Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer

Chapter 13 Regards the power of Religion. Religion is a very powerful medium because it touches a person at the deepest part of who they are as a person. Some consider their religious practices and beliefs as very private, Others consider it their religious duty to tell others what the truth is (as they see it) and try to "convert" others to their belief system. Others view religious observances as a "Crutch" for the weak. Difference of religious opinions throughout the history of humankind has created much conflict between peoples. Many wars throughout history have been battled over differences in religious ideas. Today is no different. "Jihads" or  holy wars are still fought today. Even our own 9/11 tragic situation was primarily a religous difference. Today's concerns of "Isis" is a constant news item.  Religion is a very important conversation in sociology.



1. What are the two functions of religion found in its definition



2. How would you say the "profane" is in connection with the "Secularized?"

3. Describe an example of what might be considered sacred

While this idea is not in the book, I want this to be a part of our conversation on adhering to a particular religious belief system.

  4 elements of secular peoples compilance to a religious idea and behavior

A. Belief- strong recognition of the importance and truth of a certain idea. " ie- I think the Baptist church is the one who really tells the whole truth"

if a person didn't feel this way , he/she would not put any energy to the next element. Once a belief is in place, the next element is:

B. Involvement- participation at a beginning level in religious activities. "ie- attend Sunday morning service."

Once involvement is in place, the next element is:

C. Commitment- giving of ones time and resources - "ie - Give money to the church regularly, teach a sunday school class, give self to any projects the church might have. Then  lastly is:

D. Attachment- You consider how your behavior is affecting others in the church "i.e. it will hurt Pastor's feeling if I don't go the church today.

4. Question 4- I have given you examples of the 4 elements that secure compliance of a person to a religion. Please develop your own examples of the 4 elements may be present in a person's life.

Back to the book

5. If prayer is our attempt to persuade God and magic is one's attempt to coerce "spirits?" What is the difference bewteen prayer and magic?



6. How would you explain what a religious taboo is and give an example.

7.  Explain the concept of "Animism" and how it might be recognized today.

8. Explain the difference of polytheism ans monothiesm, give examples of each.

9. Explain religion from the functionalist perspective, using the definitions the book describes

10. Explain religion from a conflict theory, using the definitions the book describes.

11. Many of us attach great significance of religious ideas to our lives. Do you feel that sociology takes away the true importance of religion or does sociology give greater understanding to the role of religion in our lives?

12. What is the difference in recognizing oneself as religious or spiritual? Explain your answer.

13. What are the pros and cons of ecumenism?

14. Would you say America is less religous than it once was, the same, or more religious? explain your answer.

15. Give an example of the five organizations of religious life.

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer

For the book essay for The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down please pick 1 question from Group 1 and one question from Group 2 to answer. Provide at least 2 page answers for each. Be sure to cite the book and course materials in each answer. Please use 1 inch margins, 12pt Times New Roman, Double-spaced.

Group 1

1. The only American who fully won the Lees' trust was Jeanine Hilt, their social worker. Why did Jeanine succeed where so many others had failed?

2. Neil Ernst says, "I felt it was important for these Hmongs to understand that there were certain elements of medicine that we understood better than they did and that there were certain rules they had to follow with their kids' lives." Why didn't this message get through to the Lees? If you were Neil, would you feel this way too? Is this an ethnocentric attitude? Why or why not?

3. In Chapter Eight, after describing Foua's competence as a mother and farmer in Laos, Fadiman quotes her as saying, "I miss having something that really belongs to me." What has Foua lost? Is there anything that still "really belongs" to her? Are there other groups we have discussed that have experience similar loss?

4. In her preface, the author says that while she was working on this book, she often asked herself two questions: "What is a good doctor?" "What is a good parent?" How do you think she might have answered her own questions? How would you answer them? How is each identity constructed by each group. Which social construction is taken more seriously in the United States? Why?

5. What was the "role loss" many adult Hmong faced when they came to the United States? What is the underlying root cause? How does this loss affect their adjustment to America?

Group 2

1. How do you think the issues raised by this book should affect your education at Purdue and/or your life as a citizen today?

2. What relevance does this book have to your potential career (i.e., medicine, health, law, social work, politics, religion, communications, education, linguistics)? In the context of your future career, how do you think you would handle similar situations, if faced with them?

