Course syllabus

SOCIOL 326: Sociology of Violence

SEMESTER 2, 2018

15 points

Lectures: Wednesdays, 3:05-4:55 pm, Old Govt Hse, Room G36 (102-G36)

Lecturer: The lecturer for your course is Dr David Mayeda | Office location: HSB 926 | Phone extension: 84519

E-mail: d.mayeda@auckland.ac.nz (please contact via your official university e-mail account)

Office hours: Tuesdays, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm and by appointment

 

Tutors:

Emilie Rakete (jrak902@aucklanduni.ac.nz)

Rachel Cho (scho601@aucklanduni.ac.nz) 

Office Hours TBA

Tuākana:

Alex Birchall (abir196@aucklanduni.ac.nz)

Meet the SOCIOL 326 teaching team by clicking HERE.

Māori and Pasifika Academic Advisor:

Dr Suzanne Woodward (s.woodward@auckland.ac.nz)

Office: HSB 544 (By appointment) 

 

Official Course Description:

Violence occupies a paradoxical place in western societies. It is both censured and legitimated. It evokes horror and yet acts of violence appear on a routine basis in many forms of entertainment, including television programmes for children. Drawing on writings from a variety of intellectual traditions this course explores the contested nature of violence through an examination of a number of contemporary debates about the causes, agents and consequences of, as well responses to and interventions in, incidents of "ordinary" and sometimes everyday, interpersonal violence.

Course Objectives:

• Analyse a novel (The Tattoo)
• Define and recognize different types of violence
• Theorize and plan for violence prevention or intervention
• Measure different types of violence
• Connect additional social constructs (e.g., gender, race) to violence and violence prevention
• Critically analyze potentially violent media
• Identify local and global trends in violence
• Develop a proposed violence prevention or intervention plan

 

Reading and Coursework:

There is not a traditional textbook for this course. However, there are weekly articles assigned, which you can download here through CANVAS. You are expected to complete all assigned readings before class. I try to make class interactive and appreciate student participation; doing your readings in advance is critical. Some readings may be added as supplemental/optional readings as the semester progresses; they will be posted on CANVAS. I have also provided a number of recommended articles that you may read if you are particularly interested in certain topics.

Text, Assessment #1: McKinney, C. (1999). The Tattoo. New York: Soho Press.

This short novel is required reading and is the text utilized for this course’s first assessment. The story is set on the island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i and covers a range of issues tied to violence, including masculinity, colonialism, intimacy, race, class, war, sex, incarceration, family, and work. While you may be unfamiliar with the geographic setting, it is an excellent novel worth reading.

We will use the novel’s content throughout lectures, relating Hawai‘i to Aotearoa. Most students here in New Zealand have loved the novel and finished reading it in a few days. In writing your analyses, you may choose from six (6) options:

Option A: Analyse the character, Kilcha Choy (“Mama‐san”), paying attention to the varying levels of violence that have shaped her and Claudia’s lives. You may consider sociological concepts such as “horizontal violence,” the “patriarchal bargain,” and issues tied to modern day slavery.

Option B: Analyse the behaviours and relationships between Ken Hideyoshi and his friends, namely Koa Puana. You may consider sociological theories such as “hegemonic masculinity,” topics tied to gangs, poverty, drugs, and colonialism.

Option C: Analyse the relationship between Ken Hideyoshi and his father. You may consider sociological theories such as “socialisation,” “hegemonic masculinity,” topics tied to family violence and work.

Option D: Analyse Ken Hideyoshi’s relationship with Claudia Choy, and Kahala Puana’s relationship with Koa Puana. Consider sociological concepts such as “hegemonic masculinity,” topics tied to intimate partner violence, coercive control, and work. You may consider analysis of the character, Cheryl.

Option E: Analyse the Halawa prison environment using the characters Ken Hideoyshi, “Cal” Brodsky, Officer Tavares, and Nu‘u. You may consider sociological concepts such as “panopticism,” how violence is institutionalised, issues of ethnicity and race.

