Sociology 1004                                                                                               Dr. Patti Adler  
Deviance in US Society                                                                                      Spring, 2012

                                                                   SYLLABUS

Class Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 2:00-2:50  
My Office: Ketchum 207  
Office Hours: Tuesday 3:00-5:00 and Thursday 12:30-2:00, by appointment only
Telephone Numbers: office 303 492-1177 (I never check for messages), home 303 449-3021  
Email address: adler@colorado.edu  
Website: http://spot.colorado.edu/~adler  
Blog: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-deviance-society

REQUIRED READING

Patricia A. and Peter Adler, Constructions of Deviance Custom Edition. This book is available for purchase at the
UMC Bookstore. In an effort to keep the price of the book as low as possible I have relinquished my royalties for this 
Custom Edition and asked the publisher to use this money to lower the price of the book for students. The specific reading 
assignments are noted on the Topics and Readings sheet in the book. It is your responsibility to keep up with the readings 
in a timely manner. In addition to purchasing the book, you are required to purchase SIX blue books available at the 
bookstore, and hand them in to your ATA by the end of the fourth week of the course. If you have not submitted these 
blue books to your ATA by the Friday of the fourth week of the course, your grade will be penalized, and will continue to 
be penalized weekly until you hand them in. No one can pass the class without handing in blue books. Do NOT write in or 
on them. You will need two blue books for each exam, and these will be randomly distributed back to you at the exams.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this course I want to introduce you to the central sociological concepts of deviance, social order, social power, identity 
construction, and identity management. In this class we will work together to begin to understand the basics of the 
sociological perspective and to see how it differs from the psychological approach that most people are used to using to 
understand society and social life. We will use the topic of deviance to see how groups of people have the power to shape 
social definitions and apply them onto others. We will then look at the consequences for those defined as deviant of this 
label. We will look at how people come to develop a deviant identity and what that means to them in the exercise of their 
everyday lives. The readings I have selected are designed to take us through this intellectual pathway in an interesting and 
informative manner.

GENERAL COURSE POLICIES

You are responsible for the material and announcements presented during lectures and labs, whether or not you attend. 
Please arrange with another student to get missed notes and announcements. If there is any question about an interpretation 
of anything, the book is the final authority that we will use to resolve questions or differences. This is a course that fills the 
largest room on campus. When people talk to their neighbors excessively during the class or enter/exit the class during the 
middle of the lecture it becomes disruptive. If you do this we will consult with you after class and it may result in a penalty 
to your grade. You are responsible for keeping all graded assignments and exams.

In addition, technology should be used only for course-related purposes during the class. Please turn off your cell phones 
or Blackberries, and do not text or call people during the class. Laptops, while permitted, are to be used only for taking 
notes and not for surfing the Web, emailing your friends, networking on Facebook, shopping online, or playing poker. 
Students seated around you find this extremely distracting. If this becomes a problem we may have to resort to seating all 
technology users in a segregated part of the classroom, penalizing scofflaws, or banning students’ use of technology 
altogether.

Labs begin meeting the first day of the semester, and you are responsible for everything covered there. Should there be a 
week where school does not meet for any day of that week (Labor Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, fall break), or where 
you miss your lab (you are sick, you did not know labs had begun meeting already), it is your responsibility to attend 
another lab that week. We will not be making up the material that would have been covered on that day later in that lab; we 
will assume you got the information elsewhere and are up-to-date. You can find the complete list of all the labs, their times, 
their locations, and their TAs and ATAs on my website under the “Deviance” button. In addition, you are responsible for 
keeping track of all announcements and syllabus changes made in class whether you are there or not. Announcements are 
often made right at the beginning of class before lecture begins. In addition, you are responsible for getting lecture and lab 
material that you missed from your classmates and not from me, the TAs, or the ATAs. Office hours will not be spent going 
over lectures you missed.

You can expect to be challenged in the quality and quantity of assigned work and in classroom discussion.  You should 
understand the requirements for each class, come to class prepared to engage in learning the course material, complete the 
assignments, and be prepared to learn from your successes and failures. According to the guidelines of the Boulder Faculty 
Assembly, an undergraduate student should expect to spend at least three hours per week outside of class for each credit 
hour earned.  

Once the grades in this class are posted it is too late to ask for extra credit to raise your grade. The best way to raise your 
grade, aside from coming to lecture and lab, taking good notes, and studying hard, is to do the extra credit assignment.

There are NO MAKE-UP EXAMS in this class. If you have a problem, please contact me directly; do not speak only 
to your TA or ATA. DO NOT WAIT; call me at HOME right away if you have a problem or email me. If you have 
something important that has been scheduled prior to the start of the semester that you must attend, you must notify ME  
directly PRIOR TO THE END OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF THE SEMESTER to see if we can offer you 
alternate grading options; we will not attempt to arrange options for anyone who waits longer than this to contact me. If you 
are going to miss a test or be late with an assignment due to illness or some other immediate emergency situations, you 
MUST call and/or email me BEFORE the exam. Failure to follow these procedures will result in a grade of F on the exam.

In this course we expect students to conduct themselves, both orally and in their written assignments, in a civil and 
appropriate manner at all times. Hate speech, profanity, and defamation of any individuals or groups will not be tolerated, 
and will result in a serious diminution of a student’s grade in the class. We also expect students to follow the mandate of the  
University of Colorado’s HONOR CODE.

