ABSTRACT
My aim in this chapter is to explore what, to my mind, is the major contribution of deviancy theory to sociological analysis. In doing so I will critically examine the major strands in the sociology of deviance, and attempt to pinpoint the fundamental questions which a fully adequate theory must answer. Cloward and Ohlin noted that:
The outcome of any scientific undertaking is determined in large part by the nature of the questions with which the enquiry begins; in a sense, the process of enquiry itself may be understood as an effort to frame questions more precisely (1960, p. 31).
