Accidents and Social Deviance

Accidents and Social Deviance
Author(s): Edward A. Suchman

Source: Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Mar., 1970), pp. 4-15
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2948283
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Accidents and Social Deviance*
EDWARD A. SUCHMAN
University of Pittsburgh
Based on the theory that one of the functions of social control is to protect the individual from
potentially harmful acts and situations, it was hypothesized that the rejection of social con-
straints would result in a higher incidence of accidental injuries. This hypothesis was tested by
analyzing the frequency of accidental injuries among representative samples of 1,067 high
school and 495 college students in relation to a wide variety of measures of deviant behavior,
attitudes, and self-image obtained through personal interviews and self-administered question-
naires. Statistically significant relationships were found between the frequency of accidental
injuries and a wide range of social factors indicative of deviance.
ALTHOUGH accidents are a major cause the role of social and psychological factors
of injury and death, research in this in accident causation and control (Such-
area has been relatively neglected by both man, 1965). For the most part, these
the medical and the behavioral sciences studies have been limited to rather gross
(Haddon et al., 1964). Despite the fact comparisons of differing accident rates ac-
that accidents are the leading cause of cording to demographic characteristics, per-
death among young people from 1 to 34 sonality traits, and attitudes and values.
years of age, accounting for more than one-The findings have been quite varied, with
half of all deaths in the age group 15 to some studies showing rather large differ-
24 years, we know very little about the ences and others failing to produce any
causal factors related to accidents. To some significant findings (Goldstein, 1964).
extent this dearth of knowledge may be Enough studies have, however, found sig-
attributed to a fatalistic view of accidents nificant relationships between the frequency
as chance events beyond scientific under- of accident occurrence and social and psy-
standing or control. Examination of acci- chological factors to warrant a more so-
dent statistics, however, clearly reveals thatphisticated approach to these factors.
accidental injury and death are not dis-
tributed by chance among the subgroups of
ACCIDENTS AS SOCIAL
the population (Hacker and Suchman,
PATHOLOGY
1963). This differential distribution of ac-
cident rates by social groupings strongly Accidents as a social phenomenon may
suggests the presence of role and status be classified as a form of social pathology.
factors as etiological agents in the occur- Viewing accidents as symptomatic of social
rence of accidents (Gordon, 1949). and personal disorder, MacIver (1961:71)
The search for the causes of accidents claims that "accidents have a significance
has been concentrated on environmental beyond themselves. They are always symp-
factors for the most part, with control pro-
grams aimed largely at eliminating or
Dr. Suchman's paper was one of the rare manu-
-safety-proofing physical hazards. While scripts that the Editorial Board advised be ac-
there is no doubt that this approach is cepted without revisions. The referees of the
essential to accident prevention, it has paper,
be- however, made a number of suggestions to
Dr. Suchman, and along with the letter of ac-
come increasingly evident that accidental
ceptance they were communicated to him. As
injuries and death continue to occur re- was typical of Dr. Suchman, his response was that
gardless of such environmental controls. any paper could be improved, and he asked for
This fact has led to a growing interest inan opportunity to take into account the sug-
gestions. Unfortunately, his untimely death pre-
* This analysis was conducted with Public vented his doing so. The Journal is privileged to
Health Service support from the National Centerpublish the manuscript as originally submitted.
for Urban and Industrial Health, Injury ControlIts Editor is responsible for reviewing the copy-
Program. editing and subsequent processing.
4
ACCIDENTS AND SOCIAL DEVIANCE 5
tomatic of disorder in a particular dynamic of deviance may also be usefully applied

