The Relativity of Deviance

The Relativity of Deviance, 5th Edition is a textbook that introduces a constructivist approach to deviance. Rather than treating deviance as an absolute quality, the work explains that definitions of acceptable conduct depend on social context and vary across time, place, and circumstance.

Coverage addresses major arenas of deviance, including organizational misconduct, the medicalization of mental disorders, interpersonal violence, suicide, sexual diversity, and substance use. Through these topics, the text demonstrates why identical behaviors can elicit praise in one setting and condemnation in another.

Intended to help instructors introduce a relativist perspective into standard sociology courses, the volume applies theoretical concepts to concrete examples such as the blue people of Kentucky.