A multitude of factors influence how and if an individual moves within or between social strata in society. These
determinant factors, along with the overall structure of any given society, have a large impact on how an
individual is able to access basic services, such as education and health care, and thus greatly change the
individual’s overall quality of life.
Getting Started
Choose a character from a movie, a film-adapted book, or a play and examine the social structure in which that
character exists. You should research the components of the character’s social context and describe how your
chosen character exemplifies the characteristics of a typical person with their social position within the chosen
social context. Research the effects of at least four or five determinant factors such as gender, race, and ethnicity
and their effects on crime rates (offending and/or victimization). Once you have researched your character’s
social context, you will create a PowerPoint presentation that exhibits how that character’s storyline would be
different if three or four of those determinant factors were changed. How, for example, would the story change if
the character were a man instead of a woman? Or of a different race?
At the end of your project, you will provide:
A 8-10 slide PowerPoint presentation you create, which:
1. Provides two or three screenshots and/or clips from the original film to provide an overview of the context in
which the character exists
2. Shows how the character’s storyline would change if three or four determinant factors were different through
detailed examples
3. Uses one or two concepts and theories and appropriate terminology from the text to explain the character’s
society and their position in society
4. Analyze what your own station in the chosen society would be based on your own determinant factors (Latina
female) and whether, perhaps, such factors could increase/decrease your chances at becoming an offender or
becoming a victim of crime.
5. Compare the analysis of the character’s social mobility versus your own in the chosen society
6. Analyze how your current life would be different if you existed in the chosen social context
7. Cite three to five academic resources, one or two newspaper or magazine articles, and the film chosen
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