Corporate crime
A great resource to discuss and debate the issue of corporate crime and responsibility in terms of tax etc. The comments are particularly wonderful.
http://starbucks.co.uk/blog/starbucks-commitment-to-the-uk/1240
Rape as an issue
Rape comes up a lot during discussions when teaching Crime and Deviance, particularly at A level, but also at GCSE. Whilst it can be a difficult topic for some, I welcome the discussions and am particularly keen to get students discussing current political views. The American Presidential elections are proving most fertile as grounds to engage students...
Views of rape as expressed by various candidates
Sociology Inequality - taught my capuchin monkeys!
Experiments with capuchin monkeys show that they understand the concept of fairness and inequality - perhaps better than humans! A greater starter for lessons.
read more...»Trade union membership still concentrated in the public sector
Some useful stats here on trade union membership in the UK - albeit from the Telegraph's Deputy Political Editor (so the data comes alongside some political comment and opinion).
read more...»TED - videoed talks
TED is a fantastic resources of talks on a multitude of subjects. Go and have a browse - you are sure to find something interesting / fun / challenging / useful / eye-opening…
I like this selection on ‘what makes us happy?’
Wikipedia ‘blackout’
Wikipedia’s decision to stage a 24hour ‘blackout’, in response to threatened US legislation, should make an interesting discussion starter for anyone studying media and / or crime and deviance.
read more...»Violence and terror - Bauman
Zygmunt Bauman: ‘No one is in control. That is the major source of contemporary fear’ – video. For Zygmunt Bauman the world is marked by a division between power and politics. While politics is defined by nations, power no longer recognises national boundaries
Crime and Deviance - London riots
The government published last week their interim report on the violence during the summer. You can find it here.
The LSE and the Guardian newspaper also carried out research, interviewing many of those involved. The findings are summarised in an article here.
Press Ethics
Any student studying Mass Media for Unit 3, should be aware of the Leveson inquiry - a goldmine of examples! The BBC have been doing a rolling commentary on the witness statements, including that by Campbell here.
Class and Voting
Back in the 1980s you couldn’t easily do a sociology course without the old chestnut of class and voting coming up. The working class were statistically more likely to vote Labour, the middle class Conservative, the theory went. Of course, there were significant qualifications. A big section of the working class voted Tory - they were deferential and would for instance, argue that those from higher social classes were best qualified to lead the country. A small section of the middle class would go against their assumed self-interest and vote Labour. Can we still make the same or broadly similar claims today? Many sociologists have argued that class has fragmented and these broad patterns are no longer so easy to discern. See how far things have changed by watching this report from the Daily Politics.
The BNP, Education and the British Working Class
The furore over the inclusion of BNP Nick Griffin on tonight’s Question Time, has prompted a lot of discussion in the media. Last night the BBC’s Newsnight, got in their two pence worth. If you missed it, click on the link to iPlayer and have a listen. It’s somewhere around halfway through I should think.
In amongst all the debate about Griffin, Newsnight did some very interesting contextualisation.
read more...»Sociology Categories
