A Study Of Students Responses To Selected Social Issues

A Study of Texas Southern University Students Responses to Selected Social Issues

by

Ra'Shinique Boone

For

Sociology 450-Seminar in Research Methods

Section 01

Dr. Dianne Mosley

Texas Southern University

Fall 2004

A Study of Texas Southern University Students Responses to Selected Social Issues

Introduction

University students often have many different responses to selected social issues. There are many social issues influencing the views of students including education, the death penalty, safety around the campus, and marriage (same-sex, and sex-before). The purpose of this study is to explore Texas Southern University student's attitudes toward social issues in the higher education setting as it relates to gender, age, classification, college major, and political preference. The following questions will be addressed in this research: (1) How does gender, age, classification, college major, and political preference influence the views of Texas Southern University students concerning anomia and confidence in leadership? (2) How does gender, age, classification, college major, and political preference influence the views of Texas Southern University students concerning support for the death penalty, sex before marriage and same sex marriage? (3) How does gender, age, classification, college major, and political preference influence the views of Texas Southern University students concerning safety around the campus and funding for selected social issues? The intent of this research is to unfold the views of the students about these selected social issues, and may be used to compare the attitudes of student responses to these social issues.

Review of Literature

Marriage

Most Americans oppose marriage between same-sex couples, but a majority of young adults think unions should be recognized by law, according to the Gallup Poll (Jones 2003). Of the students polled over the weekend 55% said same-sex marriages should not be recognized with the same rights as traditional marriages between a man and a woman, while 39% said they should be valid (Jones 2003). When the question was asked, "Should same-sex marriages be recognized by law", in March 1996, 68% said homosexual marriages should not be recognized by law, while 27% believed they should (Jones 2003). In addition, Jones (2003) poll found that 54% of respondents supported same-sex marriages while 44% were opposed. In Diamond (2000) the finding lead to propose that variability in the emergence and expression of same-sex desire during the life courses is normative rather than exceptional.

It is possible to understand African American students marriages fully without the attention to the social, economic, racial, and historical factors that have stressed male-female relationships beyond those stresses experienced by sex before marriage (Pinderhughes 2002). A research explored the beliefs of 18-24 year old students of Javanese and Chinese background regarding perceptions of sexual behavior (Paxton 2004). Sex before marriage was believed to be becoming more usual and acceptable among young adults, although parental and religious disapproval were recognized (Paxton 2004).

Education

Blacks make up only 13 percent of incoming freshmen at the nation's top predominately white colleges and universities, according to a survey by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (Loury 1996). The university of Virginia, which only began admitting black students in the 1960's after a court order, now has the highest graduation rate for blacks of any high ranking, state supported institution in the nation (Loury 1996). The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education tracked the number of black students accepted at the universities ranked, it found only three of the 13 black students accepted at California Technology actually enrolled (Grimm 2004). Eighty-Four percent of the students who entered the University of Virginia between 1986 and 1989 graduated within six years and the graduation for whites were 93 percent (Loury 1996).

Death Penalty

The results for a study from the United States, lets us know that between 1936 and 1957 the number of supporters for the death penalty declined from 61% to 47% (Kvashis 1999). According to James (2004) who cast doubt on the legitimacy of executing juvenile offenders, the context of juvenile crime and punishment is associated with the death penalty. In every opinion survey on crime, clear majorities of both blacks and whites say they favor the death penalty for persons convicted of murder; though most criminals who commit violent crimes can be rehabilitated, they demand that juveniles who commit violent crimes be treated the same as adults (James 2004).

Safety Around Campus

Five years after the passage of legislation to reduce campus crime, the US Department of Education, asked institutions what efforts they had made to improve lighting, and the changes in campus crime rates they had experienced (Reese 1998). The majority of college students are fine, but the reality is you have to be aware of your surroundings and take few precautions (Fitzgerald 2003). The number of violent crimes and property offenses declined between 1992 and 1994. During that period, violent crimes, murder, sex offenses, robbery, and aggravated assault fell 3 percent (Reese 1998). Of those crimes only robbery increased. They also fail to recognize that there are religious and other people within the black community, who are positive forces of change (Loury 1996). Loury (1996) asks, whether the failure of parents to adequately care for their children is limited to high crime generating communities, the answer is no. First, in every year since 1973, a majority of blacks has answered "yes" when asked