Sociology Discussion Problem
read this NPR article, “A New Look at the Lasting Consequences of Student Debt (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..”
Reply to this post with the answers to the questions below. Please see discussion board posting guidelines for posting criteria.
- How does the topic of the student loan crisis bridge the problems in the education system and problems with work/the economy?
- Read this excerpt from The Sociological Imagination by C. Wright Mills;
“When, in a city of 100,000, only one man is unemployed, that is his personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to the character of the man, his skills, and his immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50 million employees, 15 million men are unemployed, that is an issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very structure of opportunities has collapsed. Both the correct statement of the problem and the range of possible solutions require us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals.”
How does this relate to the situation of the school loan crisis? What structures of opportunity shape this issue for individual lives?
3. Which one of the three sociological frameworks (conflict, structural functionalism or symbolic interactionism) do you think is best to view this issue? Why? Be specific and thorough in your response.
Solution PreviewAccording to Anya Kamanetz article, college students are graduating with an average debt of $34,000. The figure is extremely high, thus indicating that there is a huge problem in the nation’s education sector. College education has become extremely expensive, thus unaffordable