Module Descriptors
AN ANTHROPOLOGY OF EVIL: DEVIANCE, CONFORMITY, MORALITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
SOCY50366
Key Facts
School of Justice, Security and Sustainability
Level 5
30 credits
Contact
Leader: Michael Ball
Email: M.S.Ball@staffs.ac.uk
Hours of Study
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: 26
Independent Study Hours: 274
Total Learning Hours: 300
Assessment
  • COURSEWORK -ESSAY weighted at 50%
  • COURSEWORK - SECOND ESSAY weighted at 50%
Module Details
Module Additional Assessment Details
One coursework essay [Learning Outcomes 1-4]
One coursework essay [Learning Outcomes 1,2,4,5]
Module Indicative Content
Studies of social morality encompassing notions of good and evil, crime and punishment, conformity and violence, social control and social responsibility, rights and obligations, community. A range of illustrative materials and ethnographic case studies will be explored. The case studies are drawn from a representative sample of theoretical and philosophical orientations, ranging from variants of structural positivism to post-modernism. The emphasis of the module will be upon comparing a range of different cultural orientations to the opposition of good and evil, encompassing the study of community, social morality, belief systems including magic, sorcery, shamanism and legal systems. The relationship between social structure and the individual will also be looked at.
Module Learning Strategies
This module will consist of 300 hours, of which 26 hours will be class contact (12 hours will be whole group contact and 14 hours will be part group contact), and 274 hours will be guided independent learning. Whole group contact will consist of formal lectures and more informal meetings based on video or other visual and aural materials. Part group contact will be centred around discussion of key issues prepared by students and preparation for assessment and guidance for students' work outside of class and guidance over source materials, print materials such as books and journals and electronic sources such as the Internet and CD-ROMs. Independent learning will consist of preparation for part group sessions, following up issues via texts and other sources and preparation for assessment.
Module Resources
Internet
E-mail
TV and VCR playback
Audio tape equipment
Rooms with disabled access, suitable for group work
Module Texts
Hastrup, K. (1995) A Passage to Anthropology, Routledge.
Kuper, A. (1996) Anthropology and Anthropologist, Routledge.
Sillitoe, P. (1998) An Introduction to the Anthropology of Melanesia, Cambridge.
Parkin, R. (1996) The Dark Side of Humanity, Routledge.
Kingdom, Z. (2002) A Host of Devils, Routledge
Lovell, N. (2002) Cord of Blook, Pluto Press
Greenwood, S. (2000) Magic Witchcraft and the Other World, Berg.