COURSE CONTENTS AND AIMS

The course is designed with the purpose to provide an overview of the area of the soial psychology pertaining to deviant behavior and crime. Specifically, the course examines the contribution that social psychology has made to the understanding of crime and deviance. It explores theories and researchers about the causes and consequences of deviance and crime in-between individual and social levels. It also explores and possibly expands on questions raised during the class that are relevant to the area of study.

Particular attention will be paid to:

1. What is Social Psychology? What are the theories and research most relevant to the understanding of such a discipline?
2. Cognitive Processes and Strategies & Attribution theories
3. Conforming to Others, Complying with Others, Following Orders & Research on Social Influence
4. Why we help others? Why we engage in aggressive conducts? True Altruism & Aggressive Behavior
5. Stereotyping and Discrimination & Situational Factors in Stereotyping,
6. Researching Inter-group Contact & Reducing Inter-group Conflict

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

Critical Thinking - Given a crime and deviance issue, use social psychology and a scientific attitude to elaborate on it.

Information Literacy - Given a research question related to crime and deviance, retrieve information from social psychology and pick appropriate sources to respond to the question.

Understanding Research Methods – Given a scientific article about crime and deviance in the area of social psychology from a scientific journal, detect the research methods used and the main findings.

Communication Oral Skills - Efficiently illustrate social psychological issues orally as appropriate to the audience.

Communication Written Skills - Effectively articulate social psychological information related to crime and deviance, in writing.

Knowledge of Foundations in Social Psychology – Recognize the foremost notions, theoretical approaches, applications, and historical developments in social psychology relaed to crime and deviance.

Knowledge of Applied Psychology

Apply social psychological principles to crime and deviance issues.

 

MAIN LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the completion of this course students will be able to:

1 Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between individual-level and society-level explanations of crime and deviance and identify assumptions, methods, and arguments pertaining to approaches in major areas of social psychological research and theory.

2 Understand how scientific theories can be operationalized in designing and carrying out researchers on the crime and deviance topics.

3 Critically reflect on culture, social relations and social structures in order to develop a broader and deeper understanding of deviance and crime.

6 Explain personal positions with respect to relevant issues in social psychology about the crime and deviance.

During classes, the following issues and topics will be explored:

(from: Kenrick, D. T., Neuberg, S. L., & Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Social Psychology: Unraveling the Mystery.4th Edition. Allyn and Bacon. ISBN: 0-205-49395-5)

1. Present major theories and principles of social psychology related to crime and deviance in readings, lectures, discussions and activities
   1. Describe how social behavior is determined by three factors: the person, the situation, and the interaction between the person and the situation.
   2. Analyze the principles of human social behavior assumed by the four theoretical perspectives — sociocultural, social cognitive, evolutionary, and social learning.
   3. Apply the main contemporary theories in social psychology to crime and deviance observed in real-world settings.
2. Critically assess the design, findings, and implications of classic and recent research studies as it pertains to social psychology to deviance and crime
   1. Analyze the implications of classic studies in social psychology, including Philip Zimbardo's mock prison study and Stanley Milgram's obedience studies, to better understand situations involving power differences in social status.
   2. Analyze the relevance of social psychological research to today's crime and deviance issues (i.e. theories on justice, law-abiding behaviors).
3. Write a research summary of a peer-reviewed journal article.
4. Move beyond text and note taking to apply social psychological theories, principles, and concepts to real life situations (i.e. crime and deviance).
   1. Observe, record, and describe real-life social situations of crime and deviance and apply social psychological theories and concepts to better understand the phenomena at hand.
   2. Describe the history of well-known crime and deviance events in terms of social psychological theories and principles.
5. Be sensitive to the importance of understanding the role of diversity factors in order to understand various social psychological theories and principles.
   1. Examine how each social psychological theory accounts for ethnic differences in behavior across societies.
   2. Describe how each social psychological theory accounts for differential treatment and expectations of people based on a variety of social categories, such as race.
6. Be sensitive to the importance of understanding the role of diversity factors when applying social psychological theories and principles.
   1. Describe how each social psychological theory contributes to our understanding of discrimination, prejudices, and stereotyping.
   2. Demonstrate an understanding of discrimination, prejudices, and stereotyping in terms of the basic principles of human behavior assumed by the four theoretical perspectives.
   3. Examine the specific social conditions that are empirically evidenced to reduce discrimination, prejudices, and stereotyping.

