Dr. Andreas Schneider   Graduate Seminar in Deviance. Soc 5325 (41536). Spring 2012. Wednesdays 18:00 to 20:50 Holden Hall 121

Contact Information

·         Office Hours Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00-3:00 PM Holden Hall 159. Department Phone 806 742 2400 (our office phones are cut due to budget)

·         Email andreas.schneider@ttu.edu

 

 

Course Description

academic calendar http://www.depts.ttu.edu/officialpublications/calendar/index.php

Material marked with in read with reader and required reading has to be read BEFORE before class.

	I took the picture of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's plaque (above) 2007 at his tomb in the Pantheon in Paris (pictures left and right).

 

THEORY

Session 1: Jan 25th  Definitions & Conflict Approach

Conflict Approach

• Introduce yourself and your interests
• Sign up for the presentations

Symbolic Interactionism

Reader: Schneider, Andreas. 2011. “Symbolic Interactionism: From Gestalt to Cybernetics” Chapter 11 In: Theories in Social Psychology. Pp. 250-279 Derek Chadee. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Reader: Goffman, Erving. 1963. Stigma. New York: Simon and Schuster. Pp. 126-139.

Reader: Weinberg, Martin.1996. The Nudist Management of Respectability. In: Rubington, Earl and Martin Weinberg. The Interactionist Perspective, Sixth Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Pp.308-316.

Session 3: Feb 8th  Affect Control Theory

David Heise at his pond in Indiana.  Homepage of David Heise

Reader: Heise, David. 2007. Expressive Order: Confirming Sentiments in Social Actions. NY: Springer. Chapters 2,3,4,5,6,8, and 10

Session 4: Feb 15th Constructionism

Required Reading: Goode, Erich and Nachman Ben-Yehuda. 2009. Moral Panics. 2nd edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.

PRE1(Presentation1): The nature of moral panics. How do we create a moral panic, what are the stages? Use examples beyond the ones given in Goode & BenYehuda.

Moral Panics and Activism

Reader: Pratt, Travis. 2009. Addicted to Incarceration. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage. Chapter 4: Misinformation About Public Opinion.Pp.45-59.

Constructionism in Criminology

Reader: Pratt, Travis. 2009. Addicted to Incarceration. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage. Chapter 3: Misinformation About the Crime Problem .Pp.29-44.

PRE2: Search for the latest data on incarceration rates. If you find different sources for these statistics, compare them. Also compare the US versus some other countries (and possibly US regions if you like). Present  over-time trends in the US. Usually I do not require presentations to be turned in in a written form. in this case however, I ask you to make this material accessible to me.

Session 5: Feb 22nd  Psychology, Pop Psychology, and Cults.

Personality Disorders

What is codependency? Pop Psychology?

PRE3: What are the theoretical perspectives in Donald's Bad Boys, Bad Men? What are the suggested solutions to antisocial behavior? (Black Donald W. 1999. Bad Boys, Bad Men. New York: Oxford University Press. [Donald W. Black, M.D., is not the same  person as Donald Black who wrote "The Behavior of Law")

PRE4: Popular treatments of personality disorders. The American obsession with pseudo-psychology. What's out there? Psycho cults and New Age? (check the Internet) What is most popular? What are possible consequences of lay treatment?

Reader: Lofland, John. 1996. "Conversion to the Doomsday Cult". In: Earl and Martin Weinberg. 1996. Deviance: The Interactionist Perspective, Sixth Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Chapter 10: 293-298.

Reader: Goode Erich. 2000. "Religion and Paranormalism." in Paranormal Beliefs, Prospect Heights: Waveland. Chapter 11pp.177-189

PRE5: Describe a cult of your choice. Why is this social group defined as a cult? What are the different norms and values of the members? How do they compare to mainstream society. How do they get established and maintained?

PRE6: What are the connections between Religion and the ideas of new thought, positive thinking, codependency, and self-help groups, or recovery groups. To what extend is feminism involved in these ideas and movements. Differentiate between groups and ideas that base on negative affect versus positive affect.

I took these photographs in Hollywood Winter 1999/2000 (click to enlarge)

Interesting links about Ron Hubbard

• http://www.aboutlronhubbard.org/
• http://www.lronhubbard.org/lrhhome.html

PRE7: Describe the believe system of Scientology. Can Scientologist be defined as a cult. If not, why not? If yes, why? What are the criteria used in the judgment? How influential  is the Church of Scientology? 

