SOC 101_Flash Cards

Black Mafia

Francis A.J. Ianni (1975) - Code of Rules: governing black and Hispanic networks; a control mechanism that regulates and regularizes relationships within the network, and between the network and the outside world. It's a control system (as in every society, there are specific rules). - Loyalty = most important. Secret [illegal] societies wouldn't survive without stressing the importance of loyalty to the organization. - Honor = uphold the organization's name, respect yourself, your family and your family. Don't bring disgrace on the family. - Secrecy = there is a necessity to keep their activities to some degree hidden. - Honesty = if you lie, you may die. - Consent to be governed, 'governed' synonymous with 'executed' in some cases. - Don't be a coward, act like a man. - What do rules do? Keeps network functioning Defines relationships within network - Establishes who is "in" and who is "out" (In groups and out groups (Merton?) - Code of American Prisoners: In the prisons, it is important that one is shrewd and has a large capacity to keep calm, no matter what the instance. Be smart. - In the Italian-Sicilian Mafia, it is important to uphold a sense of respect for the community and be a stand up guy, always putting your family (literally) first. - In Black and Hispanic gangs/mafia/smaller networks, different rules are emphasized: don't tell the police anything - Differences in leadership roles: Youthful criminal partnership = more muddled leadership Entrepreneurial network = whoever pays salary calls the shots - Vertical patterns of organization = consumer groups on the bottom (addicts, buyers of stolen goods) to the dealers, bankers, and suppliers at the top. - Horizontal patterns of organization = among crime activists at similar organizational levels. Often known as "pushers" and seldom know the top dog. - There is a lack of organizational development in black and Puerto Rican criminal structures. Why? - Because there is a newness of blacks and PRs in control positions. - Certain factors and pressure led to the legalization of horse-race betting (Off-Track Betting). - Controversy: there was a color issue over the numbers issue. It was illegal for blacks to gamble but not for whites. - Black and Hispanic crime networks can thrive if they use the "family" model of organization used by the Italians. Cubans have done this and they are thriving. - Bonds of kinship are stronger in the Hispanic community than they are in the black community. - Black militancy is needed. - It is poverty and powerlessness that provide the moral climate leading to acceptance of organized criminal activities in the ghetto. - Financial stability → work security and happiness → family stability → community stability. - Black and PRs, amongst other ethnic groups, see organized crime before them as one of the few routes to success → financial stability → psychological stability. - Criminals tend to develop when social conditions seem to offer no other way of escaping bondage. Poverty + powerlessness = root of community acceptance of organized crime and recruitment into such. Escapism. - Important implications of this study for the criminal justice system (2): Research methods Anthropological fieldwork techniques used to realize that looking at organized crime as an institution in America is important and promising and can lead to eventually controlling said organized crime in the US Understanding organized crime as an organizational entity that is symbiotically associated with American society, rather than an organizational entity. - We need to reconnect the community and the criminal justice system. - We must attempt to refocus our social attitudes toward prevention of organized crime by attacking the social, political, and economic problems that produce conditions that organized crime thrives in/develops. - Organized crime could not survive without corruption in government and industry, nor without community support.

"The Folkways of a Scientific Sociology"

William F. Ogburn (1930) -Differentiation of Subject Matter (Separation of One Subject in to many Different Smaller Subjects (like Soc and Psych) - SOC will abandon catering to General Audience - There will be a decline of the Theorist - Proof is Key - Soc will be more Mundane, but the results will be Golden - Scientific Sociology less intellectual - Quantitative Soc will increase and everything based off of Stats

"What are the Seven Steps of the Research Process?"

