DISCUSSION TOPICS AND INSTRUCTIONS

For each Discussion, click on the Discussions link under the Course Menu on the left of the Home page and select the topic and post your response. Go to the same place to reply to each topic as well. (Essentially, you will be posting a response to the current topic, and replying to at least one post from the previous topic.) See calendar on home page for due dates for both the posts and replies.

Note: Write all of your Discussions in Word (or somewhere other than Laulima where you can save them). Then simply copy and paste them into the text box in Laulima.

If after posting you notice HTML code in your post (ie, all of those odd looking characters), please edit your post by clicking on 'Edit' and then 'Source' in the upper-left hand area of the box; you'll see the code that needs to be deleted once you click 'Source.' When you finish cleaning it up, click 'Source' again, and then click 'Post edited message' at the bottom. This will help other students who want to read your post.

Students are responsible for making sure that all of their posts are on the Discussion page; emailed Discussions will not be accepted.

The discussion topics are listed here, below the rubric.                                       

Response Rubric: To give you a general idea for length, your posts should be about a page in length, and your replies should also be about a page in length.

Please see below the rubric for model answers.

I read (and enjoy reading!) all of your posts and replies, and I will use the rubric below to grade them.

*Take note that the posts are not meant to be opinion pieces: the idea is to connect what you say to course content from the chapters. Posts that don't incorporate course content will receive minimal points. See rubric below.

*For your reply, avoid discussing the same ideas that you already discussed in your post. Points will not be given for ideas you've already discussed.

*All edits must be complete before the due date and time in order for the Discussion to be 'on time'.

MODEL ANSWERS:

Discussion Question: Use your sociological imagination to explain family violence, as explained in the chapter.  Explore the social construction of masculinity to explain men's violence against women, as shown in the video Crazy Love.

EXAMPLE OF POST THAT RECEIVED +20/20

Within any family, there are family functions and dysfunctions that determines the outcome of one’s family structure—how unified and ideal a family is. A family function is based on whether the basic family necessities are met (the proper provision of love and support) and failure to do is what creates a family dysfunction. One such family dysfunction is family violence. There is a wide range of ways family violence can be carried out and found: an alcoholic parent, drug-addicted teenager, a physically and emotionally abused child and more are all examples of family violence. Problems concerning these issues involve the effects they have on the members of the family unit, and outcomes of the issues include social, emotional and developmental difficulties. Many are then left in need of professional help. There are also many stressors, such as normative stressors and acute stressors, which the text mentions. These are a different type of family tragedies, which do not deal with abuse but are also very detrimental. Events such as having a baby or entering bankruptcy are some of the stressors that may have a connection to family violence due to the frustration and problems it may create.  

Family abuse can travel from parent to child. Statistically 1 in 3 sexually abused children become abusers, similar to their parents. These statistics can be the same for other forms of abuse, where anger management or physical/emotional abuse can also pass from parent to child. A poorly functioning family is often faced with these sorts of issues. Inability to cope with problems, lack of understanding, inadequate love and care, the absence of fulfilling basic needs are all signs of a poorly functioning family. Where in most families, love and care ties everyone together, as it is expected in ideal families, other families express their feelings and emotions of anger and hate through violence. Most of the violence occurs privately in one’s house, but the media has been featuring and spreading the awareness of beaten children or battered wives. Parent-child abuse, spousal abuse, sibling abuse and sexual abuse, all forms of family violence, have been circulating on the news. There are many signs victims of abuse may express. Most exhibit a change in their behavior. Sleep problems, fear of attending school, unusual aggressiveness are examples of these signs. Millions of children experience these sorts of abuse. Statistically 6.3 million US children were potentially maltreated. Many cases undergo investigation but there are more that have been left unreported.

The question that rises is, where does one draw the line of what is abuse and what is not? To the majority, the line is clear. Anything forceful is abuse, for example. In the text, there was the issue of spanking. How does a parent scold their child? Is spanking appropriate or considered abuse in any situation, whether it is a soft hitting or not? The fact is that any physical hitting is and should be abuse. As the text points out, spanking may emotionally, physically and sexually hurt someone. In exploring and Googling child abuse, there are many cases that are presented on the Internet. These are much worse than spanking. Child abuse happens daily. “Spokeman Valley man charged with child abuse,” “Woman charged with felony child abuse,” titles such as these appear frequently in the news and social media. The question of interest is, why is child abuse such as these on the rise? In both cases, the victims are quite young. These two cases feature children who are not even two years of age. The assignment of the video Crazy Love is to explore men’s violence against women. With that in mind, there is a proposed idea about the victims of abuse. Both children and women are known to be targets of abuse. It is not common for men to be victims in the eyes of society, although it happens. Why is this so? One reason could be because children and women are considered easy targets and powerless under the preconception of male dominance over females and olden days family structure of men being the leaders. There was an experiment that led to the Duluth Model, which focuses on reducing violence against women. The point is that many women experience violence but it is important to remember that domestic violence is not only a woman issue, as Leslie Steiner explains in her ted talk Crazy Love.

