Knowing the Place for the First Time
This chapter considers a third approach to the sociological perspective, which has to do with viewing a wholly familiar social reality in the way a newcomer, a stranger, might. It may be assumed that sociologists know more about the lay of their land than most others do. After all, they spend a significant amount of time investigating various corners of the social world, and to that extent they can be thought of as seasoned, knowing, and experienced about human life. At the same time, however, sociologists can be viewed as strangers to the lands they study, for it is one of their tasks to look at the social world almost as if they were seeing it for the first time. The chapter explains how sociologists may be newcomers to the locations they study and discusses the ways that they deal with deviant behavior.