Passage Until Recently, Deviance Has Generally Been Conceptualized as Negative.  Positive

Passage
Until recently, deviance has generally been conceptualized as negative.  Positive deviance (PD) is used to describe the atypical behaviors exhibited by some individuals that result in superior outcomes when compared with others in the group.  Despite having similar access to limited resources, some people adopt novel strategies to problem-solve much better than their peers.  For example, rural Vietnamese villages in the 1990s had child malnutrition rates approaching 70%.  Despite this, certain villagers were able to nourish their children by developing innovative strategies that defied social norms.  These villagers fed their children plant parts not traditionally consumed (such as the leaves of the sweet potato plant) and fed them three or four times a day (instead of the customary two meals a day) .  In other words, despite a lack of conventionally accepted means, these villagers engaged in alternative behaviors, or PD, to meet the societal goal of providing adequate nourishment to their children.Research into PD has focused on using these innovative individuals to catalyze change in their communities.  A pilot study attempting to spread the techniques of these initial PD villagers within their own community was successful:  Childhood malnutrition dropped by over 80% in two years.  However, the community-based approach to changing health behaviors appears to be crucial:  When an international aid organization attempted to implement a larger program based on these same practices, villagers resisted the imposed changes and it was unsuccessful.Another study assessed how PD can improve outcomes in health care settings.  Patients with difficult-to-manage chronic diseases often hold deeply entrenched beliefs about how to handle their illnesses and ignore alternative strategies.  PD patients, referred to as "bright spotters" in the study, are an exception.  They have successfully managed to control their complex illnesses using innovative approaches such as diet modifications and unique coping mechanisms.  Similar to the pilot study with Vietnamese villagers, preliminary results suggest that peer-led group activities may best allow bright spotters to teach fellow patients how to effectively manage their illnesses.
-Which of the following statements is most supported by information in the passage?

A) Bright spotters are agents of socialization.
B) Those living in poverty are more likely to violate taboos than mores.
C) Deviant behavior usually incurs formal sanctions.
D) Deviant behavior is culturally universal.

Correct Answer:

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