SO 254 - Social Problems

Credit Hours: 3
Contact Hours: 3

This course is designed to acquaint students with the nature of social problems and provide an overview of the basic concepts, theories and research essential for analysis of social problems. Issues examined include family and generation problems, divorce, youth contra-culture, the status of women, crime and delinquency, racial, ethnic, and religious prejudice, environmental crisis, populations, and urban and rural problems. The course allows students to develop a broad perspective of the social arrangements that cause our society to be cohesive at one point in time and non-cohesive at other times. Both the objective and subjective realities of social problems are examined using the social structure of the United States as the primary unit of analysis. Particular emphasis is placed on the political and economic considerations for power as the primary basis of stratification within our society. There will also be opportunities to focus more narrowly on particular topics of interest.

Department Consent: No Consent