Option F: Analyse The Tattoo as a whole, accounting for the ways that Chris McKinney represents different demographic groups (e.g., indigenous Hawaiians, rural communities, incarcerated peoples, migrant groups, haoles). You may consider taking a postcolonial perspective in arguing whether or not McKinney’s representations of these groups are fair.

This assessment is worth 20% of your final grade. Minimum of four (4) external, scholarly references. Minimum word count: 1,500; maximum: 2,000 (not including references). Due Friday 24 August 2018, 4:00 pm. Please use electronically generated cover sheet and submit to both the Arts Assignment Centre and via Turnitin.com.

You may purchase a hard copy of the book at the University Bookshop, or online (any edition of the text is fine).

Assessment #2: Violence Prevention Programme Proposal

For this assignment you are tasked with developing a violence prevention programme proposal. This is a research-based assignment so you must have at minimum, eight (8) citations from peer-review journal articles or other scholarly sources. Your proposal should follow a template which mimics a grant application and includes the following:

1. A problem statement informing the reader what type(s) of violence is being addressed (i.e., how do you define violence?), and how serious it is. How widespread is the violence? 
2. A section outlining your programme parameters. For instance will your programme be focusing on preventing violence in a school, an incarceration facility, in a broader community setting, a global region, in the media? Describe and justify your proposed parameters. This section should also include discussion of the theoretical concept(s) you will be drawing on for your programme, and you may consider including a visual model that illustrates your theoretical approach.
3. Using concepts and/or theories covered in part two (above), describe your violence prevention programme. This section should be the lengthiest part of your assessment. What will your prevention programme propose to do? How will you implement it, and why will it work? Think about how your proposed programme will work on a day-to-day basis, or if you plan to reduce/prevent violence on a broader, structural level, how will you enact social change?
4. Methods for evaluation of your proposed programme, and concluding remarks.

This assessment is worth 40% of your total grade and is due on Friday 5 October, 4:00 pm. Please print out a computer generated cover sheet and submit to the Arts Assignment Centre. Minimum word count: 2,500; maximum: 3,000 (not including references). The teaching team will entertain the possibility of small group work for this assessment (must have permission in advance from tutor or course convener). More details on this assessment will be covered in lectures and tutorials.

Assessment #3:

Final Examination - all students will take an essay-based final examination. Date, time and structure will be announced and explained further. Worth 40% of final grade.

 

Course Timeline and Weekly Topics (see Modules for compulsory and suggested readings):

Week 1 (18 July): Introduction and Defining Violence

Week 2 (25 Aug): Gender-based Violence, Men's Violence against Men  

Week 3 (1 Aug): Gender-based Violence, Men's Violence against Women, Scope & Causes

Week 4 (8 Aug): Gender-based Violence continued (Guest speakers, Vic Tamati and Lua Maynard, It's Not Okay Campaign)

Week 5 (15 Aug): Gender-based Violence, Men's Violence against Women, Prevention and Intervention

Week 6 (22 Aug): Colonial Violence

27 August - 8 September: Mid-Semester Break

Week 7 (12 Sept): Youth Violence

Week 8 (19 Sept): Workplace and Slave-based Violence

Week 9 (26 Sept): Sporting Violence

Week 10 (3 Oct): Stealth Violence

Week 11 (10 Oct): Terrorism and more Media-Violence

Week 12 (17 Oct): Emancipation from Violence

 

This course uses the CANVAS e-learning management system for announcements and to post the lecture PowerPoint slides. However, these slides will not cover detailed course material presented in class. Therefore, you must attend class, take notes, partake in tutorials and read the assigned readings. Lectures will be audio-recorded.

 

Tutorials:

• Tutorial attendance is a central part of your learning in this course.
• Tutors mark your analysis of The Tattoo and violence prevention programme proposal.
• Tutorials begin in the second week of lectures. In tutorials your tutor will help you to sort out things you may not understand. You can also expect to discuss ideas with classmates, get help with course assessments and study for the final examination.
• Each year, when we look at final grades there is clear evidence that regular attendance at tutorials greatly improves your chances of passing and also, for those who are highly motivated, of earning high marks.