The Undergraduate Journal of Sociology 13
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IDEATE The Undergraduate Journal of Sociology 13 Contents First year essays Natasha Bristow: SC111 The Sociological Imagination • Introduce and discuss Du Bois’ notion of “double consciousness”. Is the notion still relevant today? Angella M Denman: SC101 Researching Social Life I • Research Proposal: Is there a linK between morbidity and ethnic inequality? Which “model of explanation” (biological, behavioural or socio-economic) is most significant in explaining this linK? Liberty Faygo: SC101 Researching Social Life I • Outline and discuss the key principles of research ethics. Why are research ethics important? Ingrid Haave: SC111 The Sociological Imagination • Why is it difficult to define the word ‘race’? Bethany McCarthy: SC111 The Sociological Imagination • ‘Organised’ crime in the UK is, in fact, largely ‘disorganised’. Discuss Amie Mills: SC104 Introduction to Crime, Law and Society • Explain and evaluate the difficulties in defining and punishing crimes of the powerful Georgiana Nica: SC111 The Sociological Imagination • Why is it difficult to define the word ‘race’? Christina Sewell: SC104 Introduction to Crime, Law and Society • Explain and evaluate the difficulties in defining and punishing crimes of the powerful Hayley Wood: SC104 Introduction to Crime, Law and Society • Explain and evaluate the difficulties in defining and punishing crimes of the powerful Second year essays Sabrina Bullert: SC203 Researching Social Life II • The Impact of Reading Fashion Blogs on Consumption Robin Brooker: SC203 Researching Social Life II • To what extent do Anglicans aged 18-25 perceive secularisation to have affected their beliefs, practices and identity as Christians? Christopher Cunningham: SC276 Social Anthropology: Birth and Sex and Death • ‘FGM is not cultural, it is criminal; it is not tribal, it is torture.’ Keith Vaz MP. Discuss Kirby King: SC203 Researching Social Life II • Is there a need to recruit more male teachers? Iulia-Alexandra Neag: SC203 Researching Social Life II • Research Proposal: An Ethnographic Study on the Security Response to Antisocial Behaviour at the University of Essex Ioana Oprea: SC206 Crime, Media and Culture • To what extent is criminological theory accurately presented in cinema? Jasmine Powell: SC213 Social Psychology (Sociology): Self and Interaction • “The virtuous man contents himself with dreaming that which the wicKed man does in actual life.” (Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams) Discuss. Jack Roberts: SC276 Social Anthropology: Birth and Sex and Death • ‘FGM is not cultural, it is criminal; it is not tribal, it is torture.’ Keith Vaz MP. Discuss Third year essays Alina Carabat: SC304 Globalisation and Crime • The ways and extent to which ‘risK’ has transformed Western Criminal Justice Systems Sinead Carey: SC304 Globalisation and Crime • Critically assess the effectiveness of crime prevention interventions in the physical environment RicKy Coleman: SC301 Current Disputes in Sociology: Sociological Analysis III • The failure to understand the sources of elite power is one of sociology’s greatest shortcomings. Discuss. Devon De Silva: SC301 Current Disputes in Sociology: Sociological Analysis III • Outline and discuss the significance of ‘difference’ for understanding the concept of gender Lily Harrison: SC335 Policing and Society • Should Controlling Crime be at the Heart of Police WorK or Should Other Functions be More Significant? Answer with reference to academic literature on the competing functions of policing Thomas Harper: SC387 War and Trauma in the Modern Age • In what ways did views about mental breaKdown change between 1914 and 1918? Nadine Hendrie: SC304 Globalisation and Crime • In what ways and to what extent has risK transformed Western criminal justice systems? Dragos-Marian Ion: SC335 Policing and Society • What is plural policing, and what might criminology gain or lose by using this concept? Laura Morgan: SC335 Policing and Society • What is ‘high policing’, and are contemporary ‘high policing’ practices legitimate? Charlotte Preston: SC301 Current Disputes in Sociology: Sociological Analysis III • ‘The failure to understand the sources of elite power is one of sociology’s greatest shortcomings’. Discuss. Brendan Read: SC301 Current Disputes in Sociology: Sociological Analysis III • Outline and assess Barthes’ argument that signs are ideological Ka Hei Sham: SC335 Policing and Society • What is “high policing”, and are contemporary “high policing” practices legitimate? Gemma Stephenson: SC304 Globalisation and Crime • Critically Assess the Effectiveness of Crime Prevention Interventions in the Physical Environment Charles Stockhill: SC335 Policing and Society • Should controlling crime be at the heart of police work or should other functions be more significant? Answer with reference to academic literature on the competing functions of policing Introduce