Module 6 Assignment: Deviance in the News

STEP 1: Find a current article about a crime that has been committed within the past three weeks. Look for language within the article that lends itself to a sociological explanation of the deviant behavior using one or more of the theories of deviance. You should not Google “crime” or “deviance” to find a current events article related to crime and deviance; rather, check reputable online news sources or an actual article about a crime or deviant behavior. There are always major deviant acts each week that make the national and local news.

Articles should be a minimum of 500 words, recent (within three weeks), relevant (related to crime, deviance, and social control), and from a reputable news source (many colleges provide free access to national news sources).

STEP 2: Write a thorough summary of the article.

STEP 3: Using your sociological imagination, write an analysis of the article that connects the main idea/s of the article to specific key terms and theories from this module on “Deviance, Crime and Social Control.”

STEP 4: Include the link to your article, check for any writing errors, and submit your article with your response paper.

Rubric

High Quality Proficient Approaching Proficiency Not Proficient Points
The article chosen is recent, relevant, and reputable. The article missing 1 of the requirements (recent, relevant, and reputable) The article is missing 2 of the requirements. The article is missing the requirements. __/2
Summary is succinct, thorough, original, and accurate. Summary is missing 1 of the requirements (succinct, thorough, original and accurate). Summary is missing 2 of the requirements. Summary is missing 3 or 4 of the requirements. __/5
Analysis clearly relates the criminal or deviant act from the article to key terms from “Deviance, Crime, and Social Control.” Analysis includes one or more key terms but does not provide a clear link to the article and/or does not use the term with 100% accuracy. Analysis includes a key term without proper connection to the article and/or misuses the term. Analysis does not include key terms from Module 6 and/or uses key terms incorrectly. __/5
Analysis includes a minimum of one theory of deviance and connects the theory to specific text in the article to explain the deviance. Analysis includes one or more theories of deviance but does not provide a clear link to the article and/or does not use the theory in a way that explains the deviance. Analysis includes a theory without proper connection to the article and/or misuses the theory. Analysis does not include a sociological theory of deviance and/or does not include an explanation or application. __/5
College-level writing grammar (spelling, punctuation, syntax, etc.) with 0-1 error. College-level writing with 2-3 grammatical errors. College-level writing with 3-4 grammatical errors. College-level writing with 5+ grammatical errors. __/3
Total: __/20