SOC-343: Sociology of Murder

This course will analyze homicide from macro and micro sociological perspectives. We will critically analyze the phenomenon of homicide and the reactions to it both broadly (macro) and deeply (micro). Using sociological imagination to understanding homicide from a critical perspective in which the relationship between the lives of individuals and the larger social forces that help to shape their lives will be identified. We will focus on political, economic and cultural forces including gender and race that impact on homicide and how individuals in society view and react to different types of homicide. We will discuss the consequences of homicide for both individuals and society, and different types of possible intervention strategies based on different theoretical approaches to the socio-scientific study of murder. We will explore reasons, and possible implications, for the fascination surrounding homicide in the United States. We will examine the laws, the courts, and how law enforcement investigate homicide cases.