JST444 Deviance and Control (8)
CSU Discipline Area: Justice Studies (JUSTU)
Duration: One session
Abstract:
This subject analyses social processes which cause crime and deviance, those through which law and ideas about crime are constructed, criminals and deviant persons processed and the ways in which people come to hear about and understand crime and deviance. The role of the mass media in the production of ideas about crime and deviance and the social production of crime statistics are considered. A number of sociological theories are used as the tools for these analyses.
+ Subject Availability Modes and Locations
| Session 1 | |
|---|---|
| Distance * | Bathurst |
*This subject offering contains a residential school. Please view following information for further details.
Continuing students should consult the SAL for current offering details: JST444
Where differences exist between the Handbook and the SAL, the SAL should be taken as containing the correct subject offering details.
Enrolment restrictions:
Not available to students who have completed 25230 Sociology of Deviance or SOC307 4 Deviance and Control or SOC231 0 Deviance and Social Control or JST223 Deviance and Social Control
Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:
* Recognise that our understanding of deviance is influenced by the theory, which we choose to explain it
* Recognise that deviance is an inherently social phenomenon, which can be explained by studying social structure, culture, and social relationships
* Understand Mertons theory of anomie and place it in an intellectual tradition
* Understand the concept of "self concept", its use in the theory of delinquent drift, and in the concepts of primary and secondary deviance
* Understand labelling theory as one of the two major contemporary sociological theories of deviance
* Recognise that crime statistics and many other statistics about deviance are the product of social forces and processes
* Understand the characteristics of the mass media and recognise the role of the mass media in creating images of crime and deviance
* Understand the theory of deviance amplification.
* Understand the use of Marxist theory as the second major sociological explanation of crime and deviance
Syllabus:
The subject will cover the following topics:
. Mertons theory of anomie in intellectual context . The theory of juvenile delinquency and drift . Labelling theory including: . primary and secondary deviance . the making of law . the identification and processing of deviance . correctional/treatment processes and the concept of total institution . The social production of crime and deviance statistics . The role of the mass media in the production of images of crime and deviance . Deviance amplification theory . Marxist theory with emphasis on: . the making of law and the role of the state in crime and deviance . the making of ideology about crime and deviance
The information contained in the 2013 CSU Handbook was accurate at the date of publication: 24 April 2013. The University reserves the right to vary the information at any time without notice.