Final Paper – Community Service Reflection DUE: Monday December 12, 2016

Final Paper – Community Service Reflection

DUE: Monday December 12, 2016

After completing your service hours, you must reflect on your community service experiences.   Please write an authentic paper using details of your own experiences and relate your community service experiences to sociology.

Similar to each blog post, the paper should meet the standards of the class:

Literacy – Please relate your expe1riences to a variety of different sources (readings, videos, websites, images) from the semester.  Thoroughly explain the connection between the source and your service experience.  Try to be specific about what aspect of the service related to the source.  Your grade will be based on the following scale:

8-10- Student thoroughly connects a variety of sources from personal research or experience to community service experiences in a detailed and specific way.

7- Student thoroughly connects a couple of sources from throughout the semester to community service experiences in a detailed and specific way.

6- Student connects source from throughout the semester either lacking in variety, thoroughness or detail.

5-0- Student fails to connect sources from throughout the semester and is lacking in variety, thoroughness or detail.

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- Look back over my blog for the various sources we looked at this semester.

- Use your textbook as a source if necessary.

Sociological Content – Please connect your service experience(s) to the sociological concepts and terms we have used this year.  Please see the attached appendix for some suggestions of how to connect service experiences to sociology.

8-10- Student is able to connect multiple sociological concepts from different units in a meaningful and accurate way.  The connection is explained with irrefutable conviction.

7- Students is able to connect either multiple sociological concepts in a meaningful and accurate way with irrefutable conviction.  Or, the student is able to connect multiple concepts from various units but might lack some conviction, or leaving some meaning unclear.

6-  Student is able to connect a concept in a way that is either accurate or meaningful.

0-5- Student is unable to make connections that are accurate, meaningful.

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- Use the appendix on the back of this handout.

- The intro unit can be applied to every service opportunity.

- Research the organization that you worked with.  Find out who they help and why – this will give you ideas about how to connect to sociology.

Academic Expectations – Please write the reflection with proper prose, grammar, spelling and format.  Use .5-1.5 inch margins, 10-12 font, and double spacing.  Turn it in on time.

8-10- Student is able to do all of these.

7- Student misses one of these.

6- Student has 2 or 3 mistakes or is late.

5-0- Student has more than 3 mistakes or is late and has other mistakes.

TIPS:
- Spell check

-Formal Academic Writing

Appendix A – Connecting to Sociology

Introduction:

            Sociological Imagination – how are the individuals who you served shaped by circumstances larger than their own personal choices.  How are they shaped by when and where they live? Sociological Mindfulness – consider how this experience makes you aware that you are a part of society and you have an impact on it. Social construction of reality – explain how individuals’ feelings and experiences are shaped by society.  Ingroups-outgroups – explain how belonging to a group affects your feelings and stereotypes toward outgroups.

Culture:

Identify unique elements in your service experience, such as: material culture, norms, values and sanctions. Consider how these cultural elements aid in the functioning of the organization and how they contrast with mainstream elements of culture.  How do American values play a role in the plight of those being served or in your service work?

Socialization:

Analyze the modes of interaction that you engaged in during your service. Where there differences in the way that you acted towards the clients versus other volunteers versus members of the organization?  Did you see any processes of socialization occurring with yourself or with the clients that you were working with? 

Deviance:

Reflect on the whether the organization or clientele of the organization where you were volunteering bears any stigma from the larger community.  Often times, community-service organizations have the primary goal of aiding individuals who carry a deviant identity.  Whether it is poverty, substance abuse, illness, age, disability, etc. Observe how the clients manage their stigmatized identities. How do the workers at the organization treat the clients?  Do the clients manage or reject the label of deviant?  How does the work of the organization help change societal perceptions of the stigmatized?

Social Class:

What role does class inequality play in their organization?  How is the organization funded?  How do community service organizations in general generate enough interest for people to volunteer their time and donate their money to help others?  How does charity fit into the American Dream ideology?  Do you believe that most Americans are willing to sacrifice some of their own wealth to help those in need? Why? Why not?

Race/Ethnicity:

Reflect on the racial and ethnic dynamic of their organization.  Is there a difference between the racial or ethnic composition of the staff, the volunteers, and the clientele?  Did your experiences of the racial or ethnic composition at the organization parallel your everyday experiences?  Have you gained any insight into a particular group? Explain.

Social Class...is it a flip of a coin?

