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Department of Communication Studies College of Arts and Sciences

Department Overview

Communicating effectively is an essential part of what it means to be an educated person. It is our central mission to educate UAB students about communication. We offer both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in communication and mass media. We offer specific degrees in communication management, public relations, broadcasting, journalism, and sports communication. We prioritize excellence in instruction in all our courses and degree programs. Our faculty are leaders in a variety of research areas relevant to communication.

Learn More About UsAward-winning Student GroupsAccelerated Bachelor's/Master's Program
Publication

Deviance and Crime in Colleges and Universities

Deviance and Crime in Colleges and Universities: What Goes on in the Halls of Ivy
(Charles C Thomas, 2009)

By Mark Hickson and Julian B. Roebuck

This book provides potential answers to reduce deviant behavior and crime in colleges and universities.

Claiming that the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois shootings were aberrations, the authors have nevertheless uncovered offenses that presage major criminal incidents, such as students' engaging in cheating, plagiarism, binge drinking, date rape, assault, and harassment. To arrive at solutions, the authors collaborated to develop an interdisciplinary comprehensive typology of deviant behavior and crime in academia.

Areas of discussion include fraternity and sorority deviance, beyond the usual hazing and binge drinkin, and athletic deviance, including coaching behavior, criminal behavior, and cheating. Also analyzed is deviant behavior between faculty and students, including plagiarism, in-class negative behavior, sexual issues, false reports, and bullying. A chapter on administrative deviance is concerned with failures to utilize due process, illegal hiring practices, commercialism at the expense of learning and scientific research, intellectual scandal, and research conflict of interest. The text analyzes the deviant effects and pressures of external groups, including donors and governing boards, that negatively impact the operations of a university.

Hickson and Roebuck also concentrate on patterns of deviance and crime that have been observed and offer suggestions, remedies, and direction for improvement. The authors conclude that this is the type of book that an academic would rather not write as it clearly reveals that universities are microcosms of society, but assert that they should not be.