Social problems in american

The assignment is due on Sunday March 6 at 11:59pm. Late submissions are not accepted. 

Throughout the course of the semester, we have been using our sociological imagination to see how sociology can help us make sense of social phenomena. The concept of sociological imagination is informed by C. Wright Mills distinction between personal troubles and public issues. According to Mills, personal troubles typically place the blame on individuals affected by said problems while public issues lie in the social structure and culture of a society and affect many individuals at once.

When we use our sociological imagination, we connect personal troubles to public issues and learn to realize that personal troubles are rooted in problems in the larger social structure. This in turn participates in defining social problems.

 Social problems are conditions or behaviors that have negative consequences for large numbers of people and that are generally recognized as conditions or behaviors that need to be addressed. Social problems are persistent, but they have also changed over the years. During the semester we have explored and discussed several social problems. This time, the goal of this paper is to try to solve and/or ameliorate a social problem of your choosing.

The issue can be broad or narrow in scope. Depending on the issue, it might be easier to consider narrower or more specific solutions. For instance, it might be difficult to think about a solution that would end sexism; instead, it might be easier to consider a policy to reduce the gender pay gap although I dont want to discourage you from thinking about large-scale solutions.

Your final paper should include the following:

1. An explanation of what the social problem is and why it is a social problem and not a personal trouble. Provide evidence of the existence of the problem from one popular news source and one peer-reviewed source (scholarly journal or book).
2. An overview of what has already been done to solve/ameliorate the issue at the local, national, and/or global levels. Provide evidence of said solutions from one popular news source and one peer-reviewed source (same as the above or different ones).
3. A detailed explanation of your suggestion to address the issue. Be creative and innovative but make sure that your solution is appropriate and doable (your grade will depend on it). For example, if you are proposing to reduce waste to protect the environment, it is not acceptable to imply that the solution is to never buy anything ever again and say that it was easy to save the environment. It is okay for your proposed solution to be somewhat challenging.
4. An explanation of why your proposed solution would be meaningful, and impactful.
5. How easy or difficult would it be to implement your solution? At the individual level? At the community level? Nation-wide? Internationally? (As appropriate some of these might be irrelevant for your chosen issue) Explain and support your argument.
6. Will the existing solutions from the articles eventually solve the problem or not? Support your argument.
7. A concluding paragraph summarizing what you have learned from this assignment.

Your paper should be at least between 750 and 1,000 words, typed, double spaced, and use correct grammar, using Times New Roman or Arial (12 for the font size). The margins must be 1 inch on each side. These will impact your grade.

Dont hesitate to reach out to me if you are not sure whether the issue you selected is a social problem or not (a lot of them are!) or if you want feedback on your proposed solution before you submit the paper (is too board or narrow?)

Make sure to include a reference page with your cited material. You can use the content from the class, but these wont count toward the sources required to write the paper.