In Crazy Love, Leslie Steiner explains how she was abused by her first husband Connor in her early 20s. Five days before her marriage was the first time he started physically abusing her. For the next few years of their marriage, he abused her once or twice per week. Steiner explains the way spouse abuse works. It begins by seducing and charming the victim. Then isolating the victim for the abuse to take place. When the victim decides to escape the abuse and leave is the final step. This step is killing the victim. In a way, the abuser manipulates the victim. By creating a feeling of attachment, he then creates trust and later control. In her presentation of her story, Steiner explains how 85% of the abusers are men, 1 in 3 women share the similar experience of abuse and that 15 million children are abused every year. This coincides with the fact that society often leaves out the fact that men are also victims of abuse. Of course, however, violence can happen to anyone despite one’s age, gender or race. And the fact that there is a thing called family violence is because much of the abuse occurs in interdependent, intimate, long-term relationships, as Steiner explains. 

EXAMPLE OF REPLY THAT RECEIVED +20/20

I agree with you! The facts and statistics present a very important message to not only victims of abuse but the world: family violence is an issue and a very big one that must be addressed. But what is very interesting about the topic of family violence and abuse is who the victims and abusers are. According to our reading, statistics show that men tend to demonstrate family violence more than women. In general, males are known to be more aggressive than females. Physically men are stronger. Men are always involved in the fighting part of war. Not only in war, but criminal gangs are often populated with men. It is less likely for women to be involved in dangerous actions or events. Ideally, women are known to be softer, less aggressive and more emotional than men. This leads one to ask: could this idea of male dominance and female inferiority be connected to the common idea of females always being the victims of abuse? Even if men experience family violence/abuse too, the first thing that comes to mind to many is men being the abusers. There is a movie called Gone Girl, which presents a man who is blamed for his missing wife. There is a twist to the ending(spoiler) that shows how society overlooks men as abusers rather than innocent in these sorts of situations.    

Statistics show that 85% of the abusers are men, as Leslie Steiner talks about in her ted talk Crazy Love. This very much supports the idea that women are victims of abuse and men are the abusers. In visiting a PBS website concerning family violence, questions such as why don’t women leave abusive relationships are asked (http://www.pbs.org/kued/nosafeplace/studyg/domestic.html.)Although it is more common for women to be abused, men can also be victims of abuse. Women can also act out of violence. This is important because one must understand that family violence can happen to anyone of any age, any sex and any race. But why is there more focus on helping women get out of family violence than helping men? The idea is that the difference in size and strength is what makes female victims to be of concern. Males are bigger and stronger. Although this is so, family violence must be addressed as an issue for everyone, not only women. This is similar to gender roles and stereotypes and coincides with the fight for equality. Everyone should be treated and cared for the same despite one’s age, gender or race.

Addressing the statistics and facts is very informative, but what is also interesting is the topic of violence as family violence. Why does the topic focus on family violence? Family violence is one of the major social issues today, and Leslie Steiner answers this question in Crazy Love. Her answer is that violence is commonly found in interdependent, intimate and long-term relationships. Why not strangers? What is interesting is that this coincides with the idea that we hurt the ones we love the most. Could it be that these relationships are more significant to us that we end up hurting the ones we love the most? Or that we spend more time with them so they are always there to take the blame or mistreatment? This presents another interesting topic to explore. The idea of family violence is that one hurts his or her family members, whether is it a lover, sibling, or child. Perhaps the answer is that we do not want to deal with those who refuse to engage with us. It is odd for one to inflict harm on a random stranger unless there is a reason behind it, and this reason must deal with some sort of connection to someone. Being rejected or needing to feel in control, for example, are feelings that lead to family violence. As Steiner explains in her presentation, the wish of victims of abuse is to escape and start a new life but it is difficult to do so with the existence of the abuser. As she says, the last stage a man will go through to abuse his partner is killing her. This is a symbol of control. In some cases of abuse, if she escapes, he will kill her.  