METHODOLOGY

Session 6: Feb 29th: Methodology

Positivism

Reader: Black, Donald. The Behavior of Law. 1976. New York : Academic Press.Chapters 1&2

Donald Black

http://www.virginia.edu/sociology/peopleofsociology/dblack.htm

Quantitative Aspects of Criminology: Comparing Statistics

Basic Resources

Internet: Federal Bureau of Investigation: Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)

Internet: Bureau of Justice Statistics: National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)

PRE8: Take a practical example of your interest and illuminate it with the statistical resources of the UCR and NCVS.

PRE9: Create and conduct a Self report study, and present the results. How does your population differ from the U.S. mainstream?

Qualitative and Quantitative Methodology in the Investigation of Pleasure or Pain

Required Reading: Schneider, Andreas. 2009. "The Rhythm of the Whip." Social Psychology Quarterly. 72,4: 285-289.

Session 7:    Mar 7th  Qualitative Methodology

A Classic Participant Observation

Required Reading: Humphreys, Laud. 1975. Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places. New York: Aldine De Gruyter.

Reader: Green Adam Isaiah. 2011. "Playing the (Sexual) Field: The Interactional Basis of Systems of Sexual Stratification" Social Psychology Quarterly 73 (3) 244-266. An interesting contemporary observation of sexual status hierarchies using Grounded Theory and an SI perspective. Check for similarities and differences to Laud Humphrey's classic study.

PRE10: Secret sexual identities in action. Homosexuality in the 1960s. Use the Humphrey’s "Tearoom Trade" Where do we find secret identities today? How are these identities maintained? Influence of culture and subculture.

Controversy: to what extent should the researcher be involved with his/her subjects?

Reader: Tewksbury, Richard. 2002. “Bathhouse Intercourse: Structural and Behavioral Aspects of an Erotic Oasis.” Deviant Behavior 23:75-112.

PRE11: Search for a contemporary (after 2000) participant observation study in deviance in print that is not covered here and you find interesting. Notify me of the subject 10 days in advance. Briefly introduce this study and especially its methodology. Critique this study What are strength and shortcomings of this study.  How would an empirical investigation of the same topic compare? 

Spring Break Mar 14th

Session 8:   March 21st

Session 9:   March 28th  Globalization of Deviance

Reader:  Katja Aas F. 2007. The Globalization of Crime. Los Angeles: Sage.

Chapter 1: Crime and the Global Village  pp1-24

Chapter 7: Controlling Cyberspace pp. 153-170

The Internet

PRE12: How can or do we impose local standards on Global media?  In terms of law enforcement, is the Internet a Global hiding place?

PRE13: Introduce government efforts to curb internet freedom. You might include the case of Julian Assange, the editor in chief of Wikileaks

Sex and Gender

Reader: Anne Fausto-Sterling 1993. "The Five Sexes" The Sciences March/April

Inside perspective

• Intersex Society of North America: http://www.isna.org/newsletter/
• A victim's account http://www.libidomag.com/nakedbrunch/archive/hermaphrodites.html

(Fausto-Sterling, Anne . 2000. Building Bodies: Biology and the Social Construction of Sexuality. Basic Books: New York.)

PRE14: Sex and gender. The construction of gender roles. Address tanssexualism and transvestitism.

Session 10:    April 4th  Sexual Lifestyles & Sexual Violence

Sexualities

Reader: Laumann, Edward and Robert T. Michael. 2000. Love, Sex, and Health in America. pp. 1-20

Participant Observation in a Nevada Brothel

Reader: Albert, Alexa. 2001. Brothel: Mustang Ranch and its Women. New York: Ballantine Books. Pp. 4-63

PRE15: Investigate, report, and compare the different standpoints on prostitution and  interpretations in the feminist literature.

I took this picture 1998 in a community in Southwest Texas (Click for enlargement)

Bisexuality versus Homosexuality

(Lauman, Edward O., John H. Gagnon, Robert T. Michel, and Stuart Michaels. 1994. The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the Unites States. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.)

(Weinberg, Martin, Colin Williams and Douglas Pryor. 1994. Dual Attraction. New York: Oxford University Press.)

Martin Weinberg (left) , Colin Williams (right) in Martin's office at Indiana University Bloomington (you can click for enlargement)

PRE16: Bisexuality and homosexuality. Use the Lauman et al, the Kinsey, and the Weinberg studies to discuss an operationalization of these concepts of sexuality. Use and Lauman et al, Kinsey to evaluate prevalence and incidence of bisexuality and homosexuality.

