SOC322H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Social Constructionism, England In The Middle Ages, Social Fact
Document Summary
Choose a social group/classification e. g. class, race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity. Focus on one component of the justice system e. g. police, courts, corrections, re-entry. Example paper examines the impact of religion on correctional experiences. Discussion last week highlighted patterns of difference and exclusion. We identified the construction of hierarchies along the lines of gender, race, class, sexuality etc. These classifications are socially constructed and change across time and space. Rather, in our culture, biology is the hook on which we hang our assumptions about the holder of a given set of characteristics. In other words, difference is not biologically given, but socially constructed. True for race, gender, sexuality : concepts of race were developed alongside science. Same-sex relationships have flourished in cultures as diverse as ancient greece, Social and moral assessment varies by time, place and culture. For example in some places, racial, religious, sexual and ethnic tolerance appears to be eroding. http://www. huffingtonpost. com/2015/03/26/indiana-governor-mike-pence-anti-gay- bill_n_6947472. html (with video)
