Overview of Course

This course examines why individuals and groups violate social norms. Typically, when we think of deviance, we think of one individual engaging in one specific deviant act. The adoption of a sociological perspective, however, reminds us that there are many others involved in the creation of deviance and the enforcement of society’s norms. In this class, we will ask the question: Who breaks society’s rules and why? Further, we’ll explore who makes the rules in the first place, who benefits, and who is most likely to follow the rules. While reviewing major sociological perspectives and theories of deviance in some depth, we will look to four key concepts for answers to these questions: context; power; opportunities; and choices. These concepts become even more important and complicated when adopting a global perspective, as we’ll have the opportunity to do on our Spring 2026 voyage of Semester at Sea. Together, we’ll examine how norms can vary widely by culture and how societies may respond very differently to deviance. Using a comparative global lens and taking examples from the different countries we visit, we will focus particularly on laws, their enforcement, and the sanctioning of crime and deviant behavior as an important form of social control.