1. Quick Read and Write (10 mins) - Read the excerpt below from this article from the Wall Street Journal and answer the following questions. Type 1.
A. What is the author's main point? B. Cite two pieces of evidence (statistics) the author uses to support his argument. C. In what way does this information "challenge" the expectations/stereotypes that are attached the label "illegal immigrant"? D. Explain one way the graphs above support the author's claim E. Turn into Assignment # 6 on eBackpack when done "...numerous studies going back more than a century have shown that immigrants—regardless of nationality or legal status—are less likely than the native population to commit violent crimes or to be incarcerated. A new report from the Immigration Policy Center notes that while the illegal immigrant population in the U.S. more than tripled between 1990 and 2013 to more than 11.2 million, “FBI data indicate that the violent crime rate declined 48%—which included falling rates of aggravated assault, robbery, rape, and murder. Likewise, the property crime rate fell 41%, including declining rates of motor vehicle theft, larceny/robbery, and burglary.” A separate IPC paper from 2007 explains that this is not a function of well-behaved high-skilled immigrants from India and China offsetting misdeeds of Latin American newcomers. The data show that “for every ethnic group without exception, incarceration rates among young men are lowest for immigrants,” according to the report. “This holds true especially for the Mexicans, Salvadorans, and Guatemalans who make up the bulk of the undocumented population.” It also holds true in states with large populations of illegal residents. A 2008 report by the Public Policy Institute of California found that immigrants are underrepresented in the prison system. “The incarceration rate for foreign-born adults is 297 per 100,000 in the population, compared [with] 813 per 100,000 for U.S.-born adults,” the study concludes. “The foreign-born, who make up roughly 35% of California’s adult population, constitute 17% of the state prison population.” *Another take on this issue here. 2. Back to the rat experiment and the effect of social expectations. Would blind people be able to see if we expected them to? Daniel Kish says YES! Daniel riding a bike. 5. Researching a Social Category at TA - Assignment #4 1. Choose a social group at TA that is an OUT-GROUP for you. There are many possible groups, but here are a few examples (you are NOT required to choose one these examples, and can certainly come up with your own): jocks/athletes, drama/theater kids, dorm/international students, stoners/TAV heads, music/band kids, art kids, AP/Honor students, skateboarders, "Popular kids", hicks, preps/preppies, cheerleaders, hipsters, hippies, football players (or any other specific sport/team). 2. Write a paragraph describing what the expectations/characteristics are for this group at TA. By this I mean, how do we expect them to look, sound, act, think, and be like. What are the stereotypes attached to this group? You should make sure to include both positive and negative expectations, characteristics, and stereotypes. 3. Ask 5 classmates to describe what they think of when asked to imagine a student at TA who is the in the category that you are writing about. What expectations/stereotypes do they have for students in that category? Record their answers in complete sentences. You will need these FULL quotes for a later assignment. 4. What are the possible social advantages or disadvantages of being perceived as a member of the group your are investigating. Is it more likely to positively or negatively effect a person's life if other people place them in that group? Is the group considered desirable or undesirable? Is the group considered higher or lower on the social ladder? Why? 5. Personal Reflection: Identify at category that you think others might place you in. What are the general expectations of people in this group? To what extent do you meet those expectations? Do you every feel pressure to act a certain way (or restricted from acting in certain ways) because you know that others have placed you in this group? Saying that there isn't a group that others would place you in IS NOT AN OPTION. If you get stuck, ask other people, they will be able to tell you what group you are perceived to be a member of. HW - When finished, turn in the assignment to Assignment #7 on eBackpack.
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*How Did Marriage Become a Mark of Privilege?
