Overview
Answer these 4 following questions with the notes and readings I will provide you with (no use of ai or chat gpt) Question 1:
CHOOSE YOUR TOPIC: Please answer ONE of these questions - whichever you feel like writing about.
1. How has one of the agents of socialization contributed to you either conforming in a specific way or being deviant/nonconforming in a specific way?
Some agents of socialization:
- family
- peer groups
- school
- workplace
- religion
- mass/social media
- government
OR
2. Consider this quote from our main reading in Week 1 (by Kai Erikson):
“For if the culture has supported a steady flow of deviant behavior throughout long periods of historical evolution...it should make us reluctant to assume that the agencies of control are somehow organized to prevent deviant acts from occurring or to ‘cure’ deviant offenders of their misbehavior” (p. 312)
What social institution or other rule-maker/rule-enforcer does this quote bring to mind for you, and why?
PLEASE ANSWER EITHER #1 OR #2 - you don't have to answer both questions.
Recommended length for either question option: 3 to 5 sentences (or more, if you'd like).
Question 2:
- Share an example of a celebrity, political figure, or other person in the public eye performing a deviant behavior.
- Then suggest at least two techniques of neutralization that you think they might use to justify their behavior, briefly explaining why you chose each technique.
Recommended length: 3 to 4 sentences (or more, if you'd like).
Question 3:
Please pick
ONE deviant behavior from first first column and use
TWO theories/concepts from the second column to answer the following question:
What theories or concepts from our course do you feel might be helpful in trying to understand why a person would engage in this behavior, and why?
Please note: you can certainly reference additional concepts and ideas from our course not listed here! But please also include two that are on this list.
Deviant behaviors (PICK ONE) | Theories/concepts (PICK TWO) |
selling illegal drugs | Durkheim's views on deviance |
challenging/calling out a racist or sexist comment | social disorganization theory |
an executive embezzling money | strain theory |
participating in a protest | general strain theory (GST) |
hacking | feminist theories of deviance |
whistleblowing in the workplace | queer criminology |
armed robbery | labeling theory |
living a zero-waste lifestyle | differential association theory |
cyberbullying | social learning theory |
cheating on a test | control (social bonding) theory |
giving an unusually generous/large tip | techniques of neutralization (counts as one of your two theories/concepts) |
joining a religious cult | hyper-criminalization |
Recommended length: 3 to 5 sentences (or more, if you'd like).
question 4:
You didn't have the requirement (/opportunity 🙂) to write a research paper in this course. Imagine you actually had been assigned to write a short research paper and respond to the following questions (in at least 1-2 sentences per question):
- What topic around deviance and/or social control would you have chosen to research/write about?
- Why would you have chosen this topic? (Personal connection? Relevance to current events? Just sounds interesting? Other reasons?)
- Which two (or more) resources from our course might you have consulted and/or cited as you wrote your paper?
- Resources can include main readings, readings linked to in lecture slides, videos, podcasts, etc.
- You can just name the title and/or author of the resource. You don't need to include a full citation.
Recommended length: 3 to 6 sentences (or more, if you'd like).