Category: Deviance & Crime
“Danny Boy” and The Sociological Imagination
Dear Student,
After reading the first chapter of The Sociological Imagination by Charles Wright Mills (1959) in the classroom, we learned that it is important to be aware that we, as individuals, are part of a wider society in order to understand our behavior, feelings, and possibilities.
This short film tells the story of a guy who has something that makes him unique in his society, but also very unhappy and discriminated against.
How would you apply the sociological imagination to “Danny Boy”?
What is the tension between his individual abilities and societal expectations?
Would you consider this film’s ending a happy one?
Let’s discuss!!
Deviance and Crime Resources
Sold on Backpage.com at 16 — This NY Times video by Nicholas Kristof is good for illustrating the conflict theory perspective on crime.
Jay Z: The War on Drugs is an Epic Fail — another NY Times op-doc highlighting the racial inequalities of the war on drugs.
How we’re priming some kids for college — and others for prison, Alice Goffman — This TED talk gives a good overview of the school-to-prison pipeline and is a good starting point for discussions of sociological theories and perspectives on deviance and crime.
Readings on Deviance and Crime
Emile Durkheim, “The Functions of Crime” — This is a brief overview of the functionalist understanding of crime and deviance.
