Sociology, Deviance

Workbook Three (50 points total; 5 assignments/10 points each)

The following activities supplement the content covered in chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the text. Please type all responses to the activities and submit through SAKAI as an attachment on/before the due date. This collection of assignments will not be accepted late for any reason, and you will be unable to submit on SAKAI after the date/time it is due.

READ CHAPTER 7 AND WATCH THE POWER POINT PRESENTATION. THEN COMPLETE ASSIGNMENTS 1 and 2.

Assignment 1: Social Control Theory

Watch the video clip on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq25tRL0Iqw (Note: The sound does not start immediately). Apply Hirschi’s Social Control Theory (also known as the Social Bond Theory) to explain Walter Rhodes’ deviance and conformity. Write a short essay (3-4 paragraphs) applying the four tenets (i.e., attachment, commitment, involvement, and beliefs) to explain the times in Walter’s life that he did not deviate.

Assignment 2: Social Control Theory

1. Write down a deviant act that you or someone you know has committed. In Hirschi’s Social Control Theory, which bond components (Attachment, Commitment, Involvement, and/or Belief) were/are potentially weak and/or strong in the individual based on the deviant act? Explain.

2. Power-Control Theory examines that in patriarchal families, girls are controlled more than boys. What are some acts that may be acceptable for boys but not for girls? How might privileges differ in a patriarchal family? How does this imbalanced treatment operate to foster continued patriarchy in society? Explain.

3. Using Life Course Theory, briefly describe your “trajectory” in life. Then, consider a transition you experienced and how it played a part in getting you where you are today. Finally, answer how close might you have been to a different life?

4. Watch the clip from Seinfeld on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG6b7KJ1Ah0 Which of Sykes and Matza’s Techniques of Neutralization were used or can be used to explain why this is “not that bad” an act.

READ CHAPTER 8 AND WATCH THE POWER POINT PRESENTATION. THEN COMPLETE ASSIGNMENT 3.

Assignment 3: Labeling Theory

1. In each of the cases below

• Identify a label, which may be attached to the person as a result of their deviant behavior.
• Outline how a deviant career may develop by describing the possible consequences of the labelling for the person’s future life and relationships.

1. A young woman who is caught shoplifting in Wal-Mart.

1. A male elementary school teacher who publicly declares himself to be gay.

1. A person who is temporarily admitted to a mental hospital as a result of a nervous breakdown.

1. An 18-year-old man who gets arrested during a fight at a football game.

2. Consider a young person breaking a window. Give as many interpretations of this act as you can think of. Think in particular of ways in which the act is not deviant.

3. Who Dun It: Decide who you think committed the crime by reviewing the suspects.

Case: On the night of the 20th the offer suite of the Matthews Industries was gutted by fire. Police and Firemen find that the outer door has been forced and no trace can be found of a petty cash box containing $2,500. The fire is an obvious case of arson since there is evidence that gas was splashed about in the office. No fingerprints are found except for those who work in and around the offices every day. Although an outsider may be responsible, the police are considering the following as suspects:

Mr. Matthews

The managing director and major shareholder of the firm. 50 years old with two teenage children. Known as a man of considerable respectability, he is also a Methodist lay preacher. Respected rather than liked by his staff, although he likes to think of the firm as ‘being one happy family’. Financial accounts indicate that the company is on the brink of bankruptcy, and the order books are almost completely empty. The factory is one short time working and there is a loan of $100,000 to be repaid and renegotiated in the very near future. The insurance pay out for the fire-damaged block is likely to be in the region of $250,000.

Would he be ruled out? Explain.

John Spurge

The main manager, 55 years old, recently widowed. Until the death of his wife he was well liked by the staff, but is now considered morose and unpredictable, frequently taking offence at what others think to be only slight provocation. Rumor has it that he has been at cross-purposes with Mr. Matthews for a number of weeks over plans to introduce a new system of stock control.

Would he be ruled out? Explain.

