SOCI 212 Social Problems American Public University System

SOCI 212 – Social
Problems

American Public University System

Assignment One: the sociological
viewpoint toward social problems (Due Week 2)

Overview

One of the
most crucial components to this course concerns addressing social problems in
society from a sociological viewpoint as opposed to a strictly policy-oriented,
psychological, or criminal justice viewpoint. Although many different
viewpoints in social science are valid and have a lot of importance, it is
equally important for us to understand how sociology looks at the nature of
social problems in society today. This paper will enable us to explore why
certain social problems seem to be regarded as more significant than others.
Our job will be in defining the sociological viewpoint, and choosing one social
problem that we think is of high importance. We will build upon the topic we
choose in this paper for our second and third writing assignments.

Instructions

Construct a 2- 4 page paper that
fully explores each of the following areas:

1)
Citing
our textbook material, explain how the sociological approach toward social
problems differs from other approaches. Why are certain problems considered
significant and others are not?

2)
Next,
choose one social problem that exists in society that you think is particularly
serious, and explain it in sociological terms. This social problem should be
measurable in some statistical way. (Is it increasing, and if so, how? Among
which groups of people, and for how long, etc.?)

3)
What
might be one important way in which the social problem is currently being
addressed in society?

4)
Please
define and identify at least four concepts from our text relevant to your
chosen social problem.

5)
Analyze
the way in which these concepts help us better understand the nature of the
social problem you are discussing.

Don’t forget to include proper
APA-style citation and reference. (Assignment One is worth 10% of the total
grade.)

Due on by midnight the Sunday of Week 2 – submit using link in Sakai.

The
paper should be typed, double-spaced, 1” margins, arial or times new roman 11
pt font, and saved as .doc, .rtf or .pdf in the format:
lastname_SOCI212_HW1.doc

LATE POLICY:

Unless
otherwise noted, all assignments are due by the end of each week – Sunday. If
you anticipate that an assignment will be late, you must contact me
immediately. Penalties will be assessed based on the reason for the late work,
and the timeliness of notice. Late work will not be penalized if the reason
falls under the following categories: documented long-lasting technical
problems that are out of the student’s control, documented family emergencies,
and documented extended illnesses.

Course Objectives and Learning
Outcomes:

Homework
One will evaluate your ability to do the following:

Course
Objectives:

Course Objective One	Identify specific social problems and their cause-effect patterns.
Course Objective Two	Identify current research methods that are utilized for the investigation of social problems.
Course Objective Three	Compare and contrast current and suggested policies, programs, and/or treatments in terms of their effectiveness for alleviating the negative consequences of social problems.
Course Objective Four	Apply class concepts to support opinions about social problems.
Course Objective Six	Explain the role of culture in identifying social issues as problems.
Course Objective Seven	Apply sociological theories to explain the occurrence and scope of these problems.

Learning
Outcomes:

Grading Rubric:

CATEGORY	Outstanding	Above Average	Average	Below Average	Unacceptable
Description of sociological definition of social problems	Provided detailed description of the sociological definition of social problems, citing textbook material and relevant concepts (5 points)	Needed some elaboration on the sociological definition of social problems, and more textbooks citation (4 pts)	Needs significantly more detail about how sociology treats social problems differently than other disciplines (3pts)	Description of the sociological perspective toward social problems lacks detail overall. (2pts)	No description of the sociological perspective toward social problems included (0-1.5 pts)
Sociological Concepts Identified	Clearly identified 4 relevant sociological concepts from the readings. (5 pts)	Clearly identified 3 relevant sociological concepts from the readings, one not clearly identified. (4 pts)	Clearly identified 2 relevant sociological concepts from the readings. (3pts)	Clearly identified 1 relevant sociological concepts from the readings. (2 pts)	Did not clearly identify any sociological concepts (0-1.5 pts)
Sociological Concepts Defined	Clearly defined 4 relevant sociological concepts using the text and/or other source(s). (5 pts)	Clearly defined 3 relevant sociological concepts using the text and/or other source(s); 1 not clearly defined. (4 pts)	Clearly defined 2 relevant sociological concepts using the text and/or other source(s). (3 pts)	Clearly defined 1 relevant sociological concepts using the text and/or other source(s). (2 pts)	Did not include text definitions of sociological concepts (0-1.5 pts)
Analysis	Clearly applied 4 relevant sociological concepts to analysis of the chosen social problem. (5 pts)	Clearly applied 3 relevant sociological concepts to the chosen social problem, one not clearly applied to analysis. (4 pts)	Clearly applied 2 relevant sociological concept to analysis of the chosen social problem. (3 pts)	Clearly applied 1 relevant sociological concepts to the chosen social problem. (3 pts)	Did not apply sociological concepts to chosen social problem. (0-1.5 pts)
APA Formatted Citations	Included APA formatted in-text citations and full references for ALL paraphrased and quoted work from other sources. (3 pts)	Minor errors in APA formatting of citations. (2.4 pts)	Multiple errors in APA formatting of citations. (2.1 pt)	Missing some citations, and errors in APA formatting. (1.8 pts)	No citations included. (0-1 pts)
Grammar & Spelling	Author makes no errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content. (2 pts)	Author makes a couple errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content. (1.6 pts)	Author makes a few errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content. (1.4 pt)	Author makes multiple errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content. (1.2 pts)	Authors makes so many errors in grammar and spelling that the intent of the paper cannot be understood. (0-1 pts)

SOCI 212 Social Problems American Public University System

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