Assignment:
Purpose:
This assignment asks you to apply sociological concepts related to groups and deviance to explain why certain crimes occur in society. Rather than focusing on individual morality or personal failure, you will use sociological thinking to examine how social structures, group membership, norms, and power influence criminal behavior. Need Assignment Help?
Assignment Overview:
Write an academic paper in which you examine one specific type of crime and explain why it occurs using concepts from our course.
Examples of crimes you may choose from include (but are not limited to):
Drug use or drug distribution
Theft or property crime
White-collar or corporate crime
Violent crime
Paper Requirements:
Your paper should address the following components:
Introduction
Identify the type of crime you are analyzing.
Briefly explain why this crime is important to you personally and to society
Groups and Social Influence
Discuss how social groups (such as peers, family, social class, race/ethnicity, neighborhood, workplace, or institutions) influence this type of crime.
Explain how group norms or expectations may encourage or discourage the behavior.
Deviance and Social Labels
Explain how society defines this behavior as deviant or criminal.
Discuss the role of stigma and power in determining who is most likely to be labeled as "deviant" or "criminal."
Sociological Explanations
Apply at least two sociological theories from the course to the type of crime you have selected.
Conclusion
Summarize your main points.
Reflect on why this crime exists and a possible solution based on what you've learned from the module. Incorporate the ways the criminal justice system responds to crime as found in 04.08 - Lecture: Types of Crime & Societal Responses.
Guidelines
Write in Standard Academic English. Academic writing in the social sciences prioritizes clarity, accessible language, and directness. Rather than trying to "sound" fancy with complex words, focus on writing clearly and being specific in your examples. See the rubric for details on point deductions for grammar, spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
This paper is expected to be a minimum of three full pages of writing and no more than four full pages. If you're shorter than that, you almost certainly have not answered the questions in full.
Use standard academic formatting - 12-point Times New Roman or equivalent font, double-spaced pages, 1" margins, with the first line of each paragraph indented.
Use what you've practiced in this module to demonstrate using evidence to support your claims and citing your sources. If you are doing a direct quote, be sure to include the specific locator, like paragraph number or page number. All papers must include a reference page and a title page.