Case Study 1
Corporate deviance: The case of WorldCom
WorldCom was once the second-largest phone company in the US. Its CEO and founder, Bernard
Ebbers, grew the company over a 15-year period, riding the wave of the IT bubble. He had become wealthy from WorldCom's rising stock price and was known for his flamboyance. Once the IT investment bubble burst in 2000, the company began to produce fraudulent accounting reports that minimised its expenditures and inflated its investments, profits, and share price. In 2002, accounting irregularities led to an investigation and the resignation of its CEO, with the company declaring bankruptcy that same year—the largest company to do so in US history. In 2006, the CEO was jailed for 25 years for his part in the US$11 billion fraud. The knowledge of the fraud was widespread within the company, and along with similar examples of corporate deviance, such as the global company Enron and HIH in Australia, this case posed the question, 'Is corporate deviance common?'
Discussion questions
1.
Is corporate deviance the same as other forms of deviance? Can a corporation be deviant? Can deviance be a collective property or should deviance be viewed as an individual act?
2.
Does following orders or abiding by organisational culture excuse those who commit corporate deviance?
3.
Despite the occasional scandal, white-collar crime is often considered to be less widely investigated or effectively penalised than blue-collar crime. Why might this be so?
THE ELEPHANT MAN – Case Study 2
In 19 th century London, people with mental and physical handicaps were scorned, even feared and certainly denied a decent quality of life. Many of the physically deformed were exploited as ‘freaks’ in shows and carnivals. The “Elephant Man”, so named for his severe bodily deformities, was one such individual. He was kept, in near bondage, in the carnival by a man who provided for his basic needs & pocketed the profits generated by the Elephant Man’s appearances. Knowing he could not make it on his own in the ‘normal’ world, the Elephant Man continued to live in the carnival with his exploitive master. Eventually, he was identified by a prominent doctor in London, who took interest in his testing. As their relationship progressed, the doctor sought to humanise the Elephant Man by bringing him into contact with his friends, members of the London society’s upper crust. Yet, the doctor was very much in control of the Elephant Man’s life, telling exactly how to behave, teaching him specific things, such as manners and elementary school lessons, but keeping him ignorant of other matters, such as sexuality. After a time, the Elephant Man became a “status symbol,” someone to know, and the elite competed at lavishing attention on him and giving him expensive gifts. The Elephant Man’s “normal” life within the confines of the hospital became more comfortable than it would have been had he remained in the carnival.
1.
With relation to this passage show how Goffman’s concept of stigma is relevant.
2.
Was the Elephant Man deviant? Why or why not?
3.
What characteristics of total institution are evident in the hospital and the carnival?
4.
How would you explain the change in society’s view of the Elephant Man, from freak to someone everyone wanted to know?

Applying the concepts
Exercise 1
Most of us have some physical trait or behaviour that has produced a negative reaction from others.
Think about a personal characteristic that others have stigmatised.
What was the stigma and how do you know it was a stigma?
How did you manage the stigma? Did you change your behaviour or feelings about yourself in some way?
Explain the relevance of the labelling theory to your understanding & management of this stigma, or some other minor deviant behaviour.
Exercise 2
Deviance may be readily observable on any school campus. Based on Merton’s theory of deviance, construct a chart showing the 5 ways individuals may react to a discrepancy between approved goals and legitimate means for reaching them. Then using school as your guide, provide an example of each of the 5 types of reactions. You might consider such behaviours as cheating, plagiarism, coming to class only when attendance is taken, going down town at lunch time.
Modes of Adapting
Conformist
Innovator
Ritualist
Retreatist
Rebel
Accepts Culturally Approved
Goals
Accepts Culturally Approved
Means

Exercise 3
Go to the web. Find three examples from recent newspapers of criminal behaviour. One example should be of white-collar crime in either a business or government setting.
Answer the following questions:
1.
Using the theories of deviance, offer an explanation as to why these people engaged in criminal activity. Which theory (theories) seems (seem) most useful in explaining why people commit crimes?
2.
Which theory is most useful in explaining society’s reaction to the perpetrators’ criminal acts? What formal and informal elements of social control are present in your examples?
3.
Pick one of your examples & use it to illustrate the steps involved in the labelling process.
Newspaper sites: https://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=&oq=sydney+morning+herald+onl&ie=
UTF-
8&rlz=1T4RLTA_enAU576AU576&q=sydney+morning+herald+online&gs_l=hp..0.0l4.0.0.0.6977.........
..0.MxK1ZuA4C18&safe=active&safeui=on&sout=1#q=sydney+morning+herald+online&safe=active& sout=1&tbm=nws – Sydney Morning Herald http://www.theadvocate.com.au/ - The Advocate http://www.theage.com.au/ The Age