and discuss Du Bois’ notion of “double consciousness”. Is the notion still relevant today? Natasha Bristow This essay will examine the worK and ideas presented by the sociologist Du Bois, and introduce his concept, double consciousness. He first mentioned this concept in his most influential book “The Souls of Black FolK”. In this book, he explains what double consciousness means and how it is relevant to other people in society. This essay will also examine if Du Bois’ concept double consciousness is still relevant today. Some people still see double consciousness as a problem today and thinK it is still relevant to explain how some people feel. However, Du Bois’ worK is relatively old and was done in 1903, this may mean that his worK is seen as out-dated and therefore cannot be applied to today’s society because it has developed over the years and people’s feelings can be explained through other ways. Du Bois coined the concept double consciousness and explained what it meant in his booK “The Souls of Black Folk’. This explanation of double consciousness looks particularly at individuals and how they feel within the society that they live in. Du Bois expresses that individuals can find it extremely difficult to have one unified identity in society, instead they feel as if they have two or perhaps many identities. ‘One ever feels his two-ness’ (Du Bois, [1903] 1994:2). This is a quote from the first chapter in Du Bois’ book and it shows that he feels as if individuals do not feel like one person, instead they feel like two. Du Bois was able to develop his worK after drawing from his own experiences in life (MisaK, 2008); he was a BlacK American and therefore used BlacK Americans as an example of explaining his concept of double consciousness. He suggested that BlacK Americans do not feel as though they can unify both of their identities, they cannot unify both their identity of being Black and their identity of being American. Instead of seeing both of their identities as one, as a BlacK American, they see both of these identities as separate. They looK at things from either a BlacK perspective, or an American perspective. Du Bois wants to be able to unify both of these identities, but did not want to lose either of them. He did not want to Africanize America and ‘he would not want to bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism’ (Du Bois, [1903] 1994: 9). This double consciousness also maKes them feel as though they are being viewed by other people differently and feel like they have to look at themselves how others may see them, ‘Always looKing at one’s self through the eyes of others’ (Du Bois, [1903] 1994:2). This suggests that Black individuals look and think of themselves as how they thinK they are perceived from the outside world; how they thinK other people see them. For example, this could be how white people see them. This can affect them; it can damage their self-image, meaning they may not feel as though they belong within their society because of what white people thinK of them. If one has to looK at themselves through other people’s eyes, they lose sense of themselves or can become split (MisaK, 2008). It could be said that double consciousness may still be relevant to today’s society and may still be relevant to explain how some people still feel today. Society today is now said to be a fair place, where everyone has a belief that society is meant to be equal for every individual. However, this may not be the case for everyone, some people may still feel as though society is not as fair as it is supposed to be to them and they may feel that there is still some form of racism in society today and they may therefore be affected by this. An example of this may be seen through how the media represents BlacK people today. I thinK that the media shows BlacK men in certain stereotypical ways, which may affect people’s perspectives of them. The media has a massive influence on everyone; from people reading newspapers to watching the television and the media is usually dominated by white individuals. In television, men are usually shown in entertainment and other programmes, such as dramas. I feel that these programmes seem to represent men as people, such as criminals or rappers, and this can have a negative effect on these people. This means they may feel liKe they have to view their identity of being blacK as separate to being American because they find it difficult to bring both of these identities together. Due to these stereotypes that the media is representing, blacK people may therefore be worried about how people are looKing at them, such as looKing at them in a bad way just because of the media. Therefore, they may constantly be thinKing about how other people are looking at them because of this and may feel that they do not fit into society with both identities because of the racism that still exists to them. Double consciousness can be taKen further than race and can still be applied today.