Violence and Victims

Catalog description

This course is designed to explore the serious problem of violence in our society from a sociological perspective. Violence is prevalent in homes and on the streets of the United States. This course will address a variety of types of violence, its causes, consequences, and theories for prevention. Topics which will be addressed include wife abuse, rape, child abuse, gang warfare, street violence and serial murder. An emphasis will be placed on understanding the structural causes of violence such as gender, race, and social class inequality as well as the effect of pornography, the media, and drugs/alcohol on violence. Particular attention will be given to the consequences of violence for both individual victims and society as a whole.