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Explain the ideas of “social construction” and the “sociological imagination” and apply them to how unemployment is commonly understood as a social problem in Australian society. Introduction Body Conclusion Define unemployment Explain at least 3 parts of social constructionism as a sociological theory Begin your conclusion by restating your thesis statement in the past tense Explain the scale of unemployment as a social problem in Australia- e.g. use statistics from the ABS Explain at least 3 parts of the sociological imagination as a sociological theory Summarize the main supporting claims again. Articulate a thesis statement along the lines of: This essay shall argue that the concepts of the sociological imagination and social construction allow us to understand how unemployment is… Explain how unemployment is socially constructed in society- give concrete examples Preview your main supporting points in their order of appearance in the body (e.g. Firstly, it shall be argued…) Explain how the sociological imagination allows us to understand some common causes of unemployment- e.g. geographical location, level of education, technological change, poor government policy, etc. Conclude your work by explaining why these ideas are useful in understanding the problem of unemployment Useful resources: Giddens et al, 2018. “Introduction to Sociology”, 11th Edition- pages 1-39. Van Kreiken et al, 2017. “Sociology”, 6th Edition- pages 1-13. Fulcher & Scott, 2011. “Sociology”, 4th edition- pages 1-68 Key aspects of the theories you may wish to discuss in your essay: please do NOT copy and paste any of these ideas or paraphrase them. This is not an acceptable resource for the essay and your marks will be negatively impacted if you do use it. Social construction refers to the way in which a society comes to shared agreements about how to understand the world The sociological imagination is the ability to think critically about how society works. The concept allows us to understand how society changes over time and how societies differ from each other in terms of their norms, values, beliefs, language and institutions. It makes us realize that issues that seem to be very private or personal are actually public or social issues- they have causes and consequences which are larger than any one individual Language is central to social construction- a term or label helps limit our understanding of something. Lacking a label for something means that that part of social experience cannot be described. E.g. we tend to blame unemployed people as being lazy, under-motivated, lacking in skills, etc. If you think about the problem from a sociological perspective though, you will realize that there are a number of factors outside the individual’s control which make them more vulnerable to unemployment, or which it makes it more difficult for them to find work. E.g. technological changes getting rid of workers E.g. failures by governments to invest in the education and training system E.g. limited education by workers and difficulties in them accessing education E.g. geographical area- there is generally less work available in rural and regional areas Explain what the main differences are between how a conflict theorist and a functionalist theorist would understand class inequality in Australia. Introduction Body Conclusion Define class Explain at least 3 parts of functionalism as a sociological theory Begin your conclusion by restating your thesis statement in the past tense Define class inequality Explain at least 3 parts of conflict theory as a sociological theory Summarize the main supporting claims again. Articulate a thesis statement along the lines of: This essay shall argue that the main differences between conflict theory and functionalism on the topic of class inequality are… Explain how functionalism views class inequality Preview your main supporting points in their order of appearance in the body (e.g. Firstly, it shall be argued…) Explain how conflict theory views class inequality Finish your body by stressing the main differences between the two perspectives class inequality Key aspects of the theories you may wish to discuss in your essay: please do NOT copy and paste any of these ideas or paraphrase them. This is not an acceptable resource for the essay and your marks will be negatively impacted if you do use it. Conflict theory: Major theorists include Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels & Max Weber Starts with the assumption that society is stratified (divided) Stratification can occur on the basis of access and control over economic resources, differential levels of social status, and differential levels of power (e.g. political power) Conflict theorists assume that these divisions breed social tensions & conflicts between different groups in society- this social division, in turn, is the main engine for social change in society It therefore should be contrasted with functionalism, which assumes that society is arranged on the basis of consensus and a basic harmony of interests, values and beliefs between different groups in society Conflict theorists argue that power in stratified societies is maintained by elites using different tools, including physical coercion/violence and ideological influence. They control the dominant institutions of society (e.g. government) and use them to advance their own agenda. Conflict theorists argue that power is often maintained through ideological constructs- such as “The American Dream”- because they serve to create the impression that the social quo is fixed, natural and inevitable or...