All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity 
policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, 
lying, bribery, and threatening behavior.  All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code 
Council (honor@colorado.edu; 303-725-2273). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy 
will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited 
to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Other information on the Honor Code can be found at
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html  and at
http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/

UNIVERSITY-RELATED COURSE POLICIES

The University of Colorado at Boulder policy on Discrimination and Harassment, the 
University of Colorado policy on Sexual Harassment and the University of Colorado
policy on Amorous Relationships apply to all students, staff and faculty. Any student, 
staff or faculty member who believes s/he has been the subject of discrimination or 
harassment based upon race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual 
orientation, or veteran status should contact the Office of Discrimination and Harassment 
(ODH) at 303-492-2127 or the Office of Judicial Affairs at 303-492-5550. Information 
about the ODH, the above referenced policies and the campus resources available to 
assist individuals regarding discrimination or harassment can be obtained at http://www.colorado.edu/odh.

Disability Services' letters for students with disabilities indicate legally mandated reasonable 
accommodations. The syllabus statements and answers to Frequently Asked Questions can be found at 
http://www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices. If you qualify for accommodations because of a 
disability, please discuss with me the specific problem by the end of the third week in the 
class so that we can determine if you need any kind of special situation. If you do, you will 
have to submit to me a letter from Disability Services by this third week so that your needs may 
be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. 
Contact: 303-492-8671, Willard 322, and www.Colorado.EDU/disabilityservices.

Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to reasonably 
and fairly deal with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled 
exams, assignments or required attendance. In this class, if you have to miss because of a religious 
observance or any other reason, please contact me personally, well in advance of your missing class. 
If you have not contacted me personally by the end of the fourth week, I cannot excuse you. See 
full details of the University’s policy at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html. A comprehensive 
calendar of the religious holidays most commonly observed by CU-Boulder students is at 
http://www.interfaithcalendar.org/.

Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. 
Students who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Faculty 
members have the professional responsibility to treat all students with understanding, dignity and 
respect, to guide classroom discussion and to set reasonable limits on the manner in which they 
and their students express opinions.  Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important 
with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, 
sexual orientation, gender variance, and nationalities.  See polices at
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html   and at
http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code   

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

We will be using the class email list available over the University Server to communicate with you this semester. I have 
already begun sending email to the class and will continue to do so. If you have not received an email in this way from me 
by the end of the first week, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY (NOT MINE) TO MAKE SURE THROUGH THE 
UNIVERSITY THAT YOUR NAME GETS ADDED TO THIS LIST. The first assignment in the course is the email 
quiz. Early in the semester I will email the quiz to all students. I will first send out several test class emails to make sure that 
you are receiving these and mention them in class. You should make sure you are getting them. After you receive the quiz, 
you should consult the syllabus and the website to find the answers to the questions. Thereafter you are expected to know 
how to find out all the pertinent information for this course. Please return the quiz to your ATA by the date specified in the 
quiz. It is worth 5% of your grade.  

Out of the lecture section, there will be three exams. The first two are in-class and at night. The first one is given after 
section III (Constructing Deviance), the second after section V (Managing Stigma), and the last during final exam week. 
They will consist of fill-in and short answer questions. The fill-in questions are designed to let you match basic terms and 
ideas to their definitions and applications, and are intended to capture knowledge and recall. The short answer questions 
are designed to ask you to identify the main lists from the lectures and readings and apply them to hypothetical situations we 
create. These will involve some creativity as well as analytical and intellectual challenge. You are expected to learn the 
modified outline form for answering the questions prior to entering the exam. I enclose the complete packet of exams that 
we used in the course last semester at the end of this book, so that you can get an idea of the types of questions we ask 
and the format we expect you to us on our tests. You must write the exams in either blue or black pen. Out of the deviance 
labs there will be a fifth basis for your grade evaluation. You will be graded on your attendance and participation in the 
discussion, quizzes, and activities in labs that occur throughout the semester.

In addition, there will be an extra credit available for students who want to write a Norm Violation paper. This will be a 
short (3-5 page) mini-paper covering your violation and analysis of some norm. This is not an excuse to commit pranks, but 
a serious paper about the importance of norms in society. For this paper you have two choices. You can either reflectively 
analyze some norm violation you have done, or you can select a norm and violate it during this class. After reflecting or 
gathering information about the behavior, write a short essay describing and analyzing this norm violation, the reactions of 
others, and what you can theoretically infer from this. You will be expected to relate these ideas to your discussions of the 
definition and social creation of deviance. The structure of the extra credit available is discussed below.

Your grade in this class will depend on the following formula:

Assignment                                                    Percentage     Total Points Possible

Email Quiz                                                        4%                             40

First Exam                                                       24%                             240

Second Exam                                                  24%                             240

Third Exam                                                     24%                             240

Lab Participation and Attendance                    24%                             240

Total Points Possible                                                                           1000

Extra Credit Norm Violation Assignment:

Papers will be evaluated according to the following grades, and given the following amount of extra credit points:

                                                Check --                                    0

                                                Check -                                   30

                                                Check                                      60

                                                Check +                                   90

  To calculate how you are doing in the class, use the following scale to convert your letter grades on the exams into numbers:

A:10    A-:9     B+:8    B:7      B-:6     C+:5    C:4      C-:3     D+:2    D:1      D-:0     F:-1

Multiply your converted letter grade by the percentage that each assignment is worth, and add these all together. Your final grade in this class is usually calculated by the following numbers (although special exceptions may be made):

A:1050-951     A-:950-851      B+:850-751     B:750-651       B-:650-551      C+:550-451     C:450-351       C-:350-251            D:250-151       F:150 and below

Please note that it is the official policy of the University of Colorado that we are not allowed to discuss grades over the Internet, as this is not a secure medium.

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