SOCIOLOGY OF DEVIANT BEHAVIOR

Instructor: Jeremy Don Kerr   E-mail address: jkerr0@uky.edu

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SOC 436: RESPONSE SHEET #2

Instructions: Answer question #1 using an essay format. Answer question #2 using a listing format. Type your answers using a 12-point Times New Roman Font, single-spaced, with 1" top, bottom, and side margins. Put your name on every sheet in the upper right hand corner in the format "Last name, First name." Put page numbers in the upper right hand corner beginning with your second page. Put SOC 436 and the assignment number in the upper left hand corner of the first sheet. Staple multiple pages together in the upper left hand corner. **This assignment is worth 10 points.**

Please note: Question #1 asks you to apply the principles of the "matter of degree," "matter of power," and "matter of numbers" discussed in lecture to a deviant behavior of your choice. Use your existing knowledge base to answer this question to the best of your ability; you may also access Internet and/or library resources if you like--but document your sources if you do use resources other than your existing knowledge base. Please note there are no "right or wrong" answers on this essay. The purpose of this essay is to get you thinking about how various factors affect definitions of deviance over time.

Essay Question 1: Over the course of the past 50 to 100 years a number of ABCs have been described as highly "deviant" at one point but are now considered less deviant or non-deviant by most people (e.g. pre-marital sex, tatooing, divorce). On the other hand, over the course of the past 50 to 100 years, many ABCs that were once considered non-deviant have now become deviant (e.g. drug use, child abuse, sexual harassment, racism, rape). How can we better understand such changes in definitions of deviance by applying the principles of the 'matter of the degree' the 'matter of power,' and the 'matter of numbers?'

    To address this question, choose EITHER (1) a specific AB or C that was defined as highly deviant by many people in the past but is now defined as non-deviant or less deviant--OR (2) a specific AB or C that was not defined as highly deviant in the past but that is now defined as highly deviant by many people.

    Next, discuss (1) how/why perceptions of the seriousness/degree of the behavior may have changed in response to  media influences, politicians, and educational curricula; (2) how changes in power that took place might have effected the definition of deviance (for example, shifts in access to power by gender, race, sexual orientation, religious affiliation), and (3) how changes in the number of those who consider(ed) the ABC deviant might have altered the definition of deviance (for example, did the number of people who consider the behavior deviant go up or down?). In writing your essay, you may also discuss how the matters of power, numbers, and perception of degree may have been interrelated in the process of re-defining a given ABC as deviant or non-deviant (or less deviant).

    [Your response to question #1 should be about 3 or 4 paragraphs long (single spaced)].

2. According to many sociologists of deviance, attitudes, behaviors, and condtions can all be considered forms of deviance. List five attitudes that are likely to be considered deviant in our society (e.g. the idea of having an "open" marriage) and five conditions that are likely to be considered deviant in our society (e.g. being a midget). (DO NOT use examples used in class--come up with your own).

     

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