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Sociological Research

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Please provide guidance to help with the following social problem:

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Select a social phenomenon, problem, or issue that you think warrants sociological research. Write a 900-word paper on why the topic needs to be researched, define the problem within that topic, and outline how you would conduct the research, including methods and research design. Why is the method you chose appropriate to this problem? Why are other methods not appropriate? You may choose to support the thesis with previous research using primary research sources. Be sure to include resources that would be helpful in your research.

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Solution Summary

This solution provides information and guidance on approaching a social phenomenon, problem, or issue that warrants sociological research.

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Have you given some thought to a sociological issue that you find interesting, such as homelessness, domestic violence, alcohol abuse and violence in schools, gang violence, to name a view. Within each topic you could be more specific like comparing the alcohol and drug abuse in children from different socioeconomic levels or ethnicity or the difference between girls and boys in prevalence of alcohol/drug use and violence; or investigating the voice of women who go to a domestic homeless shelter about what event brought them to the shelter, how long the abuse had been taking place. How many times has they been to a shelter and whether or not they reported the incidence to the police.

Let's go with the frequency and seriousness of domestic violence during a disaster. Think of this as the beginning, which you can use as a guide for your study and research.

Problem:

Research suggests that domestic violence increases during times of disaster. Domestic Violence programs struggle to meet existing needs with limited or declining resources cannot move toward disaster readiness. Children naturally expect that adults will meet their needs for protection and remedy in all circumstances. When a disaster occurs, this disrupts their belief system of care, safety and security. Children may suffer secondary emotional and psychological trauma when basic needs are not met in the early stages of an emergency. Domestic violence and child abuse increase significantly after a natural disaster. This often occurs due to the impact of disasters on family routines and increased stress in the family. Displacement of families to relatives' homes or shelters is also a factor in the increase of post-disaster violence experienced in families. As well, women living in abusive relationships suffer from the lack of support when shelters are shut down or are further compromised by the disaster.

Literature Review

Lutheran Disaster of New York who reported the following reports and studies of domestic violence during disasters, including:

* After Hurricane Andrew in Miami, spousal abuse calls to the local community helpline increased by 50% and over one-third of 1,400 surveyed residents reported that someone in their home had lost verbal or physical control in the two months since the hurricane.
* One year after Hurricane Hugo, marital stress was more prevalent among individuals who had been less severely exposed to the hurricane, (e.g. life threat, injury) than among individuals who had been less severely exposed or not exposed at all.
* Following Hurricane Andrew, there was a significant increase in stress between partners reported in Dade County (27.6%) and in South Dade County (56.1%), the hardest hit area.
* After Hurricane Mitch, 27% of the female survivors (and 21% of male survivors) in Nicaragua told surveyors that woman battering had "increased in the wake of the hurricane in the families of the community." Among community leaders (68% of whom were men), 30% interviewed reported increased battery as did 42% of the mayors (46 men and 2 women) who were interviewed.
* According to executive director Pam Gonzales, calls to U Care, the domestic violence agency for Sampson County, NC and surrounding areas, tripled within six months of the flood, following Hurricane Floyd.
* In North Dakota, programs reported both private and government funds were redirected away from domestic violence to "flood victims," prompting one staff member to protest, "We feel we are flood relief...we're that one piece of hope that's being taken away."
* Some field reports of social impacts include abuse, as in this account of an Australian flood: "Human relations were laid bare and the strengths and weaknesses in relationships came more sharply into focus. Thus, ...

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