SOC 445 – Social Inequality (Winter 2019)

Research Project Overview

In December 2017, Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme and spent two weeks traveling around the and then issued a report that concluded that the US falls short in adequately addressing extreme poverty and ensuring the human rights of the poor. (Links to the report and several news articles on his visit and report are posted in Canvas). As Alston states in the introduction,

“The United States is one of the world’s richest, most powerful and technologically innovative countries; but neither its wealth nor its power nor its technology is being harnessed to address the situation in which 40 million people continue to live in poverty.”

His visit is one of the latest chapters of the story of poverty in the United States which illustrates the widening gap between the rich and the poor and the collective and systemic failure to address the conditions that contribute to income and wealth inequality and poverty throughout the United States. Interestingly, Alston’s report reveals how poverty is structured by race, gender, geographic location, urban/rural location, and other social statuses and issues such as access to healthcare and mass incarceration of interest to us in a class on Social Inequality.

As a class, I would like you to explore the issue of extreme poverty and the failure of the United States to develop policies that effectively address extreme poverty or at least mitigate its impact on vulnerable persons throughout the United States, and thus a failure to respect the human rights of people experiencing poverty. Individually, each student will choose one topic raised in Alston’s report that contributes to extreme poverty or contributes to the failure to adequately address extreme poverty. For example, Alston discusses the stereotypes that exist surrounding poverty and how those stereotypes influence public policy. You can test his conclusion by researching the stereotypes embedded in public discourse on poverty and if/when/how those stereotypes appear (or not) in statements issued by elected officials as they try to gather support for legislation.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

1. The homelessness crisis and its link to the affordable housing crisis; 2. The affordable housing crisis as it relates to people who are poor but not yet homeless; 3. The intersection of poverty with race and/or gender and how race and/or gender changes the way people experience poverty or the obstacles they face in trying to overcome poverty; 4. The (in)ability of people who are experiencing poverty to receive healthcare; 5. The effects of poverty on a person’s health; 6. Disaster relief and poverty in and other parts of the US recovering from natural disasters; 7. The vulnerability of the poor to climate change and other environmental problems 8. The criminalization of homelessness; 9. The link between poverty and mass incarceration; 10. Differences in how extreme poverty is experienced in rural, suburban, and urban areas; and 11. The impact of poverty (or more generally, socioeconomic status) on a person’s ability to effectively participate in democracy.

Because of the complexity of extreme poverty and related topics, you are required to read and utilize at least ten (10) credible sources for your research projects. Five (5) of those sources must be journal articles and/or books written by academic researchers in Sociology and other appropriate fields or practitioners in the relevant field. Remaining sources can include research reports published by reputable think tanks and non-profit organizations that focus on relevant topics and newspaper and magazine articles that conform to strict journalistic standards. Please note that you will not do well on this research project if you put it off until the last minute. Please dedicate time each week to conduct research and reflect on what you are reading. Please note that since you are students in a 400-level class, I will treat you as advanced students in Sociology and/or Social Services. This means you should understand the “basics” of Sociology and Social Services. This “basic” knowledge includes, but is not limited to, knowledge of key terms and concepts and being able to use them appropriately; an ability to do quality research using academic sources; and an ability to be critical thinkers, i.e. being able to recognize potential biases and/or reliance on stereotypes in your sources.

Finally, I highly recommend that you choose a topic related to your chosen career. This research project if done right will allow you to develop some expertise in this topic. You can then use it to impress potential employers or graduate school admissions committees. I offered the above suggestions because they fit into the likely careers of Sociology, Social Service, and Law and Justice majors.

The Research Project, Broken Down:

The research project itself is divided into three parts: the research prospectus (10 pts), the research paper (50 pts), and class presentation (10 pts).

Research Prospectus (due Sunday, January 20, 2019 at 11:59 pm): The research prospectus is a short, 1-2 page description of your research project and what you intend on researching and why you are interested in the topic. It is intended to focus your thoughts and get you to choose a research topic and develop a strategy for conducting the research. I will provide feedback and offer suggestions on how to conduct your research.

Research Paper (due Sunday, March 3, 2019 at 11:59 pm): The research paper is the product of your research where you will provide a summary of what you have learned about your topic and your analysis of the proposed actions or policies to address the issue. I will provide you with a more detailed set of guidelines for the research paper at a later date. The research paper will be approximately 8-10 double-spaced pages long and conform to the normal standards of writing, grammar, and citation of outside sources. The paper will be graded on both content and clarity.

Class Presentations (due Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 11:59 pm): The class presentation is your opportunity to share your research and findings with your classmates. You will “present” by writing a short (3-4 paragraphs) discussion post describing what you learned and your conclusions. Your goal will be to educate your classmates on your topic and to help us better understand the connection between poverty and human rights.