Updated July 22, 2012
SOCIOLOGY 722 – SOCIAL CONTROL
Fall 2012
Prof. Patty McCall
1911 Bldg, room 347
patty_mccall@ncsu.edu (or 919-515-9010)
Hours: 10:30-11:30 Tues & by appointment
This course examines sociological theory and research on social control, principally conceived as institutional
responses to deviant behavior, especially crime. Some central questions addressed include: What is social control?
How is social control understood in classical sociological theory? How and why is social control exercised? How is
social control related to inequality? What effects does punishment/formal social control have on crime or deviance?
REQUIRED READING
1) David Garland. 1990. Punishment and Modern Society: A Study in Social Theory.Chicago:Univ of Chicago Press;
2) David Garland. 2001. The Culture of Control. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; and
3) Staples, William. 2001. Everyday Surveillance. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield;
4) Katherine Beckett. 1999. Making Crime Pay. Oxford University Press.
The books are available at the University Book Store. A number of journal articles and chapters from other sources
are also required reading. These chapters and articles will be made available electronically. Articles listed among
required readings which are preceded by an asterisk are not required for class discussion but should at least be
skimmed. Note: Sociology graduate students planning to take the preliminary exam in Crime, Deviance & Social
Control should prepare beyond the required readings.
RECOMMENDED READING (compilations/texts)
Bridges, George S. & Martha Myers. 1994. Inequality, Crime and Social Control. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Liska, Allen. 1992. Social Threat and Social Control. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Inverarity, James, Pat Lauderdale and Barry Feld. 1983. Law and Society: Sociological Perspectives on Criminal Law.
Little Brown.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Reading Summaries and Participation (25%)
This course is conducted as a seminar. As such, the success of the course depends on the preparation and active
participation of all members. This necessitates that all members attend class consistently and come prepared to
discuss the assigned materials. Unexcused absences and/or lack of preparation will negatively affect your grade.
Participation will be considered when determining the final grades (10%).
In order to facilitate discussion each class member will prepare a brief summary of each assigned reading.
Summaries should be no longer than 2 double-spaced typed pages, and should describe the research question(s),
theoretical argument, empirical findings, and/or the unique theoretical or empirical contribution of the article (e.g.,
What does it tell us, or what questions does it raise that previous readings did not? What does this perspective allow
us to see that others do not, or to see differently?). Each summary should also include at least one question or
observation pertaining to the assigned reading that can serve as a starting point for discussion. Participants should be
prepared to submit these summaries upon request. In addition, each week, a seminar member will be responsible for
leading discussion of the assigned readings. Discussion leaders should distribute their summaries to other class
members (including professor) at least 48 hours prior to the class meeting. These outlines and presentations will
contribute 15% to the final grade.
Seminar Paper (25%)
A 17-20 page research paper (plus references) is required. This may take the form of a theoretical elaboration or
application to a particular problem pertaining to social control; a review of literature on social control; or a proposal
for research on some dimension of social control. Topics outside the scope of the material assigned in the course are
acceptable. Whether or not the topic is one examined in the course, I expect that you will read broadly on the topic.
All topics must be approved. One-page paper proposals with references should be submitted by Tuesday, September
7.
Exams (50%)
There will be one mid-term exam and a final exam (each counting 25% of the course grade). The mid-term will be a
Updated July 22, 2012
take-home exam and the final exam will be an in-class exam. These exams require integrative essays based on the
required readings. Exam questions will be distributed one week prior to the exam (due) date; and, for the final exam,
you may bring to class one 3x5 card with notes for each question. Essays must demonstrate a thorough grasp of the
relevant assigned readings. [You have the option of not taking the final exam in exchange for having your paper
count 50% of the grade. In this case, the standards for the paper will be more rigorous.]
Academic Integrity
When you place your name on an assignment or exam, I will interpret this as your implicit statement that “I have
received no unauthorized assistance on this assignment or test.” Unauthorized assistance includes: cheating on an
exam or quiz; submitting assignments or exams as your own work when it is not; and plagiarism (i.e., presenting
someone else’s published words or ideas as your own). Violations will be handled according to University policy.
For additional information see Office of Student Conduct: http://www.ncsu.edu/student_affairs/osc
Non-threatening Environment
A non-threatening, harassment-free, environment is essential for learning and intellectual exchange. All faculty, staff
and students are responsible for understanding and complying with University policies regarding harassment and
discrimination: http://www.ncsu.edu/equal_op/ Harassment will not be tolerated.
