Problem Behavior Theory: Initial Formulation for the Tri-Ethnic Community Study
This chapter is a summary of the theoretical approach and the findings of The Tri-Ethnic Community Study initiated in 1960 in a small community in the Rocky Mountain west made up of Native Americans (Indians), long-time Spanish American residents, and Ang
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Problem Behavior Theory: Initial Formulation for the Tri-Ethnic Community Study Richard Jessor, Theodore D. Graves, Robert C. Hanson, and Shirley L. Jessor
In this book (Jessor, Graves, Hanson, & Jessor, 1968) we have sought to inform the reader about what we have done and how we went about our work. We described the initial problem which we assumed as the explanatory objective, the concepts we used in a theoretical formulation, the stance we took with respect to field research, the measures devised and the studies in which they were employed, and, finally, the results that were obtained. A review of these various aspects should be useful at this point; discussion of problems and issues raised by the research and some of its limitations and implications will follow.
A Brief Overview The research began with the task of accounting for the differential rates of occurrence of problem behavior, especially heavy alcohol use, among three ethnic groups in a small rural community in southwestern Colorado. Although members of the community were ready with their own “explanations,” and although there were several obvious vantage points from which an investigation might begin, it seemed clear that the situation provided a natural laboratory in which a general theory of Reprinted with permission from: Jessor, R., Graves, T. D., Hanson, R. C., & Jessor, S. L. (1968). Chapter 13: “Overview and appraisal of theory and findings.” In R. Jessor, T. D. Graves, R. C. Hanson & S. L. Jessor, Society, personality, and deviant behavior: A study of a tri-ethnic community (pp. 407–421). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. T.D. Graves • R.C. Hanson • S.L. Jessor (deceased) R. Jessor () Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA e-mail: [email protected] © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 R. Jessor, The Origins and Development of Problem Behavior Theory, Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40886-6_3
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deviance-conformity might be developed and put to test. The accomplishment of such an objective required a conceptual analysis of the behavior involved and of the factors, in both the person and the situation, which might be important influences upon it. Our first concern was to recognize the essential continuity between deviance and conformity and to assume that an explanation focused at either pole must have implications for the other. What this implied was that deviant behavior, like any other, was best treated as learned, purposive, goal oriented, in short, as adaptive action requiring no special principles to account for its occurrence beyond those required for social behavior in general. The central issue became that of explaining not deviance per se but the occurrence of deviant rather than some other, that is, conforming, behavior. Stated otherwise, the problem was to account for selection or choice among possible adaptive alternatives. In this light, the selection of deviant behavioral adaptations, despite the ult
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