Sociology (copy)
Chapter 1: Taking a New Look at a Familiar World
Sociology and the Individual
Fundamental Theme of Sociology: Everyday social life (thoughts, actions, feelings, decisions, interactions) is the product of a complex interplay between societal forces and personal characteristics.
To explain human behavior, beliefs, and actions, one must understand the interpersonal, historical, cultural, technological, organizational, and global environments people inhabit.
Understanding individuals and society requires understanding both (C. W. Mills, 1959).
Individualistic Explanations vs. Societal Forces:
The United States is a society valuing the "rugged, self-reliant individual," leading to dominant individualistic understandings of human behavior.
This often attributes problems and processes to a person's character, psychology, or biochemistry.
Most people assume their choices are private phenomena (e.g., major, attire, food, mates).
Limits to Free Decisions: Many actions are dictated or influenced by social circumstances.
Age: Determines legal ability to drive, drink alcohol, vote. Can force retirement.
Gender: Profoundly affects occupational choices (e.g., bank executive, engineer predominantly male; registered nurse, preschool teacher predominantly female).
Religion: Doctrines may limit behavioral choices (e.g., premarital sex, divorce for Catholics; Ramadan fast for Muslims; dietary laws for Orthodox Jews).
Personal Style: Choices in hairstyle, dress, music, videos are influenced by large-scale marketing strategies and corporate decisions (e.g., popularity of Ariana Grande, Post Malone, Taylor Swift, Cardi B due to publicity programs).
Jukin Media: A California company that determines if web videos go viral by purchasing licensing rights (e.g., baby tasting lemons, dogs and parakeets becoming friends).
National and International Economic Trends: Affect job loss, job market tightness (e.g., global competition, lingering effects of a pandemic).
College degrees may not guarantee fruitful employment due to rapid technology development.
75\% of young adults who dropped out of college cited financial need to work full-time as the principal reason for not returning (Lewin, 2009).
By 2014, more adults in their 20s and 30s were living with parents (one-third) than with a spouse or partner, often due to insufficient income (Fry, 2016a).
Consequences of Living with Parents: Parental involvement in adult children's lives (e.g., making appointments, reminding of deadlines, romantic advice, financial assistance) (Quealy & Miller, 2019).
In Slovakia, 74\% of 18 to 34-year-olds live with parents regardless of employment or marital status (Lyman, 2015).
Government and Politics: Political decisions at local, regional, national, or international levels.
Can lead to closing government agencies, increased cost/reduced availability of goods/services, reduced paychecks after taxes.
In extreme conditions, can limit essential activities outside the home.
Workplace family-leave or health insurance regulations can affect decisions about having children or elective surgery.
Federal and state governments can determine job security based on sexual orientation (for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender individuals).
U.S. Supreme Court decisions can influence fertility control, discrimination lawsuits, property use, weapon carrying, legal marriage, and privacy.
Distant Country Events: Can impact everyday lives.
2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan crippled car parts manufacturing, reducing U.S. automobile production.
2011 protests in Arab countries (Libya, Egypt, Syria, Yemen) raised fears of reduced oil imports, driving U.S. gasoline prices over 4 a gallon.
Fall 2019 COVID-19 outbreak in China spread globally, infecting millions and killing hundreds of thousands (as of summer 2020).
Resulted in travel restrictions, "shelter in place" orders, school/university closings, and economic shutdown.
ISIS attacks (2015-2019) in France, Belgium, Turkey, England, Australia, Sri Lanka led to heightened police security in U.S. public venues, travel restrictions, and increased safety measures.
The Insights of Sociology
Sociologists acknowledge individual choices and responsibility but emphasize that personal experiences cannot be fully understood without examining the influence of surrounding people, events, and societal features.
Sociology offers unique insight by demonstrating how social processes shape individuals and how individual actions affect those processes.
Contrast with Other Disciplines:
Biology: Studies body function.
Neurology: Examines brain processes.
Psychology: Studies internal mental processes of human behavior.
These focus on structures and processes within the individual.
Sociology: Studies what happens among people (individuals, groups, societies).
Analyzes how social forces affect interactions, how individuals interpret private lives and social worlds, and how everyday social interaction creates "society."
Understanding Personal Issues within Societal Context: Examples include love, sexuality, poverty, aging, prejudice.
U.S. adults believe they marry for love, but society pressures marriage within the same social class, religion, and race (P. L. Berger, 1963).
Sociology requires looking beyond individual anatomy and personality.
Illustrative Situations and Individual vs. Social Explanations:
14 -year-old girl starving herself: Immediate individualistic response: personal problem, personality defect, genetic flaw, mental problem, lack of willpower.
55 -year-old stockbroker homeless and depressed: Immediate individualistic response: personal problem, personality defect, genetic flaw, mental problem, lack of willpower.
High school valedictorian alcoholic: Immediate individualistic response: personal problem, personality defect, genetic flaw, mental problem, lack of willpower.
Sociological Insight: Cannot downplay the social world. Society exalts lean bodies, values individual achievement and economic success, and encourages excessive drinking. Some people suffer when they don't measure up.
Not all individuals exposed to the same social messages fall victim, but full understanding requires acknowledging the broader social context.
The Sociological Imagination
Definition: The ability to see the impact of social forces on our private lives (C. Wright Mills, 1959).
Enables understanding the larger historical picture and its meaning in individual lives.
Many personal experiences are products of society-wide forces.
Sociology's task: to help view lives as the intersection between personal biography and societal history.
Applying the Sociological Imagination:
Job Loss: A traumatic private experience.
Feelings of personal failure might differ based on local unemployment rates (e.g., 1\% in Ames, Iowa vs. 17\% in El Centro, California).
Unemployment should be seen as a social problem rooted in economic and political structures, not personal malfunction.
As long as the economy allows easy replacement of employees or experiences slumps, unemployment cannot be solved at the personal level.
Divorce: Usually experienced as an intimate tragedy.
In the U.S., 4 out of 10 marriages end in divorce; rates are increasing globally.
Must view divorce in the context of broader historical changes in family, law, religion, economics, and culture.
Changes in divorce rates cannot be explained solely by individual characteristics or behaviors.
Empowerment through Sociological Imagination:
Mills did not imply debilitation or powerlessness.
Awareness of social forces' impact on personal lives is a prerequisite for changing social circumstances.
Solutions to social problems (e.g., drug addiction, homelessness, sexual violence, hate crimes, eating disorders, suicide) lie in changing social institutions and roles, not just treating or punishing individuals.
Conclusion
Importance in the 21st Century: Understanding our place within cultural, historical, and global contexts is crucial.
The world is shrinking due to communication technology.
Ecological awareness reveals far-reaching effects of environmental degradation.
Colossal events in one country (revolutions, attacks, disasters, crises, shootings, upheavals) quickly reverberate globally, with long-lasting local and global consequences.
Reciprocal Relationship: Individuals are not helpless pawns; they simultaneously influence and are influenced by society.
Everyday lives are largely a product of structural (macrolevel) societal and historical processes.
Society is an objective fact that coerces and creates individuals (P. L. Berger, 1963).
Individuals constantly create, maintain, reaffirm, and transform society (microlevel everyday phenomena) (R. Collins, 1981).
People collectively forget they created society, believe it exists independently, and live under its influence.
Chapter Highlights
The primary theme of sociology: Everyday thoughts and actions result from a complex interplay of massive social forces and personal characteristics. Understanding individuals and societies requires understanding both.
The sociological imagination: The ability to see the impact of social forces on private lives, locating lives at the intersection of personal biography and societal history.
Sociologists study what goes on between people (individuals, groups, organizations, entire societies), looking beyond individual personalities to understand shaping phenomena.
Key Terms (from Chapter 1)
Individualistic explanation: Tendency to attribute people’s achievements and failures to their personal qualities.
Macrolevel: Way of examining human life focusing on broad social forces and structural features of society above individual level.
Microlevel: Way of examining human life focusing on immediate, everyday experiences of individuals.
Sociological imagination: Ability to see the impact of social forces on our private lives.
Sociology: The systematic study of human societies.
Chapter 2: Seeing and Thinking Sociologically
How Individuals Structure Society
Definition of Society: A population living in the same geographic area that shares a culture and common identity, and whose members are subject to the same political authority.
Can consist of people with the same ethnic heritage or diverse groups.
Can be highly industrialized and complex, or agricultural and simple.
Can be very religious or distinctly secular.
Auguste Comte's View: All societies contain forces for stability ("social statics") and forces for change ("social dynamics").
Common Misconception about Society: Often viewed as a static, top-down entity, completely separate from individuals, shaping lives like a puppeteer.
Society does exert influence through structural features and historical circumstances, as implied by the sociological imagination.
Individual Role in Society: Individuals play a role in forming society and influencing its history.
Responses to social environments may modify the environment itself (House, 1981).
Society is a human creation, formed by people interacting.
Importance of Communication: Essential for understanding societal expectations and living together.
Day-to-day conversation constructs, reaffirms, experiences, and alters societal reality.
Responding to messages, comments, gestures as expected, and talking about social abstractions as real, helps shape society (Shibutani, 1961).
Example: School Shootings Discussion:
Despite statistical rarity (e.g., 1,300 incidents since 1970; 97 incidents and 56 deaths in 2018; only 1.2\% of child homicides at school) and schools being safest places for younger grades (Christakis, 2019; Satterly, 2014; Goldstein, 2018).
Public fear leads to "active shooter" readiness programs and survival drills in two-thirds of school districts.
Person A (armed teachers): Acknowledges urgency, suggests armed "good guys" for quick response.
Person B (stricter gun control): Acknowledges urgency, suggests harder access to lethal weapons, notes U.S. has most guns/gun deaths (Kristof & Marsh, 2017).
By discussing, they acknowledge the problem's reality and urgency, giving shape and substance to societal ideals and values (Hewitt, 1988).
Individual actions can mobilize groups to collectively alter society.
Malala Yousafzai Example:
Began blogging for BBC in 2009 at age 11 about life under Taliban and importance of girls' education in Swat Valley, Pakistan.
Gained international following, became prominent.
Shot in the face by Taliban in October 2012, survived, redoubled efforts for girls' education.
Assassination attempt received worldwide coverage and sympathy.
United Nations drafted a petition in her name.
Spoke before UN, met world leaders (Queen Elizabeth, President Obama).
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 at age 17.
Her work created a global movement for 12 years of free, quality education for all girls, raising millions for projects (Malala Fund, 2019).
In 2015, world leaders committed to this goal by 2030.
Social Influence: The Impact of Other People in Our Everyday Lives
Humans live in a world with other people; everyday life is a collection of various encounters.
Family, friends, classmates, teachers, co-workers, bosses, spiritual leaders, therapists, strangers.
Even in isolation (e.g., contagion), virtual encounters persist (tech support, online instruction).
Identity Formation: Much of private identity (self-perception, type of person, public image) comes from contact with others (Chapters 5 and 6).
Social Influence: Others affect thoughts, likes, and dislikes, often unconsciously.
Popularity: Research shows popularity of songs, books, films is a consequence of social influence; people like what others like (Salganik, Dodds, & Watts, 2006; D. J. Watts, 2007).
Lack of Contact: Without others, one would lack understanding of emotions (love, hate, jealousy, compassion, gratitude), self-perception (attractive, bright), basic information (day, weight, geography, reading ability), and language (thinking, imagining, planning, wondering, fantasizing, reminiscing).
Meaning-Making: We act and react based on meanings attached to things and people.
Squirrel reacts instinctively to a dog; humans interpret the dog's disposition (friendly/mean) before reacting.
We usually interpret events before reacting.
Impact on Performance:
Presence of others can motivate improvement (e.g., tennis opponent).
Presence of others can inhibit (e.g., forgetting lines due to ex-boyfriend in audience).
Contagion of Behaviors/Feelings:
Yawning is contagious.
Coughing often triggers coughing in others (Provine, 2012).
Tickling requires social interaction; one cannot tickle oneself.
People are about 30 times more likely to laugh when with others than alone (Provine, 2000).
Personal Contentment and Generosity:
Knowing happy people increases one's own happiness (Fowler & Christakis, 2008).
Shoppers are happier with others, regardless of purchase (Goldsmith, 2016).
Twitter users prefer comparable moods; happy users retweet/reply to happy users (Bollen, Goncalves, Ruan, & Mao, 2012).
Presence of female family members (wives, sisters, daughters, mothers) can make men more generous, compassionate, empathetic.
Physical Well-being: Affected by others.
In Japan, women living with husbands and in-laws have 3 times higher heart attack risk than those living only with husbands (Rabin, 2008).
Happy spouses associated with fewer physical impairments, more exercise, and better self-rated health (Chopik & O’Brien, 2017).
Large network of friends can increase life expectancy (Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, 2010).
Purposeful Swaying of Actions: People try to persuade others against their will or better judgment (e.g., stealing, skipping class, speeding).
Societal Influence: The Effect of Social Structure on Our Everyday Lives
Social life is more than individual influences; it's also how parts are put together and organized (Coulson & Riddell, 1980).
Structural Building Blocks: Statuses, roles, groups, organizations, institutions.
Culture: The mortar holding these blocks together.
Society is dynamic but has an underlying macrolevel structure that persists.
Statuses and Roles
Status: Named positions individuals occupy within society.
Not always associated with rank/prestige (e.g., cook, daughter, anthropologist, husband, blogger, electrician, Facebook friend, shoplifter).
Can be prestigious (prime minister) or low prestige (gas station attendant).
Can require training (physician) or no effort (ice cream lover).
Individuals occupy multiple statuses simultaneously (e.g., professor, son, uncle, father, etc.). Behavior depends on the most salient status at a given time.
Ascribed Status: Social position acquired at birth or involuntarily later (e.g., race, sex, ethnicity, child/grandchild, teenager, old person).
Achieved Status: Social position taken on voluntarily or acquired through efforts/accomplishments (e.g., student, spouse, engineer).
Blurry Distinction: Parental pressure can lead to achieved statuses (e.g., college student); inherited religion can be changed later. Ascribed statuses often influence access to lucrative achieved statuses.
Sociological Importance of Statuses: Each status comes with a set of rights, obligations, behaviors, and duties (roles).
Roles: Expectations associated with a particular status (e.g., professor role: teaching, answering questions, grading, appropriate dress).
Out-of-role behavior can cause shock or suspicion.
Roles are defined differently based on skills, interests, life experiences. Professors may have different teaching methods.
Typical interaction patterns are based on the relationship between roles (e.g., employer-employee, doctor-patient, salesperson-customer, lovers-acquaintances, parent-child).
Parental role: providing necessities; children's role: abiding by wishes.
Interactions are a function of individual personalities AND role requirements.
Role Strain: Occurs when individuals lack resources to fulfill demands of a role (e.g., parents unable to afford necessities).
Can be deadly: physicians have higher suicide rates due to pressure to project confidence in life-or-death situations and drastic increase in patient responsibility after graduation (Sinha, 2014).
Role Conflict: Tension from coping with demands of incompatible roles (e.g., mother/sociologist needing to attend conference vs. son's school play; employee at ice cream shop vs. friend expecting free ice cream).
Ethical/Legal Concerns: Doctors in execution teams face conflict between healing oath and making killing more humane. American Medical Association condemns this as unethical.
Groups
Group: A set of people who interact more or less regularly and are conscious of their identity as a group (e.g., family, colleagues, clubs, sports teams).
Not random collections; structure defines relationships.
Large, enduring, complex groups mean individuals occupy named positions/statuses.
Group membership is a powerful force for future actions and thoughts.
In-groups: Groups we belong to and feel loyalty toward.
Out-groups: Groups we don't belong to and feel antagonism toward (e.g., girl trying to join a popular clique).
Group Expectations: Actions within a group are judged by conventional ideas of how things ought to be. Violations lead to pressure to conform.
Dyad: Smallest group, consisting of two people (e.g., marriages, close friendships).
Meaningful and intense connections (Simmel, 1902/1950).
Unstable: collapse if one person leaves.
Societies place legal, religious, cultural restrictions on dissolving important dyads (marriages).
Triad: Group of three people.
More stable than dyads (withdrawal of one doesn't destroy the group).
Potential for coalitions: two members uniting against the third.
Primary Group: Small number of members with direct, long-term contact; high emotional attachment; intimate knowledge of each other (e.g., families, close friends).
Secondary Group: Formal and impersonal; established for a specific task (e.g., production/sale of goods); less emotional commitment; highly structured roles.
Primary groups can form within secondary groups (e.g., friendships among co-workers).
Group Reality: More than sum of members; basic structure can persist despite membership changes (e.g., high school senior class graduates).
Changes in primary groups have dramatic effects on structure and identity.
Identity and "We-ness" / "They-ness": People of same race, gender, ethnicity, religion function like groups (shared characteristics/interests), becoming important sources of identity.
Can be constructive (pride, unity) or dangerous (anger, hatred toward outsiders).
Organizations
Organization: Networks of statuses and groups created for a specific purpose (e.g., International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Harvard University, Google, TSA, NOW, CDC, Methodist Church).
Contain groups and individuals with defined statuses and roles.
Some groups are transitory (classes), some permanent (faculty, administration).
Hierarchical Division of Labor: Large, formal organizations often have ranked positions with specific duties and responsibilities (e.g., Honda assembly-line workers vs. marketing VP).
People occupy positions based on skills; replaceable without seriously affecting organization.
Pervasive Feature: Organizations are common and visible; most people acquire food, education, healthcare, or salary through organizational involvement.
Being a full member of modern society entails deep involvement in organizational life.
Social Institutions
Social Institutions: Stable sets of statuses, roles, groups, and organizations that form the foundation for addressing fundamental societal needs.
Building blocks that organize society; patterned ways of solving problems.
Conflict exists over what society "needs" and how to fulfill them.
Key modern institutions: family, education, economics, politics and law, religion. Some add medicine/health care, military, mass media.
Family:
Societal need: replacing members; reproduction.
Functions: regulating sexual relations, caring for people, protecting children, socialization, providing identity/lineage.
Varies across societies in form and who qualifies as family.
Hub of social life in virtually all societies (J. H. Turner, 1972).
Education:
Societal need: teaching new members how to live and survive in society.
In simple societies, family is primary socializing institution.
In complex societies, elaborate school systems (preschool to professional) create/disseminate knowledge, train for careers, teach societal "place."
Economy:
Societal need: securing food, protecting from environment (J. H. Turner, 1972).
Modern societies: systematic ways to gather resources, convert to goods, distribute to members.
Functions: coordinating/facilitating massive processes (banks, accounting firms, insurance companies, brokerages, transportation, computer networks).
Adopts common currency and exchange mode.
Driven by efficient production/profits in some societies; collective well-being in others.
Politics and Law:
Societal need: preserving order, avoiding chaos, making social decisions.
Legal system: explicit laws, enforcement mechanisms, dispute settlement, law changes (J. H. Turner, 1972).
Governance system: allocates power, authority, leadership (e.g., democracy vs. monarchy).
Transfer of power can be efficient or violent.
Religion:
Societal need: providing less successful members with purpose and meaning.
Gives individuals belief systems for existence, network of personal support.
Often enduring and powerful, even if rejected by some.
Can provide comfort but also source of hatred and division.
Medicine and Health Care:
Societal need: dealing with sickness and death.
Approaches: spiritual/supernatural intervention vs. science/technology.
Modern societies: complex health care systems (doctors, nurses, hospitals, pharmacies, manufacturers, public health agencies, patients).
Military:
Societal need: protection from outside attack, protection of national interests.
Uses: defense, attacking other countries (land, resources, power), political change (e.g., U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003).
Mass Media:
Societal need: disseminating information in complex societies.
Modern media (radio, newspapers, TV, Internet): covers societal events for informed decisions.
Also molds public opinion, projects, and reinforces societal values.
Interrelationships of Institutions (Example: Football and Economics):
Traumatic head injuries in competitive football (e.g., 15\% of players suffer brain damage each season; 1 in 3 NFL players affected post-career; CTE prevalent in 110/111 deceased NFL players).
NFL is huge business (82 billion combined value) and college football is top revenue generator for universities (Forbes, 2018; Gaines, 2016).
Deep economic investments lead football industry to be slow in heeding medical research and reducing game violence.
Perceived Nature of Institutions: Appear natural, permanent, inevitable to individual members.
Easy to think institutions exist independently of people.
Individual Role in Institutions: Individuals play a role in maintaining or changing social institutions (e.g., voting out an administration).
Changes experienced by individuals, implemented or rejected by individuals.
Societal structure (macrolevel) and individual interaction (microlevel) are interconnected (Exhibit 2.1).
Society is objective fact created by us, yet we forget this and live under its influence.
Culture
Culture: Most pervasive element of society; consists of language, values, beliefs, rules, behaviors, and physical artifacts.
Society's personality; provides codes of conduct.
Becomes apparent when questioned or violated (leading to punishment, psychiatric attention, social ostracism).
Values: Standards of judgment for desirable goals and outcomes (Hewitt & Hewitt, 1986).
General criteria for judging lives; justify social rules.
Example: laws against theft reflect value on personal property.