Jenny Wright

A Secretary, of 48 years of age. Has been Mr. Matthews’s secretary for 20 years. It is ‘well known’ that she is ‘sweet on’ Mr. Matthews and that he has always remained aloof from her. Single, lives with her mother, tells other people that ‘life has passed her by’ which they take to mean that to Mr. Matthews. In the past she has always been willing to work late and to take home work on the weekends. Recently she has taken to leaving exactly on time, taking full lunch breaks and refusing to do any extra work.

Would she be ruled out? Explain.

James Hearnes

19 year old, office boy and messenger. Makes the coffee and runs errands for other staff. Considered being of low intelligence and owing his job to the fact that his father belongs to the same congregation as Mr. Matthews. Is clumsy, forgetful, but quite popular with other staff. Is awaiting trial for burning down a bus shelter with a group of other youths. The defense plea is that the others led him astray.

Would he be ruled out? Explain.

John Hurry

37 Years of age, caretaker, lives in a flat on the factory site although some way from the office blocks. Has only been in the job for three months. Is thoroughly unpopular with everyone and seems to take delight in scaring the staff with his huge German shepherd. Was dismissed from job last week. The cause of his dismissal according to Mr. Matthews was his general unsuitability. Mr. Matthews himself taking strong exception to Hurry’s language and drinking and sexual habits. Police records show a number of prosecutions for petty offences, but no previous record for arson.

Would he be ruled out? Explain.

Lee Brink and Tim Browne

Lee Brink, 46 years of age, and Tim Browne, 42 years old—both factory workers. Owing to the financial situation, Matthews has just begun to lay off factory staff. Brink and Browne are both employees of longstanding and the only staff who have not been told that they may lose their jobs. Brink and Browne are union members and have stood up to management over the past 5 years. Both are ‘family men’ and described by work mates to be ‘quiet and respectable’. Police records show that Brink was a member of the Communist Party in his youth, and has attended political demonstrations recently.

Would they be ruled out? Explain.

Who do you think committed the crime? Explain why.

What “labels” did you use to make your determination?

Assignment three adapted from Sociology Central Resources “Interactionism and Crime”

READ CHAPTER 9 AND WATCH THE POWER POINT PRESENTATION. THEN COMPLETE ASSIGNMENT 4.

Assignment 4: Marxist and Conflict Theory

Answer the questions that follow after watching the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR3igiwaeyc

1. From a Marxist perspective, what is labor?

2. How did feudalism create inequality?

3. What is historical materialism?

4. What are modes of production, forces of production, and relations of production?

5. How are classes defined, and what are the two classes that Marx defined?

6. How can overproduction create a crisis?

7. Explain Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony.

8. How is Conflict Theory broader than Marxist Theory?

READ CHAPTER 10 AND WATCH THE POWER POINT PRESENTATION. THEN COMPLETE ASSIGNMENT 5.

Assignment 5: School-to-Prison Pipeline

Part 1. Answer the questions that follow after watching the YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2Dj9M71JAc. NOTE: Alice Goffman is the daughter of Erving Goffman, famed sociologist and symbolic interactionist who developed dramaturgy in his work Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.

1. What is the second institution (college is the first) that oversees the journey on the path into adulthood?

2. What is the cost to send a person to prison, and what does the released convict have to show for the time spent incarcerated?

3. How does the U.S. compare to other countries in its rate of imprisonment?

4. What are we “saddling” young adults with after release?

5. How did observed children “play” in this disadvantaged neighborhood?

6. Explain Chuck’s aggravated assault case and how that one action impacted his future. What was Tim’s charge at the age of 11? Did they deserve this criminal record? Explain.

7. What type of criminal justice system does Alice Goffman support?

8. What is her call to young people?

Part 2. Read the article “Reflections on Women’s Crime and Mothers in Prison” (pp. 407-416 of the 2^nd edition text—I’ve attached it to this assignment in case you have the 3^rd edition text). I recognize that this article was first published in 2002, but it is a thorough study on the lives of incarcerated women. Answer the following questions:

1. Why does the author argue that addressing crime with punishment will not solve the problem?

2. What does the author mean when she argues that “women’s crime is grounded in exploitation”? Explain.

3. How do female inmates typically differ from male inmates?

4. What are examples of prison programs for mothers? Do you think these are a good investment of taxpayer funds? Why or why not?

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