TTC – Explaining Social Deviance

Why do some people commit crimes, use the wrong fork, or speak out of turn? How does a society determine when a crime has been committed, which fork to use, and who should speak when? How have we tried to explain deviance and create categories of deviants? What has been the role of race and class in these definitions? How do deviants reconcile their behavior with society’s norms? What have been the contributions of Freud, Durkheim, Lombroso, and modern literary criticism to our understanding of deviance and conformity? How is the practice of science itself an example of deviance and conformity?A framework for Defining Deviance This set of 10 lectures examines the complex topic of deviance and how major sociological theories have attempted to define it and understand its role in both historical and modern society. Professor Paul Root Wolpe introduces deviance as “a complex, often ambiguous, social phenomenon that raises numerous questions about how a varied and often arbitrary set of characteristics can be used to name the same idea. “Certain theories provide a framework for examining how religion, societal norms, power relations, and personal values and beliefs are often used to determine which personal characteristics and behaviors are labeled deviant and, by default, which individuals, groups, or behaviors are sanctioned in societies,” he says. The application of those definitions has a direct impact on areas of social life, including the mental health profession, systems of deterrence, the judicial system, and the arts. Who do we medicate, educate, incarcerate? Dr. Wolpe is the author of the textbook Sexuality and Gender in Society and the end-of-life guide In the Winter of Life. He has won several teaching and writing awards and was named “Outstanding Professor at Penn” by the Panhellenic Council at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, Dr. Wolpe is the first chief of bioethics for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He is a regular columnist on biotechnology for the Philadelphia Inquirer and appears frequently in broadcast and print media, including MSNBC, CBS and ABC Evening News, Dateline, and The Jim Lehrer Show.Course Lecture Titles The First Step—Asking the Right QuestionsDemonism—The Devil’s Children and Evil Empires Deviance as Pathology—I’m OK, You Are Twisted Social Disorganization—Deviance in the Urban LandscapeFunctionalism and Anomie—Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?Learning Theory—You Have to be Carefully Taught Control Theory—Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child Labeling Theory—Is Deviance in the Eye of the Beholder?Conflict and Constructionism—Every Step You Take, I’ll Be Watching You Case Studies—Sex and ScienceEnjoy!