ABSTRACT
The growing inequality will almost certainly have a significant impact on deviance, crime, delinquency, and criminalization. Moreover, the poor are substantially more likely to become ill and die prematurely than the more affluent and much of the population react to the sick with condescension, pity, and an emotion that borders on disdain. In the chaos and turmoil of political conflict, new categories of objectionable people arise. In June 2015, by a five-to-four decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to get married. Any sociologist describing and analyzing the extent and scope of deviance must reckon the realms in which normative violations occur. In addition, seven-term congress woman Tammy Baldwin became the first openly gay US senator, and the only openly gay non-incumbent ever to have been elected to Congress. The subject of deviance is foundational for sociology, indeed, for anyone thinking about human behavior generally how society and social processes work.
