PSYCHOLOGY OF WOMEN
TERM PAPER
For this paper, you will conduct a project concerning a current issue affecting women
and/or girls. Your first step will be to select a topic that pertains to women and gender.
Below, I’ve included some examples of topics, although feel free to choose a topic of
your own.
 Eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, compulsive overeating)
 Domestic violence
 Sexual assault/rape
 Breast cancer
 Teenage pregnancy
 Poverty
 The achievement gap in math and science
 Day care
 Pregnancy and childbirth
 Issues affecting lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth or adults
 Older women’s issues
 Sexual harassment
 Sex education
Please be sure to have your topic approved by me before you begin working on your
paper. Once you choose your topic, you will research the following issues:
1. Literature review. For this section of your paper, you will examine research
journals, news magazines, and/or books for information about your topic, and
you will provide a summary of that information. You are required to have a
minimum of 5 sources. No more than one source can be from the Internet
(with the exception of online databases). You should aim to use high-quality
resources, such as articles from peer-reviewed journals, research-based books,
and articles from high-quality mainstream publications. I suggest you use
ProQuest Psychology Journals and Infotrac (two research databases you can
access through the SCC library) to locate appropriate sources.
How do I write a literature review?
When you are writing your literature review, you might begin with articles
that address the nature of the problem or issue, then summarize articles that
conduct research on how to deal with the issue or problem. Try to summarize
the information without restating the entire article. I can provide you with
samples of literature reviews if you are feeling stuck.
The literature review portion of your paper should be about 3-5 pages long. Be
sure to use APA style when citing your references.
2. Assessment of the problem. Next, you will examine the current status of
attempts to deal with the issue in the Sacramento area. Try to identify a range
of organizations and agencies - some are devoted to political action,
education and awareness, and prevention, while others focus their efforts on
direct services to women (such as counseling, financial assistance, or legal
advice). You will need to identify at least 3 resources. If you can’t find 3
resources in the Sacramento area, or if 3 resources in the area don’t exist,
please state that in your paper. Once you identify these resources, provide a
summary of how they address the issue you’ve chosen.
Where can I find information about resources in Sacramento?
There are lots of places you can find information. The Internet is a good place
to start – you can do a search on “your topic” and “Sacramento” or
“California” and see what comes up. While most of these resources have a
national focus, many of them have links to local resources. For organizations
that provide direct services to women, a great resource is the Community
Services Directory, which you can locate through the Sacramento Public
Library. This book contains listings for hundreds of social service agencies in
the Sacramento area. Remember, the key is to find resources that specifically
serve women in the Sacramento area.
What, specifically, should I write about?
In your summary of the resources, please address the following questions:
 What form do the resources take (e.g., informational websites,
hotlines, physical locations to visit, specialized counseling, financial
assistance, education and awareness, political action)?
 How easy or difficult is it for a woman in need of these resources to
track them down?
 Who has access to these resources? For example, do these resources
require a lot of money?
 Are the resources adequate to fit the demand in Sacramento?
 Based upon your literature review, do the types of resources address
the issue properly?
This section of your paper will likely be about 2-3 pages long. You can
probably get most of your information about these resources from the
Internet. If a resource you’ve identified doesn’t have a Web page, you may
need to make a phone call to the resource/organization and ask some
questions.
3. Recommendations for changes. Based on your literature review and your
assessment of resources, how effectively has our community dealt with this
issue? In your opinion, what has our community done well, and what needs to
be improved? This is where you can get creative! Think about direct services
as well as political actions. This section should be about 2-3 pages long.