Unit 10Unit 10Social ProblemsSocial Problems

In the United States

Va. Tech marks one-year anniversary of campus shooting

• Candlelight vigils and somber ceremonies marked the one-year anniversary of a shooting spree on the campus of a U.S. university, Virginia Tech, that left 32 people and the gunman dead. From Washington, VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Washington, the incident was one of the worst mass-shootings in U.S. history - one that reignited debate over security measures at American schools.

Social ProblemsSocial Problems• Racial Problems

• Poverty

• Drug Abuse

• Crime

• Abuse of power

RacRacial Problial Probleemmss• Cultural Diversity

• Ideal of equality vs. reality of inequality

• Focus of problem

RacRacial Problial Probleemmss

1. Cultural Diversity• Nation of immigrants

• Melting-pot

• Salad-bowl

RacRacial Problial Probleemmss2. Ideal of Equality vs. Reality of

Inequality• WASP mainstream culture

• Minority is assimilated

• Racial tension (violence)

RacRacial Problial Probleemmss3. Focus of problem (Blacks)

① Historical Review• Slave trade (Inhuman treatment in Middle

Passage; Sold like cattle; Enslavement in plantation; Lynch)

• Emancipation of

black slaves

(by Lincoln)

The Middle Passage was the brutal and horrific transportation of Africans across the Atlantic to the plantations of the Caribbean and Americas.

② Institutionalized Discrimination

• Racial inferiority:

savage, lower intelligence, irresponsibility, promiscuity, laziness

• Racial segregation, low-paid job, barred from vote

promiscuity: [ .prɔmis'kju:iti ] 混乱 ,杂乱 ,放荡

③ 60’s Civil Rights Movement• Black Power

④ Current situationInvisible Discrimination

• Housing (ghetto, Harlem)

• Income gap

• Underclass

• Class hierarchy

Heroes of Black American History

PPoverovertyty

• Nation of affluence

• Rich-Poor Gap

• Reasons of poverty

PPoverovertyty 1. Nation of affluence• Roots of Affluence Geographical size Bountiful resources Population (Mobility) Puritan Ethics Government institution• Official poverty line

PPoverovertyty2. Rich-Poor Gap

• Ocean of affluence vs. island of poverty

• Underclass

Poverty in America Affects Millions

The United States is a wealthy nation, but poverty still exists here. By the government's own measure, more than one in every eight Americans lives "below the poverty line" -- on income lower than the official estimate of what it means to be poor. VOA's Jeff Swicord takes a deeper look at the picture of poverty in America.

SitSituuation of the ation of the PoorPoor• Malnutrition of kids• Susceptibility to disease• Short life expectancy• Illiteracy• Unstable marriage• Alcoholism• Crime• Low self-esteem, despair

PPoverovertyty3. Reasons of poverty

• Highly uneven distribution of wealth

• Divided social class

• Inherited poverty

• Racial problem

DDrug rug AAbusebuse• Alcoholism

• Drug

DDrug rug AAbusebuse

1. Alcoholism• Health impairment

• Depression

• Automobile accident

• Domestic violence

1920 1920 ProhibitProhibitionion

• Government forbade

the sale of liquor in pub

to cure social ill.

DDrug rug AAbusebuse2. Drug

① Types of Drug

(Dope)

• Marijuana

• Heroin

• Cocaine

• LSD

DDrug rug AAbusebuse ② Drug-related Consequences

• Harm on physical health• Premature death (overdose)• Infectious disease (Aids)• Impair on mental health• Economic loss (consumption + treatment)• Crime (theft, robbery, network of manufacture

and smuggle)

CriCrimeme• Offender• Types of crime• Crime policy• Gun control• Famous cases• Cause of recent drop

CriCrimeme1. Offender Male Female

(challenge the role of conformity)

Juvenile DelinquencJuvenile Delinquencyy• Young

50% arrested were under 25

• Highly visible crime (auto theft)

• Firearm homicide

• Campus gunfire

Racial Racial MinorMinorityity

• Poverty-ridden

• City Resident

CriCrimeme2. Types of crime

① serious crime code by FBI• Murder• Robbery• Rape• Burglary• Aggravated assault• Auto theft• Arson• Larceny (theft)(Committed by persons of lower social status)

CriCrimeme ② White-collar Crimes

• Fraud (bad check, bad loan, welfare fraud)

• False advertising

• Corporate price fixing

• Bribery, embezzlement

• Industrial pollution

• Tax evasion

CriCrimeme ③ Organized Crime

• Mafia

• Traffic in drug

• Gamble

• Prostitution

• Loan-shark

④ Political Crime

• Treason• Armed rebellion• Assassination of public

official• Sedition

⑤ Consensual

Crime

• Mutual consent• Victimless• Prostitution, gamble,

drug

CriCrimeme

CriCrimeme3. Crime policy

① Jail (48hours—1 year)

CriCrimeme ② Prison (more than 1 year)

• Larger cell, better facility, educational and recreational facility

• 3 custody levels

Maximum

Medium

Minimum

CriCrimeme4. Gun control

• American style of killing

• Valid permit (Sell is prevented from felon)

• Straw purchaser

• N.R.A. (National Rifle Association)

“Gun don’t kill people, people kill people”

CriCrimeme 5. Famous cases

The Rosenberg Spy Case (1940)

• Jewish engineer Julius

• Her brother-in-law said

she was communist spy

in order to save himself.

O.J. Simpson Case (1994)

• Murder of his wife

CriCrimeme6. Cause of recent drop

• High rate of imprisonment (U.S. >Britain)

• Improvement of “community policing”

• Hardening of target

• Economic situation

(labor market)

Abuse of PowerAbuse of Power1. By government• Extortion, perjury, conspiracy, bribery,

illegal wiretapping, tax fraud

2. By FBI• Illegal tapping, intrusion of private

letters, surveillance, assassination, drug test on “guinea pigs”

3. By army

4. By large corporations

• Corruption

• Trust

• Interest groups

• Professional lobbyist

Questions for ThoughtQuestions for Thought

• What do you think of human rights issues in America?

• How do you understand the poverty in American society?

• If white-collar crimes were included in the Crime Index, what do you think of this phenomenon?