system . . . the occurrence of accidents to accident research. To the extent that the
. . . is an unerring signal that something community has institutionalized certain
or someone is not functioning properly." safe modes of behavior, departures from
Porterfield (1960) has demonstrated that these may be viewed as aberrant behavior."
the accident rate is significantly associated Patterson also views accidents as a form
with other indices of social pathology, such of deviant behavior and hypothesizes that
as suicide, homicide, and crime. He charac- there is a threshold of conforming behavior
t*arizes motor vehicles, which constitute the beyond which an individual enters into
most important single agent of accidental accident-inducing situations. These thresh-
injuries and death, as "deadly weapons" olds are established by the social group in
and sees them as a reflection of an under- terms of accepted patterns of safe and un-
lying social pathology. To some extent ac- safe behavior. "Repeated accidents may
cidents, like suicides and homicides, may thus be a symptom of individual deviance
represent "the socialization of aggression" from a group norm of safe behavior" (Pat-
(Gold, 1958). Haddon et al. (1964:446) terson, 1950:68). To the extent that the
suggests that accidents "are dysfunctional group norm has been established to protect
to the social system, interfering with its the individual from environmental dangers,
smooth operation." this is probably true. As has been pointed
Several studies have found that indi- out previously, however, group norms
viduals from broken homes are more likely favoring violence and the taking of risks
to be involved in accidents (see Krall, may actually expose the individual to
1953), while Kurokawa (1967) found that greater accident hazards.
children in families with higher cohesion Undoubtedly, a large number of social
and belief in tradition were less likely to controls do serve the function of protecting
have accidents than children in families not the individual from harm. For example, the
so well-integrated. Several writers have many safety devices introduced into high-
viewed the high rate of accidental injuries risk occupations, or the safety features of a
and death as a socially condoned form of children's playground, may be attempts to
public violence, characterized as "mayhem reduce the exposure of the individual to
on our highways" (Rifkin, 1963). Every unplanned and dangerous events in his en-
day the newspapers carry stories of acci- vironment. Social controls may also serve
dental automobile crashes, shootings, to regulate hazardous consumer products,
drownings, stranglings, etc., and this form such as poisons and lethal weapons. Obvi-
of violence has become so commonplace ously, a great many social controls-traffic
that its full import often goes unrecognized laws and safety regulations, for example-
and unreported. The current increase in the are aimed directly at reducing harmful anti-
frequency of death and injuries resulting social behavior. To the extent that these so-
from accidents has been regarded as a re- cial controls are violated by the individual,
flection of the violent age in which we live. we may hypothesize that he places himself
Such violence is often interpreted to result in a situation of additional risk of injury or
from a breakdown in social controls. Foote death.
(1961) attributes much of the current high Several studies have shown that individ-
rate of childhood accidents to the strong uals who have frequent accidents are far
emphasis in American society on violence more likely to have court records of law
as depicted in mass media. He also raises violations; than individuals with fewer acci-
the interesting question of how many child- dents (Siebrecht and Bennett, 1954; Mc-
hood accidents are likely the result of Farland and Moseley, 1954). Figures from
"deliberate parental aggression." the National Safety Council show that about
Another approach to accidents as social three out of four fatal automobile accidents
pathology attempts to analyze such acci- involve violations of traffic laws. As Ross
dents as a form of deviant behavior. For (1960-61) has pointed out, social con-
example, as stated by Hacker and Suchman trols do, not operate very successfully in re
(1963:388), "Concepts from the sociology gard to traffic law violations. He classifies
6 JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
violations of such laws as "folk crimes"- Other studies of youth, among whom
crimes that are ignored or even condoned. automobile accidents are the largest cause
A number of studies designed to measure of injury and death, have characterized the
a wide range of personality traits have com- automobile as a symbol of freedom and es-
pared individuals whose accident-frequency cape from parental and social authority
rate is high with those whose rate is low. (McFarland and Moore, 1960). Mann
While these studies show wide variations in (1958) found in a study of 100 "poorest"
personality factors related to the frequency teenage drivers that two-thirds were disci-
of accidents, there does seem to be some plinary problems in school, three-fourths
agreement on the generally antisocial na- had poor relations with teachers, and four-
ture of the accident repeater. Schulzinger fifths were doing schoolwork below their
(1956) found that accidents were more level of ability. He concluded that these
likely to occur among aggressive individ- problem drivers had "strong antisocial
uals, especially among those who were "ir- urges" and "active hostility toward social
responsible-maladjusted. " In a study of taxi- controls." Murray (1954) also comes to
cab drivers, Tillman and Hobbs (1949) the conclusion that automobile accidents
found that the accident repeaters were more among youth are an expression of hostility,
likely to have records 'of disciplinary prob- emotional conflict, and rebellion against
