1. Disease or bad behavior: Does addiction call for compassion or punishment?
2. Why a City at the Center of the Opioid Crisis Gave Up a Tool to Fight It 3. How a Police Chief, a Governor and a Sociologist Would Spend $100 Billion to Solve the Opioid Crisis 4. Mass Incarceration in the United States - Infographic A. How many people in jail/prison in the US? B. What is the percent increase in this population over the past 40 years? C. Compare America's incarceration rate to Russia, Australia, China, Canada, and Germany. D. Compare the number of people incarcerated for drugs in 1980 versus 2014. What is the primary cause of the difference? E. How has the number of people serving life sentences changed between 1980 and 2012? F. Compare the percentage of the population made up of people of color, versus the percentage of the prison population that are people of color. G. Which group of Americans are the most likely to be incarcerated? Which is least likely? H. When looking at the data, what is the most shocking, or surprising to you? 5. Detailed Graph of the American Prison Population A. How many in state prisons? B. How many in federal prisons? C. Total incarcerated population? D. How many for drugs in state prisons? E. How many for drugs in federal prisons? F. How many for drugs in local jails? G. How many for drugs in juvenile detention? H. Identify something that surprises you. I. Identify something that you are not surprised by. J. Identify a question you have after looking at the graph. HW - Finish any unanswered questions from items #4 and #5 above.
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*In lawsuit, Portland accuses opioid manufacturers of greed
1. Disease or bad behavior: Does addiction call for compassion or punishment? 2. Portugal's approach to their heroin crisis 3. PBS Frontline: Chasing Heroin
HW: A. Read the information below about each of the alternative responses to the opioid/heroin crisis. A. Methadone (medication assisted) B. Buprenorphine/Suboxone - (medication assisted) C. Needle Exchanges (harm reduction) D. Supervised Injection Sites (harm reduction) E. LEAD (Seattle's diversion program) B. After reading, briefly explain each option and share your opinions on the approach. C. To what extent do you see opioid addiction a health and or criminal issue? Do you think it would be more effective to approach users as criminals or people who are sick and in need of medical care? D. What do you think about Portugal's approach to drugs? Do you think their strategy would work in the United States? Why or why not? *Finish "Drug Test" from last class
1. Short Answers to Hard Questions About the Opioid Crisis 2. Why is the opioid crisis hitting rural areas hardest? Some sociological hypotheses: "As the epidemic becomes more deadly and reaches into more communities across the country, researchers are scrambling to both diagnose what causes some places and people to be more susceptible to opioid abuse, and to devise solutions. Jack Westfall, a family physician and researcher at the University of Colorado and with the High Plains Research Network, works with a network of rural clinics and hospitals in the state and says doctors on the plains are feeling frantic. “The number one issue we’re facing is opioids,” Westfall says. For more than a decade, opioids have been a key part of a rural doctor’s pain management for patients, Westfall says. When there’s a lack of treatment options in a rural area, alternatives like physical therapy are out of the question and drugs are a prime option. Medication-assisted treatment for drug addiction is also limited, leaving those addicted forced to drive hours to get prescriptions for Buprenorphine, an opioid used to wean people off heroin and other illicit forms of the drug. When a patient shows up addicted to prescription medication, many rural doctors feel helpless, Westfall says. “We don’t know what to do with this wave of people who are using opioids,” he says. “They’re in the clinic, they’re in the ER, they’re in the hospital. They’re in the morgue, because they overdosed.” Rural areas may be particularly fertile ground to the growing opioid problem. Some researchers think larger economic, environmental and social factors leave rural Americans at-risk. University of California-Davis epidemiologist Magdalena Cerdasays the epidemic is a perfect storm. After the 2008 recession, rural areas consistently lagged behind urban areas in the recovery, losing jobs and population. “You have a situation where people might be particularly vulnerable to perhaps using prescription opioids to self-medicate a lot of symptoms of distress related to sources of chronic stress, chronic economic