Misunderstood Identities

Do you ever encounter an individual or a group of people who are very different from you and wonder how on Earth they could have chosen to act in the irrational or confusing way they are acting?  This could be someone who is part of a subculture that seems mysterious to you.  Or it could be someone with physical or mental characteristics that are stigmatized by a cruel society.  In any case, myths and stereotypes surround “people like them,” and our job is to break down those inaccuracies using empirical data and the sociological imagination, to provide a more accurate portrait.

Overview

Misunderstood identities are identities that may seem normal to the individual living them but seem curious, strange, irrational, and sometimes dangerous to many outsiders.  One of the real benefits of a sociological perspective sociology is that it tells us to look beneath the surface when we encounter people that we do not understand:  within the context of their lived experience and the resources available, their “irrationality” might just turn out to be pretty rational.  If you get “inside the shoes” of the misunderstood, information about their life emerges that often makes the non-sensical quite sensible.  There are so many identities in our society that are poorly understood by many of us.  We have focused on Latino and African American gang members in Oakland for this part of this course, partly because many people cannot understand why they do what they do, but there are many others to consider. 

Now is your chance to explore a misunderstood identity AND to educate the class about it.  This misunderstood identity might be inhabited by lots of disconnected people scattered about.  Or it might be inhabited by a true subculture of people who interact and build a shared understanding of reality.  For this project, you will collect data online, such as personal journal entries by individuals, interviews by reporters, and artistic creations by people with misunderstood identities.  You can combine data sources.  Be creative in finding your data but also critical of the ways these data are always already edited and stylized for presentation online.  The goal is to get as close as possible to the words and expressions of individuals inhabiting this misunderstood identity. This project involves being critical of various stereotypes about this misunderstood identity, including your own, but also being CONSTRUCTIVE in your criticism. 

You will also review the scholarly articles and books concerning your topic, focusing on those using a sociological or social psychological perspective.  You will find these by using “Google Scholar” and “Google Books” search engines (you can include “sociology” as a keyword in your search).  If you are logged into your MyUSF account, you will have access to lots of articles and books, and some of these will touch on your topic.  You may have to broaden your search to a larger category in which your people find themselves in, just in order to get started; you can narrow as you go.

The information in your project will therefore be of two types: 

1) data sources such as websites, blogs, interviews, first-hand accounts, etc., that give marginalized/subjugated people (misunderstood identities) a space to speak and be heard. 

2) academic or documentary secondary sources such as articles, books, and maybe videos that are published and that analyze the topic from a social science perspective.  If the works you’ve found seem to ignore sociological perspectives (in favor of purely psychological perspectives, for example), you will need to bring the sociological viewpoint into the analysis yourself;      

You will present your findings as a short powerpoint presentation that will be uploaded into Canvas and eventually shared with classmates.  It will not be shared immediately when you upload it, but rather, a few minutes after the actual due date/time.  Part of your assignment will be to review two different student presentations and add to their analysis in the comment section beneath their powerpoint slide show.

Finding Data

Rather than determining exactly which misunderstood identity you will study before you begin, be open to ideas.  Let the data you find help define your project.  For your first step, you will be on a hunt for data—the words, ideas, and expressions of people holding a misunderstood identity.  For example, you might find a website where young girls who cut themselves support one another for the sake of survival and for living through or moving away from this practice.  Or you might find a documentary where teen fathers are interviewed in an open-ended way that lets them provide their own perspective on their lives. 

As you hunt, be careful whose packaging (and editing) of these voices you choose to consult for your data.  If you find an interview conducted by a popular magazine for example, you will need to critically reflect within your presentation about how the data found there might be skewed toward the magazine’s corporate agenda and readership.  Incorporate your critical reflections about your sources into your actual presentation. If you have any questions about the data sources you’ve found, just shoot me an e-mail or talk with me.  If you have trouble finding a misunderstood identity to study or data for your project, I suggest exploring websites such as these: 

• A variety of subreddits could be useful
• Mental health and drug use:  https://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/personal-stories (Links to an external site.)
• A list of misunderstood groups:  https://www.thetoptens.com/misunderstood-types-people/ (Links to an external site.)
• Wikipedia’s list of subcultures:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_subcultures (Links to an external site.)
• Stigmatized health conditions:  https://www.livescience.com/14424-top-10-stigmatized-health-disorders.html (Links to an external site.)
• Grinnel’s “Subcultures and Sociology” list:  https://haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu/ (Links to an external site.)

Concepts

This assignment counts for 50 points toward your class grade (there are 350 points in total in this course).  So it is important to demonstrate comprehension of course concepts (not everyday words, concepts we’ve deliberately explored in this course).  If you need a kick-start to remind yourself of some of these concepts, look back at your quizzes thus far. 

Powerpoint Presentation

Slide 1:  Introduce this misunderstood identity and let us know where and how often people in this category can be found.  Include an image. (5 points)

Slide 2:  Explain the stereotypes and myths surrounding this identity.Why do these stereotypes exist, in your judgement?  (5 points)

Slides 3-5:  Locate at least three findings from your data that help to dispel any stereotypes or myths about this identity.  Explain how your findings collide with (or possibly support?) the myths.  You may include a few quotations, but don’t overdo the quotations:  make some generalizations about the data instead, to save space.  Include at least two theoretical concepts from the course, define those concepts, and incorporate them into your analysis. (15 points)

Slide 6:  What should be our take-away from your presentation?  Why is it important to finally understand this previously misunderstood identity?  What are the policy or social implications of your findings? (10 points)

Slide 7:  A “References” list of your data sources and the articles, books, and films you consulted for this presentation.  (5 points)

To Upload:  Click on “insert” and select “document.”  Your powerpoint file will upload as a reply to this assignment.  Please give your project a revealing title so that fellow students will want to take look at it!  (two more things, see below!)

Two Comments:  Add to two other students’ presentations by posting a comment in Canvas beneath their powerpoint.  In your comments, add a useful concept or idea to what they’ve presented.  (10 points)