SOCIAL PROBLEMS: Soc. 112
Spring 2000


University of Scranton
Dept. of Sociology / Criminal Justice
Scranton, PA

Dr. Loreen Wolfer
Office: 306 O'Hara Hall
Phone: (570) 941-7450
E-mail: "wolferl2@epix.net" (that's WOLFERL2)
Office Hours: Tuesday / Thursday 12:45 - 2:00
Or by appointment

No society is without its problems and instances of deviance. The purpose of this course is to examine some of the important social problems, issues of deviance, and instances of social disorganization found in our society today. Through this examination, students should gain an understanding of the causes of various social problems, the effects of these problems on society and possible remedies or policies applicable in addressing these issues. To accomplish this, students will learn to "look through the eyes of the sociologist", applying sociological terms, concepts and theories to the social issues of today. Likewise, students will actively gain experience in practicing sociology by conducting their own study to examine a particular issue they find to be a social problem.

TEXTS:

Mooney, L.A., D. Knox, C. Schacht. 2000. Understanding Social Problems. Albany: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.

Finsterbusch, Kurt. 1999. Taking Sides. 10th ed. Connecticut: Dushkin Publishing Group.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE:

The course will primarily consist of lectures addressing various social questions and issues and will draw on information from the text, reader and outside sources. There will also be class discussions, exercises (oral - not graded) and, occasionally, films. As a result, students are allowed only 2 cuts (any additional cuts will affect your participation grade) and class participation is essential! Since one of the appealing characteristics of sociology is the usefulness and applicability of sociological knowledge to all social instances, class participation is especially important as we (the professor included!) benefit from one another's sociological insight in examining and addressing ways to alleviate various social problems.

SPECIFIC GOALS OF THE COURSE:

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

As you can see, there are many grading opportunities in this course. Therefore, one bad grade due to an "off" day will not necessarily kill your grade! Furthermore, the grading is designed so that there is "a little for everyone" -- there is a niche in the course for those who are comfortable with writing, test taking and / or talking. Likewise, the grading for the final paper is designed to eliminate potential weaknesses in the paper early on (hence the submission of part of a draft), so that by the time you hand in the final paper you have a clear understanding of what I am looking for and, given the effort on your part, are well on your way to a good grade. The upshot of all this is that there are plenty opportunities to get a good grade in this class if you are willing to do the work!

READINGS and POP QUIZZES
Readings are designed to prepare or prime the students for the upcoming lectures. In other words, it is students' responsibility to do the readings on their own so that they are familiar with the topic being discussed during a given class and may have had some time to think about points that will contribute to discussion. However, unfortunately in the past I've found that students get very lax with the readings. Therefore, if I sense that a class is not doing the readings, I reserve the right to give pop quizzes based on the information in the readings (and which will focus on the main points of the readings). These pop quizzes will be multiple choice and / or true and false and will be factored into a student's participation grade.

EXAMS:
Exams will be a combination of multiple choice, true / false and essay. While the multiple choice and true/false aspects of the test are fairly self-explanatory, the essay section may be different than what you are accustomed to. Roughly one week prior to the exam, I will provide you with a list of 3 potential essay questions (all will be relatively short). On the day of the exam I will chose 1-2 questions from the potential 3 which will serve as your essay questions. Consequently, a conscientious student would use the time and questions to prepare well-thought and factually/theoretically sound essays. This is not a free ride, however, and there are a few catches: 1) Absolutely NO outside material is allowed in the exam - including the sheet with the potential questions (The questions I chose will appear on the exam.). This means that you cannot bring in any notes and, therefore, you must be familiar enough with the questions and your answers to be able to complete this part of the exam without outside aid. 2) While you have a sense of the potential exam questions, you do not know which ones I will chose. Therefore, it behooves you to think about and prepare answers to ALL the potential questions 3). Because you have had time to prepare your answers, I expect the essays to be well-written, well-organized, and accurate. In other words, you will be equipped to come to the exam already knowing exactly what is expected of you in terms of topic matter and essay quality. For the trade off, you must have learned the material (both through the lectures, readings, and your test preparation) well enough to write organized and detailed answers on your own without outside aid. I do this because the essays will ask you to apply a concept to an issue or take a stance on a social controversy and defend it sociologically. Because of your advance preparation, writing quality is important and will be factored into your essay grade.

READINGS and POP QUIZZES
Readings in this class are actual articles and not chapters from a textbook; therefore, readings are not always explicitly covered in class because they are designed to prepare or prime the students for the upcoming lectures. In other words, it is students' responsibility to do the readings on their own so that they are familiar with the topic being discussed during a given class and may have had some time to think about points that will contribute to discussion. However, unfortunately in the past I've found that students get very lax with the readings. Therefore, if I sense that a class is not doing the readings, I reserve the right to give pop quizzes based on the information in the readings (and which will be based on the questions, available from my Internet home page, that guide the readings). These pop quizzes will be multiple choice and / or true and false and will be factored into a student's participation grade.

