Family and Society

Soc 2433 at the College of Saint Scholastica

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    • immigrant workers: doing it all for you
      The New York Times reports that the number of foreign-born workers is on the rise in the U.S. Nearly one in six American workers is foreign-born, the highest proportion since the 1920s, according to a census analysis released Monday. Because of government barriers to immigration, the share of foreign-born workers dipped from a 20th-century high of 21 [...] […]
    • Phone Sex: Real and Imaginary (NSFW)
      In my Power and Sexuality class, I sometimes assign articles from a book called Whores and Other Feminists. All of the essays are written by current and former sex workers who identify as feminist. It’s pretty fascinating. So some of the phone sex operators talk about what they do while having “phone sex,” like chores and booking airline ti […]
    • SocImages Apparently Undermining Itself One Image at a Time
      If you were to view an article about the diversity of Saudi Arabian life, and it included the following images, what would you likely take away from the article? Elisabeth R. drew our attention to a recent study asking about the relationship between images and text. It found that, when images that confirmed a reader’s stereotypes about a place were pai […]
    • Gay marriage in the US by space and time
      What works I cropped what you see above from an infographic that is part of GOOD magazine’s infographic section called Transparency. If you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend it. This was the strongest part of the graphic. It does a masterful job of elegantly illustrating a relationship both in space and time. [...]
    • Calling out Vile Homophobia
      Big shout to co-Contexts blogger Kari Lerum at Sexuality and Society for bringing attention to a vile piece of legislation in the Ugandan Parliament that would allow the “crime of homosexuality” to be punishable by death.  As academics we are trained to take detached, analytical approaches to events in the social world.  Understandably, we don […]
    • Global Warming Reparations
      Nothing beats a nice clean visual presentation to hammer home a point. Point here…we are some energy hoggin’ you-know-whatters but we’re not alone.  To be fair, it would probably be more appropriate to collapse the global emissions of all the EU nations into one bubble rather than breaking it down by individual country.   Are you as [...] […]
    • Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right—Dude, Where’s My Stimulus?
      Years ago, I once had a conversation with an economist who freely admitted that there was no unified macroeconomic theory.  What works versus what doesn’t work in a particular sociopolitical context is really just so much spitballing.  This never surprised me given the complex realities of global capitalism. I’ve been genuinely perplexed by Barac […]
    • Weekends Are for Porn (Not News)
      Just in case you’ve ever wanted evidence that people do more online searches for porn on weekends (especially Friday nights!): Thanks to Larry. UPDATE: Reader Dangger sent us a comparison of searches for porn and news: (Via.) (View original at http://contexts.org/socimages)
    • Weber’s Monopoly on Violence
      Perry H. sent in this cartoon: The cartoon, of course, reminds us of the power of words.  Calling something “terrorism” is a way to make it seem illegitimate.   And, often, what makes violence illegitimate is not something inherent in the violence itself, but your perspective on it. The cartoon also reminds us of Max Weber’s insight that th […]
    • Finally A Women’s Movement Men Can Get Behind
      Last week Barbara Ehrenreich wrote a scorching critique of the uproar over pushing regular mammography back till 50-years-old, in light of the muted response to the Stupak amendment excluding abortion from both state and public health insurance programs. “So welcome to the Women’s Movement 2.0,” she writes “pink-ribbon culture has replaced […]

Outcomes

Course Description

Exploration of the meaning and variety of family life in the United States and other cultures. Classic and contemporary theories are combined with recent research findings to understand the changing definitions and contexts of family life. Emphasis is placed on the study of the family in a broader context, including the influence of neighborhoods, schools and religion, socioeconomic inequalities, gender roles, domestic abuse, divorce, and a life span approach to family life.

Course Overview

Students gain three types of knowledge in SOC 2433: (1) specific concepts and facts about the variety of families in America, (2) facts, theories, and skills in building strong and lasting relationships, and (3) the ability to perceive social dynamics and patterns in the behaviors and attitudes of individuals, called the sociological imagination. Knowledge of the many ways families operate is useful in professional and community life; skills in building families and relationships have immense importance in both work and personal life. The sociological imagination enables individuals to be effective agents of change, and to better understand the forces affecting their world & their lives.

The family is our first and most basic social institution, and the one of which we each have intimate knowledge. While we may be aware of our own family’s impact on our individual development as individuals, we cannot directly observe the impact of family dynamics on our wider society. It is equally difficult to recognize the effect of other social institutions on families. The sociological imagination places the family into its societal and cultural context, showing
  • the factors and processes that influence families in particular cultural and multicultural contexts;
  • the reciprocal dynamic of change in the family and in other social institutions; and
  • the relationship between the inner dynamics of families and their social context.
Through our study of the family, you will gain new insight into how families function, why families take the forms they do, and how to understand and evaluate policies and reports about the family.

Sociology 2433, Family and Society and the General Education Program

The College of Saint Scholastica embraces the Liberal Arts model to teach students to think clearly and logically for themselves, become independent learners who view issues holistically, and are effective in a world offering a multiplicity of viewpoints and ways of doing things. Soc 2433, Family and Society, has been identified as contributing to the outcomes of the Benedictine Liberal Arts Program in several ways.

