Define a moral panic and describe its five characteristics. Identify a panic that you are familiar with and explain how it matches up with these characteristics.
What will be an ideal response?
Moral panics are, according to Cohen: “conditions, episodes, persons or groups of person [that emerge] to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests (p. 130). Goode and Yehuda list five elements to these panics
Concern (public, can be measured by such things as opinion polls)
Hostility (folk devils, morality plays generated in the public)
Consensus (agreement in the society or societal segments that a threat exists)
Disproportionality (the concern is out of proportion/the claims are exaggerated)
Volatility (they typically arise quickly and may go away quickly. They may also become institutionalized (war of drugs, e.g.).
Students may select different types of panics (Salem Witch trials, current immigration moral panic, satanic panics, etc.)
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Which of the following scenarios exemplifies stereotypes?
A. Eric, a white man, makes a generalization that all Asians have strong academic backgrounds. B. Jamal, an African American man, marries his white girlfriend. C. Mia, a Puerto Rican woman, prefers to live among other Puerto Ricans in the United States. D. Nina, an Asian American woman, adopts the values and beliefs of the U.S. culture. E. Fred, a white man, believes that his race is superior to all other races.
After controlling for Z, the partial correlation coefficient is .78 . The bivariate Pearson's r between X and Y was only .51 . Which interpretation is consistent with these results?
a. None, these results are mathematically impossible. b. There is a spurious relationship between X and Y c. X and Z are both caused by Y d. X and Z are separate, uncorrelated causes of Y
According to Milton Gordon, integration into the secondary sector will lead to ______.
A. acculturation B. pluralism C. integration in the primary sector D. further declines in social unity
Discuss how the capitalist class has used science, technology, and the government to control workers over time.
What will be an ideal response?