Sociology 204

SEMINAR ON SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Fall 2005

Tuesdays, 7:30pm – 10:00pm

Professor Ira Silver

Phone: (508) 626-4864

E-mail: isilver@frc.mass.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course investigates why certain problems become matters of public and policymaking concern while others do not. We do not focus on a pre-defined list of social problems but rather on the process by which some issues capture significantly more attention than others. Our discussions analyze the actions of those institutions that are involved either in calling public attention to or distracting public attention away from particular problems in our society. This focus enables students to acquire a perspective toward social problems that they are unlikely to gain from the many other forums where people discuss social problems, such as the media and politics.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

This course will enable you to:

· Think critically about the ways that harms in the world become social problems, by looking closely at various social institutions whose claims about problems we typically accept at face value.

· Acquire a set of tools for looking at social issues and how these issues impact upon your own lives.

· Better understand the issues you care about and why.

· Become comfortable with expressing your ideas orally in front of your peers.

· Write with focus, clarity, and brevity.

TEACHING STYLE:

The success of this course hinges on the productive exchange of ideas through discussions. While I will at times give short lectures, your active participation is essential. The more you each bring to class, the better it will go and the more that you will take from it. I may call on you to voice your ideas in the event that discussions begin to drag or if it becomes clear that only a handful of people are participating. My reason for taking this liberty is to convince you that what you have to say matters. In a liberal arts course, there are often not “right” or “wrong” answers. Therefore, just contributing something to the discussion can be very constructive in productively moving it along.

ATTENDANCE:

I expect you to come to class consistently and on time. IF YOU MISS MORE THAN ONE CLASS, YOUR GRADE WILL START TO SUFFER. There is no need to bring a doctor’s note or the like for those classes that you do miss. The point is that I want you to be in class, not to produce excuses for why you’re not. If you are not in class on a particular day, it is your responsibility to ask me for any materials that I handed out.

READINGS: * Please bring assigned readings to class.

All readings are in a photocopied packet, which is available free of charge from me. On occasion, I may distribute additional readings in class.

GRADING AND EVALUATION:

Your final grade will be based on a take-home midterm, a paper, a take-home final, and class attendance and participation. I will compute your final grade as follows:

20% Take-home midterm

30% Paper

30% Take-home final

20% Class attendance and participation

An Overview of the Social Constructionist Perspective

Tues, Sept 6^th: Course overview

Tues, Sept 13^th: Elizabeth Donohue, Vincent Schiraldi, and Jason Ziedenberg,

“School House Hype: School Shootings and the Real Risks Kids

Face in America.” Pp. 225-31 in Sociological Footprints:

Introductory Readings in Sociology, Edited by Leonard Cargan

and Jeanne H. Ballantine. Belmont, CA: Thomson

Wadsworth, 2005.

Barry Glassner, “Killer Kids: Trend Making and Misdirection.” Pp. 391-93 in Sociological Footprints: Introductory Readings in Sociology, Edited by Leonard Cargan and Jeanne H. Ballantine. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.

Kate Zernike, “The Difference Between Steroids and Ritalin is…” New York Times, March 20, 2005, Section 4, page 3.

Donileen Loseke, “The People and the Tasks in Constructing

Social Problems.” Pp. 25-44 in Thinking about Social Problems:

An Introduction to Constructionist Perspectives. New York:

Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

Thurs, Sept 15^th: The film Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring will be shown at 7pm at a location to be announced. If you would prefer to watch it on your own, it is available at the Knapp Media Center.

The Framing of Social Problems

Tues, Sept 20^th: Joel Best, Excerpt from “What’s Wrong with Declaring War on Social Problems?” Pp. 19-21 in Social Problems: Readings with Four Questions. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2002.

Nicholas Lemann, “The Word Lab: The Mad Science Behind What the Candidates Say.” New Yorker October 16 and 23, 2000, pp. 100-112.

Christopher R. Martin, Excerpt about the 1993 American Airlines

Flight Attendant Strike, Pp. 104-12 in Framed! Labor and the

Corporate Media. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2004.