Different societies emphasize different values (e.g., success/independence/individual achievement in U.S. vs. group obligation/family loyalty in Vietnam).
Professed values vs. actual behavior (e.g., honesty in relationships vs. "white lies").
Values can conflict (e.g., privacy vs. kindness; cooperation vs. cheating in an exam).
Norms: Culturally defined rules of conduct.
Specify what people should do and how to pursue values.
Dictate proper behavior within roles, groups, organizations, institutions.
Fundamental building blocks of social order; make interactions predictable.
Examples: handshakes in America, embracing/kissing in other societies, "wai" greeting in Thailand showing social position.
Social Structure in a Global Context
Statuses, roles, groups, organizations, institutions, and culture are influenced by broad global forces.
Globalization: Process of increasing interconnectedness of people worldwide (economic, political, environmental, cultural).
Example: global deal to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (climate change) denied cheap air conditioners to poor people in hot countries like India (Barry & Davenport, 2016).
Historical Context: Cultures rarely isolated; people spread goods and ideas across history.
Modern Difference: Speed and scope of interactions.
Overnight mail and long-distance calls increased cross-national communication velocity.
Transportation technology: cost-effective trade, accessible international travel.
High-speed wireless access: instantaneous access to cultural artifacts and ideals globally.
Children in Beirut, Baltimore, Budapest access same information.
Interdependence: Societies are more interdependent, affecting individuals.
Positive Effects: Pharmaceutical breakthroughs save lives globally; learning about other societies.
Disastrous Consequences: Widespread environmental devastation, wars, economic crises, viral pandemics are linked to globalization.
Establishment of foreign factories can lead to job loss in domestic manufacturing.
Conclusion: Increasingly difficult to be a member of a single society unaffected by others; we are simultaneously members of our society and citizens of a world community.
Three Perspectives on Social Order
Sociologists use three intellectual orientations to address how elements of society create social order:
Structural functionalist
Conflict
Symbolic interactionist
Each has advantages and shortcomings, useful for different questions.
Structural Functionalism: Useful for explaining macrolevel structures (organizations, institutions) and their persistence.
Conflict Perspective: Sheds light on sources of social inequality.
Symbolic Interactionism: Explains how individuals construct meaning.
Perspectives can complement or contradict each other.
The Structural-Functionalist Perspective
Core Idea: Society is a complex system of parts, like a living organism (Parsons and Smelser, 1956).
All elements (institutions) work together to maintain stability and order.
Societies need to produce/distribute goods, handle conflicts, integrate individuals into culture.
Institutions enable societies to attain goals, adapt, reduce tension, recruit individuals into statuses/roles.
Example: Economic institutions adapt to resource changes; educational institutions train for future roles; religions reaffirm values and preserve social ties (Durkheim, 1915/1954).
Manifest Functions: Intended, obvious consequences of activities designed to help the social system.
Example: Going to college for education and career credentials.
Latent Functions: Unintended, sometimes unrecognized, consequences that coincidentally help the system.
Example: Going to college to meet people, form friendships, learn to live independently, negotiate bureaucracies (Galles, 1989).
Dysfunctions: If an aspect of social life doesn't contribute to society's survival, it will disappear.
Things that persist, even seemingly disruptive ones, must contribute to survival (Durkheim, 1915/1954).
Example: Prostitution, though condemned, might satisfy sexual needs outside marriage, thus preserving the institution of family (K. Davis, 1937).
Criticisms: Dominant for much of 20th century but criticized for accepting existing arrangements without examining exploitation or disadvantage.
The Conflict Perspective
Core Idea: Social inequality is not necessary or a source of order; it's a primary source of conflict, coercion, and unhappiness.
Views society in terms of conflict and struggle, not stability and acceptance.
Focuses on how elements promote divisions and inequalities.
Social order arises from dominance and coercion, not harmony.
Institutions (family, government, religion) foster privilege for some at the expense of others.
Karl Marx's View: Focused on economic arrangements (Marx, 1848/1982).
Societies structured around production of goods for survival.
Capitalists (bourgeoisie): Own means of production (land, enterprises, factories, wealth), purchase labor.
Workers (proletariat): Own neither means of production nor ability to purchase labor; must sell labor to survive.
Petite bourgeoisie: Transitional class owning means of production but not purchasing others' labor (self-employed skilled laborers/businesspeople).
Capitalists control production, distribution, wages, affecting livelihoods and economic decisions.
Wealthy segments influence social institutions (government, media, schools, courts) to protect their interests.
False Consciousness: Phenomenon where lower classes accept a belief system that harms them, preventing protest.
Belief that wealth/success are products of individual hard work, minimizing resentment toward the rich and perceiving inequality as fair.
Criticisms: Focuses on struggle, downplays shared elements, emphasizes inequality to the point of being accused of political agenda.
Symbolic Interactionism
Core Idea: Understands society and social structure through microlevel interactions (individuals, pairs, groups).
Contrasts with macrolevel focus of structural-functionalism and conflict perspectives.
Symbolic Communication: Interactions occur within a world of symbols.
Symbol: Something representing something else (Charon, 1998).
Physical object (engagement ring), characteristic (pink equal sign), gesture (thumbs up), word (dog, Mokolodi).
Symbols are human-created, modified, and used through interaction; agreement on meaning is vital (e.g., traffic light colors).
Symbols are arbitrary, not necessarily connected to nature (e.g., purple could mean go).
Meaning Attachment: Most human behavior determined by symbolic meanings, not objective details (Weber, 1947).
Example: Pat on shoulder has different meaning from romantic partner, mother, or boss.
Socially Constructed Society: Society is not independent of human action; it emerges from countless symbolic interactions.
Referring to "U.S. society," "school system," etc., reinforces these as real things.
Reveals how everyday experiences construct and maintain social institutions and society.
Criticisms: Highlights microlevel experiences but risks ignoring larger social patterns and structures that create influential historical, institutional, and cultural settings.
Conclusion (Chapter 2)
Living with others within a social structure influences many aspects of life.
Society's elements are not just expressions of individual personalities; people are more than "robots programmed by social structure" (G. Swanson, 1992).
Reciprocal Relationship: Individual and society are interdependent; neither can be understood without the other.
Society impacts lives intimately, importantly, often subtly, and beyond immediate control.
Society is not a "forbidding prison" (P. L. Berger, 1963).
Individuals can affect social structure: modify role expectations, change norms, create/destroy organizations, revolutionize institutions, alter world history.
Chapter Highlights (Chapter 2)
Society is an objective fact, but also created, reaffirmed, and altered by individuals daily.
Humans are social beings; we seek others for definition and interpretation. Others influence what we see, feel, think, do.
Society consists of socially recognizable combinations of individuals (relationships, groups, organizations) and products of human action (statuses, roles, culture, institutions, globalization).
Three major perspectives: structural-functionalist (stability/order), conflict (inequality/conflict), symbolic interactionism (microlevel interaction/subjective meaning).
Key Terms (from Chapter 2)
Achieved status: Social position acquired through one's efforts/accomplishments or voluntarily.
Ascribed status: Social position acquired at birth or involuntarily later in life.
Coalition: Subgroup of a triad, formed when two members unite against the third.
Conflict perspective: Theoretical perspective viewing society's structure as a source of inequality benefiting some groups at others' expense.
Culture: Language, values, beliefs, rules, behaviors, artifacts characterizing a society.
Dyad: Group of two people.
Feminist perspective: Theoretical perspective focusing on gender as the most important source of conflict and inequality.
Globalization: Process where people's lives worldwide become economically, politically, environmentally, and culturally interconnected.
Group: Set of people interacting regularly, conscious of group identity.
In-groups: Groups we belong to and feel loyalty toward.
Latent functions: Unintended, unrecognized consequences of activities aiding the social system.
Manifest functions: Intended, obvious consequences of activities designed to help the social system.
Norm: Culturally defined standard or rule of conduct.
Organization: Large, complex network of positions for specific purpose, characterized by hierarchical division of labor.
Out-groups: Groups we don't belong to and feel antagonism toward.
Primary group: Small number of members with long-term, direct contact, high emotional attachment.
Role: Set of expectations (rights, obligations, behaviors, duties) associated with a particular status.
Role conflict: Frustration from incompatible role demands.
Role strain: Lack of resources to fulfill demands of a particular role.
Secondary group: Impersonal collection of individuals for specific task.
Social institution: Stable set of roles, statuses, groups, and organizations providing foundation for behavior in major area of social life.
Society: Population in same geographic area, sharing culture/identity, subject to same political authority.
Status: Any named social position people can occupy.
Structural-functionalist perspective: Theoretical perspective that posits social institutions are structured to maintain stability and order.
Symbol: Something used to represent or stand for something else.
Symbolic interactionism: Theoretical perspective explaining society/social structure through microlevel, day-to-day exchanges.
Triad: Group of three people.
Value: Standard of judgment by which people decide on desirable goals and outcomes.
Chapter 3: Building Reality
Understanding the Social Construction of Reality
Fickle Nature of "Truth" and "Reality":
Santa Claus example: Virginia O’Hanlon's father encouraged belief despite lack of objective proof; 91\% of child psychologists advise parents to maintain the myth (Stryker, 1997).
ADHD drugs in workplace: Neurologist believes misuse is rising "even without conclusive data" (Schwarz, 2015a), valuing internal feeling of correctness over scientific evidence.
"Pizzagate" conspiracy: Edgar Welch believed baseless social media theories about a child sex trafficking ring and acted upon them, rejecting "reality-based community" facts (Mahler, 2017).
Dangerous Consequences of Alternative Facts:
MMR vaccine and autism: 1998 Lancet article suggested link, led to anti-vaccine movement (Wakefield et al., 1998).
Jenny McCarthy based claims on "mommy instinct" and internet information, not research.
Major health organizations (CDC, IOM, ASF, AAP, AMA, NAS, WHO) all concluded no link.
2019 study of 650,000 Danish children found no autism risk (Hviid et al., 2019).
Original Lancet study retracted in 2010 due to fraudulent data (Eggertson, 2010).
Consequence: drop in MMR vaccination rates, rise in measles cases (e.g., 1,000 cases in first 5 months of 2019; CDC, 2019b).
Measles cases concentrated in unvaccinated or medically compromised individuals.
WHO listed "vaccine hesitancy" as a top 10 global health threat (Bruni, 2019).
Societal responses: mandatory vaccination orders, debates on forbidding exemptions, Google altering search algorithm for "vaccination" to prioritize medical information (G. Johnson, 2015).
Everyday Knowledge: Much is based on accepting unseen, untouched, unproven "world taken-for-granted" (P. L. Berger, 1963, p. 147) (e.g., electrons, ozone layer, love, God).
People accept unsubstantiated conclusions if they support existing beliefs/interests.
Sociological Perspective on Reality: How do we know what's real? How do individuals and societal forces construct reality?
Society as Structure/Lens: Elements of society are human creations providing structure and a distinctive lens for viewing the world.
Example: architect, real estate agent, police officer, firefighter see same building differently.
Mark Twain saw Mississippi River differently as a pilot.
Truth is Culturally and Historically Contingent: What is true today may not be true for everyone or for future generations.
Example: spirits/witches/demons in some cultures; Western faith in pills seen as naive elsewhere.
Changes in Medical "Truths": Doctors once prescribed cigarettes for asthma, formaldehyde for colds, heroin via Sears catalog (Zuger, 1999; Hager, 2019).
Reversals in autism criteria, vitamin D/calcium utility, mammogram guidelines, blood pressure levels, prostate cancer tests (Carey, 2012; Begley, 2011; Bleyer & Welch, 2012; Bernstein & Cha, 2017; G. Harris, 2011c).
About a third of major medical studies contradicted later (Ioannidis, 2005).
Future generations may find our "truths" mistaken or laughable.
Social Construction of Reality: Process by which facts, knowledge, truth are discovered, made known, reaffirmed, and altered by society members (P. L. Berger & Luckmann, 1966).
Based on assumption that knowledge is human creation.
Common assumption: objective reality exists, independent of us, accessible through senses ("Seeing is believing").
Sociologists (especially conflict/symbolic interactionists) explain its causes and consequences.
Laying the Foundation: The Bases of Reality
Society as a building: foundation determines basic shape, dimensions, solidarity.
Symbolic Interactionism: Actions and interpretations are based on definitions of reality, learned through interactions.
Shared truth (e.g., wife's phone predicting rain).
Process of Social Construction: Human-created ideas become so accepted that denying them is denying common sense.
Some reality is physical (fire is hot); other features are based on culture, language, self-fulfilling prophecies, and faith.
Culture and Language
Language as Symbolic Communication: Gives meaning to people, objects, events, ideas.
Reflects and determines reality (Sapir, 1949; Whorf, 1956); key tool in constructing society.
Cultural Significance of Words: Words evolve to reflect practical importance.
Example: Hanunoo have 92 names for rice; English speakers distinguish many vehicle types.
Reflecting Cultural Values: Language reflects prevailing values.
2019 Scrabble dictionary added
antivaxxer,sharenting,genderqueer,cisgender,ze(Mervosh, 2019).
Reinforcing/Suppressing Ideas: Reinforces prevailing ideas, suppresses conflicting ones (Sapir, 1929).
Example: Linguistic distinction between "real" work, "house" work, "volunteer" work in market economy reflects attitudes about worth.
In agricultural societies, "work is work."
Emotional Impact: Words can evoke strong emotions.
Major League Baseball changed "disabled list" to "injured list" due to objections from disabled persons' groups.
"Trigger warnings" in course syllabi for potentially traumatic content.
Racial, ethnic, sexual, religious slurs are volatile (e.g., homophobic name-calling (Pascoe, 2010), Justin Bieber's "nigger" lyric).
Language Compression and Speedup: Reflects quickening pace of life (Garner, 2010).
Contractions (we're, isn't), portmanteaus (brunch, docudrama, webinar).
Technology accelerates: emojis, acronyms (STFU, YOLO), autofill, Google's 400 millisecond delay causing user dissatisfaction (Lohr, 2012).
Jargon: Distinctive language within certain groups for clear, quick communication.
Occupations (soldiers, police, stockbrokers).
Shared interests (surfers, gamers).
Teenagers' evolving vocabulary (homelessy, shooty-stabby, pilly phase) (McWhorter, 2019).
Concealment and Boundary Creation: Jargon can mystify outsiders (Farb, 1983).
Medical terminology used by healthcare professionals defines group membership, reinforces expertise, keeps patients from interfering.
Communication Roadblock: 2/3 of patients discharged without diagnosis, 60\% misunderstand directions (Joshi, 2015).
Responses: books/websites for patients to ask questions; medical schools training students to avoid jargon and listen (D. Franklin, 2006); more patient-centered interactions (Peck & Conner, 2011).
Euphemisms: Innocuous expressions substituted for offensive ones.
Politeness: "perspiration" for "sweat," "bathroom tissue" for "toilet paper," "no longer with us" for "dead."
Shape perceptions and emotions: "downturn" vs. "depression" for economic crises; "global health crisis" vs. "pandemic."
Political Use: Regimes use euphemisms to cover up, distort, frame actions positively.
2018 U.S. immigration policy: children in "cages" described as "tender age shelters" (Egan, 2019).
Conclusion on Language: Frames social reality, gives it meaning, provides cultural/group identity. Full participation in a group/culture requires sharing its language.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Definition: An assumption or prediction that, purely as a result of having been made, causes the expected event to occur, confirming its "accuracy" (Merton, 1948; Watzlawick, 1984).
Example: 2020 COVID-19 pandemic predictions of shortages led to hoarding, creating the actual shortages.
Power in Social Institutions: Especially powerful when embedded in institutions.
Schools: Teachers subtly encourage expected performance. Belief in students' intelligence can lead to more time/enthusiasm, making students feel capable and perform better (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968).
Faith and Incorrigible Propositions
Example: David Blaine's Levitation: Seeing him float, but "knowing better."
Rather than abandon belief that people can't float, one creates "reasonable" explanations (optical illusion, wires).
Challenging this fundamental reality is challenging an "article of faith."
Incorrigible Proposition: Unquestionable assumption, a belief so much a part of common sense that one believes it even against contrary evidence.
Contradictions are explained away with "reasonable" explanations, strengthening the initial premise (Watzlawick, 1976).
Example: Belief that women are less aggressive. Violent woman explained as an "exception" (terrible circumstances, chemical imbalance), maintaining the rule.
Doomsday Prophecies: Evangelical Christians predicted world's destruction on May 21, 2011. When it didn't happen, rationalizations emerged (human fallibility, delayed judgment) to maintain original belief (Hagerty, 2011).
Building the Walls: Conflict, Power, and Social Institutions
Individuals coordinate, reproduce, and give meaning to society, but are not completely free to create any social reality.
Born into preexisting society with norms, values, roles, relationships, groups, organizations, institutions.
These features constrain thoughts/deeds, directing behavior like walls of a building (Giddens, 1984).
"[People] make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please… under circumstances directly encountered, given and transmitted from the past" (Karl Marx, 1869/1963, p. 15).
Conflict Perspective: Certain people/groups are more influential in defining reality.
Struggle for control over resources (socioeconomic classes, ethnic/religious groups, age groups, political interests) also involves struggle for power to define reality (Gans, 1971).
Successful groups control information, define values, create myths, manipulate events, influence what others take for granted.
"He who has the bigger stick has the better chance of imposing his definitions of reality" (P. L. Berger & Luckmann, 1966, p. 109).
Powerful social institutions and their controllers shape/sustain reality for others.
Sociological imagination requires understanding both large forces and private individuals shaping public reality.
The Economics of Reality
Definitions of reality often reflect underlying economic interests.
Conflict perspective asks: who benefits economically, and who loses?
Example: Mental Illness: Nearly 400 problems officially defined as mental disorders by APA (Horwitz, 2002).
APA definition reflects economic organization of U.S. society.
Gambling, depression, anorexia, cocaine addiction defined as illnesses for medical insurance coverage eligibility.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): 2010 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs changed definition, making it easier for veterans to receive benefits.
Previously required combat experience and documented specific events.
New rule requires only service in war zone and job consistent with alleged traumatic events; also compensation for fear of events not experienced firsthand.
Estimated cost: 5 billion in treatment (Dao, 2010b).
The Politics of Reality
Institution of politics linked to social definitions of reality; largely about controlling public perceptions.
Political Campaigns: Attempts to influence perception are visible (mudslinging/"negative campaigning").
Politicians know repeating untrue/unsubstantiated claims makes people believe them.
No federal truth-in-advertising laws for political campaign ads (candidates can legally lie) ("Bunk Busters," 2007).
Actual validity of claims becomes irrelevant as accusations solidify.
Fact-Checkers: News organizations employ full-time fact checkers; apps like FactsStream use bots to verify claims in real-time (Rauch, 2020).
Reinforcing Charges: Constant denials of bogus charges can inadvertently reinforce their reality (e.g., Obama's birth certificate controversy; 40\% of Republicans still believed he wasn't American citizen even after Trump's admission (Durkin, 2016)).
The Medium Is the Message
Communication Media: Primary means of entertainment and information; reflect dominant cultural values (Gitlin, 1979) (see Chapter 5).
Portrayal of characters, topics, solutions in fiction link entertainment to economic system and consumer tastes.
Primary source of information about events/people; shapes world view and life definition (Molotch & Lester, 1974).
Maintaining Social Order: News is crucial for disseminating reality to the public (Hallin, 1986; Parenti, 1986).
In many societies, news sources are mouthpieces for factions.
Repressive societies: government controls news (e.g., North Korea).
Press independence: belief that news is factual/objective, but it's often a constructed reality (compare Fox News vs. MSNBC).
"Spin": Institutionalized manipulation of reality for political gain.
Giving an event a particular, advantageous interpretation.
Valuable political resource: presidential staff spin facts by withholding information, providing misleading statistics, non-denial denials, exaggerating progress (Stolberg, 2004).
"Spin doctors" provide favorable interpretation of debates (e.g., RNC declaring Pence winner hours before debate in 2016).
Censorship and Selectivity: For everyday news, official censorship often unnecessary due to economic pressures to attract audiences.
Reporters pursue easy-to-research, immediately interesting stories; complicated stories are cut.
Public unaware of unselected events or plausible alternatives.
Media Ownership and Influence:
1983: 50 companies controlled 90\% of U.S. media.
Today: a handful (Comcast, Disney/21st Century Fox, AT&T/Time Warner, Viacom, CBS) own 90\% of national TV, radio, film, cable, print (Molla & Kafka, 2019).
Tech companies (Facebook, Google, Netflix, Amazon, Apple) control social media/streaming.
Local level: 4 companies (Sinclair, Nexstar, Tribune, Gannett) own over 300 TV stations in 93\% of U.S. media markets (Free Press, 2016).
Concerns: Concentration twists stories to promote economic/political interests.
Refusal to run ads/stories supporting single-payer health insurance, criticizing military intervention, opposing trade agreements.
Journalists fired/reassigned for critical stories about parent company subsidiaries (Parenti, 2006).
Public Recourse: Difficult to obtain solid information.
