There are four basic areas we've touched on in this first unit: Social problems, the media (we discussed news media as a problem in a couple of ways--as presenting biased or distorted views, and as a threat to democracy), global warming (anything that threatens the human species should merit our attention), and depletion of the world's resources (a good example of how a social problem can be framed in different ways that both seem plausible). Keep in mind: the links are provided as an aid--there is other material within the readings and lecture material, and you should have class notes--ideally, to prepare for the exam, you can 'triangulate' between these three sources.

Also, remember how the exam is structured. And come prepared on Friday with questions for me--the session doesn't go well if I'm leading it, because I don't know which concepts students are most struggling with.

Social problems

• Here's a primer on social problems you'll want to know. This page will also help you think about social problems. And here's the basic framework of questions. I've also put up some links on the main lecture page in week one (causes, consequences, benefits, framing, what to do), so each of those is designed to help you think about those specific questions applied to specific problems.
• How can social problems be viewed as structural versus individual, and their causes and effects as structural, versus individuals' problems or character flaws? I'll expect you can come up with examples of your own. We've discussed this at several points in the first five weeks. Ask on Friday if you have questions.
• How can social problems be viewed as socially constructed? In other words, there is no one agreed-upon definition--these are contested, and often politically charged issues. Groups try to 'frame' the issues for the public, often in ways that will benefit their own interests. We've discussed the struggle between different groups to define or frame social problems in the public arena--to influence the debate. How does this happen? Who has the power to define or 'frame' social problems, how do they get that power, and how do they use it? That of course will change depending on the social problem. But access to mass media is important. As an example, ExxonMobil is very interested in injecting uncertainty into the debate about whether human activity, especially in industrial societies, contributes to global warming. They've spent millions to hire PR firms, get their 'experts' to appear on network television, and discredit the science that they disagree with. But ExxonMobil may not care much about influencing debates over whether drinking and driving is an individual problem of 'making bad choices,' or some sort of religious problem, or whether the alcohol and beverage industry and others who profit from selling alcohol are using public relations firms to frame the problem in a certain way, and portray makers of distilled spirits as socially responsible. Now large corporations may all come together if they feel that their interests are collectively threatened, for instance through more regulation, higher corporate taxes, penalties on firms moving jobs overseas, etc. Otherwise, different social problems will have different constellations of 'stakeholders' (people and groups with a stake in how problems are defined and addressed).

Media, money and politics

• What has happened to media ownership in the last 20 years, and does it pose a social problem? If so, who benefits/is harmed? How does it affect the news most Americans get (to the extent they get any) ?
• What is the relationship between elected politicians, the media, corporations, and consumers (how do they need, use each other)?
• How do commercial news organizations benefit from election campaigns?
• Is the influence of money in politics a social problem (can you go through the SP framework)?
• Is there a liberal bias in the media (be able to argue 'both' sides, but have an opinion--this means you need to be familiar with the liberal/conservative, democrat/republican, left/right distinction)? Or a conservative bias? Or a corporate bias? Are liberal journalists employed by wealthy, politically connected corporations? And what kind of news media--commercial, non-commercial, public, etc.? Does it matter how a news organization makes its money? Why and how?
• How is news filtered? Does the process vary, depending on how a news outlet makes its money? This is an important one for understanding bias--what are the pressures that censor certain kinds of stories, while 'letting' others get through?
• Can you go through the questions we've asked in class about social problems (with your own examples)?
• The outline page has useful resources

Are humans causing global warming?

• Greenhouse effect, greenhouse gases--what are the main ones, what are the key carbon sources and sinks?
• Global warming
• Causes, consequences--what are some of the driving social forces and ecological processes?
• Social problem(s)?--is it a problem (how do you know)? Social (how)? What are some possible causes? Which groups are trying to influence public debate, and how? How does this help identify who's benefiting from the problem (or from a proposed solution)? What should or could be done? How is it framed (here's one way; here's another)? Who has money to influence media, and who benefits from action/no action?
• Laws of thermodynamics--they will definitely help you sort through why the vast majority of scientists studying this issue think that burning fossil fuels is having global consequences
• Also some material on the outline pages with graphs, charts, some of the data that makes this more than just 'opinion.'

What's happening to the world's resources?

