Yukon College Papers by Murray Lundberg, 1993-1994

Anti-social behaviour

Murray Lundberg

Sociology 100
Yukon College
Winter 1993

MINI-ASSIGNMENT #1

1.     Think about a memorable event from your past, a time when the behaviour or words of some people made a strong impression on you. Think about the observations you made or the insights you gained from that experience.

3.     Review pages 35-40 in your course textbook.

3.     Now, propose a testable theory about your experience. In the space below, write down:

        a) two key statements or axioms (statements that describe a pattern of events) that you believe to be true about (a certain group or category of) people, and then

        b) a hypothesis (a specific prediction deduced from a theory) stemming from your axioms.

4.     Underline the independent variable and circle the dependent variable contained in your hypothesis.

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[Handwritten]

    A few months ago, my 9-year-old son was accused (as it turned out, wrongly) of smashing a neighbour youngster's bike. The boy's father told my ex-wife that he did it because he was jealous that his friend had his father living with him. If this statement is often correct:

• in pre-adolescent males, the level of anti-social behaviour is higher in those without a father in the home.

• this anti-social behaviour is often directed at others who live in a functional family unit.

Theory: Among pre-adolescent males, lack of a father in the home increases the incidence of anti-social behaviour, and this behaviour is more often directed at children who live with a functional family.
(2 independent variables to test for)

Instructor's comments:

    Good hypothesis.

Are you saying all single parent families are dysfunctional?

In families where parents fight, the lone parent situation is more stable.

See a pdf of the paper.