PAPERS (draft, study questions and final group paper)
Your final paper will be a group analysis of a social problem of your group's choosing and is due Thursday, May 4 Since, on some level, all of us are exposed to various social problems (e.g. gender inequality, issues of the aged) either through our own experiences or the experiences of someone we know, I would like you to choose a social problem which somehow touches your life, but also one in which you have easy access to study. In other words, your group cannot study rape unless you know people who have been raped or can gain access to a conseling center / rape crisis center. Therefore this paper will involve both a descriptive and a sociological analysis. You are free to use any relevant materials such as lecture notes, semester readings, or outside journal articles or books. We will discuss the final paper more throughout the semester Homework is due in class Thursday of each week EXCEPT for the first and last Thursday of class. They should be brief (2-3 pages) and they should contain the following:

  1. The URL of the Internet cite you used
  2. A brief summary of what you found at this cite (e.g. what it had to say) --> 1-3 paragraphs, depending on the assignment and cite
  3. An analysis of the solution posed. Both the good points and the limiting points. Since most of the sites you find will have an agenda (they will build their solution as "the ultimate"), it's up to YOU to evaluate the effectiveness of this solution. You can do this based on your experiences, the conditions we read in the book and lecture material. This is the crux of your homework assignments and you are graded on the amount of thought that appeared to have gone into evaluating this solution.

These homeworks are a chance for you to discover, on your own, some solutions to the social problems we will encounter in class. They will be graded as a "+"," check" and "-" depending on the thought that appears to go into them. At the end of the semester, these will be summarized as a letter grade. There are 12 possible journals and you have to do 6 -- that gives you 6 misses to be used for any reason including the computer crashed (although this shouldn't be a problem if you don't wait until the last minute!!!), you're not feeling well, or you simply don't feel like doing it that week. Therefore NO LATE JOURNALS ACCEPTED! You have 6 misses -- use them cautiously -- a good practice is to save them for heavy exam times or the end of the semester. All papers must be typewritten and double-spaced - NO EXCEPTIONS! Keep in mind, an "A" paper has no spelling errors, uses proper gammer, is carefully and meaningfully organized, and shows considerable thought on the part of the student. Failure to submit your final paper on time (or earlier) will result in an automatic "F" for this assignment!

Late Policy Papers (excluding final paper) and Exam Make-ups:
ALL papers must be turned in on time - There are no late papers accepted for journal entries (if you cannot hand in a journal for whatever reason by 4:15 on Wednesday it counts as a "bye") or the final paper (which will receive an automatic "F" unless it is submitted on time). For the partial rough draft of the final paper, students grade will drop a letter grade every week day that it is late. Missing an exam is ONLY excusable if you are sick or there was a death in the family. Furthermore, if you are handing in a paper late or taking an exam late because you are sick or there was a death in the family, in order to avoid the late penalty (or in case of an exam an automatic F for that exam) you must present a Dr. note or, in the case of a death, a copy of an obituary or a funeral card.


Click here to skip the syllabus and to go back to Loreen Wolfer's home page 




           
 
 SOCIAL PROBLEMS 
        COURSE SCHEDULE: Fall 1999 
(This may be amended depending on the progress throughout the semester)

(Readings should be ready the day of the lecture.  "SP" refers to the Social Problems textbook, "T" to
Taking Sides and "R" to Reserve readings)


 I.  Troubled Institutions                    
 2/1  Introduction   
     A.  Work / Economy  
 2/3  con.
     SP:  Chapter 11
 2/8    B.  Education  
     SP:  Chapter   12      
 2/10  con. 
     T:  Issue 14
 2/15   C.  Family                               
     Movie
 2/17  con.  
     SP: Chapter 5, pp. 113-130
 2/22 con.
     T: Issue 7
 2/24  con.      
 2/29 ****  EXAM 1 ****                                       
 II.  Problems of Inequality                           
 3/2    A.  Poverty                                      
     SP:  Chapter 10
 3/7 con.                                    
     T: Issues 8, 9, 14
      ****  Rough Draft Due ****
 3/9    con.     
 3/14 and 3/16 NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK 
 3/21 B.  Race and Ethnicity  
   SP:  Chapter 8
 3/23  con.   Movie ***DESIGN APPROACH  DUE***       
 3/28  con.
     T: Issue 10
 3/30 C.  Gender 
     SP:  Chapter 7
 4/4   con.   
    T: Issue 4 and 5            
 4/6  D.  Aged  con.
     SP  Chapter 6, pp. 151-164
     T:  Issue 15
 4/11 **** EXAM 2 **** 

 III.  Individual Social Problems 
 4/13   A.  Crime 
     SP:  Chapter 4
 4/18  con.
     T: Issues 16, 18 
 4/20 NO CLASS - EASTER BREAK 
 4/25 con.
 4/27  B.  Drug Use 
     SP:  Chapter 3
     T:  Issue  
 5/2 C.  Sexual Behavior 
     SP:  Chapters 9, 5 (pp.130-32)
 5/4  con.
     T: Issue 6
     ****  FINAL PAPER DUE ****
 IV.  Global Issues 
 5/9  A. The Environment 
      SP:  Chapter 15, pp.406-420
 5/11  con.

Click here to go to the Guidelines for your final paper

Click here to go to the Grading Rubric for your final paper

Click here to go back to Loreen Wolfer's HOME PAGE

Click here to go to the Spring 2000 syllabus for Statistics For The Social Sciences

Click here to go to the Spring 2000 syllabus for Aging And The Life Course

Questions? You can e-mail at wolferl2@epix.net