Fall 2001: Section 005

Paper Assignment

Five pages minimum (I won¹t read more than 8), double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point font.  Choose one of the following:

1. Research paper.  Choose a focused category of deviant behavior that interests you.  (You can either choose an aspect of one of the areas covered in the syllabus and course readings, or propose a new topic.)  Using Zimmerman Library's electronic databases, find a minimum of three good sociological articles on the topic and assess the authors' theoretical explanations for the behavior and/or social construction of it as deviant.  Identify which theoretical school each author is coming from (functionalist, interactionist, etc.).  Where does each theory fall on the positivist-constructionist spectrum? What are the strengths and shortcomings of each explanation?  From your perspective, which theory (either one of those you've analyzed or your own alternative) offers the strongest explanation for the deviant behavior you have chosen?  Why?

2. Literary analysis.  Read a novel, biography or memoir featuring a character (or real person) who fits a "deviant" category.  Briefly describe the nature of the person's behavior.  What makes it deviant, and what is the response of those in the person¹s immediate social circle and larger social context?  Give three different possible theoretical explanations for the character¹s deviance and/or the social construction of their behavior as deviant.  At least one explanation should be positivist and at least one should be constructionist. What are the strengths and shortcomings of each explanation?  From your perspective, which theory offers the strongest explanation for the character¹s deviant behavior within their particular social context?  Why?
Suggested books include: Alexie, Indian Killer; Buford, Among the Thugs; Doty, Heaven's Coast: A Memoir; Feinberg, Stone Butch Blues; Kesey, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest; Knapp, Drinking: A Love Story; McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City; Anchee Min, Red Azalea; Rodríguez, Always Running; Schlonski, The Last Time I Wore a Dress; Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; Waters, Tipping the Velvet.

3. Ethnography.  Choose a category of deviant behavior that interests you.  (You can either choose an aspect of one of the areas covered in the syllabus and course readings, or propose a new topic.)  It can be an area of deviant behavior in which you personally engage (or not).  Arrange to either 1) observe a person or group while they practice the behavior (for at least a couple of hours) or 2) interview an individual who regularly engages in the behavior.  For either the observation or the interview, you will need to have a well-thought-out research question and methodological approach ahead of time. Briefly describe the nature of the behavior and your methodology.  What makes the behavior deviant, and what is the response of those in the surrounding social context?  Give three different theoretical explanations for the person's (or group's) deviance and/or social construction of their behavior as deviant.  At least one explanation should be positivist and at least one should be constructionist.  What are the strengths and shortcomings of each explanation?  From your perspective, which theory offers the strongest explanation for the deviant behavior within its particular social context?  Why?

I am open to other ideas for your paper.  Whatever your topic, we will schedule a meeting early in the semester to discuss it.

Deadlines:  BRING 2 COPIES of the following to class on the dates specified.

Monday 9/17: One paragraph proposal.  Which of the three assignments (or an alternative - talk with me first) have you chosen?  What is your research topic or book title?  If doing ethnographic research, where, with whom and how will you do it?

Monday 10/8: Revised proposal, bibliography and/or methodology.  You must list citations correctly.

Monday 10/29: Outline of paper.  Main ideas, supporting arguments.  Which theories will you be discussing in your paper?  Any tentative conclusions?  Questions that have emerged you want to pursue?

Monday 11/19: Draft of paper due.  Typed, complete sentences, as close to final as you can make it.

Wednesday 12/5: Final paper due.  ATTACH ALL OF THE ABOVE to the back of your final paper.