stress,” Cerda says. The specific types of jobs more prevalent in rural areas -- like manufacturing, farming and mining -- tend to have higher injury rates. That can lead to more pain, and possibly, to more painkillers. Other research points to the unique social structures in rural America as a potential cause. In some ways, rural regions are built to spread illicit drugs. Kirk Dombrowski, a sociologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says people who live in rural areas tend to have sprawling social networks. “One of the things that is counterintuitive to most of what we think of as a small town is that rural people have much larger social networks than urban people,” Dombrowski says. In some cases, Dombrowski says, rural residents know and interact with about double the number of people an average urban resident does, giving rural people more opportunities to know where to access drugs. “So some of those social factors of being in a small town can definitely contribute,” he says. The epidemic’s rural nature landed it on the desk of U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack who’s been leading the Obama Administration’s interagency push to curb opioid abuse. That included a $1 billion budget request recently funded by Congress in the form of the 21st Century Cures Act, structured to give grants to states hardest hit by the epidemic. “It’s not a fundamentally rural problem,” Vilsack says. “But it’s a unique problem in rural America because of the lack of treatment capacity and facilities.” 3. PBS Frontline: Chasing Heroin
1. Drug Use Opinion Survey - Kahoot
2. Drugs in America "Quiz" 3. Drug overdoses now kill more Americans than HIV/AIDS did at its peak. These maps and charts tell the story. HW - Assignment #12: Choose 5 charts/graphs from the article linked at #3 above that are the most surprising, shocking, or maddening to you. Explain/describe what each graph says about the American opioid epidemic and why it stuck out to you. Upload to eBackpack Assignment #12 1. Discuss hate groups HW
2. Midterm Review The following are the terms, theories, and concepts that you will need to know for the mid-term exam on Wednesday 4/11. Answer each question or explain/define each concept: 1. Sociology A. What is sociology? What do sociologists study? B. What is the ultimate goal of "good sociology"? C. What is social location? What are some of the most important characteristics that influence a person's social location? D. What is marginalization? An example? E. What is society? F. Why is suicide a common focus for sociologists? Which "founding father" sociologist is famous for studying suicide? What was his main finding related to suicide? 2. Sociological Imagination A. What is the sociological imagination? How does it guide the way sociologists look at societal issues/problems? B. Strange in the familiar - explain the concept and provide and example C. General in the particular - explain the concept and provide and example D. Beneath the waterline of visibility - explain the concept and provide and example E. Apply the concepts of the sociological imagination to an issue in American society. For example: obesity, unemployment, gun violence, suicide, etc. 3. Sociological Theories A. Structural Functionalism B. Conflict Theory C. Symbolic Interactionism theory. D. Looking Glass Self theory. E. What is the difference between micro and macro sociological theories? F. What is a theoretical paradigm? G. Social Group Theories
4. Socialization A. Describe the changes in the Prussian Blue girls from childhood to adulthood. What were the major influences in their feelings of hate? What influence helped change their minds? B. Define/explain the sociological concept of socialization. C. What is primary and secondary socialization? D. Agents of Socialization - identify and describe four main "agents of socialization" E. Describe what happens in situations when a person receives no socialization (like Danielle). F. An example of how each of the four main agents of socialization have affected your life, helped make you who you are. 5. Culture A. What is culture? B. culture shock C. ethnocentrism D. Cultural Relativism E. cultural universals F. norms G. mores/taboos H. folkways I. subculture J. counterculture K. sanctions L. material culture M. non-material culture HW - Study for midterm 1. Finish Culture Terms from last class f. mores/taboos - norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance. Mores are often seen as taboos, activities/behaviors that are forbidden by mainstream society. For example, most societies hold the more that adults not engage in sexual relations with children. The taboo would be