Rise of podcasts, blogs, Internet TV, live stream radio, satellite networks suggests weariness of filtered/partisan traditional news.
Trust in news media at all-time low (Swift, 2016); many turn to satirical news shows.
Sociological Imagination and News Consumption: Recognize social construction, "read silences" (what media don't say).
Sociology aims to amass knowledge to assess how society really works.
Appreciating the Contributions of Sociological Research
Sociologists seek a more "real" reality through systematic, controlled research.
Rules give confidence in identifying reality for a community at a particular time.
Avoiding Individual Perceptions and Biases: Crucial to escape distortions of personal interests and biases.
Danger: assuming one's experience is universal.
Example: Sigmund Freud used his childhood to "prove" Oedipus complex, generalizing it as a "universal event of early childhood" (Astbury, 1996).
Sociology vs. Common Sense: A common criticism is that sociology is just "fancy common sense."
However, many "commonsense facts" are refuted by social research.
Examples of Refuted "Facts":
Violent crimes occur most often between total strangers. False: Only 36\% of nonlethal violent crimes by strangers; 19\% of rapes/sexual assaults by unknowns (Morgan & Truman, 2018; Casteel, Wolfe, & Nguyen, 2018; FBI, 2018a).
High divorce rate makes people reluctant to marry. False: Only 11.1\% of men and 10.2\% of women aged 55-64 never married; many marry multiple times (ProQuest Statistical Abstract, 2019; J. M. Lewis & Kreider, 2015). High value placed on marriage itself.
American children more likely to live in single-parent household than 100 years ago. False: Percentage of children not living with both parents (approx. 31\%%) is similar to a century ago, when lower life expectancy meant more children lost a parent to death (ProQuest Statistical Abstract, 2019; Kain, 1990).
Empirical Nature of Sociological Research:
Research is pervasive in daily life and informs decisions.
Casual research (e.g., study groups) is prone to inaccurate/selective observations, overgeneralization, conclusions protecting self-interest.
Sociological research is more sophisticated and structured, avoiding pitfalls.
Empirical Research: Assumes human behavior questions can be answered through controlled, systematic observations in the real world.
Strength of explanation depends on empirical support.
Probabilistic Nature: Most sociologists make probabilistic predictions, identifying factors likely to influence phenomena (not absolute predictions).
Human behavior operates within laws of probability.
Example: Less educated adults are more likely to be prejudiced, but not every high school dropout is bigoted, nor every PhD holder embracing of all differences.
Reflects how things are and how they can be by allowing for exceptions.
Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Purpose: Define reality through careful information collection and question-answering.
Qualitative Research: Collects nonnumeric information (text, words, phrases, symbols, observations) describing people, actions, events (Neuman, 1994).
Researchers observe events as they happen, interpret observations, look for patterns.
Example: spending a day with a family to study work-home balance, listening, observing, asking questions.
Quantitative Research: Collects numeric data, relies on precise statistical analysis.
Methodically records observations across situations; designs/chooses questions in advance, asks consistently of large numbers.
Uses sophisticated techniques for representative samples.
Computers generate statistics for confident conclusions.
Peer Scrutiny: Both types subjected to peer review to identify mistakes/shortcomings.
Researchers must report results and methods/conditions.
Replication: Allows other researchers to perform studies and verify results.
More replication increases acceptance as fact (e.g., literary fiction and empathy study (Kidd & Castano, 2013) not replicated (Frankel, 2016)).
Theories, Variables, and Hypotheses
Purposeful Research: Most social research guided by theory.
Theory: Set of statements or propositions explaining or predicting a particular aspect of social life (Chafetz, 1978).
Clarifies understanding of how the world works.
Not conjecture or speculation; ideally explains how things are.
Interdependence of Research and Theory:
Research without theory is meaningless information (C. W. Mills, 1959).
Theory without research is abstract and speculative.
Theory Scope: Broad (structural functionalism, conflict, symbolic interactionism) or modest (e.g., Travis Hirschi's social control theory of juvenile delinquency (1969)).
Hirschi argued delinquency occurs when bond to society is weak/broken (attachments, commitments, involvements, belief system).
Hypothesis: Researchable prediction specifying the relationship between two or more variables.
Variable: Any characteristic, attitude, behavior, or event with two or more values/attributes (e.g., marital status, attitudes toward capital punishment).
Hirschi's hypothesis: Strong "social bonds" associated with low levels of "delinquency."
Independent Variable: Factor presumed to influence or create changes in another variable.
Dependent Variable: Variable assumed to depend on, be influenced by, or change as a result of the independent variable.
Example: Gender (independent) affecting attitudes toward capital punishment (dependent).
Hirschi: Strength of social bond (independent), level of delinquency (dependent).
Causal Relationships and Spuriousness: Assumption: independent variable causes change in dependent variable.
Spurious Relationship: Misleading relationship between two variables due to a third variable.
Example: Children's shoe size and reading ability seem related, but age is the third variable (older kids = bigger feet, better readers).
Researchers must control for (rule out) third variables when making causal claims.
Question: Third variable for social bond/delinquency?
Indicators: Abstract theoretical concepts (attachments, commitments) must be translated into observable/quantifiable events, characteristics, behaviors.
Hirschi's indicators for social bond strength:
Attachments: attraction to parents, peers, school officials.
Commitment: importance of good grades.
Involvement: time in school-oriented activities.
Belief system: respect for law/police.
Hirschi's indicators for delinquent activity: self-reported theft, car taking, property damage, assault; school/police records.
His empirical data supported the hypothesis.
Modes of Research
Techniques allow informed/reliable conclusions about human behavior/social life.
Experiments: Elicit behavior under controlled laboratory circumstances.
Ideal Form: Random assignment to experimental (manipulated environment) and control groups (no manipulation).
Differences attributed to experimental manipulation.
Advantage: Direct control of relevant variables, stronger causal conclusions.
Disadvantage: Artificiality may alter subject behavior, making lab experiments in sociology difficult (Silverman, 1982).
Field Experiments: Created outside the lab.
Example: Beaman et al. (1979) studied self-awareness and stealing on Halloween (mirror by candy bowl reduced stealing).
Example: City of New York Homebase program (23 million homelessness prevention) experimental test denied assistance to half of at-risk (Buckley, 2010).
Successful in reducing time in shelters, despite initial criticism (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2019a).
Field Research: Qualitative observation of events as they occur, without experimental/control groups or purposeful changes.
Nonparticipant Observation: Researcher observes without direct interaction or subjects' knowledge.
Example: Lyn Lofland (1973) studied strangers in public places by secretly recording observations.
Participant Observation: Researcher interacts with subjects.
Openly identified: Arlie Russell Hochschild (1997) observed Amerco employees for 3 years to understand work-family balance and reluctance to use leave.
Concluded work became "home," home became "work." Preferred spending time at work.
Time-consuming, limited generalizability.
Concealed identity: For delicate situations where subjects don't want actions public (e.g., doomsday cults (Festinger et al., 1956), college sororities (Robbins, 2004)).
Example: Julia O’Connell Davidson (2002) posed as "receptionist" for a prostitute to study power in client relationships.
Surveys: Researcher poses questions orally, electronically, or on paper.
Questions must be clear, understood as intended, and measure what's intended.
Respondents expected to answer honestly, thoughtfully.
Answers often numeric for statistical analysis.
Standardized format: same questions, same way, large samples.
Example: National Survey of Families and Households (over 13,000 respondents, multiple waves) provided data on family arrangements, dating, marital/cohabitation experiences, kin contact, economic well-being, education, childbearing, employment.
Example: Philip Blumstein and Pepper Schwartz (1983) surveyed over 6,000 intimate couples across diverse demographics (income, age, religion, politics, education, cohabiting/married, with/without children, heterosexual/homosexual) on leisure, emotional support, housework, finances, sex, satisfaction, child relations.
Unobtrusive Research: No direct contact with people.
Avoids reactivity: problem where research intrusion influences studied phenomenon (e.g., Hawthorne effect).
Hawthorne effect: Workers at an electric company increased productivity when lighting changed (up or down) because they were responding to the attention from researchers, not the lighting itself (Roethlisberger & Dickson, 1939).
Examines evidence of social behavior that people create or leave behind.
Analysis of Existing Data (Secondary Data): Relies on data gathered by someone else for another purpose.
Commonly used by sociologists (e.g., U.S. Census for nationwide trends like marriage, divorce, childbearing).
Content Analysis: Study of documented communications (books, speeches, poems, song lyrics, TV commercials, websites).
Useful for documenting cultural shifts.
Example: Twenge, Campbell, Gentile (2012) analyzed American books (1960-2008) via Google Books Ngram, found increase in individualistic words ("personalized," "self") and decrease in communal words ("community," "share"), reflecting cultural shift.
Historical Analysis: Relies on existing historical documents.
Example: Kai Erikson (1966) Wayward Puritans studied crime waves in Massachusetts Bay Colony, examining court cases, diaries, records, letters.
Found increases in convicted criminals/severity of punishments when colony was threatened, to restate moral boundaries and reaffirm authority.
Advantage: Collects information without intruding on subjects' behavior.
The Trustworthiness of Social Research
Research is valuable for human knowledge, but accuracy must be assessed.
Difficult to interpret evidence in scholarly articles (Exhibit 3.1).
Much printed/televised/online information can be inaccurate/misleading.
Evaluation Criteria: Researcher's samples, indicators, and personal qualities (values, interests, ethics).
Samples
Researchers study large groups by selecting a smaller sample of respondents from the larger population.
Sample characteristics should approximate population characteristics.
Representative Sample: Small group studied is typical of the whole population (e.g., proportional representation of students in a university sample).
Sophisticated sampling techniques lead to accuracy (e.g., election polls).
Issue for Social Science: Unlike physical sciences (e.g., liquid nitrogen vials are identical), human beings vary widely.
General statements about all Americans cannot be made from one person or only Americans/men/teenagers.
Non-representative samples lead to inaccurate conclusions.
Example: Letter to editor (Greencastle Banner Graphic, 1992): Writer observed 17/22 people smoking in a small-town restaurant, concluded government's 26\% smoking figure was wrong.
Problem: Assumed sample (small-town, single-day restaurant patrons) was representative of entire U.S. population.
Overlooked factors: Lower income/blue-collar jobs = higher smoking; rural Midwest/South = higher smoking prevalence.
Indicators
Sociologists face difficulty observing/measuring abstract concepts (powerlessness, marital satisfaction, alienation, social class).
Measure indicators: events, characteristics, or behaviors commonly thought to reflect a variable.
Hope: indicator is a valid measure of the concept.
Example: Religiosity and Abortion Attitudes: Hypothesis: stronger religious beliefs = less acceptance of abortion rights.
Indicator: Organized Religion Membership: Problematic, as many identify but aren't religious, and vice versa. Fails to capture intensity.
Indicator: Frequency of Attendance at Religious Services: "More church attendance = more religious."
Problems: Attendance can reflect family pressure, habit, social visits, not just commitment.
Many religious people are sick/disabled and cannot attend.
Indicators seldom perfectly reflect intended concepts.
Surveys and Inaccurate Indicators: Susceptible to loaded phrases or unfamiliar words affecting responses.
Example: Support for civil rights laws including sexual orientation/gender identity (50\%%$) vs. protecting LGBTQ from discrimination (70\%%$) (S. Wang, 2015).
Example: Support for Trump's Muslim ban varied greatly based on wording (NBC News/Wall St. Journal vs. Rasmussen Reports) (J. Barro, 2015).
Also influenced by survey mode (phone vs. online).
Values, Interests, and Ethics in Sociological Research
Researcher's qualities influence social research.
Ideal: objective, nonbiased research measuring what is.
Reality: questions and interpretations occur within cultural, political, ideological contexts (Ballard, 1987; Denzin, 1989).
Values and Interests:
Prevailing social values can bias research (e.g., nuclear family as ideal leads to focus on disadvantages of other arrangements).
Research linked to political interests (e.g., environmental groups funding climate research; NRA preventing gun violence research (Dean, 2017)).
Research reflects economic interests (e.g., tobacco companies downplaying cancer link; pharmaceutical companies failing to report financial ties (Ornstein & Thomas, 2018)).
Publication Bias: Academic journals reluctant to publish studies showing no support for hypotheses.
Antidepressant trials (1987-2004) showed significant bias towards positive results (E. H. Turner et al., 2008).
Proposed solution: required registration of clinical trials to make negative results public (Meier, 2004).
Researcher Bias: Sociological researchers have biases, preconceptions, expectations.
Values determine information gathered (e.g., studying criminal justice fairness from criminals, politicians, law enforcement, judges, or victims).
Most accurate picture requires views of all subgroups.
Impact on Concept Definition: Values influence which questions are deemed important.
"Labor force" traditionally excluded unpaid housework/volunteer work, predominantly female, thus reflecting men's lives more (Reinharz, 1992).
Lack of data doesn't mean a problem doesn't exist, just that it hasn't been systematically studied.
Ethics: Affect trustworthiness; research often intrudes on lives and requires personal information.
Ethical researchers: protect subjects' rights, minimize harm/disruption, ensure voluntary participation, inform of risks, protect confidentiality/anonymity.
University review committees scrutinize research involving human participants.
Conflict with Accuracy: Securing accurate information can conflict with ethical considerations.
Example: 2007 federal project allowed medical experiments on unconscious emergency patients without consent, violating protocol (Stein, 2007).
Example: Patricia Adler (1985) studied drug dealers/smugglers by becoming part of their social world (participant observation).
Raises questions: objectivity due to closeness? obligation to report illegal activity?
Conclusion (Chapter 3)
Reality is constructed, communicated, manipulated, accepted; ultimately a human creation.
Different people/cultures create different conceptions of reality.
Questions of whose reality is "right" are complex, at core of international relations, global commerce, everyday life.
People decide which differences are irrelevant vs. primary criteria for social/legal distinctions. We construct these differences, so we can dismantle them.
Chapter Highlights (Chapter 3)
Social construction of reality: process by which reality is discovered, made known, reinforced, and changed by society members.
Language: medium for reality construction; enables thought, interpretation, definition; linguistic categories reflect relevant/meaningful cultural aspects.
Power in defining reality: individuals/groups in power control info, define values, create myths, manipulate events, influence what others take for granted.
Sociology's purpose: amass knowledge to provide useful info about how society works, through systematic empirical research (field, surveys, unobtrusive).
This sociological reality is also a social construction, shaped by funders, conductors, reporters of research.
Key Terms (from Chapter 3)
Analysis of existing data: Unobtrusive research relying on data gathered by someone else for another purpose.
Content analysis: Unobtrusive research studying documented communications.
Dependent variable: Variable assumed to be caused by, or to change as a result of, the independent variable.
Empirical research: Research based on controlled, systematic observations in the real world.
Experiment: Research method designed to elicit behavior under controlled lab circumstances.
Field research: Social research where observer watches events as they occur.
Historical analysis: Social research relying on existing historical documents.
Hypothesis: Researchable prediction specifying relationship between two or more variables.
Incorrigible proposition: Unquestioned cultural belief that cannot be proved wrong.
Independent variable: Variable presumed to cause or influence the dependent variable.
Indicator: Measurable event, characteristic, or behavior reflecting a concept.
Nonparticipant observation: Field research where researcher observes without direct interaction or subjects' knowledge.
Participant observation: Field research where researcher interacts with subjects, sometimes hiding identity.
Probabilistic: Capable of identifying forces with high likelihood, but not certainty, of influencing human action.
Qualitative research: Sociological research based on nonnumeric information.
Quantitative research: Sociological research based on numeric data and statistical analysis.
Reactivity: Problem where research intrusion influences studied phenomenon.
Representative: Typical of the whole population being studied.
Sample: Subgroup chosen for a study because its characteristics approximate those of the entire population.
Self-fulfilling prophecy: Assumption or prediction that causes the expected event to occur.
Social construction of reality: Process where society members discover, make known, reaffirm, and alter collective version of facts, knowledge, truth.
Spurious relationship: False association between two variables due to a third variable.
Survey: Social research where researcher asks subjects series of questions.
Theory: Set of statements or propositions explaining or predicting an aspect of social life.
Unobtrusive research: Research technique without direct contact with subjects, examining evidence of social behavior.
Variable: Any characteristic, attitude, behavior, or event that can take on two or more values or attributes.
Chapter 5: Building Identity
Genes, Social Structure, and the Construction of Human Beings
Socialization and Personal Development: Personal identity is inseparable from people, historical events, and social circumstances.
How we learn what's expected in families, communities, culture, and how we behave according to expectations.
Primary focus: development of identity.
Identity: Essential and personal characteristic, including membership in social groups (race, ethnicity, religion, gender), traits shown to others, and traits ascribed by others.
Locates us in the social world, affecting everything done, felt, said, thought.
Many traits are products of social setting and significant people, not just innate predispositions.
Nature vs. Nurture Debate: How we become who we are.
Nature: Predetermined product of genes and biochemistry.
Late 19th/early 20th century: genetic inheritance popular explanation for social problems (poverty, crime, alcoholism, mental deficiency).
Eugenics: controlled mating to produce "better" citizens, prevent "defective" genes from being passed on (forced sterilization).
Cornerstone of Nazi Germany's horrors.
Today: Genetic explanations fashionable due to scientific technology; claims for shyness, impulsiveness, intelligence, aggression, obesity, alcoholism, hoarding, gambling addiction.
Economist B. Caplan (2011) and authors of Freakonomics (Levitt & Dubner, 2009) argue parenting hardly matters, destiny is genetically predetermined.
Advances in genetic testing (Human Genome Project, fetal genetic mapping) fuel "nature" arguments.
Nurture: "Created" from scratch by individuals and social institutions.
1950s-1960s: scholars emphasized environmental influences, especially early family experiences.
Amy Chua's "Tiger Mother" (2011) argued Asian children's educational success due to heavy maternal role, stressing academic performance, drilling, respect for authority. Some parents move to other countries for cultural immersion (L. Miller, 2011).
Modern Sociological View (Interaction): Heredity is meaningful only in context of social experiences.
Intelligence example: Geneticists argue heredity determines limits (Kirp, 2006) (e.g., identical twins vs. fraternal twins IQ differences).
Large international study identified 1,200+ genes influencing schooling, but they account for only a fraction of differences; environmental influences (wealth, parental education) play bigger role (J. J. Lee et al., 2018).
Hard to understand intelligence without examining gene-social experience interaction.
Genes act and influence only after interaction with environment (Shenk, 2010).
Sociological Stance: Humans are more than genetic predispositions and biological traits.
Nature is not irrelevant: outward appearance, physical strength, inherited sickness susceptibility affect personal development.
Thoughts and actions result from neurological/electrochemical events (e.g., hunger is physiological, but how we react is cultural).
Social/cultural training can override physical demands (e.g., "too early to go to bed").
Society magnifies or covers up genetic/physical differences.
Some differences are socially irrelevant (eye color); others are important (sex, skin color), embedded in institutions, giving rise to different rights, duties, expectations, opportunities.
Socialization: Becoming You
Purpose of Society (Structural-Functionalist): To reproduce itself, creating members whose behaviors, desires, goals align with societal norms.
Socialization: Powerful and ubiquitous process through which societal needs become individual needs.
Process of learning to think and behave appropriately.
Acquiring social skills (driving, fractions, speaking language, using a fork).
Learning to perceive the world, interact, understand gender, sexuality, morality, cultural information (Chapter 4).
Internalizes cultural information.
Agents of Socialization: Individuals, groups, organizations, institutions that influence socialization.
Family, friends, peers, teammates, teachers, schools, religious institutions, media.
Influence self-concepts, attitudes, tastes, values, emotions, behavior.
Lifelong Process: Life-long, but formative instruction begins early.
Anticipatory Socialization: Primary means by which young individuals acquire values/orientations for future statuses (Merton, 1957).
Examples: household chores, childhood jobs, organized sports, dance lessons, dating prepare for adult roles.
The Acquisition of Self
Most important outcome of socialization is developing a sense of self.
Self: Unique traits, behaviors, attitudes distinguishing one person from the next.
Both active source and passive object of behavior (Mead, 1934).
Active Source: Initiates action (e.g., Donna perceiving, talking to, evaluating, directing Robert).
Passive Object: Can be perceived, talked to, evaluated, directed, or persuaded by others (e.g., Robert's actions towards Donna).
Reflexive Behavior: Ability to direct activities toward oneself (perceive, evaluate, motivate, talk to self).
"To have a self is to have the ability to plan, observe, guide, and respond to one's own actions" (Mead, 1934).
Fundamental to human thought/action; allows control of behavior and smooth interaction with other self-aware individuals.
Infant State: Babies at birth have no sense of self.
Initiate actions (cry, eat, sleep, play, eliminate).
Respond to sounds, sights, smells, touches.
Lack reflexive self-awareness (don't strategize or comment on their own babbling).
Gradually exert control over actions as they mature (muscle control, cognitive capacities).
Cognitive Capacities Acquired through Interaction: Differentiating self/others, understanding/using symbolic language, taking roles of others.
The Differentiation of Self
First step in self-acquisition: recognizing oneself as a distinct being (Mead, 1934).
