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Social change and normalisation

Semester 1 · 64185 · Bachelor for Social Education · 5CP · EN


The course will introduce the analysis of processes of social change in the ways in which diverse individuals and groups are perceived, categorized, judged and treated in contemporary society.
Students will be introduced to the main interpretative frameworks and analytical tools necessary to understand processes of social deviance, stigmatization and cultural conflict (as well as normalization and de-stigmatization) as a precondition for the design and implementation of effective interventions.

Lecturers: Carlo Alessandro Nardi

Teaching Hours: 30
Lab Hours: 0
Mandatory Attendance: In accordance with the regulation

Course Topics
– Structural and socio-cultural change. – Social norms and social expectations. – Constitutive and regulative norms. – Values and norms. – Deviations from norms. – Social stigma and symbolic challenges to the socio-cultural order. – Main theories of innovation and deviance – Functionalism. – Positivist theories of deviance. – Rational choice theories of deviance. – Critical theories of deviance. – Labelling and social interaction. – Stigma and symbolic challenges. – Stigma and economic challenges (poverty and material deprivation). – Stigma and mobility challenges. – Careers and subcultures. – Ethnographic studies of normalization and deviance. – The basic tools of ethnography of normalization processes. – Documenting ethnographic observations. – From observation to intervention.

Teaching format
Lectures, exercises, and discussions. Lectures will be accompanied by group exercises. All undergraduate students are also invited to participate in some basic exercises on ethnographic practice. Students may voluntarily contribute to the course through the preparation of short memoirs and oral introductions to group discussions.

Educational objectives
- Make students able to navigate the main sociological frameworks for the analyses of social normalization, deviance, stigmatization and cultural conflict at the macro, meso and micro level. - Make students able to analyze competently processes of socio-cultural change at the community and interactional level. - Learn the basic methodology to study ethnographically the above processes at the community/organization level. - Provide students with the conceptual tools necessary to deal with issue of social deviance and stigmatization. - Working knowledge of the main theoretical frameworks employed to study normative orders and normative changes. - Working knowledge of the main factors of social control and social deviance, in order to analyze concrete problems and to process information in interdisciplinary terms, being able to continue to undertake further study with a high degree of autonomy. - Ability to develop professional observations of processes of stigmatization (and destigmatization) sufficient to acquire a competent understanding able to orient professional practice and intervention - Ability to communicate information, ideas, and suggest strategies in oral and written forms

Assessment
The exam, lasting 90 minutes, is based on five open questions relating to the compulsory texts (see the relevant section of the syllabus).

Evaluation criteria
The evaluation criteria will follow the grid below: – Excellent (30–30 cum laude): great knowledge of the topics, excellent language skills, excellent capacity of analysis; the student can brilliantly apply theoretical knowledge to real cases. They can also properly argue possible solutions, including multiple alternatives. – Very good (27–29): good knowledge of the topics, very good language skills, good capacity of analysis; the student can properly apply theoretical knowledge to real cases. – Good (24–26): good knowledge of the main topics, good language skills, the student shows adequate ability to apply theoretical knowledge to real cases. – Satisfactory (21–23): the student does not show a complete command of the main topics, although showing the knowledge of the basic ones; they show satisfactory language skills and a quite satisfactory ability to apply theoretical knowledge to real cases. – Sufficient (18–20): minimal knowledge of the main teaching and technical language issues, limited capacity to adequately apply theoretical knowledge to real cases. – Insufficient outcome: the student does not have an acceptable knowledge of the contents of the various topics on the syllabus.

Required readings

Downes, David, Paul Elliott Rock, and Eugene McLaughlin. Understanding Deviance: A Guide to the Sociology of Crime and Rule-Breaking. Oxford University Press, 2016 (chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12).

Nippert-Eng, Christena. Watching Closely: A Guide to Ethnographic Observation. Oxford University Press, 2015.



Supplementary readings

The following texts may be useful for further study of the course topics and for clarifying the more practical aspects. However, they are not covered in the exam.

Chirot, Daniel. How Societies Change. SAGE, 2011.

De Swaan, Abram. Human Societies: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.

Goffman, Erving. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Simon and Schuster, 2009 [1963].

Ritzer, George, and Stepnisky, Jeff. Sociological Theory. SAGE, 2021, 11th ed. 




Sustainable Development Goals
This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the following Sustainable Development Goals.



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