The Relativity of Deviance

This engaging and informative book, by award-winning sociologist and criminologist John Curra, offers a valuable perspective on attitudes and behaviors labeled as deviant.  The Relativity of Deviance, Fourth Edition, explores the meanings and constructions of social deviance and social reactions to it, he answers such questions as:

• What is deviance?
• What comprises deviant behavior?
• How are deviants treated?
• How is deviance socially constructed and socially sustained?
• Why is the same attitude, behavior, or condition praised in one situation and condemned in another?  

Through insightful and thought-provoking examples and informed accounts, the author illustrates that deviance cannot be explained or understood in terms of absolutes or essential characteristics nor can it be explained or understood apart from its social setting. This book approaches sex, violence, theft, drugs, suicide, rape, and mental disorders in a way that shows the critical role of sociocultural factors and social reactions in constructions of deviance and crime.

Contributor to the SAGE Teaching Innovations and Professional Development Award

Find out more at www.sagepub.com/sociologyaward

John Curra (PhD, Purdue University) is a professor at Eastern Kentucky University where he has taught courses in introductory sociology, social deviance, criminology, sociological analysis, social problems, social psychology, juvenile delinquency, and criminological theory since 1975. He has taught. In 1981, he received the prestigious Excellence in Teaching Award from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. In 2005–2007, he was selected as a Foundation Professor, one of the highest honors a professor can receive at Eastern Kentucky University. In 2012, Curra moved to the Department of Criminal Justice in the School of Justice Studies. That same year, he was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award by the Department of Criminal Justice in the College of Justice and Safety. Curra has authored or co-authored several texts, an instructor’s manual, and a reader.