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Academic Year 2000/2001
Rethinking Deviance
SOC 267 FA
Many social behaviors have gone through cycles of stigmatization and acceptance. Cigarette smoking was once considered glamorous, even healthful; fat bodies were desirable; and it was not uncommon to have one more drink
for the road. Today, the social
definition of smoking has reversed; the ideal body is slender and athletic; and driving under the influence is a serious crime. Why and how have definitions of deviance undergone such reversals? What is the role of
social movements in shaping new
definitions? How do some behaviors come to be defined as crimes and others as mental illness? How do people who have been labeled deviant cope with that label? The course begins with an overview of sociological theories
of deviance. It then introduces a
more complex way of understanding and defining deviance in relation to interest-group conflict. Substantive readings will offer examples of the shifting nature of deviant behavior. Course requirements include short
essays, class presentations, and a resea
rch paper
MAJOR READINGS
BOOKS: Kai Erikson, WAYWARD PURITANS Erving Goffman, STIGMA Ronald Troyer & G. Markle, CIGARETTES Excerpts from: Peter Conrad & J. Schneider, DEVIANCE AND MEDICALIZATION Joseph Gusfield, SYMBOLIC CRUSADE
Howard Becker, OUTSIDERS Michael
Foucalt, DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT ARTICLES: H. Becker, "Becoming a Marijuana User" Donald Black, "Crime as Social Control" William Chambliss, "A Sociological Analysis of the Law of Vagrancy" Peter Conrad,
"The Discovery of Hyperkinesis" John
Galliher and A. Walker, "The Puzzle of the Social Origins of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937" Penelope McLord & D. Taub, "Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia" Steven Pfohl, "The Discovery of Child Abuse" Craig Reinaman,
"Mothers Against Drunk Driving"
David Rosenhan, "On being sane in insane places"
EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
Short essays, class presentations, and a research paper.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS
Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed
Drop/Add form to the Registrar's
Office.
COURSE FORMAT:
Lecture
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Level:
UGRD
Credit:
1
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS SOC
Grading Mode:
Student Option
Prerequisites:
SOC151
Links to Web Resources For This Course.
Last Updated on MAR-26-2001
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Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459