Complete the assigned readings from Practical Skeptic – Core Concepts, and view all of the multimedia and other materials for this module. Answer the following questions related to any four of the following readings 2 from the first five articles and 2 from the last three articles. (about 1-2 paragraphs per reading):
Culture
Reading 8 – Queer Customs
What does Kluckhohn mean by the phrase “culturally standardized unreason”? Offer some examples of such unreason from your own culture.
Reading 9 – Body Ritual Among the Nacirema
Do you think you would enjoy a vacation in the land of the Nacirema? Why or why not? Where do the Nacirema live? Why can Miner’s description be explained as “making the familiar strange?”
Reading 10 – Gendered Sexuality in Young Adulthood: Double Binds and Flawed Options
What is the intersectional approach in this research study? How does this approach inform the sociological analysis of gender and social class in the university environment?
Reading 11 – Families of Incarcerated African American Men: The Impact on Mothers and Children
What is the collateral damage of the impact of incarceration of African American men on their families as discussed in the article? Why is this important to address?
Reading 12 – The Girl Hunt: Urban Nightlife and the Performance of Masculinity
The author of this study illustrates a point often made in the sociology of gender literature: that gender is enacted rather than possessed. This particular article deals with enactment of masculinity in the modern urban scene of dating and hunting for a mate. Describe the ritualistic behaviors observed by this author while observing “the girl hunt” in this study.
Socialization
Reading 13 – Anybody’s Son Will Do
Erving Goffman (1961) described “total institutions” as living/working environments that cut people off from the wider society and regulate every detail of their daily lives. Based on what you have learned from Dyer’s description of how this total institution resocializes a person, what sorts of procedures would you institute in your total institution to help ensure its success? For example, what sorts of things would you do to your “recruits” when they first arrive at your total institution?
Reading 14 – Suspended Identity: Identity Transformation in a Maximum Security Prison
Schmid and Jones describe a process of identity transformation in a maximum security prison. Why do you think the “suspended identity process” is more valuable in this context than straightforwardly grasping a new identity? Compare a similar experience you have had (not necessarily in prison) involving this process of identity transformation with another experience in which the new identity was more easily accepted. How did these circumstances differ?
Reading 15 – Growing Up is Harder to Do
What does it mean to be an adult for young people today? What has changed and what has stayed the same from earlier generations? What are the implications of this shift for society and the process of socialization?
0 comments