SOC 034 Deviant Behaviour

INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRIAL SOCIAL WORK
(SOC034)
DEVIANT BEHAVIOR IN THE WORKPLACE
Deviant behavior in the workplace refers to actions by employees that violate organizational norms
and expectations, and can range from minor infractions to more serious misconduct.
Understanding and addressing deviant behavior is important for maintaining a positive work
environment and promoting productivity. Here are some aspects to consider:
1. Types of Deviant Behavior:
A. Minor Infractions: This can include behaviors such as tardiness, excessive personal use of
technology, or gossiping.
b. Serious Misconduct: This may involve theft, fraud, harassment, sabotage, or intentional
violations of company policy.
2. Causes:
a. Individual Factors: People’s personalities, values, and attitudes can influence their behavior in
the workplace. For example, employees with low moral development might be more prone to
deviant behavior.
b. Organizational Factors: Issues such as poor leadership, inadequate communication, ambiguous
rules, or a toxic work culture can contribute to deviant behavior.

3. Impact:
a. Workplace Environment: Deviant behavior can lead to tension, mistrust, and lower morale
among employees.
b. Organizational Performance: It can also have a negative impact on productivity, quality of
work, and overall organizational performance.
4. Addressing Deviant Behavior:
a. Clear Policies and Expectations: Communicating clear expectations and consequences for
deviant behavior can help deter such actions.
b. Employee Support: Providing opportunities for employees to discuss concerns, seek help, and
receive feedback can prevent deviant behavior from escalating.
c. Leadership: Strong and ethical leadership is crucial in setting the tone for acceptable behavior
and enforcing standards consistently.
D. Training and Development: Providing training on ethics, conflict resolution, and stress
management can help employees navigate workplace challenges more effectively.
5. Resolution:
a. Intervention: When deviant behavior is identified, addressing it promptly through counseling,
discipline, or mediation can help mitigate its impact.

b. Continuous Monitoring: Regularly assessing employee satisfaction, conducting ethical audits,
and seeking feedback can help identify issues before they escalate.
6. Legal Considerations:
a. Discrimination and Harassment: It is essential to address any behavior that violates laws
related to discrimination and harassment.
b. Due Process: When addressing deviant behavior, it is important to follow due process and
respect the rights of the employees involved.
In conclusion, deviant behavior in the workplace can have significant consequences for individuals
and organizations. By understanding its causes, impact, and addressing it proactively, employers
can create a more positive and productive work environment.
1. Definition
2. Types andTypology
3. Causes and effect of DeviantBehavior
Definition:
Deviance means departing from usual on accepted standards, especially in social or sexual
behavior. In sociology, deviance describes an action or disposition that violates social norms,
including formally enacted rules as well as informal violation of social norms, non-conformity.
DEVIANT BEHAVIOR
It can be defined as a voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and in
doing so threatens the well-being of the organization or its members. There are other names for
identifying deviant behavior such as:
• Counterproductive Behavior
• Anti-social Behavior
• Workplace Incivility
Note: Workplace Incivility means rude or unsocial able speech or behavior, lacking good manner
or respect for others
There are Positive and Negative Deviant Behavior

Positive Deviant Behavior: A banker (marketer) using her body to get customers from big
organizations.
Negative Deviant Behavior
• Absenteeism
• Withdrawal
• Withhold effort: Not doing your skills, preventing yourself from doing something that
will take your place, skills
• TYPES AND TYPOLOGY OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

Classification of types is called Typology by Robinson S.L, and Bennett R 1995
INTERPERSONAL
Showing favoritism can be minor and serious. Minor; in an office (knowing it and getting
promotion serious, not knowing it and getting promoted
CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

Causes- Organizational Related Factors
This means the organization that promotes deviant behavior.
1. Organizational Climate: It has to do with the working condition of the organization as
well as the organizational rules and regulations. That is, the circumstances that surround the
organization e.g., malfunction of some important facilities like fans, stuffy organization. These
facilities have a way of either promoting or diminishing production of work processes. Distance
of the organizationlocation.
2. Trust in Organization: This refers to a situation whereby an individual does not have
trust in the management and this can bring about exhibition of deviant behavior by the
organizational workers. It is important to carry workersalong.
3. Perceived Organizational Support: When the workers perceive that the organization's
management does not provide support to workers, when there's an occurrence of any negative
event. The workers are likely to experience e.g .A worker is ill and does not get medical support
from the organization management.
4. Work Related Factors: When a worker is stressed or organizationally abused, he/she

is liable to deviate.
5. Perceived Justice: It has to do with partial treatment of workers, this can bring
about jealousy, among workers and result in deviant behavior.
6. Powerlessness: When an individual is involved in a job an does not have a say in work
processes, this can make a worker deviate. If the management does not allow workers to
participate in decision making, the workers will feel they’re not recognized and that the
management imposes rules and production regulation.
CONSEQUENCES OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

1. High Financial Cost of Production: When the management does not give support or care
for workers or even pay attention to workers complaints it is more likely to lead to conflicts
among workers, and this can cause the management unnecessary financial constraint.
2. High Turnover: This has to do with constant changing or replacing of workers. High
turnover is likely to occur when there is unjust treatment of workers or maltreatment of
workers. Ill treatment of industrial workers can make them leave or resign excessively.
3. Low productivity: It refers to a situation whereby an organization experiences low

productivity as a result of lack of support from the management.It is possible for the workers to
decrease or withhold production effort.
Solution: Getting information from workers or co-workers.
ETHICS IN THE WORKPLACE

