Deviance among Killers
I. Choose a deviant person you want to research (Hitler, Osama, Ted Bundy, serial
killers, etc.)
A. You need to place your name and deviant person’s name on the sign-up sheet in class
(first come first serve)
B. Find as much information on this person as possible
1. Family background is very important
2. Find information that would reveal the socialization or lack of socialization of
this person
3. I don’t care about how he/she killed someone unless it relates, or is needed to
help relate, some of the information shared in class to your killer.
II. Study, research, and understand the theories I hand out and go over in class
A. Apply the theories and terms to the information you discover about the deviant
person you chose to research (use theories and terms studied in class)
1. Five or more sociological theories must be used correctly and numbered to earn
a passing grade (list of sociological theories):
a. Derkheim and the benefits of deviance
b. Merton’s Strain theory and its different parts
c. Illegitimate Opportunity Theory
d. Labeling theory and its many parts
e. Szasz and his ideas on mental illness
f. Differential Association Theory
g. Control Theory and its parts
h. Social Conflict theory (power)
2. I should see five sociological theories used correctly and at least five more
terms or theories used correctly, if you want to earn an “A” on your paper
(using the same theory, term, etc several times will not dramatically improve
your grade).
3. Grading:
a. Five theories + five terms = C
b. Six theories + five terms = B
c. Seven/Eight theories + five terms = A
III. Besides applying the theories, explain from a sociological standpoint why this person
acts the way he/she does.
A. Use all the information we have studied in class throughout the year and apply it to
understanding the deviant person you are researching
1. Family background
2. Friendships
3. Behaviors in school
4. Goals of person
5. Traumatic events in the serial killers life
IV. This paper must be at least three pages long (no more than five pages) not including
the cover page or the bibliography page
A. The paper must be typed, everything double-spaced, no spelling errors, proper
margins and sentence structure.
1. I want a cover page, which must include the following: class period, name of the
person you researched, your name, and the date.
2. I also want a bibliography page (Sources must be cited)
a. You must have at least three different sources in your paper
b. Use the citation machine that can be found by clicking on “writing” within
my webpage.
3. Whenever you use a term, theory, idea, etc. from the notes, you must bold
the term, theory, idea, etc.
4. The paper is due when we finish our chapter on deviance
V. Grading
A. You grade is based solely on your ability to correctly relate the theories and terms to
the person you’ve researched (100 pts).