lems, of being fired from the job, and of authority. Accident repeaters differ signifi-
"bootlegging'" on the job. They also were cantly in regard to having been in trouble
more likely to have had past police and with the law and in characteristics such as
juvenile court records and to have been wishing to leave home, wanting to do some-
A.W.O.L. from the army. Tillman and thing harmful or shocking, associating with
Hobbs conclude that a driver is marked by friends to whom parents object, and tend-
the same tendency of aggressiveness, impul- ing to be suspicious of and impatient with
siveness, and lack of thought for others, and people (Rommel, 1959).
the disrespect for authority that was noted Finally, a large number of studies of
in his personal life. A commonly accepted childhood accidents indicate that children
concept in the accident research field (Mc- having frequent accidents also are more
Farland, 1966:107) is that "a man works likely to be "problem children" and to show
(or drives or plays) as he lives." A hostile, aggressive, impulsive behavior and emo-
aggressive, impulsive individual placed in a tional instability (Suchman and Scherzer,
situation that requires constant attention, 1960). A comprehensive comparison by
self-control, consideration of others, and re- Manhleimer and Mellinger (1966) of chil-
spect for laws and regulations-such as in dren who have had many accidents with
the driving of an automobile-is more sus- those who have had few shows that children
ceptible to having an accident. Bauer who have many accidents are more likely
(1955), in an analysis of automobile acci- to be disciplinary problems, to display hos-
dents among young people, concludes that
tility to authority, to be aggressive toward
many tend to use automobiles to act out
their peers, and to lack self-control. Krall
the tensions and latent aggressions underly-
(1953) also found accident-repeating chil-
ing their rebellion against social controls.
dren to be more aggressive and less in-
An analysis of automobile accidents by
hibited, and to come from more socially
Conger et al. (1959) found the accident
disordered backgrounds involving social in-
subject more likely than the nonaccident
stability. In a detailed psychoanalytical
subject to display significantly poorer con-
trol of hostility, lower tension tolerance, study of 68 children over a four-year pe-
higher dependency needs, greater preloccu- riod, Marcus et al. (1960) found that the
pation, and lack of awareness. He posits an mothers of the accident-repeating children
"accident type" who tends to be rather un- viewed the child's behavior as generally de-
conventional in his opinions and values and ceptive or disobedient, while the mothers
sometimes in his overt behavior and who of the control children described the child's
may attimes be inclined to over determined general conduct as helpful or compliant.
'acting tout' behavior," Marcus et al. concluded that the accident-
repeating child in his modus operandi has rence of accidents. Specifically, we, propose
great similarity to the delinquent child. to examine the frequency of accidental in-
Granting the serious theoretical and juries among high school and college stu-
methodological questions that could be dents in relation to various measures of
raised about many of these personality and their deviant or nonconventional behavior,
behavior studies of accident repeaters attitudes, and self-image. Since deviant
(Haddon et al., 1964), enough evidence forms of behavior, attitudes, and self-image
seems available to support a tentative for- are more likely to be linked to exposure
mulation of the accident problem as related and response to risk situations than con-
to social deviance. Accidents are destructive forming forms, we hypothesize that the
and do not occur by chance. There is am- more the individual displays these deviant
ple evidence to show that accidents are characteristics, the more likely he will be to
more likely to occur ;among certain sub- sustain accidental injuries. In this sense,
groups of the population-males, young conformity represents "playing it safe,"
people, and Negroes-and among certain while deviance, as an expression of strain
types of personalities-the hostile, the ag- and rebellion, involves a greater degree of
gressive, and the impulsive. Such higher "taking chances." Furthermore, insofar as
accident frequencies probably result from safety requires accepting one's social re-
greater exposure to environmental hazards sponsibilities and obeying institutionalized
and from greater personal vulnerability. rules and regulations, accidents are more
In this study we propose to examine the likely to occur among those individuals who
question: To what extent does such greater refuse to live by these rules.
exposure and vulnerability reflect social de-
viance? If we view accidents as a form of METHODS OF PROCEDURE
social behavior (Suchman, 1960-61), we
may reasonably look for the social forces The data for this study were collected by
underlying such behavior. If we define de- means of self-administered questionnaires
viant behavior as "behavior which violates combined with personal interviews of a
institutionalized expectations-that is, ex- representative sample of 495 students at-
pectations which are shared and recognized tending the University of California at
as legitimate within a social system" (Cohen, Santa Barbara during November, 1967,
1959:462), and if we accept the point of and self-administered questionnaires given
view that social controls are, for the most to 1,067 students attending two high
part, aimed at protecting the individual schools in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area
from, environmental dangers and interper- during the spring 'of 1967. The sample of
sonal aggression, then accidents, which rep- college students was selected by taking
resent a violation of social controls, may every twenty-fourth name at random from
