Four (4) Analysis Papers worth 25 points each (10 for simply doing it and 15 evaluated)...for a total of 100 points. Topics will be assigned in class (and posted here) after relevant material is covered.
Discretionary Assignment
You will have 50 points to earn in a variety of ways...your discretion/choice. Instructions and options are online here.
Book Report
You will be able to choose from a selected list of books...posted here. Instructions can be found here. Worth 100 points.
Internet Research Assginment
A research report utilizing Internet resources on some aspect, facet, area, or object of social control...worth 100 points. Instructions can be found here.
NOTE: There will be No Exams in this course. You will have enough to do with the Assignments listed above. I "hope" this is okay.
1984----ONLINE
We
Brave New World----ONLINE
The Iron Heel----ONLINE
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Gate to Women's Country
The Dispossessed
Walden Two
Farnham's Freehold
1. Articles on 1 hour Closed Reserve in the LCC Library...copies (5 cents) need to be made in the Library
2. Various materials in The Sociology Shop
3. Online articles and sites
The following required articles are in the Library now:
"Social Control"...chapter from Eitzen/Baca-Zinn
"Approaches to Social Control"...from Little
"The Concept of Social Control"...from Edwards
"The Meaning of Social Control"...by Berger
"Domination and Subordination"...by Miller
The following "online" articles are Required Reading
(links are under "Selected List of Online Sites"):
Control Theories (excellent summaries)
Anth 375 Week 3: Social Control
Ironies of Social Control
The following has been added to the Closed Reserve File in the Library
Policing a Class Society by Sidney L. Harring
Wed. 8/2
Finish "Control Theories"
Paradigms (Handout and here)
Epistemology/Logic (Handout and here)
Thurs. 8/3
Education
---Online Article: Teaching Critically as an Act of Praxis and Resistance
---Paulo Freire
---Issues in Freirean Pedagogy
Mon. 8/7
Video: Stanford Prison Experiment
---Online: Stanford Prison Experiment Website
---Online Article: SPE: Still Powerful after all these Years
"Roles" as social control
Prisons
---Handout: Quinney Excerpt
---Online Article: Welcome to Jail
---Other Online Links: Criminology Room
Tues. 8/8
Prisons cont.
Police
---Article in Library: Policing a Class Society (Harring)
---General Topics
Wed. 8/9
Government/Political Economy
---Handout: Who Governs?
---Handout: O'Connor's Dual Functions of the State
Thurs. 8/10
Medical Control
Big Brother is Watching, Listening, Recording...you name it
The Internet
Questions
Conclusion
Analysis Paper Topics
Analysis Paper #1
"Social Control" seems like a simple enough topic, right? Well, over the next four weeks I believe we're going to find out that's not so true. So, lets start out by finding out how simple or complicated you think it is. Go here, click on "Quote of the Week," read it, and then tell me where "you're at" about this topic as we begin this course.
Analysis Paper #2
"The Handmaid's Tale" is not a "fun" movie, but it is one which should be taken serious in terms of what's possible. Although centering on "women's issues," it is not really a feminist movie, per se. It's about all of us and the use of controls to affect people's attitudes and behaviors. So, analyze it in these terms...for example, what kinds, types, levels, and purposes of "social control" do you see in it? Although its probably better to have read Atwood's book first, the movie is sufficient on its own, too. If you want some perspective on both book and movie, go to the "Future" Science Fiction Room, click on the "List of FSF Books," scroll down and you'll find some helpful links, especially, of course..., my own commentary! (including the differences between the movie and book) The "Study Guide" is also very helpful. Yes, it will probably help to have done a little reading first, too...especially Eitzen's chapter on Social Control.
Analysis Paper #3
I'd like you to try integrating two concepts...the "Levels of Analysis" idea with Berger's "mechanisms of social control." In "The Meaning of Social Control" Berger identifies a number of these mechanisms (an outline of them can be found here). We discussed in class the various aspects of a "levels" approach (details can also be found here) yesterday. So, can each of these mechanisms be portrayed on each level? If so, why/how? If not, why not? You might also want to take a look at the short essay on "Institutions" in the same Room. Try to provide examples (real or projected) for each mechanism on each level. Give it a try.
Analysis Paper #4
You have a choice of topics:
1. Respond to some of the ideas in the "Domination & Subordination" article we covered in class. There are alot of essential points in it, which ones do you think are the most essential? Or...overall, respond to the article.
2. Respond to and analyze the "Stanford Prison Experiment Video" We will be viewing this in class on Monday, Aug. 7.
So, pick the topic you want...obviously, if you pic #2, the paper will be due by Wed. 9th. If you pick #1, I suggest you do it asap...probably this week, but if you want to wait until after you do your BR, then turn the AP in by Wed. 9th, okay?
Describes and analyzes types of social controls (such as imprisonment, coercion, isolations, value training); describes the effects of controls for controller and controllee; the problems of rehabilitation and resocialization.
The following is a short list of sites and articles concerning some aspect of Social Control. They can be used for articles or ideas for the Discretionary Assignment...and some will be Required Reading (I'll let you know soon). They may also be helpful with your Internet Research Assignment...as indicative of what's available on the Internet. Some are single articles, while others are academic sites which give summaries of social control theories and others are sites with interesting links. These were all obtained from Search Engines using "social control" as the key words to search for...and I've included a link to "Dogpile"...the metasearch engine...with the links it provided. Lastly, I don't necessarily agree with or accept all the points of view in these sites...and neither should you, at least not without a critical and debunking eye cast toward them.
Dogpile: Search Results {social control}
Control Theories (excellent summaries)
The Sociology of Deviance & Social Control (great links)
The Engineering of Social Control: The Search for the Silver Bullet
Some Aspects of Negotiated Order, Loose Couplings & Mesostructures in Maximum Security Prisons
Prisons & Social Control (about Women in Prison)
A Social Control Policy for Marihuana
Chaos and Social Control: Managing Non-Linear Social Dynamics
The Poverty of Social Control: Explaining Power in the Historical Sociology of the Welfare State
Social Control Through Law: about Roscoe Pound