Students with Disabilities
Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with disabilities. In order to take advantage of available
accommodations, students must register with Disability Services for Students at the Student Health Center. Please
visit http://www.ncsu.edu/equal_op/dss for more information.
COURSE SCHEDULE and REQUIRED READINGS
Week 1 (8/24) Introduction and Overview
Summary Reviews of Garland’s Punishment and Modern Society
Garland, David. 1990. “Introduction” and Ch. 1 “The Sociology of Punishment and Punishment Today”
Syllabus/Topics under Course Readings/Abstracts
Related Readings:
Black, Donald. 1984. “Social Control as a Dependent Variable”
Melossi, Dario. 2008. Controlling Crime, Controlling Society: Thinking About Crime in Europe and America.
Cambridge: Polity Press.
Week 2 (8/31) The Concept of Social Control; Durkheim and the Functionalist Perspective
Durkheim, Emile. 1938. “The Normal and the Pathological”
Garland 1990. Ch. 2 “Punishment and Social Solidarity: The Work of Emile Durkheim”
Garland 1990. Ch. 3 “Punishment and the Construction of Authority: A Reworking of Durkheimian Themes”
Related Readings:
Durkheim, Division of Labor, Chapters 2 & 3.
Durkheim, Moral Education, Chapters 12 & 13.
Erikson, Kai. 1966.“On the Sociology of Deviance”
Inverarity, et al. 1983. “Sanctions and Solidarity: The Contribution of Emile Durkheim”
Parsons, “The Law & Social Control" (from W. Evan's Law & Sociology)
PAPER PROPOSALS DUE (9/7)
Week 3 (9/7) Conflict Perspectives: Marx and the Labor Theory of Punishment
Garland. 1990. Ch. 4 “The Political Economy of Punishment: Rusche and Kirchheimer and the Marxist Tradition”
Garland. 1990. Ch. 5 “Punishment as Ideology and Class Control: Variations in Marxist Themes”
Chiricos, Theodore G. and Miriam A. Delone. 1992. “Labor surplus and punishment: A review and assessment of
theory and evidence.” Social Problems 39: 421-446.
Michalowski, Raymond J. and Susan M. Carlson. 1999. “Unemployment, imprisonment, and social structures of
accumulation: Historical contingency in the Rusche-Kirschheimer hypothesis.” Criminology 37:217-249.
Updated July 22, 2012
Related Readings:
Liska, 1994. “Modeling the Conflict Perspective of Social Control” (from Bridges & Myers, Chapter 3)
Platt, “Rethinking and Unthinking ‘Social Control’”(from Bridges & Myers, Chapter 4)
Spitzer, Stephen. 1975. “Toward a Marxian Theory of Deviance” Social Problems 22:638-51.
Taylor, et al, 1973. “Marx, Engels, and Bonger on Crime and Social Control"
Turk, 1976. “Law as a Weapon in Social Conflict"
Week 4 (9/14) Conflict Perspectives: Racial Threat and Social Control
Bridges and Myers 1994. Ch. 1 “Problems and Prospects…” (pp.3-8) (from Bridges & Myers, Ch. 1)
Liska, Allen. 1994. “Modeling the Conflict Perspective of Social Control” (from Bridges & Myers, Ch. 3)
Bridges, George S. and Robert D. Crutchfield. 1988. “Law, Social Standing and Racial Disparities in
Imprisonment.” Social Forces 66:699-724
Kent, Stephanie L. and David Jacobs. 2005. “Minority threat and police strength from 1980 to 2000: A fixed-effects
analysis of nonlinear and interactive effects in large U.S. cities.” Criminology, 43:731-760.
Tolnay & Beck, “Lethal Social Control in the South:...” (from Bridges & Myers, Chapter 11)
Related Readings:
Stolzenberg, Lisa, Stewart J. D'Alessio, and David Eitle. 2004. “A multilevel test of racial threat theory.”
Criminology, 42:673Tolnay, Stewart and E. M. Beck. 1992. “Toward a Threat Model of Southern Black Lynchings” pp. 33-52 in Allen
E. Liska (ed.) Social Threat and Social Control. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Week 5 (9/21) Contributions of Foucault and Weber
Foucault, Michel. 1977. “The body of the condemned” (pp. 3-31) and “The Carceral” (pp.293-308) in Discipline
and Punish: The Birth of the Prison.
Garland 1990. Ch. 6 “Punishment and the Technologies of Power: The Work of Michel Foucault”
*Garland 1990. Ch. 8 “The Rationalization of Punishment: Weberian Themes and Modern Penality.”
