Anthropology

After reading the book Punished, write your final paper about the culture presented in the book Punished. Your topic can focus on historical interactions with African-American or Latino Cultures in the US, or it can focus on current conditions and cultural encounters with these subcultures in our society.  You must use an Anthropology approach to your topic when writing your paper and you must use the concepts and topics presented in the chapters covered in tract 1 for discussion in your final paper.  You are required to use the book Punished and your textbook as primary references for you final paper.

In addition to the book Published and your textbook, you will need a minimum of at least 3 or 4 other resources for your final paper.

Your final paper will be 5 full double spaced pages, plus a title page and references or work cited page and using in text citations following MLA or APA style guides.

TOPIC : The topic I would like to write about is racial stereotypes. I picked this topic because stereotyping continues to widen the gap between races. The historical interaction of African-Americans in the United States formed several degrading misconceptions. These stereotypes make people perceive African Americans negatively; thus, they face never-ending injustices. More so, sometimes African Americans conform to these stereotypes that lead them to trouble. These stereotypes increase not only racial inequality but also economic inequality.  In Punished by Victor Rios demonstrate the disadvantages of stereotypes by showing the struggles of the black youth. The black youth faced demeaning labeling in school and society that made him have an identity crisis. Consequently, he engaged in illegal activities as the gangs offered
him an identity and a sense of belonging (Rios, 2011). Inarguably, racial stereotypes derail the world from achieving racial equality.

CHECKLIST FOR THE PAPER
Requirements Checklist for final paper/project:

Content comments to watch for based on overall class feedback from previous writing assignments:

It is not enough to note differences or interesting behaviors in the cultures you are describing. Besides describing them you should be explaining them and attempting to understand the basis for the different behaviors and how they function as part of the culture you are describing.
Why do their behaviors work and exist in their culture?
Avoid ethnocentrism when possible by not judging the behaviors in your descriptions.
If comparing behaviors to ones in your own culture do not assume yours are better, or yours are what they would want to improve their situation.  Have to use cultural relativism at all times.  At one level behaviors may appear dysfunctional but, on another level, they may be very functional and out way this dysfunction.
Use anthropology concepts to describe and understand behaviors as parts of cultural institutions (religious, economic, political, and social).  How do the behaviors relate to and support these institutions in the culture you are describing and discussion? 
How can change occur so that the institutions are still maintained and the culture continues to survive?

NEEDED BOOKS
Punished: Policing the lives of Black and Latino Boys. By Victor M. Rios. New York University Press. ISBN: 978-0814776384.

Cultural Anthropology: A toolkit for a global age. By Kenneth J Guest. 3rd ed, W.W. Norton & Company. 2020. ISBN: 978-0393420128

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