SOCI315

A consideration of the ways in which society defines deviance and the deviant individual, starting with the major theoretical perspectives on why socially prohibited behavior occurs and how we make sense of deviance. The course will examine how social structures deal with deviants and the adaptive behavior of those identified as deviant. Of particular importance is the role which persons in political power or those who enforce the law play in the labeling of acts and actors as deviant. The course will focus on a specific social category of deviants and their "careers" each semester it is offered.