Non Traditional Deviance Assignment by Bryan Hinkle

1) What is a Hoarder?

bryanh55 — 2025-10-06 00:17:07 UTC

A "Hoarder" is defined as an individual who saves every item they posess or come across with the feeling that they need to preserve everything they own. They can often experience destress when parting with items which causes pile up of garbage and can lead to severe health conditions and sickensses.

2) Adler and Adler ABC / 3 S's

bryanh55 — 2025-10-06 00:48:42 UTC

The Behavior of Hoarders is considered Deviant because it deviates from social norms as well as creates health and safety issues. Most hoarders also do not realize the issue that they have because they do not see it as a problem. They grow angry and have the feeling of destress when an individual tries to help them.

For Adler and Adler's 3s's, Hoarding is a sickness. Hoarding is a mental illness. While the exact cause of hoarding is unknown, There are some known connections between Hoarding and OCD, Anxiety and Depression, and certain types of Trauma.

3) Brief Analysis using Goffman and One other idea used in class.

bryanh55 — 2025-10-06 01:51:14 UTC

Blemishes of individual character apply to hoarders because people who hoard are viewed as Lazy, and Dishonest people. Hoarding can be both discreditable and discredited based on the stage of the persons illness. Secondly, The "Wise" in this illnes is anyone who the hoarder is close to in life. Typically it would be a friend of the hoarder or a family member.

Normative/Positivist Conceptualization is applied because Typically, when you enter another persons home, There is a clean (or semi) clean home. You are able to visibly see the walls and floors. In extreme hoarding situations, you are unable to see floors, walls, countertops, and so much more. This deviates from the socialm norms of having an uncluttered home and maintaining a clean and safe living environment.

Merton's Strain Theory is centered around the American Dream. He defined the dream as wealth, a home, a car, and whatever the typical American sees as ideal. Hoarding deviates from the "American Dream" because it is not a typically sought after way of life. While hoarders may not recognize their issues, they will never reach or accept the cultural goals and are rejecting legitimate means. This means that they are a part of the retreatism adaptation.

4) How do these deviants view their own behavior?

bryanh55 — 2025-10-06 01:59:09 UTC

The hoarders typically do not even realize they have a problem to begin with. They feel angry and in destress when outsiders attempt to help them. This can be seen on the Hoarders TV show as they tend to have severe anxiety when the clean up crew would attempt to help them. They will also refuse to admit that they have a problem despite being told so because they have experienced past trauma and or suffer from another underlying mental health issues.

5) Works Cited

bryanh55 — 2025-10-06 02:08:44 UTC

Why Do People Become Hoarders? – 9 Reasons - Perfect Clean LTD. (2021, November 16). Perfect Clean LTD - Commercial Cleaning Services in Scotland. https://www.perfectcleanltd.co.uk/news/why-do-people-hoard/

Chaudoir, S. R., Francis, A., & Earnshaw, V. A. (2016). Discreditable Stigma. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeos0643

Chaudoir, S. R., Earnshaw, V. A., & Andel, S. (2013). “Discredited” Versus “Discreditable”: Understanding How Shared and Unique Stigma Mechanisms Affect Psychological and Physical Health Disparities. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 35(1), 75–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2012.746612

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Cleveland Clinic. (2022, July 12). Hoarding Disorder | Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17682-hoarding-disorder

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News-Medical. (2012, June 28). Causes of hoarding. News-Medical.net. https://www.news-medical.net/health/Causes-of-hoarding.aspx

Goffman. Erving, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. New York: Touchstone
(Reissue edition). 1986. 2 ISBN: 978-06716224422

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