The article is dedicated to an important social problem of contemporary Russian society--to deviant behavior in the system of social relations. Deviant manifestations are not unique and new, however their study becomes especially important now, during a critical period of the Russian society development. In contemporary society the interaction of a personality, family and society is performed in the context of high-quality transformation of public relations which cause not only positive, but also negative changes in various spheres of social life. Various difficulties arising in the course of adaptation of representatives of these or those social groups to market economy generate deformation of interpersonal communications, dissociation of generations, loss of traditions. The diverse forms of social pathology increasing on a great scale, criminalization of social milieu, sharp weakening of standard and moral regulation of public relations--these and other negative tendencies in the development of contemporary society set an extremely important task for psychological science on studying the nature, objective laws of deviant behavior and its subjects--the deviant personality (deviant) and anti-social communities. In this regard, the article is directed towards the study of a concept, essence and experience of researches of deviant behavior both in domestic, and in foreign psychological science. The leading approach to the study of this problem is a holistic, systemic and dialectic approaches which provide an integrity and comprehensiveness of the research relying on a holistic personal development, considering the history of a personality. The results of theoretical analysis of deviant behavior are considered in the article. The overview of development of this concept is provided from ancient times to the present. The conclusions have been made on substantive characteristics of deviant behavior as a social and psychological phenomenon. Materials of the article are of practical importance to psychologists, social workers and the staff of educational institutions.