Social Norms, Deviance, and Mechanisms of Social Control

Trace the historical emergence of sociology, examine foundational theorists from Comte to Du Bois, and evaluate the discipline's major theoretical perspectives.

Compare sociology with neighboring social sciences and apply sociological frameworks to analyze poverty, crime, inequality, and everyday life.

Examine qualitative, quantitative, and archival research methods while evaluating data reliability, validity, and bias.

Analyze causal relationships and multiple perspectives, navigate research ethics, and effectively present sociological findings.

Examine the building blocks of human culture, including symbols, norms, values, language, and the interplay between biology and socialization.

Analyze subcultures, countercultures, drivers of diversity, and sociological approaches to evaluating varied cultural practices.

Compare stages of societal development, trace the evolution of civic rights and responsibilities, and analyze democratic mechanisms for managing social conflict.

Examine how institutional structures, ascribed and achieved statuses, and social roles shape personal identity, behavioral expectations, and social order.

Analyze the characteristics of social groups and evaluate how group processes, conformity, and obedience influence individual judgment and behavior.

Analyze how social groups function, how leadership and interaction patterns operate in various settings, and how formal organizations influence individual and group behavior.

Evaluate the spectrum of social norms, analyze the functions of rule-breaking, and explain how societies establish social control to discourage deviance.

Investigate cultural differences across geographic and socioeconomic groups, evaluate paths of cultural assimilation in the United States, and compare historical and contemporary citizenship.