(next point below) ...that social problems are actually the shortcomings/limitations/failures of individuals rather than how society is organized and structured. For instance, unemployed people are blamed for being lazy. Conflict theorists are also interested in divisions of people in terms of their social status on the basis of different aspects of their identities- e.g. people's class, race, gender, sexuality, cultural heritage, and religion, etc) Conflict theorists assume that the values, interests, beliefs and norms of social elites are valorized and validated in terms of stereotypical conceptions of what a good person is/what a good life is- e.g. we look up at people who have inherited money (so never have to work a day in their life) but look down on people to receive welfare from the government because they are unemployed While people of low social status are typically mocked, denigrated and abused by virtue of prejudicial attitudes and negative stereotypes. (One example of this is how wealthy people often get off lightly for serious crimes in comparison to less well-off individuals) Functionalism: Major theorists include Emile Durkheim, Robert Merton and Talcott Parsons The central question of functionalism is this: how social order/stability possible in the face of constantly changing social circumstances? Functionalism is therefore centred on how different parts of society contribute to the overall goal of social stability It logically has to assume that society is greater than the sum of its parts as every element of society must be somehow "functional" for the stability of society Functionalists are particularly concerned with the role that social institutions play in the maintenance of social order/stability. They assume that while social institutions have different roles and different internal norms, values, beliefs, procedures, etc they ultimately all work collaboratively together as they are interconnected and interdependent Functionalists are also interested in social institutions because they believe that they are pivotal to our socialization in a society's dominant belief-value-norm structure. They articulate our social roles and social expectations of interpersonal conduct Functionalism assumes that society is structured by a fundamental underlying consensus of social values, beliefs, norms, etc which are orientated towards social stability/order Functionalism assumes that when social institutions break-down, or fail to operate effectively, they cause social dysfunctions (e.g. when the economy slows, people lose jobs- when people lose jobs their health suffers, etc. Functionalism assumes that deviant behaviour- violations of established social norms, values and beliefs- cause social change Key points about class (differences between the theories) 1. Functionalism- society is a meritocracy. Everyone has equal opportunities to succeed, therefore inequality is not an a major issue because there is social mobility. Conflict theory- society is not a meritocracy because of factors like: 1) Inherited wealth 2) Discrimination (gender, race, sexuality, etc) 3) Luck 4) Biased government policy (e.g. tax cuts for the wealth) 2. Functionalism- inequality is necessary for people to have incentive and motivation to work hard. By working hard, everyone (even the very poorest) are better off. Conflict theory- wealth in Western countries has actually become more concentrated in the top income/wealth groups. Poorer people have had their quality of life fall since taxes on the very wealthy were reduced from the 1970s. Tickle-down economics only benefits the wealthy. 3. Functionalism- hierarchy is important for the economy to work efficiently. People who have more skills, qualifications, experience, etc need to be paid more because their contribution to society is greater- therefore, income inequality is not unfair. People do not reserve benefits relative to their merits: 1) Often people are poor because they are exploited- not because they have less ability and skill. Instead, they just have less power. 2) Often people are paid more (CEOs) not because they are talented, but because they can rig the rules in their favour 3) Often work which is very valuable to society is under-paid relative to the benefits it creates for society (e.g. a gardener in a public park). Many jobs which pay a lot can be destructive to society or the environment- e.g. mining or speculative banking. Useful resources: Giddens et al, 2018. “Introduction to Sociology”, 11th Edition- pages 173-205. Van Kreiken et al, 2017. “Sociology”, 6th Edition- pages 205-233. Fulcher & Scott, 2011. “Sociology”, 4th edition- pages 695-785. Explain functionalism and symbolic interactionism and outline how they understand crime as a form of social deviance differently. Illustrate your points with examples from Australian society. Introduction Body Conclusion Define the concept of deviance Explain at least 3 parts of functionalism as a sociological theory Begin your conclusion by restating your thesis statement in the past tense This essay has argued that… Define what is ‘crime’ and give an indication of how significant the issue is in Australia- e.g. by using some ABS/BOCSAR stats. Explain at least 3 parts of symbolic interactionism as a sociological theory Summarize the main supporting claims again. Articulate a thesis statement along the lines of: This essay shall argue that the main difference between the functionalist and symbolic interactionist perspectives on crime is… Explain how functionalists view crime Preview your main supporting points in their order of appearance in the body (e.g. Firstly, it shall be argued…) Explain how symbolic interactionists view crime Finish your body by stressing the main differences between the two perspectives on crime Key aspects of the theories you may wish to discuss in your essay: please do NOT copy and paste any of these ideas or paraphrase them. This is not an acceptable resource for the essay and your marks will be negatively impacted if you do use it. Deviance- the violation of widely shared social norms Deviance is culturally and historically relative- its meaning differs from society to society and