be hypothesized as more likely to occur the registration list of the university. The
under conditions of deviant, as contrasted completion rate was 81 per cent; the re-
with conforming, behavior. We do not pro- maining 19 per cent were not reached,
pose to formulate a "sociology of accidents" largely because the students could not be
to take its place alongside a "sociology of contacted during the week allotted to field
suicide," or a "sociology of drug addiction" work, rather than because of their refusal
as another area in the sociology of deviant to be interviewed (less than 5% ). A com-
behavior. Here we are in agreement with parison of this sample with available dem-
Cohen (1959:473), who argues for a ographic characteristics for the entire pop-
generalized theory of deviant behavior ulation
and shows no characteristic with a
proposes "linkages among forms of deviant difference beyond what might be expected
behavior." The problem, as he states it, is by chance. Since the high school sample in-
"to classify and elucidate the mechanisms cluded all students who were present, there
by means of which one kind of deviant be-exists only the relatively minor problem of
havior generates others." absences during the day of administration.
Our major hypothesis will be the rela- The content of the questionnaires was
tionship between deviance and the occur- not focused around accidents or deviant be-
havior. Questions relating to these subjects pothesis was that the more the student sub-
were embedded in a list of over 100 ques- scribed to deviant behavior, attitudes, and
tions dealing with student problems in gen- self-image, the more frequently would he
eral; therefore, there is no reason to believe report having suffered accidental injuries.
that the students might have been influ-
enced in their responses by our desire to FINDINGS
link accidents to deviance.
Accident frequency was determined by Frequency of Accidental Injuries. High
the following question: "Since this time last school students are somewhat more likely
year, have you had any accidental injuries to report having had an accident during
that either bothered you for at least seven the previous year than are college students
days or interfered for that long with things (30.2% vs. 22.9% reporting at least one
you usually do?" While this question un- accident). The average rate of about 26.5
doubtedly suffers from shortcomings related accidents per 100 students is quite similar
to recall and to differing perceptions of ac- to the rate of 29.1 reported by the National
cidental injuries, it has in previous surveys Health Survey for the age group 15 to 24
differentiated successfully among subgroups (National Safety Council, 1966).
of the population. By limiting the accidents The only demographic variable showing
to those resulting in injuries that interfered a significant relationship to frequency of
with normal functioning for at least one accidental injuries is sex. Among the col-
week, we increased the likelihood that the lege students, twice as many males as fe-
individual would remember the accident. males (11.2% vs. 5.1%) reported two or
Unquestionably, the frequency reported is more injuries during the past year; among
not exact, but, as a relative indicator of the high school students, males were some-
more or fewer accidents, this question is what more than twice as likely as females
probably sufficiently accurate. to report two or more injuries during the
In this study, we did not attempt to; de- past year (16.0% vs. 6.4% ).1 This finding
velop any rigorous conceptual and opera- is also in accord with the National Health
tional definition of deviance. The indices of Survey, which found a ratio of two males to
deviance used represent measures of the one female.
extent to which the individual student con- No statistically significant differences in
formed to the accepted norms of the larger accident rates are found for such variables
society. The questions asked the student as the family's financial status, the father's
attempted to determine the various types occupation and education, or the student's
of behavior, attitudes, and self-image that religion, age, residence, and grade in school.
would enable us to classify him as more or To some extent, this lack of differentiation
less deviant and to relate such deviance to according to demographic characteristics
his record of accidental injuries. Specifi- probably reflects the rather homogenous
cally, the behavioral questions referred to nature of the student population being
such acts as participating in mass protests studied. The absence of significant differ-
and "happenings," reading underground ences on this demographic level, however,
newspapers, cutting classes, cheating on ex- underscores the importance of the wide
aminations, getting into fights, and disobey- range of significant differences to be re-
ing the teacher. The attitudes and values ported for the behavioral, attitudinal, and
related to student power, approval of pre- self-image variables. It also makes it neces-
marital sexual intercourse, and attitudes sary to control any such differences found
toward risk-taking and obedience to the in regard to sex only.
law. The student's self-image was measured Behavioral Patterns. Table 1 shows the
in terms of his self-characterization, such as relationship between deviant behavior pat-
"antiestablishment," "hippie," and "wild."
We regarded such behavior, attitudes, and 1 All differences presented in this report are
statistically significant at or beyond the .05 proba-
self-image as indicative of the student's con-
bility level using the chi-square test of signifi-
flict with and rejection of the social norms cance. We will not report individual chi-square
of the conventional society. Our major hy- values for the separate tables.
TABLE 1. BEHAVIORAL PAlTERNS RELATED TO ACCIDENTAL INJURIES a
Per Cent Reporting

