). “Sober as Deviant: The stigma of sobriety and how some college students ‘stay dry’ on a ‘wet’ campus.”

http://jce.sagepub.com/content/42/1/64 Abstract Social scientists have conducted numerous studies on college students’ binge drinking behavior. However, there exist no systematic studies of non-drinkers on college campuses. In our research, we focus on the everyday experiences of non-drinking undergraduates who stay “dry” while living on “wet” campuses. We use the symbolic interactionist notions of identity work and deviance to show how non-drinkers employ a variety of stigma management strategies to avoid being labeled “deviant.” These strategies include the procurement of drinking props, fictive storytelling, alteration of personal appearance, concealment, disclosure, and capitulation. We extend the sociological study of identity work and deviance by documenting how non-drinkers experience and manage stigma and negotiate positive social and personal identities. Moreover, we apply the concepts of “negative deviants,” “rate-busters,” and “positive deviants” to delineate how non-drinkers are viewed by different audiences on a “wet” campus.