"Deviance, Morality and Power by Professor Kennedy takes a critical look through a sociological lens that heretofore has been used almost exclusively in the examination and explanation of social deviance. The book is very reader friendly. Each chapter is introduced with reflection questions that alert the reader of what the chapter will examine in a way that immediately gets you thinking. Likewise, key terms and concepts are identified and then highlighted when used throughout the chapter. Finally, each chapter concludes with questions designed for the reader to critically asses the chapters content and for future discussion. Drawing from his previous work on deviance and combining his many years in the classroom, Kennedy retools different sociological theories that he uses very effectively to examine and provide analysis on the broader society today. Particularly relevant is the book's analysis of our present day American Democracy. Kennedy provides a history and explanation of events that describe for the reader how we have gotten to where we are as a nation-a polarization of beliefs and views. The book will be effective in introducing students to sociological theories and its application to society today." Arthur Culbert, Ph.D., Sociologist and Former Dean and Professor, Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine

"In Deviance, Morality and Power, Professor Kennedy argues that social scientists have failed because, in their pursuit of a philosophically-flawed notion of a 'value-free' science, they have largely ignored the fundamental truth that all societies need shared moral values if they are to survive and prosper. In a panoramic survey of modern US history and American social science, Kennedy shows that value-based consensuses are both created and lost politically, and what that teaches us about how social consensus may be recreated now in the USA. These are difficult questions, involving philosophy, politics, and economics as well as sociology. But in a text designed for teaching, Dev Kennedy manages to explain them in a way that will be readily accessible to any and all students and their teachers. This book is a triumph, intellectually and pedagogically." Gavin Kitching, Emeritus Professor of Politics, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

"This timely and reader-friendly textbook provides an overview about how sociological concepts of deviance developed in the U.S. through social crises and political conflicts since the first gilded age until present day's conflagrations. In the second part, it elaborates on the dynamics of social construction of deviance and consensus through power and morality struggles and offers a pathway to overcome current divisions and fragmentation through the development of new shared moral visions and rational policies. Kennedy connects his theoretical introduction with real-world questions of how we should make society better and resolve practical societal problems through the development of reason, trust, and cohesion. This introduction inspires conversations and action with reflective questions, directions, graphs, pictures, and supplemental resources. An excellent resource for students in sociology, social work, criminal justice, and liberal studies, yet accessible to the the interested lay person, too." Hermann Kurthen, Grand Valley State University, Michigan