Sociology 156/ Justice Studies 156: Introduction to Crime and Community

One of the purposes of this course is to help you develop what C. Wright Mills called, a sociological imagination. A sociological imagination allows those who possess it to see their lives and the lives of others in terms of the intersection of the public and the private and locates the lives of persons in terms of the social processes and institutions that influence them. In this assignment you will take the perspective of one important theory in the development of sociology of crime and deviance and apply it to your everyday life. Follow these steps to complete the task. First you need to spend time thinking, BEFORE you start writing. Work your way through these steps and make notes for yourself as you go along.

1. Read Conceptualizing Stigma (Link and Phelan 2001) (via the library’s site or Moodle), paying particular attention to pages 363-375.Write a focused and clear summary of what the authors’ argue are the four key components of “stigma.” (i.e. 1. Distinguishing and Labeling Differences,

2. Associating Human Differences with Negative Attributes, 3. Separating “Us” from “Them”, 4. Status Loss and Discrimination). Your summary should give the reader a good sense of the key themes in the journal article and should put the authors’ argument into your own words. Direct quotations should be used sparingly if at all. I want to hear from you rather than the authors. If you feel you need to use the authors’ words, use no more than two direct quotations with a maximum length of 10 words each. This summary section should be 4-5 pages. 2. The next section of your paper applies ONE of the above four components to everyday life. Discuss how you have observed stigma in everyday life relative to the theme or component you have selected. Your application may be based upon your personal experience of stigmas and/or your observation of the stigmatization of others. Show how the concepts and ideas in Link and Phelan (2001) help to apply a sociological lens to what you have experienced and observed. What have you learned from this reading that can be applied to your understanding of the concept of stigma in everyday life? Locate and use at least one other peer-reviewed sociological source. Do not use non-academic sources (such as newspapers, magazines or web sites). Do not use materials from other disciplines such as psychology or biology. The Library offers individual research assistance, a workshop on “Peer-reviewed Journal Articles” (Oct 9 12:40-1:30) and a sociology guide. This application section should be 2 pages.