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer

THE BOOK TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS HOMEWORK SHOULD BE 
Sociology in Our Times
Author:    Diana Kendall
Edition / Copyright:    10
Publisher:    Cengage Learning
ISBN:    9781285460239


For this assignment you will have the opportunity to conduct an experiment, or quasi-experiment, in order to explore deviance in our society. As we learned this week, deviance is ”any behavior, belief, or condition that violates significant social norms in the society or group in which it occurs” (Kendall, 2013, p. 180). Cultural norms are behaviors and expectations for a group and fall into three categories: folkways, mores, and laws. For this assignment you will explore society’s reaction to a folkway violation. You will then utilize the textbook, online materials, and the South Online Library in order to write a two-page essay on the deviant (not criminal) experience.

Below you will find a step-by-step guide for completing this paper:

First, review the sections on Research Ethics and the subsection on Testing a Hypothesis under the section Research Methods in chapter one of your text in order to familiarize yourself with sociological experiments. Then, begin this assignment by choosing a folkway to violate. Examples include (and there are many folkways to choose from): wearing the other gender’s clothing, speaking a foreign language to an English speaker, sitting with a stranger at a restaurant, and eating dinner with your hands. Be sure to ask your facilitator if you are unsure if the norm you choose to violate is appropriate for this assignment. Here are some examples of norm violations for you to watch:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlVsj5vLu_U and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lDwIlY9gX8.
Violate your chosen folkway (not a law) in at least one situation and document it with pictures, video, and/or notes. Be sure to note how you feel when you violate the norm, as well as other people’s reactions to the violation. If you do not receive adequate data (reactions) in one situation, try it again in another.
Write an organized essay that explores the norm you violated, how you felt while being deviant, and the reactions you received while you were violating the norm. You should then analyze the experience, including the theories of deviance presented in the text. Your paper should also include an introduction with a thesis and a conclusion that reviews all main points you present.
Assignment alternative: you may choose to do a reflection paper on an instance when you have been deviant in the past. A reflection paper must contain analysis and integrate concepts from the text. Review the grading criteria to ensure that your reflection paper contains all of the necessary components.

Remember to use APA format for the essay style as well as in-text citations and when listing the references. Submit your 2–5-page essay (maximum 12 pt. font) describing your application project and your findings by Tuesday, December 8, 2015, to the W4: Assignment 2 Dropbox.

Assignment 2 Grading Criteria    
Maximum Points
Presented an organized paper that meets the assignment’s criteria.    
8
Provided documentation of norm violation.    
16
Integrated personal views on the main issue.    
10
Related norm violation experience to the concepts and theories discussed in the textbook and/or outside resources.

10
Used correct grammar, spelling, and APA format throughout assignment.    
6
Total:    
50

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer

Respond in writing to an academic article.
Paragraph 1:  Explain the main purpose of the article.  Briefly summarize the article.  In this paragraph, you are trying to state, as accurately as possible, the author’s purpose for writing the article.  Answer the question, “what was the author trying to accomplish?”  Use evidence from the article to support this paragraph with MLA style in text citations.

Paragraph 2:  Describe and explain the key question that the author or authors are addressing.  Your goal in this this paragraph is to figure out the key question that was in the mind of the author when s/he wrote the article.  Use evidence from the article to support this paragraph with MLA style in text citations.  

Paragraph 3:  Describe and explain the most important information in this article.  Here you want to identify and explicate the key information the author used (or presupposed) to support his or her main arguments.  You are looking for the facts, data, experiences the author used to support his argument.  Use evidence from the article to support this paragraph with MLA style in text citations.  

Paragraph 4:  Describe and explain the main inferences and conclusions in the article.  You want to identify the most important conclusions that the author comes to and presents in the article.  You should be able to explain why the author comes to the conclusions he or she does, not simply restate the author’s conclusions.  Use evidence from the article to support this paragraph with MLA style in text citations.  

Paragraph 5:  Describe and explain the key ideas the reader needs to understand in this article.  To identify these ideas, ask yourself: What are the most important ideas that you would have to understand in order to understand the author’s line of reasoning?  Then, briefly elaborate what author means be these ideas.  Use evidence from the article to support this paragraph with MLA style in text citations.    

Paragraph 6:  Reflect on what you learned from this article.  Was there something you learned that you didn’t know before you read the article?  What did you find as the most important idea of the paper?  What was most significant to you about the ideas in this paper.  This will be your summary and conclusion paragraph.

Select one of the key family systems theories covered in the Nichol's text; research: I choose Bowen Family Systems

    1.  Its current standing as a "best practice" approach to working with families;
    2. Describe and discuss its key concepts goals, and interventions;
    3. Discuss strengths and weaknesses of the theory;
    4.  Discuss how the role of faith plays out in the theoretical perspective;
    5. Apply the theory to the family in the required book The Glass Castle.