Anthony Giddens, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P. Appelbaum, and Deborah Carr (2010) -DRMWCIR Define the Research Problem, Review the Evidence, Make the Problem Precise, Work out a design, Carry Out the Research, Interpret Results, Report the Findings. - Methods: Ethnography: Must justify and explain your presence to the members as a researcher Must gain the cooperation of the community and sustain it over a period of time. Advantages: Generates more indepth information and provides a broader understanding of social processes Limitations: Can only study small groups so not easy to generalize conclusions Surveys: Ask subjects to answer structured questionnaires Sampling - studying a proportion of individuals that represent the whole population Two types: Representative Sample - sample from large population that is statistically typical Random Sampling - every member of population has the same probability to be included (best) Two types of Surveys: Standardized/Fixed Choice: Yes/No/Don't know or Very likely/likely/Unlikely/Very Unlikely Open-ended Questions: more detailed, difficult to compare Advantages: Efficient collection of data from large number of individuals and easier to compare answers Limitations: Superficial; Differences among viewpoints glossed over; responses may be what people profess to believe, not what they actually believe Experiments: testing a hypothesis under highly controlled conditions Advantages: Influence of certain variables can be controlled; easier for subsequent researcher to repeat Limitations: Aspects of social life cannot be brought into the lab; Responses may be affected by the experimental situation Comparative Research: Research comparing one set of findings on one society with the same type of findings on other societies Historical Analysis: considering ways that historical context shapes individual lives. Oral History: interviews with people about events they witnesses or experienced Triangulation: Using multiple research methods in a single piece of research, using each to supplement and check on others

"The Promise" The Sociological Imagination

C. Wright Mills (1959) -Something that we take to be "natural," like a name, is socially constructed. Example: names popular in the sixties vs. eighties vs. nineties vs. now. - Private situation/trouble vs. Public issue Private situation: "My parents are getting divorced"; losing your job when you live in a neighborhood where that is unusual. Public issue: "In America, fifty percent of people get divorced"; neighborhood where unemployment rates are skyrocketing - Sociological imagination - understanding that there is a public issue. - Sociological imagination requires that we do more than imagine--we need methods of thinking.

"Feeding the Pigeons: Sidewalk Sociability in Greenwich Village"

Colin Jerolmack - Colin Jerolmack studied how the space and pigeon-feeding practices of old, mostly white lifelong Villagers (but also children, homeless men, couples) shaped inter- and intraspecies social interaction. - Where/When: Father Demo Square, Greenwich Village; 2004-2005 - An example of studying micro-sociological interaction, he found 2 trends: ~6+ people came to feed pigeons daily (pigeons can learn begging strategies), dozens more park-goers casually fed pigeons - Jane Jacobs' "intricate sidewalk ballet," giving pedestrians and park visitors a form of co-presence. - Georg Simmel called this sociability (ie. "playful, noncommittal association") - People feed, talk about, chase, laugh at/about, photograph, focus on... the birds. unfocused feeding (like Goffman's unfocused interactions) happened when 2+ people were together. focused feeding primarily looks like a human-pigeon association "face-to-face," feeder is usually alone. Also longer duration. Pigeons become usable others for sidewalk sociability. - Both humans and pigeons are capable of initiation, reciprocation. The intentions of their purposive actions in this setting are compatible. - Jane Jacobs: sidewalk sociability in public spaces can mitigate human isolation, satisfy desire for communing. - For the pigeons: they thrive/breed where there is food, their begging is rewarded with food.

"Introduction" and "Conclusion" in "Going Solo"

Eric Klinenberg (2012) - Living Alone Trends: high rates of divorce, death of spouses, gender norms, communication problems, jobs and money, and urbanization Bias is that living alone is bad (more health problems. drinking, drugs, obesity) because there is no one to monitor those who live alone People who choose to live alone might have these problems to begin with (ex. how obesity can cause a person to want to live by themselves) -Networks Indirect contact: relationship with a person you don't personally know -Society has become obsessed with networking knowing as many people as possible -Can become a distraction from your human capital we tend to join groups of people that are like us, this makes us less likely to have contact with people who have different opinions and information than us - Cult of the Individual (Durkheim) Factors driving Cult of Individual Rising status for women (delayed marriage, "second adolescence" discover pleasures of being with others, more dominant individual) Communications conditions (tethered self, no need to live physically with others) Mass Urbanization (socialization in similar subculture satisfies living alone) Longevity Revolution (single elderly prefer living alone, contrary to our wishes)

"On Face-Work: An Analysis of Ritual Elements in Social Interaction"

