SSS100 Introduction to Sociology
Sociological Research Project (25% of final grade)
Due Date: Thursday, 5/22/08 (late penalty 0.5 grades per day)
 15% of grade/60points = 2 page issue brief (as described below)
 10% of grade/40points = poster-style presentation (to be presented 5/27 or 5/29)
Instructions for issue brief: Download the template on the following page and complete it (Typed Times Roman, single
spaced). 1 paragraph per section. 2 page maximum!
Title (5 points): Must be written in question format, e.g., What is the cost of cheap clothing?
Issue description (10 points): Describe the issue in detail and say why it is important to you, including necessary
definitions, statistics, and evidence. What books or Internet sources did you look at? Describe these in detail and
include at least 1 quotation (give sources, see “source folder” below). Try to make your sources as scholarly and
authoritative as possible.
Sociological theme (10 points): Relate the information you have learned in class to a sociological theme that we
have covered in class (e.g., race, gender, income polarization). You must refer to one of the theorists we have
covered in that topic area, e.g., Simone de Beauvoir, and explain how your topic is linked to their work.
Connection to Marx or Durkheim (10 points): Also relate the information to the work of Marx or Durkheim. You
could discuss conflict, anomie, exploitation, etc., but you must ground your analysis in the theory, referring closely
to Marx or Durkheim’s work.
Your interpretation/conclusion (10 points): Interpret the descriptive information, giving your own thoughts. Do
you agree with the sources? What are the important highlights of the information you have gathered? What
contradictions or controversies are evident? How does this information answer your question?
Source folder (15 points):
All sources that you use must be attached in the following form:
Book/magazine article or Website: Attach photocopy of key page/pages with highlighted/annotated key sections.
Interview (if applicable): Give interview date and name or pseudonym of interviewee.
Citations:
Proper MLA/APA format is not required. However, you must give the full title, author name, publication date, and
URL (if a website), of any source you quote. You can attach this as a list of references at the end of the essay.
Photos/illustrations:
You may add images, etc., to your brief if you like.
Instructions for presentation (40 points): Your task is to convey the above to your classmates in 18x24 poster format.
Create a poster featuring photos, quotations, key information, and prepare a list of discussion points so that you can explain
your project in 4-5 minutes to people visiting your station. Be creative! Please ask me if you would like to incorporate
audio/digital resources. Make it colorful, attractive, and interesting! But beware of sensationalism/shock value. The project
must convey academic integrity and scholarly restraint. You must also bring 5 copies of your issue brief to give out to
visitors to your presentation!
2008. aschoneboom@lagcc.cuny.edu. x6048
SSS100 Introduction to Sociology
Insert your title here : Dowry system
Your Name : Farhana Khondokar
Issue
Dowry is typically a transfer of wealth from the bride's family to the husband. Bride price is a
description:
transfer of wealth from the husband's family to the bride. Dowry is certain amount of Money and
personal property that a bride brings to the marriage from her family which becomes grooms property.
Since the starting period of dowry system can be a conditional gift to help the husband discharge the
responsibilities of marriage, establish a household; to provide the wife with support in case of her
husband's death; and to compensate the groom's kin for their payment of bride wealth. Later on as time
passed dowry system has been getting serious issue for women because new day’s dowry is not just a
gift from bride’s family but also forcibly overcharged by groom’s family. It has caused great hardship
to women and also the family. Dowry amount value is directly proportional to the groom's social status.
Where a woman's family is poor and cannot afford to pay dowry, the women, very often a young girl, is
literally sold off to a wealthy old man. It’s a kind of old ritual and bride’s family is preached to
maintain the rules by the society. The dowry system has been in place since before the written record
and it has been used by parents in every country imaginable, including America in older times but after
the woman rights movement in 1945-1965, it was getting better and now a day it sounds coward in
American society but dowry sill exists in the Civil Code of Louisiana. The giving of a dowry more or
less disappeared in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. The practice grows mostly in South Asia
such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Shrilanka. In some cases, delayed or insufficient dowry
made some young wives the victims of murder by their husbands or in-laws, a practice known as "bride
burning" or "dowry death." For this dowry system divorce, attempt suicide, mental and physical
tortures, number of broken family are increasing day after day. It is also affecting to the new
generation. They can not give attention in their education and contribute in any development activities.
It hampers their mental development. I knew first time about dowry in my country Bangladesh. Dowry
in our country may not be a new thing. All these days I would only hear from families of groom
demanding hefty dowry and bride’s family fiddling to fulfill their other demands. It’s a really big
social issue not just in Bangladesh but also in India, Pakistan, Nepal and the other part of the Asia. I
find out the basis for dowry demand is to greed for easy money, show-off useless dignity with others
for taking huge cash and some Insecure parents demand dowry for their old age source for survival. I
also study about it in my high school and deeply realized the social presser in my country but for this
project I searched in lots of website such as Lexisnexis.com, Answer.com, and legal explanation .com.
Sociological
theme:
Dowry is the most commonly discussed social issue amongst women in Asia. Many sociologists
define dowry as “traffic in woman” they said that dowry is not only institution that regulated women’s
