Sarah Altmann to Present Award-winning Sociology Paper
 Senior Sarah Altmann presented her award-winning research paper at the joint annual meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society and the North Central Sociological Association in Chicago over Spring Break 2007. Her paper, "The Impact of Social Isolation and Deviant Social Association on Criminal Deviance," earned first-place in the conference's undergraduate competition.
"I find it fascinating how society is so quick to blame individuals who commit crime when society itself can be at least partially responsible for this occurrence," says Altmann, whose paper examined the correlation between the criminal behavior of 18-24 year olds and their social setting.
"I particularly find it interesting in the area of juveniles and young adults because I work with children who have special needs during the summer. I think that sociological research in this area can help us to work with this population and other at-risk populations to decrease the occurrence of delinquency among younger generations, which will in turn potentially help decrease adult deviance."
Altmann wrote the paper as a junior in her Research Design and Data Analysis class. She devoted additional time this year to expand the research and enhance her presentation.
She credits Cornell's One-Course-At-A-Time schedule for enabling her to focus on the research, and her professors who guided her efforts.
"Without them, I would not have even thought of submitting my paper to any competitions or thought about presenting it at any conferences," she says. "With their guidance and encouragement, as well as the interest they took in my work, I was able to do these things and will hopefully submit my paper for publication eventually."
Altmann's paper was also judged the best criminal justice paper by the Iowa Sociological Association this year, the second year in a row she's earned the award.
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