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Course Learning Outcomes:

1. Ability to articulate the range of questions addressed by sociologists who are interested in the study of deviance. Students acquire an understanding of the variety of ways in which the sociological study of deviance is important and relevant and can apply this knowledge to real life situations.
2. Ability to identify and distinguish "kinds of theory" focusing on levels of abstraction, levels of explanation, classification schemas, and the social context of theory.
3. Ability to trace the historical origins of contemporary theoretical accounts of deviant behaviour and to distinguish the two broad explanatory approaches - the classical school and the positivist school. Ability to demonstrate how these early explanations of deviant behaviour continue to influence modern thought on the subject.
4. Compare and contrast the major sociological approaches to the study of deviant behaviour including strain, cultural and social control theories. Develop a comparative understanding of the degree to which these perspectives are supported by empirical evidence and also able to describe the major limitations characteristic of each perspective.
5. Explain the major emerging streams of theory being developed to understand links between race/ethnicity and crime and can identify the strengths/weaknesses of racializing established perspectives versus theories developed specifically to understand how the unique histories and current conditions of certain populations may influence behaviour.
6. Learn to discuss the processes by which people come to be labelled as deviants and why some people are more vulnerable to deviant labels than others. Also, understand some of the more important concepts that are used to describe the labelling process, including stereotyping and retrospective interpretation.
7. Make connections between different levels of theory and appreciate the process of theoretical integration that can provide more holistic understandings and explanations of both deviance and social control.
8. Think critically about popular ways of defining deviance and recognize the uniqueness of a sociological approach. Ability to compare and contrast the two dominant sociological conceptualizations of deviance and become familiar with a working definition of deviance and social control.
9. Through an examination of claims-making processes, students learn to think critically about the taken-for-granted character of deviance, crime, law and social control. Students learn the extent to which moral meaning is problematic. Students also acquire an understanding of the dominant theories of conflict within which the process of claims-making can be situated.
10. Understand the major variations of feminist thought relevant to the study of crime and deviance and demonstrate how feminist thought can be viewed as both a critique of and a complement to more traditional explanations of crime and deviance.
11. Understand the role that empirical research plays in the sociological study of deviance and analyze some of the unique problems that arise in the course of the empirical investigation of deviance. Develop an understanding of how the major research methods employed by sociologists contribute to the scholarly literature on deviance.