<a href="http://www.prb.org/Articles/2008/racialdisparities.aspx">Race, Ethnicity, and Where You Live Matters: Recent Findings on Health and Mortality of U.S. Elderly - Population Reference Bureau</a>

RACE

What is race and why is it important ? A question that no one seems to have the answer to ...

Response Paper 4

What better way to socialize then to have a good meal ? :)

Mass Media Music Video

Stages of culture shock, check out the link

Response Paper # 1

Valerie Betancourth

Response Paper # 1

Due: 9/8/11

           

            I was never aware of the huge role that sociology played in the understanding of why people in a community did what they did. I had always heard about the term sociology but never fully understood what it was all about. After reading through chapters 1 and 2 I was amazed by how much of the information was just basically common sense and how i could relate to most of the examples that were provided in the text. They were situations that everyday people live with on an everyday basis.  I couldn't have picked a better course to help me expand my knowledge toward my career goals. From the look of all the information that i was able to gather from just reading the first two chapters, I know that this class will be a great contribution for understanding myself and others around me. Since my goal is to become a police officer after i am done with college sociology will definitely help me better understand crime and why there are so many social problems in the communities that i will be working in. Its one thing to fix a problem in the community but it's another thing to understand why it is happening. Sociology plays a big role in depicting criminal behavior and why it occurs more or less in different types of societies.  Sometimes what we would consider to be stereotyping turns out to be the sad truth.  Crime is more likely to happen in areas that are in need of structure and order.  It does not mean that the people living in these areas are bad people or that people in a different area would never do these same things.  It just comes to show that the environment that surrounds you has a bigger impact on your behavior then it gets credit for.   This is just a few concepts that I was able to get out of reading through chapters one and two.  When you understand why a problem started it is way easier to find a solution for it.  Sociology will be just the thing I need so that i can fully understand the root of a problem.  It was also do more for me in a sense that I can better myself, because in order to understand others you must first completely understand yourself.  Even if at some point of time i do not plan to peruse my career in law enforcement by taking this class I will have learned many skills that could be applied in many other job opportunities.  I believe sociology is a great class to take even if you do not want to be sociology major because it has so much to offer about understanding the world that you live in.  One of the things that I enjoyed reading about the most was the different philosophers and how they all had different views on why different communities were dealing with different problems.  Even though I’m might not have agreed with all the philosophers ways of thinking, I did admire them for what they were able to put together with such little resources that were available to them. It is truly amazing that even though many years have passed since these philosophers were around, the concepts that they wrote still seem to apply perfectly to the communities that we live in today.