This document outlines a proposed sociological study of rising crime rates in Baltimore. It identifies several factors that may be contributing to increased crime, including lack of employment opportunities, high rates of gun violence, and social inequality between classes and races. The proposed study would apply sociological concepts like strain theory and structural disorganization theory to better understand how these social conditions influence criminal behavior. A sociologist could provide new insights into this problem and ways to address its root causes from a social perspective. The proposal includes an annotated bibliography, research plan applying relevant concepts, and instructions for a short video presentation about the topic.

1. 36042 Topic: SCI 207 Our Dependence upon the Environment
Number of Pages: 2 (Double Spaced)
Number of sources: 2
Writing Style: APA
Type of document: Essay
Academic Level:Undergraduate
Category: Environmental Issues
VIP Support: N/A
Language Style: English (U.S.)
Order Instructions:
Week 2 - Assignment 2
Peer Review of Week 1 Assignment
[WLO: 3] [CLOs: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Your reviews of the work of three of your peers are all due on
Day 7. Your grade will reflect both the quality and

2. thoroughness of your three completed Peer Review Forms. In
this class activity, you will be examining the work of your peers
and offering helpful suggestions for how their work might be
improved in quality and clarity.
The Process:
Prior to beginning work on this discussion, download the Peer
Review FormPreview the document.
Read it over carefully, including the tips on page 1.
Upload and submit your Sustainable Living Guide
Contributions, Part 1 of 4: Sustaining Biodiversity and
Ecosystems assignment to the Peer Review Assignment
Submission page in Canvas by Day 2. You utilized the Week 1
Assignment TemplatePreview the document to complete this
assignment in Week 1.
After Day 2 passes, go back to the Peer Review Assignment
Submission page to access the files of the three classmates that
you will be reviewing.
Use the Peer Review Form to give quality feedback to each of
the three peers assigned to you using separate forms for each
review.
When you have completed your three peer reviews, upload each
of the completed forms as individual attachments in the
comments area of the Peer Review Assignment Submission page
so that your peers can receive your feedback.
Upload all three of your Peer Review Forms to Waypoint for
evaluation by the instructor.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external

3. site.)Links to an external site. for the criteria that will be used
to evaluate your assignment.
Week 1 Assignment Template
Sustainable Living Guide Contributions, Part One of Four:
Sustaining Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Instructions: Using the term that you have selected from the list
provided in the classroom, please complete the following
template. Create a minimum of 5 to 7 well-crafted sentences per
paragraph. In your response, you are expected to cite and
reference, in APA format, at least two outside sources in
addition to the class text. The sources must be credible (from
experts in the field of study); scholarly sources (published in
peer-reviewed academic journals) are strongly encouraged.
Delete these instructions before submitting your work to
Waypoint.
Your Term:
Instructions: In the first paragraph;
•
Thoroughly define your term.
•
Describe how the term relates to this week’s theme. Provide
specific examples.
Delete these instructions before submitting your work to
Waypoint.
[Enter your information here]

4. Instructions: In the second paragraph;
•
Discuss how the term affects living things and the physical
world.
•
Explain how the term relates to the challenge of achieving
environmental sustainability.
•
Justify if the term represents an obstacle to that goal, or perhaps
a technique or technology that might promote it?
Again, be as specific as possible and include examples to
support your explanations.
[Enter your information here]
Instructions: In the third paragraph;
•
Determine at least two specific actions that we can take in order
to promote environmental sustainability in relation to this term.
Be creative and concrete with your suggestions. For example,
you might recommend supporting a particular organization that
is active in the field of your term.
•
Consider actions that might be taken
1) on the individual level, in our daily lives;
2) at the community level;
3) via national and global organizations working on behalf of

