In the study of sociology, loner deviant behaviors have always had a stigma to them. Loners are often seen in a negative light, since people are usually defined as social creatures. Deviance has always fallen in the same negative category as well. A deviant, is a person who purposely violates social norms through actions or behaviors (Macionis & Gerber, 2010). Deviance usually results to a casting out of sorts, whether the deviant ends up casting himself out of society or society intentionally casts the deviant out. Loner deviants are said to participate in deviant acts without social support.
That notion has changed with emergence of the Internet and social media. It is difficult to imagine loner deviants engaging in any subcultures. However,…show more content… It is definitely not a typical association, but it is possible for deviance and positivity to have some common ground. Individuals who describe themselves as loner deviants have used social media to find like-minded peers in order to create some common effort. Social media and interaction has also allowed the formation of groups such as the Positive Deviance Initiative or PDI. The PDI is an organization whose mission is to solve community problems worldwide using the ideas observed from positive deviant behaviors to affect social change. Loner deviant people are able to think outside the box and are therefore able to come up with unique solutions to problems that are otherwise unsolvable to their peers (“About Positive,”…show more content… Most loner deviants who engage in negative behaviors are more likely to assume loner behaviors than their positive counterparts. They partake in deviant activities and behaviors in relative isolation from other similar participants while doing it in a larger context at the same time.
In the case of negative behavior, most of the time, the loner deviant is the one who initiates negative behavior, but he is also the target of such behavior. The negative act of a loner deviant basically has no victims and no one else to blame but himself. Negative loner deviant behaviors are essentially the same as self-mutilating behaviors. Some examples of loner deviants include the homeless, anorexics and bulimics, depressed individuals, and the mentally ill. Although these predispositions are solitary, individuals are still able to come together on basis of deviant connections (Grills,