Soc 201Contemporary Social

Problems M/W 6:10 to 8:00 PM

236 Bentley Hall

Culture◦ ◦

Values◦

Culture as a product of action, or as an element of further action

A brief review of Soc 101

Institution◦An accepted and persistent constellation

of statuses, roles, values, and norms that respond to important social needs

A brief review of Soc 101

Institution◦

◦ ◦ ◦

A brief review of Soc 101

Social Structure◦ ◦

Statuses – your position in the social structure

Roles – the sum total of expectations about the behavior attached to a particular social status

A brief review of Soc 101

Socialization◦

Nature vs. Nurture

A brief review of Soc 101

How socialization works◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦

A brief review of Soc 101

Deviance and Social Control◦ ◦ ◦

A brief review of Soc 101

Deviance and Social Control◦Why deviance is good for society

A brief review of Soc 101

Functionalist Perspective◦ ◦ ◦ ◦

Various Perspectives

Conflict Perspective◦ ◦

Various Perspectives

Feminist perspective◦ ◦

Various Perspectives

Interactionist perspective◦ ◦

Various Perspectives

Interactionist perspective◦Highlights “what we take for granted: the expectations, rules, and norms that we learn and practice without even noticing” (Leon-Guerrero 2011)

◦Social problems are created and defined by social interaction

Various Perspectives

“personal” problems vs. “social problems”

The Sociological Imagination Biological and Psychological influences

“Objective reality” “Subjective reality”

◦The Social Construction of Society

Sociology and Social Problems

The role of “meaning”The role of “language”The role of “social learning”

How social “things” are socially constructed

Social Constructionism

Who defines something as a social problem?◦ ◦

What do they (try to) do about it?How does it “spread?”How does it impact those affected?

The Social Problems Process

Transformation process

Legitimization process◦

Stages of a Social Problem

Conflict stage◦

Outside the system, or change the system?

◦

Stages of a Social Problem

“…all human knowledge is socially constructed through our language, which means that all social problems are socially constructed.” (Best 2008:16)

A Key Assumption for this course

Making arguments Issues and ConclusionsReasons and EvidenceStated and Unstated Assumptions

Fallacies of logic

Critical Thinking!

What is a “value?”Values as goals to achieveValue hierarchy

◦ Overt, or hiddenValue congruence and conflict Importance of in critical thinking and reading

the importance of VALUES