ASSESSMENT

Attending Students

Students attending lectures will be involved in class activities and will be required to produce position papers on specific relevant topics (40%), participate in discussion (45%), and final project (15%).

 

1. Position papers. There will be five position papers to produce during this course, each related to a major issue presented during lecture. After the description of a major topic will be completed, a couple of scientific papers will be assigned to students who will be required to produce a brief position paper to be presented to the class by the following week. Each position paper is designed so that students can synthesize and critically assess the scientific article on relevant topics presented during lectures. Students will be invited to in case incorporate materials from other sources and discussion with colleagues and teacher. If materials from other sources are used, then bibliographic references for the source have to be provided. Each position paper is designed to test students’ recall and knowledge of concepts presented during lectures as well as to assess their ability to apply psychosocial constructs.
2. Discussion. Each student is expected to participate in discussion within classes. After lectures, questions will be posed and students will be invited to analyze them with the help of the teacher.
3. Final Project. At the end of the entire course, students will be involved in a group class activity. With the help of the teacher who will provide purposive materials, students will be required to elaborate on an assignment related to the topics illustrated and addressed during previous lectures. 

 

No-Attending Students

 

Oral exams (100%) are available to students not attending lectures. Non-attending students are requested to contact the teacher by email in due advance in order to define a specific program.

Please, consult the exam timetable on the official Unisalento website.

COURSE CONTENTS AND AIMS

The course is designed with the purpose to provide an overview of the area of the soial psychology pertaining to deviant behavior and crime. Specifically, the course examines the contribution that social psychology has made to the understanding of crime and deviance. It explores theories and researchers about the causes and consequences of deviance and crime in-between individual and social levels. It also explores and possibly expands on questions raised during the class that are relevant to the area of study.

Particular attention will be paid to:

1. What is Social Psychology? What are the theories and research most relevant to the understanding of such a discipline?
2. Cognitive Processes and Strategies & Attribution theories
3. Conforming to Others, Complying with Others, Following Orders & Research on Social Influence
4. Why we help others? Why we engage in aggressive conducts? True Altruism & Aggressive Behavior
5. Stereotyping and Discrimination & Situational Factors in Stereotyping,
6. Researching Inter-group Contact & Reducing Inter-group Conflict

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

Critical Thinking - Given a crime and deviance issue, use social psychology and a scientific attitude to elaborate on it.

Information Literacy - Given a research question related to crime and deviance, retrieve information from social psychology and pick appropriate sources to respond to the question.

Understanding Research Methods – Given a scientific article about crime and deviance in the area of social psychology from a scientific journal, detect the research methods used and the main findings.

Communication Oral Skills - Efficiently illustrate social psychological issues orally as appropriate to the audience.

Communication Written Skills - Effectively articulate social psychological information related to crime and deviance, in writing.

Knowledge of Foundations in Social Psychology – Recognize the foremost notions, theoretical approaches, applications, and historical developments in social psychology relaed to crime and deviance.

Knowledge of Applied Psychology

Apply social psychological principles to crime and deviance issues.

 

MAIN LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the completion of this course students will be able to:

1 Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between individual-level and society-level explanations of crime and deviance and identify assumptions, methods, and arguments pertaining to approaches in major areas of social psychological research and theory.

2 Understand how scientific theories can be operationalized in designing and carrying out researchers on the crime and deviance topics.

3 Critically reflect on culture, social relations and social structures in order to develop a broader and deeper understanding of deviance and crime.

6 Explain personal positions with respect to relevant issues in social psychology about the crime and deviance.

 

During classes, the following issues and topics will be explored:

 

(from: Kenrick, D. T., Neuberg, S. L., & Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Social Psychology: Unraveling the Mystery.4th Edition. Allyn and Bacon. ISBN: 0-205-49395-5)

