Is gentrification a new form of segregation?
Assignment Instructions
CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC POSITION PAPER
Overview
This activity gives you practice building arguments, counterarguments, and rebuttals—skills you’ll need for your following assignment. In the field of psychology, just about everything is controversial, and you’ll need to develop your ability to look at things from multiple perspectives. This activity is an example of how we can apply critical thinking.
Preparation
For this assignment, you will choose one of the four following controversial topics from your Taking Sides text and write a position paper of 4–5 content pages (plus a title page and references page) that answers the question posed by the title.
- Do we need a common identity? (pages 19–37).
- Is racial profiling defensible public policy? (pages 117–126).
- Is the mass incarceration of Blacks and Latinos the new Jim Crow? (pages 222–235).
- Is gentrification another form of segregation? (pages 236–246).
If you haven’t yet:
- Review the Issues Summary [PDF] to help you select your topic.
- Review the Riverbend City: Arguments, Counterarguments, and Rebuttals. Your answers in the media piece will help you with this assignment.
- Review the media piece about how to define what constitutes Reliable Evidence.
- Review the Activity: Controversial Topic Preparation.
- Review the Culture, Ethnicity, and Diversity Library Guide. This guide was created to provide tips for this assignment.
Instructions
Using the Capella library and other appropriate sources, explore scholarly research on both sides of your selected issue.
Develop your position on the question using the corresponding Taking Sides essay as a foundation.
Organize your paper as follows:
- Title page.
- Introduction.
- Your position and arguments.
- Evidence to support your arguments (i.e., data and research), including how the evidence supports the arguments.
- Counterarguments to your position.
- Rebuttals to those counterarguments.
- Evidence to support your rebuttals (i.e., data and research), including how the evidence supports the rebuttals.
- Summary and Conclusion.
- References.
This APA Paper Template [DOCX] is provided for your convenience.
Additional Requirements
- Remember that the content of your paper must be 4–5 pages in length.
- In addition to the essay, use a minimum of five resources, at least two of which are peer-reviewed academic articles.
- Follow APA style and formatting guidelines throughout.
- Set your paper in Times New Roman, 12 point.
Review the scoring guide before submitting your assignment to ensure that you meet all criteria. Refer to the helpful links in Resources as you complete your assignment.
You are encouraged to save this assignment to your ePortfolio.
SCORING GUIDE
Your work will be evaluated using this criteria.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
- Competency 1: Describe the effects of culture, ethnicity, and diversity on the human experience.
- Competency 2: Apply psychological theories to issues affecting culture, ethnicity, and diversity.
- Competency 3: Analyze psychological research findings related to culture, ethnicity, and diversity.
- Competency 4: Apply psychological theory and research in culture, ethnicity, and diversity to inform personal and professional behavior.
- Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for professionals in the field of psychology.
