02402    a2200253   4500001001100000005001700011008003900028020001800067037003600085040000700121041000800128072001500136072001300151072002100164072002100185072001900206100002100225245006100246250000600307260003200313300001000345520176500355700002802120141280769720250317100355.0250312042008GB                   eng    a9781412807692  bTaylor & FranciscGBP 45.99fBB  a01  aeng7 aJHB2thema7 aJHB2bic7 aLAW0000002bisac7 aSOC0260002bisac7 a302.5422bisac1 aGraeme R. Newman10aComparative DeviancebPerception and Law in Six Cultures  a1  aOxfordbRoutledgec20080229  a352 p  b"Comparative Deviance" represents a systematic attempt to survey public perceptions of deviant behavior cross-culturally: in India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Yugoslavia and the United States. There is extensive diversity in both law and perception concerning such deviances as taking drugs, homosexuality, and abortion, yet there is evidence for a basically invariant structure in perception of deviance across all cultures. Within the countries studied in this volume, Geraeme Newman discovers that the strength of religious belief and urban rural background accounted for major differences in the perception of deviance - when differences were identified.Contrary to popular academic opinion in the United States, Newman finds that those countries with the most liberal laws on deviance (i.e., the least punitive sanctions) are also those highly economically developed and least totalitarian (United States and Italy). But when public opinion is considered, the public favors harsher punishments than the law provides. In contrast, in the developing countries of India, Iran and Indonesia, where penal sanctions are more severe, public opinion is much more liberal. The crucial question is the role criminal law plays in the process of modernization: whether law is a stable cultural influence, round which public opinion wavers in a startling fashion, depending on the stage of modernization.These findings challenge many assumptions of conflict theory in sociology, of cultural relativism in anthropology, and of ethical relativism in moral philosophy. All findings are examined in relation to research on modernization, social development, and the evolution of law. These fundamental issues are thus important to many different disciplines across the board.1 aMarvin E. Wolfgang4A01