5. the environmental issues associated with your term; and/or 4) at
the ballot box (though voting).
[Enter your information here]
After proofreading your assignment carefully, please submit it
to the Peer Review Site. After you have done so, please also
submit a copy of your work to Waypoint.
2) SCI 207 - Peer Review Form
Week 2
DIRECTIONS:
The idea of this activity is to help your peer improve his or her
paper. After carefully reviewing your peer’s Week 1 Sustaining
Biodiversity and Ecosystems paper, answer the following
questions to provide feedback. What needs to be added, omitted,
or changed? Provide detailed feedback. Think of the feedback
that you would like to receive from others and offer a thorough
critique.
ORGANIZATION:
Paragraph Order: Are the paragraphs and ideas arranged in a
logical and clear order? If not, explain where ideas could be
reordered or clarified.
Paragraph Development: Does each body paragraph include a
topic sentence and consist of at least 5-7 well-crafted
sentences?
Indicate areas where the author needs to add supporting ideas
and evidence in the form of details, examples, statistics,
studies, or expert opinion.

6. CONTENT:
Overall: Did the author contribute his or her own ideas and
comments in the paper, or did the author just summarize the
material?
First Paragraph: Did the author state the term clearly and define
the term thoroughly, or could the definition be expanded?
Does the author indicate how the defined word ties into the
Week 1 theme?
Second Paragraph: Did the author explain how the term affects
living things and the physical world?
Did the author explain how the term relates to the challenge of
achieving environmental sustainability?
Did the author discuss if the term represents an obstacle to that
goal, or a technique or technology that promotes it?
Third + Additional Paragraphs: Did the author identify at least
two specific actions to promote environmental sustainability in
relation to this term? Indicate areas where the author could
improve upon or expand these ideas.
Did the author address actions on an individual, community,
national or global, and/or ballot box level? What possible
actions could the author add?
CITATIONS
Sources: Did the author incorporate at least two sources? How
would you evaluate the credibility of these sources?

7. APA: Did the author list all sources in a final references list? Is
this list formatted correctly?
Did the author use in-text citations to show where he or she
used the sources cited in the references list within the paper?
GRAMMAR & STYLE
Grammar and Spelling: Are there any grammatical or spelling
errors that you noticed in the paper? Describe a few of these
issues (if any).
Style: Is the writing clear throughout the paper? Note any
unclear ideas or sentences here.
Is the writing style academic and professional in tone, or is the
language too casual?
FINAL COMMENTS?
Offer a few final comments about the paper. Offer a positive
comment about the paper. What is working?
What could the author do to improve the paper that wasn’t
addressed in the questions above?
USE THE SAME RESOURCES AS OTHERS ASSIGMENTS.
PROPOSAL FOR SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF BALTIMORE:
annotated bibliography, Research paper, and VIDEO
PRESENTATION
Annotated Bibliography (50 points)
Research Proposal (50 points)
Assignment Overview

8. There are many challenges facing the Baltimore area and not
necessarily a lot of easy solutions. One of the strengths of the
sociological perspective is that it can provide a new or “fresh”
perspective on a problem. For this assignment, you will choose
a social problem that affects the Baltimore area and will explain
how a sociological perspective could be used to think about the
problem in a new way.
Please note that you are not expected to provide a solution to
the problem. The goal is to explain how a sociologist would
develop a research project in order to further study the issue.
For instance, if your chosen social problem was jaywalking
(people crossing the street illegally), you would write about
how sociological concepts such as deviance, or theories such as
strain theory or structural disorganization, could be applied by a
sociologist in a research project.
Instructions
· Before beginning this assignment, you will need to identify a
problem present in the Baltimore area that could benefit from
sociological research. You can choose any problem or issue you
like, but keep in mind that a definition of sociology is “the
study of people doing things together” (Chapter 1). Topics that
have been chosen by students in the past include drug addiction,
poverty, and low high-school graduation rates. You can choose
any issue that relates to the Baltimore area.
Instructions for the Annotated Bibliography
Topic
identify 5 high-quality academic information sources. This can
include books, academic journal articles from the CCBC library

