000			02427 a2200265 4500
001			1412807697
005			20250317100355.0
008			250312042008GB eng
020			_a9781412807692
037			_bTaylor & Francis _cGBP 45.99 _fBB
040			_a01
041			_aeng
072	7		_aJHB _2thema
072	7		_aJHB _2bic
072	7		_aLAW000000 _2bisac
072	7		_aSOC026000 _2bisac
072	7		_a302.542 _2bisac
100	1		_aGraeme R. Newman
245	1	0	_aComparative Deviance _bPerception and Law in Six Cultures
250			_a1
260			_aOxford _bRoutledge _c20080229
300			_a352 p
520			_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.
700	1		_aMarvin E. Wolfgang _4A01
999			_c559 _d559