College Outcomes: Ways of Knowing

Sociology studies families and human social action in a systematic way. Students learn, as sociologists, to uncover the social rules and processes that bind and separate people, not only as individuals, but as members of families, cultural groups and within social institutions. They learn the scientific method, in which knowledge about families is based on and tested by qualitative or quantitative data; they actively attempt some of the methods used to collect such data. By developing their sociological imagination, students learn to investigate family issues and reflect on them critically to move beyond their limited experience to reasoned insights. The ability to challenge and change one’s perceptions and actions based on a careful study of social reality is, perhaps, the core outcome of Sociology 2433, Family and Society.

College Outcomes: Social Responsibility

Families are cornerstone institutions in society, as well as one undergoing significant change and controversy. Students study the diversity of family forms and roles around the world, the systems of power and privilege that shape them, using several conflicting, theoretical perspectives. Focusing especially on issues of gender, class, race, and age, they use these tools to analyze social justice issues, articulate a reasoned assessment, and become active change agents. The ability to perceive, respect, and honor differences and commonalities among families in multicultural society and the global community is an integral outcome of developing the sociological imagination in Soc 2433 Family & Society.

Pathways: Social Sciences

Soc 2433, Family & Society, introduces the methods and ideas of a core social science discipline by applying it to a cornerstone institution, the family. Students who successfully complete the course show significant progress in all four of the social science outcomes. They are able to address the social and cultural thinking of individuals and groups and consider the impact of their economic and political perspectives on work and family life. They understand the factors that motivate families and groups, how they learn and develop, and the processes that contribute to change in the family and in society. Their study of the impact on families of race, ethnicity, national identity, gender, family status, religion and other characteristics enables them to explain both the sources of differences and the implications of those differences, as well as to recognize similarities. They will have developed basic competence in applying classical and contemporary theoretical frameworks to explain these social phenomena.

Pathways: Cultural Diversity

Soc 2433, Family & Society, focuses on a wide diversity of family forms, historically in American culture and in contemporary nations of the world, recognizing the influence of culture and experience on what seems normal, and exploring how various family forms fulfill common functions, such as the socialization of children, in very different ways. The links among culture, patterns of behavior such as gender and work roles, values and perception of social reality are explored for several social locations within American culture, and cross-nationally. Activities and classroom discussions enable students to begin to think and perceive the social world from the context of families different from their own.

Family and Society:  Course Outcomes

Students accomplish the outcomes of the General Education Program as a result of achieving competence in several of the specific goals of Sociology 2433. These goals, and the methods used to assess student progress towards them, are listed below.

  1. Students will develop the sociological imagination, and be able to apply the sociological perspective across a wide variety of family and social settings. This is assessed through essay questions on exams, written assignments, and class discussion.
  2. Students will develop basic competence in understanding and using empirical data, both qualitative and quantitative, in describing and explaining family-based phenomena. This is assessed through test questions and in-class exercises and discussions.
  3. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the logic of sociological research and of several methods for conducting it. They will be able to apply this understanding to understand unfamiliar social settings. This is assessed through test questions and in-class exercises and discussion.
  4. Students will be able list, define, and demonstrate understanding of the major issues in the study of the family; of social inequalities based on class, race, gender, and other social categories; of the sources of family breakdown and violence; of the families role in socialization and elder care; of the processed of family formation; and of contemporary family issues. This is assessed through test questions at the relevant aspects of the course.
  5. Students will increase their ability to recognize their ethnocentric perspectives regarding families, to challenge their preconceived notions, and to be able to understand, articulate, and respect diverse perceptions of families. This is assessed through written assignments, class exercises and discussion, and essay questions on tests.
  6. Students will demonstrate understanding of the interplay of systems of power and privilege, within families based on gender, and between families that differ by class, ethnicity, and nationality, and the processes which serve to maintain social inequalities. This is assessed through written assignments, classroom discussion, and essay questions on tests.
  7. Students will be able to explain and apply fundamental sociological theories across a variety of topics, to recognize the conflicting perspectives of these theories. This is assessed through written assignments, classroom discussion, and essay questions on tests.
  8. Based on their increased understanding of cultural differences, social inequalities and injustices, students will be able to effectively analyze and act creatively to bring about social change. Initial assessment of this outcome occurs in classroom discussion and essay questions on tests, although this is a long term development whose fruit often develops over several semesters.
  9. Students appreciate the use of a historical perspective to understand how family forms have developed historically as well as how individuals develop within families, and demonstrate competence in examining the relationships among the factors that motive individuals and families in the process of development and change. This will be assessed through test questions, in-class discussion, and written assignments.
  10. Through the study of textbooks and other materials which include substantial content from other cultural, ethnic, and national perspectives, students will develop a broad understanding of commonalities and differences in family forms, the ability to internalize more than one worldview, and to explore contemporary American social issues within this broader perspective. This is assessed on written tests and assignments, and through classroom discussion and exercises.