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?

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!

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.