At birth, newborns cannot recognize themselves or discriminate body boundaries from others.
Example: Infants pulling their own hair don't realize it's their own body.
Language Acquisition and the Looking-Glass Self
Development of Speech: Next important step (Hewitt, 1988).
Symbolic Interactionism: Language mastery crucial for differentiating self as distinct social/physical object (Denzin, 1977).
Relies on neurological development, but also input from others.
Children learn to make, imitate, and use sounds as symbols for sensations/objects (e.g., "Mama," "Dada").
Access to preexisting linguistic world of parents/others (Hewitt, 1988).
Learn names of concrete objects and abstractions (God, happiness).
Learn that same person has different names ("David," "Dad," "Dr. Newman").
Learn different people can be referred to by same name ("Mama" for other toddlers).
Self as Object: Children learn they are objects with names (e.g., "Hazel").
Significant leap in self-acquisition: child can visualize self as part of named world/relationships.
Looking-Glass Self (Charles Horton Cooley, 1902): Children learn meaning of themselves by observing how others act toward them.
Examples: observing meaning of a chair, hot stove.
If parents perceive child as smart, they act accordingly, and child defines self as smart.
Process: imagine how we look to others, interpret their responses, form a self-concept.
Favorable perceptions -> positive self-concept; unfavorable -> negative self-concept.
Self-evaluative feelings (pride, shame) are product of others' reflected appraisals.
Societal Influence: How others define the child-as-named-object is linked to larger societal considerations.
Cultures define/value individuals at different life stages (e.g., children as innocents vs. adults).
Societal standards of beauty/success (e.g., thinness leads to positive responses and self-image).
The Development of Role Taking
Children learn to modify behavior to suit various others.
Example: Ahmed knows thumb in nose amuses sister but not father, so avoids it with father.
Role Taking: Ability to use other people's perspectives/expectations in formulating one's own behavior (Mead, 1934).
Develops gradually, parallel to linguistic maturation.
George Herbert Mead's Stages:
Play Stage: Children just honing language skills.
Role taking simple, limited to one other person at a time.
Cannot generalize: don't understand behaviors are unacceptable to a variety of people across situations.
Knows particular person will approve/disapprove of particular act (e.g., father's displeasure with nose picking).
Game Stage: Around time children participate in organized activities (school, team sports).
Requires understanding game object, organized network of roles, adapting behavior to team needs.
Must imagine group's perspective, anticipate others' actions (e.g., shortstop throwing to first base).
Can respond to demands of community/society as a whole: the generalized other.
Generalized other: perspective of larger society and its values/attitudes.
Grows to include family, peer group, school, larger social community.
Example: "Dad doesn't like it" (play) becomes "never acceptable in public" (game).
Requires generalization across situations/audiences (all public places).
Enables resistance to immediate peers (e.g., not shoplifting).
Generalized other's attitudes/expectations are incorporated into values/self-concept.
Complexity of Role Taking:
People sometimes succumb to peer pressure despite knowing socially unacceptable behavior.
Different backgrounds lead to different sets of group attitudes/values (e.g., devout Catholic vs. atheist contemplating divorce; men vs. women; children vs. adults; classes; cultures).
Not static: changes with interactions.
Understanding another's perspective (e.g., intimate partner) leads to concern for behavior's effect (Cast, 2004).
Adopt different "people" in different institutional settings (school, church, Grandma's house).
Younger siblings more aware of older siblings; low-level employees sensitive to superiors; less powerful nations sensitive to more powerful neighbors (e.g., Canadians vs. Americans).
Conclusion on Role Taking: Essential for everyday social interaction: envision others' perceptions, anticipate responses, select approved behaviors, avoid disapproved ones.
Crucial component of self-control and social order.
Transforms biological being into social being conforming to societal expectations.
Means by which culture is incorporated into the self, making group life possible (Cast, 2004).
Resocialization
Socialization continues throughout life.
Resocialization: Learning new values, norms, expectations when leaving old roles and entering new ones (Ebaugh, 1988; Pescosolido, 1986; Simpson, 1979).
Examples: learning to be a spouse, parent, divorced person, or to transition gender identity.
Each new group, organization, friendship, or life experience requires new identities and socialization into new norms/beliefs.
Formal Resocialization in Occupations: Ensures shared values, methods, vocabulary.
Orientation programs for new employees.
Can make entrants abandon original expectations for realistic view (e.g., police recruits learn deadly force is necessary; medical students learn exhausting demands (Becker & Geer, 1958; Hafferty, 1991)).
Total Institutions (Erving Goffman, 1961): Physical settings separating individuals from broader society, forcing enclosed, formally administered life.
Examples: prisons, mental hospitals, monasteries, military training camps.
Previous socialization systematically destroyed, new ones developed for group's interests.
Example: Military boot camp (Army spends billions) turns civilians into battle-ready warriors.
"Total control": stripped of old civilian identity (clothes, possessions, hairstyle), forced new ones (uniforms, ID numbers, similar haircuts) nullifying individuality.
Constant scrutiny, mandatory conformity, punishment for missteps.
Individual identifies with total institution's ideology.
Uniformity of values/appearance creates solidarity for military effectiveness.
Controversy over diversity (African Americans, women, LGBTQ) introduces dissimilar beliefs, values, appearances, lifestyles into a context where similarity is essential.
The Self in a Cultural Context
Self incorporates cultural virtues.
Individualist Culture (e.g., U.S.): Self-reliance, individualism, personal goals favored over group goals (Bellah et al., 1985).
Readily change group membership (careers, neighborhoods, political allegiances, religions).
Personal traits, accomplishments are key to self-concept.
Admires independent people whose success (financial) is based on achievements.
Respect based on individual expertise (e.g., guest lecturer introduced with academic credentials).
Collectivist Culture (e.g., many non-Western): Subordinate individual goals to group goals; value obligations to others over personal achievements (Gergen, 1991).
Personal identity less important than group identity.
Example: India: self-esteem/prestige from family reputation/honor (Roland, 1988).
High value on preserving public image to avoid shaming family/group.
Overcoming personal interests to show loyalty is celebrated.
Guest lecturers considered egotistical if they mention personal accomplishments (e.g., Japanese speakers start by claiming little knowledge (Goleman, 1990)).
Interplay in Individualist Societies: Even in U.S., personal identities inseparable from groups/organizations.
Understanding who we are requires knowing norms/values of culture, family, peers, coworkers, and other agents of socialization.
Growing Up With Inequality
Socialization does not happen in a vacuum.
Social class, race/ethnicity, sex/gender become significant features of social identity.
These elements shape experiences with others and society, directing life paths.
Key determinants of opportunities in most societies.
Social Class
Social Classes: People occupying similar positions of power, privilege, and prestige.
Affects nearly every aspect of life (political preferences, sexual behavior, religious affiliation, diet, life expectancy).
Conflict Perspective: Parents' social class determines children's access to educational, occupational, residential opportunities.
Affluent Children: Grow up in abundant surroundings, access to material comforts and enriching opportunities (good schools, travel, music lessons).
78\% of parents with \75,000+ income say neighborhood is excellent for kids; only 42\% of parents with \30,000- income agree.
Poorer parents worry more about children being shot, kidnapped, in trouble with law (Pew Research Center, 2015c).
Lower income increases child's risk of single-parent household, unemployed parents, multiple disabilities, dropping out (Mather & Adams, 2006).
Class and Socialization Interaction: Parental class influences values, orientations, and identities children develop.
Melvin L. Kohn (1979): Interviewed working-class and middle-class American couples.
Middle-class parents promoted self-direction, independence, curiosity.
Working-class parents emphasized conformity to external authority (reflecting blue-collar jobs).
Recent Studies: Middle-class parents spend more time cultivating language (Hart & Risley, 1995), foster talents through organized activities/reasoning (Lareau, 2003).
Working-class parents emphasize neatness, rule-following.
General tendencies consistent regardless of child's sex or family composition (J. D. Wright & Wright, 1976).
Studies in Europe/Asia confirm class influence on child socialization (Schooler, 1996; Williamson, 1984; Yi et al., 2004).
Shifts in Class: Job loss can make parents irritable, tense, moody, arbitrary disciplinary style, leading to hostile comments/physical punishment.
Children's self-sense, aspirations, school performance suffer (Rothstein, 2001).
Future Goals: Working-class parents believe success depends on conforming to authority; middle-class parents believe in assertiveness/initiative.
Middle-class children expect more control over destiny.
Race and Ethnicity
Powerful effect on socialization.
White Children: Learn about racial identity by handling privileges/behaviors of being white in a predominantly white society (Van Ausdale & Feagin, 2001).
Schools/religious organizations reinforce messages (e.g., "you can be anything if you work hard").
Many white parents are ill-equipped to discuss racial inequality (Gibson, 2019).
Ethnoracial Minorities (Devalued Groups): Learn about their group in complex social environments.
Live in two worlds: valuing family/community and potentially dismissive "mainstream" (white) society (Hughes & Chen, 1997).
Exposed to multiple socialization experiences: mainstream culture, disadvantaged status, history/cultural heritage (L. D. Scott, 2003; Thornton, 1997).
Example: Muslim parents preparing children for anti-Islam rhetoric, verbal/physical attacks, urging them to "work 100 times harder and be 100 times kinder" (Ingber, 2015).
Among disadvantaged groups (African Americans, Native Americans, Latino/as), parents discuss preparing children for prejudice, ethnic hatred, mistreatment (McLoyd et al., 2000).
Example: Taught that "hard work" alone may not be enough.
Lessons not typically required by dominant racial group (Chapter 11).
Gender
Sexual Dichotomy: Assumption of two sexes is not universal and is challenged.
Culture plays significant role in determining expectations based on sex and how children are socialized.
Sex vs. Gender:
Sex: Person's biological maleness or femaleness.
Gender: Masculinity and femininity; psychological, social, cultural aspects (Kessler & McKenna, 1978).
Distinction important: male-female behavioral/experiential differences don't naturally spring from biological differences (Lips, 1993).
Gender Socialization Process: Begins at birth.
Physician declares boy/girl at birth; infant swaddled in blue/pink.
Developmental paths diverge.
Messages from family, books, TV, schools teach/reinforce gender-typed expectations, influence self-concepts.
Parental Influence:
Most parents claim no preference or different treatment, but actions differ (Lytton & Romney, 1991; McHale et al., 2003).
Pregnant women describe son's movements as "vigorous," daughter's as "not excessively energetic" (B. K. Rothman, 1988).
Parents describe infant daughters as "tiny," "soft," "delicate"; sons as "strong," "alert," "hardy" (J. Z. Rubin et al., 1974; Karraker et al., 1995).
Engage in rougher physical play with sons; use different tones/pet names (MacDonald & Parke, 1986; Tauber, 1979).
Google searches: parents of daughters search for weight/attractiveness; parents of sons search for intelligence/leadership (Stephens-Davidowitz, 2014).
Gender Appearance: New parents sensitive to "correct" identification.
Tape pink ribbons on bald daughters; pierce infant girls' ears in Latin American countries.
"Correct" gender identification maintains social order; ambiguity is distasteful.
Example: Sociologist father dressed son in pink snowsuit; elicited confusion, anger, perceived emotional abuse from strangers.
Gender as Organizing Principle: Boys and girls adopt gender at young age (Hollander et al., 2011).
Between 18-24 months: label gender groups, use gender in speech, identify as boy/girl (C. L. Martin & Ruble, 2009).
By age 5: fair number of gender stereotypes (boys like trucks, girls wear dresses) guiding perceptions/activities.
Stereotypes used to form impressions of others (boy avoids girl who likes "girl" things).
Gender seen as fixed/permanent from 5-7 years ("peak rigidity") (Trautner et al., 2005); becomes more flexible later, though behaviors may not reflect it.
Explicit and Subtle Instruction:
Explicit: "Big boys don't cry," "Act like a young lady."
Subtler: Parents speak/play differently without realizing it.
Mothers concerned about injuries/safety for daughters; disciplinary issues for sons (Morrongiello & Hogg, 2004).
Parents highlight autonomy/independence themes when telling stories to sons (Fiese & Skillman, 2000).
Fathers more physical play with sons; mothers more emotionally responsive to girls, encourage independence in boys (Lanvers, 2004; Raley & Bianchi, 2006).
Parents often resort to biological "hardwiring" explanations when kids behave stereotypically, failing to acknowledge own socializing role (Kane, 2006).
Increased Gender Typing with Age: Parents may increase encouragement of gender-typed activities (Liben & Bigler, 2002).
Teenage household tasks differ by gender (Antill et al., 1996).
Boys: mow lawn, shovel snow, take out garbage, yard work.
Girls: clean house, wash dishes, cook, babysit.
Linked to different social roles for men/women (Chapter 12).
Gender Restrictions for Boys: More rigid/restrictive for U.S. boys; constrained by traditional norms emphasizing strength, athletic ability, stoicism (C. C. Miller, 2018b).
Survey: boys value strength/toughness most; 3/4 felt pressure to be physically strong/play sports (Plan International USA, 2018).
Social costs of gender nonconformity severe for boys (Risman & Seale, 2010).
Girls' play patterns less stereotypical with age; boys must remain masculine (Cherney & London, 2006) ("girls can still be girls, but boys must be boys" (Orenstein, 2008)).
Devaluation of "female" activities incentivizes girls/women towards "male" activities (England, 2010).
Parents encourage aggressive soccer daughters for future occupational success (Friedman, 2015).
Boys playing "girl games" rare, high risks.
Stronger attitudes in other societies (e.g., Chinese "Real Boys Club" training boys to be men, avoiding "sissies") (Wee, 2018).
Gender-Fluid Parenting: Small but growing number of parents advocate for gender-fluid childrearing (e.g., sons wearing dresses/heels, Adele's son dressed as Anna).
Refer to children as "pink boys" (males with interest in female presentation who still identify as boys) (Padawer, 2012).
Aim for middle space between traditional boyhood/girlhood, acknowledging societal challenges.
Parental Provision of Gendered Items: Parents participate through clothes, adornments, books, videos, toys.
"No item [is] free from the boy-or-girl question" (Barbara, 2019).
Clothes provide visible markers: frilly outfits restrict rough play, sending messages about treatment, directing behavior.
Stereotypically gendered toys/games (dolls vs. plastic weapons) are influential.
Institutions and Socialization
Identity is a complex process embedded in larger social structure.
Cultural attitudes towards class, race, gender dramatically affect personal identity.
Social institutions (education, religion, mass media) significantly influence self-concept, values, perspectives.
Education
Most powerful institutional agent of socialization after family in industrial societies.
Structural-functionalist view: primary reason schools exist is to socialize young people.
Formal schooling begins around age 5; extended and consistent control over social growth.
Beyond Academics: Schools equip students with knowledge/skills (reading, writing, math, science, computers) AND teach social, political, economic values.
Mock grocery stores/banks teach free enterprise/finance.
Mock elections introduce democracy.
School gardens/recycling teach nurturing earth.
Tracking: Students grouped into different programs based on academic abilities.
College prep vs. general/vocational tracks.
Determines future outcomes: prestigious universities vs. no college.
Affects employment, income, quality of life.
History: Used for nearly a century in U.S. public schools, initially for immigrant children (led to increased segregation).
Today: less strict, often subject-specific (basic, honors, college-prep).
Critiques of Schooling: Some sociologists argue schooling designed to produce passive, nonproblematic conformists (Gracey, 1991).
However, creativity and problem-solving are gaining attention in curricula.
"Purposeful play" in kindergarten: teachers subtly guide learning through games, art, fun (Rich, 2015).
Some California districts test social skills (self-control, empathy, relationships, decision-making) (Zernike, 2016).
Influence: School system's agenda influences type of people students become.
Religion
Structural-Functionalist View: Social institution attending to spiritual needs, major source of cultural knowledge.
Develops ideas of right/wrong.
Forms identities by providing coherence/continuity (Kearl, 1980).
Religious rites of passage (baptisms, bar/bat mitzvahs, confirmations, weddings) reaffirm identity, transmit rights/obligations (J. H. Turner, 1972).
Religion in U.S. Life: Complex, with changing affiliation.
Structural changes (mobility) break ties to religion.
Attendance at religious services declined from 39\% (2007) to 36\% (2017) (Pew Research Center, 2017a).
Growing number see religion's socializing influence waning.
Nearly half disconnect from Bible (Barna Group, 2019); most U.S. residents ignorant of basic religious history/texts (Prothero, 2007).
Atheists/agnostics scored higher on religious knowledge test than Protestants/Catholics (Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 2010).
Percentage of "nones" (no religion) grew from 16\% (2007) to 23\% (2014), especially among under-30s.
Decline in membership for powerful religious groups; Christian identification dropped from 79\% to 71\% (Pew Research Center, 2015a).
Growth of Non-Christian Religions: Membership in non-Christian groups increased significantly.
Muslims/Buddhists in U.S. grew from <1 million to >2.5 million (1990-2008) (ProQuest Statistical Abstract, 2017).
Immigration fuels growth; more non-Christian immigrant affiliations.
Muslim population projected to more than double by 2050, overtaking Jews as largest non-Christian religion (Mohamed, 2016).
Enduring Influence: Still a fundamental socializing agent for many Americans; U.S. stands out among Western democracies for depth of religious beliefs (Zoll, 2005).
90\% believe in God (Pew Research Center, 2014c).
2/3 believe in supernatural healing (Barna Group, 2016).
72\% believe in heaven, 58\% in hell (Pew Research Center, 2014c).
65\% believe Christmas story aspects (virgin birth, magi, angels, manger) actually happened (Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 2014a).
72\% believe Christian symbols on government property should be allowed (Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 2014a).
"One nation under God"; money proclaims trust in God.
Public schools hold prayer/Bible studies; Trump advocates Bible literacy/creationism (S. Jones, 2019).
Religion in American Politics: Key component.
Nearly 90\% of Congress identify as Christian.
Americans more willing to mix politics/religion than other industrialized countries.
Presidents always ask God to bless U.S.; nearly half believe houses of worship should express views/support candidates (Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, 2014b).
2/3 feel strong religious beliefs important for president.
Some states consider non-believers unfit for public office (Goodstein, 2014a).
Mass Media
Powerful institutional agent of socialization.
Transmits persuasive messages on reality, acts as gatekeepers of information, defines importance (Marger, 2005).
Tells us what type of person we "should" be (jobs, class lifestyles, sexual relationships, families).
Teaches prevailing values, beliefs, myths, stereotypes, trends (Gitlin, 1979).
Provides avenue for learning new attitudes/behavior (Bandura & Walters, 1963).
Pervasive Exposure in U.S.:
Adults spend over 11 hours/day consuming electronic media (Nielsen, 2018).
Nearly 90\% of teenagers, 56\% of children (8-12) have cell phones; over 90\% teens access Internet on mobile devices (Growing Wireless, 2019).
Children under 8 exposed to almost 4 hours/day of background TV (Lapierre et al., 2012).
38\% of children under 2 use mobile devices for media (Growing Wireless, 2019).
Gender Socialization through Media: Especially apparent.
Children's Books (Weitzman et al., 1972): Early 1970s: boys played more significant roles (11:1 ratio), portrayed in adventurous pursuits/independence/strength; girls confined indoors, passive/dependent.
Stereotypes decreased only slightly (Peterson & Lach, 1990).
Nonsexist books had little market impact.
Elementary textbooks still portray males as aggressive, argumentative, competitive (L. Evans & Davies, 2000).
"Gender equality" often means female characters adopt male traits, rarely male characters exhibiting feminine traits (Diekman & Murnen, 2004).
Film and Television Stereotypes:
Only 29\% of American film characters are female (women > 50\% of U.S. population).
Female leads least likely in action (9.4\%%$), adventure (23.6\%%$), comedy (38.7\%%$%); most likely in horror (victims, 55.9\%%$) and romance (46.3\%%$) (Geena Davis Institute, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019).
Female characters twice as likely to be shown in sexually revealing attire and be thin.
Comments about appearance 5 times more likely for female characters.
TV: women < 40\% of speaking roles; younger, identified by marital status, less likely shown working (Lauzen, 2018).
Prime-time occupations for women: 14\% corporate execs, 28\% high-level politicians, 29\% doctors, 21\% scientists/engineers (S. L. Smith et al., 2012).
Media coverage of female sports: focuses on physical appearance/sexuality over competitive accomplishments (Billings et al., 2005; Shugart, 2003).
Cambridge University Press (2016) study of sports media: "men" / "man" appear 3 times more often; language for female athletes disproportionately on age, marital status, appearance, clothes.
Influence on Children: Strong influence on perceptions/behaviors (Witt, 2005).
Heavy TV viewers: more gender stereotypical attitudes, gender-related characteristics/activities (M. Morgan, 1987; Signorielli, 1990).
Experimental study: gender-stereotypical segment of girls frustrated by math led to more endorsement of attitude (Wille et al., 2018).
Girls without stereotypes showed significant increase after 2 years of heavy TV (M. Morgan, 1982).
High school students watching sexual talk shows/prime-time more likely to hold traditional sexual stereotypes (Ward & Friedman, 2006).