2 or More
Behavioral Pattern Accidental Injuries N
College Students
Have you ever participated in any form of mass protest?
No 5.7 353
Once or twice 12.1 99
Several times 21.7 37
How often would you say you participate in what might be
called "a happening"?
Rarely 6.3 286
Occasionally 7.2 139
Frequently 20.7 53
How often do you read "underground" newspapers?
Never 3.1 159
Once in a while 9.4 202
More than once in a while 11.6 129
How often have you cheated or needed crib
exam in college?
Seldom or never 6.8 410
Frequently or occasionally 19.8 81
How often do you cut classes?
Less than once or twice a month 4.8 273
About once a week 8.3 93
More than once a week 20.3 69
High School Students
How often have you gotten into a fight during the present
school year?
Never 9.1 647
Rarely 10.9 267
Often 28.5 21
Very often 30.6 26
How often have you disobeyed the teacher during the present
school year?
Never 8.3 384
Rarely 9.3 399
Often 18.2 44
Very often 32.4 37
How often has the teac
present school year?
Never 7.6 616
Rarely 13.4 291
Often 26.1 23
Very often 31.6 19
Do you drink alcoholic beverages?
No 7.9 708
Yes, occasionally 14.3 315
Yes, regularly 36.4 44
a All differences are st

cases differs slightly, de
terns and the

dude participating in mass frequ
protests, attend-
juries observed among college and high ing "happening," reading "underground"
school students. Among college students, newspapers, cheating on examinations, and
the deviant behavior patterns relating sig- cutting classes. Such deviant behavior pat-
nificantly to the occurrences of accidents in- terns among high school students include
drinking alcoholic beverages, getting into of frequency of occurrence, these behaviors

fights, disobeying the teacher, and being are also deviant among the students them-
punished for misbehaving. selves, being subscribed to by only small
In general, these differences are quite minorities of the total student body.
pronounced. Students displaying the most There can be little question that, on a
extreme deviant behavior are from three to behavioral level, accidents are closely asso-
five times more likely to have incurred acci- ciated with various indices of behavioral de-
dental injuries in the past year than are viation. Those students who depart from
students at the conforming end of the re- the approved norms of conforming behavior
sponse scale. It should be remembered that are much more likely to suffer accidental
we have defined these responses as deviant injuries. Probably such accidents result
in terms of the norms of conventional adult from a greater exposure to risk related to
society. Nevertheless, we note that, in terms a departure from the "safe and sane," with
TABLE 2. ATTITUDES AND VALUES RELATED TO ACCIDENTAL INJURIES a
Per Cent Reporting

2 or More
Attitudes and Values Accidental Injuries N
College Students
Students should have a more active role in making decisions about
student life.
Disagree 0.0 45
Undecided 7.7 274
Agree 10.1 169
It's all right to ge
Disagree 5.6 268
Undecided 10.3 107
Agree 15.4 104
Do you approve or disapprove of students having premarital sexual
intercourse?
Disapprove 2.0 99
Undecided 8.2 146
Approve 11.3 240
If a woman is pregnant and she doesn't want to have a baby, she
should be allowed to have an abortion.
Disagree 1.3 149
Undecided 10.2 166
Agree 12.1 173

