Deviant Behavior provides a comprehensive study of the behavior, beliefs, conditions, and reactions to deviance, giving students a better understanding of this phenomenon. Deviance is discussed from the sociological perspectives of positivism and constructionism. Readers will grasp the reason behind deviant behavior through the positivist perspective and why certain actions, beliefs, and physical characteristics are condemned through the constructionist perspective.New to this edition:Two chapters on crime make clearer distinctions between criminalization of behavior, vs. criminal behavior itselfMore discussion of the relativity of deviance, including how murder is socially and legally constructedExpands the notion that conspiracy theory is a form of cognitive devianceNew discussion furthers the difference between labeling theory and constructionismNew Section on environmental pollution with reference to "green criminology"New section added on Deviance and HarmNewsworthy new features include:A Formerly Homeless Man Speaks OutVictimization and AbuseMass IncarcerationStop and FriskMissing Black Men? (with implications for families and demography)Arrest-Incarceration GapDisparities in SentencingThe End of the Crime Decline?The Brother of a Murder Victim Speaks OutA Tattoo Collector Gets InkedFaculty-Student SexReflections on Studying BDSM