• What are natural resources anyway, and how do societies use them (this may help you understand Hardin and resource issues, but I won't test on specifics of the resource process)? You don't really need to memorize this, but it's good to go through and understand just how energy and resource-intensive it is for societies to use resources, especially in processes of mass production and consumption.
• Hardin and the tragedy of the commons. This is a good example of how a social problem can be defined in two pretty different ways, even where both definitions or 'frames' seem pretty persuasive. This is a really good one for thinking about how problems are 'socially constructed' or framed, and how public debates get waged. It's also good for thinking about individual and structural approaches to social problems (Hardin talks at length about perfectly rational individual behaviors leading to irrational collective outcomes). Jared Diamond presents a different perspective--what is he saying about what's driving the problem, and how it should be addressed?
• What is an externality, and why is it important to consumption? What do we mean by sustainability? Renewables vs non-renewables?
• Also an outline page.

Words of advice

Keep in mind-this is a social problems class. Yes, I'm interested in you grasping the content we discuss. But I'm more focused on you learning to think about social problems, and developing the ability to gather information and think through the issues on your own. When class is over, you may or may not remember specific problems. But if you have a means to think about them, to analyze them, you'll have the tools to be more skeptical and critical of how debates over these issues get framed for public consumption. The content we're just using for examples, though I have put a bit of time and thought into the problems I've chosen and their importance for societies.

On Study Strategies

As for how to study, it's a lot of information. If you try to memorize it fact by fact, you probably won't feel prepared. That's not a good strategy for learning--you'd be better off trying to connect ideas. So we've discussed how to think about social problems, which you can apply to anything we've discussed. We went into some detail about how debates get 'framed' through the mass media (TV, print, radio, cinema, Internet, etc.), and how getting access to mass media is so important, placing a premium on having the money to get one's message out, or the power or influence to get news coverage without having to pay for it (e.g., campaign ads and such). There may be social problems with media, and even when discussing those problems, different groups will try to frame 'bias' in self-serving ways (remember our discussions of left vs right, republican vs democrat, red state vs blue state, liberal vs conservative, Coke vs Pepsi). Figuring out the framing and media helps when you have a sense of who stands to benefit from the status quo, or from change. And remember that if no one were benefiting from a social problem, society would probably try pretty hard to make it go away. Even poverty is a problem that benefits many groups.

Then, what to do? Well, once you have some sense of what might be causing a problem, who might be benefiting, and how it's being framed and how that affects public perceptions and opinions, you'll have a better idea of where the problem can be addressed effectively.

So you would be better off thinking of this social problems class as a story--the framework gives you the tools to read and interpret the story, and you have some examples on which to apply it--global warming, media, population growth and resource use. Practicing how to think about social problems using those specific examples is likely a better strategy for studying, and going over the lecture material not a crazy idea, either.

Film(s)

The Inside Job is the only one we've seen through. The securitization food chain is probably the most important thing to take away from that, and how it increased risk to the system, and who paid the price (e.g., back to causes, consequences, who was benefiting, how framed, what to do).

On the exam . . .

Test will be about 20% multiple choice, 15% matching, with the rest as short answer and essay. You will have choices on the essay and short answer (e.g., I might ask you to answer 5 of the following 7 questions). Also, keep in mind that we'll be doing the test over two days. The first day you'll take it as an individual, the second day in small groups (which I'll assign mainly by location-where you're sitting that day).

You'll have three options the second day: take the test in a group, decline to re-take the test (and settle for whatever grade you get on the first day), or take it as an individual. In any case, the second day can only improve your grade (it's worth 25% of the 100 points). I won't use it to lower your grade on the midterm.

So basically in this class everything is geared around thinking about social problems--how to analyze them, how to think about how they get 'framed' and discussed in public (media playing a big role), how to think structurally about them (be wary of explanations of social problems that point to individuals as the causes), how to take a really big one where the human component is disputed (global warming), and how to think about alternative framings that each makes valid arguments ('tragedy of the commons').

• No discussion group content on the midterm exam
• Films we've seen (that should fit nicely into several exam answers. Inside Job you should understand as a product of filtering, perhaps, and also what the film is trying to expose (and why the public didn't get this from the news):
  • Outfoxed
  • Inside Job

One last thing:

If you need more time on the exam, have a documented disability or speak English as a second or third language, contact the Learning or Testing Center about accommodations that are available (usually meaning extra time).