Sociology of Deviant Behavior Paper

Robert Keel, Instructor

Guidelines for the Research Paper

Note: Review General Guidelines and Common Grammatical Errors for papers prior to completing this assignment!

Decisions to submit a critical thinking project must be finalized and approved by Friday, September 16, 2005 (12:00 Noon). If you choose to submit a critical thinking project, you are required to meet with the class TA on a regular basis (this can be accomplished by telephone or online), and submit at least one rough draft of their paper for review at least a week prior to the project deadline.

Your paper will be graded based upon these guidelines. Failure to follow these guidelines will have a negative impact on your grade. The approximate point value for each of the above guidelines is as follows: #1--20 points; #2--15 points; #3--35 points; #4--25 points; #5--5 points.

The research paper must be based on interviews and observation of GROUP Behavior (these may be combined with detailed personal experience). NO personal opinion or simple book review is permissible. What you must report is the interaction and behavior that occurs around the particular form of deviance you are studying. The goal of observation and analysis is to determine patterns of activity, group interaction and structure, and interpretational processes. These patterns should then be related to significant social variables, characteristics, and socio-cultural structures/forces/changes through a cogent theoretical explanation.

1. Introduce your topic. What is being investigated and why. Why is it deviant (it is not sufficient to say it is illegal or bad or harmful--these criteria need to be discussed and analyzed). Discuss the issues we addressed at the beginning of the course (different ways of defining deviance: their implications and assumptions; varying perspectives on deviance (essentialism and constructionism); and patterns, forces, and directions of change), as they relate to your topic. I expect a thorough and articulate discussion of the problems and contingencies involved in understanding the social reality of deviance
2. Review the basic literature on the topic. Use current sociological research. Relate available research to the theoretical perspectives we have developed in class. Don't ignore class texts and discussion, AND you must rely on at least three additional sociological studies.
3. Report your findings. What did you observe? Who's doing what? How? Look for and describe specific behaviors and activities. Focus on describing the effects of stigma, how the deviants manage the stigma, the language used by the deviants and the social control agents. Why do the deviants do what they do? Who says they are deviant? What special knowledge or ability is required to engage in this deviance (there is always some)? Focus on the social nature of deviance; the group and group structure (the deviant group, the control agents as a group, and /or the deviants and control agents as a group). How is the deviance learned? What are the motives, the rationales, the explanations, the attitudes of the deviants and the control agents. How do the deviants feel about themselves, about "normals"? Has this behavior always been considered deviant? By whom? Why has there been a change (if any)? Give specific examples! Detail your observations! What are the patterns, the social structure, that encompasses this form of deviance?
4. Conclusions: Present a theoretical interpretation and analysis of your observations. Remember, no personal opinion is allowed. This is a must! You must develop and present a relevant, sociological theoretical analysis, focusing on the central concerns, concepts and variables of particular interest to the theory(ies) which best explain the social reality of the behavior in question.
5. Check your paper for spelling and grammatical errors. Focus on organization and presentation--a good paper does not make the reader struggle to understand basic point, issues and relationships. Include a bibliography and cite references throughout the body of your paper.  Your paper should be 9-11 pages long. 

Your paper will be graded based upon these guidelines. Failure to follow these guidelines will have a negative impact on your grade. The approximate point value for each of the above guidelines is as follows: #1--20 points; #2--15 points; #3--35 points; #4--25 points; #5--5 points 

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