paedophelia. Mores emphasize morality through right and wrong, and come with heavy consequences if violated. Ex: Incest pre-marital cohabitation or sex prostitution drug use racism g. folkways - norms for more routine or casual interaction. This includes ideas about appropriate greetings and proper dress in different situations. In comparison to the morality of mores, folkways dictate what could be considered either polite or rude behavior. Their violation does not invite any punishment or sanctions, but may come with reprimands or warnings. An example to distinguish the two: a man who does not wear a tie to a formal dinner party may raise eyebrows for violating folkways; were he to arrive wearing only a tie, he would violate cultural mores and invite a more serious response. Ex: dress codes waiting in line raising your hand to speak "civil inattention" personal space h. sanctions - a penalty, or some coercive measure, intended to ensure compliance of social norms, values, etc. Ex: legal: fines/arrest/jail/prison detention/suspension social judgement/isolation romantic rejection employment problems Sex offender registry 5. But not everyone in a society following exactly the same culture. What about groups that are outside of the dominant or common culture? a. subculture - A subculture is a culture shared and actively participated in by a minority of people within a broader culture. Ex: Any ethnic group (Native Americans, Chinese, Hispanics) Religious groups (Jews, LDS/Mormons, Moonies,) Teenagers Vegans Farmers or Cowboys or Coal Miners Tea Party Members Goths, Punks, Geeks, or Trekkers Knights of Columbus or Masons The Amish. Cosplay b. counterculture - Counterculture is a term describing the values and norms of a cultural group that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day. Ex: Jihadists or Nation of Islam Fundamentalist Church of LDS (Bigamists) Gangs PETA Ku Klux Klan Militias such as Huteree Hippies Hells Angels Mafia Neo Nazis or Skinheads Soccer Hooligans (GB) Juggalos HW: Assignment #11 - American Hate Groups Click here for the list of prominent American hate groups For your assigned hate group, compile the following information: A. Name of Hate Group B. Where are they located? C. Who they hate and why? D. What do they do (what actions do they take based on their beliefs)? E. Quote from a leader or member Midterm Review The following are the terms, theories, and concepts that you will need to know for the mid-term exam on 4/11. Answer each question or explain/define each concept: 1. Sociology A. What is sociology? What do sociologists study? B. What is the ultimate goal of "good sociology"? C. What is social location? What are some of the most important characteristics that influence a person's social location? D. What is marginalization? An example? E. What is society? F. Why is suicide a common focus for sociologists? Which "founding father" sociologist is famous for studying suicide? What was his main finding related to suicide? 2. Sociological Imagination A. What is the sociological imagination? How does it guide the way sociologists look at societal issues/problems? B. Strange in the familiar - explain the concept and provide and example C. General in the particular - explain the concept and provide and example D. Beneath the waterline of visibility - explain the concept and provide and example E. Apply the concepts of the sociological imagination to an issue in American society. For example: obesity, unemployment, gun violence, suicide, etc. 3. Sociological Theories A. Structural Functionalism B. Conflict Theory C. Symbolic Interactionism theory. D. Looking Glass Self theory. E. What is the difference between micro and macro sociological theories? F. What is a theoretical paradigm? G. Social Group Theories
4. Socialization A. Describe the changes in the Prussian Blue girls from childhood to adulthood. What were the major influences in their feelings of hate? What influence helped change their minds? B. Define/explain the sociological concept of socialization. C. What is primary and secondary socialization D. Agents of Socialization - identify and describe four main "agents of socialization" E. Describe what happens in situations when a person receives no socialization (like Danielle). F. An example of how each of the four main agents of socialization have affected your life, helped make you who you are. 5. Culture A. What is culture? B. culture shock C. ethnocentrism D. Cultural Relativism E. cultural universals F. norms G. mores/taboos H. folkways I. subculture J. counterculture K. sanctions L. material culture M. non-material culture *Culture shock for people coming to the US in the first time!