Conclusion (Chapter 5)
Becoming who we are is complex social process.
Intimate characteristics (self-concept, gender, racial/ethnic identity) reflect larger cultural attitudes, values, expectations.
Not perfect reflections of society's values, individuals remain unique.
Individual Agency: We ignore generalized others, form contradictory self-concepts, violate class/gender/race expectations.
Societal influence has limits; what makes us truly unique is a mystery.
Chapter Highlights (Chapter 5)
Socialization: process of learning culture, living by norms, perceiving world, gaining identity, interacting appropriately; defines what to do/not to do.
Most important outcome: development of self. Requires recognizing self as physical object, mastering language, taking roles of others, seeing oneself from others' perspectives.
Socialization is lifelong: adults resocialized when leaving old roles/entering new ones.
Through socialization, we learn social expectations of our social class, racial/ethnic group, and gender.
Occurs within social institutions: family, schools, religious institutions, mass media.
Key Terms (from Chapter 5)
Agents of socialization: Various individuals, groups, and organizations that influence the socialization process.
Anticipatory socialization: Process through which people acquire the values and orientations found in statuses they will likely enter in the future.
Collectivist culture: Culture in which personal accomplishments are less important in the formation of identity than group membership.
Eugenics: Control of mating to ensure that "defective" genes of troublesome individuals will not be passed on to future generations.
Game stage: Stage in self-development where a child acquires ability to take role of group/community (generalized other) and conform behavior to broad societal expectations.
Gender: Psychological, social, and cultural aspects of maleness and femaleness.
Generalized other: Perspective of the larger society and its constituent values and attitudes.
Identity: Essential aspect of who we are, consisting of sense of self, gender, race, ethnicity, and religion.
Individualist culture: Culture in which personal accomplishments are a more important component of one's self-concept than group membership.
Looking-glass self: Sense of who we are defined by incorporating reflected appraisals of others.
Play stage: Stage in self-development where a child develops ability to take a role, but only from one person's perspective at a time.
Reflexive behavior: Behavior where person initiating action is same as person toward whom action is directed.
Resocialization: Process of learning new values, norms, and expectations when an adult leaves an old role and enters a new one.
Role taking: Ability to see oneself from perspective of others and use that perspective in formulating one's own behavior.
Self: Unique set of traits, behaviors, and attitudes distinguishing one person from next; active source and passive object of behavior.
Sex: Biological maleness or femaleness.
Socialization: Process of learning how to act according to rules/expectations of a particular culture.
Total institution: Place where individuals cut off from wider society for appreciable period and lead enclosed, formally administered life.
Tracking: Grouping students into different curricular programs (tracks) based on academic abilities.
Chapter 6: Supporting Identity
Forming Impressions of Others
Initial Impressions: Formed immediately based on observable cues.
Age, ascribed status (race, gender), individual attributes (physical appearance), verbal/nonverbal expressions.
Impression Formation: Process of forming a quick picture of another person’s identity.
Importance of information (values attached to age, race, gender; desirable traits; meaning of words/gestures) varies across time and place.
Emotional expressiveness in US (energetic) vs. UK (boorish) vs. Thailand/Japan (dangerous/crazy).
Social Group Membership: Profound effect on impressions.
Age, sex, race, ethnicity often perceivable; social class less obvious but conveyed by language, mannerisms, dress.
Socialization teaches expectations for people based on these indicators (e.g., 85-year-old: low energy, poor memory, conservative).
Initial expectations are rarely completely accurate.
Provides necessary backdrop for interactions with strangers; clarity needed (e.g., sex/age when texting).
Physical Appearance: Confirms or modifies early impressions.
Dress, jewelry, hairstyles, etc., communicate feelings, beliefs, group identity, ethnicity, social class, age, cultural tastes, morality, political attitudes.
Physical Attractiveness in U.S. Culture: Enormously important.
Pressure to have perfect complexion, ideal height/weight, stylish hair, fashionable clothes.
Acknowledged as shallow/unfair, but still widely used.
Is Beauty Only Skin Deep?
Aristotle: "Personal beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of introduction."
Contemporary research: Attractive men seen as more masculine, women more feminine (Gillen, 1981).
Assumption: good-looking people possess other desirable traits (happiness, kindness, strength, sexual responsiveness) (Dion et al., 1972).
Associated with positive outcomes: votes, teaching evaluations (M. Lee et al., 2018).
Beauty Premium: Economic advantages for attractive people.
Handsome men earn 5\% more, attractive women 4\% more.
More attention from teachers, bosses, mentors.
57\% of hiring managers say qualified but unattractive candidates have harder time landing jobs; over half advise spending as much on looking attractive as on resume (J. Bennett, 2010).
Negative Outcomes: Rarely.
Reluctance to hire attractive people for tedious jobs (assumed dissatisfaction/unmotivation) (M. Lee et al., 2018).
In Malawi (high HIV), beautiful women suspected of taking ARVs (weight gain/smooth skin side effect), thus perceived as HIV positive and undesirable sexual partners (S. Koenig, 2011).
Gender Disparity: Physical appearance more salient for women, despite gains in money, political clout, legal recognition.
Pew Research Center study: society values "morality and honesty" in men (33\%%$), "physical attractiveness" in women (35\%%$) (Parker et al., 2017).
61\% of hiring managers say advantageous for women to "show off her figure" (J. Bennett, 2010).
Medical Procedures: Influences standard medical procedures.
Female cancer patients advised breast reconstruction after mastectomies, even if medically unnecessary, because doctors believe appearance of breasts improves quality of life (Rabin, 2016).
Body Alterations and Pain: Women inflict pain to conform to beauty standards (plucking eyebrows, eyelash extensions, waxing, Spanx).
Affluent women undergo cosmetic foot surgery ("Cinderella procedure") to fit narrow shoes (Stover, 2014).
Consequences of Appearance Emphasis:
Individual level: devalues other attributes/accomplishments; dangerous (eating disorders, depression, desire for plastic surgery) (Engeln, 2017).
Institutional level: sustains multibillion-dollar industries (advertising, fashion, cosmetics, plastic surgery, weight loss).
Sizing People Up (Obesity): Negative effects of unattractiveness felt most by those exceeding cultural body size standards.
U.S. obesity: over 18\% youth (2-19), nearly 40\% adults (Hales et al., 2018).
Cultural backdrop glorifies thinness; fat seen as unhealthy, costly, repulsive, ugly, unclean (LeBesco, 2004).
Overweight judged as lacking willpower, self-indulgent, offensive, morally unfit (Millman, 1980).
Most common reason for bullying in kids (Bradshaw et al., 2011).
Mental health caseworkers assign more negative characteristics to obese patients (L. M. Young & Powell, 1985).
Hospitals lack CT/MRI for extremely large patients; doctors resort to less precise X-rays.
Weight Discrimination: Last acceptable form of unequal treatment (Carr & Friedman, 2006).
Workplace: discrimination in hiring, placement, compensation, promotion, discipline, discharge (Roehling, 1999).
Wage penalty for obese employees, especially women.
Obese men earn \4,772 less, obese women \5,826 less than normal-weight counterparts (George Washington University, 2011).
Cultural Variation in Obesity Perception: Not universal negativity.
Niger: overweight (with fat rolls, stretch marks, large behind) is essential female beauty; thin women unfit for marriage (Popenoe, 2005).
Mauritania: girls fed gallons of camel's milk to become fat (LaFraniere, 2007).
Botswana: fatness equates with female fertility, marriageability ("fat eggs") (Upton, 2010).
Developing countries: overweight associated with middle-class/wealthy (food scarcity).
Obesity in U.S.: Race and Social Class Link:
70.9\% Whites overweight/obese; 75.7\% African Americans; 79.6\% Latino/as (ProQuest Statistical Abstract, 2019).
Historically, obesity was sign of wealth in U.S.; today, equated with poverty (sedentary lifestyles, high-fat diets) (Gilman, 2004; Kim & Leigh, 2010).
Poor communities lack safe playgrounds, access to high-quality/low-cost food, transportation to play areas.
"Food deserts": poor black/racially mixed neighborhoods have fewer large supermarkets, more local/convenience/fast-food stores with fewer healthy choices and higher prices (M. Lee, 2006).
Women's Weight Concerns: U.S. women feel distaste for obesity strongly.
Clothing companies contribute: size 0 outfits, "subzero" for 23-inch waists.
0/00 sizes becoming status symbols for thinness among young girls.
"Vanity sizing": garments with same size number become larger over time to make older women feel thinner (Clifford, 2011).
Racial Differences in Weight Concerns:
80\% African American women, 78\% Latina women overweight/obese vs. 66\% white women (ProQuest Statistical Abstract, 2019).
Yet, white women more likely to express weight concerns, exhibit disordered eating (Abrams et al., 1993).
African American women (especially poor/working-class) worry less about dieting/thinness (Molloy & Herzberger, 1998).
Black women perceive themselves as less overweight and suffer fewer self-esteem blows (Averett & Korenman, 1999).
Dieting efforts more realistic for black women.
Challenges to Racial Differences: Some researchers argue women of color always suffered body dissatisfaction but overlooked/less likely to seek treatment (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2009; Brodey, 2005).
Body dissatisfaction might be increasing due to exposure to/adoption of dominant white beauty ideals (Abrams et al., 1993).
Impact of Weight Concerns: Lower self-esteem, antagonism toward body, life-threatening eating disorders.
Shows power of cultural beliefs in self-concept formation.
Verbal and Nonverbal Expression
Important for impression formation: what people express verbally/nonverbally.
Verbal: What they choose to tell us.
Nonverbal: Movements, postures, gestures provide cues about values, attitudes, sentiments, personality, history (G. P. Stone, 1981).
Can be purposeful (smile to appear approachable) or uncontrolled (shaky voice, flushed face, trembling hands).
Sign Language: Facial expressions integral (eyebrows for questions, mouth movements for adverbs) (Schulman, 2014).
"Reading" Nonverbal Messages: Most are proficient at interpreting subtle messages.
Crucial for orderly interactions; deficiency considered a learning disability (Goleman, 1989).
Managing Impressions
Simultaneously judging others and manipulating information about self to sway others' judgments.
Impression Management: Process of presenting a favorable public image of oneself (Goffman, 1959).
Everyday life as theatrical performance; motivated to "sell" an image.
Goal: Project identity to increase likelihood of favorable outcomes.
Strategically furnish or conceal information (advertise/exaggerate/fabricate positive qualities; conceal/camouflage unappealing behaviors/attributes).
Social Media Challenges:
Offline: Multiple selves/impressions for different groups (family, coworkers, friends).
Online: One shot (e.g., Instagram posts visible to everyone).
Drunken photos seen by unsuspecting parents.
Tweets remain forever.
Social media acknowledges need for multiple selves via privacy settings, friend lists.
Desire for Social Approval: Favorable outcomes linked to being respected and liked.
Projecting Different Identities: Different circumstances require different identities (E. E. Jones & Pittman, 1982).
Appear helpless/meek to avoid tasks.
Appear mean/fearsome to intimidate.
"Play dumb" to avoid challenging superior (Gove et al., 1980).
Role taking allows tailoring images to situations.
Authentic Attributes and Misinterpretation: Impression management not just for false images.
Authentic attributes not immediately apparent; actions misinterpreted.
Example: Glancing during exam perceived as cheating; deliberately overemphasizes non-cheating behavior.
Physical Appearance in Impression Management: Strategically altering appearance.
Clothing/adornment manipulate impressions (e.g., dress to convey respect).
Women dressing masculinely for job interviews more likely hired.
Students perceive formally dressed teachers as more intelligent (Blakeslee, 2012).
Example: Sociologist friend dressed formally; he and casual sociologist friend posed humorous contrast of perceived professionalism.
Dramaturgy (Erving Goffman, 1959): Analyzing social interaction as theatrical performances.
People as "actors" on a "stage."
"Audience": observers of behavior.
"Roles": images people project.
"Script": communication content.
Goal: believable performance to achieve desired goals.
Applies to all social life (greetings, family, school, work).
Front Stage and Back Stage: Key structural element of dramaturgy.
Front Stage: Performance for the audience (e.g., restaurant dining room for servers).
Servers expected to be upbeat, happy, competent, courteous.
Back Stage: Make-up removed, lines rehearsed, performances rehashed; people can fall "out of character" (e.g., restaurant kitchen for servers).
Servers shout, shove dishes, mock customers.
Maintaining barrier crucial to successful impression management; blocks performance-ruining behavior.
Example: Psychiatrist appears interested/sympathetic to patients (front stage), but may express boredom/disdain to colleagues/family (back stage).
Breaching barrier damages professional credibility.
Study found psychiatrists harbor inappropriate feelings towards patients (hatred, fear, anger, sexual arousal) beneath neutral mask (Goleman, 1993).
Props: Objects conveying identity, handled deftly for effective performance.
Theater: gun that doesn't fire, collapsing chair.
Social interaction: student arranges schoolbooks for parental visit, hides beer bottles.
Setting romantic mood for dinner date (music, lighting, hiding ex-lover photos).
Reinforcing Authority: Props can intimidate (e.g., low, puffy chair making tabletop reach chest during congressional testimony) (H. Jenkins, 1999).
Human Props: Japanese companies rent people to pose as friends/coworkers for social events (weddings, job maintenance) (Demetriou, 2009).
Family Romance rents substitute relatives to project stability/respect (e.g., single mother renting fake husband for school admissions interview) (Batuman, 2018).
Chinese companies rent white foreigners ("laowai") to pose as employees to secure contracts, project prestige/international connection (Farrar, 2010).
Dramaturgical Perspective Summary: Everyday actions structured with an eye toward perception by particular "audiences."
Image Making
Individualistic, competitive society: appearances provide critical edge.
Desire to maximize prestige, wealth, power drives makeovers.
Industries devoted to making/remaking public images.
Surgical Alteration of Appearance: Driven by impression management.
Huge spending even in tough economic times.
American Society of Plastic Surgeons (2019): >1.8 million cosmetic surgeries, nearly 16 million minimally invasive procedures in U.S. in 2018.
93\% patients were women.
163\% increase since 2000.
Overall cost: \16.5 billion.
Global Popularity:
South Korea: most plastic surgeries per capita; 1 in 5 women in Seoul had cosmetic surgery (ISAPS, 2016).
Brazil: leads in head/facial procedures; Miss Universe contestant publicly discussed surgeries for profession (Kulick & Machado-Borges, 2005).
China: 71.8 billion industry in 2018 (22 million procedures); desire for larger, more "Western" eyes (LaFraniere, 2011).
"Renzao Meinu" ("artificial beauty") contest.
Discontent with Appearance: Alarming levels.
30-40\% of U.S. adults concerned about physical appearance (Gorbis & Kholodenko, 2005).
1.7-2.9\% (1 in 50) self-conscious to point of inhibited lives, homebound, suicidal (APA, 2013; K. A. Phillips, 2019).
Half seek medical intervention (surgery, dermatological treatment).
Weight reduction surgery (stomach banding) increased sevenfold in decade, \6 billion annually (Hartocollis, 2012b).
Political Portraits: Meticulously planned impression management.
National conventions: music, balloons, lighting, logos, colors, delegates as props for patriotism, unity, strength, electability.
Candidate must present professional, appealing image.
Dilemma: Downplaying Affluence: Privileged backgrounds don't fit "up-from-nothing" narratives.
Wealthy candidates alter clothing, mannerisms, tastes, vocabulary to appear relatable.
Highlight past struggles (abusive father, single immigrant mother, racial taunts, sexual identity struggles, poverty) (Leibovich, 2014).
Social media used to project relatability (J. D. Larson, 2019).
Donald Trump Example: Billionaire who appealed to poor/working-class voters by rough, "tell-it-like-it-is" language, "Make America Great Again" caps, self-identification as "blue collar worker," despite Ivy League, real estate, reality TV, inherited wealth (Edelman, 2016).
After Election: Presidents play to international/domestic audiences (P. Hall, 1990).
Impress voters via "presidential character": good health, intellect, honesty, decisiveness, control, stable family.
Trump unique: projected rage, vulgarity, unpredictability, inexperience.
"Gesture Politics": Symbolic actions conveying characteristics.
Leaders judged by public response to gestures, not just policy effectiveness.
Example: Trump throwing paper towels to Hurricane Maria victims in Puerto Rico (2017) drew media backlash.
Social Influences on Impression Management
Social group membership influences sorts of images presented.
Identity elements (age, gender, race/ethnicity, religion, social class, occupation) influence others' expectations (which can be self-fulfilling).
Members of certain groups may manage impressions differently due to preconceived notions.
Race/ethnicity and social status are notable influences.
Race and Ethnicity:
In societies with racial inequality, people of color rewarded for assimilating to "white norms,"
Suppressing nonwhite hairstyles, clothing, speech.
Monitoring social activities, ethnic organizations, friendship networks (Kenji Yoshino, 2006).
Dave Chappelle: African Americans must be "bilingual" to "code-switch" (eliminate "black" speech patterns) for job interviews (Chaudhry, 2006).
Social Costs: Strategies increase economic benefit but carry costs.
Barack Obama (2004): "eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white" (Fryer, 2006).
Risk of being labeled "sellouts," "Oreos," "bananas," "coconuts" by their communities.
Limited Options for Less Affluent: Pakistani cab drivers, Latina housekeepers, Korean grocery clerks have no such option.
Conforming to ethnoracial stereotypes can be one of few ways to participate in public life while retaining cultural identity.
Native Americans expected to "act Indian" with traditional garb/stilted speech.
Rap/hip-hop stars criticized for conforming to unflattering black stereotypes for white audiences.
Private (back stage) behavior often shows awareness of forced identities.
Socioeconomic Status: Person's economic position influences impression management.
Working-Class Youth: Frustrated by lack of middle-class access, may present as malicious/dangerous to gain attention/respect within their group (E. Anderson, 1990; Campbell, 1987; A. K. Cohen, 1955).
Dominant Classes: Gain attention/respect with little effort (Derber, 1979).
Special consideration in public settings.
Monopolize starring roles in politics/economics, claim more attention in interactions.
Symbolic props of material success (large homes, luxury cars, expensive clothes) reinforce worth/status.
Subtle Class Trappings: Pre-2008 recession, luxury props (flat-screen TVs, sports cars) became accessible to middle class.
Wealthy ratcheted up displays: \130,000 cars, \7,000 smartphones, \400 wine, personal chefs, private jets.
Post-recession: rich became more discreet ("ostentatious minimalism") (Sengupta, 2012).
Future of wealth display uncertain given current economy.
Workplace Status Differences:
Top organizational members don't need to advertise high status (known "badge of ability") (Derber, 1979).
Others must consciously solicit attention.
Example: Physicians wear stethoscopes, white lab coats to communicate high-status (especially female doctors to avoid being mistaken for nurses).
Contrasts with patients in revealing hospital gowns, disempowering them (D. Franklin, 2006).
Conflict over Titles: Nurses earning Doctorates in Nursing Practice call themselves "Doctor," opposed by physicians as confusing/threat to authority.
Bills proposed to make it felony for nurses to use "doctor"; some states forbid unless profession immediately identified (Waldrop, 2013).
Professional Socialization and Impression Management: Profound role (Hochschild, 1983).
Managers/CEOs: exude image through dress/demeanor.
Salespeople: trained to be knowledgeable, trustworthy, honest.
Medical students: learn to manage emotions, present image of "competent physicians."
Teachers: learn effective images for student compliance.
Power Dynamics in Interaction: One person likely has more power.
Power not just orders/threats/coercion, but noncoercive forms: signs/symbols of dominance, subtle threats, gestures of submission (Henley, 1977).
Powerlessness: being ignored, interrupted, intimidated, afraid to approach superiors, privacy invaded.
Norms of Address: Reflect power differences.
Friends/siblings: mutual informal terms (first names).
Unequal status: lower-status uses respectful terms (sir, ma'am, doctor).
Historical: white person used first name for any black person, received respectful address in return.
President using nicknames for staff reinforces power differences.
Mismanaging Impressions: Spoiled Identities
Impression management not always successful (e.g., my basketball incident).
Mishandled props, blown lines, audience peek backstage, destroyed credibility.
Some recover quickly, others suffer extended devaluation.
Embarrassment: Spontaneous feeling when identity presenting is suddenly/unexpectedly discredited (E. Gross & Stone, 1964).
Example: Teenager's tough image shattered by mother in minivan.
Manifestations: fixed smile, nervous laugh, busy hands, downward glance (E. Goffman, 1967).
Sources: lack of poise (stumbling, saying stupid things, spilling, exposing body parts), intrusion into private settings, improper dress.
Sociological Importance of Embarrassment: Potential to destroy social order.
Disruptive for all concerned (valedictorian's notes blowing away).
Cooperation to Reduce/Eliminate: Everyone's interest to minimize.
Pretend not to notice faux pas (Lindesmith et al., 1991); suppressing recognition signs helps person regain composure (E. Goffman, 1967).
Mutual commitment to supporting others' social identities is a fundamental norm.
Strategic Use: Can be used to disrupt another's impression management.
