Author: Anne Hendershott
Year of Publication: 2002
Page Count: 194
Anne Hendershott is a rare bird – a sociologist who believes that the concept of “deviance” must be reaffirmed in order to avoid a complete societal collapse. The classification of some behaviors as “deviant” was once understood by sociologists as the means by which societies defined what is right and good, maintaining good order and harmony by stigmatizing deviant behavior. Since the 1960s, the sociological study of deviance has become a historical study only, as sociologists question why “deviance” was ever an important concept in the first place. This doesn’t mean that there is no longer any such thing as behavior that is considered “deviant.” But it does mean that what is now considered deviant behavior is often the exact opposite of what previous generations believed.
In The Politics of Deviance (2002, 194 pages), Hendershott examines the subject of deviance by discussing the issues of pedophilia, sexual orientation, sexual promiscuity, drug abuse, mental illness, and rape. Throughout, she demonstrates how the academic and media elite have “shaped discussion and dramatically influenced public perceptions.” What is needed, Hendershott argues, is a return to the traditional categories of deviance. And this, she says, requires a moral awakening, and not merely a change of laws.Her concluding words are worth quoting: “A society that continues to redefine deviance as disease, or refuses to acknowledge and negatively sanction the deviant acts our common sense tells us are destructive, is a society that has lost the capacity to confront evil that has a capacity to dehumanize us all.”
While this book is now twenty years old and therefore somewhat dated, the trends that Hendershott examined in 2002 have only continued, and indeed worsened. This study remains relevant as our society continues to overturn traditional categories of deviance, and as deviance is redefined as a result of emotional appeals of advocacy groups, public intellectuals, and in the halls of academia.