SOC291: CRIMINOLOGY
Module 3—Social Structure and Social Process Theories
OVERVIEW th As the 20 Century dawned, immense changes to our society were about to get underway. The rise of astonishing technology in communications, transportation, manufacturing, commerce, and the conduct of warfare brought about rapid and social change – vastly increased urban populations and the massing of people to carry out these new missions and inventions. Along with these changes the extent and nature of th crime changed as well. It did not take long to realize that in addition to the explanations of the 19 Century concerning legal fairness, biological and psychological criminal explanations, there was also a social aspect to criminal behavior that emerged to the forefront, both in terms of conventional “street” crime and also “suite” crime – political and business corruption. Continue to read Module 3 Summary .
TOPICS Module 3 covers the following topics: ● Social structure and social disorganization ● Social strain and anomie, relative deprivation ● Differential association, learning, and neutralization ● Social control and containment theory ● Labeling and differential enforcement
OBJECTIVES After successfully completing the learning activities for Module 3, you should be able to: ● MO3.1 Explain how the organization and structure of society may contribute to criminality. (CO3, CO4) ● MO3.2 Identify the role that cultural differences play in crime causation. (CO4) ● MO3.3 Discuss modernday social policy that reflects the social structure approach. (CO5) ● MO3.4 Assess the shortcomings of the social structure approach. (CO4, CO5) ● MO3.5 Recognize how the process of social interaction between people contributes to criminal behavior. (CO3, CO4) ● MO3.6 Identify and distinguish among social process and social development perspectives. (CO4, CO5) Copyright © 2015 by Thomas Edison State College. All rights reserved.
● ● ●
MO3.7 Explain current social policy initiatives that reflect the development approach. (CO5) MO3.8 Discuss the consequences of labeling and differential enforcement. (CO5) MO3.9 Assess the shortcomings of the social process and social development approaches. (CO5)
STUDY MATERIALS Reading Assignments ●
Read Module 3 Summary. (Note: You must read and review each module summary as it is especially helpful in studying for the examinations.) Read chapters 6 and 7 of Criminology: The Core by Siegel.
● Web Links
The following Web links may enhance your study or help with writing assignments: ● US Constitution ● Yale Avalon Project
ACTIVITIES Module 3 has three activities. Please consult the Course Calendar for the due date.
Discussion Forum 5 In Discussion Forum 5 on the class Discussion Board, post your response to the following discussion question. Please identify the question you are answering in the subject line of your thread (e.g., "Discussion 5/[Your Name]"), and comment on at least two classmates' responses by the date indicated in the Course Calendar. ● Do ecological approaches have a valid place in contemporary criminological thinking? [MO3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.6, 3.7, 3.9]
Discussion Forum 6 In Discussion Forum 6 on the class Discussion Board, post your response to the following discussion question. Please identify the question you are answering in the subject line of your thread (e.g., "Discussion 6/[Your Name]"), and comment on at least two classmates' responses by the date indicated in the Course Copyright © 2015 by Thomas Edison State College. All rights reserved.
Calendar. ● Is labeling theory valid? [MO3.5, 3.8]
Final Project Part 1: Introduction and Analysis of the Problem You are required to complete a final project in three steps for this course. For this first part of the project, identify the statement of the problem and provide a proper statistical comparison and analysis . F or complete guidelines and requirements of the final project paper, please refer to the Final Project area of the course Web site.
Copyright © 2015 by Thomas Edison State College. All rights reserved.