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Objective: To explain a recent news event using a social psychological theory of stereotyping, prejudice, or discrimination
Objective: To explain a recent news event using a social psychological theory of stereotyping, prejudice, or discrimination
Sociology
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Objective: To explain a recent news event using a social psychological theory of stereotyping, prejudice, or discrimination.
The purpose of this paper is to start your thinking about how the psychology of prejudice and discrimination can be applied to everyday life. Your task is to discuss how theory from text or lecture can explain a recent news event.
You may use any news event that you find interesting. However, the event must have occurred within the last three months and must be “news.” It cannot be a) a sports article; b) a human interest story; c) an editorial or blog post; d) a Twitter, Facebook, or other social media post. It should be an actual article of at least a page (and not just a paragraph). The best sources for acceptable news are news outlets, such as the local school or town paper, the New York Times, CNN.com, MSNBC.com, or Foxnews.com. Note that clips from shows such as The Daily Show or Last Week Tonight are not news, although they might lead you to actual news stories.
Guidelines:
- Your paper should focus on how well you applied the theory to the topic. It does not matter which theory you apply as long as you make a logical argument and apply the theory correctly.
- Do not choose an article that already clearly labels an event as prejudice or discrimination (e.g., a court case describing gender discrimination or an article that already uses a theory to explain an act of prejudice and discrimination). So, for example, sometimes students find articles like “Person X filed a claim that he was discriminated against for his age" or an article that says "social psychologists explain racism using Intergroup Relations Theory.” In this case, their work has been done for them. It is okay if the article mentions prejudice or discrimination. If you have any doubts at all, run the article by me.
- Choose an article that focuses on a social group that is covered in the text. So, for example, focus on race/ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, national origin, etc. Do not choose a social group that is not covered in the text.
- Be careful not to simply summarize the article. You should spend your time explaining how the theory applies, not on the content of the article. The summary of the article should not be more than 1 paragraph.
- Be sure you are explaining the event using social psychological theories of prejudice and discrimination. Do not just label an event (or mention the theory) and leave it at that. It is not enough to say that the article shows that a group was discriminated against, for example. You must point out why it occurred and which theory of discrimination applies. Do not simply say it’s an example of, say, social role theory; tell me why social role theory applies. Labeling something (e.g., organizational or cultural discrimination) is also not sufficient. These are definitions, not theories.
- Focus on one theory. Many theories may be relevant, but you should choose the one theory you believe best explains the event and stick with it. Students who try to use several theories always weaken their papers. I recommend that you use a theory that has already been covered in class or your text, but you may look ahead to a theory not yet discussed if you are certain you understand the theory.
- The goal of this paper is to look at theories about stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination and how they might apply in everyday life. It is not an opinion paper about your personal beliefs about social groups and/or political issues.
- Be sure to attach a copy of the article to your paper or the url linking to the article.
