Background:
We all have personal experiences with deviance and social control. These experiences can vary in form (verbal interactions, side-eyes, gossip, internet interactions, physical violence, mob violence, detainment, constraint, etc.), severity, and impact. Each of us perpetuate systems of social control to varying degrees and the framework of deviance impacts our interactions. None of this is surprising - societies function because of their ability to control their members and regulate their behavior! But just because the frameworks of social control and deviance are necessary for societies to function, it does not mean their current arrangements are just, liberatory, unharmful, or ideal.
In this assignment I am asking you to reflect on your relationship to the concepts of social control and deviance. The purpose of this assignment is not to shame you or act as a confessional. Feel free to share as much, or as little, as you are comfortable with. The goals in having you reflect on your relationship are 1) to start thinking about how you have been shaped by these forces, 2) to develop a stronger sociological understanding of your environment, and 3) to provide me with a better understanding of who you are and how this class may intersect with your life.
Assignment Instructions:
1. Details: Your reflection should be a minimum of two pages and a maximum of four pages (double-spaced, 12 point font, 1-inch margins). Feel free to write in the first person. You do not need to (but can!) incorporate this week's material into your reflection.
2. Components:
Positionality statement - Provide a 1 to 2 paragraph description of your positionality. Additional information on what this looks like can be found in this summary document: Positionality Information.docx
Actions
How you have experienced social control/deviance? - Provide specific examples of how you have experienced social control over your lifetime (think about in school, flying in an airplane, in your family, at your job, interacting with police, etc.). Also, have you been considered deviant? This may be in how people treated or classified you based on your gender presentation, behavior, presentation of your mental health, the way you dress, the activities you participate in.
How have you perpetuated social control/deviance? - What positions of power have you held in your life? Have you exerted control over others? What did it look like?
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