Erving Goffman (1967) - Goffman starts with an analysis of social encounters, face-to-face or mediated contact with other participants, providing several components for these contacts - Line - pattern of verbal or nonverbal act by which one expresses their views and through this their evaluation of the participant, especially oneself (the line is having a consistent identity; the maintenance of patterns/rituals of interaction - Face - the positive social value a person effectively claims for themselves by the line others assume they have taken during a particular contact (face can be more clearly understood as reputation in a sense, but more so one's desired reputation in correlation with others view of their reputation) - Face-work: to designate the actions taken by a person to make whatever they are doing consistent with face; serves to counteract "incidents" (or events that threaten face) - one good example of face-work is poise - face-work contains two viewpoints: 1. defensive oriented; saving one's own face 2. protective oriented; saving the face of another Three levels of responsibility a person may have for a threat to face that one has created with their actions: 1.May appear to have acted innocently, offending person may seem to have acted maliciously or spitefully 2. Incidental offenses; an unplanned but sometimes anticipated by-product of action Tact - social competence Tact changes with context and is relative to your environment Civil inattention is consciously not trying to interact (i.e. the example of when people walk by each other intentionally not making eye contact until passing)

"Tie Signs"

Erving Goffman (1971) - The individual is linked to society between two principal social bonds Collectivities - through membership Individual - through social relationship - Anchored Relations : each end identifies the other personally, knows the other does likewise, openly acknowledges to the other than an irrevocable connection has been made between them. - Anonymous Relations : patterned, mutual treatment between two individuals who know each other solely on the basis of instantly perceived social identity, as when an individual courteously passes a stranger on the street. -Tie-Signs : all evidence about relationships involving objects, acts, and expressions (only excluding documentary statements) Informs if a relationship is anchored and to what extent - 3 different functions Rituals: interpersonal rituals attest to a relationship new couples turn towards each other to talk (Shows affection/passion) Markers: acts or arrangement that function to exhibit and establish a party's claim to territory when couples hug before a separation Change Signals: acts and events that function to establish and signify a change in a relationship Acts of affection of the first occasion of performance (hand holding, kissing, etc)

"Designing Social Inquiry"

Gary King, Robert O. Keohane, and Sidney Verba (KKV) (1994) -Inference is the goal: they're trying to draw larger conclusions, they're testing hypotheses. -Procedures are public -Conclusions are uncertain: There's always a degree of uncertainty; we have to recognize that this might not be the truth. -Content is the method: You can study anything scientifically. All science is done the same across the board. It's not about what you're studying, it's more about how you're using the scientific method. -Shortcoming of the article/model (a key thing to note): reflexivity is key to the social sciences and it's lacking in the article.

"The Theory of the Vicious Circle"

Gunnar Myrdal (1944) - Also known as the principal of cumulation - Myrdal focused on the situation between African Americans and whites - action- reaction- interaction -There is no "primary cause" but everything is cause to everything else, and so it is essential to interpret all factors separately to understand the social problem fully

"Whose Side Are We On?"

Howard Becker (1967) - Basis of the reading is to determine whether or not sociologists can take a side on a the issue they're studying Against Values: if we take a side, research is skewed in that side and not objective therefore ineffective For Values: if we don't take a side, research is shallow and without meaning - Studies of Deviance (sympathy is not explicit, rather appears as worry for readers. Ex: if researcher finds a stereotype is true, he/she may suppress results to show results which confirm beliefs. More common, researcher may have deep sympathy for a subject who the rest of society sees unfit) - Bias: "Apolitical Case" - One researcher may accuse another of bias. In complaints of bias, there is no push for restructuring hierarchy. No one proposes that addicts should enforce laws for policemen "Political Case" - accusation of bias is political and 2 parties engage in organized conflict. Attempt to change relation of power and authority. Parties in a political situation may have much to lose - "Hierarchical Credibility" - members of the highest group have the right to define things the way things really are. Conclusion of Reading: In research, take sides as morals dictate. Use theoretical and technical resources to maintain objectivity as best as possible

"The Territorial Imperative"