Work ethics refers to principal ways at which management of an organization expects workers
to follow. It can also be referred to as a positive mental principle guiding an organization.
Furthermore, it can be referred to as positive or negative rules or laws that govern the
behavior or conducts of the workers. It refers to principles relating to right and wrong conduct. It
also refers to standards that govern the conduct of workers in an organization.
It is application of Moral Principles, Standard of behavior or Set of Values, regulating proper
conduct in a workplace as individuals and also in a group setting.
Ethics allows workers to distinguish between what is right or wrong
RELATIONSHIP AND ETHICS

It has to do with the relationship that exists between people’s welfare in the organization.
• Customers and service providers
• Relationship ‘between colleagues and employers
• Relationship between management and supervisor
Communication is very vital among management, employees, customers in order to extend
respect to each other within the organization. This helps to promote relationships that are based on
Honesty and Integrity.
Examples of Good workplace Ethics
• Staying productive
• Taking initiatives
• Blowing the whistle
• Being punctual
• Taking pride in your work.
How to Encourage Good work Ethics

1. Fair consequences: If a particular worker should be disciplined, consequences have to
be fair and equal to the offensecommitted
2. Fair treatment: The management should be able to treat workers equally in the
organizationirrespectiveofanypersonalrelationshipexistingbetweenthemanagementand
anyworker
3. Recognition: Commendation if any worker exhibits a good behavior or portrays
positive attitude, achieve a greattask.
4. Office Policy: It is important that every office has a policy that should be followed or
observed by workers. It refers to the guideline so fan office. This brings about exhibition of
good behaviors by workers and promotes orderliness in theorganization
5. Transparency
6. There must be training for workers to make thembetter
7. There must be existence of constructivefeedback
Examples of Poor work Ethics

1. Lateness
2. Laziness
3. Absenteeism
4. Withholdingefforts
5. Unethical decisionmaking
6. Sexualharassment
7. Irresponsibility
8. Aggressiveness
9. Gossiping
10. Disseminating falseinformation
11. Disloyalty
12. Wasting resources, sabotaging equipment that should be used forproduction
13. Lack oftransparency
14. Pessimistic
15. Misusing the company’stime
16. Misappropriate or misuse of public or organization funds anddonations
17. Unnecessaryexcuses
Benefits of Good work Ethic

• Loyalty
• Desirable workenvironment
• Good work producesresults
• Good officemorale
• Build goodreferences
• Brings about growthexpansion
Bad work Ethics

• Abuse of computerprivileges
• Blackmailing oforganization
• Taking on roles that are not under your jobtitle
• Ignoring problems that organization might befacing
Justification of Bad workEthics
1. Everybody doesit
2. It is not part of my jobdescription
3. Nobody is going to noticeit
4. I don’t get paidenough
5. Unrealistic expectation of what the jobentails.
DEFINITION OF WORK LIFE BALANCE

Work life balance can be defined as the effective management of duties and responsibilities at
work, home and other aspects of one’s life.
It is also the measure of control people have about when, where and how the satisfaction and good
functioning at work and at home with minimal role conflicts.
When there’s an equality between an individual's work activities, duties and family life. It does
not have to do with females alone but also with males.
Work life balance is the global assessment that work resources and family resources are
sufficient to meet work and family demands such that participation is effective at both domains.
For instance, provision of resources like driver or house maid to assist wife with household
activities in order to bring about reduction of stress.
Work life balance does not mean equal balance. But it is about adjusting working patterns to
allow employees to combine work with other responsibilities or other duties. The organization
can also contribute to work life balance by establishing recreation centers in work places like tea
spots to ease off stress.
Work life balance also means the amount of time you spend doing your job compared with the
amount of time you spend with your family doing things you enjoy.
Why are we interested in Work Life Balance?
1. Because there are rising competitions amongorganizations
2. Agingworkforce
3. SophisticatedTechnology
4. Increasingdualincomefamilyalongwithgreaternumberofwomenenteringthe
workforce
5. Increase in the number of singleparents.
6. Popularity of part time and casualwork.
Advantages of Work Life Balance

1. Increased inproductivity
2. Less instances of sickness andabsenteeism
3. Staffs feeling valued that their personal and family life isimportant
4. Increase in employee’s commitment, loyalty, andmotivation.
5. Reductioninstaff’sturnoverandminimizedrecruitmentcost
6. A happier and a less stress workforce

SOC 034 Deviant Behaviour

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INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRIAL SOCIAL WORK

DEVIANT BEHAVIOR IN THE WORKPLACE

environment and promoting productivity. Here are some aspects to consider:

1. Types of Deviant Behavior:

violations of company policy.

b. Organizational Factors: Issues such as poor leadership, inadequate communication, ambiguous

rules, or a toxic work culture can contribute to deviant behavior.

b. Organizational Performance: It can also have a negative impact on productivity, quality of

work, and overall organizational performance.

4. Addressing Deviant Behavior:

deviant behavior can help deter such actions.

receive feedback can prevent deviant behavior from escalating.

and enforcing standards consistently.

management can help employees navigate workplace challenges more effectively.

a. Intervention: When deviant behavior is identified, addressing it promptly through counseling,

discipline, or mediation can help mitigate its impact.

related to discrimination and harassment.

respect the rights of the employees involved.

can create a more positive and productive work environment.

There are Positive and Negative Deviant Behavior

• TYPES AND TYPOLOGY OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

4. Work Related Factors: When a worker is stressed or organizationally abused, he/she

CONSEQUENCES OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

3. Low productivity: It refers to a situation whereby an organization experiences low

Solution: Getting information from workers or co-workers.

ETHICS IN THE WORKPLACE

RELATIONSHIP AND ETHICS

How to Encourage Good work Ethics

Examples of Poor work Ethics

Benefits of Good work Ethic

Bad work Ethics

DEFINITION OF WORK LIFE BALANCE

Advantages of Work Life Balance

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