Prompt: Marriage, Family, Relationships from a Sociological Perspective Step 1: Select one of the following Social Problems or Social Phenomenon: • Child Brides in the United States, Online Dating. Wedding Industrial Complex, Mail Order Brides, Open Relationships, Gay Adoption, Single Motherhood, Divorce, Polyamorous relationships, Second shift, Mixed Status Families (immigration). Motherhood/Child Penalty, Surrogate Pregnancies, Swingers, Online dating for POC, Online Dating for LGBT+ POC, etc. You are welcome to select any social problem/phenomenon as long as it relations to family, marriage, or relationships. Please email me so I can approve your topic. Step 2: Describe your social phenomenon/social problem • Why did you select this topic? Why is this topic important? What are some facts/figures related to your topic? *Think about this: Why should your reader care about this issue? Don't forget to practice your sociological imagination! Step 3: Analyze your social problem or social phenomenon using the three major sociological theories: Conflict Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, and Functionalism. Make sure you address the following questions when explaining your topic: 1. Functionalism: Identify the manifest, latent functions, and latent dysfunctions and discuss how the 5 major institutions might be impacted. Thus, how are families, the government, the economy, religions, and education impacted positively (these positive social benefits/impact would be latent functions)? How are they impacted negatively (these negative impacts would be latent dysfunctions)? 2. Conflict Theory: Address the two questions examined in this theory (who are groups fighting and what are they fighting over?). Also, discuss how this theory looks at social change. Who are the "haves" in this case? What kind of power do they have over the "have nots"? Why do you think they want to keep their power? If they "have nots", that is the exploited/oppressed group. gain some power what social changes would happen? In other words, if this minority group wins some power in this struggle, what policies might they push through? How would lives of both the haves and the have nots change due to this struggle? 3. Symbolic Interactionism: What are the most important symbols in this topic? What do these symbols mean and how do these meanings, definitions influence interactions? How do you think this symbol will change in the future? Formatting Tip: 1. Introduce the theory. This is a great spot to include your in-text citation, and cite the textbook! 2. Explain how each specific theory explains the chosen topic. 3. Don't forget to include your sources in your references (at the end of your submission)/n

Fig: 1

Fig: 2