James P. Spradley & Brenda J. Mann -People have to learn to function in a highly gendered space in which even routine activities are shaped by gender roles, scripts, and expectations. -Territoriality refers to the means by which space is defined, allocated, and maintained -"Across the Tracks" vs. "Up the Hill" - Edward Hall says "we treat space like we treat sex. It is there but we don't talk about it." - Men in Brady's Bar retain command. Every female who enters knows she stands on sacred male turf. "Ladies first" rule is suspended here. - Don't make Drinks for women as is a nuisance, - Rules for carding are often modified to meet the social as well as legal requirements at Brady's. (Women carded more, men left alone) -The invisible barrier between the bar and table is a difficult for girls to cross, and sitting at the bar is "trespassing." - Men make women feel uncomfortable, which makes it even more male dominated (vicious cycle). -Witnesses even feel this pressure, and face constant scrutiny and hardships, including verbal harassment and being reduced to objects at times (objectification). -It shows how difficult for an individual of the "wrong" sex to fit in at a place that is highly gendered.

"Final Note on a Case of Extreme Isolation"

Kingsley Davis (1947) - Recount of the life of a young girl Anna who was deprived of care from birth until her death at the age of 10 - 6 she was still unable to read, talk, walk and run normally - At the time of her death she was mentally at the level of a 3 year old - Proof that the first few years of nurture are vital in the development of who we are, the plasticity of our brain allows for so much growth in the first few years - Counter arguments for nurture: Her possible father, not known if he was truly the father, was 74 and Anna's mother was given an IQ test at the age of 32, Scored 50 (8 year old) - Isabelle was born from a deaf mother and lived alone with her mother until the age of 6 with little to no contact with the outside world. - At the age of 6 she could not speak, walk properly, and when in the presence of men acted as a wild animal. - After 2 years of training was at the correct age level of an 8 year old. - Nature vs. Nurture - - Ideas of being alone- wolf children in india- discovered 2 children and received lots of international attention- the children could crawl and had an amazing auditory sense but couldn't speak and limited amount of emotion-showed why socialization early in life was so important

"Patterns of Collective Action"

Laud Humphries - Tearoom: Public restroom in which men engage in anonymous sexual encounters with other men - Golden rule: the special ritual of tea rooms must be both non-coercive and non-committal Problem 1: Sex requires collective action and collective action requires communication, but in the search for impersonal, anonymous sex, ordinary patterns of collective action. Problem 2: ephemeral sex is condemned in the cultural conditioning of Western men - 6-steps to the Tearoom Game [4 are necessary] 1. Approaching (purpose is to look natural, but players know they are being carefully sized up) 2. Positioning (Deciding which urinal to place himself at is a tactical move since he only has his stroll across the room to survey everyone and also doesn't want to come on too strong by taking the center urinal), straight men, don't allow their penises to be seen, urinate and then leave quickly; whereas players expose themselves by standing further away from the urinal. This phase determines the players role [i.e inserter or insertee] 3. Signaling (Every move is a means of communication, insertee signals in positioning phase inserter signals in signaling phase with casual masturbation to expose his erection (also eyes) ) 4. Maneuvering (optional) (changing of one's position in relation to others persons and the structures in the room. Floor plan heavy) 5. Contracting (a contract must be agreed upon, mutual consent, 88% of contracts are initiated in these 2 ways: insertee takes hold of partner's erect penis OR inserter steps into insertee's stall lack of negative response is enough to seal contract Active vs. Passive DOESN'T set the roles to be played!) 5.5 Foreplay (optional) (Influences sexual response cycle 6. Orgasm (When body communicates directly with body, spoken language isn't essential, Humphries makes careful note of the hand involvement in this step. It is the lack of physical involvement (caresses) that make the sex less personal; therefore hands movement increases the involvement in the interaction anal is rare to to time constraints and need to remove clothing) - Inserters tend to wipe off, wash hands and insertees stick around to either repeat role or become inserters Series encounter: one encounter after another Simultaneous encounter: encounters happening at same time - Coping with Intrusions until legitimation or departure of intruder, panic ensues and play become disorganized and focus shifts from payoff -Zipping the fly = "taking cover"; "hiding the goods"

"The People Next Door"

