SYB 115 SPRING 2009

REVIEW GUIDE FOR EXAM #3 (THURSDAY APRIL 30)

Solving social problems

Different actors (government, non-profit agencies, etc.)

Types of individual action

Issue of charity vs. social change

Social policy

Ideal/rational model vs. “real world” issues

Problem of implementation

Unintended consequences (examples)

Blowback

Role of government

Ain’t No Makin’ It

Social reproduction

American dream

Horatio Alger story

Leveled aspirations

Steeplechase analogy

Cultural capital

Networks

Education as a social institution

Hidden curriculum

Credential society

Forces producing unequal educational outcomes

Economic inequality and college

Instability of some working class jobs (also opportunities for advancement, being paid “under the table”)

Brothers vs. Hangers (comparison, final outcomes, why Brothers weren’t more successful)

Legitimation

How we make sense of poverty/inequality in society

Social structure vs. individual agency

Economic Crisis

Origins of the economic crisis

Economic bubbles and the quest for profit

The role of credit for consumers and for investment

Housing (reasons for increased demand and rising prices, old model for mortgages)

“New” mortgage innovations, “subprime” mortgages—increased profit/risk

Home equity loans

Securitization and the spreading of risk, credit default swaps

Failure of regulation; failure to do risk assessment