In this assignment, you search the Internet for a recent real-life example of elite deviance from the past 5 years and write about how this example can be analyzed and better understood by using contextual anomie/strain theory.

For your reference, see Table 3.1 on p. 41 of our text for the propositions of contextual anomie/strain theory.

Use reliable web sources to locate articles from reputable news media. One example would be the New York Times newspaper.

http://www.nytimes.com/

You can search the site above and put on filters to get the results you want, e.g. from the past 12 months.

You may have to experiment with a variety of search terms and phrases, if ‘elite deviance’ does not generate good results.

Consider:

• corporate crime
• corporate deviance
• white collar crime
• Also consider as search terms any topics from the book that really interest you, like:
• fraud
• defective products
• consumer crime
• embezzlement
• false advertising
• human rights violations

What exactly to submit in D2L dropbox

1-2 pages, essay/paragraph format

12 point Calibri font, double spaced, 1 inch margins (all around), number the pages, no cover sheet.

1. Type a descriptive title for your essay, probably along the lines of “An Application of Contextual Anomie/Strain Theory to…[here type in your example of elite deviance]. Center the title on its line.

2. Introduction paragraph — Type a brief paragraph explaining that contextual anomie/strain theory is a valuable tool for analyzing elite deviance. State that in this writing, you will demonstrate how various propositions and concepts from this theory can help us better understand [the example you found, e.g., the ABC Corporation’s embezzlement scandal from March 2016].

3. Body paragraphs — Devote 3 paragraphs to essay where you state/summarize 3 of the propositions of the theory. Do not use proposition 1 [greed promotes crime], but feel free to use any combination of 3 of the remaining propositions. Explain as clearly as you can how each proposition fits [or doesn’t fit] some aspects of your example of elite deviance.

3. Concluding paragraph — Write a paragraph explaining which of the three propositions you examined was the best or strongest fit for your example of elite deviance. And why? What made you choose that proposition?