SC1101E Making Sense of Society

AY 2022- 2023, Semester 1

Tutorial No. 2: Culture and Deviance

TUTORIAL EXERCISE: CULTURE AND MEDIA PORTRAYALS OF DEVIANCE RATIONALE

With the advent of the Digital Revolution, mass media (including advertisements and entertainment) has
developed into a key element of popular culture and an important agent of socialization in
contemporary society. This period of growth has also seen the rising criticism against mass media for
focusing on the sensational in order to boost sales and attract viewers. Particularly, this focus on the
sensational has resulted in the “normalization of deviant acts“, and even with “the glamorization of
criminals” (e.g. Prison Break, Grand Theft Auto).

In this class exercise, you will test the accuracy of this criticism by analyzing how issues on culture and
deviance are portrayed in one news article or advertisement. Explore the news article/ads impact on
popular culture, particularly on its roles as an agent of socialization and in promoting social integration.

INSTRUCTION

Each student is REQUIRED to bring to their tutorial class one news article/advertisement cut-out that has
to do with issues on culture and deviance. During the tutorial session, students will be asked to discuss
their news/ad cut-outs and their relevance to the tutorial topic.

GUIDE QUESTIONS

1. 1)  In view of Chambliss’ (1997) arguments that visibility, demeanor, and bias are central to
defining deviance, discuss the relationship between culture and deviance based on your chosen
news article or commercial advertisement.
2. 2)  Do you think that the glorification of deviant acts in mass media has contributed to why and
how the word “culture” has taken on a negative cast (Rothman 2014) in the past few years?