SCS3025   Sociology of Evil   (20 credits)

Description

Despite the increasing secularisation and rationalisation of society, evil is still an all too familiar term. For some it invokes images of devils, demons and witches, for others criminals, terrorists and murderers, whilst debates on the `social evils' of poverty, prostitution and alcohol are continually recycled for each generation. This module aims to introduce students to a sociological approach to evil by asking them to develop their own innovative case-studies of evil in combination with published research. They will be asked to: explore the ontology of evil; examine how evil is explained and accounted for; investigate the consequences of evil; develop an understanding concerning the representation of evil and assess the aetiological precedents for that representation; and, ultimately, critically determine the role evil has within society.

Reading List