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LLRN 122: Roots of Sociology. Paper Assignment 2.
Dr. Groves Fall, 1999

Topic A: The Causes of HATE CRIMES

Choose one hate crime to focus upon. (A "hate crime" is a crime committed against a person or persons because of hatred toward their category-race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation.) Gather information about this hate crime, and attach to your paper a newspaper or magazine article describing the crime.

In your paper discuss how sociological theory and research can help us to understand the causes of such crimes. (Be sure to focus upon sociological, not psychological, factors.) Apply material from lecture and readings to the sociological analysis of the hate crime you select. Cite references for the information you obtain from lecture or readings.

What policy suggestions would you recommend to reduce the frequency of such hate crimes?

Topic B: Replication of research described in article "The Job Ghetto"

Locate 2 fast-food businesses that hire minimum wage workers. Arrange to interview the managers about their guidelines and experiences with different categories of applicants. Ask such questions as the following:

About how many applications are received per month?

About how many persons are hired per month?

What qualifications do you expect the people you hire to have?

Are their certain categories of workers which you prefer to hire? (For example, do you prefer to hire persons who live in the neighborhood of the restaurant? or persons who commute to work?)

What is the turnover rate? (On the average, how long do most new employees work at your restaurant?)

You want to learn about the availability of these minimum wage jobs and who is getting them. Do the employers prefer certain categories of workers?

Compare and contrast your findings with those reported in the article by Newman and Lennon, "The Job Ghetto". What are the similarities? the differences? How can you explain them?

Your paper should be typed and double-spaced. Proof-read it carefully for errors in sentence construction, spelling, punctuation, etc.

Suggested length: 3-4 pages.

Due date: Friday, November 19.