EXAMPLE OF POST THAT RECEIVED +8/20

Family violence occurs when there is a dysfunction happening in the family. This type of behavior shouldn’t be seen as a normal occurrence. According to the text “family abuse is the physical, sexual, or emotional maltreatment or harm of another family member. It is unethical, immoral and illegal”. The most common model, according to the text, that is used to interfere in domestic violence is the Duluth Model. This model claims that it is the “community that controls the abusers, there are differing types of abuse and each must be responded to in appropriate ways, that socio-economic and historical factors of persons involved must be considered, and that intervention must include perpetrators and victims”. In some cases, those who are abusers were also victims of abuse.

The construction of masculinity is definitely a reason as to why men are usually the abusers. Men are taught at a young age that they need to be tough, they are conditioned through the media, families, and friends. In the video “Crazy Love”, the woman in the video was a victim because of the men. Her abuser was abused when he was younger. Because he was abused at such a young age by his step-father, it resulted in him to become the one to prey on others.  

EXAMPLE OF REPLY THAT RECEIVED +8/20

I liked how you compared domestic abuse to intimate terrorism because they are both so similar and I didn't see it until you said it. Relating to what you said about the abuser having it happen to them as a child I found it crazy that one part of the reading where the 64 year old guy was the first in his line of generations to not be abusive. Everything that we do as adults and parents can influence a child even the abuse and mistreatment of others in the family. I think domestic violence also tends to happen more in women as compared to men because women will usually put up with more and stay as compared to a man. Not in every case, but men tend to not be as emotionally connected or attached as woman tend to be and they rarely have the mentality of "wanting to change them" and whatever else she explained in the video. Great post! 

DISCUSSION TOPICS

Intro Discussion : Tell us a bit about yourself! Click on 'discussions' on the menu on the left; then click on 'Introduce Yourself' and answer the questions there. Note: For this particular Discussion, you are not required to reply to other students' introductions -- although you certainly can if you'd like! :)

First Discussion: Introduction to Sociology :  Apply the Sociological Imagination to Billie’s story to explain Billie's “personal troubles.”  Which specific social institutions, cultural values, and/or historical events, for example, are influencing her life? Why do you think this? Make specific connections to course content from the reading.

Second Discussion: Culture :  Describe a specific example of culture shock that you (or someone else you know) have experienced. From a sociological perspective, why do people experience culture shock? What is the difference between 'culture shock' and 'ethnocentrism'?  Make specific connections to course content from the reading.

Third Discussion: Socialization and Development :  According to sociologists, ‘socialization’ is the lifelong process of social interaction through which individuals acquire the social, physical, and mental skills necessary for survival in society.’ How does ‘socialization’ of the boy and the girl in the film help explain the conflict shown in the film? Is one type of socialization better than the other? Why or why not? Make specific connections to course content from the reading.

Fourth Discussion: Social Structure and Interaction : What aspects of the ‘social structure’ (as defined by the reading) have affected the young man in the video? How have various social institutions affected your life? What do you think affects people’s lives the most: the ‘social structure’, or our own ‘interaction’?

Fifth Discussion: Deviance and Crime :  After reading the Case Study of Anita Jackson, which theory of deviant behavior do you think best explain Anita’s criminal behavior?  Could more than one theory be applied? What information about Anita not included in her case study would help us to better understand her situation? Offer specific examples from Anita's case study in the discussion. Make specific connections to course content from the reading.

Sixth Discussion: Social Class : How common do you think the Murphy’s experience, in general, is? What is happening in the larger society that may be affecting their lives? Is this type of experience common in Hawaii? Make specific connections to the video and course content from the reading.

Seventh Discussion: Race and Ethnicity :  What connections can you make between the messages in the Strange Fruit video and contemporary society, and/or your own upbringing? Also, what connections can you make between the Strange Fruit film and The Myth of Race, Debunked in 3 Minutes video (linked on the Homepage calendar)? Make specific connections to the videos and course content from the reading.

Eighth Discussion: Gender :  At the end of the video it is stated that “All gender is drag.” Do you agree with this? How are the expected performances of masculinity and femininity in this culture different from each other? Are there any similarities? Beyond clothing, how else do people perform gender? Make specific connections to the video and course content from the reading.

Ninth Discussion: Families : What are the most important functions of the family, according to the reading? What might be some examples of 'family' shown in the film? How do our families influence our experiences and our lives? Make specific connections to the video and course content from the reading.

Tenth Discussion: Social Movements and Social Change : Do you think that using social media can lead to social change? Offer specific examples in your discussion. Make specific connections to course content from the reading.

Final Thoughts : Let your classmates know what you plan to do next semester!