Personal Problem Address

Choose one of the following topics (divorce, unemployment, or drug addiction), and analyze how it would be considered as a “personal problem,” versus how it would be considered as a “public issue.” Start by looking up a little bit about your topic — how often does it happen in our society? Is it patterned in any way? (that is, are some people more likely to experience it than others? Men more than women? Rich more than poor? Old more than young?) Is it different now than it was 20 or 50 years ago? Be sure to use reliable data sources — look for ones that end in .edu or .gov, not ones that end in .com. NO WIKIPEDIA, no blogs. What sort of explanations would we give if we tried to explain why someone (got divorced / lost their job / was addicted to drugs) if we only focused on the personal? Then think about that same topic from a “public issue” approach. What would it mean to think about this topic sociologically? What larger social factors are likely at work? Think about things like the economy, the government, culture, religion, laws, and the media.  Response paper checklist I chose one of the three options to analyze (divorce, unemployment, or drug addition). I wrote an introduction where I presented a background on the phenomenon, how common it is, and any patterns. I included citations in the background paragraph. I discussed this topic from a “personal problems” perspective. I discussed this topic from a “public issues” / sociological perspective. I included a bibliography for the works I cited in my background.