Practical jokes: intentionally rein in conceit, cause identity loss.
Hazing: groups use embarrassment to encourage preferred activity/discourage damaging behavior.
Reasserts power structure: only certain people can legitimately embarrass others (low-status employee has less freedom).
Organizational Embarrassment: Public shame, humiliation.
Example: 2010 Toyota recall over accelerator pedals.
Sony 2014 hack revealed casual racism, star bashing, embarrassing secrets (Richards, 2014).
Massive data breaches at Yahoo, eBay, Equifax, Target, Uber, Marriott exposed millions of customers' info.
Responses: Leaders engage in activities to protect, repair, enhance image (Ginzel et al., 2004).
Public relations departments, crisis management teams control negative publicity.
Volkswagen, Takata, Starbucks, Boeing rolled out PR campaigns to soothe anger, rescue reputation, save from financial ruin.
Remedies for Spoiled Identities
Organizations use experts; individuals are on their own.
Fixing spoiled identity is hard; negative evaluation impedes thoughts, speech, action.
Aligning Action: Transgressor uses to restore social order/overcome spoiled identity (Stokes & Hewitt, 1976).
Simple/Quick: Apology for stepping on foot (acknowledges wrong, signals non-norm-breaker).
Detailed Repair:
Account: Verbal statement explaining unanticipated, embarrassing, unacceptable behavior after it happened (C. W. Mills, 1940; M. Scott & Lyman, 1968).
Cite events beyond control ("traffic"), blame others ("pushed me").
Define behavior as appropriate: denying harm ("no one got hurt"), claiming victim deserved it ("had it coming"), claiming unselfish motives ("stole food to feed family").
Disclaimer: Verbal assertion before the fact to forestall complaints/negative implications (Hewitt & Stokes, 1975).
Phrases: "I probably don't know what I'm talking about, but…", "I'm not a racist, but…"
Allows self-proclaimed nonexpert to act expert, nonracist to make racist statement.
Purpose of Aligning Actions: Link questionable conduct to cultural norms, reaffirm commitment to social order, defend social identities/society's "goodness."
Cooling Out (Erving Goffman, 1952): Gently persuading someone who has lost face to accept a less desirable but still reasonable alternative identity.
Seeks to persuade, not force; minimizes distress.
Challenge: keep offender from realizing they're being persuaded.
Common in social life: consumer complaint departments, coaches, doctors, priests, bosses.
Example: Factory manager demoting employee: "Your skills were being wasted… happier on shop floor."
Informal relationships: breakup initiator tells ex-partner: "Value you as friend… don't want to risk bond with sex/romance."
Stigma
Stigma: Permanent spoiling of someone's identity.
Deeply discrediting characteristic, seen as insurmountable obstacle to competent/morally trustworthy behavior (E. Goffman, 1963).
Spoils identity regardless of other attributes.
Goffman's Types of Stigma:
Defects of the body: Severe scars, blindness, paralyzed/missing limbs.
Defects of character: Dishonesty, weak will, history of imprisonment/substance abuse.
Membership in devalued social groups: Certain races, religions, ethnicities, social classes.
Impression management task: minimize social damage, not recapture tarnished identity.
Ideology of Stigma: Seeps into describing/understanding social problems.
Example: Drug addiction: "clean" vs. "dirty" test results/users in drug tests is stigmatizing (Vedantam, 2018).
Varying Severity: Some stigmas worse than others.
Eyeglasses (poor vision) less stigmatizing than hearing aids (poor hearing).
Hearing aids designed to be unnoticeable; eyeglasses are fashion accessory.
Variation Across Time and Culture:
Christian in 1st century vs. 21st century U.S. vs. Arab Middle East.
Ancient Mayans: cross-eyed desirable (Link & Phelan, 2001).
Sierra Leone: epilepsy stigma = uneducable, unemployable, unmarriageable (Baruchin, 2011).
Obesity: stigmatized in Western societies now, but desirable/status symbol in past/other cultures.
Situational Variation within Culture:
Business world: nondrinking can stigmatize, limit career (Quenqua, 2012).
Nondrinkers complain difficulty closing deals, negotiating.
Study: nondrinkers harder to climb corporate ladder than moderate drinkers.
Negative Evaluation: People with stigmatizing conditions often sense negative evaluation.
Study on mental disorder: experienced shunning, avoidance, condescension, discrimination (Wahl, 1999).
Example: Mark Breimhorst (no hands) applying to business schools; GMAT scores flagged "under special circumstances." Not admitted to any schools, sued, and flagging stopped (Lewin, 2000).
Upper social mobility doesn't always protect from stigma.
Coping Strategies for Stigma: Establish most favorable identity.
Hiding the stigma: Hard-of-hearing learns lip-reading; bodily stigmas opt for surgery.
Minimizing intrusion: Self-deprecating humor; focusing on unrelated attributes (wheelchair user carrying esoteric books).
Boldly calling attention: Mastering areas thought closed (amputee mountain climbing).
Organizing movements: National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, Council on Size and Weight Discrimination lobbying against "size discrimination," "fat shaming," promoting "weight diversity" (LeBesco, 2004; NAFA, 2016).
Overcoming Stigma: Cannot be solely accomplished through individual impression management or collective demonstrations.
Requires changing cultural beliefs about nature of stigma (Link et al., 1991).
Solely blaming stigmatized individuals limits overcoming social limitations.
Conclusion (Chapter 6)
Human beings as cunning, manipulative, cynical play actors presenting phony performances for selfish needs.
Even "not caring" about appearance can be conscious cultivation of an image.
People consciously manufacture images to achieve goals.
Manage appearance, present admirable qualities, hide unappealing ones.
Use disclaimers, excuses, justifications when impression is threatened.
"Real You" Question: If images change to suit audience, is there a stable "you" across situations?
Awareness that managed impression isn't "real you" implies knowledge of the real you.
Basic, pervasive part of being may allow choice from repertoire of identities.
Feelings about impression management reflect beliefs about individuals and society's role.
Chapter Highlights (Chapter 6)
Social life influenced by impressions we form of others and images others form of us.
Impression formation based on ascribed social group membership, physical appearance, verbal/nonverbal messages.
Impression management: conscious control/manipulation of information about self to influence positive judgments from others; can be individual or collective.
Impression mismanagement leads to damaged identities, requiring repair to sustain social interaction.
Key Terms (from Chapter 6)
Account: Statement explaining unanticipated, embarrassing, or unacceptable behavior after it occurred.
Aligning action: Action taken to restore a damaged identity.
Back stage: Area away from audience view where people can rehearse/rehash behavior and fall out of character.
Cooling out: Gently persuading someone who lost face to accept a less desirable but reasonable alternative identity.
Disclaimer: Assertion before an action/statement to forestall complaints or negative reactions.
Dramaturgy: Study of social interaction as theater, where people project images (play roles) for an audience.
Embarrassment: Spontaneous feeling when presenting identity is suddenly discredited.
Front stage: Area of social interaction where people perform and maintain appropriate impressions.
Impression formation: Process of defining others based on observable cues (age, race, gender, physical appearance, verbal/nonverbal expressions).
Impression management: Act of presenting a favorable public image of oneself for positive judgments from others.
Stigma: Deeply discrediting characteristic viewed as obstacle to competent/morally trustworthy behavior.
Chapter 10: The Architecture of Stratification
Stratification Systems
Inequality: Woven into all societies through structured systems of stratification.
Stratification: Ranking of entire groups of people, perpetuating unequal rewards and life chances.
Like rock strata, social strata are layered.
All societies have some form, varying in degree of inequality.
Four main sources of stratification: slavery, caste, estate, social class.
Slavery
Oldest and most persistent form of stratification.
Slavery: Economic form of inequality where some people are property of others.
Denied rights and life chances.
Acquired through birth, military defeat, debt, capture/commercial trade.
Occurred almost everywhere.
Abolished before U.S. (1863) in Mexico, Great Britain, France, Russia, Holland; after in Spain, Korea, Cuba, Brazil (D. B. Davis, 2006).
Some Middle Eastern countries until late 20th century.
Today: theoretically illegal, but tens of thousands enslaved in West African nations (Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania) ("A Continuing Abomination," 2008).
Modern Slavery: Estimated >40 million worldwide (Walk Free Foundation, 2018).
U.S.: 403,000 in modern slavery, mostly forced laborers and sex workers.
Sex Trafficking: Most common form of slavery today.
21 million adults/children worldwide bought/sold into sexual servitude; 99\% are women/girls (ILO, 2019).
U.S.: National Human Trafficking Hotline estimates 67,000 women trafficked (2007-2016).
2017: 21 arrested in Chicago sex-trafficking operation (hundreds of Thai women, millions of dollars) (Davey, 2017).
National Center for Missing/Exploited Children: 100,000-300,000 youth at risk for commercial sexual exploitation annually; 1 in 6 runaways is sex trafficking victim.
Caste Systems
Second form of stratification, preserved in some societies.
Caste System: Lifestyle, prestige, occupational choices fixed at birth, unchangeable.
Traditionally: ancient Hindu scriptures defined strict hierarchy (elite, warrior, merchant, servant, untouchable).
Rights/duties clear.
India: "untouchables" (lowest caste) legally required to hide or bow to higher castes, denied entry to temples/wells due to fear of contamination.
Modern Caste Discrimination: >260 million people (mostly India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, also Japan, Yemen, African countries) suffer severe caste discrimination (Human Rights Watch, 2009).
Victims of exploitation, violence, face obstacles to civil, political, economic, cultural rights.
Changes in India: Laws prohibit caste-based discrimination (Indian population: 16\% Scheduled Castes/Dalits).
Dalits receive benefits (reserved university spaces, government jobs), prompting higher caste farmers/shepherds to lobby for downgrade (Gentleman, 2007).
Persistence: Still powerful source of stratification.
95\% of Indians marry within caste (Gettleman & Raj, 2018).
Dalits sometimes forced into "manual scavenging" (collecting human excrement); face violence, eviction, harassment for trying to leave (Human Rights Watch, 2014).
Indians in U.S. experience caste influence in social/business interactions (J. Berger, 2004).
Estate Systems
Third form of stratification/feudal system.
Estate System: Develops when high-status groups own land, power based on noble birth (Kerbo, 1991).
Common in preindustrial societies (e.g., medieval Europe).
Hierarchy:
Aristocracy: Highest estate, wealth/power from extensive landholdings.
Clergy: Next estate, lower status than aristocracy, but considerable status from Church land/influence.
Commoners: Serfs, peasants, artisans, merchants.
Movement between estates possible but infrequent (commoner knighted, wealthy merchant becomes aristocrat).
Reminders Today: Great Britain's Parliament House of Lords primarily noble birth; aristocratic families still hold wealth/political power.
2007: House of Commons voted to introduce elections for House of Lords, remove "hereditary peers"; House of Lords rejected it.
Social Class Systems
Stratification in contemporary industrialized societies primarily based on social class.
Social Class: Group of people sharing similar economic position based on wealth and income.
Economic stratification system; ranks people/groups, determines access to resources/life chances.
Provides particular understanding of the world and one's place.
Difference from Other Systems: No legal barriers to social mobility.
Social Mobility: Movement of people or groups from one level to another.
Theoretically, all members can rise to top.
Practical Difficulties: Mobility can be difficult.
Geographic influence: less common in Southeast/Industrial Midwest; more in Northeast/West (mixed-income neighborhoods, better schools, civic engagement) (Leonhardt, 2019a).
Generational: often five/six generations to erase economic origins (Krueger, 2002).
Within single generation, little mobility (wealthy parents -> wealthy children; poor parents -> poor children) (Krugman, 2019).
U.S. has significantly less social mobility than comparable nations (e.g., 42\% stay in bottom fifth vs. 25\% Denmark, 30\% Britain) (Jantti, 2006).
Race/gender combine with class to determine opportunities.
Women of color face barriers due to economic disadvantage and lack of family emotional support (Higginbotham & Weber, 1992).
Sociological Perspectives on Stratification
Explain why societies are stratified.
Structural-functionalist and conflict perspectives offer insights.
Often seen as competing but can be used together.
The Structural-Functionalist View of Stratification
Cause of Stratification: Society's inevitable need for order.
Inequality found in all societies, thus necessary for smooth functioning.
Division of Labor: Efficient functioning requires allocating tasks.
Some occupations (teaching, medicine) more important, require greater talent/training.
Society's dilemma: ensure most talented people perform most important tasks.
Solution: Higher Rewards: Assign high rewards (better pay, prestige, privileges) to attractive positions (K. Davis & Moore, 1945).
Motivates talented people to undertake difficult tasks (e.g., medical school).
Critique: Importance vs. Rewards: Position importance doesn't guarantee generous rewards.
Garbage collectors perform vital function, but low pay (\40,560/year) and prestige (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019d).
Reason: no shortage of people with skills to collect garbage.
Physicians: unique skills/training, high rewards (five times more than garbage collectors) (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019d).
Discrepancies: Registered nurse in doctor's office earns four times more than one in high school/junior college.
Plumber in city hospital earns twice plumber in hotel (Davidson, 2011).
Highly Paid but Less Functionally Important: Celebrities earn millions (George Clooney, Judge Judy, Ed Sheeran, Lionel Messi, James Patterson) (Forbes, 2019).
Society could do without their services more easily than without physicians, scientists, computer programmers, teachers, trash collectors.
Critique: Overstated Talent Scarcity: Many people have talent but lack access to training.
Critique: Discrimination: Why are women/minorities paid less or excluded from certain jobs? Debates over equal employment/pay address how functional importance is determined.
Insight: Explains how societies fill positions and have institutional inequality.
Shortcoming: Doesn't address stratification as unjust/divisive, a source of social disorder (Tumin, 1953).
The Conflict View of Stratification
Core Idea: Social inequality is neither necessity nor source of order; it's a primary source of conflict, coercion, unhappiness.
Rests on unequal distribution of resources (money, land, information, education, healthcare, safety, housing).
Those at top control resources because they set rules.
Serves interests of those at top, not entire society.
Scarcity of Resources:
Natural scarcity (e.g., finite land).
Artificially created scarcity: De Beers limited diamond supply to increase value (Harden, 2000).
Power Blocks: Rich and politically powerful work together to maintain privilege.
U.S. Congress dominated by wealthy members (median net worth \1.1 million, 12 times typical household; half are millionaires; Trump is billionaire) (Kopf, 2018).
Politicians make decisions benefiting wealthy.
Supreme Court eliminated limits on campaign contributions (2014); 10 donors gave \1.1 billion in 2016 (Narayanswamy et al., 2016).
Congress cuts low-income programs (Medicaid, housing, food stamps) while wealthiest 20\% get over half of tax breaks (Congressional Budget Office, 2014).
Wealthiest obtain \30 billion/year in federal grants/subsidies (D. Stone & Colarusso, 2011).
2017 tax cut slashed corporate profits rate to 21\%%$, with further reductions via loopholes.
Favors paying for disaster aid by cutting social programs rather than repealing upper-class tax cuts (Pappas, 2013).
Public Perception of Tension: Growing number of Americans perceive rich-poor tension.
Pew Research Center (2018a): 63\% believe economic system unfairly favors powerful; 43\% believe rich are rich due to advantages.
Nearly 6 in 10 believe rich pay too little taxes; 55\% believe rich are greedy (Kohut, 2012).
Insight: Acknowledges interconnected roles of economic/political institutions in creating/maintaining stratified society.
The Marxian Class Model
Original proponents of conflicting classes (Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels, 1848/1982).
Two Major Classes in Modern Societies:
Capitalists (bourgeoisie): Own means of production (land, commercial enterprises, factories, wealth), purchase labor.
Workers (proletariat): Own neither means of production nor ability to purchase labor; sell their labor to survive.
Some workers (managers, supervisors) control others, but minimal power compared to capitalists.
Third Tier: Petite bourgeoisie: Transitional class owning means of production but not purchasing others' labor (self-employed skilled laborers, businesspeople).
Capitalist Power: Significant sway over production, distribution, wages.
Control livelihoods, communities, economic decisions.
Rich get richer, use wealth to create more wealth, protect interests.
Influence on Institutions: Wealthy segments influence government, media, schools, courts.
Create/promote reality justifying exploitation.
False Consciousness: Phenomenon where lower classes accept belief system that harms them.
Primary means to prevent protest/revolution.
Belief that wealth/success are products of individual hard work (American Dream) minimizes animosity toward rich.
Neo-Marxist Models of Stratification
Marx's model assumed ownership = control of labor.
Nature of capitalism changed: novel ideas (high-speed Internet, smartphone) can lead to wealth.
Corporations larger, more bureaucratic; ownership by stockholders often separated from management.
Ralf Dahrendorf (1959): Focuses less on ownership, more on differing levels of authority.
Authority: Possession of status/quality compelling others to obey (Starr, 1982).
Power to order/forbid behavior without force/persuasion/justification.
Rulers over ruled, teachers over students, employers over employees, parents over children.
Authority relationships not fixed, but subordinate dependence maintains it.
Relations between classes involve conflicts of interest.
Stratification not exclusively economic; comes from social relations between people with different degrees of power.
Erik Olin Wright (1976): Incorporates ownership and exercise of authority.
Capitalist and petite bourgeoisie classes similar to Marx.
Worker class divided into managers and workers.
Lawyers, plumbers, cooks can fall into any of four categories (capitalist, manager, worker, petite bourgeoisie depending on ownership/subordinates) (R. V. Robinson & Kelley, 1979).
Class conflict is multi-faceted (economic, political, administrative, social).
Contradictory Class Locations: Positions between two major classes, making identification difficult (e.g., middle managers/supervisors align with workers but also share owner interests).
Weber’s Model of Stratification
Max Weber (1921/1978): Agreed class (economic) is important, but added two dimensions: status (prestige) and power.
Socioeconomic Status (SES): Prestige, honor, respect, and power associated with different class positions.
More complex than just rich vs. poor battle.
Prestige: Reverence and admiration given to some people.
Influenced by wealth/income.
Derived from achieved (educational attainment, occupational status) and ascribed (race, ethnicity, gender, family pedigree) characteristics.
Wealth/prestige often hand-in-hand, but not always (e.g., million-dollar drug dealers lack respect; modest-salary professors command respect).
Power: Person's ability to affect decisions in ways that benefit them.
Usually related to wealth/prestige, but not necessarily.
Low-income individuals can collectively influence societal decisions (e.g., janitors' strike in San Francisco for higher wages).
Class Inequality in the United States
Ideological cornerstone: equal opportunities, individual shortcomings impede progress.
"Land of opportunity" folklore reinforces individual resolve.
Sociologists: stratification system determines life course in obvious and subtle ways.
Class and Everyday Life
Class standing determines host of life chances (access to higher education, better-paying jobs, healthier/safer/comfortable lives).
Indianapolis street repair: 11 days in wealthy areas (> ext{£}55,000 income) vs. 25 days in poor areas (< ext{£}25,000 income) (T. Evans & Nichols, 2009).
Healthcare Access: Limited means = fight for any healthcare; average wait for family physician is 29 days (N. D. Schwartz, 2017).
Wealthy: "boutique"/"concierge" care (\thousands to \80,000/year) with 24/7 physician access, same-day appointments, home exams, nurses with specialists, 3-day physicals.
Luxury penthouse hospital wings with gourmet menus, fine linens, butler (N. Bernstein, 2012).
Airline Travel: Coach passengers have reduced seat space/width since 1990s; Congress passed SEAT Act (2018) for minimum distance.
Affluent: spacious first-class with flatbed seats, more attendants, quicker response, express ticket lines.
Emirates Airlines: first-class suites with minibar, TV, bed, "dine on demand" (Rosato, 2004).
Reinforcement: Exclusive attention reinforces power/privilege; less well-off face frustrating barriers, use public facilities.
Long-term Advantages (High-Speed Internet):
Internet seen as universal, but high-speed access restratified digital access.
Video on demand, videoconferencing, online medicine, web classrooms require expensive high-speed connections.
81\% of \60,000-100,000 earners own smartphones vs. 47\% of \29,000- earners (Barone, 2014).
Half of high-income middle/high school students have high-speed home internet vs. 20\% middle-income, 3\% low-income (Kang, 2013).
Poor rural children do homework in buses/fast-food restaurants with Wi-Fi (Lohr, 2018).
Consequences: lower quality health, entertainment, career, education options for those with slower speeds (Crawford, 2011).
Lower-income students lag in online info finding/evaluation/discussion (Leu et al., 2015).
2020 COVID-19 e-learning transition exposed wireless stratification.
College Admissions: Merit-based decisions (grades, SAT) vs. class imbalances.
SAT Scores (Exhibit 10.1): Depend on parents' education/financial status.
Affluent high schools offer SAT prep courses; private coaches available to those who can pay (Bahney, 2019).
Access to opportunities pays off.
Wealthy Parents' Influence: Hire application consultants, donate to schools.
2019 scandal: rich parents bribed college coaches, paid for forged tests (\200,000 to \6.5 million).
Children often unaware of parents' actions.
