This popular introductory text explores the meaning of social deviance in contemporary society. It carefully traces how we create deviance: how we single out some people's behavior, ideas, and appearances that differ from the "norm" and label them as offensive or acceptable. The book explains what kinds of behaviors are banned, who bans them, and why; exposing the political influences underlying these processes.

This third edition includes case studies in every chapter, ranging across issues such as marijuana legislation, sex work, cyber-extortion, mental illness, and obesity. This new edition includes two new chapters addressing the political dimensions of deviant behavior: labeling and stereotyping as methods of control, and the growing intolerance of deviance, particularly identity difference, in an age of global authoritarian populism.

At its core, Social Deviance looks at who becomes deviant and why. It delves into the multiple motives that cause rule-breakers to behave badly in the eyes of those they offend or creatively in the eyes of those they please, and it reveals the way deviants think about their actions, their moral identity, and their fellow moral outcasts.