2. The Smith General Theory of dvAs

From general reading of the research literature, mainly qualitative case studies on DVAs, and from teaching for many years a course on DVAs (Smith 1996), Smith inductively generated 51 hypotheses about DVAs in general. With the collaboration of Stebbins, Smith sought support for these hypotheses by additional, more formal content analysis of qualitative published research on a wide variety of DVAs, mostly using books rather than articles (Smith and Stebbins 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2015d, 2015e). Using this content analytic process over the course of two years, Smith developed an additional 27 hypotheses, for a total of 88 hypotheses, which were also content analyzed for empirical support.

The set of documents that were content-analyzed were selected purposively to include coverage of 24 common sense (natural language) categories of DVAs as expressed in two independently published books for each type. Most books described DVAs in North America, especially the USA, but some books reached back up to 800 years and described DVAs on other continents, mostly Europe. These final 24 DVA types, winnowed down theoretically from a larger set of 57 initial categories/types, fall into three broader, constructed categories: (a) political influence/ liberation DVA types (e.g., social movement groups, terrorist groups, vigilante groups, citizen militia groups, extremist political parties, etc.), (b) religious/salvation/occult DVA types (e.g., new religions ["cults" and deviant sects], medieval heresy groups, witches' covens, religious communes, doomsday/suicide/massacre groups, etc.), and (c) hedonic satisfaction DVA types. Category "c" has two sub-categories: (1) negative emotional expression (e.g., hate groups, motorcycle outlaw gangs, juvenile delinquent gangs) and (2) positive emotional expression (e.g., group sex/swingers' groups/group marriage, transvestite groups, nudist/naturist groups, gay/lesbian groups, and some secular communes).

The 88 inductively generated DVA hypotheses were clustered by topic into several broader categories, which have been the subjects of conference papers (Smith and Stebbins 2015b, 2015c, 2015d, 2015e) and are also chapters in Smith and Stebbins (2015a). From four of these broad categories, we present here illustrative hypotheses that were strongly supported by the content analytic process (Smith and Stebbins 2015a).

1. Origins Phase

1. “Hypothesis OR.5: During their origins phases, [DVAs] usually follow significant aspects of the organizational pattern of some prior, similar, group predecessor, which was linked to one of more of the founder-activists of the current [DVA] by that person’s life experience, often as a member or participant.”

2. “Hypothesis OR.9: If successfully established, new DVAs are nearly always fundamentally deviant from one or more societal moral norms from the time period of their origins, rather than starting as conventional associations and shifting later to become DVAs.”

2. Joining and membership

1. “Hypothesis JM.12: Members of DVAs are particularly attracted to solidary (sociability) incentives and rewards provided by such groups -- a sense of belonging, community, acceptance, caring, and support.”

2. “Hypothesis JM.17: DVAs often involve high commitment by members, developed through mechanisms of commitment built into group structure [and processes].”

3. Ideology

1. “Hypothesis ID.1: DVA ideologies try to create a fictive reality that opposes and rejects aspects of mainstream society, its norms and beliefs.”

2. “Hypothesis ID.5: DVA ideologies are often based on the beliefs and values of the group’s founders, which are preserved with modest changes over time.”

4. Structure and Leadership

1. “Hypothesis SL.4: Obedience and conformity by DVA members in meetings and other collective events tend to be high.”

2. “Hypothesis SL.8: DVAs seek isolation and secrecy from conventional society to some significant degree [often operating underground].”

3. “Hypothesis SL.23: Insofar as leadership is present, leaders are usually promoted from or emerge from within the DVA, rather than being brought in from outside.”