Goode has done a remarkable job assembling information from a wide range of sources and developing a unique and convincing analysis of the relationship between mainstream science and paranormal beliefs. The author takes a comprehensive look at the interplay between scientists, who set the standards for evidence and proof, and paranormalists, who constitute the "deviants" by breaking the scientists rules. I particularly enjoyed his framework for organizing popular beliefs about the weakness of science; his willingness to treat astrology, UFOs, parapsychology and creation "science" as different rather than identical; and his explanation of why simple admonitions to increase scientific literacy through improved science education are unlikely to change anyone's beliefs. "True believers" and "skeptics" will benefit from this book, as will fence-sitters and social scientists who are interested in philosophy of science, collective behavior, deviance, and popular culture, but nobody will find everything to their taste. There is a tremendous amount of worthwhile information in this amazing inexpensive volume and despite high interest value I spent a long time reading it because the material provoked so much thought.

This book is not for everyone, but I liked it very much. It points out that 72% of Americans believe in angels, nearly half believe that the world was created by god in its present form 6000 years ago. Since I am trained as a scientist, read Science each week and other similar periodicals I feel a compelling need to believe in evolution to make sense of the world I live in. I am guessing that people who believe in angels may not like the book.

Hopefully, I am wrong about that. Mr. Goode makes a scrupulous effort to not be judgemental. He carefully tracks the kind of reasoning that it takes to reach various conclusions and points out that many scientific conclustions are remote from human experience. A scientist might immediately tend to discount the claim that "UFO's must be real because I met someone who was actaully kidnapped by one and they told me their story." The scientist might be weighing in his or her mind the likelyhood that modern physics is totally incorrect vs. the likelyhood that the victim of the kidnapping might have been dreaming and mentally vote that it was a dream, while someone else might think of all the times scientists have been wrong and prefer the eyewitness account.

The book delves into the philosophy of science, various studies that have been done and other methods of showing the way various ways of thinking can lead to different conclusions. It is not a fluffy book and demands thought. I found myself reading it and thinking about it all day at work just waiting to get home to finish it.

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.

Unlike most books on drugs and drug usage that bogs you down with facts and statiscal data. Goode shows the reader practical examples from the lives of drug users. Goode also let you know that this could happen to you. Most of the drug users were college educated, busdrivers and businessmen. Certainly not what most of us think of when we think of addict. Goode dispels the images we have of addicts and replace it with the truth. This is something that can happen to anyone regardless of success, status or your social backgound be it in the suburbs or living in the city with good parents. Goode also makes you aware that addiction can stem from an addicted personality or a void in your soul that need to be filled as result of lost of self or grief over a love one. While still informing the reader that not all drug use is bad. Some people's use of drugs is cultural. Thus stripping you of all judgements prior to reading this book.

I had to use this book for my sociology class in college.

It is a pretty good book that shows different aspects of society

through 4 main sociological concepts. I will not be selling my

copy back at the end of the semester for sure....

"Moral panics" as a defined concept has been around since 1972 when the British sociologist Steven Cohen was attempting to explain the peculiar hysteria surrounding a small, but violent incident between British youths at a seaside resort. The incident took place in 1964 between two youth groups who became known as the Mods and the Rockers.

What fascinated Cohen was how an incident seemingly so trivial as that between the Mods and Rockers, could have been taken by the news media, parents groups, and politicians to such hyperbolic heights. Due to Cohen's amazement and his search for a thesis topic, the beginning of a theory explaining the rise and fall of hysteria on a mass scale began. "Moral Panics" is an excellent introductory text to the concept of moral panic theory, besides Cohen's own study - "Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of the Mods and Rockers" (1972).

The correlation of moral panic theory and the wide-scale phenomenon during the 1980s of a growing irrational perception that all drug users were dangerous miscreants, that if drug users are not eradicated the state of America would quickly deteriorate, &c. may not be explicitly evident at first. However, when a false dichotomy between what is really the case and what is thought to be case is exposed and the difference which caused an over-reaction is recognized, then the notion of a moral panic becomes more tenable as an explanation. Not necessarily in the pejorative sense, but naturally, groups of people can be easily led to believe something that is simply not true. Oftentimes, this is because the only perceived source(s) of information are the official mainstream news programs which have from time to time (maybe many, many times) shared in disinformation and/or sensationalism.

This book is dedicated to defining moral panics, how they occur, how they are sustained, and, finally, how they decline in the context of what sociologists call Cultural Constructionism. As was mentioned in Erich Goode's book "Strange Bedfellows: Ideology, Politics, and the Drug Legalization Debate in Between Politics and Reason," constructionism is a member of the group of competing notions that either support, study, or oppose drug policy, both nationally and internationally. I would suggest that this entire text be read in order to not only understand drug policy studies in the context of radical (cultural Constructionism) but to understand how moral panics can be created to support any regime's agenda.

Chapter 12, for instance, discusses the "crack baby" myth that was taken by the media, politicians, and parents to a height of misinformation and paranoia similar, perhaps, to "reefer madness" back in the 1930s; the crack baby hysteria is discussed in detail, it demonstrates just how easy it is to cause a "panic" about something when relevant information is not either not available or withheld and only rumour, hyperbole, and political rhetoric are the sources of information.

It is a good idea to know about moral panics in general, even though I'm writing this review from the perspective of a person interested in the dynamics of US drug policy. Knowing that what a politician or talking head is saying could very well be nothing but disinformation can at least encourage a healthy skepticism in all matters of public affair.

I encourage you to read this, however it may be beneficial to read Cohen's study first.