Inverarity et al., “Legal Procedure and Social Structure: The Contribution of Max Weber” (pp. 100-117)
Related Readings:
Ewing, “Formal Justice & the Spirit of Capitalism: Max Weber's Sociology of Law"
Staples, William. 2001. Everyday Surveillance. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield
Staples, William. 2005. “The Culture of Surveillance Revisited: ‘Total information awareness’ and the new privacy
landscape.” Social Thought and Research, 126:123-135.
PAPER OUTLINE WITH REFERENCES DUE (9/28)
Week 6 (9/28) Punishment and Culture– Mid-term Exam distributed
Garland 2001. The Culture of Control
Related Readings:
Smith, Philip. 2008. Punishment and Culture. University of Chicago Press.
MIDTERM EXAM DUE—No Class (10/5)
Week 7 (10/12) Court processes and Organizational perspectives
Engen, Rodney L. and Sara Steen. 2000. “The Power to Punish: Discretion and Sentencing Reform in the War on
Drugs.” American Journal of Sociology 105(5):1357-95.
Hagan, John. 1989 “Why is there so little criminal justice theory? Neglected macro- and micro-level links between
organization and power.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 26(2):116-135
*Liska, Alan. 1997. “Modeling the relationship between macro forms of social control” ARS 23:39-61.
Savelsberg, Joachim. 1992. “Law That Does Not Fit Society: Sentencing Guidelines as a Neoclassical Reaction to
the Dilemmas of Substantivized Law.” AJS 97(5): 1346-81.
Ulmer & Kramer 1998. “The Use and Transformation of Formal Decision-Making Criteria:…” Social Problems
45(2):248-267.
Updated July 22, 2012
Related Readings:
Blumberg, Abraham S. 1967 “The Practice of Law as Confidence Game: Organizational Co-optation of a
Profession.” Law & Society Review 1:15-40.
Dixon, 1995. “The Organizational Context of Criminal Sentencing”
Robinson & Scaglion, "The Origin of the Police Function in Society:..."
Sudnow, David. 1965. “Normal Crimes: Sociological Features of the Penal Code.” Social Problems 12(3): 255-276.
Week 8 (10/19) Race, Gender and Punishment
Albonetti, Celesta A. 1991. “An Integration of Theories to Explain Judicial Discretion.” Social Problems 38: 247266.
Daly, Kathleen. 1987. “Discrimination in the Criminal Courts: Family, Gender, and the Problem of Equal
Treatment.” Social Forces 66(1):152-175.
*Krutschnitt, Candace & Donald E. Green. 1984. “The sex-sanctioning issue: Is it history?” ASR 49(4): 541-551.
*Peterson, Ruth D. and John Hagan. 1984. “Changing Conceptions of Race: Toward an Account of Anomalous
Findings of Sentencing Research.” American Sociological Review 49: 56-70.
*Pollock, Jocellyn. 1995 “Gender, Justice and Social Control: A Historical Perspective” in Women, Law, and Social
Control. Alida V. Merlo and Jocellyn Pollack (eds.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
*Steffensmeier, Darrell, Jeffery Ulmer, and John Kramer. 1998. “The Interaction of Race, Gender, and Age in
Criminal Sentencing: The Punishment Cost of Being Young, Black, and Male.” Criminology 36(4):763-798.
Steffensmeier, D., B. Feldmeyer, C.T. Harris, & J.T. Ulmer. 2011. “Reassessing Trends in Black Violent Crime,
1980-2008: Sorting Out the ‘Hispanic Effect’ in Uniform Crime Reports Arrests, National Crime
Victimization Survey Offender Estimates, and U.S. Prisoner Counts.” Criminology 49(1), 197-251.
Ulmer, Jeffrey T. and Brian Johnson. 2004. “Sentencing in Context: A multilevel analysis.” Criminology 42:137151&165-177.
Related Readings:
Bridges & Beretta, “Gender, Race, and Social Control:...” (from Bridges & Myers, Chapter 10)
Chesney-Lind and Pollock, 1995. “Women’s Prisons: Equality with a Vengeance”
Daly, 1994. “Gender and Punishment Disparity” (from Bridges & Myers, Chapter 7)
Daly, Kathleen. 1995. Gender, Crime and Punishment
Peterson and Hagan, 1984. “Changing Conceptions of Race.”
Rafter, “Chastizing the Unchaste: Social Control Function...” (from Cohen & Scull’s Social Control & The State)
Spohn, “Crime and the Social Control of Blacks:...” (from Bridges & Myers, Chapter 15)
Tittle, “The Theoretical Bases for Inequality...” (from Bridges & Myers, Chapter 2)
Week 9 (10/26) Politics, Law and Imprisonment
Beckett, Katherine. 1997. Making Crime Pay: Law and Order in Contemporary American Politics. New York:
Oxford Press.
