SOC 215 Crime in the Streets (Not offered 2006-2007; to be offered 2007-2008)
A sociological examination of violent crime and crimefighting in America.
Topics include: violent urban youth gangs and crews; ethnically-based
organized crime "families"; the recruitment, socialization, argot, culture, and
worldviews of professional criminals; the stages of criminal careers; the ethics
of criminal groups; the violence emerging out of the drug trade; the work worlds
and habits of mind of crimefighters, with a special focus on uniformed police
officers, detectives, and prosecutors; the symbolic representations of criminals
and crimefighters in American popular culture; the relationships between law,
crime, moral narratives, and social order; the crisis of the criminal justice system
in America; and the globalization of crime. Special attention to the process of the
criminal investigation.
Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: midterm paper, final exam, and a
term paper.
No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 25. Preference given to first-year students,
sophomores, and Anthropology and Sociology majors.