Inside perspective Reader: Silvia, Donald C. 1990. “Pedophilia: An Autobiography.” In: Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions, edited by Jay Fireman. Chapter 18.

Construction of Sexual Violence in a symbolic interactionist perspective

Required Reading: Schneider, Andreas. 2002. “A Possible Link Between Stigmatization of Sexual-Erotic Identities and Sexual Violence.” Sexuality & Culture 6,4.http://courses.ttu.edu/aschneid/pub/Stigma_sex_cult.ppp.pdf

Reader: Koss, Mary P., Christine A. Gidycz, and Nadine Wisnewski. 1987. The Scope of Rape: Incidence and Prevalence of Sexual Aggression and Victimization in a National Sample of Higher Education Students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 55:162-170.

Required Reading:  Anderson, Peter and Dyan T. Melson. 2002. From Deviance to Normalcy: Women as Sexual Aggressors. Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, Volume 5 http://www.ejhs.org/volume5/devianceabst.html

PRE17: Rape: Show different perspectives on the prevalence of rape in the U.S. Make sure to inform us about the newest statistics. Critically evaluate these statistics. If you choose this presentation, you should be ready to accept controversial standpoints.

PRE18: present cases of false rape accusation in the literature. Which legal criteria led to the false conviction? What are alternatives that prevent these false convictions and still protect the victim.  

Paper Proposal & Paper Proposal Presentation

Session 11:    April  11st Bikes, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll

Legalization Debate

Required Reading: Goode, Erich and Nachman Ben-Yehuda. 2009. Moral Panics. 2^nd edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN978-1405189330

PRE19: Pros and Cons of decriminalization or legalization of the consumption, possession, and growing of drugs.

Psychoactivity

PRE20: Report on the psychoactivity of a selection of popular recreational drugs. What are the dimensions of addiction? How is the likelihood and process of addiction. How to cure drug addictions?

PRE 21: Adolescents’ Substance Abuse What kind of impact does family structure type have on adolescents’ use of drugs and alcohol? Previous studies have indicated many different conclusions on which family structure type have a greater impact on adolescents’ substance abuse. The purpose of this study is to exam common trends not only in the family structure type but different characteristics or variables that may exist is the different family arrangements. An extended view will be made of both the intact family and non-intact family, with some attention placed on the non-resident father who is still involved in the adolescents’ lives.

Music

Inside perspective: Zappa, Frank. 1979, 1987. Joe’s Garage Acts I, II & III. Pumpkin Records. CD, LP.

Reader: Rafalovich, Adam and Andreas Schneider. 2005. “Song Lyrics in Contemporary Metal Music as Counter-hegemonic Discourse: An Exploration of Three Themes.” Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology 33,2:131-142.

PRE22: The Media and Violence: correlation or causality?

PRE23: Censorship in a historical perspective

Biker Gangs 

PRE 24: Describe the main biker gangs in the US. What are their differences and similarities. Find different theoretical explanations for their success and critically compare these explanations..   

Required Reading: Inside perspective Dobyns, Jay. 2009.   No Angel: My harrowing undercover journey to the inner circle of the Hells Angels. New York: Crown Publishers.

Paper Due

Session 12:    April 18th

Presentation about study and research opportunities abroad for graduate students.

Time to meet in groups to exchange papers and for critique and correction.  The paper is due by email as well as printed in my mailbox by Monday the 23rd of April at 9AM.

Session 13:      April 25th  Authority and Fascism || War and Terrorism ?

Fascism

Authoritativeness versus Authoritarianism

(Milgram Stanley. 1975 [1969]. Obedience to Authority. New York: Harper, Colophon Books.)

Reader: Zimbardo, Philip G. 1993. The Pathology of Imprisonment. Pp. 289-293 in: Down to Earth Sociology. Seventh Edition. New York: Maxwell

Skinheads and Neo Nazis: check the Internet

Authoritativeness and Authoritarianism in cross-cultural comparison

Required Reading: Schneider, Andreas. 2007. Politically Correct Stereotyping: The Case of Texans. International Journal of Contemporary Sociology. 44,2:84-101

PRE25: The value of authority. Authority in education and rehabilitation. What are the positive and negative outcomes of juvenile boot camps?

PRE26: Authoritative/authoritarian behavior prescriptions versus self-guided behavior. How effective is the surveillance of our citizens. How does this contrast to the possibilities of citizens showing self-guided behavior. What can we do to encourage responsible behavior.

