However, you can come up with your own, but if you do, please pass it by me, first...with a suggested point value).
1. Watch and review sociologically any feature-length entertainment movie...using the Guidelines for Critical Academic Review of Entertainment Movie. Also, you can find a list of possible movies HERE, but you can choose any you desire. However, if your class has a required entertainment movie review, you CANNOT do this for your DA. (50 pts.)
2. Watch and Review any DOCUMENTARY movie on some type of "social problem." Use the Guidelines for Academic Review of Documentary. I suggest you take a look at the documentaries in the LCC Library collection. (50 pts.)
3. Examine the lyrics of a song (older or current) which addresses in some way one or more of the many issues in a "social problems" course. Include a copy of the lyrics, too. "Examine" means...analyze them...how do they portray and handle the issue or "problem." This could include lyrics which are critiques of the "problem" or lyrics which ARE the problem itself. Sometimes there's a difference between the intention of the songwriter and what one "hears"...does this apply to your song? Use your sociological imagination and critical analysis tools to come up with whatever you feel is important in this song. Also, any kind or genre of music is fine. You can do one (1) song for 25 pts...or...two (2) songs for 50 pts
4. There are a number of current entertainment TV shows in primetime dealing with crime and law enforcement and the judiciary. Pick TWO different shows...watch one (1) episode of each. (50 pts)
CSI: NY (Wednesday CBS)
CSI: Miami (Monday CBS)
Law & Order SVU (Special Victims Unit) (Tuesday NBC)
Numbers (Friday CBS)br> Law & Order (Friday NBC)
CSI (Thursday CBS)
Without a Trace (Sunday CBS)
Cold Case (Sunday CBS)
Utilize the Guidelines for TV Show Review: Crime
ALSO: numerous reruns of these shows on Cable at various times
ALSO: Since this is a very partial list, you can suggest other shows if these aren’t to your liking
5. Clip and include copies of five (5) newspaper articles about "social problems" which you can analyze sociologically. Any subjects are fine. Cite your sources. Use the “tools” and Concepts this course is providing. Does the Media merely report or does it frame/define the issues, too? (50 pts.)
6. Keep a log of all the ethnocentric statements heard over the radio, television, in casual conversations, in newspapers, or even on bumper stickers. Pick at least five(5) different statements and analyze how these portray or reflect "social problems" and how they impact on our society. (50 pts.)
7. Interview four (4) individuals who are 1) single; 2) cohabitating; 3) married; and 4) divorced. Discuss how each different individual views such things as romance, love, marriage, living daily with another person, etc. How do they view their own arrangement and the other arrangements in terms of being a social problem? Is there any common ground between them? Analyze your results. (Include your questions and their answers) (50 pts.)
8. Bumper Stickers are a way of life in America...often very sociological in nature by the way they portray and communicate a wide variety of beliefs, values, perspectives, and declarations. Compile a list of bumper sticker messages (10 of them) that seem to you to reflect sociological thinking about social problems....... for good or bad. For each of them... explain what you think they are all about. (50 pts.)
9. Although "crime" and "normal business" are seemingly very different realities, select three (3) criminal activities (EXCEPT murder or manslaughter) and three (3) business activities and compare them as to their similar principles or assumptions and patterns underlying the different surface realities and appearances...and definitions. (35 pts)
10. Arrange to travel with (ride along) with a Police Officer on a tour of duty. Observe, infer, and explain...among other things...the atmosphere on the job, the officer's attitudes toward the job and the people encountered, the attitudes of the people who ARE encountered, and anything else you find relevant. Try to talk to the officer AFTER the tour of duty ABOUT what you observed or thought...if possible. See me if you need help preparing for this activity.(50 pts)
11. Arrange to "tag along" with some type of official in some phase of the CJ system. The purpose of this would be to observe and explain their job from their point of view...and then to analyze it on the basis of what we've been studying and what you observed. (50 pts)
12. Interview an individual about their perspectives on what it is like living in our society. The individual could be:
-----gay (M or F) (NOT be about why they're gay...but rather, what it's like being gay.)
-----an immigrant
-----an older (60+) individual
-----a resident in a nursing (long-care facility)
-----a disabled person
-----a poor individual
-----a homeless individual
-----a racial/ethnic minority individual
-----a single mother
-----a single father
-----a welfare recipient
-----OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF INDIVIDUAL WITHIN THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE COURSE
(Include the questions and answers in your report. Analyze their responses and perspectives sociologically) (See me if you need help) (50 pts)
13. Survey five (5) people as to what they think a "social problem" is in our society. Be careful NOT to "lead" their answers...let them speak for themselves. Don't disagree with them...ask them to explain themselves. Analyze their responses in terms of the materials we've been covering, especially in Chapter 1 of both texts. (Include your specific questions and their answers) (50 pts)
14. Ask 5 people what behaviors and/or people should be defined as deviant in our society. On what basis did they make their choices? Who has the right or power to make decisions about labels of deviance? Would the labels be the same if a different group was able to define who/what is deviant? Don't define "deviance" for them (sociologically or even psychologically)...let them do that through their answers. (50 pts)
15. Discuss the desirability (or lack of it) in implementing a "universal health care system" in the United States. Just what responsibility does society (and its government) have for providing health care to all its citizens? Which groups should/would be the target of health care reform? What beliefs, values, and norms would be challenged or invoked in such an effort? What social structures would help or hinder the implementation of health care reforms? The Internet is a rich source for ideas (pro and con) about this. (50 pts)
16. Discuss your own views about "terrorism," and the changes (erosion?) of our "civil rights." Then, present and discuss the OPPOSING views. Does the mere act of thinking in different terms than your own do anything to your own views? Argue with yourself. Ask why you have this or that view. Clearly, this requires being honest with yourself. (50 pts)
17. Some people see having "sex education" as a social problem. Others see the lack of it (or an inauthentic or surface portrayal of it) as a social problem. Indicate a few basic tenets of each position and then interview two males and two females...seeking their views about it. Did you find a gender difference, as well as other differences (i.e. religious, socioeconomic status, race, etc.)? Provide the questions asked and analyze your results. (50 pts)