@article{Smith_2010, place={Washington DC: American Sociological Association.}, title={Teaching a Course on Deviant Groups: A Neglected Aspect of Deviance}, url={https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/teaching-a-course-on-deviant-groups-a-neglected}, abstractNote={A course on deviant groups, taught since 1986, is described. Most courses on deviance take an individual-level approach; groups are brought in only as an afterthought. This course, by contrast, focuses on deviant groups of different kinds (not only cults and communes), arguing that such groups are important sources of deviant behavior and are relatively neglected in deviance studies. Particular attention is given to "deviance production groups"—groups that take in "normal" people and turn them into deviants, to some extent, such as the Branch Davidians, the Ku Klux Klan, and witches’ covens. The course is also distinctive in its degree of emphasis on sociological concepts and theory, its complementing of other deviance courses, and its dependence on group discussions and presentations during class. Lectures are relatively infrequent; students are expected to use a study guide and to learn substantially from an instructor- prepared text on the deviant groups covered. }, journal={TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology}, author={Smith, David}, year={2010}, month={Apr.} }