Week 1 1 28 13 12 2012 14 18 00 Sociology and thinking sociology offers us a promise to understand the world we re living in Don t know if something is a social issue without comparing it to other issues Sociology of social problems The systematic study of individuals groups and social structures Offers an objective approach to identifying and understanding the causes Problems and their solutions exist not only at the individual level but are connected with social structures Difference between individual troubles and social issues o Large group social problem o One man in city of 1000 is unemployed individual problem o Hundreds of people unemployed social problem o Difference between individual and community The Sociological Imagination C Wright Mills 1959 Link the personal and the public the individual and the societal When numerous people in a society experience the same problem that problem exists at the social and not the individual level Solution to problem must also come at the social level Ex Unemployment war divorce etc o More people getting divorce doesn t mean people don t value marriage just no longer as useful as a concept o Examine institution of marriage o How can it reflect our social values that we have now Two Realities Objective Reality o Acknowledging that a social problem does exist o Can be confirmed with data collection Subjective Reality o How a problem becomes defined as a problem o Social construction Identifying Social Problems Spector and Kituse 1987 Identifying social problems is a subjective process o Stage 1 Transformation Taking a private trouble and transforming it into a public issue Influential group activists or advocates call attention to and define an issue as a social problem o Stage 2 Legitimization Creating and implementing a formal response Ex Creating a new organization charging a state or federal agency with handling the problem o Stage 3 Conflict If stage 2 process unable to address problem activists and victims demand readjustment of the formal response system Ex Protests public demonstrations media attention calls for action Another attempt to solve problem protest o Stage 4 Overhaul Groups believe they can no longer work within the established system Must decide to radically change current system or Understanding Social Problems Four main perspectives chart p 17 work outside of it o Functionalist o Conflict o Feminist o Interactionist Functionalist balance Emile Durkheim Macro Level Manifest and latent functions Society is like a human body The body has organs with specific functions and they all work together in Social institutions like the family politics and religion all work together in balance to maintain the whole balance to meet societal needs society Rapid change threatens social order because it disrupts the balance of o During this state or normlessness or anomie society is particularly prone to social problems Conflict power Karl Marx Macro level Society held together by power and coercion for the benefit of those in Social problems emerge from conflict between groups and the powerful power groups usually win Always been a power struggle Biggest social problem from this perspective is the system itself and the inequality it creates Solutions must be societal rather than individual Marx focus on conflict in economic system bourgeoisie vs proletariat Contemporary conflict theorists conflict emerges from other social bases values resources interests Feminist devaluation Defines gender and race social class sexuality etc as a source of social inequality group conflict and social problems Patriarchal society men dominate women and justify their domination through devaluation is the basis of social problems may adopt a conflict functionalist or interactionist perspective but focus on how men and women and those of different races social classes etc are situated in society not just differently but also unequally Interactionist George Herbert Mead Society is the organized and patterned interactions among individuals The self is a mental and social process the reflective ability to see others in relation to ourselves and vice versa o The Looking Glass Self How do social problems emerge from interactions o Problem behavior is learned from others o Social problems emerge from the definitions themselves o Solutions to problems also emerge from definitions Week 2 2 4 13 12 2012 14 18 00 What is an Analytic Essay Examines a specific social problem issue in depth Offers a clearly specified argument thesis statement Supports the argument by critically engaging with multiple scholarly sources Choosing a topic For a 5 7 page essay your topic needs to be well focused o Overly broad topics unfocused writing that covers a lot but says Ex Group topic why does the gender wage gap persist very little of substance o Focused topics The impact of increasing education for women since the 1970s on the wage gap How the wage gap compares for white and minority women The impact of the second shift on the wage gap since the 1970s Formulating an argument Arguments should be o Specified up front thesis statement o Consistent throughout paper o Connected with evidence references Thesis Statements This is a vague overly broad thesis statement o This paper will discuss the many factors that explain why women make less money than men This is a specific thesis statement that guides the reader through the rest of the essay o While women have made great strides in labor force participation since the 1970s traditional gender role expectations have led many women engage in a second shift that prevents them from making the necessary advancements in the work force to close the wage gap Standard organization Citations intro Statement of problem thesis statement support discussion of each part of argument o connect each part back to main argument conclusion summarizes argument reflect on broader issues any ideas or evidence you offer that are not your own must be cited o exception common knowledge o when it doubt cite Use in text citation Author year o Jones 2009 argued that women make less money because they are naturally more lazy than men o Recent research has indicated that the wage gap is largely due to women s natural tendency towards laziness Smith et al 2003 Johnson Baker 2006 Jones 2009 Quotations o DO NOT quote excessively quote with purpose o Engage with the quotes you use Citation style o Can use any style but be consistent o APA and ASA are most common in