This book traces the historical relationship between male-male erotic desire and the genre of literary or philosophical dialogue. It describes three literary-philosophical traditions, each of which originates in a different Platonic dialogue whose subsequent influence can be traced, first, through the Roman and medieval periods; second, through the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods; and, finally, through the modern and postmodern periods. Sturges demonstrates that various forms of erotic deviance have been differently valued in these different periods and cultures, and that dialogue has consistently proven to be the genre of choice for expressing these changing values. This study provides a valuable historical perspective on current debates over the place of homosexuality in modern Western culture.

In a society where sexualized media has become background noise, we are frequently discouraged from frank and open discussions about sex and offered few tools for understanding sexual behaviors and sexualities that are perceived as being out of the norm. This book encourages readers to establish new ways of thinking about stigmatized peoples and behaviors, and to think critically about gender, sex, sexuality and sex crimes. Sexual Deviance and Society uses sociological theories of crime, deviance, gender and sexuality to construct a framework for understanding sexual deviance. This book is divided into four units: Unit I, Sociology of Deviance and Sexuality, lays the foundation for understanding sex and sexuality through sociological frameworks of deviance. Unit II, Sexual Deviance, provides an in depth dialogue to its readers about the sociological constructions of sexual deviance with a critical focus on contemporary and historical conceptualizations. Unit III, Deviant Sexual Acts, explores a variety of deviant sexual acts in detail, including sex in public, fetishes, and sex work. Unit IV, Sex Crimes and Criminals, examines rape and sexual assault, sex crimes against children, and societal responses to sex offenders and their treatment within the criminal justice system. Utilizing an integrative approach that creates a dialogue between the subjects of gender, criminology and deviance, this book is a key resource for students interested in crime and deviance, gender and sexuality, and the sociology of deviance.

Deviance is by definition a social problem. Since deviant behavior violates the normative expectations of a given group, deviance must be regarded as a problem for that group, since all groups of people want their norms to be enforced. Many modern societies place considerable value on personal liberty, so much so that interference with personal choices to deviate from group norms can be justified only in terms of the potential damage that particular kinds of behavior might do to the legitimate interests of others. Sociological research suggests that the social problem associated with deviance is often the behavior of individuals who violate norms cannot be justified in terms of basic values of liberty, social order, or justice. In other kinds of deviance, though, the social problem is that people or, in a more organized way, social institutions, interfere with individual liberty and self-realization. Each selection in this volume has been chosen to cover a full range of substantive problematic issues, a range of social science perspectives that can be brought to bear on issues of all kinds, and a range of social science methodologies used in studying modern society. 'Deviance and Liberty' is divided up into thirty-nine contributions and five main parts ranging from "Modern Perspectives on Deviance and Social Problems"; "Deviant Exchanges: Gambling, Drugs, and Sex"; "Deviant Personal Control: Illness, Violence, and Crime; Deviance, Identity, and the Life Cycle"; and "Moral Enterprise and Moral Enforcement." It is a welcome addition to the libraries of those interested in the study of deviance or society as a whole.

Myths have long been considered the prime linkage between nature and culture, but we hold that they are more than this. The mythogene, which is our conceptualization of a connecting structure, links subject and object, history and transcendence, but above all is the blueprint for creativity. The volume deals, therefore, with the innovative conception of the author as to the process of creativity. Van Gogh had a revelation as to how the whirling cypresses and dancing stars would look at night. These structures, which contain a complementarity between his experiences and longings, are then ingrained in the artistic medium. Since his artistic efforts were authentic, his ecstatic (in the Greek sense) state of mind, extricated itself from diachronic history and soared onto synchronic eternity. This is how we perceive his work as fresh, exhilarating and meaningful as if painted today; it is the communication within eternity of authentic art from artist to audience. The volume also presents a classification of types of artists as related to their art and presents and innovative theory as to the link between madness and creativity.

This is the new edition of the textbook, 'Understanding Deviance', that guides the new student through the major sociological theories of crime, deviance and control. It offers an in-depth discussion of all the prominent theories of deviance.

For well over a millennium the civilization of Western Europe was 'Christendom,' with Christianity the dominant religion, buttressed by social and legal structures. This volume studies Christendom at its origins, bringing the insights of leading scholars in the fields of ancient history, theology, patristics, and liturgy to bear on aspects of Europe's Christianization. From a missiological perspective, the contributors ask what is Christianity's impact upon culture, what is culture's impact upon Christianity? Focusing on the first four centuries, but also looking forward to the future of Christianity in the West, this book combines scholarly excellence with accessibility. It will be valued by scholars and students alike.

Control theories have dominated criminological theory and research since the 1969 publication of Hirschi's seminal work on the social bond. Social control and self-control theorists are unique in suggesting that patterns in criminal behaviors are better explained by variations in social constraints rather than by individual motivational impulses, thus indicating that their main concerns are the explication and clarification of the techniques, processes, and institutions of informal social control. The four major sections of this volume focus on: the similarities and differences among the major contributors to the early developmental stage of social control theory; the central importance of parents, peers, and schools in the creation of informal control mechanisms and their link to crime and delinquency; the theoretical underpinnings of self-control theory, including empirical tests and criticisms; and theoretical integrations of social control and self-control theories with various motivational theories of crime and delinquency.