SOC101: Introduction to Sociology

Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

• describe society's current understanding of family;
  
• recognize variations in family life;
  
• describe the prevalence of single parents, cohabitation, same-sex couples, and unmarried individuals;
  
• discuss the social impact of changing family structures;
  
• discuss historical views of religion from a sociological perspective;
  
• explain how the major sociological paradigms view religion;
  
• define manifest and latent functions of education;
  
• explain how functionalism, conflict theory, feminism, and interactionism view issues of education;
  
• define and differentiate between power, authority, and different types of authority;
  
• define and compare common forms of government, such as monarchy, oligarchy, dictatorship, and democracy;
  
• explain how functionalists, conflict theorists, and interactionists view government and politics;
  
• describe types of economic systems and their historical development;
  
• describe the current United States' workforce and the trend of polarization; and
  
• identify the basic elements of poverty in the U.S. today.