Constructions of Deviance: Social Power, Context, and Interaction

By including both theoretical analyses and ethnographic illustrations of how deviance is socially constructed, organized and managed, the Adlers text shows students how the concepts and theories of deviance are applied to the world around them. Representing a wide variety of deviant acts, the Adlers text challenges one to see the diversity and pervasiveness of deviance in society. The Adlers look at deviance as a component of society and examine the construction of deviance in terms of differential social power, whereby some members of society have the power to define other whole groups as deviant.