*****I just need you to list the resources and that's it. 

******I need 8 resources from professional counseling and psychology journals. 

Questions We Can Help You To Answer

What is the likelihood of further revolutions in the 21st century? What kinds of revolution are most likely to occur?

Questions We Can Help You To Answer

Describe the characteristics of each type of housing, including physical environments, services provided, and how these different options meet different needs.

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer

The paper requires that you use your sociological imagination to write a brief autobiography by incorporating four concepts from the course. Note that you must include at least two concepts from two of three systems of stratification (class, race/ethnicity, gender/sexuality)
C Wright Mills’ concept of the “sociological imagination” – the capacity for individuals to understand the relationship between their individual lives and broad social forces that influence them” – is central to Sociology.  Using your “sociological imagination”, please describe how your life story is/has been connected to broader social forces.  You can, for instance, narrate how you ended up at university or what your future career plans are, but you don’t have to.  It is your biography. You must include 4 concepts or ideas(social mobility, achieved social status , ascribed social status, core countries, upper middle class, welfare, working poor, conspicuous consumption , downward social mobility, life styles,deviance career 
primary deviance, secondary deviance, crimes against persons, crimes against property, status offense,drug-related crime, victimless crime, out-group, reference group, secondary group, achieved status, master status, latent status, manifest status,anticipatory socialization, formal socialization, 
gender-role socialization, informal socialization, resocialization) presented during the semester. Additionally, your essay MUST include how systems of stratification (i.e. class, race/ethnicity, or gender/sexuality) have served as a source of privilege, disadvantage, or both.  I list terms you can choose from below, and you can also bring in terms not included. You do not need to include all of these terms in your essay, but you do need to include examples from two of the three systems of stratification.  Provide specific examples of how these systems have affected/continue to affect you.  Be creative with your answer.  The goal is to use your sociological imagination to understand how systems of stratification affect us as individuals. Essays should be 4-5 pages, double-spaced. 

Class: stratification according to Marx and/or Weber, socioeconomic status (SES), income and wealth inequality, absolute and/or relative poverty, the three social groups most likely to be in poverty, and welfare/wealth-fare, class socialization via families/schools/media

Race: the concepts of race/ethnicity/minority groups, prejudice/racism/or discrimination (attitudinal and/or institutional discrimination), patterns of minority group treatment (see textbook), racial socialization via schools/families/media/criminal justice system, cultural appropriation  

Gender: the concepts of sex and gender, sexism, patriarchy, sexuality, the double standard, second shift, glass ceiling, sexual harassment, problems with the gender binary, gender socialization via schools/families/media    

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer'

Discuss institutional v individual deviance

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer: 

My Culture: How we use Language & Communication 
explain how the kikuyu family culture from kenya communicates.
Use the language of anthropology in your response. you can use the textbook by the name Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge, 12th Edition, Dr. William A. Haviland to check and use anthropology terms

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer: 

Family Group Conferences and Cultural Competence in Social Work

Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer: 

Choose one of the following questions, and using at least one article from our textbook and two peer-reviewed (scholarly) articles (which can be located through the ebsco or proquest databases accessed through the virtual library; link below), respond to the question, backing up your arguments with evidence from the articles. Make sure the meanings of all terms are clear.

1. Using reading #42 and at least two additional peer-reviewed articles, discuss the following: "We have a national concern with the racial achievement gap, but school reform cannot succeed without housing reform." (p.405)

2. "Women are most likely to challenge gender boundaries when there is no path of upward mobility without doing so, but otherwise gender blinders guide the paths of both men and women."  (p.415)  Using reading #45 and at least two additional peer-reviewed sources, discuss evidence for both sides of this argument.  When have American women followed and not followed their gender-dictated paths?

3. Explain: Poverty is a "structural failing." (p.445) Using reading #49 and at least two additional peer-reviewed sources, discuss what needs to change to alleviate poverty? 

The paper, which is worth 200 points, should be 3-4 pages (a minimum of 700 words) in length. Sources should be cited in the text using in-text citations. Material taken directly from a source should be quoted, and the source and page number should be cited. A separate reference (works cited) page in either APA or MLA style should be included. Your paper should be spell-checked and reread. It should represent an honest effort on your part to explore the issue.

Your paper will be graded on whether you have addressed the question, clarified the meanings of all terms, used evidence from at least 3 articles which meet the criteria outlined above to answer the question, and followed the formatting guidelines.  Paste the contents of your assignment into the "write submission" text box provided, AND attach your paper as a .docx, .pdf, or .rtf (Rich Text format) file.