Class Boundaries (Moral, Cultural, Lifestyle Distinctions):
Example: Communities forbid clotheslines ("shabby appearance"), ban old sofas on front porches (Wilson, NC) due to "low class" perception (Bragg, 1998).
"Low-Class" Coopted by Wealthy:
"Tiny house" phenomenon: living in minuscule homes, now fashionable "ostentatious minimalism" (Staley, 2018).
Torn jeans fad: people pay to buy ripped pants, stripping poverty association, making chic.
Class Distinctions
Fuzzy/subjective boundaries, yet distinct categories exist.
Upper class, middle class, working class, near-poor, poor (Exhibit 10.2).
The Upper Class
Small, exclusive group with highest status/prestige.
"New Rich": Wealth acquired through financial achievement (high-level executives, lawyers, doctors, scientists, entertainers, athletes).
Climbed social ladder.
"Old Wealth": Born into wealth from earlier generations.
Formidable pedigree provides insulation from society.
Perpetuated through exclusive clubs, resorts, organizations, social activities.
Structural Influence: Can structure social institutions to serve private interests (Domhoff, 1983, 1998; C. Wright Mills, 1956).
Control government, corporations, corporate stock, media, universities, national/international affairs councils.
Enjoy political/economic power unrivaled by other classes.
Educational System's Role: Key socializing role, perpetuates class structure (Chapter 5).
Upper-class children attend private schools, boarding schools, well-endowed private universities.
Curricula emphasize "essay-text literacy" (reading, evaluating, analyzing, synthesizing texts) for precise language, arguments (Finn, 2012).
Required attendance at functions, participation in esoteric sports (lacrosse, squash, crew), blazers/ties, "character-building" activities teach ruling-class lifestyle.
Boarding schools act like "total institutions" (Goffman, 1961): isolation, routines, traditions作为 agents of socialization.
Privileged status ensures key political/economic positions are filled by like-minded, cohesive group.
The Middle Class
Large segment of population.
Cultural Importance: Always important in defining U.S. culture; other classes measured against its values/norms.
"Universal class," supposedly represents everyone.
7 out of 10 Americans identify as middle class (Northwestern Mutual, 2018).
Coveted political constituency.
Difficulties: Often described as "under assault," "endangered," "fragile" (T. A. Sullivan et al., 2000).
Median household incomes rose steadily in 80s-90s, stagnant in 2000s, recently increased.
1980: \50,301; 2017: \61,372 (Fontenot et al., 2018).
Growth rate slower than prior years (Appelbaum & Pear, 2018).
Gains due to increased employment, not higher wages.
Middle-income workers' hours cut (full-time to part-time, lost overtime).
2019: 4.2 million workers cut hours (slack work, inability to find full-time); 40\% more involuntary part-time workers than in 2000 (Gillespie, 2018).
Financial Edge: Families with solid incomes live close to financial crisis.
85\% say harder to maintain standard of living than a decade ago (Blow, 2013).
Future Job Market: Limited due to companies producing more cost-efficiently with smaller workforce.
Equipment/software prices dropped 2.4\%%$, labor costs rose 6.7\%%$ since 2010. Cheaper to buy machines than hire (Clifford, 2013).
New business starts with fewer employees (from 7.7 to 4.7) (Rampell, 2012).
High-wage and low-wage jobs projected to grow; 62\% of declining occupations will be middle-income jobs (\ 14.18-23.59/hour) (Career Builder, 2018).
Employers increasingly use temporary workers (day laborers, contract assemblers, adjunct professors, temps) instead of full-time, benefit-eligible (Hyman, 2018).
Gig Economy: Trend toward temporary, contract work (Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, TaskRabbit).
Half of young workers participate (primary or supplemental).
Offers flexibility but lacks benefits (health insurance, paid leave, pensions, unemployment) and security.
Middle-Class Threadmill: Many feel threatened by descent into lower class (Blow, 2013).
Fewer Americans believe starting poor and getting rich is possible (Sorkin & Thee-Brenan, 2014).
Only half of Americans in their 30s earn more than parents did at same age (vs. 90\% in 1970s) (Reeves & Guyot, 2018).
The Working Class
Work in factory, clerical, low-paying sales jobs.
More susceptible to economic fluctuations than middle class.
Most have high school education, earn hourly wage.
Typically don't accumulate significant savings/assets.
Difficulty buying home or paying for child's education.
Constant threat of layoffs, factory closings, unemployment during bad times.
Disproportionate Suffering: Always from economic downturns.
More pessimistic about future than wealthier Americans.
Survey: Those making <\$30,000/year more likely to expect layoff/pay cut, have trouble paying medical care/rent (Pew Research Center, 2011).
More likely to say country headed wrong way, economy worsening.
Fear losing jobs more than any other class (Green, 2015).
Discontent fueled Trump's 2016 victory.
The Poor
Chronically unemployed or underemployed.
Can't pay bills, uncertain about next meal/job, suffer ill health, homeless.
"Money can't buy happiness" provides little comfort.
Sophie Tucker: "I've been rich and I've been poor—and believe me, rich is better."
What Poverty Means in the United States
Poverty: Lack of sufficient funds for adequate lifestyle.
Absolute Poverty: Minimal requirements for human survival.
Relative Poverty: Economic position compared with living standards of majority in a society.
Absolute poverty: no money for minimal food, clothing, shelter.
Relative poverty: difficult to gauge, reflects culturally defined aspirations/expectations.
Poor feel better if position doesn't compare too badly (D. Altman, 2003).
Example: \10,000/year income is abject poverty in U.S., but five times average in many developing countries.
Senator Rand Paul (2010): "The poor in our country are enormously better off than the rest of the world" (p. 16) - camouflages real suffering.
The Poverty Line: U.S. government uses absolute definition.
U.S. Poverty Line: Yearly income a family needs for basic needs.
Below the line = officially poor.
Based on pretax cash income only (excludes food stamps, Medicaid, public housing, noncash benefits).
Varies by family size, adjusted for inflation.
Doesn't account for regional cost of living differences.
2019: \25,926 for family of four (two parents, two children).
Based on Thrifty Food Plan (early 1960s): subsistence diet cost multiplied by three (average family spent 1/3 income on food).
Formula/definition unchanged for over half a century.
Critiques of Poverty Line: Many question accuracy.
1960s vs. today: food costs 13\% of budget now; housing/medical care increased.
Fewer dual-earner/single-parent families then, less childcare cost.
Today's families have more expenses, greater nonfood spending.
Poverty line set too low, underestimates hardships.
Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM): 2011 U.S. Census Bureau proposal.
Based on food, clothing, shelter, utility expenditures.
Considers medical spending, taxes, commuting, childcare.
Thresholds vary by geographic region, homeownership.
Example: \30,000+ for family of four renters in expensive areas (San Francisco, NY, Honolulu) vs. \25,000 in rural areas (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017).
SPM would increase poor population by 1-2 million (Bridges & Gesumaria, 2015).
Beyond Income (Assets): Exclusive focus on income underestimates long-term effects.
Lack of assets (savings, home equity) means no economic security, inability to plan, dream, pass on opportunities (Block et al., 2013; Shapiro, 2008).
Consequences of Low Poverty Line: Failure to recognize problems of near-poor.
Needy family slightly above line may not qualify for public assistance (housing, Head Start, Medicaid, TANF).
Standard of living may be worse than families slightly below line who qualify.
The Near-Poor
U.S. Census Bureau defines near-poor (working poor): earnings between 100\% and 125\% of poverty line (14 million people) (Fontenot et al., 2018).
Not officially poor but face difficulties.
May be eligible for some government assistance (e.g., Affordable Care Act extends Medicaid to 38\% above poverty line).
Vulnerability: Manage unless unexpected event (sickness, injury, appliance breakdown, layoff) strikes, leading to financial crisis.
40\% of Americans couldn't pay \400 emergency expense or would have to sell/borrow (Federal Reserve Board, 2018).
Juggling Scarce Resources:
69\% of food bank clients choose between utilities and food ("heat or eat dilemma") (Feeding America, 2014).
Families reduce food spending/caloric intake by 10\% in cold months to pay fuel bills (Bhattacharya et al., 2003).
Choices: doctor trip vs. food; dental work vs. bills; car repair vs. electricity bill.
Skyrocketing gas prices force cuts in food purchases.
Institutional Responses (Schools & Lunch Debt): Often unsympathetic.
45\% of school districts engage in "lunch shaming" to compel parents to pay (Hauser, 2019).
Withholding hot meals (or throwing away food), providing cold sandwiches to students with overdue accounts.
Minnesota high school prevented students with debt from graduating (Wolf, 2019).
Lawmakers propose federal ban on lunch shaming.
The Poverty Rate
Poverty Rate: Percentage of residents whose income falls below official poverty line.
U.S. government tracks success of poverty reduction efforts.
Exhibit 10.3 shows pre-pandemic fluctuations.
2017: 12.3\% (39.6 million Americans), up from 11.3\% (2000), down from 15\% (2012).
Strong economy lifted millions from poverty (P. Cohen, 2016).
Inch above line doesn't guarantee comfort; adding near-poor = >54 million (17%) financially struggling (Fontenot et al., 2018).
**Disparities in Poverty Rate:
2017: Non-Hispanic Whites (8.7\%%$), Asian Americans (10.0\%%$), Blacks (21.2\%%$), Latino/as (18.3\%%$).
Higher in South (13.6\%%$) than West (11.8\%%$), Midwest (11.4\%%$), Northeast (11.4\%%$).
Rural areas (14.8\%%$) > metropolitan areas (11.9\%%$); highest in inner cities (15.6\%%$).
People with disabilities nearly 3 times as likely to be poor.
Changes Over Time:
Before Social Security (1935), many elderly were destitute.
1970: 25\% of over-65 were poor; now only 9.2\% (Fontenot et al., 2018) (Exhibit 10.4).
Children's fortunes reversed: 12.8 million (17.5%) of under-18 children live in official poverty.
Disproportionate share of poor.
Black children (29\%%$), Latinx children (25\%%$) vs. non-Hispanic white children (15\%%$), Asian children (11\%%$).
U.S. Child Poverty Rate: One of highest among industrialized nations (17.5\%%$) vs. OECD average (13.4\%%$), Scandinavian countries (3-10\%%$) (OECD, 2014, 2018).
Factors Explaining Child Poverty:
Family structure: Single-mother families (25.7\%%$) > single-father (12.4\%%$) > married-couple (4.9\%%$) (Fontenot et al., 2018).
Government spending: Increased dramatically for elderly (Medicare, Social Security) but dropped for families/children (cash assistance, health care, nutrition) (Mishel et al., 2013; Davey, 2011; Steuerle, 2007).
Young families with children are six times as likely to be poor as elderly families (Tavernise, 2011).
Strong correlation worldwide between social program spending and child poverty rates.
The Consequences of Poverty
Poverty is a never-ending burden primarily for the least equipped.
Influences physical and intellectual well-being.
Poverty and Health
Increased risk of various ailments with each step down income ladder (headaches, varicose veins, respiratory infection, hypertension, stress-related illness, low-birth-weight babies, stroke, diabetes, heart disease) (Krugman, 2008; Pérez-Pena, 2003; Shweder, 1997).
Troubling increase in tropical parasitic diseases (Dengue fever, typhus) in poor U.S. South/Southwest (poor drainage, plumbing, sanitation, garbage disposal) (Hotez, 2012).
Children: increased rates of chronic illness, injury, ear disease, asthma, physical inactivity as SES decreases (Chen et al., 2002).
Poor rural children more exposed to unsafe drinking water (Allaire et al., 2017).
Poverty affects child's health even before birth (poor prenatal care, exposure to environmental toxins for pregnant women) (Furstenberg, 2011).
Risk of death increases steadily as income decreases, even when controlling for other factors (Chetty et al., 2016).
Life expectancy gap between top/bottom 10\% income earners widened from 6 to 14 years for men (1920 vs. 1950 birth cohorts), and 4.7 to 13 years for women (Tavernise, 2016).
Health status of poor in U.S. so bad that volunteer medical groups for developing countries set up mobile facilities in poor rural U.S. areas (Towell, 2007).
Access to Medical Care: People without means lack effective care.
2017: 8.8\% of U.S. population uninsured (28.5 million Americans) (Berchick et al., 2018).
Substantial decrease from 13.3\% (2013) due to Affordable Care Act, but still significant.
Uninsured face 40\% increased risk of dying (45,000 deaths annually) (Wilper et al., 2009).
Massachusetts mandatory health care (2006) led to significant drop in death rate, steepest in poor/uninsured counties (Sommers et al., 2014).
Food Insecurity: 12\% of American households are food insecure (15 million households) (Coleman-Jensen et al., 2018).
Strategies: less varied diets, food assistance, emergency food from pantries.
Poverty and Education
Educational deck stacked against poor people.
Education Trust report: Highest-poverty school districts receive 10\% (\1,200) less state/local funding per student than lowest-poverty districts (Ushomirsky & Williams, 2015).
1,000-student high school = \1.2 million missing resources.
Teachers in poor districts less experienced, paid less (LaCoste-Caputo, 2007).
Consequences: lower academic performance (4 grades below wealthiest districts), lack of prep for interracial world (Rich et al., 2016).
College Access: Most poor children can't afford college.
More likely to attend community colleges/state universities (less prestige/quality).
Universities unsuccessful in recruiting/retaining poor students (Pérez-Pefia, 2013).
38 elite colleges: more students from top 1\% income than entire bottom 60\%%$.
Top 1\% children 77 times more likely to attend Ivy League than bottom 25\%% (Chetty et al., 2017).
Poor students sometimes attend with need-based scholarships, but schools lack systematic plans for recruitment/admission.
College Success: Poor students don't fare as well.
Enrollment gap shrunk, graduation gap widened.
Study: 11.8\% low-wealth families earned bachelor's vs. 32.5\% middle-wealth, 60.0\% wealthy (Pfeffer, 2018).
College degree associated with future success (bachelor's earn twice high school diploma).
Out on the Streets
Most visible consequence of poverty: homelessness.
Estimates: >552,000 homeless on any given night (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2018).
67\% single adults, 33\% families, 7\% unaccompanied youth/children.
Causes (Institutional): Stagnating wages, welfare program changes, gentrification, lack of affordable housing.
3/4 of homeless families cite lack of affordable housing (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2014).
Rising wealth drives up housing prices, poor can't afford (Shipler, 2004).
"Affordable Housing": Costs no more than 30\% of family's income (federal definition).
Poorest fifth spend 78\% of wages on housing.
Wealthiest fifth spend 19\% (Swartz, 2007).
2019 Nationwide median housing wage: \22.96/hour (>\45,000 annual) for modest two-bedroom.
Over 3 times federal minimum wage (\7.25/hour); \5+ over average renter wage (\17.57/hour).
Nowhere does minimum wage job provide enough for adequate housing; some states need 3-4 minimum wage jobs (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2019b).
Why Poverty Persists
Even in prosperous U.S., sizable poor population.
Reasons: enduring imbalances in income/wealth, poverty's structural role, dominant cultural beliefs/attitudes.
Enduring Disparities in Income and Wealth
Income Distribution (Exhibit 10.5):
Top 5\% households annual income: \237,034.
Bottom 20\% households annual income: \25,000 (ProQuest Statistical Abstract, 2019).
Income gap growing steadily for decades.
Most affluent 20\% account for >half of all income (up from 43\% in 1965) (Fontenot et al., 2018; Russell Sage Foundation, 2016).
Past four decades: richest 1\% income grew 228\%%$; bottom 20\% grew 26\%% (Congressional Budget Office, 2018).
U.S. Income Disparity: Greatest among industrialized nations (Mather & Jarosz, 2014).
Wealthiest fifth earn >9 times more than poorest fifth (ProQuest Statistical Abstract, 2019).
France: 7 times more; Japan: 4 times more (Phillips, 2002).
Worse in some developing countries (e.g., Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines: richest 10\% earn >75\% of country's income) (Kulikowski, 2014).
Wealth Inequalities: More striking than income.
Lifetime high earnings/inheritance creates lasting advantage in property, durable goods, financial assets.
Wealthiest 1\% of U.S. households control 36\% of country's wealth; bottom 90\% control 23\%% (Saez & Zucman, 2016).
Three wealthiest Americans (Gates, Bezos, Buffett) own more than bottom half of entire population (Inequality.org, 2019).
1989-2013: richest 1\% with children saw wealth grow 156\%%$; poorest 50\% saw wealth decrease 260\%% (Gibson-Davis & Percheski, 2018).
Conclusion: Magnitude of rich-poor gap challenges notion of equal valuation.
Growing disparities in income/wealth widen gap in quality of life/opportunity.
The Social “Benefits” of Poverty
Structural-Functionalist Assertion: Stratification ensures qualified people fill important positions.
Social conditions persist if functional to society (for whom?).
Herbert Gans (1971, 1996): In a free-market/competitive society, poverty plays a necessary institutional role, benefiting other classes.
Critique: Easily dismissed as cold/heartless, but compelling.
Functions of Poverty:
Ready Pool of Low-Wage Laborers: Do "dirty work."
Little choice for poor people.
Competition for scarce jobs allows low wages.
Example: Japanese nuclear plant cleanup targeted poor/unskilled workers (Tabuchi, 2014).
Populates All-Volunteer Military: Promise of stable employment, insurance, living wage, schooling, marketable skills for those with limited opportunities.
Disproportionately draws from lower SES (Asoni & Sanandaji, 2013; Kelty et al., 2010; Kriner & Shen, 2010).
Only 17\% of recruits from neighborhoods with >\$80,000 income (Reynolds & Shendruk, 2018).
Iraq/Afghanistan casualties overwhelmingly from modest means/rural counties (Cushing & Bishop, 2005; Golway, 2004).
2006: 34\% of U.S. military killed in Iraq from poorest quarter, 17\% from richest quarter ("Price Paid," 2006).
Supports Occupations Serving or Protecting from Poor: Police, welfare workers, social workers, lawyers, pawnshop owners.
Drug dealers, loan sharks depend on large poor population.
Purchases Otherwise Unused Goods/Services: Secondhand appliances, day-old food, deteriorated housing/cars, incompetent medical/legal care.
Example: Coca-Cola employees sold expired Coke to poor neighborhoods (Winter, 2002).
Merchandise had little value outside poverty market.
Conclusion: Poverty persists if it helps others avoid unpleasant tasks/enjoy comfortable lifestyles.
Elimination requires alternative ways of fulfilling these functions, which would come at a cost to the non-poor.
The Ideology of Competitive Individualism
Poverty persists due to cultural beliefs/values supporting economic status quo.
Competitive Individualism: Belief that successful people work hard, strive, compete well; fully responsible for own economic fates (Feagin, 1975; M. Lewis, 1978; Neubeck, 1986).
Rags-to-riches stories reinforce idea that anyone can succeed with desire/effort.
Wealthy perceived as deserving.
Dark Side: Justifies unequal rewards and poverty.
If successful deserve it, unsuccessful also deserve their plight (lack of hard work/desire).
Need to believe good things happen to good people, bad things to bad people (Huber & Form, 1973; Lerner, 1970).
Justifies inequality by emphasizing equal chances.
Political Leanings: Depth of beliefs vary by political leaning.
Conservatives: poverty due to lack of effort.
Liberals: poverty due to circumstances beyond control (Pew Research Center, 2014b).
Socioeconomic status influence: lower income less likely to emphasize competitive individualism, cite "wealthy family"/"right people."
Upper-class more likely to cite "natural ability," "good education," "hard work." (J. Scott & Leonhardt, 2005).
Critique: Ignores unfairness of competition itself; assumes equal opportunities for high-level trades/professions.
"Culture of Poverty" Argument: Poor people possess beliefs, norms, values, goals different from society, perpetuating poverty.
Solution: changing "mind-set," not just giving money.
Most Americans (conservatives) feel government aid harms more than helps (Pew Research Center, 2014b).
Paul Ryan (2012): safety net shouldn't be "hammock" leading to dependency.
Trump administration (2018): millions overly reliant on government, less self-sufficient.
Welfare System Changes: Reflects belief that changing lifestyles will reduce poverty.
Reduction in cash payouts (from >5 million families in 1994 to <1 million in 2018) due to eligibility limitations of 1996 system (work requirement after 2 years, 5-year lifetime limit).
Financial help from public assistance is not comfortable (below 60\% of poverty line in every state; \346/month for family of three in many) (Burnside & Floyd, 2019).
Underlying Idea: Hard work leads to moral/financial rewards of self-reliance, curing poverty/welfare dependence.
Protects nonpoor, larger social structure, economic system, while blaming poor.
Global Development and Inequality
Understanding life in one society requires understanding its global context.
Globalization may have connected people but not equally benefited all.
Nations have differing power to ensure interests met.
Developed and less developed countries experience serious wealth inequalities with immediate consequences.
The Global Economic Gap
Economic gap between richer and poorer countries.
Average per capita yearly income: \43,409 in developed countries vs. \9,840 in less developed (Population Reference Bureau, 2018).
Wealth of world's billionaires increased by \2.5 billion/day; poorest half humanity saw wealth decline 11\%% (Oxfam, 2019).
