RESEARCH PAPER Deadline: 11:59pm on January 15, 2020.   Purpose:    The purpose of this assignment is to focus on a controversial topic related to human sexuality that interests you and to demonstra

RESEARCH PAPER Deadline: 11:59pm on January 15, 2020.

Purpose: 

The purpose of this assignment is to focus on a controversial topic related to human sexuality that interests you and to demonstrate your expert knowledge about this topic.  You can get ideas for a topic from your reading of the textbook.  Please make your topic as specific as possible. That means no papers that just deal with a topic in a general fashion such as "Prostitution" or "Homosexuality" or "Teenage Pregnancy".  Find some aspect of the topic to write about - an "angle". For example, "Trafficking of under-aged sex workers in the US and Russia,"   "Violence against gay people in the US and Uganda" or "Socioeconomic status and teen pregnancy rates in the US and Argentina." Make sure the title of your paper includes the US and a comparison country. For example: "Police reactions to victims of date rape in the US and the UK."

Identifying a topic: You are welcome to run your topic by me. Please do not just copy the topics in the sample papers. I expect you to come up with a topic on your own. Before contacting me about a possible topic, please make sure you have done your research and are confident that you have enough peer-review journal articles about your topic that relates to the US and the comparison country. It is no good if you wish to write about violence against gay people in the US and North Korea if you cannot find enough peer-review journal articles on this subject for North Korea. A common mistake students make for this assignment is that they come up with a topic where there is little information for their chosen comparison country. If you would like feedback on your topic, please email me the title of your topic together with a list of all the peer-review journal articles that you have found for the issue for the US as well as the comparison country. 

Each reference on your list needs to be written out in full using the APA style. Do not send me attachments or copies of the articles. Make sure you have an equal number of articles for both countries and that you have enough information to address each component of this assignment. Again, please make sure you research your topic carefully before running it by me for approval. If you do not, I will just ask you to go back and do some research to see that you will have enough information in the scientific literature about your topic. If you do not wish to come up with a topic on your own or find that it is too difficult choosing a topic, you have the option of doing the following topic: "Treatment of young sex offenders in the US and South Africa."

Description: Write a paper that addresses all of the following components:

1) Identify the problem/issue and explain why it interests you personally.

 2) As a future health professional (or whatever your future career is), why is it important for you to know about this problem/issue.

 3) What are the causes of this problem/issue (include your own personal opinion as well).

 4) Describe mainstream attitudes in society about this issue/problem and state whether you think they are justified.

 5) Compare this problem/issue to another country (e.g., Access to contraception in the US versus in India, Discrimination against gay people in the US versus Uganda, Sex trafficking in the US versus Russia; Attitudes toward prostitution in the US and the Netherlands). Makes sure you choose a country and not a continent. For those of you who are confused between a country and continent, Kenya is a country and Africa is a continent. Sub-Saharan Africa is not a country. It is a region. Eastern Europe is not a country. It is a region.

6) Locate one organization in the US and one in this other country that deals with this specific issue/problem.  Please make sure you choose an organization that deals with this specific issue and not an organization that has a broader mandate and deals with a host of issues.  Describe the goals of each organization, types of services, problems and any other information you may think relevant. Give your opinion about how the two organizations compare against each other.

7) If someone asked if you could recommend a website, movie/documentary, and a book about this issue/problem, what would you tell them. Write a brief blurb about each one, identifying the name, author/source, what it deals with specifically and what things this person would find interesting about each. You must write about all three (website, movie/documentary and book). I expect more than a sentence or two copied off the internet. I expect you to have read the website and book and viewed the movie/documentary. The more detail you can give the better. It goes without saying that you cannot choose the textbook. You need to find another book to recommend. Make sure you choose a book, website and movie that is specifically tailored to your topic and not just about human sexuality in general.

8) Summarize the main ways this issue/problem is being addressed in the US and in the other country you have selected. Devote equal attention to both countries.

 9) Identify one method/approach for addressing this issue/problem that you believe is good or has potential to be effective and explain why you prefer this method/approach over others. Here is where your grasp of the professional literature should be evident.

10) As a future health professional (or whatever your future career is), state what contribution you can make in addressing this issue/problem on the local, national and international level. Be as specific as possible. No vague statements or generalizations. I expect you to put some thought into this and it should reflect your mastery of the issue/problem you wrote about.

Instructions:

1) Your paper should be 8-10 pages long (excluding cover page and bibliography).  Please choose your words carefully and thoughtfully and consider each paper as an opportunity to improve your writing skills. Above you will see that I have attached several sample papers from students who took this course before. These papers are extremely thorough and well written. These represent "A" papers. These sample papers should give you a good sense of how to do this assignment and what you need to do if you are striving for excellence. 

2) Your paper should be double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt. font.

3) Use 1" margins. There are to be no big gaps between paragraphs. Please do not attempt to make the paper seem longer than it is through crafty formatting. Each paragraph should be joined to the next paragraph. Begin each paragraph by indenting it 0.3".

 4) You can use a variety of resources to complete this paper, but HEA 307 students must use at least 5 peer-review journal articles and HEA 507 students must use at least 10 peer-review journal articles.  Examples of peer-review journals are "New England Journal of Medicine", "Journal of School Health", "American Journal of Health Education". "Journal of Sex Research", "American Journal of Sexuality Education", "Archives of Sexual Behavior", "Journal of Homosexuality", etc). There are tons of professional journals related to health and sexuality. The more professional journal articles you use, the better! These articles must have been published within the last 5 years. Full-text articles can be accessed directly by going to the Lehman library website. Make sure that you find peer-reviewed journal articles through the Lehman College library website.  I do not want to see articles found through a Google or Yahoo (or other similar search engines) or use of Wikipedia. Your articles need to come directly from professional scientific journals which are available to you on the college library website.  For information about how to access full-text journal articles or how to contact a Lehman College librarian for help, please click on the ACADEMIC RESOURCES button on the left.

5) Your paper needs to be written in a professional manner. That means you need to have a title for your paper on the first page followed by your name. Your paper should be formatted properly as instructed above. Make sure you number each page.  Please make sure that you properly cite all your sources in your paper and provide a bibliography at the end. Make sure you follow the APA style. I do not want to see any quotes. You need to put everything in your own words, and you need to cite all your sources. It is not acceptable to copy a sentence or paragraph and think it is okay as long as you cite the source. You need to put everything in your own words and cite your source. Again, everything needs to be written in your own words and there are to be no quotes. Make sure you click on the ACADEMIC RESOURCES button on the left for information about writing papers as well as how to use the APA style.  I have also attached a handout ("Professional Writing 101") which is a summary of the APA style. You risk losing valuable points if you do not read and follow this handout. 

 6) Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in a zero grade. Please click on the ACADEMIC RESOURCES button on the left for information and policies about plagiarism.

REQUIRED TEXT: Crooks, R. & Baur, K. (2017). Our Sexuality, 13th Edition. Wadsworth Publishing. ISBN: 978-1305-64652-0.