Having fun now is more important than worrying about the future.
Strongly disagree 7.7 233
Disagree 10.3 505
Undecided 12.2 164
Agree 13.2 106
Strongly agree 22.0 59
I get a kick out of taking c
Disagree 10.1 405
Undecided 12.9 171
Agree 15.7 134
Strongly agree 26.9 52
I get a thrill out of riding in
Disagree 11.8 306
Undecided 10.9 174
Agree 12.0 217
Strongly agree , 21.0 100
a All differences are statistically
a lower value placed by the deviant student one-fourth as likely to report such acci-
on the anticipation of the possibly harmful dental injuries (Table 3).
consequences of his nonconformist acts. Among high school students, the more
Attitudes and Values. The deviant behav- the individual describes himself as being
ior patterns discussed above are matched "wild," "daring," or "liking to show off,"
by similarly deviant attitudes and values on the more likely he is to report having had
the part of those students with a higher ac- two or more accidents during the past year.
cidental injury rate (Table 2). For exam- In addition, the more "careless" he is, and
ple, those college students who agree that the more easily he "loses his temper," the
"if a woman is pregnant and she doesn't more likely he is to have been injured in an
want to have a baby, she should be allowed accident. These differences are in the order
to have an abortion," are almost ten times of a three- or four-fold increase in accident
as likely as those students who disagree to frequency for each characteristic. A self-
have had two or more accidental injuries portrait of deviance is thus seen to relate,
in the past year ( 12.1 % vs. 1.3 % ). Other along with behavioral patterns and atti-
attitudes or values showing similar differ- tudes, to a greater risk of accidental injuries.
ences include a favorable attitude toward Sex as a Control Variable. The only
having premarital sexual intercourse, lower demographic variable found to be related to
respect for the law, and a stronger belief the frequency of accidental injury was sex.
in "student power." Since sex is also related to deviance-with
Among high school students, the attitudes a male much more likely than a female to
investigated dealt largely with risk-taking. display deviant behavior, attitudes, and
Those students who are most favorably dis- self-image-it becomes necessary to test
posed toward "taking chances" are about whether the observed correlation between
four times as likely to have had more than these indices of deviance and frequency of
one accident in the past year as those who accidental injuries might be due to !sex.
are most opposed (26.9% vs. 6.2% ). Sim- That is, if males are more deviant and have
ilarly, students who believe that "having more accidents than do females, perhaps
fun" is more important than "worrying the relationship between deviance and acci-
about the future" and who find it "thrilling" dents is solely a reflection of the common
to ride in a fast car are also more likely to factor of sex.
have suffered accidental injuries than those Each of the observed relationships be-
who do not have these attitudes. tween the indices of deviance and frequency
Once again, our hypothesis about the of accidental injuries was studied for males
relationship of "deviance" to accidents is and females separately. Of the nine behav-
borne out. The more the student holds at- ioral measures, this relationship was ob-
titudes and values in conflict with those of served in all cases for the males and in eight
conventional society, the more likely he is out of nine of the measures for the females.
to incur accidental injuries. This finding In relation to deviant attitudes, significant
also supports the interpretation that acci- differences were found for each of the eight
dental events reflect the attitudinal set of measures in the case of males and for seven
individuals. out of eight of them for females. Finally,
Self-Image. The more the student's self- in regard to self-image, males and females
image is that of a deviant, the more likely both continued to show significant relation-
he is to have suffered accidental injuries, ships to the frequency of accidental injuries
while the more conformist he reports him- in all comparisons. Thus we conclude that
self to be, the less likely he is to have had the relationships between deviant behavior,
accidents. For example, college students attitudes, and self-image are independent
who see themselves as "antiestablishment" of the sex of the respondent. It is worth
or "hippie" are about three times as likely noting, however, that these differences are
to report having had two or more acci- somewhat more pronounced among the
dental injuries during the past year. Simi- male students. In general, both deviance
larly, students who see themselves as "well- and sex appear to make an independent
behaved" or "moral" are only about contribution to the occurrence of accidents.
TABLE 3. SELF-IMAGE RELATED TO ACCIDENTAL INJURIES a
Per Cent Reporting

2 or More
Self-Image Accidental Injuries N
College Students
How well would you say each of these words describes you?
"Antiestablishment"
Not well 4.7 295
A little 13.9 72
Fairly well 16.8 119
"Hippie"
Not well 6.7 330
A little 7.7 104
Fairly well 20.4 49
"Well-behaved"
Very well 4.2 96
Fairly well 6.3 316
Not well 16.5 73
"Moral"
Very well 2.9 102
Fairly well 7.3 233
Not well 12.1 149

