•   7.3 Apply Concepts to Personal Experience Journal: Social Groups (GRADED ASSIGNMENT)

Journal Prompt for Social Groups

This week I’d like you to consider in-groups, out-groups, groupthink and the Asch experiment. Below is a link to an article analyzing the recent events unfolding in the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Warning- this article mentions sexual assault, though it is not about sexual assault, per se. If this is too traumatic for you to read/consider, please send me a private message. 

Brett Kavanaugh- Icon of Broken Masculinity (Links to an external site.)

 http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2018/09/brett-kavanaugh-an-icon-of-broken-masculinity 

Having studied sociological theories for at least 6 weeks now, you’ll recognize some of the ideas in this piece: the idea that conventional masculinity can be a social construct, for example. For this assignment:

• Identify the social location of Brett Kavanaugh
• Identify his in-group, who would belong to this group?
• Identify the out-group, who would belong to this group? 
• Apply the concept of groupthink to this scenario- either to the events described in the allegations, or to the current events of his nomination and hearings
• Do the findings of the Asch experiment apply to any of these events? Explain your answer either way. 

REQUEST

1, This criterion is linked to a Learning OutcomeUse Course Material

Specifically refer to course concepts in your discussion using material from assigned readings, videos and/or discussion.

2, Connect Course Material to Your Experience

Write about connections you see between the course material and your life experiences. You can also relate course concepts to things you see, hear or read about in the media (if you do this, let me know where you found the media, i.e. NYTimes on 8/19 and include a link to the article or web page so I can check it out too