Category: Sociology

For this discussion, we will explore evidence of American Core Values in American politics.
Sociologists have determined that there are 13 “American Core Values.” These are values that we learn through socialization and are so embedded in us, we often are not even aware we possess these values. As you can see, some of these values contradict one another.
American Core Values
Achievement and success
Individualism
Hard work
Efficiency and practicality
Science and technology
Material comfort
Freedom
Democracy
Equality
Group superiority
Education
Religiosity
Romantic love
For this discussion, find a current article—that is, one published within the last three months—from a major newspaper such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, or Tampa Bay Times that shows evidence of one or more of the core values listed above. Briefly describe the major points of the article. Next, explain how we can see examples of two core values in the article, making sure that you state which core values you see in the article.
Make sure that you include a link to the article.
Your initial post should be a minimum of three (3) full paragraphs responding in-depth to all questions posed with rich and significant detail. Reference to the course material and personal experience with the topic, where applicable, is required.

In this project, you will reflect on the role that institutions play in everyday life.  
Instructions
Select one social institution: either family or education to examine how it shapes human behavior. You can either reflect on your own experiences or behavior, or you can interview a friend or family member.   
The worksheet below contains the different features of social structure.  You will reflect on how the different features of social structure shape behavior within the institution you selected.   
You will submit the attached worksheet (see below). Each worksheet topic will require a comprehensive answer of one to two paragraphs. 
You will use the responses to the worksheet to create an overall analysis that explains how the observed or explained human behavior was impacted by the social institution you selected.   
Requirements
All information should be:
clear and legible
1” margins on all sides
double spaced
size 12 font
submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx) file format
Submit your responses in a document and provide comprehensive paragraphs of information (not just bullet points) to fully address each point as instructed.
Include citations within your document as appropriate for each source (including the textbook) as well as a reference page in proper APA format.
Your submission should be 1200-1800 words (4-6 pages) in length. 
Worksheet 
Roles/Positions: What roles do people have? How are they different? How do different  roles create different expectations for behavior?
Social norms/Rules: What are some social norms? What is expected behavior? What behaviors are unacceptable or deviant? How are deviant behaviors determined to be deviant? 
Sanctions: How are undesirable behaviors sanctioned? Are there formal  sanctions? Informal sanctions? Who gets to sanction others? 
Values: What values are created here? Are there moral beliefs that are important? Also, how are the values expressed?
Symbols: What are some important symbols? How do these symbols represent the institutions and the values they share? 
Emotions: Based on the roles of the individual, what emotions are expected, accepted and discouraged?  Are different people expected to have different emotions?  

