Sociology (SOCI) 290

Overview

SOCI 290: Social Problems is designed to introduce students to the study of social problems: their definition, their dimensions and interconnections, their effects, and strategies for alleviating them.

Studying social problems is one of the ways in which sociologists think about the social world. How are people organized and organizing, and how does this impact human and nonhuman experiences of the world? Sociology helps us to think about social problems on levels of the micro (how it impacts individuals), meso (how it impacts communities), and macro (how systems and structures operate). It is important to note that the study of social problems is not simply a description of a social problem, but also an inquiry into how that social problem came to be and how it impacts people. And not all sociologists approach studying social problems in the same way. For example, in the case of studying housing, some sociologists might investigate how people can apply for and get access to social or affordable housing, other sociologists might look at the language used in the media to talk about encampments, and some might look longitudinally at homeownership to see how wealth transfer is impacted by homeownership across decades. Each of these examples of studies is related to the problem of housing and housing security, but they use different methods and approaches to study the problem in different ways.

Students will see that sociologists are interested in a wide range of social issues and problems. There are many ways in which sociologists investigate questions about social problems and in which they address them—for example, sociologists may work with community groups or impacted people, they may advocate for policy change, or they may help to articulate new ways of understanding.

One of students' goals throughout this course should be to consider how the information, research, and sociological perspectives presented bears on their own lives, and to register how their own experiences relate to the course material. As students will see, many difficulties, problems, pitfalls, and even triumphs can be traced far beyond the boundaries of their own individual and family lives and back to the social, political, economic, and even spiritual fabric of our societies—what C. Wright Mills called the “sociological imagination.”

Outline

SOCI 290 consists of five units:

• Unit 1: Defining Social Problems
• Unit 2: Inequality as a Social Problem
• Unit 3: Individual Social Problems
• Unit 4: Social Problems and Social Institutions
• Unit 5: Global Population and Global Social Problems

Objectives

After completing Sociology 290, students should be able to

1. define what is meant by the term social problems.
2. enumerate the various social problems studied by sociologists.
3. apply various sociological theories and research to understand and potentially reduce social problems in Canada.

Evaluation

To receive credit for SOCI 290, students must complete and submit all six of the assignments and achieve a composite course grade of at least D (50 percent). The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Materials

Digital course materials

Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:

Kendall, D., Nygaard, V., & Thompson, E. (2016). Social problems in a diverse society (4th Canadian ed.). Pearson Canada.

Other Materials

The online course materials include a study guide and assigned readings.

Challenge for credit

Overview

The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.

Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.

Evaluation

For more information please contact the course coordinator .

Important links

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