9. electronic databases, or news reports from nationally recognized
newspapers or magazines. Materials assigned in the class such
as the textbook or the videos cannot be counted toward the
requirement for 5 information sources. You are welcome to use
class materials for writing your paper, but they must be used in
addition to the 5 sources you find on your own. Ideally, the
research materials should be drawn from the field of sociology,
but you may use materials from other related fields. For
instance, an academic journal article about the effects of
substance abuse on the community written by a physician and
published in a medical journal could still be used if it is
“sociological” in the sense that it discusses people and the
social conditions in which they live. Make sure you are using
all available CCBC resources to find information. Just Googling
is not going to work for this assignment.
Cannot be used in your bibliography:
-Our class materials including textbook and videos
-Videos (including TEDtalks)
-Online textbooks
-Sociology study guides
-Wikipedia or other encyclopedias
There is a help file posted with this assignment with more
information about using CCBC library resources online.
Using MLA format, create an annotated bibliography at the end
of your paper with entries for each of the 5 information sources.
An annotation is a brief summary of the main idea(s) in the
book/article and a description of why the information source
will be useful for your paper. The annotation you write for each
of your 5 information sources should be about 1 paragraph in
length. You will need to read the articles and browse the books
so you can explain the content of each information source. Do
not simply paraphrase or copy a summary or abstract available
online. There is a help file posted with this assignment with

10. more information about formatting your bibliography.
Example Annotated Bibliography Entry:
Adams, Samuel, John Adams and Paul Revere and edited by G.
I. History “The Importance of Beer and Taverns in the
American Revolution.” American Journal of Social History.
97.3 (2008), 354-382. Social History Full Text.
This article discusses the importance of beer and taverns in
bringing together discussion of the American Rebellion. It
draws on the firsthand experience of three Revolutionaries and
their experiences in the pub. The article includes discussion of
social class in where one would congregate. This article is
useful for my research project because it is the only article I
have discovered that contains firsthand information from people
alive during this time period.
Instructions for the Research Proposal
Write a3-4 page (single spaced length) proposal for a
sociological research project focused on the topic you have
selected. Your paper should contain all of the information
described below. The bibliography is included in the required
length. You may format your paper as one continuous essay, or
you can divide the paper into the sections listed below.
1. Description of the Topic
In the first part of your paper, describe the topic you have
selected and explain why the issue is important for society. Use
information from at least 2 of the research resources in your
annotated bibliography in this section of the paper.
Use in-text citations in your paper in places where you have
used information from your research resources. An in-text
citation identifies the sources of the information you are using

11. inside parentheses in the paper. For instance, “According to Dr.
Brown, sociology is the most popular class at CCBC (Brown).”
There is a help file posted with this assignment with more
information about formatting in-text citations.
2. Apply Three Sociological Concepts to the Issue (most
important section for your grade)
Choose 3 of the sociological concepts or theories you have
learned about this semester and describe how those 3 concepts
can be used to better understand the issue you have selected.
We covered several sociological concepts and/or theories each
week in the class and you can choose any of them. This a very
important section of your paper so be sure you have explained
in detail, using quotations or specific references from the
textbook or assigned videos, how each sociological concept
could be used by a sociologist to understand the problem. Do
not use a sociological concept that has not appeared in the
textbook or other assigned course materials.
3. Conclusion
Write a conclusion that summarizes your own opinion about
why a sociologist in particular (as opposed to some other kind
of researcher) could make an important contribution to
understanding the problem. Think about the unique sociological
perspective (the sociological imagination) in writing this
portion of the paper. How could sociology give us a fresh
perspective on the problem that we might not have considered
before?
4. Include a Bibliography in MLA Format
Submit a shorter version of your bibliography that includes only
the research materials you used in writing your paper. Remove
all the annotations (summaries) so that only the bibliographic
information is left. Your bibliography should have a minimum
of 2 items listed (because a minimum of 2 research sources are
required in the first section of your paper). However, if you use

