the leadership of the GOP.
What's most interesting and revealing about the late Senator Moynihan's categorization of the effect of deviant behavior is how often you and I individually invariably indulge in “defining deviancy down.”
I once knew a couple who, as much as they opposed abortion, insisted that their daughter should have one when she became pregnant due to her disability. Looking back over the years I was a parent, I know that I tended to minimize the significance of my sons' behavior because by that minimization I could more easily handle it.
What's most illuminating about Senator Moynihan's observation and categorization of deviant behavior is how much more I now understand about human nature, my country, and myself!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
No comments:
Post a Comment