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Unit of Study SOC01123 - Deviance in Society (2018)

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Unit Snapshot

  • Enrolment information

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Unit description

Explores the notion of deviance using different sociological perspectives. Students will examine the ways by which morally condemned behaviours come to be defined as deviant, and explore the process by which people, who perform actions perceived as deviant, acquire a certain identity and respond to their label in various ways. In particular, students are encouraged to analyse a number of examples of constructed meaning by drawing on the accounts which various people have used to explain their actions.

Unit content

Topic 1 What is deviance?
Topic 2 Normative and labelling theories
Topic 3 Political economy, postmodernism and feminism
Topic 4 The body
Topic 5 Social control and health
Topic 6 Criminalisation and decriminalisation
Topic 7 Moral panic? The problem of crime
Topic 8 Crime control and prevention
Topic 9 White collar, corporate crime and organised crime
Topic 10 Deviance in cyber space
Topic 11 Revisiting concepts of deviance

Availabilities

Location Domestic International
Lismore Session 2 Session 2
Online Session 2 N/A

Learning outcomes and graduate attributes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

GA1: Intellectual rigour, GA2: Creativity, GA3: Ethical practice, GA4: Knowledge of a discipline, GA5: Lifelong learning, GA6: Communication and social skills, GA7: Cultural competence
Learning outcome count Learning outcome description GA1 GA2 GA3 GA4 GA5 GA6 GA7
1 critically analyse sociological perspectives about the nature of deviance in a changing society
2 identify the formal and informal processes by which people come to be regarded as being deviant in terms of power relations within society
3 recognise the problems and uncertainties which are associated with people being cast as deviant
4 relate some examples of contemporary deviant behaviours to processes of personal and societal change.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

  1. critically analyse sociological perspectives about the nature of deviance in a changing society
    • GA1:
  2. identify the formal and informal processes by which people come to be regarded as being deviant in terms of power relations within society
    • GA4:
  3. recognise the problems and uncertainties which are associated with people being cast as deviant
    • GA2:
  4. relate some examples of contemporary deviant behaviours to processes of personal and societal change.
    • GA4:

Prescribed learning resources

Prescribed Texts
  • No prescribed texts.

Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.