SOC 2700 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Peer Pressure, Copycat Crime

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 2700
• Professor: Stephanie Howells

Document Summary

Theories are explanations for how the world works. Case study columbine: april 20 1999, school shooting in columbine high school two guys ended up murdering 12 students and 1 teacher before committing suicide. No one explanation can be used to explain all school shootings, so they are theories, not laws (relationship/correlation, not causation) Everyday explanations of crime: biological genetic, sociological peer pressure, societal factors, negative influences/family, neighbourhoods, bad parenting, psychological mental illness. There are theories which explain why crime occurs, and how to deter crime.