Sociology of Drugs: Why do we do what we do?

Project Overview:

For the past two weeks we have looked at the basic ideas of deviance and conformity in
our Sociology course. The ‘Asche Test’ was used as an example of the powerful social
force of conformity that helps to shape our actions. We then went on to look at deviant
(out of the norm) behavior. In our ‘Deviance’ mini-project, we looked at different reactions
people in our society have when someone is behaving in a deviant fashion. As we move
into our main sociology project, we will be looking at why deviant behavior occurs in the
first place. To do this, we will use the lens of drug use in America. Through this lens, we
will attempt to answer the essential question: Why do we do what we do? And more
specifically, we will look at this question through the context of deviant drug use in the
United States.

Project Deliverables:

For this project, there will be three main components to complete. See the list below for
all project deliverables.

1. You must complete a short research on why we use a specific drug that you
chose to research. You will receive a rubric outlining the specifics of this paper
shortly. The research paper will be worth 75 points.

2. You must complete a minimum of three interviews from people who have
experience with the drug you choose to research. The interviews can be with
people not only who have experience with using the drug in question, but can
also be any person who works with (law enforcement) or is affected by the drug
use in a direct way (counselors, AA program coordinators, etc.) The interviews
are worth 75 points. You will be receiving a detailed rubric on the types of
questions you should ask soon.

3. The final deliverable for this project will be a short creative story using the
information gathered from your research paper and your interviews that attempts
to answer the question of why we choose to use and abuse certain types of
drugs. Excerpts from your short stories will be read at our exhibition night on
Saturday, April 25th (tentative). The short story will be worth 150 points.

4. For extra credit (50 points), you may take your creative story, and create another
product, such as interpretive art, spoken word, song, etc. There will be specific
requirements for each of these, and must be approved by March 19th.
 Project Timeline:

DATE ACTIVITY
Wednesday, March 4
Finish share-out for deviance lecture; go over project; current events
Thursday, March 5
Lecture on drug classification; Pass out research paper assignment
Homework: Decide on research drug
Friday, March 6
Lecture/activity discussing a specific drug in depth and why it is used.
Work day for research paper; prep for field trip
Homework: Field Trip Questions; Research paper
Monday, March 9
NO SCHOOL – Staff Day
Tuesday, March 10
Field Trip to a rehab center
Homework: Research paper (rough draft due tomorrow)
Wednesday, March 11
Debrief field trip; work time for paper;
Rough draft paper due – peer critique
Thursday, March 12
Lecture on history of drug use in the world
Friday, March 13
Lecture continued; Interview assignment passed out;
Homework: Research paper (final draft due tomorrow)
Monday, March 16
Lecture/activity: Drugs and art;
Research paper due.
Tuesday, March 17
Lecture/activity: Drugs and music
Wednesday, Mar 18
Work day: interviews; current events
Thursday, Mar 19
Interviews due; work on short story
Friday, Mar 20
Work day for short story
Monday, Mar 23
Lecture/activity/reading: drugs and sociology
Tuesday, Mar 24
Work day for short story
Wednesday, Mar 25
Lecture/activity/reading: drugs and sociology
Thursday Mar 26
Work day for short story
Friday, Mar 27
Lecture/activity/reading: drugs and sociology
March 30 – April 17
Spring Break
Tuesday, Apr 21
Rough draft of story due
Friday, Apr 24
Final draft due
Saturday, April 25
Exhibition