ATLANTA METROPOLITAN COLLEGE
The Division of Social Sciences
Course Outline for
SOCI 1160 Spring Minimester 2009
Credit Hours 3
Course Title Introduction
to Social Problems
Prerequisites Exit
from Learning Support English and Reading
Instructor Michelle
Geisert, MA
Office S156
Phone 404-756-4711
Office Hours: M/W
1:00-2:00 T/R 3:30-4:30 and by appointment
mail: mgeisert@atlm.edu
Catalog Description
This course consists
of a theoretical and empirical analysis of selected major social problems confronting American society.
Course Goals
Students read material
and analyze explanations for conflict and order in culture, groups, gender, race and ethnicity, relationships, marriages,
and family forms worldwide, including biological, sociocultural, historical, and religious components. Students investigate
current and historical issues utilizing their own experiences, and integrating these aspects in order to make connections
across national, regional, cultural, and gender lines and develop steps that can be taken to improve communication and problem
solving.
Required Textbook
Eitzen, D. Stanley
and Zinn, Maxine Baca. 2006. Social Problems(10th edition). Boston,
MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN: 0-205-44969-7
Learning Outcomes
1. Personal/Social
Development
Successful students
will:
a. Familiarize
themselves with current and
historical social
problems.
b. Be able to
understand and appreciate the diversity and
commonalities among world cultures.
2. Oral Proficiency
Successful students
will:
a. Demonstrate confidence
in ability to communicate orally and on
paper
b. Contribute constructively
to class discussion.
c. Use terminology
appropriate to the Social Sciences.
3. Reading Proficiency
Successful students
will:
a. Use a dictionary
for unfamiliar terminology.
b. Draw inferences
and generalize from material presented in textbook.
d. See similarities
and differences in their views and the views of the author/s.
4. Writing Proficiency
Successful students
will:
a. Conduct scholarly
research utilizing appropriate sources and technology that focuses on historical, current, and global positions.
b. Formulate and express
thesis topic.
c. Provide adequate
support for topic.
d. Develop papers with
a clear focus, logic and order.
e. Understand the difference
between plagiarism and paraphrasing and quoting as well as write and cite sources according to professional guidelines.
f. Use words, sentences
and paragraphs that are complete, clear, correct, and concise.
g. Proofread for grammar
and spelling.
Course Content
The following activities
will take place in the course:
a. Lecture and discussion
of assigned readings.
b. Writing assignments
appropriate to readings and projects.
c. In class group projects.
d. Examinations
Grading System
Exam I 90
Exam II 90
Exam III 90
Exam IV 90
Project 20
Assignments/Participation 20
Total 400
Percentages and Point Totals
90% and above (360-400 pts) = A
80-89% (320-359 pts)
= B
70-79% (280-319pts)
= C
60-69% (249-279 pts)
= D
Below 60% (0-239 pts) =
F
Content Outline (Any changes to the course schedule will be announced
in class.)
PART 1: POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS
Chapter 1: Sociological Approach to Social Problems
Chapter 2: Wealth and Power: The Bias of the System
PART 2: PROBLEMS OF PEOPLE, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND LOCATION
Chapter 3: World Population and Global Inequality
Chapter 4: Threats to the Environment
Chapter 5: Demographic Changes in the United States
PART 3 PROBLEMS OF INEQUALITY
Chapter 7: Poverty
Chapter 8: Racial and Ethnic Inequality
Chapter 9: Gender Inequality
Chapter 10: Sexual Orientation
PART 4 SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND INDIVIDUAL DEVIANCE
Chapter 12: Crime and Justice
PART 5 INSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS
Chapter 15: Families
Chapter17: Health and Health Care Delivery
Policies
1. Make-up Exams: Missed examinations are at the discretion of
the instructor and are usually essay. Students are expected to notify the instructor as soon as possible and provide written
verification of emergency.
2. Additional Assignments: Outside assignments are due when assigned
and acceptance of late assignments is at the discretion of the instructor. Students who know in advance they will miss a class
should email the assignment no later than the beginning of class period on the due date. In class group assignments CANNOT
be made up.
3. Attendance: Attendance
is strongly encouraged and affects one's grade. I will excuse one missed class and one activity.
Please see me if you have a chronic issue. Group activities occur in class, receive participation points, and may not
be made up.
4. Students are ultimately responsible for ensuring that the courses in which they enroll are
included in the approved degree plan and program map for their program of study. Students
must periodically check their enrollment status in this course during the semester.
