4111 DEVIANCE

 

Welcome to the sociology of deviant behavior! The concepts of deviance and social control are so important that some consider them the core concepts of sociology. This course looks at how attributes or behavior are defined as deviant, the social consequences of deviant labels, and the construction and imposition of norms, values, and rules. We take up both the "social construction" of deviant categories and the “social facts” of deviance. Course objectives include the following: • To understand how deviance is defined and produced. • To gain a working knowledge of the key sociological theories of deviance. • To apply these ideas critically to selected case studies. • To critique and evaluate institutional responses to deviance and control.

I'll do my best to post a pdf of each week's powerpoint slides 24 hours before the lecture. That way, you can print them out if you like and take notes directly on my notes. You'll also find some of the required readings here, as well as a course syllabus, midterm and final review sheets, and links to sites that you might find useful.

LECTURE SLIDES [note: lectures posted prior to class]

1. 9/2 Welcome! Defining Deviance: Social Facts and Social Constructions -- service learning packet

   A. Lecture: Welcome! Social Facts and Social Constructions
   B. Lecture: Defining Deviance

Read Adler & Adler: I. Introduction, pp. 1-10
Read Adler & Adler: 1. Erikson, On the Sociology of Deviance pp. 17-24
*Local Angela Behrens, Christopher Uggen, and Jeff Manza. 2003. “Ballot Manipulation and the ‘Menace of Negro Domination’: Racial Threat and Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States, 1850-2002.” American Journal of Sociology 109:559-605. [Note: Don’t worry about all the fancy statistics. Focus on how deviance is defined and how and why this has changed over time]

2. 9/9 Social Controls and the Problem of Order; Deviant Careers

   A.  Lecture: Criminology, Deviance, and the Hobbesian Problem of Order (5 min. video: Bowling for Columbine)

Read Adler & Adler: 2. Heckert and Heckert, Typology of Deviance pp. 25-40

Read Adler & Adler: 11. Best, The Constructionist Stance pp. 105-108

            Read Adler & Adler: 18. Brunson and Miller, Gender, Race, and Urban Policing pp. 189-199 

   B. Lecture: Introduction to Deviant Careers (of people, firms, nations…)

Read Adler & Adler: VIII. Phases of the Deviant Career pp. 521-525

            Read Adler & Adler: 43. Wright & Decker, Deciding to Commit a Burglary pp. 526-535

*Local: Christopher Uggen and Melissa Thompson. 2003. “The Socioeconomic Determinants of Ill-Gotten Gains:

Within-Person Changes in Drug Use and Illegal Earnings.” American Journal of Sociology 109:146-85. [Note: focus on the case history pp. 161-65, the thousands of cases summarized in Table 6, and pp. 177-78 discussing whether criminal and conventional careers can be explained with the same set of concepts or tools]

3. 9/16 Subcultures, Power, and Unconventional Sentimentality; Individualistic v. Sociological Theories

   A. Lecture: Subcultures, Power, and “Unconventional Sentimentality” (5 min. video: The Wall)

Read Adler & Adler: 21. Chambliss, Saints and Roughnecks pp. 223-236

Read Adler & Adler: VIII. Social Organization of Deviance pp. 381-388

Read Adler and Adler: 34. Jenkot, Cooks are Like Gods pp. 409-418
   B. Lecture: Individualistic versus Sociological Theories (The Woodsman, if time)

            Read Adler & Adler: II. Theories of Deviance, pp. 57-72

            Read Adler & Adler: 38. Turvey, Sexual Asphyxia pp. 463-474

Read Adler & Adler: 33. Adler & Adler, Self-Injurers as Loners, pp. 401-408

4. 9/23 Structural Theories

   A. Lecture: Functionalism & Anomie Theories (5 min. video: Bullworth)

Read Adler & Adler: 6. Durkheim, The Normal and the Pathological pp. 73-77

Read Adler & Adler: 7. Merton, Social Structure and Anomie pp. 78-84

   B.  Lecture: Conflict and Threat Theories (focus on rule-making)

Read Adler & Adler: 5. Quinney, Conflict Theory of Crime pp. 51-56

Read Adler & Adler 10. Chesney-Lind, Feminist Theory pp. 98-104

*Local. What Ryan D. King, Michael Massoglia, and Christopher Uggen. 2012. “Employment and Exile: U.S. Criminal Deportations, 1908-2005.” American Journal of Sociology 117:1786-1825. [Note: focus on the labor markets and punishment section pp. 1790-93, Table 1, and Figure 3a-3c.]

