1. Discuss the relationship between patriarchy and gender stratification.
2. Define and distinguish sexism and racism.
3. Discuss the relationship between gender and the major social institutions.
4. Discuss the factors that have contributed to the increased number of women in the workforce today.
5. Explain why violence against women is a gender issue and identify the forms that it takes.
6. Discuss liberal feminism, socialist feminism, and radical feminism.
7. Explain how gender inequality is constructed as a social problem by conservatives, liberals, and radicals on the left. Discuss how these varying perspectives shape how solutions are defined.
8. Apply sociology’s major theoretical approaches to gender and gender inequality. Provide one criticism or limitation of each theoretical approach.
9. Define norms, law, and crime. Use the video “What Would You Do?” to provide examples.
10. Discuss the social construction of crime.
11. Discuss the factors that determine whether a particular violent behavior is or is not a problem.
12. Discuss how the mass media—radio, television, movies, and the Internet—affect how people, and especially children, perceive the world around them.
13. What insights do we gain by applying structural-functional, symbolic-interaction, and social-conflict approaches to crime? What is one criticism or limitation of each theoretical approach?
14. Discuss the major elements of our current criminal justice system today—police, courts, and punishment. Note the views of supporters and critics of each.
15. Identify and discuss the various justifications for punishment. Which do you think is most compelling? Why? Which do you think is least compelling? Why?
16. Discuss the crime problem from the conservative, liberal, and radical perspectives. How does politics shape the construction of the “crime problem,” as well as the selection of solutions?