12. more research sources in your paper, you should include them in
the bibliography.
Instructions for the Video Presentation
Make a short (less than 5 minutes) video of yourself answering
the three questions below. Show a photo ID at the beginning of
the video—just hold it up for the camera—so I can verify your
identity. You can use your cell phone for this, or any other
device that takes digital video. Submit the video through
Blackboard using the link provided in the Submit Assignments
area, or email it to me at [email protected]
Questions to Answer in Your Presentation
· How did you select your topic?
· What challenges did you face in finding the right information
sources for your research?
· What is the most important thing you would want people to
know about your topic?
SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF BALTIMORE 4
Student Name
Institution
Tutor
Course
Date
Sociological Study of Baltimore
Description of the Problem
Crime rates in the Baltimore city are ever rising and this is due
to different factors and issues in the modern American
community. Crime rates can be rising due to different reasons,
which are incident factors and stemming from the issues

13. affecting the community. Leadership is an integral aspect in the
community, which should be able to deal with the different
issues related with the rising crime rates. In the city of
Baltimore, the rising in crimes has affected how the community
is related and differs in the many different parts of the
American community. The rising crimes rates in the Baltimore
city are associated with increased violence in the city, which
has been an issue affecting the growth of population and social
leadership in the community. Increased violence becomes a
common factor, which has affected the Baltimore community
and this has led to increased crimes rates, gun violence, low
employment opportunities, social inequality between the
society’s community and races. These are some of the factors or
incident factors and impacts of increased or rising crime rates in
the Baltimore community.
Therefore, the rising crime rates within the Baltimore
community has been due to the lack of employment
opportunities within the city and this prompts the rise and
dependency on criminal activities. It is a challenge for the
community and its leaders to focus on the challenges, ways, and
means for enhancing employment opportunities. Due to lack of
economic conditions and activities, the society has been
affected due to arise in criminal activities since the people are
unable to adhere to the changes in the community and of the
community. Thus, to curb the rising crimes rates, the
community needs to develop effective job opportunities.
There is also the rise in the use of guns in the community,
which has also led to the rising crime rates in the community.
Rising crime rates are only propelled by the use of many guns
and accessibility to guns without licenses and this has been a
major reason as to why there is a rise in crimes rates in the
community. The challenge is growing and this has been a major
problem in the city and gun violence has been a challenge
affecting the growth of violence in the community. Due to the
increased violence in the community, gun control needs to be
addressed by the local and state governments.

14. There are also the differences in the community due to the
differences between the social classes. The rise in population,
especially the rise in population of the blacks in the community
has been an issue which has created a chance in the rise of
crimes in the community. It is important to focus on the ways of
communication, handling different choices, and reforming to
improve and support organizational support and performance. It
is important and common to choose the choices, changes, and
ways for enhancing and improving social differences in the
community. Therefore, it becomes important to gain, develop,
and increase different ways for handling discrimination in the
community, especially, when dealing with the rising issues and
ways on social differences. The social differences in the
community can only be dealt with issues on leadership,
performance, development and creative resources in the
community. It is a challenge and overall leadership processes
based on performance and guidance through community
integration and interactions.
To understanding sociological issues affecting the Baltimore
city offers a clear indication on the issues and challenges
affecting the local and natives in the American communities.
This aims at developing the differences and ways and issues
affecting the local communities, especially, from the
sociological perspectives. It is important since it helps in
dealing with local and international issues of the community. In
this regard, the challenge is on affecting and increasing ways
for communication and interactions. The issue is an important
step towards understanding what are the main issues causing
crime rates to rise in the Baltimore society and community. This
helps to focus on the rising changes, ways, and means of
interacting with the society and its effects of the community.
Sociological Concepts to the issue
There are different sociological perspectives, which can be used
to define and develop a platform for explaining the rising crime
rates in the Baltimore city. A common social issue is when
dealing with challenges of a community based on the lack of

