One of the most groundbreaking sociology texts of the mid-20th century, Howard S. Becker’s Outsiders is a thorough exploration of social deviance and how it can be addressed in an understanding and helpful manner. A compulsively readable and thoroughly researched exploration of social deviance and the application of what is known as "labeling theory" to the studies of deviance. With particular research into drug culture, Outsiders analyzes unconventional individuals and their place in normal society.

The Encyclopedia of Social Theory cuts across all relevant disciplines, theories, approaches, and schools to present the latest information and research.

This volume brings together the significant essays and previously unpublished writings of Edwin M. Lemert. Lemert was one of the first authors to establish the foundations of the modern sociology of crime and social deviance and wrote with empirical insight on various related topics.

When originally published this book reported the first major application of ‘labelling theory’ to deviance in classrooms. The authors explore the nature of classroom rules, show how they constitute a pervasive feature of the classroom, and examine the ways in which teachers use these rules as grounds for imputing ‘deviance’ to pupils. A theory of social typing is developed to show how teachers come to define certain pupils as deviant persons such as ‘troublemakers’ and several case-studies are used to document this analysis. Finally, the teachers’ reactions to disruptive classroom conduct are examined as complex strategic attempts at social control in the classroom. The book has a double focus on deviance theory and the process of teaching.

Originally published in 1974, Deviance and Social Control represents a collection of original papers first heard at the annual meeting of the British Sociological Association in 1971. They reveal how the American approach to deviance has been taken up by British sociologists, and revised and modified, and they explore possibilities of extending and strengthening the subject, for instance through comparative analysis or by examining issues which bear on deviant behaviour.