deviance may be alive, but is it intellectually lively? a reaction to goode

In a recent article in this journal, Goode (2003) Goode, Erich. 2003. “The MacGuffin That Refuses to Die: An Investigation into the Condition of the Sociology of Deviance.”. Deviant Behavior, 24: 507–33. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] counters claims that deviance is “dead” by arguing that (a) deviance classes continue to enroll large numbers of students, (b) people continue committing deviant acts, and (c) sociologists continue studying those acts. These may be signs of continued life, but Goode ignores evidence that sociologists are finding the concept of deviance less useful. The concept may be alive, but it does not seem all that lively.