Case Study 1: Deviant Behaviors

Due Week 2 and worth 160 points

Donald Sterling, an American businessman and attorney, was the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, a professional basketball franchise of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1981 to 2014. In April 2014, Sterling was banned for life from the NBA after private recordings of him making racist comments were made public. In this case study, you will investigate the manner in which social controls may have helped or hurt Sterling in his fight to maintain ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Read the article titled “Donald Sterling built an empire and an image; words were his undoing”, located at: http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-donald-sterling-20140803-story.html.

Write a three to five (3-5) page paper in which you:

1. Determine whether or not you believe social controls played a significant role in Donald Sterling’s loss of ownership of the Los Angeles Clippers. Provide a rationale to support your position.
2. Debate whether you believe that the social norms for men of Sterling’s age support the use of derogatory language when discussing a member of another race. Next, support or criticize whether the social norms of men Sterling’s age are reasonable in a very “politically correct” society. Provide support for your response.
3. Argue for or against the theory that an “informal sanction” (i.e., ostracism by peers) would have deterred Sterling’s behavior. Next, specify whether or not the “informal sanctions” would have satisfied anyone who was offended by his comments. Provide a rationale to support your response.
4. The $2.5 million fine that the NBA imposed on Donald Sterling was a formal sanction for his comments. Considering the fine, elaborate on the primary manner in which this formal sanction carried out the purpose of protecting the players and the league. Justify your response.
5. Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note:Wikipedia and similar type Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.