Thursday, August 29, 2019

Welcome Parents!


“Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both. (C. Wright Mills)”


Sociology
The study of how individuals are shaped by society.

Mr. Christopher Salituro
Sociology Honors
Telephone:  847-415-4681
Email:  csalituro@d125.org
Blog:  http://sociologysal.blogspot.com

Welcome and thanks. 

Introduction. 

What to know about my class:

            Dual Credit Class.
            Loyola University Chicago
            Apply by Sep 1.
            Register by Oct 1.
            Pay by Nov 1.
            Counts as college class - no AP test.


            Grading.
            Complete the work.
            Try your best.
            Readings, including Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
            EBR - 4, 3, 2, 1
           

            Sociology as a discipline.
            The sociological perspective:  Understanding how individuals are shaped by groups/society.
            Social structure: Family, school, media, peers.
            Social inequality: Gender, race, social class
           
       

Just Mercy Discussion Intro through Chapter 1

Unit 1: Thinking Sociologically (Introduction and Chapters 1)

How can we apply the theories of social construction of reality and sociological imagination to the U.S. prison system?

Can you find examples of sociological mindfulness in the Intro chapter?

How does the lesson of Bryan’s grandma in “getting close” make him a more sociologically mindful person?

What are ways that you can apply the three paradigms to these chapters?


Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Just Mercy I, 1 and Test 1

Today we discussed the intro and chapter 1 for Just Mercy.

Hopefully, this served as a review for you.  There are many ways that you can connect Just Mercy to the three paradigms and the three concepts that we looked at.  Be able to explain and apply each of the following:

Structural functional paradigm
Conflict paradigm
Symbolic interaction paradigm

social construction of reality
sociological imagination
sociological mindfulness

For the book discussion, let me draw your attention to a few passages that I find particularly powerful:

Page 17:
In this book you will learn the story of Walter’s case, which taught me about our system’s disturbing indifference to inaccurate or unreliable verdicts, our comfort with bias, and our tolerance of unfair prosecutions and convictions.  Walter’s experience taught me how our system traumatizes and victimizes people when we exercise our power to convict and condemn irresponsibly-not just the accused but the also their families, their communities, and even the victims of crime.  But Walter’s case also taught me something else: that there is light within this darkness.”

Page 17-18 – “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done...the opposite of poverty is not wealth… it’s justice….The true measure of our commitment to justice , the character of our society, our commitment to the rule of law, fairness and equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich…
We are all implicated when we allow other people to be mistreated.  An absence of compassion can corrupt the decency of a community, a state, a nation.  Fear and anger can make us vindictive and abusive, unjust and unfair, until we all suffer from the absence of mercy and we condemn ourselves as much as we victimize others.  The closer we get to mass incarceration and extreme levels of punishment, the more I believe it is necessary to recognize that we all need mercy, we all need justice and –perhaps- we all need some measure of unmerited grace.”
HW: Bring your Just Mercy Book to class!

Monday, August 26, 2019

Using your sociological imagination to analyze data


Recall that a sociological imagination is understanding that an individual's experience is shaped by where and when they live.  If you have questions, please consult my post from yesterday and ask a student sitting near you.  Today, I want you to use data to use a sociological imagination to understand your own life better.  We will compare North Chicago to SHS/Lincolnshire.  North Chicago is just 10 miles northwest of SHS.

Use your sociological imagination to analyze the three data sources below.  Using your sociological imagination, create a hypothesis for each of the three data sources.  Be sure to cite data to support your hypothesis.

1. Compare high school data from Illinois High School Report Card Data here.  Use data from the link to hypothesize how you (and the opportunities presented to you) might be different if you were going to school in North Chicago as opposed to Stevenson.
If you have trouble accessing the website, here is 2018 data for SHS.
Here is 2018 data for North Chicago.

2. Compare the community data from CMAP.  Here are community snapshots for North Chicago and Lincolnshire.  Hypothesize how the data might shape your experience, opportunities, and challenges if you lived in North Chicago as opposed to Lincolnshire.


3. How might this data reveal that some of the private troubles of different students are really public issues?
4. Please use a sociological imagination using this research from the Pew Research Center.  How might this help you understand your own life better?  Cite data.





Friday, August 23, 2019

Introducing Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson





HW: read Michael Schwalbe's Sociological Mindfulness.


Pre-reading questions:
What do you know about the death penalty?

What are the strengths of the U.S. justice system?

What are the challenges of the U.S. justice system?

Do you think that the U.S. should use capital punishment?

About the book: 
A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machinations, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

 

JUST MERCY is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of justice.

For more info:  http://bryanstevenson.com/


For sociology class:
As you read, look for connections to sociology.  Annotate the book based on the guide below.  Just Mercy is a true story and thus serves as a real-world example to which sociology concepts can be applied.  You will be required to apply the sociology concepts in class to the stories in the book.



Alignment to sociology by unit:

Unit 1: Thinking Sociologically
            Introduction: Higher Ground
            Chapter 1: Mockingbird Players
                                    Meeting Walter McMillan
            Chapter 2: Stand
                                    The dynamics of criminal justice.
Unit 2: Culture
            Chapter 3: Trials and Tribulations
                                    Walter’s Trial moved to a different county.
            Chapter 4: The Old Rugged Cross
                                    Story of Herbert Richardson; Veteran, mental illness & death penalty
Unit 3: Socialization
            Chapter 5: Of the Coming of John
                                    Walter’s trial has new testimony from Darnell Houston
            Chapter 6: Surely Doomed
                                    Charlie on trial 14yrs old
            Chapter 12: Mother, Mother

Chapter 14: Cruel and Unusual
           
Unit 4: Race
            Chapter 7:  Justice Denied
                        Ralph Myers recants his testimony about Walter.

            Chapter 9: I’m Here
           
Chapter 10: Mitigation

Unit 5: Deviance and Social Class
Chapter 8: All God’s Children
                        Trina, Ian and kids
           
Chapter 11: I’ll Fly Away

            Chapter 13: Recovery

            Chapter 15: Broken

            Chapter 16: The Stonecatchers Song of Sorrow

            Epilogue

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            Postscript