This activity gives you practice building arguments, counterarguments, and rebuttals—skills you’ll need for your following assignment.

PSYC3540 Culture, Ethnicity, and Diversity

Week 7 Assignment

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 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?

 

Is racial profiling defensible public policy?

 

Is the emphasis on a color-blind society an answer to racism?

 

Is gentrification another form of segregation?

 

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.

 

Resources

 

For your paper, use five sources. You may choose two of your five resources required for the assignment from the list below. Find your topic below and review the articles related to your topic.

Do we need a common national identity?

 

Miller, D., & Ali, S. (2014). Testing the national identity argument. Political Science Review, 6(2), 237–259.

 

Schildkraut, D.J., Boundaries of American identity: Evolving understandings of “Us”. Annual Review of Political Science, 17, 441–460.

 

Is racial profiling defensible public policy?

 

Coleman, M. & Kocher, A. (2019). Rethinking the “Gold Standard” of Racial Profiling: §287(g), Secure communities and racially discrepant police power. American Behavioral Scientist, 63(9),1185–1220.

 

Dizon, J.P.M. (2021). Protecting the university, policing race: A case study of campus policing. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.

 

Is the emphasis on a color-blind society an answer to racism?

 

Mekawi, Y., Todd, N. R., Yi, J., & Blevins, E. J. (2020). Distinguishing ‘I don’t see color’ from “Racism is a thing of the past”: Psychological correlates of avoiding race and denying racism. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 67(3), 288–302.

 

Yi, J., Todd, N. R., & Mekawi, Y. (2020). Racial colorblindness and confidence in and likelihood of action to address prejudice. American Journal of Community Psychology, 65(3/4), 407–422.

 

Is gentrification another form of segregation?

 

Hwang, J., & Ding, L. (2020). Unequal displacement: Gentrification, racial stratification, and residential destinations in Philadelphia. American Journal of Sociology, 126(2), 354–406.

 

Krings, A., & Schusler, T. M. (2020). Equity in sustainable development: Community responses to environmental gentrification. International Journal of Social Welfare, 29(4), 321–334.

 

Mordechay, K., Ayscue, J. B., & Civil Rights Project, P. D. C. C. for C. R. R. (CCRR). (2019). School integration in gentrifying neighborhoods: Evidence from New York City. In Civil Rights Project – Proyecto Derechos Civiles. Civil Rights Project – Proyecto Derechos Civiles.

 

Instructions

 

Using the Capella library and other appropriate sources, explore scholarly research on both sides of your selected issue.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Describe a controversial topic and key current issues related to the topic.

 

Competency 2: Apply psychological theories to issues affecting culture, ethnicity, and diversity.

 

Apply psychological theories or research in culture, ethnicity, and diversity to support counterarguments to a stated position.

 

Competency 3: Analyze psychological research findings related to culture, ethnicity, and diversity.

 

Apply psychological theories or research in culture, ethnicity, and diversity to support rebuttals to stated counterarguments.

 

Assess the strength of the original position using psychological theories or research in culture, ethnicity, and diversity to support stated views.

 

Competency 4: Apply psychological theory and research in culture, ethnicity, and diversity to inform personal and professional behavior.

 

Apply psychological theories or research in culture, ethnicity, and diversity to a position on a topic.

 

Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for professionals in the field of psychology.

 

Write coherently to support a central idea with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.

 

Cite all sources with author and year for each source.

Provide references for all sources, including author, year, and title.