Beckett, Katherine and Bruce Western. 2001. “Governing social marginality: Welfare, incarceration, and the
transformation of state policy.” Punishment and Society 3:43-59.
Jacobs, David and Jason T. Carmichael. 2001. “The politics of punishment across time and space: A pooled timeseries analysis of imprisonment rates.” Social Forces 80:61-91.
Jenness, Valerie. 1999. “Managing differences and making legislation: Social movements and the racialization,
sexualization, and gendering of federal hate crime law in the U.S., 1985-1998.” Social Problems 46(4):548571.
Related Readings:
Frank, David John, Bayliss Camp and Steven A. Boutcher. 2010. “Worldwide Trends in the Criminal Regulation of
Sex, 1945 to 2005.” ASR 75 (December): 867-893.
Jacobs, David and Ronald E. Helms. 1996. “Toward a political model of incarceration: A time-series examination of
multiple explanations for prison admission rates.” 102(2):323-357.
Jenness, Valerie. 2004. “Explaining criminalization: From demography and status politics to globalization nd
modernization.” Annual Review of Sociology 30:147-171.
Jenness, Valerie and Ryken Grattet. 2001. Making Hate a Crime. Russell Sage.
Updated July 22, 2012
Stucky, Thomas, Karen Heimer, and Joseph Lang 2005. “Partisan politics, electoral competition and imprisonment:
An analysis of states over time.” Criminology 43:211-247.
Yates, Jeff and Richard Fording. 2005. “Politics and state punitiveness in black and white.” The Journal of Politics,
67(4):1099-1121.
Week 10 (11/2) Consequences of Imprisonment
Clear, Todd R. 2008. “The effects of high imprisonment rates on communities.” Crime & Justice 37:97-132.
*Massoglia, Michael. 2008. “Incarceration, Health, and Racial Disparities in Health.” Law & Society Review
42:275-306.
Pettit, Becky and Bruce Western. 2004. “Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in U.S.
Incarceration.” American Sociological Review 69:151-169.
*Rose, Dina R. and Todd R. Clear. 1998. “Incarceration, Social Capital, and Crime: Implications for Social
Disorganization Theory.” Criminology 36:441-480
Uggen, Christopher and Jeff Manza. 2002. “Democratic contraction? Political consequences of felon
disenfranchisement in the United States. American Sociological Review 67:777-803.
Western, Bruce. 2002. “The Impact of Incarceration on Wage Mobility and Inequality.” American Sociological
Review 67:526-46.
Related Readings:
Clear, Todd R. 2009. Imprisoning Communities: How Mass Incarceration Makes Disadvantaged Neighborhoods
Worse. Oxford University Press.
FIRST DRAFT OF PAPER DUE (11/9)
Week 11 (11/9) Crime Control: Deterrence & Incapacitation
Chiricos, Ted, Kelle Barrick, William Bales, and Stephanie Bontrager. 2007. “The Labeling of Convicted Felons
and Its Consequences For Recidivism.” Criminology, 45:547-581
* Jacobs, Bruce A. 2010. “Deterrence and Deterrability.” Criminology 48:417-441.
Kovandzic, Tomislav V. 2001. "The Impact of Florida's Habitual Offender Law on Crime" Criminology 39: 179-204
*Land, Kenneth C., R.H.C. Teske, and H. Zheng. 2009. “The Short-term Effects of Executions on Homicides:
Deterrence, Displacement, or Both?” Criminology 47:1009-1043.
Matsueda, Ross L., Derek A. Kreager & David Huizinga. 2006. “Deterring Delinquents: A Rational Choice Model
of Theft and Violence,” American Sociological Review 71(1): 95-122. (Recipient of the 2008 ASC
Outstanding Article Award)
Rosenfeld, Richard, Robert Fornango, and Andres F. Rengifo. 2007. “The Impact of Order-Maintenance Policing on
New York City Homicide and Robbery Rates:1988-2001.” Criminology 45:355-84.
*Wooldredge, John. 2010. “Judges’ Unequal contributions to Extralegal Disparities in Imprisonment.” Criminology
48(2):539-567.