5.9/30 Labeling, Learning, and Control Theories

   A. Lecture: Labeling Theory and Moral Entrepreneurs (4 min. video: Gattaca)

Read Adler & Adler: 3. Becker, Labeling Theory pp. 41-45

Read Adler & Adler 4. Hendershott, Morality of Deviance 46-50

Read Adler & Adler: 16. Tuggle and Holmes, Blowing Smoke pp. 171-180 

   B. Lecture: Social Control, Differential Association, and Learning Theories

Read Adler & Adler: 9. Hirschi, Control Theory pp. 89-97

Read Adler & Adler: 8. Sutherland and Cressey, Differential Association pp. 85-88

Read Adler & Adler: 27. Cromwell and Thurman, Devil Made Me Do it pp. 308-316

*Local Michael Massoglia and Christopher Uggen. 2010. “Settling Down and Aging Out: Toward an Interactionist Theory of Desistance and the Transition to Adulthood.” American Journal of Sociology 116:543-82. [Note: focus on changing conceptions of “normal” for young adults  and the symbolic interactionist theory on pp. 545-555]

6. 10/7 Methodologies -- How we Learn the "Social Facts"
Supplements: EEOC Statistics: www.eeoc.gov/stats/harass.html Official statistics on crime and recession and MTF Survey:

   A. Lecture: Government/Official Statistics and Surveys (Video: Matrix Reloaded “causality”)

Read Adler & Adler: III. Studying Deviance pp. 109-114

Read Adler & Adler: 12. Besharov and Laumann-Billings, Child Abuse Reporting pp. 115-121

Read Adler & Adler: 13. Laumann et al., Survey of Sexual Behavior pp. 122-131

Check http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/ Check http://monitoringthefuture.org/purpose.html  

   B. Lecture: Participant Observation, Interviews and Other Qualitative Approaches

            Read Adler & Adler: 14. Adler, Researching Dealers and Smugglers pp. 132-148

Read Adler & Adler: 26. Scully and Marolla, Rapists’ Vocabulary of Motive pp. 291-307

            Read Adler & Adler: 35. Miller, Young Women in Gangs pp. 419-432 

   C. Review

7. 10/14 MIDTERM EXAMINATION [review guide and old sample questions]

8 . 10/21 Crime (visit FBI sex offender registries)

   A. Lecture: Crimes of Violence (7 min. video: Fight Club)

            Read Adler & Adler: 41. Armstrong et al., Sexual Assault on Campus pp. 494-511

            Read: Adler & Adler: 17. Failure to Launch: Why Some Issues fail to Detonate, pp. 181-188  

   B. Lecture: Property Crimes, Power, and Political Crimes

            Read Adler & Adler: 42. Engdahl, Opportunity Structure for White-Collar Crime, pp. 512-520

            Read Adler & Adler: 37. Rothe, War Profiteering, Iraq and Halliburton pp. 446-458

*Local. Christopher Uggen and Jeff Manza. 2002. "Democratic Contraction? The Political Consequences of Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States." American Sociological Review 67:777-803. [Note: focus on how the “felon” label has affected political power]

9. 10/28 Organizational and Occupational Deviance / Leaving Crime

    A. Lecture: Corporate Crime and Occupational Deviance (10-minute video: Office Space)

            Read Adler & Adler: 22. Liederbach, Opportunity and Medical Crime pp. 237-246

*Local Jessica Huiras, Christopher Uggen, and Barbara McMorris. 2000. "Career Jobs, Survival Jobs, and Employee Deviance: A Social Investment Model of Workplace Misconduct." The Sociological Quarterly 41:245-63. [Note: Focus on how “career stakes” provide informal social controls that reduce workplace deviance]  

    B. Lecture: Desistance – Leaving Crime

            Read Adler & Adler: 46. Career Shifts for Drug Dealers and Smugglers pp. 562-574

            Read Adler & Adler: 20. Pager, The Mark of a Criminal Record pp. 211-222

*Local Christopher Uggen. 2000. “Work as a Turning Point in the Life Course of Criminals: A Duration Model of Age, Employment, and Recidivism.” American Sociological Review 65:529-46. [Note: Focus on Figures 1-4 – do jobs affect recidivism in this experiment? How does the effect depend on age?]

