SYB 115

STUDIES IN SOCIAL PROBLEMS

SPRING 2009

W. DOANE

REVIEW GUIDE—EXAMINATION #2 (MARCH 12, 2009)

Poverty (definition, measurement/poverty threshold)

Poverty rate (including impact of age and race)

The current and future demography of the United States

• Race/ethnicity (now and in 2050; implications for society)
• Age (the graying of America and its implications)

The “new American job” as a social issue/social problem

“Families, Money, and Risk”—social change and social problems

Political economy perspective (main focus and points of emphasis)

Capitalism as an economic system (defining features)

Socialism (definition, how it is used/misused as a label)

Variations in the role of government in capitalist societies (and disagreement over the role of government)

The role and effects of competition in capitalist economic systems

Economic concentration (how it is visible, how it presents problems)

Corporate welfare

Economic cycles as a social problem

Overproduction, underconsumption, and credit

Current economic crisis (causes, effects, and how it connects to economic cycles)

Contradiction of capitalism: profit vs. human needs

Outsourcing, contingent labor, deskilling