For this final essay for the class, I would like you to think about the relationship between contemporary, psychological approaches to anxiety and the way anxiety has been viewed in some of the other intellectual traditions we have explored this semester.  
To do this, I’ll ask you to read and consider the approach to anxiety developed in Judson Brewer’s recent book Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal the Mind (Penguin, 2022).  Dr. Brewer is a psychiatrist who researches anxiety and who has developed a theraeupeutic approach to managing anxiety that is grounded in neuroscientific reserch.
Taking the examples Dr. Brewer discusses in the first section of his book, I’d like you to compare these with three of the approaches to anxiety we’ve examined together.  
The first is the Existentialist concept of Anxiety as Possibility.  In the understanding of anxiety developed by Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Sartre, the subjective feeling of anxiety is our awareness of our own freedom and potential.  We are anxious, the Existentialists argue, because we recognize a gap between the world as it is and the world as we would like it to be.  Such anxiety is mobilizing: it forces us into an active and transformative engagement with the world.
The second approach we have explored is the Psychoanalytic concept of Signal Anxiety.  For Freud, the experience of anxiety is like a red flag indicating danger.  It’s an anticipation mechanism that alerts us to the possibility of a threat to our ego.  Signal anxiety gives the psyche an opportunity to mobilize an ego-defense mechanism like repression (forcing unmanageable thoughts out of consciousness) or regression (retreating to an earlier, more childish state) in order to manage the anticipated threat.
A third approach we have examined this semester is the sociological concept of Anxiety as Role Failure.  As George Herbert Mead and Erving Goffman understood it, our sense of our selves forms in a dynamic relationship with our social environment.  We perceive the expectations of other people and we attempt to live up to them.  When we are incapable of fulfilling an expected role, anxiety is the result.  Sometimes, this anxiety can be managed through adaptation and perfection of our role performance.  At other times, however, our role failure is connected to fixed aspects of our personality or physicality, resulting in stigma.
In your opinion, are these different understandings of anxiety each compatible with Brewer’s Trigger – Behavior – Reward model?  Do they describe things that are outside Brewer’s scope?  Or can each of these types of anxiety be managed successfully with Brewer’s method?  If there are tensions between Brewer’s method and one of the other types of anxiety, try to explain why that might be the case.
Your essay should be 6-8 pages in length.  It should be double-spaced and use a standard, 12 point typeface with readable margins.  Citations should be footnoted, providing author name and page number (pdf page number is fine if the text doesn’t include page numbers).  Only sources drawn from outside assigned class readings need to be put in a bibliography.  The essay must be submitted in pdf format through blackboard by 5pm on Wednesday, May 22nd.
Here’s a rubric you can use as you approach this assignment:
Description of Brewer’s trigger-behavior-reward model. (15 pts)
Explanation of how Brewer applies this model to the therapeutic management of anxiety. (5 pts)
Description of Existentialist “Anxiety as Possibility” using citations. (15 pts)
Comparison of the Existentialist approach with Brewer’s. (5 pts)
Description of Psychoanalytic “Signal Anxiety” using citations. (15 pts)
Comparison of the Psychoanalytic approach with Brewer’s. (5 pts)
Description of Sociological “Anxiety as Role Failure” using citations. (15 pts)
Comparison of the Sociological approach with Brewer’s. (5 pts)
Well-formed thesis on the relationship between these different forms of anxiety (10 pts)
Clear introduction and conclusion, with structuring elements in essay. (5 pts)
Proper formatting, spell-checking, citation. (5 pts)

Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to introduce Mills’ Sociological Imagination as well as to describe a personal situation that you select to serve as the main topic of the Sociological Imagination essay that you will submit in week 10. The topic is left to your discretion and is preferably a situation that stands out in your life, or about which you can write 4-6 pages.
This assignment is the first step to the essay that you will work to complete throughout the term. You are required to submit only the Introduction part, and should have the following:
Introduction: Write a paragraph introducing C.W. Mills’s Sociological Imagination and give a general overview of how you’ll be applying it to the personal situation that you will discuss in your paper. To do this, first, describe sociological imagination. Then, clearly specify your topic by providing a brief description (1-2 sentences) of the personal situation that you have selected. Next, identify three chapters that will be utilized to draw sociological concepts from that you will use to analyze your personal situation. Lastly, identify one sociological theory from the text that you will use to analyze your personal situation (e.g., conflict theory or symbolic interactionism).
Use APA format throughout the paper including for the Title page, and references and in-text citations.
For help with APA formatting and style, check out the assignment rubric and refer to the Purdue OWL website and the Academic Writer tool featured in Canvas.

Choose a movie and what is the crime you analyzed?
What deviant behavior was seen in the movie/show/crime? Is the deviant behavior seen harmful with a clear victim, harmless (no clear victim), or murky? If murky, why is it murky?
Three or more ideas from Soc 4260 that can explain the deviant behavior seen in the movie  and applied clearly to the case

Describe how the Internet can be used to conduct social research. Is the Internet a good or 
bad place to conduct social research?
Please write at least 300 words.