10. 11/4 Sex, Gender, and Deviance Working Paper DRAFTS to be exchanged at beginning of Class

   A. Lecture: Heteronormativity, Sex, and Gender Norms in the U.S. (5 min. video: Boys Don’t Cry)

            Read: Adler & Adler: 19. Blinde & Taub, Homophobia and Women’s Sport pp. 200-210

            Read: Adler & Adler: 29. Bemiller, Men who Cheer pp. 317-330

            Read: Adler & Adler: 24. Weinberg, Williams, & Pryor, Becoming Bisexual pp. 268-278

*Local (RECOMMENDED ONLY): Christopher Uggen and Amy Blackstone. 2004. "Sexual Harassment as a Gendered Expression of Power." American Sociological Review 69:64-92. [Note: focus on feminist perspectives and hypotheses pp. 66-70, prevalence p. 73, and interview responses] 

Recommended: Denizet-Lewis: The Scientific Quest to Prove Bisexuality Exists. New York Times Magazine 3/20/14.

 

B. Lecture: Sexual Deviance, Stigma, and Sex Work

Read: Adler & Adler: 39. Draus & Carlson, Sex for Crack pp. 475-484

11. 11/11 Sexual Harassment and Sex Work WORKING PAPERS DUE Working Papers Due at beginning of Class  

 A. Lecture: Sexual Deviance, Stigma, and Sex Work (continued) (video, time permitting: The Woodsman)

            Read: Adler & Adler: 45. Williamson & Cluse-Tolar, Pimp-Controlled Prostitution pp. 550-561

            Read: Adler & Adler: 40. Durkin, Show me the Money: Cybershrews pp. 485-493 

    B. Lecture: Sexual Harassment

*Local: Heather McLaughlin, Christopher Uggen, and Amy Blackstone. 2012. “Sexual Harassment, Workplace Authority, and the Paradox of Power.” American Sociological Review 77:625-47. [Note: focus on how “power” at work affects the likelihood of experiencing harassment]

12. 11/18 Substance Use, Moral Panics, and Rulemaking

   A. Lecture: Drug Use, Rulemaking, and Other Crime (6 min. video: Traffic or Reefer Madness)

Read: Adler & Adler: IV. Constructing Deviance pp. 149-158

            Read: Adler & Adler: 15. Reinarman, Construction of Drug Scares pp. 159-170 

   B. Lecture: Drugs and Subcultures in Emerging Adulthood

            Read: Adler & Adler: 32: Sirles, Drug Use and Disordered Eating among College Women pp. 389-400

*Local: Michael Vuolo, Christopher Uggen, and Sarah Lageson. “Taste Clusters of Music and Drugs: Evidence from Three Analytic Levels.” 2013. British Journal of Sociology. [Note: focus on subcultures connecting music and drugs and how this is measured using radio ratings, self-report surveys, and Alpine Valley concert data]

13. 11/25 Suicide and Disability -- Goffman and Bodily Stigma [cdc obesity and slides]

   A. Lecture: The “Social Facts” and Theories of Suicide and Self-Injury

Read Adler & Adler: 33.Cyber Communities of Self-Injury pp. 401-408

Read: Adler & Adler: V. Deviant Identity pp. 247-256 

   B. Lecture: Stigma Management, Bodies

            Read: Adler & Adler: 23. Degher & Hughes, The “Fat” Identity, pp. 257-267

            Read: Adler & Adler: 31. Martin, Stigma Management pp. 361-380

            Read: Adler & Adler: 29. Simi & Futrell, White Power Activists pp. 331-344

            Read: Adler & Adler: 30. Roschelle & Kaufman, Homeless Kids pp. 345-360

14.12/2 Stigma Management, Mental Illness, and Sociology's Central Concept

   A. Lecture: Identity Transformation and Deviant Careers in Mental Illness

            Read: Adler & Adler: 25. McLorg & Taub, Anorexia and Bulimia, pp. 279-290

            Read: Adler & Adler: 47. Howard, Obstacles to Exiting Emotional Disorder Identities, pp. 575-585

*Local: Jason Schnittker, Michael Massoglia, and Christopher Uggen. “Out and Down: Incarceration and Psychiatric Disorders.” 2012. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 53:448-64. [Note: focus on how and why incarceration seems to increase mood disorders, but not anxiety or impulse control disorders] 

    B. Conclusions: Deviance as Sociology’s Central Concept

15. 12/9 FINAL EXAMINATION 135 Blegen Hall, as usual

midterm review sheet and sample questions

final review sheet and sample questions


OTHER RESOURCES
local counseling and resources for problems with violence, eating disorders, or relationships
[compiled by Heather Hlavka]


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