Course Description: The purpose of this class is threefold: (1) to
sociologically investigate the existence and role of the formal
social control apparatus (the “criminal justice system”) within its
historical and cultural context, particularly in its relation to
informal systems of social control and other sources of social
structuration, (2) to consider the ordering/disordering effects and
functions of both formal and informal systems individually as well
as in tandem, and (3) to explore alternative ways in which various
people in various times and places have attempted to structure
systems of social control, under what expectations, and with what
results.

This class draws broadly from a variety of disciplines (the
sociology of law and punishment, law-and-economics, social control
theory, comparative justice studies, philosophy of law, critical
criminology, etc.) in an attempt to move past legal-centralist and
instrumentalist conceptions of “law-and-order” to understand the
complexities of social order, deviance, and control in multiple
facets of society, all with an eye to larger questions of
policymaking and social change (and the normative debates/issues
implicit therein).

Readings: Three required texts, additional readings available from
instructor or online.

Garland, David (1990). Punishment and Modern Society: A Study in
Social Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Ellickson, Robert C. (1991). Order Without Law: How Neighbors Settle
Disputes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Ritzer, George (2000). The McDonaldization of Society: An
Investigation into the Changing Character of Contemporary Social
Life, 3rd Ed. Newbury Park, CA. Pine Forge Press.

Requirements: Graded coursework will consist of short, weekly
writing assignments encouraging thoughtful/critical reaction to
course readings and lecture materials, as well as one or two
slightly longer essay-type pieces wherein students will be asked to
integrate and “distill” the content of prior weekly writings into a
more scholarly treatment of our subject matter in a more general
fashion. Grades will be calculated through a point system, wherein
weekly assignments (constituting the majority of the final grade)
will be weighted equally, with the periodic essays being given
somewhat more emphasis.

Class meeting:  9:30-12:20, D, SB 150

Instructor: Ernest Nickels, Criminal Justice Department