Author Description

The papers in this volume represent most of Howard Becker's work of the past twenty years that has not appeared in book form. They reflect the way of thinking about and studying society that has established Becker as one of the leading contemporary sociologists. This book is an important statement of the distinctive theoretical and methodological views associated with the "Chicago School" of sociology; it shows a deep concern with the first-hand study of processes and human consequences of collective action and interaction.The first part of the book treats methodological problems as problems of social interaction and lists a series of research problems requiring analytic attention. Part II illustrates Becker's approach through full reports on two of his major research projects. Four theoretical statements on how people change comprise Part III, and Part IV makes important contributions to the study of deviance. The essays in the latter section illustrate the need to study deviance as part of the general study of society, not as an isolated specialty.