0.13\% of world population controls 25\% of financial assets.
2.2 billion people in less developed countries live on <\$2/day (World Hunger Education Service, 2018).
Wealthiest 20\% of world account for 77\% of private consumption; poorest fifth, only 1.5\%% (Shah, 2013a).
12\% of world population (developed countries) uses 85\% of water.
Global Financial Organizations
Influence economic/social policies of developing countries.
World Bank: Funds reconstruction/development, spends \35 billion annually improving lives (World Bank, 2012).
International Monetary Fund (IMF): Fosters economic growth, monetary cooperation.
World Trade Organization (WTO): Oversees rules of trade.
Successes: World Bank helped cut extreme poverty from 43\% (1990) to 21\% (2010) (Lowrey, 2013a).
Harmful Aspects: Can do more harm than good.
WTO can impose fines/sanctions on debtor countries.
Forced Japan to accept more pesticide residue, prevented Guatemala from outlawing baby food advertising, eliminated asbestos bans/car emission standards (Parenti, 2006).
Aid recipients sometimes more impoverished.
Structural Adjustments: Conditions attached to aid (Western-style, free-market approach).
Reducing government spending, lifting import/export restrictions, privatizing public services, removing price controls, increasing interest rates, eliminating food subsidies, devaluing currency (Shah, 2013b).
Example: requiring cut social spending, increased exports, balanced budgets.
Double-edged Sword: Needed financial assistance but can lead to dependence, less ability to improve conditions for citizens.
Multinational Corporations
Growth complicates global stratification.
Multinational Corporations: Go outside borders for financial interests (invest abroad, establish factories).
U.S.-based multinationals total assets: >\$40 trillion (ProQuest Statistical Abstract, 2019).
Cost of Success: Record earnings, but fewer American workers.
U.S. lost 5 million manufacturing jobs since 2000 (Long, 2016).
2009-2011: 35 largest U.S. multinationals added 446,000 jobs, but 3/4 went overseas (Thurn, 2012).
Evasion of Governance: Ability to shift operations makes it easy to evade single country's governance.
Decisions reflect corporate goals, not necessarily well-being of a particular country.
Largest multinationals have more wealth than many entire countries.
Structural-Functionalist View: Benefits everyone.
Host country: new jobs, higher standard of living.
Corporation: increased profits.
Consumers at home: lower prices.
Planet: firms form alliances, pressure peaceful dispute settlement.
Conflict Perspective: Perpetuates/worsens global stratification.
Criticism: Exploiting Workers/Communities:
Foreign employees work under worse conditions/wages than in wealthier countries (e.g., Cambodia garment workers \126$/month; Bangladesh \91$/month) (Center for American Progress, 2013).
Lax environmental/occupational safety regulations in other countries leads to sicker workers, more pollution.
1997 presidential task force created code of conduct for U.S. apparel factories abroad on wages, conditions, child labor.
Exploitation of Host Countries: Money rarely reinvested in host country.
85\% of exported product profit goes to multinationals, bankers, traders, distributors (Braun, 1997).
Example: Brazil, major agricultural exporter; number of undernourished Brazilians grew from 1/3 to 2/3 (Braun, 1997).
Damage to Local Economies: Multinational supermarket chains revolutionize food distribution (lower prices, variety, convenience), but get produce from large conglomerates.
Destroys livelihoods of small local farmers, widens rich-poor gap in developing countries.
Nuance: Not all multinationals ignore worker well-being; relocation can be response to global economic pressures/consumer demands for inexpensive products.
But corporate decisions can drive job loss, environmental/health problems, reinforce global inequality.
Conclusion: Increasingly difficult to consider oneself a member of single society unaffected by others.
All are members of own society AND world community.
Conclusion (Chapter 10)
Social stratification and inequality affect individual freedom/choices.
Certain groups have greater capacity to control lives.
Position in stratification determines life chances (financial stability, housing, education, healthcare, nutrition, comfort).
Unequal distribution of economic resources creates seemingly indestructible haves/have-nots.
Profound imbalances in wealth, power, prestige in U.S. are ironic given cultural commitment to equality/justice.
U.S. system (like most) promotes/protects interests of those at top.
Authority, wealth, influence grant rights unknown to majority.
Shocking that comfortable life is beyond reach of tens of millions in wealthy U.S.
Media images of wealth remind poor/working-class of outsider status.
Disasters reinforce deadly consequences of marginal status.
Poverty viewed as unchangeable, faceless problem.
But poverty is people: soup kitchen lines, rat-infested housing, sidewalk sleepers, struggling for basics, quest for American Dream.
Institutional Causes of Poverty: Personality/cultural traits associated with poverty (low ambition, rejection of work ethic, inability to plan) are consequences, not causes.
As long as structural obstacles (stable employment, adequate wages, decent education) exist, so will hopelessness of poverty.
Chapter Highlights (Chapter 10)
Stratification: ranking of groups (race, gender, social class) perpetuating unequal rewards/life chances.
Social class: primary means of stratification in many societies (U.S.). Combination of income, wealth, occupational prestige, education. More than economic position; affects every facet of life.
Structural-functionalist explanation: higher rewards for important positions ensure qualified individuals. Conflict theory: stratification reflects unequal power distribution, source of conflict.
Official U.S. poverty line may be too low, underestimating financial suffering.
Poverty persists because it serves economic and social functions. Ideology of competitive individualism blames poor for suffering. Institutional support from unequal wealth/income distribution.
Stratification exists within societies and between societies globally. Wealthy nations control more financial resources.
Key Terms (from Chapter 10)
Absolute poverty: Inability to afford minimal requirements for reasonably healthy existence.
Authority: Possession of status/quality compelling others to obey directives.
Caste system: Stratification system based on heredity, little movement across strata.
Competitive individualism: Cultural belief that success is from hard work/ability; failure from lack of effort/traits.
Contradictory class locations: Positions between two major classes (e.g., middle managers), making identification difficult.
Estate system (feudal system): Stratification system where high-status groups own land, power noble birth.
False consciousness: Lower classes accept belief system that harms them; powerful classes prevent protest.
Means of production: Land, commercial enterprises, factories, wealth forming economic basis of class societies.
Middle class: Intermediate level of wealth, income, prestige (managers, professionals, small business owners).
Near-poor: Earnings 100-125\% of poverty line (see also working poor).
Poor: Work for minimum wage or chronically unemployed.
Poverty line: Yearly income a family requires for basic needs.
Poverty rate: Percentage of people whose income falls below poverty line.
Power: Ability to affect decisions in ways that benefit or protect interests.
Prestige: Respect and honor given to some people in society.
Relative poverty: Individuals' economic position compared with majority's living standards.
Slavery: Economic form of inequality where some people are property of others.
Social class: Group of people sharing similar economic position (wealth, income).
Social mobility: Movement of people or groups from one class to another.
Socioeconomic status: Prestige, honor, respect, and power associated with class positions.
Stratification: Ranking system for groups of people perpetuating unequal rewards/life chances.
Structural adjustments: Conditions global financial organizations attach to development aid.
Upper class: High income/prestige, own vast property/wealth (corporate owners, financiers, celebrities, politicians, prestigious families).
Working class: Low wealth, income, prestige (factory workers, office workers, clerks, manual laborers).
Working poor: Employed but do not earn enough to survive (see also near-poor).
Chapter 11: The Architecture of Inequality
Overview of Race and Ethnicity in the United States
Barack Obama's Election (2008): Historic, many speculated it marked end of racial division or a "postracial" society.
Two-thirds of African Americans believed Martin Luther King's dream fulfilled (CNN.com, 2009).
College-age Blacks as optimistic as Whites about economic futures (Cose, 2011).
Progress Made by People of Color:
College attendance for African Americans/Latino/as rose from 31\% / 22\% (2000) to 36\% (2017) (NCES, 2018a).
Proportion of ethnoracial minority families in middle/upper class grew.
African Americans born in 2014 expected to live 6-9 years longer than those born in 1980. Life expectancy gap with Whites decreased from 7 to 3.4 years (CDC, 2016b).
Black artists (Beyoncé, Drake, Nicki Minaj) achieved crossover success.
Serena Williams (black) is highly successful in tennis.
3 out of 10 MLB players are Latinx.
NBA: 33\% head coaches, 43\% assistant coaches are people of color (Lapchick, 2019).
Continuing Challenges: Despite progress, some groups (African Americans, Latino/as, Native Americans) remain poorest/most disadvantaged.
Average annual income substantially lower than Whites and Asian Americans.
Working-class black households earn 55\% of white working-class households (same as 1967) (Campos, 2017).
Poverty rate for Blacks/Latino/as >2 times that of non-Hispanic Whites (K. Fontenot et al., 2018).
Homeownership rate for Blacks/Latino/as <<50\%% vs. 73\%% for Whites (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019).
African Americans have highest rates of infant mortality, most cancers, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and death from treatable illnesses, violence, drug/alcohol-induced causes (ASA, 2005; CDC, 2016b; ProQuest Statistical Abstract, 2019).
Estimated 1.5 million fewer black men (25-54) in society due to imprisonment, homicide, early death (Wolfers et al., 2015).
Rise of Far-Right Extremism/White Nationalism: More public and violent.
Most Americans believe open expression of racist views increased since 2016 election (J. M. Horowitz et al., 2019).
Post-2016: significant increase in racial slurs, swastikas, Nazi salutes, confederate flags in schools (SPLC, 2016).
Anti-Semitic crimes up >1/3 in 2016 (ADL); anti-Muslim attacks up 50\%% (CAIR) (Coll, 2017).
FBI: hate crimes rose 17\%% (2016-2017) (Barrett, 2018).
White nationalism moving into political mainstream (Reitman, 2018).
Recent Incidents Illustrating Persistent Racism:
Charleston church shooting (2015): white supremacist killed nine, shouted racial epithets. Six black churches burned later.
Portland commuter train (2017): man shouted racial/ethnic slurs at women, stabbed three interveners (two killed) (Wang, 2017a).
Kansas bar (2017): white man shot two Indian immigrants after slurs, questioning immigration status (Stevens, 2017).
San Francisco construction workers (2018): African Americans targeted by co-workers with racial slurs, death threats, nooses.
Pittsburgh synagogue shooting (2018): man shouting anti-Semitic slurs murdered 11.
Police officers removed from duties in eight U.S. cities for bigoted social media posts (M. Smith, 2019).
Dichotomy of U.S. Reality: Which is the real U.S.? Overcoming racial conflict or plagued by inequality/prejudice/hatred?
Focus of Chapter: Race and ethnicity as important determinants of social inequality, complementing class (Chapter 10) and gender (subsequent chapters).
These components of identity are interrelated and combine to determine social position.
Race and Ethnicity: More Than Just Biology
Traditional View of Race: Category of individuals labeled/treated similarly due to common physical traits (skin color, skeletal structure, hair, eyes, nose, head) (Desmond & Emirbayer, 2009).
Assumes shared behavioral, psychological, personality traits linked to physical similarities.
Sociological View of Ethnicity: Nonbiological traits (shared culture, history, language, behavior patterns, beliefs) providing common identity.
Ethnicity is learned; race portrayed as inherited, permanent biological characteristic.
Race is Not Straightforward:
"White" people can have darker skin/curlier hair than some "black" people.
Some groups defy neat categorization (e.g., Australian Aborigines with black skin and blond wavy hair; !Kung of Kalahari with black skin and epicanthic eye folds).
No Universal Racial Categories:
Brazilians: four primary races (branco, préto, amarelo, pardo), dozens of precise terms based on minute differences (skin color, hair, facial features).
South Africa: four legal races (black, white, colored, Indian).
England/Ireland: "black" refers to all non-white people (e.g., Irish residents called Romanians/Nigerians "all black") (Lyall, 2000).
African Americans called "obruni" (white foreigner) in Ghana (Holliday, 2014).
Fluidity of Race: Race concepts and identification can reflect economic standing, not just skin color.
Brazilian expressions: "Money whitens," "A rich Negro is a white man, and a poor white man is a Negro" (Marger, 1994).
Educated non-white parents more likely to classify children as white (Schwartzman, 2007).
Complicated Biological Reality: Humans consistently migrated and interbred.
Genetic study of U.S. Americans: European genes account for ~1/4 DNA of African Americans; Latino/as ~65\% European (Bryc et al., 2015).
>6 million European Americans have some African ancestry.
No gene is 100\% of one form in one race and 100\% of another form in another race (P. Brown, 1998).
"There is only one human race" (A. Goodman & Darnovsky, 2018).
Technology and Race (DNA Testing):
Companies (23andMe, Ancestry.com) provide ancestry data, revealing past racial mixing (e.g., white supremacist discovered African DNA) (Bahrampour, 2018).
Race and Biology Link (Diseases): Some diseases not evenly distributed.
Sickle cell anemia: 1 in 365 African American births vs. 1 in 16,300 Latinx births (CDC, 2016c).
Hemochromatosis: affects Whites of Northern European descent much more frequently than people of color.
No disease found exclusively in one racial group.
Unclear if differences are solely biological or due to life experiences, historical/geographical/environmental location.
Sociological View: Race as Symbolic Category: More meaningful as symbolic than biological/genetic (Desmond & Emirbayer, 2009; Gans, 2005; Yudell et al., 2016).
Society selects characteristics to distinguish groups, shaping social rankings, perceptions, experiences, resource access.
Less to do with innate physical differences than with culturally/historically significant definitions (ASA, 2002).
Example: Jews, Irish, Italians, some Germans once "inferior races," became "white" with economic/political power (Bronner, 1998).
More U.S. adults shed/take on new ethnic identities (Hitt, 2005).
Historical Changes in U.S. Census Categories (S. M. Lee, 1993): Illustrate shifting conceptions of race.
1790: Free White Males/Females, All Other Free Persons, Slaves.
1870: White, Colored (Black), Mulatto, Chinese, Indian.
1890: Reflects concern about race mixing (Mulatto, Quadroon, Octoroon (varying black blood fractions)).
1900: Mulatto, Quadroon, Octoroon dropped; any "black blood" = "black."
1910, 1920$: Mulatto returned, then gone in 1930.
1930-2000: Classifications appeared/disappeared (Hindu, Eskimo, Hawaiian, Mexican); others remained (Filipino, Korean, Hawaiian).
2020: Wide array of racial categories (White, Black, American Indian, Asian Indian, Chinese, etc.).
Latinx/Hispanic on Census: Not a race, but "Hispanic origin" as an ethnicity.
"Hispanic origins are not races" explicitly stated for 2020.
Many Latino/as don't identify with current categories; 87\% Cuban-born, 53\% Mexican-born identify as white (Roberts, 2010).
Majority of Dominican Republic/El Salvador born refuse racial categories.
2010, many Latino/as used "American Indian" (tripled) (Decker, 2011).
2012: U.S. Census Bureau considered combined "race or origin" question including "Hispanic, Latinx, or Spanish Origin" for 2020 but ultimately used 2010 categories (Haub, 2012; A. E. Fontenot, 2018).
Conclusion: Race is Socially Constructed: Not natural biological groupings. Created, inhabited, transformed, applied, destroyed by people/institutions (Omi & Winant, 1992; Saperstein et al., 2013).
Tied together by shared experience of identifying/being identified as members of that group (Piper, 1992).
Self-Definition vs. Societal Limits: In theory, can be what we want. But choices limited, challenged by others.
Rachel Dolezal (2015): Self-identified black woman, NAACP president, African American Studies instructor, revealed to be white (K. Johnson et al., 2015).
Professed empathy, attended historically black college, married black man, art reflected black experience, curled hair, darkened skin.
Challenged boundaries of self-identification; some called her "transracial" (Morris, 2015), others accused of "playing black" (Pérez-Pefia, 2015).
"Blacks have always had a harder time claiming whiteness" (T. W. Harris, 2015).
Multiracial Identity: Difficult for those with parents of different races.
U.S. views race in mutually exclusive categories.
Dramatic growth of multiracial children (14\% of infants, 3x in 1980) challenges traditional views (Livingston, 2017).
60\% of multiracial adults proud, tolerant of other cultures; only 4\% felt disadvantage (Pew Research Center, 2015b).
Only 40\% of mixed-race identify as multiracial; rest identify with one race (looks, upbringing).
One in five felt pressure to identify as single race.
Histories of Oppression and Inequality
U.S. history includes conquest, discrimination, exclusion, not just freedom/justice/equality.
Racial/ethnic inequalities: slavery, fraud, economic/educational/political deprivation, civil rights protests, hate crimes.
Constricted access to housing, healthcare, stable family life, decent living.
European Immigrants: Object of hatred/discrimination (Germans, Irish, Italians, Poles, Jews, Greeks).
Benjamin Franklin feared "swarms of swarthy Germans" (Roberts, 2008).
"No Irish need apply" in 19th century newspapers.
Jews refused admission to many U.S. universities until mid-20th century.
National Origins Act of 1924 restricted Southern European immigration until 1960s.
Overcame obstacles due to shared skin color with dominant white Protestants.
More recently, immigrants from Asia, Latin America, Middle East target of hostility.
People of Color: Racial equality always elusive.
Native Americans
History of massacres, land takeover, confinement on reservations, governmental exploitation.
18th/19th century: white settlers pushed Native Americans off desirable land.
"Savages" ideology justified conquest.
Citizenship: Excluded from citizenship despite broad wording of 14th Amendment.
1884 Supreme Court: owed allegiance to tribe, not automatically citizens.
Not all considered U.S. citizens until 1940 (Haney Lopez, 1996).
Endurance and Financial Promotion: Remarkable ability to endure, sometimes shrewdly promote financial interests.
Pacific Northwest tribes protected fishing rights (F. G. Cohen, 1986).
Casinos/resorts made some tribes wealthy (e.g., Connecticut Sun baseball on Mohegan land).
Organizations advancing financial concerns in gas, oil, coal on Indian land (Snipp, 1986).
Intense struggles with multinationals over these reserves continue.
Latino/as
Diverse history.
Cuban Immigrants (1960s): Enthusiastic welcome, wealthy business owners set up lucrative companies (South Florida).
Today: most successful Latinx group economically/educationally.
Mexican Americans: Extreme resentment/oppression.
U.S. expansion into Southwest, white Americans moved into Mexican-inhabited areas.
1846-1848 war: Mexico relinquished half its territory to U.S.
In theory: Mexicans on U.S. side given rights; in practice: property rights violated, lost control of industries.
Exploitation coincided with economic system needing cheap labor (mining, large-scale agriculture) (Farley, 1982).
Workers lived in primitive shacks, performed seasonal labor.
Current Status: Mixed.
Account for >40\% of U.S. population growth in last 30 years; increasing proportion in future (Exhibit 11.1).
2010: 6 of 15 most common U.S. surnames Hispanic origin (U.S. Census Bureau, 2016a).
By 2060: 3 out of 10 U.S. children will be Latinx (Vespa et al., 2018).
More numbers = greater influence, political clout.
Economic/Educational Situation: Less rosy.
Average annual income substantially lower (ProQuest Statistical Abstract, 2019).
More likely to drop out of school, less likely to go to college.
Low education + geographic concentration in distressed areas = vulnerable to downsizing/unemployment (Mather & Jacobsen, 2010).
If inequality persists, low-income Latinx youth to increase from 11 million to 16 million by 2050 (Mather, 2016).
African Americans
Unique experience due to direct/indirect effects of slavery.
1619-1865: millions endured forced servitude.
Slave owners controlled every aspect: marriage decisions, dissolution.
Wedding vows: "until distance do us part" for "until death"/"white man" (Hunter, 2011).
Economic value of children motivated keeping marriages intact, but economic troubles led to separation.
Slavery Beyond the South: Northerners benefited.
18th/early 19th centuries: insurance companies sold life insurance for slaves.
Northern banks (JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo) used slaves as collateral (Swarns, 2016).
Colleges (Harvard, UMD, UPenn) used slave corpses as cadavers (\12 for adult, \15 for mother/infant) (Berry, 2018).
Post-Emancipation Mistreatment: Pervasive.
Freed Blacks arrested on trumped-up charges (selling produce after dark, talking loudly).
Vagrancy criminalized: fined/jailed if no proof of employment.
Thousands "leased" to officials/companies (U.S. Steel) for forced labor (worse than slavery) (Blackmon, 2009; Kristof, 2014).
Jim Crow Laws (1896-mid-20th century): Established rigid racial lines.
Supreme Court ruled segregation constitutional.
Unequal access to public transportation, schools, hotels, theaters, restaurants, etc.
The Negro Motorist Green Book: Guide for Blacks for safe travel, avoiding harassment/attack, identified "sundown towns" (McGee, 2010; Staples, 2019).
Present-Day Legacy: Quality of life for most African Americans below Whites.
U.S. counties with higher slave portions in 1860 still have higher inequality ("persistent effect of slavery") (Bertocchi & Dimico, 2010).
Increased attention to reparations for descendants of slaves.
**Economic Disparities:
Median annual income for black households: \40,258 vs. \68,145 for non-Hispanic white households (K. Fontenot et al., 2018).
Median net worth of white households 13 times higher than black (widened since $$2