*Top 10 American Customs That May Be Offensive In Other Countries 1. What is culture? The set of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people, but different for each individual, communicated from one generation to the next. a. cultural universals - A cultural universal is an element, pattern, trait, or institution that is common to all human cultures worldwide. Ex: clothing/jewelry religion music education dancing feasting sport/recreation art/entertainment drug use b. material culture - material culture are the physical pieces of culture (artifacts) that you can see, taste, hear, wear and touch. Ex: fashion, clothes, magazines, newspapers, records, CDs, computer games, food, books, cars, houses and architecture—anything that people make or build. c. nonmaterial culture - Non-material culture includes the behaviors, actions, ideas, norms, values, and beliefs of a society - or the way people think. Ex: concepts such as good and evil, religion, gestures, rites of passage, table manners/eating habits, age of consent/adulthood, beliefs in the common good or individualism, or dating, marriage and mating habits. d. culture shock - Culture shock is the disorientation a person may feel when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life due to being in a new culture. Ex: tipping advertisements eye contact food/diet differences dating/mating patters beliefs on sex/nudity beliefs of time student-teacher relationships 3. Read the following - What do you think? In 1997, Annette Sorensen, 30, an actress from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Exavier Wardlaw, 49, a movie production assistant from Brooklyn, NY, were arrested for leaving their 14-month-old daughter outside a Manhattan restaurant on a chilly day while they ate inside the restaurant. They left the child in her baby carriage on the sidewalk. Many passersby called 911 to alert the police. New York authorities took the child away from her parents and temporarily placed her in foster care. In an ensuing article in the New York Times, one Danish commentator observed that leaving a baby outside of a restaurant is a very common practice in Denmark. The commentator wrote, “Often, Danish parents. . . leave their babies outside. For one thing, Danish baby carriages are enormous. Babies ride high above the world on horse-carriage-size wheels. It’s hard to get such a carriage into a cafe. . . . Besides, Danish cafes are very smoky places.” The commentator continued, “In Denmark, people have an almost religious conviction that fresh air, preferably cold air, is good for children. All Danish babies nap outside, even in freezing weather—tucked warmly under their plump goose-down comforters. . . . In Denmark all children own a sort of polar survival suit that they wear from October to April and they go out every day, even in winter.” A. What would be an ethnocentric interpretation of the parents’ actions? ethnocentrism - Ethnocentrism, in contrast to cultural relativism, is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own culture. B. What would be a culturally relative interpretation of the parents’ actions? cultural relativity - Cultural relativism is the idea that all norms, beliefs, and values are dependent on their cultural context, and should be treated as such. *Different Cultures, Different Approaches to Parenting 4. How does culture influence our daily behavior and social interactions? a. symbols - anything that carries specific meaning that is recognized by people who share a culture. Ex: American flag bald eagle donkey elephant swastika $100 bill diamond ring cross/crucifix b. cultural transmission - when cultural characteristics move from one culture to another. EX: Christianity Cricket hip hop skinny jeans (and other fashion) c. values - the cultural standards that people use to what's good and bad, what's right and wrong. They serve as the ideals ad guidelines that we live by. Ex: TA's "Four Pillars" Core American Values 1. Patriotism: The vast majority of Americans say that seeing the flag or hearing the national anthem makes them feel good. Maybe the more significant value Americans hold dear is the manner in which they choose to criticize the U.S—lovingly. The majority of Americans say that if they oppose some U.S. policies, it is because they want to improve the country. So even when people have different opinions about America, they still agree on core principles. 2. Belief in God-- About two-thirds of Americans say God is “very important” in their life, and this figure has not changed much over the decades. This value is uniquely American: Only 15 percent of the Dutch and of the Germans say God is very important in their lives, and less than a majority of our Canadian neighbors (46 percent) say the same. There are lots of disagreements about how this core belief in God is enacted and played out in American life, but belief in God is still a value that unites us. 3. Self-Reliance-- Individualism is coded in America’s DNA—the ideal of individual autonomy, liberty, and sovereignty goes back at least to Thomas Jefferson. Today, the influence of these values is still prevalent. Over 85 percent of Americans say they would rather depend on themselves than on others. About the same proportion say they rely on themselves most of the time. 4. Getting ahead-- American society is unique in the emphasis placed on achievement and success. Three of four Americans agree that getting ahead is important to them. Those who fail to get ahead suffer a defect of will, a lack of persistence, verve, or some other personal shortcoming. Most Americans recognize that forces larger than the individual affect our fates, yet this doesn’t change our strong-held faith in self-made achievement and success. 