Deviant Behavior

The new 2022 edition of the most widely taught deviance text brings us into a changing political era. A new chapter on political deviance includes a section that defines political deviance, emphasizing a sociological and not an ideological definition. It also covers which sectors of the society define what constitutes political deviance; and political deviance and its relation to social change. In addition, the chapter on substance abuse provides more discussion of marijuana legalization and decriminalization. Although disease as potential deviance has been covered, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly expands discussions on this topic. Updated throughout, this new edition includes expanded coverage of Black Lives Matter, sexual harassment, the social construction of immigration, and other topics. A new section on logic, reasoning, and verification of facts is an important new feature for student critical thinking while it addresses the recent politics of truth and lying, including QAnon.

Erich Goode is Sociology Professor Emeritus at Stony Brook University. He has taught at a half-dozen universities and is the author of twelve books, including The Taming of New York’s Washington Square and Drugs in American Society. Goode has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and several teaching awards. He lives in New York City, which provides ample strategic ethnographic research sites for his interests.