Deconstructing Victim-Blaming, Dehumanization, and Othering: Using Empathy to Develop a Sociological Imagination

Abstract

The sociological imagination is a core component of all introductory sociology courses. A main focus of this perspective is how social forces are related to individual lives. Undergraduates are often socialized to rely on individualistic explanations of public issues. These explanations often blame, dehumanize, and other the victim, thereby inhibiting the...

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Social Change

Resource Type(s):

Class Activity

Class Level(s):

Any Level

Class Size(s):

Any

Usage Notes

The ASA journal Teaching Sociology (TS) and TRAILS: the Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology share a common mission to disseminate effective teaching strategies and promote scholarly teaching. This article citation is brought to you through a collaborative project in which Teaching Sociology resources are integrated into TRAILS to...

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. Understand and use the sociological imagination.
2. Increase empathy among students through activities, discussion, and learning the sociological imagination.

Goal Assessment(s):

1. Pretests and posttests