Deviance and Social Control

This course provides a comprehensive study of the nature, causes, and consequences of deviant behavior, including an analysis of the problems of definition, identification, explanation, and social reaction to violations of institutional expectations. Students will examine crimes of the relatively powerless to the crimes of the most powerful and will explore theories about deviance and social control and cultivate a framework facilitating comprehension of elite deviance and its impact on functionalism, differential association, social disorganization, anomie, conflict theory, labeling, and control as they apply in their quest to understand both past and current events in the United States and across the globe. Consideration will be given to the range of sanctions employed to control social deviance and the empirical evidence of their effectiveness. Utilizing critical thinking skills, students will evaluate behavior defined as deviant behavior and measures applied to control the behavior.Prerequisite(s): Minimum of 60 credit hours completed.