The student is responsible for determining changes, if any, in enrollment status and taking necessary steps (e.g. pursing
re-instatement in this course) following the procedures outlined in the AMC catalog
5. Cheating and
Plagiarism: Cheating is passing off someone else’s work as your own and includes copying exam answers, using notes
or books during examinations, and handing in someone else’s work. Plagiarism is the copying of materials directly from
a source without quotation marks and the appropriate citations. It is claiming another person’s work, ideas as your
own. If there is a suspicion of plagiarism, the students will be asked to submit notes and copies of research materials (books
and articles). Cheating and plagiarism is grounds for failure in this class and dismissal from AMC!
6. Students are required to bring their own scantrons and #2 pencils
for examinations.
7. Please turn cellphones off /silent during class. Cellphones
are not allowed during exams.
8. Students may choose to do two extra credit activities
which must be approved by the professor. Students who take part in the activity for another purpose may not
also receive credit from this class. A two page summary of the activity is to be typed and handed in to me with supporting
documentation. Examples of an extra credit activity are: Martin Luther King Center,
APEX Museum,
AMC school activities, The High Museum of Art, dining at a restaurant from an unfamiliar culture (ie. Ethiopian,
Indian, Thai- NOT Chinese, Mexican, Italian), AMC activities.
9. The professor is not responsible for any assignment handed
in at a time other than with the rest of the class.
10. Respectful decorum and attire is expected within the
classroom. If you must leave during class, or you come in late, please do so discreetly and sit at the back of the class.
DO NOT come to the front to pick up papers off my desk, or ask what's going on.
11. Problems
related to the grading policy for this course or other course management concerns should be first brought to the attention
of the professor for the course. However, a resolution of unsettled problems
or concerns may be pursued by following the grievance procedures outlined in the AMC Student Handbook and the Academic Catalog.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Week and Topic
Week 1
Introduction to the course
Chapter 1: Sociological Approach to Social Problems
Chapter 2: Wealth and Power: The Bias of the System
Week 2
Chapter
3: World Population and Global Inequality
March 25 Exam 1 Chapters 1-3
Week 3
Chapter 4: Threats to the Environment
Documentary: An Inconvenient Truth
Week 4
April 6 Last day to drop 2nd mini-mester class without penalty
Chapter 5: Demographic
Changes in the United States
Chapter 7: Poverty
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Week 5
April 14 Exam 2 Chapter 4, 5, 7
Week 6
Chapter 12 Crime and Justice
Chapter 15 Families
Week 7 Chapter 17 Health and Health Care Delivery
Movie: Sicko
Week 8 Group presentations
Exam 4 Chapter 12, 15, 17
April 30th Last Day of Class Final May 5th 11:00-1:00 |
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Supplemental Material
American Sociological Association.(1984). "Code of Ethics." Washington D. C.
Babbie, Earl. (1995). The Practice of Social Research. 7th
Edition. Bemong CA:
Wadsworth.
Bernard, Jesse. (1972). His and Her Marriage. In John J. Macionis
and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 2nd edition, pp. 250-256. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Chamblilss, William J. (1973). The Saints and the Roughnecks. In
James M. Henslin (eds.) Down to Earth Sociology, 5th edition, pp. 33-37. NY: The Free Press.
Davis, Kingsley. (n.d.) Extreme Isolation. In James M. Henslin
(eds.) Down to Earth Sociology, 5th edition, pp. 72-80. NY: The Free Press.
Dorkenoo, Efua and Scilla Elworthy. (1992). Female Genital Mutilation.
In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 4th edition, pp. 382-389. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Edgerton, Robert B. (n.d.) Sick Societies. In James M. Henslin
(ed.) Down to Earth Sociology, 8th edition, pp. 347-354. New York:
The Free Press.
Fernea, Elizabeth W. and Robert A. Fernea (nd). A Look behind the
Veil. In Garth Massey (ed.) Readings for Sociology, 3rd edition, pp. 107-113. New York: W.W. Norton.
Friedan, Betty. (1993). My Quest for the Fountain of Age. In John
J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 4th edition, pp. 251-257. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Gupta, Giri Raj, Love, Arranged Marriage, and the Indian Social
Structure. (1979). In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural
Readings in Sociology, 2nd edition, pp. 262-270.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Hostetler, John A. (1980). Amish Society. Baltimore,
MD: Johns Hopkins
University Press.
