Deviance, the interactionist perspective

First published in 1968, Deviance: The Interactionist Perspective, edited by Earl Rubington and Martin S. Weinberg, emerged as a seminal text during a period when sociology was shifting away from traditional functionalist views of rule-breaking. The authors aimed to consolidate the burgeoning body of research centered on symbolic interactionism, providing students and scholars with a structured framework to understand deviance not as an inherent quality of an act, but as a consequence of societal labeling and interpersonal interaction.

The collection was curated to synthesize theoretical insights from key figures like Howard S. Becker and Erving Goffman, whose work emphasized how social groups create deviance by making rules whose infraction constitutes deviance. The book was widely received as a highly accessible and coherent introduction to the labeling perspective, becoming a staple in undergraduate sociology curricula for decades due to its ability to make complex social theory digestible through carefully selected primary source essays.