Deviant Behavior (9th Edition) [Paperback]

Erich Goode (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0205748074 | ISBN-13: 978-0205748075 | Edition: 9

This widely-adopted text seeks to understand deviance from the key sociological perspectives and theories. Real-world examples of deviance are provided throughout to encourage critical thinking about deviant behavior and its impact.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Goode provides a comprehensive, balanced exploration of the many different forms of deviant behavior as well as the major sociological perspectives and theories of deviance. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

The author seeks to understand deviance from the major sociological perspectives and theories of deviance by providing a comprehensive, balanced examination of the conceptual foundation of the sociology of deviance. An honest and direct approach is constant throughout the text and imparts a practical knowledge towards real world matters that enables the reader to think clearly about them. The book gives the reader interesting material about real life experiences of deviance from which they can learn and understand the different types of deviant individuals that exist in our society. Helps the reader understand the full range of deviance and emphasizes deviance is not always a motivated behavior whose occurrence needs to be explained. For anyone interested in understanding deviant behavior. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 9 edition (April 29, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205748074
• ISBN-13: 978-0205748075
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,051 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, comprehensive overview of theory and types of deviance, April 24, 2010

By 

Pennsylvania Reader - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Deviant Behavior (9th Edition) (Paperback)

I've taught sociology of deviance and social control at an average-student-level regional public university for four or five semesters using this book.

For me, its strong points are:

- good basic overview of main theories of deviance
(Adding January 2011: A flaw of the book is its omission of functionalism from the theory section. Durkheim is mentioned in the introduction, but the argument of "The normal and the pathological," or Kai Erikson's theory of boundary crisis, is not discussed at all in the book. I've had to develop a separate course document to cover this theory. This absence is not unusual--other leading deviance textbooks do the same thing--but it is a flaw.)
- theories are organized by positivist and constructionist theories
- about half the book focuses on theory and about half focuses on types of deviance (crime, criminal violence, drugs, organizational deviance, sexual deviance, cognitive deviance, mental deviance, physical deviance)
- students like the balance of theory and information about types of deviance, and the organization of the book makes it easy to break the semester into halves using spring or fall break as the mid-point
- compact size means reasonable price and fewer student complaints about reading
- well written, factually accurate

The biggest challenge I've had using the book is that its compact size is a plus and a minus. My students don't want to read. The brief explanations of theories are abstract and deceptively easy-to-read to the unobservant reader, so they tend to get skimmed rather than read thoroughly. I have had to emphasize very close reading and to create additional course materials in order to help students learn the theories. I would give it five stars if the theory sections were expanded by several pages, perhaps using examples. I don't think the personal accounts that end each chapter add much; if removed, that space could be available for mini-case studies, how-to-apply-the-theory examples.

I would like to see a discussion of developmental disability in the book. This topic is not usually included in deviance textbooks, but this book is unusual and the chances are possibly better with this one than with the others.

In the past, I've used a deviance reader in conjunction with the book, but because the theory part of the course is so difficult for students, I have dropped that and added a set of articles to illustrate theory and deviance types.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An in-depth look at deviance as a sociological concept, December 2, 2010

By 

Joshua P. OConner "Josh O'Conner" (LocalPlan.org) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deviant Behavior (8th Edition) (Paperback)

In "Deviant Behavior" 8th Edition, author Erich Goode dives in to the concept of deviance from a sociological perspective in a very thorough albeit succinct survey of modern thought on the subject. Goode manages to provide a general overview of the topic of deviance while simultaneously providing a detailed examination of both the positivist and constructionist approaches to understanding deviance as a sociological phenomenon. Goode successfully navigates the various disciplines (such as criminology) that lay claim to deviance as a foundational concept while at the same time strongly cementing his overarching discussion with sociology.

Overall "Deviant Behavior" is an easy to read introduction to the topic of deviance. At 374 pages (with few graphics), it's brief and not an overly complex read. Goode does an excellent job of incorporating many of the thinkers responsible for articulating specific concepts contained within the idea of deviance and makes it easy for an interested reader to step out and do additional research on their own. While "Deviant Behavior" is obviously intended toward the college textbook market, it's not your typical college textbook. Goode avoids overly-simplifying the material and puts much of the onus for reviewing concepts onto the reader. There are no keyword summaries or concept reviews at the end of each chapter, Goode simply summarizes his major point and moves on. One of my favorite facets of the book was the case studies at the conclusion of each chapter that explored the life of a person considered to be engaging in a deviant behavior.

Goode offers a robust introductory text into the concept of deviance. I would highlight the fact that this is not set up like the standard introductory textbook, but is oriented more toward students who are motivated to engage the topic. The information is presented just as clearly as it could be in any format, but students may find that they need to spend additional time with each topic other than just a cursory glance. Goode also separates his personal views from the consensus in a clear manner allowing the student to see the areas of controversy within the field. I would highly recommend this text to anyone interested in learning more about deviant behavior whether as part of a class or as an independent venture.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deviant Behavior: a masterpiece already, April 28, 2003

By 

"classicalcomposer" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deviant Behaviour: An Interactionist Approach (Prentice-Hall series in sociology) (Hardcover)

In my research on the societal use of labeling in human males regarding masculinity, this book was unquestionably the greatest of assests I found. How utterly wonderful it is that an author has set forth such an honest work as Goode's "Deviant Behavior."

The aims of any society are to control the individual based on a set belief system that is generally followed by a conventionalized public. Goode pokes holes in this fallacy. He exposes in no uncertain terms the bias prevelant in all societies, which eventually lead to prejudice and judgement.

If I could recommend one book to the sociologist in training, it would be this one. No greater prize could be found than the astute knowledge offered hearin.