Related Readings:
Nagin, Daniel and Greg Pogarsky. 2003. “An Experimental Investigation of Deterrence: Cheating, Self Serving Bias,
and Impulsivity.” Criminology 41:167Piquero, Alex R. and Alfred Blumstein. 2007. “Does Incapacitation Reduce Crime?” Journal of Quantitative
Criminology 23:267–285
Sorensen, Jon, Robert Wrinkle, Victoria Brewer, and James Marquart. 1999. “Capital Punishment and Deterrence:
Examining the Effects of Executions on Murder in Texas.” Crime and Delinquency 45:481-493.
Weisburd, David, Laura A.Wyckoff, Justin Ready, John E. Eck, Joshua C. Hinkle, and Frank Gajewski. 2006. “Does
crime just move around the corner? A controlled study of spatial displacement and diffusion of crime control
benefits.” Criminology 44:549-592.
ASC MEETINGS—NO CLASS (11/16)
FINAL DRAFT OF PAPER DUE (11/30)
Week 13 (11/30) Paper Presentations—Final Exam distributed
Updated July 22, 2012
FINAL EXAM (due 12/7 @ 11:00a.m.)
Updated July 22, 2012
OTHER AREAS OF STUDY IN SOCIAL CONTROL
Madness and the Criminal Law
Hochstedler, “Criminal Prosecution of the Mentally Disordered"
Lewis, et al, “The Negotiation of Involuntary Civil Commitment"
Link, et al, “The Violent and Illegal Behavior of Mental Patients Reconsidered”
Belfrage, "A Ten-Year Follow-Up of Criminality in Stockholm Mental Patients"
Rothman's Discovery of the Asylum
Freeman & Roesch, “Mental Disorder & the Criminal Justice System: A Review"
Monahan & Steadman, “Crime and Mental Disorder: An Epidemiological Approach"
Hiday, “Arrest and Incarceration of Civil Commitment Candidates"
Hiday, “Judicial Decision in Civil Commitment:
Shah, “Mental Disorder & the Criminal Justice System: Some Overarching Issues"
Forst's Civil Commitment & Social Control
Juveniles and the Law
Fox, “Juvenile Justice Reform: An Historical Perspective"
Feld, “In re Gault Revisited: A Cross-State Comparison of the Right to Counsel"
Sutton, “Children in the Therapeutic State:...” (from Bridges & Myers, Chapter 14)
Platt, “The Child Savers"
Dannefer, “Who Signs the Complaint?..."
Lemert, “Juvenile Justice Italian Style"
Skovron, et al, “The Death Penalty for Juveniles: An Assessment of Public Support"
Sutton, “The Juvenile Court and Social Welfare"
Rothman's Conscience and Convenience
Corporate & White-Collar Crime
Albonetti, “The Symbolic Punishment of White-Collar Offenders” (from Bridges & Myers, Chapter 16)
Paternoster & Simpson, "Sanction Threats and Appeals to Morality:..."
Simpson & Koper, "The Changing of the Guard: Top Management Characteristics, Organized Strain,..."
Hagan, et al, “The Differential Sentencing of White-Collar Offenders..."
Shapiro, “The Road Not Taken: The Elusive Path to Criminal Prosecution..."
Coleman, “Toward an Integrated Theory of White-Collar Crime"
Mann & Sutton, ">>NETCRIME: More Change in the Organization of Thieving"
Calavita & Pontell, “'Heads I Win, Tails You Lose': Deregulation, Crime & Crisis"
Clinard & Yeager, “Corporate Crime: Issues in Research"
Kramer, “Criminologists & the Social Movement Against Corporate Crime"
Stone's Where the Law Ends: The Social Control of Corporate Behavior
Coleman's The Criminal Elite
Simon & Eitzen's Elite Deviance
Attitudes & Punitiveness
Borg, Marian J. 1997. “The Southern Subculture of Punitiveness? Regional Variation in Support for Capital
Punishment.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 34:25-46..
Cullen, Francis T., Bonnie S. Fisher, and Brandon K. Applegate. 2000. “Public opinion about punishment and
corrections,” Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, 27:1-79.
Ted Chiricos, Kelly Welch, Marc Gertz. 2004. “Racial typification of crime and support for punitive measures.”
Criminology 42:358-89.
Barkan, Steven E. and Steven F. Cohn. 2005. “Why whites favor spending more money to fight crime: The role of
racial prejudice.” Social Problems 52:300-14.
Cochran, John K. and Mitchell B. Chamlin. 2006. “The enduring racial divide in death penalty support.” Journal of
Criminal Justice 34:85-99.
Unnever, James D. 2008. “Two Worlds Far Apart: Black-White Differences in Beliefs about Why African-American
Men are Disproportionately Imprisoned.” Criminology 46:511-38.