Piedmont Technical College
Course Information Sheet
Course Title: Juvenile Delinquency
Course Prefix/Number: SOC 210
COURSE-SPECIFIC GRADE CALCULATION
Advanced notification of any changes will be provided to the student.
At the end of each term, letter grades are given in all courses to indicate the
quality of work done by the student. The following grade designation will be
used: A = 94-100; B = 85-93; C = 75-84; D = 70-74; F = 69 and below; W
= Withdrew, NC = No Credit, Re-enroll.
SOC 101 requires that all students complete 4 Online Exams, 1 Final Exam,
15 discussions via class participation and/or via the D2L Discussion Board,
and 2 writing assignments from the D2L Dropbox.
Final Course Grade Breakdown
4 Online Exams- 40% (10% each)
2 Writing Assignments 25% (12.5% each)
In-Class participation 15%
Final Exam – 20%
The four online exams will be taken on D2L by the date designated by the
instructor. No late submissions or make-up exams will be allowed.
Final Exam – The final exam will be taken in class (or with an approved
proctor if this is an online class) on the date designated by the instructor.
Makeup final will only be allowed if you notify your instructor no later than
24 hours after the scheduled date and provide adequate documentation
certifying the reason for missing the exam.
August 20, 2015
1
Writing Assignments must be submitted via Dropbox in D2L. Instructions for
the assignments can also found under Dropbox.
Students will complete brief exercises and participate in structured
discussions throughout the course of the semester. These exercises will
reinforce and measure students’ understanding of course material. The
instructor will post weekly participation points/grade in D2L.
EXPLANATION OF SPECIFIC PROCTORED EXAM INFORMATION
The final exam in online sections must be taken with an approved proctor.
Piedmont Technical College does not charge any additional fees for online
courses. However, if a student needs to take a proctored assessment/test at
a location other than one of the seven Piedmont Technical College
campuses, the institution where proctoring is provided may charge a fee.
The student is responsible for these fees which may vary from site to site.
All PTC online courses require at least one proctored exam or assignment.
During the proctor approval process, college staff will work with the student
to secure an assessment/testing site and provide information regarding the
associated fees for that site.
LAB/CLASSROOM SAFETY STATEMENT
Piedmont Technical College Laboratory Safety Statement:
Lab Safety Statement (www.ptc.edu/courseinfo/safety.pdf)
Classroom Safety Statement:
N/A
COURSE CONTENT OUTLINE
Advanced notification of any changes will be provided to the student.
Modules/Units
Module/Unit 1
Competencies:
A Sociological Approach to Juvenile Delinquency

What Is Juvenile Delinquency?

Norms: Folkways, Mores, Laws, and Taboos

Normative Behavior: Conformity
August 20, 2015
2

Deviant Behavior: Nonconformity and Range of Tolerance
o Negative Aspects of Deviance
o Positive Aspects of Deviance
Module/Unit 2
Competencies:
Dimensions of Juvenile Delinquency

The Media as a Source of Delinquency (Mis)Information
o Official Sources of Delinquency Information
o Unofficial Sources of Delinquency Information

The Magnitude and Trends of Juvenile Delinquency
Module/Unit 3
Competencies:
Classical, Biological, and Psychogenic Explanations of Juvenile Delinquency

The Classical School of Criminological Thought

The Positive School of Criminology

Twentieth-Century Constitutional Typologies

The Continuing Search for a Biological Connection

Sociobiological Explanations
o The Psychogenic Approach and the Medical Model
o Discovery of the Unconscious and the Formation of Personality
o Freudian Theory as an Explanation of Crime and Delinquency
o Other Psychogenic Explanations of Juvenile Delinquency

Media Violence and Aggressive Behavior

Predictors of Youth Violence

Criticisms and Limitations of the Biological and Psychogenic
Approaches
August 20, 2015
3
Module/Unit 4
Competencies:
Sociological Explanations of Juvenile Delinquency: Social Strain and Cultural
Transmission Theories

Social Strain Theories

Cultural Transmission Theories
Module/Unit 5
Competencies:
Sociological Explanations of Juvenile Delinquency: Social Learning and Social
Control Theories

Social Learning Theories

Social Control Theories
Module/Unit 6
Competencies:
Sociological Explanations of Juvenile Delinquency: Labeling and
Radical/Conflict Theories

Labeling Theories

Radical/Conflict Theories
Module/Unit 7
Competencies:
Sociological Explanations of Juvenile Delinquency: Maturation/Life-Course,
Rational Choice/Deterrence and Feminist Theories

Short-Run Hedonism: “Delinquency Is Fun!”

Making Decisions for Delinquency: Rational Choice Theory

The Punishment Response: Deterrence Theory

Explaining Female Delinquency
August 20, 2015
4

Sex, Gender, and Delinquency

Sociological Theories and Female Delinquency

Feminist Theories of Delinquency
Module/Unit 8
Competencies:
Family and Juvenile Delinquency

The Changing Role of the Family
o Increasing Importance of the Nuclear Family and the Creation of
“Adolescence”
o The Family as an Agent of Socialization
o Working Mothers and Juvenile Delinquency

Other Family Variables and Juvenile Delinquency
o Parental Discipline

Single-Parent Families and Delinquency

The Family and Delinquency Prevention
Module/Unit 9
Competencies:
Schools and Delinquency

Schools and the Socialization Process

Juvenile Delinquency and the School Experience

Schools as a Screening Device

Schools as “Combat Zones”

School as Bureaucracy

Schools and Delinquency Prevention
Module/Unit 10
August 20, 2015
5
Competencies:
Youth Subcultures and Delinquency

The Creation of a Youth Subculture

Role of the Youth Subculture

Distinctive Elements of the Youth Subculture

The Youth Subculture and Juvenile Delinquency

Youth Countercultures and Delinquency

The Youth Subculture and Delinquency Prevention
Module/Unit 11
Competencies:
Juvenile Gangs and Delinquency

The Solitary Delinquent

Dyads and Triads

Group Delinquency

Play Groups

Juvenile Gangs
o Composition of Gang Membership
o Gang Violence
Module/Unit 12
Competencies:
Juveniles and the Police

Juvenile Encounters with Police

Policing Juveniles

Police Discretion in Handling Juveniles
August 20, 2015
6

Police and Due Process

Police, Community Policing, and Delinquency Prevention
Module/Unit 13
Competencies:
Juvenile Courts

Historical Background of the Juvenile Court

The Juvenile Court

Juvenile Courts and the Media

Juvenile Courts, Judicial Discretion, and Due Process

Juvenile Court Procedures

Criticisms of the Juvenile Court

The Multifaceted Juvenile Court

The Future of the Juvenile Court
Module/Unit 14
Competencies:
Juvenile Corrections

Social Control and Deterrence Theory
o Voluntary Social Control
o Informal Social Control
o Formal Social Control
o Deinstitutionalization, Community Corrections, and Diversion
August 20, 2015
7