Paper details:
This topic is as follows: Being an alcoholic that drinks can create deviant behavior. Alcoholism should be considered a disease but the norms of society say that this is not a medical diagnosis for someone that drinks.
Some facts and questions to ask: Most all of us know of nobody who doesn’t have someone close to them hurt by alcoholism. Why are we so prone to compulsive behaviors in the U.S. In France, we start young children with a few sips of wine at dinner, graduating to a half-glass as teenagers, and imbibe socially or not as adults, but extremely low alcoholism rate, where in the U.S. it’s one of the highest, and we have a “no alcohol” perspective towards the young and alcohol, but so many go to college and “learn” how to drink alcoholically. If it’s *common* behavior, is it “deviant” Great issues to explore! Right, alcoholism is a medical and social issue, but is often considered a *moral* issue (as if individually are “weak” ethically if they drink to excess…)
This is the description of the class
This course is a survey of the field of deviance and social control, that relies largely on theory and research from across the behavioral and social sciences but primarily from sociology, anthropology, psychology, and criminology, and also drawing from history, economics, and other thematic interdisciplinary fields such as gender and ethnic studies. Humanities and popular culture are other sources for studying deviance and social control issues both in U.S. society and cross-culturally. This course is designed to introduce students to analyses of how normality and abnormality and adherence and rejection of social norms and ideologies are studied within a number of different fields and topics. Also included is an exploration of social control in cross-cultural settings including contemporary sub-cultures in the U.S.
Deviance is “wrong” behavior or thought deemed to go against against social norms, laws, rules, and customs, and is often relative to time and space (e.g., may change) but also may be claimed universal. Social control includes studies of the ways in which societies are maintained and particularly how deviant or criminal activity is addressed to maintain social order. By accepting conventions and social “norms” (what Durkheim called “collective consciousness” enforced through teaching “social facts”) individuals may avoid some deviations including those resulting in stigma (Goffman; see “icebreaker” below). Durkheim was concerned to avoid anomie, or a social state of normlessness, that would lead to the disintegration of a society. The readings are “case studies” of how deviance is defined by the group (Becker) and structured in our laws and customs, and how deviance is responded to it through our cultural and political institutions (including within the family, the smallest social institution) who all play a role in social control.
This is the instruction for the paper
Term Paper Requirements:
The term paper requires students to investigate a specific issue (see list, below) as to how it relate to deviance and social control.
• The term paper should be approximately 8 pages, 12 font, 1-inch margins, with APA style in-text citations and Works Cited reference page.
• The substance of the term paper must go beyond the discussions and readings in class.
• Research papers that are adequately “built” (meaning to earn a grade of C or better) should have at least 10 scholarly references beyond required (class-assigned) readings (“scholarly” means published in peer-reviewed academic journals, academic anthologies, an academic study published as a book, etc., but NOT a source that has no author listed or is of dubious quality. If you have any questions about source validity, consult a reference librarian. Wikipedia is not a valid source.
• Government reports should be used sparingly as they typically do not incorporate theoretical analysis, and will not aid the development of the papers significantly. Sources from the internet should be viewed with extreme caution, as there is no quality control in that domain.
• All internet materials must be, in nature, similar to those that are peer reviewed. Internet sources such as Wikipedia.com, blog-type, or popular references DO NOT count towards the 10 scholarly references needed for the successful completion of this assignment (you can analyze blogs, themselves, for frequency of themes appearing on subjects discussed in class, but these are NOT scholarly sources).
Writing, Research, and Quality of Academic Thinking:
All academic writing requires clarity in thinking, good organization, good grammar and, of course, good spelling, as well as originality and proper citation, as a standard operating procedure. If your words are not your own, they have to be in quotations and properly cited. If your thoughts are not your own and are not properly cited, then your work is plagiarized. If it turns out to be plagiarism. Therefore, I urge you to learn to give the credit for ideas, where credit is due. Giving credit is credit worthy.
Your ability to write is of paramount importance.
Make sure to use correct resources!
Current-Issues Suggestions for Term Papers Should Follow This Outline:
I. Theory/history of this issue
II. Ideologies (stated and unstated) of this issue (e.g., different positions)
III. Summary of empirical research findings as related to this issue
IV. Critique of this issue using theories of Deviance and Social Control from the scholarship you have read (both class readings and external, peer-reviewed sources)
V. Recommendations for reform or change
Writing is a skill, requiring constant practice, which should be taken very seriously. One element of effective writing is self-discipline and vigilance. Sentence structure should vary; grammar and punctuation should be used correctly; paragraph construction should be effective; conceptual organization of the paper should flow in a logical order. None of this can be accomplished at the last minute. Do not procrastinate in writing these term papers. As soon as you identify the issue you’ll study in depth, go to the library to begin your research. Writing drafts of the term paper, beginning early in the semester, assists in making the final product complete, coherent and comprehensive, as it must be. To be fair to all those who get work in on time, late work receives a grade penalty with few exceptions. I encourage you to exercise your option of turning in a draft of your term paper two weeks before the final draft is due. I shall give substantial feedback on those drafts. Due to scheduling other work to be graded, I cannot accept drafts after the date noted. Plagiarism is fairly easy to detect and find (especially off the internet) so please respect yourself and your own intelligence enough not to do it. Your best analysis in your own words is all that I require.