Macionis, John J. (1997). Sociology. 6th Edition.
Upper Sandle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
Inc.
Mead, Margaret (1935). Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies.
In John J. Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 3rd edition, pp. 209-214. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Miner, Horace. (1956). Body Ritual Among the Nacirema. In
James M. Henslin (eds.) Down to Earth Sociology, 5th edition, pp. 33-37. NY: The Free Press.
Mitford, Jessica. (1992). Fashions in Childbirth. In Sociology:
Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, 2nd Edition, pp. 74-84. Newman, David M. (ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
Rosenhan, David. L. (1973). On Being Sane in Insane Places In James
M. Henslin (ed.) Down to Earth Sociology, 5th edition, pp. 239-250. NY: The Free Press.
Sidel, Ruth. (1996). Keeping Women and Children Last: America’s
War on the Poor. New York: Penguin.
Smith, Jane I. (1987). Women and Islam. In John J. Macionis and
Nijole V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 4th edition, pp. 340-346. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Stack, Carol B. (1990). "Different Voices, Different Visions: Gender,
Culture, and Moral Reasoning." In Faye Ginsburg and Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing (eds.), Uncertain Terms: Negotiating Gender in
American Culture. Boston: Beacon Press, pp. 19-27.
Tannen, Deborah. (1990). You Just Don’t Understand: Women
and Men in Conversation. New York: Ballantine Books.
Thorne, Barrie. (1993). Boys and Girls Together…But Mostly
Apart. In Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, 2nd Edition, pp. 102-113. Newman, David
M. (ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Pine Forge Press.
Wolf, Naomi (1990). The Beauty Myth. In John J. Macionis and Nijole
V. Benokraitis (eds.) Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings
in Sociology, 3rd edition, pp. 215-221. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
Zimbardo, Philip G. (1972). The Pathology of Imprisonment. In James
M. Henslin (eds.) Down to Earth Sociology, 5th edition, pp. 232-238 . NY: The Free Press.
Periodicals: Supplemental Reading
Blackwood, Evelyn. (1984). Sexuality and Gender in Certain Native
American Tribes: The Case of Cross-Gender Females. Signs, 10, 27-42.
Jacobs, J. (1993). Gender, race, class and the trend towards early
motherhood: A feminist analysis of teen mothers in contemporary society. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 22, 4,
442-462.
Riley, Nancy E. (1997). Gender, Power, and Population Change. Population
Bulletin, 52 (May): entire issue.
Simon, Rita J., Angela J. Scanlan, and Pamela Madell. (1993). Rabbis
and Ministers: Women of the Book and Cloth. Sociology of Religion, 54, 1, 115-122.
Sociologist’s for Women in Society. (1986). Facts about
Pay Equity. (April): entire issue.
Weitzmaq, Lenore J., Beborah Eifler, Elizabeth Hokkada, and Catherine
Ross. (1972). Sex-Role Socialization in Picture Books for Preschool Children. American Journal of Sociology, 77, 1125-1150.
West, Candance, and Don Zimmerman. (1987). Doing Gender. Gender
& Society, 1, 125-151.
Wright, Erik O., David Hachen, Cynthia Costello, and Joey Sprague.
(1982). The American Class Structure. (December). American Sociological Review, 47, 709-726.
Online resources
1. Student Study Site: http://www.pineforge.com/newman5study
2. African-American Family History Texts Bibliography http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~women/bibs/bibl-aframerfam.html
3. African American-American Women
On-line Archival Collections
Special Collections Library, Duke University http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/collections/african-american-women.html
4. American Women’s Self Defense Association (AWSDA) http://www.awsda.org
5. Angela Shelton-Break the Silence http://www.searchingforangelashelton.com
6. Asian American Concerns and Issues http://janet.org/~ebihara/aacyber_concerns.html
7. Center for Multilingual, Multicultural Research: Native American
Resources http://www-bcf.edu/~cmmr/Native_American.html
8. Colonial Life: Redefining Family http://history.org/life/family/essay.htm
9. Dr. Phil http://drphil.com/
10. The Kinsey Reports http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_Reports http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/resources/ak-hhscale.html
11. Life Innovations, Inc. http://prepare-enrich.com/
12. The National Latino Fatherhood and Family Institute http://www.nlffi.org/
13. Sociology web site http://www.sociology.wadsworth.com
14. U. S.
Department of Justice http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov
15. Unusual laws on
record http://www.dumblaws.com
