Category: Essays on Controversial Topics
Browse our collection of essays on controversial topics. Each topic in this category represents a controversial issue and thus is a good choice if you are looking for argumentative or persuasive essay topics. When writing an argumentative essay or a persuasive essay you should focus on picking a topic that is current and relevant to society and can be argued logically.
While a strong interest in a topic is important, it’s not enough to be interested. You have to consider what position you can back up with reasoning and evidence. It’s one thing to have a strong belief, but when shaping an argument you’ll have to explain why your belief is reasonable and logical. As you explore the topics, make a mental list of points you could use as evidence for or against an issue.
A special interest group is a group that, in pursuit of its goals, lobbies for government assistance or against government interference. The U.S. founding fathers created separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism in order to keep such groups from gaining too much power or influence. However, …
Stalking first became recognized as a crime in the United States in the late 1980s. After the highly publicized stalking and murder of television actress Rebecca Schafer in 1989, as well as several other stalking murders and attempts, stalking moved onto the public’s radar. Legislation criminalizing stalking followed …
A common misconception equates the term standardized test only with those tests that use multiple-choice items and machine-readable (“bubble”) answer sheets. To the contrary, if any aspect of a test—format, procedures, or administration—is standardized across test takers, it can be considered a standardized test. Thus, tests with written, …
Standpoint theory is a feminist epistemology with roots in Marxist ideology. Feminist scholars use the term standpoint in varied ways, making it difficult to think about standpoint theory as a unified project. A central premise of all feminist standpoint epistemologies is the idea that all knowledge claims are …
State crime is any action that violates international public law and/or a state’s own domestic law when committed by individual actors acting on behalf of, or in the name of, the state, even when such acts are motivated by their personal economical, political, and ideological interests. Crimes of …
Status offenses refer to conduct considered illegal only when committed by a minor. These acts of “noncriminal misbehavior” include running away, curfew violation, truancy, underage drinking or smoking, and ungovernability. Understanding status offenses as a contemporary social problem requires us to contextualize them within a historical perspective. Changing …
Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations used to describe a person or group. They can exist in virtually unlimited categories. Age, gender, race/ethnicity, religion, hair color, height, weight, residential locale, and occupation are but a few of the possibilities. Stereotypes act as a means to simplify unfamiliar situations. In initial …
A stigma is any social marker that refers to a deviation from the norm. It can be a trait that the general population deems unacceptable or undesirable or a mark of disapproval based on undesirable beliefs, ideas, behaviors, or even personal characteristics. Individual societies determine what is acceptable …
Strain theory states that the experience of strains or stressors increases the likelihood of crime. Strains refer to events and conditions that are disliked by individuals. Examples include the inability to achieve valued goals, such as economic success; breakup with a romantic partner; and verbal and physical abuse. …
Stratification is the process of dividing members of a society into strata, or social groups; when this is done by age, it is termed age stratification. The various age strata form age cohorts that encompass those born within a particular time period. One of the largest and most …
Gender stratification is the stratification of individuals based on biological sex and the socially derived gender roles attached to sex. Stratification based on gender has existed in human society from the beginning of recorded history, if not before. In the United States, such stratification has traditionally existed in …
Race stratification, which exists worldwide, is the ranking of individuals in groups based on perceived innate differences and the socially derived beliefs attached to these differences. In the United States, individuals of European extraction generally enjoy greater privileges and outcomes in comparison to many minority groups that enjoy …
Social stratification is a structured ranking of categories of people who receive unequal amounts of wealth, power, and status from generation to generation. It is a cultural universal found in almost every society from the past to present. However, the basis upon which stratification rests may vary through …
More than 50 years ago Hans Selye, a Canadian endocrinologist, defined stress as “the nonspecific response of the body to any demand.” In laboratory experiments, Selye exposed rats to a variety of noxious chemicals and extreme environmental conditions that he labeled “demands.” The environmental demands included freezing temperatures, …
The subculture of violence hypothesis refers to a theoretical perspective that argues that violence is a result of a system of accepted norms and beliefs that condone violence in interpersonal relationships. This perspective claims that societal groups statistically associated with high rates of violence hold these norms and …
In the social sciences, the term subculture most often refers to a group in conflict with or segmented from its dominant society. For anthropologists, who define culture as a complex system of beliefs and behaviors that characterize a particular group of people, subculture refers to parts of the …
Suicide is a health, family, institutional, political, and social issue of tremendous significance, and the field of suicide prevention is a significant priority for both public and mental health. Federal initiatives, consumer advocacy, clinical efforts, and empirical work have significantly advanced the field. While great strides have been …
Surveillance technologies and practices have become increasingly developed and diffuse. In a generic sense, surveillance refers to the process of observing behavior. In contemporary usage, surveillance refers to the use of electronic devices to expand the reach and depth of traditional sensory observation and knowledge. For example, a …
The concept of sustainable development first emerged on the international stage in 1972, when the United Nations sponsored the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. This conference was, in part, an outgrowth of the global environmental movement. It was the first global conference to focus on the growing …
Once thought a nasty relic of history, sweatshops have reemerged in both advanced industrial and newly industrial economies. Sweatshops are production sites where workers are subjected to multiple violations of their respective nation’s labor laws regulating occupational safety and health, wages and work hours, child labor laws—the institutionalized …