Today we wagered on flipping pennies in class. The exercise was a metaphor for deviance and social class. The exercise resembles real life in a number of ways:
It had the appearance of being fair and equal - everyone had a 50% chance of winning. However, the way the rules are written, the money will flow to the top with just a few having most coins and most people having very little.  The more money you have the more opportunities you have.

Most U.S. citizens do not like the idea of social class. They will not acknowledge the rules that create the distribution of wealth that we see in the exercise. But the reality is that our wealth and even our income in the U.S. resembles that of the coin flip metaphor; a few individuals at the top with enormous wealth and income and most people at the bottom making very little (comparatively).
Here is a graph of the real distribution of income in the US.  Notice how closely it resembles the coin flipping metaphor:

And the "rules" of our society help to create that dynamic. By "rules" I mean the opportunities and obstacles that we face based on our social class.


These rules can also be applied to what we have been talking about regarding deviance. One example is William Chambliss's study of The Saints and Roughnecks.  Those with money are able to stay clear of the criminal justice system while the majority of those who are locked up in prisons are citizens with low income.

 As I mentioned in an earlier post:

Wealthy crimes are generally "white collar" crime, esp. corporate crime. Instead of white collar crime, our society tends to focus on street crime such as robberies, murders, rapes. The media contributes to this b/c it is action-packed, full of emotion (fear), and personalized (it tells a good story). On the other hand, white collar crime is boring (numbers & statistics). But the reality is that it is more costly ($400bil). One example is Sears which defrauded poor customers of over $100 million. They pled guilty and avoided a trial; other companies settled out of court for similar practices. Firestone executives let faulty tires remain on U.S. vehicles even though they had been recalled in other countries. About 200 people killed. Under federal law, causing the death of a worker by willfully violating safety rules is a misdemeanor and punishable by up to six months in prison. Powerful people bypass the courts and are usually fined – no jail.

Sometimes we forget how fortunate we are relative to the rest of the world because the media is saturated with stories of the super wealthy. Here is a website that will rank you among the WORLD's population. That should provide some perspective as to how lucky we are.

However, relative to other Westernized modern countries, the US does not look so equal.  In fact, the inequality in the USA is closer to China, Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina and even Cuba!

This map shows the inequality present in countries around the world. The bluer countries are more equal and the more red are less equal:Notice how many countries are more equal than the United States.

And here is a post showing that the US has gotten more unequal over the past several decades.

Here is a post from the Society Pages about the damaging effects of income inequality.

--Sal Post.

Thin Ads + Low Body Image = Stress?
Ads Showing Skinny Models Might Hurt Self-Worth In Vulnerable Young Women Viewing ads of super-skinny models may make young women feel worse about themselves, especially if they have body image problems, according to a new study. Researcher Gayle Bessenoff, Ph.D., reports the findings in Psychology of Women Quarterly. Bessenoff is an assistant professor in the University of Connecticut's psychology department.

What Studies Show: Links Between Media and Self Esteem in Girls Many studies conclude that there is clearly a link between young women’s self esteem and the media. *The Journal of Research on Adolesence, in a study of body image and self esteem (Daniel Clay, Vivian L. Vignoles, Helga Dittmar - 2005), imparts that the the declining self esteem that girls often experience entering into adolescence is in part due to social comparison with media models. In a 2006 study of girls' body satisfaction and self esteem from the American Psychological Association (Hayley Dohnt,, Marika Tiggemann), research also illustrates that media creates a negative influence on girls' body images and self-esteem – particularly in regard to acceptable levels of thinness.

A particularly alarming media trend is the sexualization of women at younger and younger ages. Medical News Today discusses how suggestive images of young women negatively affect girls self-esteem, playing a role in onset of depression, eating disorders, and low-self-esteem. 

Sexualization Of Girls Is Linked To Common Mental Health Problems In Girls And WomenScienceDaily (Feb. 20, 2007) — A report of the American Psychological Association (APA) released today found evidence that the proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is harmful to girls' self-image and healthy development.

Dying to Fit In- Literally! Learning to Love Our Bodies and Ourselves By Christine Hartline, MAIn the United States approximately 10% of girls and women (numbering up to 10 million) are suffering from diagnosed eating disorders. Of these at least 50,000 will die as a direct result! Recent data reported by the American Psychiatric Association suggests that of all psychiatric disorders, the greatest excess of patient mortality due to natural and unnatural causes is associated with eating disorders and substance abuse.

