John O. Curra - The Relativity of Deviance

Fifth Edition

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Human attitudes, behaviors, and conditionsthe ABCs of deviancedo not exist in a social vacuum; they are always of great interest and concern to others. Depending on time, place, situation, the particular temperament of the individuals involved, and a host of other factors, some attitudes, behaviors, and conditions are praised; some are condemned; and others are ignored, at least for a time. Readers of this book will see that what qualifies as deviance varies from place to place, time to time, and situation to situation. They will see that deviance cannot be understood apart from its social setting, and they will be introduced to many examples that show this to be true. What exists could almost always be otherwise, and a change in social settings and interpersonal relationships almost always produces a change in the nature of deviance. This book will be appealing to anyone who is fascinated by the great diversity in human experience and the even greater diversity in social representations or narratives regarding it. Readers will come to realize that no intrinsic or inherent qualities exist to separate deviance from nondeviance and that deviance is far from absolute and uniform. This book will encourage readers to evaluate critically their own understandings of deviance.

In this fifth edition, I have included new examples and concepts to demonstrate the relativity of deviance, while keeping what I hope is the best from previous editions. In the following pages, readers will meet the blue people of Kentucky, a woman who believes that she is a vampire, the thugs of India, tattooists, self-injurers, autoerotic asphyxiates, berdaches, terrorists, serial killers, mass murderers, gaslighters, and even a man who ate an entire airplane. Some of the examples are funny, some are sad, and some are shocking. These examples, however, are more than journalistic accounts of quirky events. They show that deviance is a social construction by individuals in particular situations at particular times. The only valuable way to understand deviance is to look at variables such as power, conflict, norms, labeling, culture, vocabularies of motive, retrospective interpretation, stigma, accounts, ideologies, techniques of neutralization, and social reactions, so these concepts (and many more) are discussed in the following pages.

explains how deviance can be understood as a socially constructed event by discussing egocentricity, ethnocentricity, culture, norms, sanctions, and ideologies. This chapter will show that we live in a world of multiple realities and that deviance must be understood as a situational, interactive, and meaningful accomplishment of humans acting together. It explores the nature of relativity and how relativity helps to illuminate the relationship between human diversity and social deviance. It also discusses theories of deviance that help us to understand its relative nature.

discusses drugs and deviance. Readers will see that some groups initiate moral crusades to brand other peoples drug use as sick and wholly unacceptable. The book contains what I hope are interesting and thought-provoking examples of social deviance that show readers the great array in both human experience and narratives about it.

I have included information on organizational dynamics and self-interest, as well as on the constantly changing political landscape, the relationship between deviance and social inequality, the killing of Osama bin Laden, the Penn State sexual abuse scandal, the Mueller report and the Trump administration, and changing definitions of drug use (e.g., marijuana, opiates, cocaine). The discussions of white-collar crime, sexual deviance, and drugs and deviance have also been expanded, as well as the exploration of predatory violence. New information about deviant subcultures is included, as well as new research from academic journals and books. I have also added more cross-cultural examples and comparisons. I think all these changes strengthen the book, and I hope readers will agree.

The writing in this book is gender-neutral. When direct quotes from others are included, however, that was not always possible, especially when the authors lived and wrote at an earlier time in history. These authors were inclined to use masculine pronouns to represent all humans, male and female. Although this is unacceptable now, in order to keep the meaning and flow of the original citation, when a direct quotation is included, the original language has been unaltered.