Constructions of Deviance: Social Power, Context, and Interaction

This new anthology of readings in deviance provides the missing link between classroom presentation and the theoretical sociology presented in textbooks. Presented within an interactionist/social constructionist framework, the book's 39 readings represent a variety of richly descriptive, qualitative studies of deviant subcultures, deviant behavior, and the management of deviant identities. Using the subjects' own voices, these ethnographic studies provide vivid images, and, in conjunction with the six part introductions, help the student see the connection between the characteristics of individual experience and the nature of social institutions and social power.

Patricia A. Adler (Ph.D., University of California, San Diego) is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Colorado. She has written and taught in the area of deviance, qualitative methods, and the sociology of children. A second edition of her book, WHEELING AND DEALING (Columbia University Press), a study of upper-level drug traffickers, was published in 1993. She has received many honors, including the Outstanding Teacher in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and the Outstanding Researcher Award from the University of Colorado. In addition, she was awarded the Mentor Excellence Award in 2004 from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI).

Peter Adler (Ph.D., University of California, San Diego) is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Denver. His research interests include social psychology, drugs and society, and sociology of work, sport, and leisure. His first book, MOMENTUM, was published in 1981 by Sage. Peter has been honored with the University Lecturer Award and as the Outstanding Scholar/Teacher at the University of Denver, as well as being named by the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI) as Mentor of the Year in 2005.