Wolf's Sociology 204

An excellent research paper by Kristy Reddick - Spring 2008

Throughout the countless wars of human history, rape and other forms of sexual violence have been perpetrated against citizens by advancing soldiers and occupational military forces. While in the past, rapes and other sexual aggressions have been considered as random occurrences taking place in the "fog of war", increasing evidence may prove to debunk this social myth, especially in cases of ethnic cleansing and genocide. The opportunistic rape and pillage of previous centuries has been replaced in modern conflict by rape used as an orchestrated combat tool, (Smith-Spark, 2008) used to humiliate and demoralize individuals and cause ruinous rifts between spouses, extended family members and whole communities.

Continue reading "The Strategic Use of Rape as a Weapon in War and Ethnic Cleansing" »

Posted by Rowan at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is an excellent research paper by Jeremiah Ashbaugh - Spring 2008

I chose this topic because there does not seem to be a week that goes by that I hear some comment from a friend, family member, the media, or just someone in passing that seems to falsely explain the poverty situation. It has become obvious to me that American's in general really buy the "pull yourself up by bootstraps" theory, hook, line and sinker. My mother, who raised me, came from a poor family of twelve brothers and sisters and sometimes around mealtime, it was survival of the fittest. Needless to say, I have also been socialized to think that the homeless and poor create their own problems and if they wanted to do better, they could, just like my mom and her siblings. That the lower class and poor are lazy and that they do nothing but drain the money out of the hard working pockets of people who have pulled themselves up by their boot straps. Through much observation, life experience, a decent amount of reading, and some informative classes I have concluded that this issue is far more complex then the general public understands.

Continue reading "How the poor stay poor" »

Posted by Rowan at 10:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An excellent example of a research paper by Tiffany Rozee - June 2008

Today, roughly149,000 women are incarcerated throughout the United States. (TIME Magazine Tammerlin/ Drummmond, Miami 2000) What has contributed to women being sent to jail, and how are they treated in prisons that were designed and structured for men? When a new methodology was introduced called the feminist scholarship (Belknap in 2001) there was more information brought to light on why women committed crimes, and how gender plays a large part in the type of crimes.

Continue reading "Women incarcerated: Why life behind bars? " »

Posted by Rowan at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An excellent example of paper 2 by Autumn Kniel - spring 2008

Through reading Daniel Quinn's Ishmael, the reader is introduced to two very different societies that live on Earth together, but not so harmoniously or cooperatively. These two societies are the Takers and the Leavers. The Takers can be seen as the people of "civilized" cultures and the Leavers as those of "primitive" cultures (Quinn, 39). In other words, the Takers are you and I and culture of Ishmael's pupil, while the Leavers are those people of all the other cultures besides our own lumped together (Quinn, 39). Also, according to Ishmael, a story is a scenario interrelating man, the world, and the gods, while culture can be seen as a people enacting a story (Quinn, 41). To enact a story is "to live so as to make the story a reality" (Quinn, 41). It is here where we dissect the stories that the Takers and the Leavers are enacting, as well as the effects of having the Takers and the Leavers co-inhabit our planet.

Continue reading "A Societal and Cultural Perspective: The Takers and the Leavers" »

Posted by Rowan at 8:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

FRANCE: Noble Ignorance Fails the Minorities. Hilaire Avril. IPS. 6/04/2008.

PARIS, Jun 4 (IPS) - According to the French constitution, France has no minorities. French law makes it illegal to record citizens' ethnic origin or religion. But in the face of mounting discrimination, France recently introduced corrective institutions. However, the system is still in its infancy.

Continue reading "FRANCE: Noble Ignorance Fails the Minorities" »

Posted by Rowan at 7:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Rowan Wolf. The article below is additional information for age-based stratification.

Social Stratification by age is the most fundamental of stratification systems. One could argue that the way a society structures itself and its cultural ideology around age is indicative of how it constructs other forms of stratification. For example, one of the primary ways of "putting people in their place" is tone of voice. Higher status groups are generally talked to in a "respectful" tone of voice. Those with lower status are often "talked down" to - or talked to as if they were children. This early socialization into age status rules and roles are often reflected in the way other status group rules operate.

Continue reading "Age Stratification" »

Posted by Rowan at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This article from CNN discusses middle class people who are now homeless because on the mortgage crisis, housing slump, and downturn in the economy.

Mom forced to live in car with her dogs.

Interestingly, Santa Barbara has designated 12 parking lots as places where homeless with vehicles may safely (and legally) park their cars.

Posted by Rowan at 7:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)