15. effective communication and performance. In this manner, it is
the challenge of understanding the issues of the community and
how to develop proper solutions. The sociological perspectives
include:
a) Social interactions
The foundations of the social interactionist perspective is on
developing the ways of interactions between and within the
community. In this manner, the people of the Baltimore city are
able to communicate and develop the necessary ways for
interactions and how to develop a proper means of focusing on
the social issues affecting the community. For instance, a
common solution is to enhance and use ways of communication,
especially, on how to develop, improve, and increase effective
job opportunities and improve social interactions. A challenge
is on how to improve and support leadership in the community.
The social interactionalist perspective is able to help a
sociologist to effectively understand the challenges facing the
community and how the interactions between the community’s
people increased crime rates. For instance, a situation such as
how to effectively improve social amenities for the community
has been a challenge which affects, results, and develops ways
for understanding ways of handling social changes in the
community. A sociology will have to consider the social
interactionist perspective to help the community focusing on
leadership and social equality.
b) Social conflict
Based on the Karl Marx theory of social conflict, a community,
such as the Baltimore city can be seen as a competition between
different communities. For instance, the social inequality can be
seen as a challenge between the high, middle and lower social
classes. This is a challenge which can be seen as a modern way
for understanding and affecting ways for communication and
interaction. Competition between the high and lower classes
prompts the increase in crime rates in the community. The
social conflict perspective is another critical way for handling
and demonstrating different ways, such as holding and

16. developing different activities focusing on improved
performance and social development in the community. It is
important to consider the community as a process for interacting
different groups, instead of a competition between the different
groups. Thus, the perspective offers a clear indication on how to
improve relationship interactions amongst the communities of
the society. Instead of focusing on social conflicts and
imagining a competition between the have and the have-nots, it
is important to consider focusing on how the community can
integrate both the high social classes and the low classes in the
community.
c) Functionalism
Another essential perspective is focusing on how to handle and
develop processes considered important and how to increase and
improve relational performance in the community. It is
important also on how to handle, develop, and improve different
ways for handling the processes and ways of the community.
The functional perspective considers the community as a
structure which has different parts and all forming a logical part
during interactions. Thus, the symbiotic kind relationship
affects how the community also interacts between the local and
international resources. Therefore, for a sociologist,
functionalism can be a solution for handling ways and means for
changing the social differences between the community’s
members. It also helps in the governance and how to develop
the different social changes of the community. In this manner, it
helps to improve, develop, and improve social differences of the
community. Hence, it is important to use functional perspective
on how to handle, develop, and improve solutions viewed as
vial to community integration and different entities of the
society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a sociology has an upper hand on offering the
core service, especially, on how to handle and develop solutions
on governance in the contemporary community. Empirical
studies will not be able to determine the cause and effect of the

17. different social changes in the community. It is important to
use, develop, and improve performance based on how to
improve, increase, develop, and support effective organization.
There is more for a sociologist can learn by interacting with the
society rather than conducting a research on the issues affecting
the Baltimore city. A sociology, especially, applying the theory
of social conflict will be able to learn and discern the issues
affecting the community from the perspective of handling
changes and ways in which the community affects the
leadership, social classes, political, and economic conditions of
the community. Therefore, it is important to increase the
processes of communication and how to handle changes on the
community on how to improve, develop, and increase effective
leadership in the community. There is more on employing the
social interactions and how to improve the community from a
possible violence and crime rising state to a zero tolerance on
crime and violence.
Bibliography
Akers, Ronald. Social learning and social structure: A general
theory of crime and deviance. Routledge, 2017.
Rothstein, Richard. "From Ferguson to Baltimore: the fruits of
government-sponsored segregation." J. Affordable Hous. &
Cmty. Dev. L. 24 (2015): 205.
Taylor, Ralph. Breaking away from broken windows: Baltimore
neighborhoods and the nationwide fight against crime, grime,
fear, and decline. Routledge, 2018.