1. Finish "The Breakfast Club" 2. Discuss: A. How did the film demonstrate the effect of social groups B. How do you interpret the meaning of the essay read at the beginning/end of the film? What are the students trying to say? What have they realized? "Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was that we did wrong. What we did was wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us... in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain... Andrew Clark: ...and an athlete... Allison Reynolds: ...and a basket case... Claire Standish: ...a princess... John Bender: ...and a criminal... Brian Johnson: Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, The Breakfast Club." 3. Social Categories and Labels at TA? What are they? 4. The "Rat Experiment" - the effect of categories and expectations
*Go to College Fair from 10:05-10:30
1. Finish "The Breakfast Club" HW: Assignment #5 1. Explain how the film "The Breakfast Club" demonstrates the social group concepts of primary groups, secondary groups, in-groups, and out-groups. 2. What are four or five examples of social student groups at TA. Which group would you consider yourself to be a member of? 3. To what extent do social groups and labels affect student life at Thornton Academy? Does the student body have strict boundaries between social groups, or do students easily move among among them? 4. What are the personal/social advantages and disadvantages of being associated with a social group? 5. Explain how social groups (in bringing us together with people who we believe we have something in common with) also serve to separate/isolate us from people in other groups. Is it always true that we have less in common with people in other social groups? 1. Social Groups Quiz
2. Continue Breakfast Club HW:
1. This is Water
2. Social Groups
3. Begin "The Breakfast Club" 1. Applying the Sociological Imagination to Unemployment (for older Americans)
2. Unemployment Demographics
2. Sociological Imagination Quiz (pt. 1) 3. This is Water - David Foster Wallace - excerpt from speech at Kenyon College
4. Social Categories and Labels at TA? What are they? 1. Sociological Mindfulness and the Sociological Imagination
Sociologists must: A. Realize that the human mind is easily influenced B. Understand that people are constantly influenced by a wide variety of societal factors and institutions
C. Develop a Sociological Imagination - overview video
2. Applying the Sociological Imagination to Unemployment (for older Americans) 3. This is Water - David Foster Wallace - excerpt from speech at Kenyon College HW - Prepare for Sociological Imagination Quiz Study for "Sociological Imagination" quiz. You must be able to explain the concept and provide an example of how to apply it to a societal issue (one from class or one you come up with). 1. Why are men more likely than women to take their own lives?
2. Intro to Sociology - Keynote (click here for a PDF of the slideshow) - Sociological Mindfulness and the Sociological Imagination Sociologists must: A. Realize that the human mind is easily influenced B. Understand that people are constantly influenced by a wide variety of societal factors and institutions
C. Use a Sociological Imagination - overview video
HW - Study for Sociological Imagination Quiz 1. Suicide and Guns (continued from last class) 2. Emile Durheim and his theories on suicide: Durkheim focused his studies on trying to figure out what makes people commit to this life ending choice and what factors in their lives may have given them the final push. Durkheim thought that economical, religious, marital, and militarily factors would influence his findings. After his study he concluded that there are four different “types” of suicide. The first type is the Egoistic suicide. This type of suicide occurs when the degree of social integration is low. When a person commits this type of suicide they are not well supported in a social group. They feel like they are an outsider or loner and the only people they have in this world are themselves. They often feel very isolated and helpless during times in their lives when they are under stress. The second type is Altuistic suicide. This type of suicide occurs when the degree of social integration is too high. When a person commits this type of suicide they are greatly involved in a group. All that they care about are that groups norms and goals and they completely neglect their own needs and goals. They take their lives for a cause. A good example of this would be a suicide bomber. Durkheim’s third type of suicide is Anomic Suicide. This kind of suicide is related to too low of a degree of regulation. This type of suicide is committed during times of great stress or change. Without regulation, a person cannot set reachable goals and in turn people get extremely frustrated. Life is too much for them to handle and it becomes meaningless to them. An example of this is when the market crashes or spikes. The final type of suicide is Fatalistic suicide. People commit this suicide when their lives are kept under tight regulation. They often live their lives under extreme rules and high expectations. These types of people are left feeling like they’ve lost their sense of self. 3. More about Suicide in the USThe Gender Inequality Of Suicide: Why Are Men At Such High Risk?
HW: Assignment #2 - American Gun Deaths and Suicide A. What did you learn about gun violence in America? What was the most surprising/shocking/interesting to you? B. What did you learn about the connection between guns and suicide. Provide analysis/discussion of data from at least three of the graphs above in your response. C. Explain the major reasons Durkheim gave for why suicide is more common in modern, industrialized nations. D. Explain one other thing you learned (and found interesting) about suicide in America. - When complete turn in to eBackpack Assignment #2 |
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