Contemporary Social Problems: An Advocate Group Approach By Sara Horsfall

Throughout the first half of the semester, I have thoroughly enjoyed attending and participating in Contemporary Social Problems. I believe that all of the students respect each other and opinions and we all feel that this is a safe environment to speak out. On syllabus day, I was a little concerned that the class would be very textbook heavy and that we would have to rely on the book to teach ourselves - I have had previous classes in which this was the case. I am glad that the textbook is there to enhance in-class discussion. The book that has been our main focus was “Social Problems: An Advocate Group Approach” by Sara Horsfall. I consider myself educated in sociology and social justice but she uses vocabulary and examples that I have

I had personally always considered this to always carry a positive connotation because the only examples I had thought of were groups like NAACP and movements such as the feminist movement. She used the KKK as an example and that changed my perception. The terms positive and negative are absolutely subject. At the end of that day, I am not stepping down and claiming the KKK is ever actually a positive to America or to humanity but to members of that organization, it is considered a positive. In Section 2, Horsfall discussed ways to address and potentially solve social problems. One action that I found interesting was when she used rape and sexual assault as a lens to observe how public education and ameliorating action can help put a stop to this problem. She spoke about a couple of groups that educate men about having a healthy sense of masculinity, respect for women, consent, and how to intervene when other men are acting inappropriately. I believe that she could have

While we have powerpoints that explain the baseline of our discussions, we as a class are still able to bring in outside examples and ask thought provoking questions to keep the conversation flowing. I can’t think of any awkward pauses beyond when the person thinking is gathering their thoughts. There is always a point to be added to a conversation. One of the most important conversations I believe that we have had was at the beginning of the semester. We talked about how to speak about social problems and acts of ignorance or microaggressions. A student voiced her own struggle with being an RA in the dorms and how some of the freshmen boys act rowdy and occasionally sexist and homophobic. We then discussed how the importance of having a conversation and not an argument about these subjects. It helped me to reflect on acts of microaggression I overhear and received in my