Deviant Behavior provides a comprehensive study of the behavior, beliefs, conditions, and reactions to deviance, giving students a better understanding of this phenomenon. Deviance is discussed from the sociological perspectives of positivism and constructionism. Readers will grasp the reason behind deviant behavior through the positivist perspective and why certain actions, beliefs, and physical characteristics are condemned through the constructionist perspective.


New to this edition:





Two chapters on crime make clearer distinctions between criminalization of behavior, vs. criminal behavior itself





More discussion of the relativity of deviance, including how murder is socially and legally constructed





Expands the notion that conspiracy theory is a form of cognitive deviance





New discussion furthers the difference between labeling theory and constructionism





New Section on environmental pollution with reference to "green criminology"





New section added on Deviance and Harm





Newsworthy new features include:





A Formerly Homeless Man Speaks Out


Victimization and Abuse


Mass Incarceration


Stop and Frisk


Missing Black Men? (with implications for families and demography)


Arrest-Incarceration Gap


Disparities in Sentencing


The End of the Crime Decline?


The Brother of a Murder Victim Speaks Out


A Tattoo Collector Gets Inked


Faculty-Student Sex


Reflections on Studying BDSM