Unit+2+-+Sociology+Essential+Questions

__// Sociology Unit 2 "Social Groups and Social Control" Essential Questions //__
Before beginning, be sure to understand the meaning of “__evaluate __.” toc

CH. 6 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ("Societies to Social Networks")

 * Name the four technological innovations most responsible for the social transformations of society and assess the impact of each invention/transformation.
 * Cloning: Analyze how cloning might affect human relationships and the ethics of it.
 * Distinguish between the terms, "aggregate," "category," "primary group," and "secondary group."
 * Are we connected to others by "six degrees of separation?"
 * How are group dynamics affected by group size, types of leaders, and leadership styles?
 * Evaluate the Milgram experiment.
 * How significant is groupthink and what can be done to diminish/prevent it?

CH. 7 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ("Bureaucracy and Formal Organizations")

 * How was the "change to rationality...a fundamental divergence from all of human history?" (p. 174-175)
 * How do the five main characteristics of bureaucracies help achieve their goals?
 * How can bureaucracies be dysfunctional?
 * Are conflict theorists' critiques of "humanizing the work setting" warranted?
 * (not an essential question, but the "goal displacement & the perpetuation of bureaucracies" section on p. 184 is interesting)

CH. 8 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ("Deviance and Social Control")

 * Is deviance relative?
 * Why do human groups need norms to exist and, consequently, why do they develop a system of social control for enforcing norms?
 * Interpret deviance from the perspective of a sociobiologist, psychologist, and sociologist.
 * Interpret deviance from the 3 theoretical perspectives (symbolic interactionist, functionalist, conflict).
 * Some key elements of each perspective:
 * Symbolic interactionist
 * Differential Association Theory
 * Control Theory
 * Labeling Theory
 * Functionalist
 * Deviance as function in society
 * Strain theory
 * Street crime v. white-collar crime
 * Conflict
 * Class, crime, and the criminal justice system
 * Law as an instrument of oppression
 * Inmates in US prisons (p. 215)
 * Analyze the concept of "shaming." (p. 204)

//GEOGRAPHY OF THOUGHT// ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS ("Living Together v. Going it Alone")

 * The student will be able to (TSWBAT) understand the importance of lifelong reading
 * TSWBAT greater understand the similarities and differences in "Eastern" and "Western" ways of thinking
 * TSWBAT analyze the validity of the author’s conclusions and cited experiments through personal experience and critical thinking