Differentiating War and Terrorism

Required Reading: Heise, David R. and Steve Lerner. 2002. "Terrorism and Affect Control." Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, August, 2002 Chicago. http://www.indiana.edu/~socpsy/papers/TerrorismAndAffectControl.pdf

Reader: Black, Donald. 2002. Terrorism as Social Control. This essay was published in two parts in the American Sociological Association's CRIME, LAW, AND DEVIANCE NEWSLETTER.  Part I, "The Geometry of Destruction," appeared in Spring 2002:  3-5, and Part II, "The Geometry of Retaliation," appeared in Summer 2002:  3-5.

Reader: Black, Donald. 2004. "The Geometry of Terrorism." In "Theories of Terrorism," symposium edited by Roberta Senechal de la Roche. Sociological Theory 22: 14-25.

PRE27: Play devil's advocate and create a presentation that takes the view of the US involvement in Iraq as an act of terrorism. Make sure to present your sources. 

PRE28: Play devil's advocate and create a presentation that takes the view of recent violent attacks of Muslim fundamentalists on US and European soil as a justified act of war. Make sure to present your sources. 

Session 14:     May 2nd   Social Class and Deviance

Lower class Lifestyles

Required Reading: Bageant, Joe. 2007.  Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches form the American Class War. New York: Three Rivers Press.  Introduction, Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7.

(Inside perspective Rosen, Nick. 2010. Off the Grid. New York: Penguin)

PRE29: How can we interpret a lifestyle of the lower class as deviant? Why is it possible that we dare to declare a substantial part of our population as deviant?    

PRE30: Investigate Corporate deviance. What is the nature of different standards of judgments and  treatments that we apply to corporations and individuals?   

Civil Disobedience: Helping the Poor

Reader: Dodson, Linda. 2009. The Moral Underground. New York: The New Press. pp.1 to 57

Above the Law

Reader: Punch Maurice. 2007. "The Organization did it: Individuals Corporations and Crime". In John Minkes and Leonard Minkes (Eds) Corporate and White Collar Crime. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Reader: Mars, Gerald, 2007. "Rethinking Occupational Deviance and Crime in the light of  Globalization". In John Minkes and Leonard Minkes (Eds) Corporate and White Collar Crime. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

At the end of the course students should be able to

• describe the major approaches in the study of deviance
• distinguish and critically evaluate these approaches
• apply theoretical approaches to critically evaluate topics of deviance
• identify and describe the relation between deviance and normality
• describe different methodologies in the study of deviance
• recognize and describe the problems of different methodologies in the study of deviance
• research an area independently by using the acquired knowledge of theories and methods
• address critique to his or her work with subsequent improvements

The knowledge of theoretical and methodological building blocks and their comparison will be subject of a multiple-choice exam. Papers and presentations are used to assess the student's comprehension of the applied part of this course. Here it is important to critically apply theoretical concepts to issues of deviance and to consider methodological appropriateness, strength and weaknesses in this investigation.

There are five main grading criteria for papers and presentations

1. DESCRIBE A well-founded (referenced) and logically sound description of the topic of deviance (which can be a theory, a method or an issue of deviance) at hand. 

WARNING:  I expect you to use and cite authoritative sources that you find in scientific journals and books. While some of these sources are accessible electronically, they are of printed origin. You might also use internet born materials, but keep in mind that your sources should be searched and selected for their quality, not for their convenience. A critical selection and evaluation of the sources is a central part of the research for a presentation and/or paper. Sociology, is not a postmodern reproduction of cyberculture's gagaland. Instead we critically evaluate the quality of our sources.  A task (paper or presentation) in a graduate seminar is not a cut and paste affair from Internet where resources become selected for their convenient access. 

2. USE THEORY AND METHODS The correct identification (references and description) and application of the theoretical and/or methodological approaches.

3. CRITIQUE OF THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPLICATION The critical evaluation and comparison of the theoretical and/or methodological approaches.

4. IDEA The extent to which the idea forwards the disciple. That is a) the uniqueness of the idea developed by the student and b) its logical consistency.

5. CONVINCE Convincing and effective presentation of the argument. 

a) In papers the focus is the accessibility of the writing style (grammar, spelling, and language use will only be judged in the context of how it generates a clear argument) and, if applicable, the effective use of charts and figures. 

b) In presentations the focus lies on the ability of the presenter to facilitate constructive discussion with the class audience. Free speech (with check notes) is a key, graphs, the use of the board, overheads and/or handouts can be helpful.

What is the difference in grading the paper draft and the final paper? For the final paper the standard of sophistication will be higher. In terms of grading it is the degree to which the critique is addressed that will predominantly determine the grade.