5. Equal Opportunities-- Well over 90 percent of Americans agree that everyone should have equal opportunities. The same can’t be said, however, for equality of outcomes. Many Americans support some version of this, but it’s far from a core value. While more than 70 percent of Americans believe the gap between rich and poor is too large, the solution to this problem leaves many divided. It’s the ability to have access to the same opportunities as others that truly unites us. 6. Freedom and Liberty--Freedom and liberty are deeply held American values that every generation inherits and passes on to the next. But their meaning is reinterpreted again and again. Almost all Americans agree, however, that freedom is being able to express unpopular ideas without fearing for one’s safety and having the right to participate in politics and elections. The meaning will continue to be debated—but the debate itself is a sign of health and freedom in our country. 7. Respect-- More than 90 percent of Americans agree that respect for people of different racial, ethnic and religious groups is important to them. This core value, however, gets complicated when it is applied. If minorities don’t do well in life, many Americans feel they have no one to blame but themselves. We proclaim respect for people of different race, ethnicities, and religions—but more than 70 percent of Americans say that immigrants should adopt American values. While Americans generally proclaim to value respect, we seem to put limits on it. 8. Free market-- Over 70 percent of Americans in each of the four polls I took agreed that the free market economy is best for our future. The polls were conducted in 2009 and 2010—bad times in our economy—so the economic recession hasn’t had a significant impact on this value. Free market ideology is intertwined with other core values: freedom and liberty, individualism, achievement, and equality." Source: http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2011/03/american-values-are-we-really-divided.html d. beliefs - specific ideas about what people think is true in the world. Ex Any religion "survival of the fittest" (Darwinistic) Golden Rule communist/capitalist democrat/republican e. norms - Social norms are the explicit or implicit rules specifying what behaviors are acceptable within a society or group. Ex: eye contact shaking hands/hugging holding the door open Greetings: What's up, How's it going? What's going on? How are you? Asking a woman how old she is. Asking someone how much money they make. f. mores/taboos - norms that are widely observed and have great moral significance. Mores are often seen as taboos, activities/behaviors that are forbidden by mainstream society. For example, most societies hold the more that adults not engage in sexual relations with children. The taboo would be paedophelia. Mores emphasize morality through right and wrong, and come with heavy consequences if violated. Ex: Incest pre-marital cohabitation or sex prostitution drug use racism g. folkways - norms for more routine or casual interaction. This includes ideas about appropriate greetings and proper dress in different situations. In comparison to the morality of mores, folkways dictate what could be considered either polite or rude behavior. Their violation does not invite any punishment or sanctions, but may come with reprimands or warnings. An example to distinguish the two: a man who does not wear a tie to a formal dinner party may raise eyebrows for violating folkways; were he to arrive wearing only a tie, he would violate cultural mores and invite a more serious response. Ex: dress codes waiting in line raising your hand to speak "civil inattention" personal space h. sanctions - a penalty, or some coercive measure, intended to ensure compliance of social norms, values, etc. Ex: legal: fines/arrest/jail/prison detention/suspension social judgement/isolation romantic rejection employment problems Sex offender registry 5. But not everyone in a society following exactly the same culture. What about groups that are outside of the dominant or common culture? a. subculture - A subculture is a culture shared and actively participated in by a minority of people within a broader culture. Ex: Any ethnic group (Native Americans, Chinese, Hispanics) Religious groups (Jews, LDS/Mormons, Moonies,) Teenagers Vegans Farmers or Cowboys or Coal Miners Tea Party Members Goths, Punks, Geeks, or Trekkers Knights of Columbus or Masons The Amish. What is Rumspringa? The Devil's Playground. b. counterculture - Counterculture is a term describing the values and norms of a cultural group that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day. Ex: Jihadists or Nation of Islam Fundamentalist Church of LDS (Bigamists) Gangs PETA Ku Klux Klan Militias such as Huteree Hippies Hells Angels Mafia Neo Nazis or Skinheads Soccer Hooligans (GB) |
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