Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Social Issues, Expanded

by FINSTERBUSCH

• ISBN13: 9780078127502
• ISBN10: 0078127505
• Edition: 15th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-03-06
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin

Summary

TAKING SIDES: SOCIAL ISSUES, 15/e EXPANDEDpresents current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with an issue summary, an issue introduction, and a postscript. An instructor�s manual with testing material is available for each volume. USING TAKING SIDES IN THE CLASSROOM is also an excellent instructor resource with practical suggestions on incorporating this effective approach in the classroom. Each TAKING SIDES reader features an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites and is supported by a book website. Visitwww.mhcls.com..

Table of Contents

Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Social Issues Fifteenth Edition, Expanded

Table of Contents TAKING SIDES: Clashing Views on Social Issues Fifteenth Edition, Expanded

Culture and Values

Is America in Moral Decline?

YES:

Slouching Towards Gomorrah(Regan Books, 1996)

NO:

“Our Changing Culture,”Current( June 2004)

famous for being nominated for the Supreme Court but not confirmed by the Senate, argues that modern liberalism is responsible for the decline in morals. Journalist

argues that the permissive culture of the sixties, which led to less respect for authority, crime, sexual promiscuity, and other indicators of moral decline, is waning

The cultural pendulum is swinging back to a more traditional culture of commitment, moderation, and family values

Does the News Media Have a Liberal Bias?

YES:

“Is Mainstream Media Fair and Balanced?”Imprimis(August 2006)

NO:

Crimes Against Nature(HarperCollins, 2005) Fred Barnes, Executive Editor ofThe Weekly Standard, argues from first-hand experience that the mainstream media has a pronounced liberal bias that is reflected in their hiring and news stories

environmental and political activist, believes that the media have a conservative bias

Most people get much of their news and false information from conservative media

Is Third World Immigration a Threat to America’s Way of Life?

YES:

“Shields Up!”The American Enterprise(March 2002)

NO:

“The Realities of Immigration,”Commentary(July/August 2006) Political analyst Patrick Buchanan asserts that the large influx of legal and illegal immigrants, especially from Mexico, threatens to undermine the cultural foundations of American unity

Chairman of the Center for Equal Opportunity, argues that immigrants do not lower wages and take jobs from citizens, as evidenced by the strong economy and low unemployment rate

Immigrants are also very hard workers with considerable drive and strong family values

Sex Roles, Gender, and the Family

Does Divorce Have Long-Term Damaging Effects on Children?

YES:

“The Bad Divorce,”First Things(February 2005)

NO:

We’re Still Family: What Grown Children Have to Say About Their Parents’ Divorce(Harper Collins, 2004)

Director of the Center for Marriage and Families, draws on the literature to argue that divorce has devastating impacts on children and attacks Constance Ahrons’ counter-thesis

co-chair of the Council on Contemporary Families, found the opposite true in her research on the children of divorced parents

These children do quite well in later life and most think that they were not harmed by the divorce

Should Mothers Stay Home with Their Children?

YES:

“The Case for Staying Home,”Time(March 22, 2004)

NO:

“What Do Women Really Want?”The Public Interest(Winter 2005) Journalist Claudia Wallis reports that more and more mothers are choosing to quit work and stay home to care for their children

The work demands on professional women have increased to the point that very few can do both work and family. Forced to choose, growing numbers choose family

Chernin Professor of Social Welfare at the University of California at Berkeley, challenges Wallis’s thesis as resting on “thin” data

The real opt-out story is the growing number of professional women who are opting out of having children and, of those who do have children, most are using day-care services

Should Same-Sex Marriages Be Legally Recognized?

YES: Human Rights Campaign

“Answers to Questions about Marriage Equality” (HRC’s FamilyNet Project, 2004)

NO:

“Questions and Answers: What’s Wrong with Letting Same-Sex Couples ‘Marry’?” (Family Research Council, 2004) America’s largest lesbian and gay organization, The Human Rights Campaign, presents many arguments for why same-sex couples should be able to marry

The main argument is fairness

Marriage confers many benefits that same-sex couples are deprived of

Researcher Peter Sprigg presents many arguments for why same-sex couples should not be able to marry

The main argument is that the state has the right and duty to specify who a person, whether straight or gay, can marry so no rights are violated

Stratification and Inequality

Is Increasing Economic Inequality a Serious Problem?

YES:

“The Rich

”The American Conservative(September 25, 2006)

NO:

“The Upside of Income Inequality,”The American(May–June 2007)

Claude Smith Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College, warns of very negative consequences for America of the growing income inequality

Consequences range from the potential of under-consumption and overproduction that can cause a recession, to biased political policies and increasing terrorist threats

both economists teaching at the University of Chicago and Senior Fellows at the Hoover Institute, point out the positive consequences of the growing income inequality

The main reason for the increasing inequality is the increasing returns to education, which in turn inspire greater efforts by young people to increase their social capital

Has Feminism Benefited American Society?

YES:

“The Successes and Failures of Feminism,”Journal of Women’s History(Summer 2002)

NO:

Women Who Make the World Worse(Sentinel, 2006) History professor Barbara Epstein argues that the feminist movement has been highly successful in changing the consciousness of Americans to “an awareness of the inequality of women and a determination to resist it.” She explains how feminists succeeded at the consciousness level but have declined as a movement for social change

Journalist Kate O’Beirne argues t

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