1. Present major theories and principles of social psychology related to crime and deviance in readings, lectures, discussions and activities
   1. Describe how social behavior is determined by three factors: the person, the situation, and the interaction between the person and the situation.
   2. Analyze the principles of human social behavior assumed by the four theoretical perspectives — sociocultural, social cognitive, evolutionary, and social learning.
   3. Apply the main contemporary theories in social psychology to crime and deviance observed in real-world settings.
2. Critically assess the design, findings, and implications of classic and recent research studies as it pertains to social psychology to deviance and crime
   1. Analyze the implications of classic studies in social psychology, including Philip Zimbardo's mock prison study and Stanley Milgram's obedience studies, to better understand situations involving power differences in social status.
   2. Analyze the relevance of social psychological research to today's crime and deviance issues (i.e. theories on justice, law-abiding behaviors).
3. Write a research summary of a peer-reviewed journal article.
4. Move beyond text and note taking to apply social psychological theories, principles, and concepts to real life situations (i.e. crime and deviance).
   1. Observe, record, and describe real-life social situations of crime and deviance and apply social psychological theories and concepts to better understand the phenomena at hand.
   2. Describe the history of well-known crime and deviance events in terms of social psychological theories and principles.
5. Be sensitive to the importance of understanding the role of diversity factors in order to understand various social psychological theories and principles.
   1. Examine how each social psychological theory accounts for ethnic differences in behavior across societies.
   2. Describe how each social psychological theory accounts for differential treatment and expectations of people based on a variety of social categories, such as race.
6. Be sensitive to the importance of understanding the role of diversity factors when applying social psychological theories and principles.
   1. Describe how each social psychological theory contributes to our understanding of discrimination, prejudices, and stereotyping.
   2. Demonstrate an understanding of discrimination, prejudices, and stereotyping in terms of the basic principles of human behavior assumed by the four theoretical perspectives.
   3. Examine the specific social conditions that are empirically evidenced to reduce discrimination, prejudices, and stereotyping.
   4.  

STUDY RESOURCES

-Kenrick, D. T., Neuberg, S. L., & Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Social Psychology: Unraveling the Mystery.4th Edition. Allyn and Bacon. ISBN: 0-205-49395-5

- Cheng,J., Bernstein,M., Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil,C., & Leskovec, J. Anyone Can Become a Troll: Causes of Trolling Behavior in Online Discussions. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 1217-1230.

-Alicke,M.D., Mandel,D.R., Hilton,D.J., Gerstenberg,T. & Lagnado, D.A. (2015). Causal Conceptions in Social Explanation and Moral Evaluation: A Historical Tour. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(6) 790-812.

- Haslam, S.A. & Reicher, S. (2007). Beyond the Banality of Evil: Three Dynamics of an Interactionist Social Psychology of Tyranny. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(5), 615-622

- Haslam, S.A. & Reicher, S. (2012). Contesting the ‘‘Nature’’of Conformity: what Milgram and Zimbardo’s studies really show. Plos Biology, 10(11), 1-4

- Craig, K.M. (2002). Examining hate-motivated aggression.A review of the social psychological literature on hate crimes as a distinct form of aggression. Aggression and Violent Behavior,7, 85-101

Materials and articles will be provided during the course and will be available at: https://www.unisalento.it/web/guest/scheda_personale/-/people/alessia.rochira

 

ASSESSMENT

Attending Students

Students attending lectures will be involved in class activities and will be required to produce position papers on specific relevant topics (40%), participate in discussion (45%), and final project (15%).

 

1. Position papers. There will be five position papers to produce during this course, each related to a major issue presented during lecture. After the description of a major topic will be completed, a couple of scientific papers will be assigned to students who will be required to produce a brief position paper to be presented to the class by the following week. Each position paper is designed so that students can synthesize and critically assess the scientific article on relevant topics presented during lectures. Students will be invited to in case incorporate materials from other sources and discussion with colleagues and teacher. If materials from other sources are used, then bibliographic references for the source have to be provided. Each position paper is designed to test students’ recall and knowledge of concepts presented during lectures as well as to assess their ability to apply psychosocial constructs.
2. Discussion. Each student is expected to participate in discussion within classes. After lectures, questions will be posed and students will be invited to analyze them with the help of the teacher.
3. Final Project. At the end of the entire course, students will be involved in a group class activity. With the help of the teacher who will provide purposive materials, students will be required to elaborate on an assignment related to the topics illustrated and addressed during previous lectures. 

 

No-Attending Students

 

Oral exams (100%) are available to students not attending lectures. Non-attending students are requested to contact the teacher by email in due advance in order to define a specific program.

Please, consult the exam timetable on the official Unisalento website.