SOC 203 Week 4 DQ 1 Gay Parenting

After viewing the required video for this discussion, please address each of the following questions:

a. What core social values are most challenged by legalized gay adoption?

b. How have these “values” been defined and reinforced?

c. Assuming these values are changing, at least for some individuals or societies, how have experts explained or described the change?

d. How has your personal view of “the family” changed over your lifetime?

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e. Supporters and opponents of gay adoption both claim to have children’s best interests at heart. Which do you think is in the best interest of children: banning or permitting their adoption by gay parents? Why?

Review the article, Race, poverty and punishment: The impact of criminal sanctions on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequality, as you to prepare for this paper. As Wheelock and Uggen (2006) point out, “the association between crime, punishment, and poverty has long been the subject of sociological and criminological investigation” (p. 1). This assignment is intended illustrate the interconnection of social problems.

Write a paper discussing the overlap of crime, punishment, and poverty. In your paper, please elaborate on the following points raised by the authors:

a. Criminal sanctions and victimization work to form a system of disadvantage that perpetuates stratification and poverty.

b. Punishment impacts individuals convicted of felonies, as well as their families, peer groups, neighborhoods, and racial group.

c. After controlling for population differences, African Americans are incarcerated approximately seven times as often as Whites.

d. Variation in criminal punishment is linked to economic deprivation.

e. As the number of felons and former felons rises, collateral sanctions play an ever-larger role in racial and ethnic stratification, operating as an interconnected system of disadvantage.

We will learn about many social problems during this course. Some problems are very complex and are typically the result of both individual and social issues. As we study these social problems, one question should always come to mind: What can be done about these problems?

The video, Homelessness is a Symptom, helps us understand the complexity of the problem of homelessness, costs of the problem to individuals and society, and the challenges associated with doing something about the problem.

a. In what ways might homelessness be categorized as a social problem? Explain your reasoning and support your points with examples from the textbook.

b. Some of these policies suggested in this video involve government policies and funds. In your opinion, is this an appropriate use of public funds? How do you define what is appropriate use of public funds, and how does the use of public funds fit inside or outside of appropriate use?

c. The policies described in this video may be controversial. What concerns do you have about these policies?

d. Complete a web search focusing on policies intended to reduce or eliminate homelessness. Provide an example of a potentially effective response to the problem of homelessness. Define the elements that make this solution effective.