Teen Body ImageMedia images have a strong effect on people's body image, particularly for women, because the ideals the media presents for women are farther from the average woman's body. The Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC) reports that in 1972, the ideal woman shown in the media (models, movie stars, etc.) weighed less than the average woman, yes, but only by 8%. By the late 90s, the difference had become 23%....In one study from Harvard University reported by (SIRC), it was found that by age 17, 7 out of 10 teens have been on a diet and as many as 80% of teens may have a negative body image....The onset of eating disorders for 86% of people is before they finish their teens.


Look at this powerful video about how people are made to think about themselves and how different that can be from reality:

And one more:
When did "like a girl" become a bad thing?

Gender Socialization

Gender is a social consruction; We are socialized to think about being male or female in a specific way.

As you enter, answer this question in as many ways as you can (brainstorm):
 

How would your life be different if you were born a different sex?


     Gender is one of the social constructs we learn from an early age and we often take it for granted. Nearly everyone is born biologically with a sex (that is male or female) and a sexuality (that is a sexual attraction such as heterosexual or homosexual). Most researchers who study people such as doctors, biologists, psychologists, sociologists will say that all of the research shows that people are born with their sex and sexuality. These are part of our biological makeup, our nature.

      However, gender is learned. Gender is how you react to your sex and sexuality. Think about how you answered that question at the top pf this post.  Most of the ways you're life would have been different are examples of treating people different based on their sex (and sexuality).  This constructs a certain way of being.  So, for example, if I am a heterosexual male, how should I act? What colors should I like?  What clothes should I wear?  How should I talk?   What sports should I play?  Is it okay for me to cry?  To be rough?  To like violence?   To be sensitive? And so on...These are all our gender and they are all learned reactions.

Sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity is all fluid on a continuum:

                     1            2            3            4            5            6            7            8            9          

Sex --------->Male                                      Androgynous                                     Female

Sexuality -->Hetero                                     Bisexuality                                     Lesbian or Gay

Gender ---->Masculine                            Gender Neutral                                    Feminine

                  Gender Queer

                   Gender Fluid

                    Bigendered

However, our culture boxes people in to two very narrow ways of being.  It doesn't allow for any expression of sex, sexuality, or gender along the continuum.






Take a moment to think about where you have heard the various phrases on your handout.

Traditional Masculine Traits                                                  Traditional Feminine traits

Independent                                                                               Dependent

Intelligent                                                                                  Unintelligent/spacey

Capable                                                                                     Needy

Assertive                                                                                   Passive

Rational                                                                                    Emotional

Competititve                                                                             Cooperative

Insensitive                                                                                 Perceptive

Ambitious                                                                                 Weak

Brave                                                                                         Timid

Attractive from achievement                                                     Attractive from appearance

Gender notions have changed over time which also highlights the social construct of gender. Checkout this post, called "The Manly Origins of Cheerleading" that shows how gender is a construct and because of that, our perception of gender changes over time.


All of the agents of socialization help to construct gender:

family:

            -begin treating the infant differently from birth, inc. pink and blue.

            - 6 month-olds treated differently; boys=independent & active, girls=dependent & passive

            - by 13 months, each gender acts differently.

            -differences in toys; boys=action figures & weapons, girls=jewelry & dolls

           See this essay

peers: see the book from Patricia and Peter Adler on preadolescent peer pressure.

            Girls and boys learn what it means to be a man or woman from friends.

            - Ex. Patricia and Peter Adler; values for popularity as early as 4^th grade

                      - in boys; athletics, coolness and toughness, grades=lower popularity.

                      - in girls; family background, physical appearance (esp. clothing and makeup) and ability                       to attract popular boys, grades=higher popularity.          

school  See this post.  Here is a post from sociological images that shows Barbie helps to  reinforce lessons learned from teachers.


toys: See this post from the Society Pages, or this page from the feministgal blog, andthis redundant post from the Society Pages And see this post about other products that are pointlessly gendered thus reifying the idea of traditonal gender traits.  And, this post about Barbie shows how the doll creates unrealistic expectations for the female body.


media See this post.



For further interest, here is an older test that will rate you on the traditional continuum.  The test is outdated as a useful tool now but it was called The Bem Sex Role Inventory when it was developed in 1971 by Dr. Sandra Lipsitz Bem.  It characterizes your personality as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. The BSRI is based on gender stereotypes, so what it's actually measuring is how well you fit into your traditional sex role. Thus, your score may say as much about how our cultural expectations have changed over the last 35 years as it does about your personality. What I like about it is that it reveals that gender is a spectrum.