Requirements

1. Multiple choice exam 15%            March 21st             

2. Two Presentations 2*20%=  40%  (sign up in first session)

3. Paper proposal presentation 5%  April 4th       

4. Paper 20%                                    latest by April 23rd per email and printed in my mailbox at 9AM

5. Improved Paper 20%                   May 2nd electronic only

Presentations: In the syllabus you have topics marked with PRE. Presentations have to be held within the session they are listed. After our first session I have to check the size of our class to determine the exact number of possible presentations, and their length. Topics are distributed in the second class session on a first come first serve basis. Here the procedure: The list is passed around and everyone claims one topic. If a topic for one session is chosen, the student has to check another session for a topic. Once all sessions are covered with one topic signed up, let me know. Then we change the direction of the list for students to sign up for their second presentation. After every second presentation of a session in marked, let me know and we again will change the direction of the document and you can choose from the third topic listed under a session. 

Presentations are NOT summaries of the assigned readings. They are independent academic investigations of the topic which involves a literature review and discussion.

Paper Proposal Presentation: In this presentation you should address:

1. the problem
2. the theories applicable for your problem
3. at least two sources that you find helpful for your investigation
4. hand me a short description of your paper proposal.

Papers should be submitted electronically as email file attachment AND printed as double spaced, 1 1/2 inch on the left or right side, the remaining margins should be one inch. The format should reflect our major journals (e.g. ASA style). They should be between 6-10 pages long. A paper is downgraded by one - (A will be A-) each Friday, Monday, and Wednesday 3 P.M. after its due date.

Due electronically one day before the last class session. No print version required. In this final paper version, I expect that you address the comments on your paper. This process is similar to a revise and resubmit situation of a journal publication. In my grading of this improved paper I will focus exclusively on the quality in which you addressed the suggested improvements. The improved paper should be between 10 and 18 pages.

Grading Key to convert number grades of your exam or final grades into letter grades: 0-59 F, 60-62 D-, 63-66 D, 67-68 D+, 69-72 C-, 73-76 C, 77-78 C+, 79-82 B-, 83-86 B, 87-88 B+, 89-92 A-, 93-96 A, 97-100 A+

For your paper you receive letter grades. If you are interested, here the key to convert the letter grades into number grades: A+ 100, A 93, A- 90, B+ 88, B 83, B -80, C+ 78, C 73, C- 70, D+ 68, D 63, D-60, F 60.

Disabilities Accommodation  Any student who, because of a disability, may be required some special arrangements in order to meet the course requirements should contact the instructor as soon as possible to seek such accommodations as may be needed.

Absence from Exam or Presentation  The permission for making up an exam needs an authoritative excuse. Authoritative excuses I accepted in the past were: physician's statements, copies of invitations for job interviews or funerals, and trophies. Concerning an absence due to officially approved trips – in accordance with the Texas Tech University Catalog, the person responsible for a student missing class (e.g. coach) due to a trip should notify the instructors of the departure and return schedule in advance of the trip. The student may not be penalized and is responsible for the material missed. The Texas Tech University Catalog also states that a student who is absent from classes for the observance of a religious holy day will be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment scheduled for that day within a reasonable time after the absence. ( prior notification to the instructor is appreciated)

Academic Integrity: Keep in mind that I have to enforce the strict rules of academic behavior. Any student found cheating on the exam or plagiarizing a paper will receive an "F" for the exam or paper and may receive an "F" for the entire course. “It is the aim of the faculty of Texas Tech University to foster a spirit of complete honesty and high standard of integrity. The attempt of students to present as their own any work not honestly performed is regarded by the faculty and administration as a most serious offense and renders the offenders liable to serious consequences, possibly suspension. a.  Dishonesty of any kind on examinations and quizzes or on written assignments, illegal possession of examinations, the use of unauthorized notes during an examination or quiz, obtaining information during an examination from the examination paper or otherwise from another student, assisting others to cheat, alteration of grade records, illegal entry or unauthorized presence in an office are instances of cheating. Complete honesty is required of students in the presentation of any and all phases of course work as their own. This applies to quizzes of whatever length as well as to final examinations, daily reports, and term papers. c.  Plagiarism is offering the work of another as one's own without proper acknowledgement; therefore, any student who fails to give credit for quotations or essentially identical expressions of material taken from books, encyclopedias, magazines, internet sources, and other reference works, or from the themes, reports, or other writings of a fellow student, is guilty of plagiarism.(TTU OP 34.12)”