(SOCI/CRJU 302- Fall 2007)
Deviance is a word that ignites intrigue, excitement, desire, fear, confusion, and anger. Many believe it is easy to identify in everyday life, so much so that few question its existence, origins or functions. Perhaps more importantly, people often don’t recognize how they reap benefits from or perpetuate the consequences of deviance in everyday life. In short, our knowledge about “what” is deviant is minimal. What we understand about its origins, consequences and benefits is even less understood. The central objective of this course is to learn how to think sociologically about deviance and its corollary, the process of social control. In doing so, we will explore deviant behavior and identities as socially constructed phenomena that take shape only as social actors decide something or someone is "troublesome" and re-define these sometimes vague or unspecified troubles into "deviant" persons or categories of behavior. We will see that, from a sociological perspective, deviant behavior and identities have more to do with our interpretations and definitions than specific behaviors or people. Thus, the central questions that drive this course are: "How do we interpret who people are and how they act as "deviant?"" and "how do we interpret persons or acts as "normal?"" To answer these questions, we will examine both the formal and informal processes, as well as the variety of parties, who contribute to interpretations of behavior as deviant.
Total Class points= 400 The University of Delaware’s peer institutions include Rutgers University, University of Iowa, and University of Minnesota. Dr. Anderson will perform at this level and expects the same from students. Therefore, this course will require considerable investment. Dr. Anderson takes the course seriously and has invested a lot of time in its preparation. She is responsible for consulting students about coursework during office hours, grading exams and papers within a reasonable timeframe (i.e., typically one to two weeks), and preparing stimulating and informative lectures. Dr. Anderson will communicate with students via email occasionally- making class announcements and transmitting readings. Therefore, students MUST regularly check their UDEL accounts for class notices. Dr. Anderson will return student emails between 9am and 6pm—Monday through Friday. Students are responsible for attending class regularly and on time, being prepared for class, exams and assignments (this includes reading and studying the materials by the dates listed on the syllabus), thinking pro-actively about course material, and taking responsibility for their own learning. They are also responsible for proper classroom decorum and professional interaction with Dr. Anderson. Students’ grades will be based on four multiple choice exams (200 points), four group assignments (100 points) and one 1,500 word research paper (100 points). Papers. Students are required to write a 1,500 word paper, i.e., about 6-8 pages, on a topic not discussed in class, but which uses one or more of the theoretical or conceptual ideas from the first three weeks of class (Books by Best, Becker, and Goffman). Topics and research questions must be approved by Dr. Anderson by the first week in October. Your papers will be due in class during the last week of the semester. Please see the schedule below for the exact date. Papers must be type-written, double-spaced with conventional margins (one inch all around, with 12 point font), and paginated. Shorter and significantly longer papers will be penalized. Only stapled printed copies of the papers will be accepted. Thus, students cannot email or provide a disc/cd/drive of their work for grading. Late papers will be penalized at five points per day, including weekend days. Papers must contain a title page (with paper title and student’s name, social security number, and codename), a 1,500 word body of the paper, and a reference section. Papers MUST come complete with a reference section that follows the Chicago style of referencing for the social sciences. Sources MUST be academic or scientific in nature and MUST be found on one of your library’s academic databases. Use of information from websites/pages is forbidden and will be penalized. The only exceptions are government pages with a .gov URL. Students can use no more than two of these as sources. Your paper must include cites in the body of the text (where appropriate) and corresponding full citations in a reference section at the end of the paper. You learned about this in your English writing class. Failure to provide adequate referencing will penalized. Further guidelines for the papers will be discussed and distributed in class. Three 100 exams comprise 75% of your class grade. Each is based on a given part of the course. They are not cumulative. They will consist of 50 multiple choice questions (1.5 points each) and one 25 point essay question. All exam questions will be taken from information covered in your book, lectures, internet readings, and audio-visual information viewed in class. The exams will be administered during the first half of class, with students remaining for the second half to complete the group assignments (see below). At the beginning of some classes, Dr. Anderson will distribute a short quiz with questions on the assigned readings for that class period. Students will answer the questions for possible extra credit points. Usually, the questions will be multiple choice items, but may also require short answers. Students will, therefore, be able to accrue extra credit points as long as they stay up to date on their assigned readings. This will also better prepare them for exams. There are no make-up provisions for extra credit. These are “extra” points not a formal part of your class evaluation. Concerning class lectures, it is the student’s responsibility to obtain lecture notes, handouts and assignments if he or she has missed class or does not understand something. The following also apply:
Part 1. Conceptual Framework for Understanding Deviance Aug. 28 Sep. 4 Sep. 11 Sep. 17 Part 2. Deviance and Sexuality Sep. 24 Oct. 2 Oct. 9 Feminism has emasculated the American male, and that emasculation has led to physical problems. This pill will take the pressure off men. It will lead to new relationships and undercut the feminist agenda. (Bob Guccione, publisher of Penthouse, cited in Handy, 1998, ‘The Viagra Craze: a Pill to Cure Impotence?” Time 151: 44). Oct. 16 Part 3. Music Scenes and Deviance: Observations from Rave and Hip Hop Culture Oct. 23 Oct. 30 Nov. 6 Part 3. Medicalizing Deviance Nov. 13 Nov. 20 Nov. 27 Dec. 4 Dec. 11 |
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