Tues, Sept 27^th: John M. Johnson. “Horror Stories and the Construction of Child Abuse.” Pp. 17-32 in Images of Issues: Typifying Contemporary Social Problems, 2^nd Edition. Edited by Joel Best. Hawthorne, New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1995.

Joel Best and Gerald T. Horiuchi, “The Razor Blade in the Apple: The Social Construction of Urban Legends.” Social Problems 1985 32(5): 488-99.

Kathleen S. Lowney and Joel Best, “Stalking Strangers and Lovers: Changing Media Typifications of a New Crime Problem.” Pp. 33-57 in Images of Issues: Typifying Contemporary Social Problems, 2^nd Edition. Edited by Joel Best. Hawthorne, New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1995.

Robert Heiner, “Crime and Deviance.” Pp. 93-111 in Social Problems: An Introduction to Critical Constructionism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Tues, Oct 4^th: No class – Rosh Hashanah

Tues, Oct 11^th: No class – Fall Break

Tues, Oct 18^th: Joel Best, “The Rhetorical Appeal of Random Violence.”

Pp. 113-19 in Social Problems: Constructionist Readings, Edited

by Donileen R. Loseke and Joel Best. New York: Aldine de

Gruyter, 2003.

Kristin Luker, “Constructing an Epidemic.” Pp. 81-108 in Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996.

“An Epidemic of Obesity Myths.” The Center for Consumer Freedom, June, 2004.

Fri, Oct 21^st: Take-home midterm due by noon via email.

The significance of power: An up-close look at how the “big three” claims makers shape the social problems agenda

Mon, Oct 24^th: The film The Big One will be will be shown at 7pm at a location to be announced. If you would prefer

to watch it on your own, it is available at the Knapp Media Center and can also be rented from most video stores.

Tues, Oct 25^th: Donald L. Bartlett and James B. Steele, “Corporate Welfare.”

Social Problems Annual Editions 03/04, Edited by Kurt

Finsterbusch. Guilford, CT: McGraw-Hill, 2003.

Jeffrey Reiman, “A Crime by Any Other Name…” Pp. 280-88 in Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Social Issues, Edited by Kurt Finsterbusch. Dubuque, IA: McGraw-Hill, 2005.

Tues, Nov 1^st: No class – Tanner Conference

Tues, Nov 8^th: Ken Silverstein, “Millions for Viagra: Pennies for Diseases of the Poor.” Pp. 575-81 in Reading Between the Lines: Toward an Understanding of Current Social Problems, 3^rd Edition, Edited by Amanda Konradi and Martha Schmidt. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Dan Clawson, Alan Neustadtl, and Mark Weller, “Follow the Money.” Pp. 22-46 in Crossroads: Readings in Social Problems. Boston: Pearson, 2004.

Tues, Nov 15^th: David Firestone, “One of These Pictures is Worth 1,000 Words.” New York Times May 9, 1999.

Harvey Molotch and Marilyn Lester, “News as Purposive Behavior: On the Strategic Use of Routine Events, Accidents, and Scandals.” American Sociological Review 1974 39(1): 101-112.

Tues, Nov 22^nd: Ben H. Bagdikian, “Missing from the News.” Pp. 58-64 in Crisis in American Institutions. Edited by Jerome H. Skolnick and Elliot Currie. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.

Trudy Lieberman, “You Can’t Report What You Don’t Pursue.” Columbia Journalism Review May/June 2000.

Film: Fear and Favor in the Newsroom

Tues, Nov 29^th: Paper due at the beginning of class.

Film: Tough Guise: Violence, Media, and the Crisis in Masculinity

Tues, Dec 6^th: David Barstow and Robin Stein, “Under Bush, a New Age of Prepackaged News.” New York Times, March 13, 2005.

Film: Toxic Sludge is Good for You

Thurs, Dec 8^th: The film Bowling for Columbine will be will be shown at 7pm at a location to be announced. If you would prefer to watch it on your own, it is available at the Knapp Media Center and can also be rented from most video stores.

Tues, Dec 13^th: Barry Glassner, “Introduction: Why Americans Fear the Wrong Things.” In The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things. New York: Basic Books, 1999.

Barry Glassner, “Black Men.” In The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things. New York: Basic Books, 1999.

Mon, Dec 19^th: Take-home final exam due by noon via email.