value in past marriage market and even within the dowry their future destroyed. It is directly related to
the gender discrimination issue because demanding dowry is a kind of insult for the bride. It seems like
they are one kind of material thing for the marriage not a human being. The bride fells that she is one of
the big burden on her family. We saw that women are tortured when they can not give any money to
their husband. Some time we hear and see in the newspaper that some women are killed, some are hung
and some are burnt by their husband, in-law’s family members and others. In the society where the
dowry still exist, since her birth through marriage during these time a girl realizes in her every single
step that her family is worried about her not for education or her ambition but her marriage, that how
much money her future grooms family would charge for her. I also find the same thought in “Simon de
Behavior The Second Sex” reading, she said in her marriage, self realization, and professional
quotation that “parents still raise their daughter with a view to marriage rather than furthering her own
personal development.” Her prospective was, even though the women have proved by their worked,
success and achievement that they are not inferior then men anymore but still they are discriminated
through their family to everywhere. A woman is discriminated some time directly or indirectly mostly
in every where and dowry is one of them among in these discrimination. Dowry also has some other
indirect influence on the society such as, in my country Bangladesh parents get more happy to have a
son rather then girl and the one of the reason is dowry because a groom never have to provide dowry to
the bride family so parents get upset to think about their future expense as dowry, after having a girl.
We can also relate this issue to the definition of “patriarchy” which is the dominance of men over
women. I find out that mostly the dowry practice is happened in men dominated society in which some
people got the idea that men are superior then women and it’s a one kind ritual to show the respect by
providing money in their marriage.
2008. aschoneboom@lagcc.cuny.edu. x6048
SSS100 Introduction to Sociology
Connection
to Marx or
Durkheim:
My
interpretation
According to my knowledge before fifteen or twenty years ago it was related to Durkheim
theory, structural- functional paradigm in which people treat social tension as a temporary sickness that
can be cured by relatively small adjustment. During that time people knew about dowry system as an
evil practice for the woman in the society. Lots of woman were getting victim and killed by this
system. Society tried to justify the dowry system by the name of religion, tradition, ethnicity and some
time self wished gift. Some of them tried to change little bit the track of the system such as the amount
of dowry money, Grooms and in-low’s behavior and bride’s torture but they never take any step to
prevent this system. New days the dowry system is getting related more like to Karl Marx theory, in
social conflict theory people encouraged taking action to change something tremendously. After ninety
since women are getting educated, doing job and express themselves, they are getting united and
worried about their situation. Most of them are not bearing anymore torture for the dowry, though some
of them are still scared and pressured by the society. On the other hand Governments creates low
against dowry system. The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1980 and the Cruelty to Women (Deterrent
Punishment) Ordinance, 1983 were enacted in response to growing evidence of cruelty against women.
Recently a more comprehensive enactment (the Repression Against Women and Children (Special
Enactment) Act xviii of 1995 has repealed the Cruelty to Women (Deterrent Punishment) Ordinance.
Therefore this system is changing. In the past it was so high in our country. Now we have a law that
who will give dowry and take dowry, all will be known as a criminal and may have up to seven years to
fifteen years jail. Women are creating lots of private social organization, NGO to provide mental
support and security for the victim and let government know to take legal action. Media also provide
advertisements, flier, create drama, movie and documentary to aware society and people about the
result of dowry.
During to create this project I have learned lots of social movement and creation which I did not know
before. The most interesting information that I have learned is more less every country had suffered
within dowry system. Before I thought that may be our religion such as Muslin or Hindu has certain
ritual providing dowry and also in my country the uneducated society want to keep dowry system for
their own reason but during this project I realized that it not just a issue for our county or Asia neither
any religion and ritual, dowry system is all about greediness and people wants to justify and hide their
unlimited desire and greed by the name of the religion, ritual, ethnicity and society. I think poverty,
illiteracy, narrow mentality, negative attitude to the women, dependence on husband and living on their
income, social corruption etc are the another cause of dowry. Some time bridegroom wants money to
do business or want to make his life settle with that money. In the village if brides are not beautiful to
look at or if they get late married then they are to give a lot of money as dowry to the bridegroom. Not
as a woman I would say that as a human being I can not support this evil system. Though women are
getting aware and know their rights, government and non government organizations are taking step
against dowry, I felt that the problem is still there. May be the dowry practice is not that much
highlighted directly but if we pay attention seriously and see every single step before and after marriage
we will see that the nature, mentality and the practice of dowry is still there, still women are suffering
and pressured by the husband, in-lows and the society.
During this project I have searched some web site for information to enrich my project and these are……….

www.legial-explanation.com

www.answer.com

www.narijibon.blogsport.com

www.vivaah.com

www.youtube.com
(Source folder attached)
2008. aschoneboom@lagcc.cuny.edu. x6048