Writing Assignment #1: Introduction of Your Sociological Imagination Course Paper (50 Points)

EXAMPLE PART 1

S A M P L E P A P E R

P L E A S E D O N O T C I T E – F O R I N S T R U C T I O N A L P U R P O S E S O N L Y

Introduction

Many students in the world suffer from mental illnesses. Mental illnesses such as major

depressive disorder are one of the most common mental disorders in the United States. “In 2015,

an estimated 3 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the United States had at least one major

depressive episode in the past year. This number represented 12.5% of the U.S. population aged

12 to 17” (nimh). Most people who are depressed either go through psychotherapy to help talk

about their problems and get prescribed medication to help with chemical imbalances, if need be.

However, if major depressive disorder is not checked, it can get worse and can ultimately lead to

suicide.

Sociology is defined as the study of human society. Essentially it is the study of what

people do, don’t do, why, and the consequences. In high school students experience bullying,

depression and suicide. They go through a lot and to fit in with a particular group as well as

figuring out who they are. They go through a series of changes based on social pressures or with

what the new trend is. Many students, including myself, are diagnosed with major depressive

disorder at a young age because everything in high school is important especially your image. In

high school, many students get bullied, and it’s increasingly becoming a bigger issue. With

constant bullying on a daily basis, victims start getting depressed and would go to great lengths

to avoid going to school altogether. What causes young kids to bully others? Is bullying

increasing or decreasing? Does bullying increase the rate of suicide in adolescents?

Depression is defined as feelings of severe despondency and dejection. Despondency,

means a state of low spirits caused by loss of hope or courage and dejection means sad and

EXAMPLE PART 1

depressed state. According to Durkheim in his book Suicide, “[He] sought to explain how

psychological characteristics in combination with social forces shape suicide rates. According to

Durkheim, suicide is, at its root, an instance of social deviance” (Durkheim 200). In other words,

a person can either conform or violate social norms.

In school, everything from drinking, drugs, parties, family problems, peer-pressure from

friends, wanting to rebel, getting bullied, and getting rejected is too big to overcome, so students

tend to choose the ‘simple’ way out. They seek a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Going back to what Durkheim was saying about suicide, “[it] shows how this individual act is, in

reality, conditioned by social forces: the degree to which we are integrated into group life (or

not) and the degree to which our lives follow routines” (Durkheim 27). Basically, in middle and

high school, everyone is in a group, and being in a group then suddenly getting out-casted from

one can make someone depressed and same goes for if they do not have friends. If bullying isn’t

addressed and depression goes unnoticed, it can make a student make the worst decision of their

life.

Roadmap - Literature review (possibilities):

• Thirteen Sociological Things about 13 Reasons Why - http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2017/07/thirteen-sociological-things-about-13- reasons-why.html

• 13 reasons why and the pressing need for a sociology of suicide - https://contexts.org/blog/13-reasons-why/

• Does Cyberbullying impact youth suicidal behaviors? - https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15eba4e080dbf98c?projector=1

• Peer selection and Socialization in Adolescent Depression: The Role of School Transitions - https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15eba4e080dbf98c?projector=1

• In part III, I might include data such as statistics.

Work Cited

“Major Depression Among Adolescents.” National Institute of Mental Health. U.S. Deparetment of Health and Human Services, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2017.

EXAMPLE PART 1

Conley, Dalton. You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking like a Sociologist. N.p.: WW Norton, 2016. Print.