How well would you say each of these words describes you?
"Wild"
Not at all well 7.8 540
A little 12.8 320
Fairly well 14.1 78
Very well 28.8 59
"Daring"
A little 10.2 461
Very well 27.5 91
"Like to show off"
A little 11.2 367
Fairly well 19.5 36
Very well 28.9 38
"Often lose my temper"
A little 11.5 435
Very well 26.6 254
"Careless"
A little 12.0 610
Fairly well 18.8 69
Very well 27.3 33
a All differences ar
In all juries
cases, the fr
was deviant males.
found amon
viance, We may summarize the above findings
while th
dents by combining the responses of the students am
occurred
to the various behavioral, attitudinal,Th
conformists. and
pronounced, bei
self-image items to construct overall scores
to in these areas. A standardization
ten-fold incre procedure
also permits us to view these differences to the increased hazards surrounding him.
with the effect of sex controlled (Rosen- He takes added risks in an environment al-
berg, 1962). Table 4 presents such a sum- ready full of hazards.
mary table standardized by sex. It indicates This theme could be developed in more
that for both high school and college stu- detail, but much additional evidence is nec.
dents, the higher the score on deviant be- essary before such detail would be justified.
havior and attitudes and on deviant self- Specific studies need to be designed to test
image, the greater the probability that the more rigorously the relationship of deviance
student will have suffered two or more acci- to accidental injuries. Even on the basis of
dental injuries in the previous year. present evidence, however, increased injury
control in this group of our population ap-
SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION pears warranted. Among both high school
and college students, where accidental in-
The data support the hypothesis that the juries already produce more fatalities than
more deviant an individual is, the more all diseases combined, a greater effort needs
likely he is to have an accident. Such devi- to be made to reach the ever-increasing
ance represents a rejection of the "safe and proportion of youth who are rejecting con-
sane" in favor of the nonconventional and ventional beliefs and behavior.
increases the individual's risk of having an This problem presents a dilemma. To the
accidental injury. extent that accident prevention becomes
We may explain this greater probability identified with the "establishment" as rep-
of accidents in terms of the increased ex- resenting the "safe and sane" adult world,
posure of the nonconforming individual to it creates a barrier against reaching the
hazards in the environment and the greater world of youth. The need is to formulate
vulnerability of the deviant individual to among youth an injury control program
these dangers. His rejection of society that stresses such control as part of the
means rejecting the many protective mea- creed of the new generation rather than as
sures that society has developed to enhance advice from the older generation (Such-
its survival. The deviant chooses to expose man, 1968). As Cohen (1959:474) states,
himself to an unconventional environment "Much that is deviant can be largely at-
lacking many of these built-in protections. tributed to efforts, some of them nobly mo-
Both where and how he lives are apt to be tivated, to control deviant behavior." Given
more dangerous. the current generational conflict, this is dif-
Furthermore, the value system and role ficult to do and may account for the rather
performance of the deviant predispose him poor showing of accident prevention pro-
to take extra risks and to scorn "playing it grams among young people.
safe." Thus he not only lives in a less pro- The answer is not easy to find, but unless
tected environment, but his predisposition we make an attempt, we may expect to see
makes him more susceptible or vulnerable accidental injuries and death continue to
TABLE 4. DEVIANT BEHAVIOR, ATTITUDE, AND SELF-IMAGE SCORES

RELATED TO ACCIDENTAL INJURIES a
Per Cent Reporting 2 or More Accidental Injuries
Scores College Students High School Students

Deviant Behavior and Attitudes
Low 3.6 (138) 3.6 (335)
Medium 7.3 (246) 12.2 (575)
High 14.0 (107) 27.3 (110)
Deviant Self-Image
Low 4.0 (148) 3.1 (290)
Medium 5.3 (228) 10.4 (595)
High 17.4 (115) 30.3 (135)
' Standardized on sex.
rise among young people, in keeping with Conger, J. J., et al.

