Public Information Piece

Create an informative public information piece that presents research on institutional discrimination within a specific social institution.

These sources provide data relevant to the potential topics for this assessment.

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2017). Arrests by race and ethnicity: Table 43A. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/tables/table-43
Table 43A contains data on arrests—both raw numbers and percentages—for drug abuse, murder, rape, robbery, and other offenses based on racial and ethnic categories.
Check the FBI site for updates to the data.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). NCHS data on racial and ethnic disparities. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/factsheets/factsheet_disparities.htm
This resource includes data on racial and ethnic disparities in health care.
Review the CDC site for more data on health disparities.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (n.d.). Reports and detailed tables from the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/nsduh/reports-detailed-tables-2017-NSDUH
The illicit drug use tables show use of drugs based on age and other demographics (including race or gender). The data here on race and drug use can be compared to the FBI data (above) on arrests for drug abuse violations by race.
National Survey on Drug Use and Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://nsduhweb.rti.org/respweb/homepage.cfm
Check this site for the latest survey data on national drug use and health.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2018). EEOC releases fiscal year 2017 enforcement and litigation data. Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/1-25-18.cfm
This press release links to the EEOC report on workplace discrimination.
Check the EEOC site for updated information.

Building on the reading, research, and analysis you have done in the previous assessments, this final assessment asks you to more closely examine the causes and consequences of discrimination that occurs within one of society’s core institutions. For this assessment, you will explore both the causes and consequences of institutionalized discrimination, from the perspective of the individuals it directly affects, the institution you have chosen, and society as a whole.

To complete this assessment, presume that you work for a think tank that conducts and publishes social and economic research to inform economic decisions and local, state, and federal policy making. Your manager asks you and the other members of your team to create a public information piece based on research and analysis of the prevalence and persistence of discrimination in a particular social institution

First, choose one of the following major institutions for this assessment: criminal justice system, health care system, educational system, housing market, or the U.S. workplace. Then complete the following:

Research institutional discrimination in your chosen institution, locating reliable, scholarly sources. Examples are provided in the Resources for this assessment.
Choose one of the following public information pieces in the list below. It is your job to create a public information piece that highlights your findings regarding inequities (based on race, ethnicity, religion, age, disability status, or sexual orientation) within your chosen institution. You will need to support your conclusions with credible data and scholarly research, rather than relying on opinion, and demonstrate your ability to apply sociological thinking to your topic.
Information booklet targeted to the general public.
Position paper or brief targeted at state or federal legislators.
Mock website or blog.
Public service announcement (a script for a radio or television program).
PowerPoint presentation targeted to a specific audience, with a description of the audience and detailed speaker’s notes (in PowerPoint, use the Notes area below each slide to provide speaker’s notes and explain the information on your slides in more detail).
A recorded speech to be given at a national meeting of practitioners who work in the institution you are researching. If you choose this option, include your script and references in a Word document along with your audio file.
Create a final, professional-quality product in which you accomplish the following:
Create a public information piece that effectively conveys the causes and consequences of the problem of institutional discrimination in one of society’s major institutions, with support from data and scholarly sources.
Describe factors contributing to racial, ethnic, or other forms of inequality within a specific institution.
Analyze data on the factors contributing to inequality in a specific institution.
Keep in mind that, to be accurate in your assessment, you will need to look at raw data and percentages as well as to consider the data in relation to each racial or ethnic group’s percentage within the overall U.S. population.
Explain ways in which public policies are linked to inequalities within a specific institution.
Consider any historical or contemporary influences that may have contributed the disparities you have identified. Example: If you are studying institutional discrimination in the justice system, you would need to consider national policies such as the War on Drugs, as well as law enforcement policies.
Assess the impact on minorities and minority communities caused by institutional discrimination within a specific institution.
Describe specific, measurable policy strategies for reducing institutional discrimination.
These can be community based, legislative (at the local, state, or federal level), or law enforcement strategies.
These strategies should focus on institutional policies, not individual solutions.

Additional Requirements
Your assessment should also meet the following requirements:

Written communication: Written communication is clear, organized, and free of errors that detract from the overall message.
Length: Submit a completed public information piece of a minimum of 1,500 words or 15 slides (if choosing to do a PowerPoint). If you choose to write a speech, record a 12–15-minute speech, using software of your choice, with an accompanying Word document with your script and references.
Format: Cite your sources in current APA style and format, including a reference list at the end of your document or presentation, along with in-text citations of your sources.
Sources: Cite a minimum of four scholarly sources.
Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.