REFELCTION PAPER
Self-Awareness, Social Work and Sociology
Self-awareness means recognition of our personality, strengths and weaknesses and likes and dislikes. As a social worker, self-awareness is an essential element to prepare oneself to encounter the clients’ personal matter, their attitudes, thoughts, etc. Our past experiences, social norms, values from the others, characteristics, prejudices or stereotypes shape. Knowing how your past experiences influence your own values helps you to be more aware of your own self.
As a sociologist and a social worker, using a sociological imagination allows us to stand apart mentally from our limited experience and see the link between private concerns and social issues; this allows you to reflect and theorize about the social and environmental causes of human suffering.
This paper is process of becoming more self-aware of personal ethics and values and determining capability with being a professional social worker; and viewing social problems with a sociological lens,
Paper Outline
Use the following format for the paper:
– organize paper with the bolded sections
Social Worker Values and Ethical Standards and Self-Awareness
Social Worker Profession
Social Problems and Services
– answer the bullet points in your writing – do not list the bullet points.
Social Worker Values and Ethical Standards and Self-Awareness (2-3 pages)
Discuss the values and ethical standards of the social work profession.
Reflect upon social worker values and ethics compatibility with your own values and perspectives of life and people.
Highlight two or three values that you identify or struggle with.
Social Worker Profession (1-2 pages)
Describe concepts that illustrate social works commitment to social justice on behalf of vulnerable and at-risk persons and societal groups.
Discuss whether social work is a profession that you might consider as a future career option.
why or why not?
Sociology, Social Problems and Social Services (2-3 pages)
Select and examine two areas of social work, such as substance abuse, juvenile delinquency, mental health, child abuse, IPV, and so on.
Provide one sociological concept or theory to describe why the social problem exists and why the social service agency or social workers are needed,
5 Resources Minimum – you can use more sources 😊
You must cite sources to support the statements and facts in the paper.
You should have more multiple sources cited in each section of the paper.
3 scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles.
2 other resources such as, news articles, textbooks, governmental agencies report and websites, PBS videos or other creditable sources.
APA Formatted – NO abstract is needed.
Please use weblink below for an overview of APA (American Psychological Association). APA (American Psychological Association) is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences.   
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.htmlLinks to an external site.
Paper should focus on paraphrasing other sources (same concept or thought but written in different words); avoid direct quotes from other sources (written word for word).
Students can use first-person in the paper (I, me, my).

*THIS IS A PAPER I WILL BE WORKING ON IN CLASS FOR THE NEXT 4 WEEKS SO ONLY ONE PART IS DUE AT THIS TIME IF YOU ARE ABLE TO DO THE PAPER BUT BROKEN DOWN DURING THESE 4 WEEKS THEN I CAN HIRE YOU*
*THIS WEEK ONLY THE INTRODUCTION IS DUE ON 5/15/2024*
Introduction instructions down below!
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to introduce Mills’ Sociological Imagination as well as to describe a personal situation that you select to serve as the main topic of the Sociological Imagination essay that you will submit in week 10. The topic is left to your discretion and is preferably a situation that stands out in your life, or about which you can write 4-6 pages.
This assignment is the first step to the essay that you will work to complete throughout the term. You are required to submit only the Introduction part, and should have the following:
Introduction: Write a paragraph introducing C.W. Mills’s Sociological Imagination and give a general overview of how you’ll be applying it to the personal situation that you will discuss in your paper. To do this, first, describe sociological imagination. Then, clearly specify your topic by providing a brief description (1-2 sentences) of the personal situation that you have selected. Next, identify three chapters that will be utilized to draw sociological concepts from that you will use to analyze your personal situation. Lastly, identify one sociological theory from the text that you will use to analyze your personal situation (e.g., conflict theory or symbolic interactionism).
Use APA format throughout the paper including for the Title page, and references and in-text citations.

Target a multinational corporation/international company and the practice of “outsourcing” to third world countries. Some examples of MNCs (multinational corporations) would be Nike, General Motors, Ford, Microsoft, and Fender Music. Research its effects on local culture. Write a summary and analysis of 500-750 words and include the following:
How does global stratification impact local culture? What are the positive and negative effects?
How does global stratification impact the United States? What are the positive and negative effects?
Who is the biggest “winner” in this situation? Explain.
Use the GCU Library to locate two to three academic sources to support your content.
I have included an example of this assignment for reference.

Read the article The ‘Pink vs Blue’ Gender Mythand watch the video Gender Identity. After reviewing these resources regarding what it means that gender is a social construct, address the following questions: What does it mean when sociologists argue that gender is socially constructed? What is an example of a difference in men and women’s behavior that you feel is rooted in biology rather than socially social constructed? Be sure to provide evidence from this week’s readings and/or external research to support your argument that this behavior is rooted in biology and is not socially constructed. Which example from the resources provided did you find most compelling in building your knowledge of social construction? Summarize the example and explain why you found it most useful.