1959 "Psychological and psychophysiological
their increasing deviance from the conven-
factors in motor vehicle accidents."
tional world. The goal, perhaps, is not to Journal of the American Medical As-
change these rebellious students into in- sociation 169 (April 4): 1581-1587.
hibited, compulsive young men and women, Foote, N.
but rather to increase their capacity for 1961 "Sociological factors in childhood ac-
cidents." Pp. 121-135 in Behavioral Ap-
tolerating stress and to permit creativity
proaches to Accident Research. New
with a great degree of self-control and York: Association for the Aid of Crip-
awareness of the consequences of their ac- pled Children.
tions upon themselves and others. Gold, M.
1958 "Suicide, homicide and the socialization
The basic problem of accident prevention
of aggression." American Journal of
and control among young people is quite Sociology 43 (May):651-661.
similar to the general problem of prevention Goldstein, L. G.
and control of deviance. Foote ( 1 96 1:13 1 ) 1964 "Human variables in traffic accidents; a
makes an analogy between accident behav- digest of research." Traffic Safety Re-
search Review 8 (March) :26-31.
ior and delinquent behavior and points out
Gordon, J. E.
that "any strategy for prevention offers more 1949 "The epidemiology of accidents." Amer-
hope to the degree that it employs general- ican Journal of Public Health 39
ized social controls rather than resorting to (April) :504-515.
Hacker, H., and E. Suchman.
individual therapy." Such social controls
1963 "A sociological approach to accident re-
cannot hope to succeed, however, in an search." Social Problems 10 (Spring):
atmosphere of adult safety laws and regula- 383-389.
tions that are more commonly broken, as a Haddon, W., E. Suchman, and D. Klein.
1964 Accident Research: Methods and Ap-
form iof "folk crime," than obeyed. More-
proaches. New York: Harper.
over, rigorous enforcement and punishment
Krall, V.
would not seem to be the answer, especially 1953 "Personality characteristics of accident-
among these nonconforming young people repeating children." Journal of Abnor-
whose behavior most needs safety regula- mal and Social Psychology 48 (Janu-
ary) :99-107.
tion, but who, at the same time, are most
Kurokawa, M.
likely to resist such official control. 1967 "Childhood accidents as a measure of
Difficult as it may seem, one avenue, that social integration." The Canadian Re-
holds some promise of success could come view of Sociology and Anthropology 3
from the young people themselves. Con- (No. 2):67-83.
MacIver, J.
ventional driver-training courses are not
1961 "Safety and human behavior." Pp. 59-
succeeding, and safety-proofing automobiles 76 in Behavioral Approaches to Acci-
and highways can have only a limited im- dent Research. New York: Association
pact on the overall rate of accidental in- for the Aid of Crippled Children.
juries. Perhaps it is only as young people McFarland, R. A., and A. L. Moseley.
redefine their world for themselves-and as 1954 Highway Transport Safety. Boston:
Harvard School of Public Health.
we give to them, and they accept, the re-
McFarland, Ross A.
sponsibility for making it a world that they 1966 "Measurement of human factors in ac-
feel is worth living in-that they will es- cident research." Pp. 102-111 in Pro-
tablish norms of behavior that will help ceedings of 3rd AMA Congress on
them to stay alive in it. Environmental Health Problems. Wash-
ington: American Medical Association.
McFarland, R. A., and R. C. Moore.
REFERENCES 1960 Youth and the automobile. Washington:
White House Conference on Children
Bauer, J.
and Youth.
1955 "The teen-age rebel and his weapon-
the automobile." Traffic Safety 518 Manheimer, D., and G. D. Mellinger.
(November): 10-13. 1966 Personality Characteristics of the Child
Cohen, A. K. Accident Repeater. Family Research
1959 "The study of social disorganization and Center, Sacramento: California Depart-
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Robert K. Merton et al. (eds.), So- Mann, W. A.
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Accidents and Social Deviance

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Accidents and Social Deviance

Author(s): Edward A. Suchman

American Sociological Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and

tomatic of disorder in a particular dynamic of deviance may also be usefully applied

TABLE 1. BEHAVIORAL PAlTERNS RELATED TO ACCIDENTAL INJURIES a

Per Cent Reporting

a All differences are st

terns and the

drinking alcoholic beverages, getting into of frequency of occurrence, these behaviors

TABLE 2. ATTITUDES AND VALUES RELATED TO ACCIDENTAL INJURIES a

Per Cent Reporting

High School Students

TABLE 3. SELF-IMAGE RELATED TO ACCIDENTAL INJURIES a

Per Cent Reporting

High School Students

TABLE 4. DEVIANT BEHAVIOR, ATTITUDE, AND SELF-IMAGE SCORES

Per Cent Reporting 2 or More Accidental Injuries

Scores College Students High School Students

' Standardized on sex.

rise among young people, in keeping with Conger, J. J., et al.

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