Community

Contemporary Society Spring 2013

Essay Questions

1) ‘Life chances cover the chance to stay alive during the first year after birth to the chance to view fine arts, the chance to remain healthy and grow tall, and if sick to grow well again quickly, the chance to avoid becoming a juvenile delinquent and, very crucially, the chance to complete an intermediary or higher educational grade’

[H.Gerth and Mills, CW (1954) Character and Social Structure (London, Routledge and Kegan Paul) p.313]

Consider the above statement in the light of what you have learned in Contemporary Society. Is Australia an egalitarian society? Why/ why not? Identify the social factors that can produce unequal life chances for those growing up in contemporary Australian.

2) ‘For increasing numbers of young people the [period of transition to adulthood] is becoming long, and transition patters are becoming less defined and less certain than they once were’

[Pawagi, V. (2002), Youth in Focus: Interaction between educational participation, educational attainment and labour force activity Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services, Canberra p.2]

Sociologists often use the phrase youth transitions to refer to the period between childhood to adulthood. Why does Pawagi suggest this period has become elongated, that youth transitions are not as smooth and linear as they once were? Refer in your answer to education, employment, housing and family life.

3) Do you think multiculturalism has led to a decrease in social cohesion? Why/ Why not?


Essay Requirements

• You only answer one question
• Word length: 1,500
• Include a cover sheet with your name on and that of your tutor;
• Make sure you note the question you are answering on the front page
• For information on referencing see http://library.uws.edu.au/citing.php
• You will need to cite at least four academic references that are not included in the learning guide.
• All essays must be loaded through...