One of the most groundbreaking sociology texts of the 20th century, Howard S. Becker’s Outsiders revolutionized the study of social deviance. Howard S. Becker’s Outsiders broke new ground in the early 1960s—and the ideas it proposed and problems it raised are still argued about and inspiring research internationally. In this new edition, Becker includes two lengthy essays, unpublished until now, that add fresh material for thought and discussion. “Why Was Outsiders a Hit? Why Is It Still a Hit?” explains the historical background that made the book interesting to a new generation coming of age in the 60s and makes it of continuing interest today. “Why I Should Get No Credit For Legalizing Marijuana” examines the road to decriminalization and presents new ideas for the sociological study of public opinion. “A sort of Richard Feynman of the social sciences, notable for his street smarts, his informal manner, and his breezy, pungent prose style.... The influence of Becker's early work remains profound.” – Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker “Becker is back with new reflections that take us into public opinion, the nature of knowledge, and the insides of social science history. As always, he shines with ethnography, with reflection, and in telling us how social science works – in real time, and, when it comes to it, for all time.” – Harvey Molotch, professor of sociology at New York University “An exceptionally interesting and worthwhile contribution to the study of deviant behavior.” – American Sociological Review Howard Becker's Outsiders broke new ground in the early 1960s, arguing that social deviance is a more common phenomenon that perceived and that conventional wisdom that social deviants are pathological is incorrect. Becker's seminal study remains the most piercing exploration about unconventional individuals and their position in' normal' society. Howard S. Becker has made major contributions to the sociology of deviance, the sociology of art, and the sociology of music. His books include Tricks of the Trade and What About Mozart? What About Murder? He lives and works in San Francisco and Paris. OUTSIDERS 1 Outsiders All social groups make rules and attempt, at some times and under some circumstances, to enforce them. Social rules define situations and the kinds of behavior appropriate to them, specifying some actions as “right” and forbidding others as “wrong.” When a rule is enforced, the person who is supposed to have broken it may be seen as a special kind of person, one who cannot be trusted to live by the rules agreed on by the group. He is regarded as an outsider. But the person who is thus labelled an outsider may have a different view of the matter. He may not accept the rule by which he is being judged and may not regard those who judge him as either competent or legitimately entitled to do so. Hence, a second meaning of the term emerges: the rule-breaker may feel his judges are outsiders. In what follows, I will try to clarify the situation and process pointed to by this double-barrelled term: the situations of rule-breaking and rule-enforcement and the processes by which some people come to break rules and others to enforce them. Some preliminary distinctions are in order. Rules may be of a great many kinds. They may be formally enacted into law, and in this case the police power of the state may be used in enforcing them. In other cases, they represent informal agreements, newly arrived at or encrusted with the sanction of age and tradition; rules of this kind are enforced by informal sanctions of various kinds. Similarly, whether a rule has the force of law or tradition or is simply the result of consensus, it may be the task of some specialized body, such as the police or the committee on ethics of a professional association, to enforce it; enforcement, on the other hand, may be everyone’s job or, at least, the job of everyone in the group to which the rule is meant to apply. Many rules are not enforced and are not, in any except the most formal sense, the kind of rules with which I am concerned. Blue laws, which remain on the statute books though they have not been enforced for a hundred years, are examples. (It is important to remember, however, that an unenforced law may be reactivated for various reasons and regain all its original force, as recently occurred with respect to the laws governing the opening of commercial establishments on Sunday in Missouri.) Informal rules may similarly die from lack of enforcement. I shall mainly be concerned with what we can call the actual operating rules of groups, those kept alive through attempts at enforcement. Finally, just how far “outside” one is, in either of the senses I have mentioned, varies from case to case. We think of the person who commits a traffic violation or gets a little too drunk at a party as being, after all, not very different from the rest of us and treat his infraction tolerantly. We r