Deviance, Law and Social Control Program

THE PROGRAM

The program in Deviance, Law, and Social Control (DLSC) is designed to train sociology graduate students in the areas of sociology of law, deviance, criminology and social control. Through a combination of classroom instruction, independent directed study, and teaching and research apprenticeships, the program fosters a sound background in general sociology, a thorough understanding of theoretical and empirical issues in the study of law and deviance, and a solid set of technical skills for conducting scholarly research. Upon graduation from the program, students have gone on to take jobs in the nation's leading sociology, law, and criminal justice programs.

The Deviance, Law and Social Control program builds upon the strengths of the University of Wisconsin's Department of Sociology, which has received top national rankings for both scholarship and training. Compared to the law and deviance programs at other major universities, Wisconsin's DLSC program is distinguished both by its strong emphasis on Law and Society scholarship and by its commitment to linking the study of law and deviance with more general issues in social and legal theory. Students in the DLSC area develop a solid foundation in core sociological theory and research methods, as well as more specialized expertise in the sociology of law, deviance and criminology. DLSC students have a choice of taking either of two written preliminary examinations: a broad exam in "deviance, law, and social control," or a more specialized exam in "law and society."

The Deviance, Law and Social Control program features a weekly training colloquium, in which faculty and graduate students meet to present research ideas, critically evaluate each other's work, and review recent developments in the field. In addition, the program offers a variety of lecture courses and seminars:

  • Sociology of Law

  • Sociology of the Legal Profession

  • Processes of Deviant Behavior

  • Juvenile Delinquency

  • Criminology

  • Corrections and the Control of Crime

  • Sociology of Mental Health

  • Modern American Communities

  • Seminar in the Sociology of Law

  • Seminar in Law, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

  • Seminar in Criminology

  • Seminar in Deviance

Traditionally, Wisconsin's Deviance, Law and Social Control program has encouraged interdisciplinary training. All of the DLSC faculty pursue substantial interests in other areas of sociology as well -- including organizations, occupations and professions, race and ethnicity, urban sociology, social psychology, methods and statistics, and social work. Faculty members also maintain extensive ties outside the Sociology Department, including linkages with the Department of Psychology, the Department of Political Science, the Law School, the School of Social Work, the Institute for Legal Studies, the Institute for Research on Poverty, the Mental Health Research Center, the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, the Waisman Center on Mental Retardation and Human Development, and the Havens Center. Four members of the Sociology Department faculty have legal training, and three hold joint appointments in the Law School.

DUAL J.D. - PH.D. PROGRAM

Students who wish to pursue a Ph.D. and a J.D. simultaneously may do so under UW's dual degree program, upon admission to both the graduate Sociology program and the Law School. The dual designed to facilitate an interdisciplinary course of study, and some courses count toward both degrees simultaneously.

The UW Law School has been a central nexus of Law and Society scholarship since the movement's inception in the 1960s, and the curriculum covers many topics of interest to DLSC students:

  • Family Law

  • Administrative Law

  • Criminal Justice Administration

  • Legislation

  • The Legal Profession

  • Comparative Law

  • Russian Legal Process

  • Modern American Legal History

  • Women's Legal History

  • Feminist Legal Theory

  • Law and Contemporary Problems

  • Seminar in Law and Economics

  • Seminar in Law and the Welfare State

  • Seminar in Policing

  • Seminar in Sociology of Law

RESEARCH AREAS AND CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

The Deviance, Law, and Social Control program encompasses a broad spectrum of research activities. Within this breadth, however, two recurring themes are: (a) the study of how urban contexts shape deviance and conformity among socially-marginalized groups; and (b) the study of how law and the legal profession operate in, and transform, various organizational settings.

In recent years DLSC faculty and students have pursued a diverse collection of projects, including the following:

Criminology  

  • Violence and Stratification

  • Gender, Race, and Crime

  • Urban Crime

  • Prison Inmate Rehabilitation

  • Relationship Between Work and Crime

Deviance

  • Gambling and Lotteries

  • Families Coping with Schizophrenia

  • Mental Illness among the Homeless

  • Exiting from Homelessness

  • Urban Street Life

  • Influences on High-Risk Sexual Behavior

Law

  • The Legal Profession

  • Litigiousness and Litigation Ethics

  • Alternative Dispute Resolution

  • Organizational Grievance Procedures

  • Legal Environment of Organizations

  • The Constitutive Effect of Legal Labels

  • Law, Technology and Innovation

  • Contractual Governance

  • Labor Policy

  • Legal Education

Social Control

  • AIDS Prevention

  • Life Course Transitions and Sexuality

  • Mental Health Delivery Systems

  • Urban Policing and Informal Social Control

  • The Death Penalty

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

Several ongoing projects in Sociology and allied departments provide DLSC students with opportunities for research assistantships, and some of these projects offer opportunities for postdoctoral training, as well. Many DLSC students also serve as teaching assistants and lecturers for undergraduate courses in Deviance, Criminology, Criminal Justice, and the Sociology of Law. Other students have secured intra- and extramural fellowships or have taken positions with various public agencies, such as the Department of Corrections and the National Center for Crime and Delinquency.

FACULTY IN DEVIANCE, LAW, AND SOCIAL CONTROL

Marino Bruce, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Sociology: Criminology, Deviance, Delinquency, Violence, Race and Ethnicity, Gender.

John DeLamater, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology: Deviance, Social Psychology, Sexuality.

Mitch Duneier, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology: Deviance, Social Control, Urban, Race and Ethnicity, Qualitative Methods.

Howard Erlanger, J.D., Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and Law; Director, Institute for Legal Studies: Law, Legal Profession, Dispute Processing, Law and Organizations, Family Law.

Jack Ladinsky, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Sociology: Law, Professions, Criminal Justice.

Irving Piliavin, D.S.W., Emeritus Professor of Social Work and Sociology; Criminology, Homelessness, Corrections.

Joel Rogers, J.D., Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and Law: Law, Political, Organizations, Class Analysis.

Mark Suchman, J.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology and Law: Law, Legal Profession, Organizations, Economic Sociology, International Conflict, Quantitative Methods.

FACULTY IN RELATED DEPARTMENTS

Avshalom Caspi, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology: Life-Course, Personality, Deviance.

Walter Dickey, J.D., Professor of Law: Corrections.

Donald Downs, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science and Law: Constitutional Law.

Marc Galanter, J.D., Professor of Law: Civil Litigation, Law Firms, Business Disputing.

Herman Goldstein, J.D., Emeritus Professor of Law: Police, Criminal Justice.

Kathryn Hendley, J.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science and Law: Contractual Relations, International Commercial Relations, Russian Business Organizations.

Neil Komesar, J.D., Ph.D., Professor of Law: Law and Economics, Institutional Choice.

Herbert Kritzer, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science: Civil Litigation.

Jane Larson, J.D., Associate Professor of Law: Law and Ethnic/Class Relations, Legal History, Property Law, Law and Feminism.

Terrie Moffitt, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology: Anti-Social Behavior, Clinical Disorders.

Steward Macaulay, J.D., Professor of Law: Contracts and Contractual Relationships, Legal Profession.

Arthur McEvoy, J.D., Ph.D., Professor of Law: Legal History, Law and the Environment, Accident Law.

Elizabeth Mertz, J.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Law: Law and Anthropology, Law and Language, Family Law, Legal Education.

Joseph P. Newman, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology: Psychopathy, Cognition.

Michael Smith, J.D., Assistant Professor of Law: Criminal Justice System, Corrections, Social Control of Crime, Policing.

David M. Trubek, J.D., Professor of Law: Critical Legal Theory, Law and Globalization.