Laud Humphries (1970) - Many of the homosexual men who are not openly homosexual are married and lead normal lives outside of the tearooms and other activity along those lines. Quite often when asked about their marriages, the men are more apt to defer to their mates, and say that they are most focused on "getting along well" with their spouse. - Discusses Tom (a participant of the tearoom) and his wife. Tom participates in tearooms, having sex in the restrooms at a park. He talks about his family in the same way as written above. - Although his family would appreciate him being home more often. - Dwight - Ambisexual - Type I - Trade (8,000, blue collar jobs) (George) Dependent - Type II - The Ambi Sexual (Executives) (Dwight) Independent - Type III - The gay (Students, Artists, Beauticians) (Ricky) Independent - Type IV - Closet Queens (clerical workers) (Arnold) Dependent - Lindesmith and Gagnon - Pressures toward deviance, Individuals who feel it selects mode of adaptation- Allocation to Stigma

"Getting In"

Malcolm Gladwell (October 2005), The New Yorker -What kind of people are getting into elite institutions? Why are they the chosen ones? What is the point? - College Entrance Test (Too Many Jews --> elevation of character (Docket system established Andover and Exeter) --> Grading Applicants (Applicants received a grade 1 - 6 based on 4 dimensions: Personal, Academic, Extracurricular, and Athletic*** - Terms: Treatment effects: admission is less based off of the applicant current condition because the preparation can take place after admission to the institution ex: Marine Corps Selection effects: admission is concerned with what the applicant's current abilities and qualities - Ivy Special Applicants (3 specifically mentioned) Students who can succeed even in the bottom quarter (Academically not as strong but can still succeed), Legacies (Students of alumnae, keep alumni donating to the university, produces more alumni who donate money) Athletes (Show drive, determination, confidence, competitiveness not only during their studies but after graduation) - The Ivy Look - "an exquisitely constructed fantasy of what it meant to belong to an elite."

"Methodological Appendix"

Mitch Duneier (2000), Sidewalk - Duneier re-did all research on "Sidewalk" due to methodological issues of ethnography Worked on Sixth Avenue as a participant observer: "noticing by taking part" - Fieldwork is often morally ambiguous: researcher needs to show respect for subjects without being able to be completely sincere all the time. - A participant observer must remain disassociated: not connected to any one subject. Ex. Duneier couldn't identify as Hakim's friend because of pre-existing conflicts. He had to be viewed as unbiased. - Becker Principle: social processes have structures that almost guarantee another set of situations to occur. These situations require certain actions because of other influences greater than that of a field worker's presence Ex. Most of the things the vendors do are required for their livelihood, so the presence of a tape recorder didn't change things that dramatically. - Important: There are many things members of different races won't actually say to each other's faces. - Assuming that black people felt comfortable speaking perfectly candidly to the white researcher would have been a methodological error. - very close detail to diction -ethnographic fallacy: phrase coined by Stephen Steinberg. He claims that ethnographers often become too ingrained in cultural details and make broad claims about reality based on specific circumstances observed - The author has to ask the reader to take a "leap of faith" between the careful observations and the broader claims made, but that it is impossible to truly evade the ethnographic fallacy. -Importance of being conscious of the power relation between the subject and author. - When to intervene? - At every moment, the researcher should try to understand the connection between an individual life and the macroforces at play while also acknowledging his/her uncertainty.

"Talking to Women"

Mitchell Duneier (2000), Sidewalk - "Talking to Women" by Duneier This article is an analyzation of the interactions between poor blacks and upper middle class white women on the 6th Avenue. - Conversational analysis overview: An analytical study of conversation which examines patterns of speech. Generally, a pause of more than 2 seconds in any situation is a social cue for disinterest; being non responsive therefore is a much more blatant cue for disinterest. - "Eyes on the Street": The sense of security gained when interacting with people on the street. - Duneier states that Mudrick and Keith catcall women in order gain control in the conversations they have with these women. - Conclusion: For the lower class men on the street, the women that pass by them are so far out of their reach that the men treat them as objects. For the women, the men's "eyes on the street" do not bring about a sense of security, but rather a deep distrust. This anxiety is transferred not only to other lower-class people, but even perhaps blacks in general. Thus a stereotype is born

"Caveat Vendor"

Mitchell Duneier (2000), Sidewalk - Neighboring bookshop owner accuses a small book vendor of possessing stolen books from her store. She calls the police, who threatens to arrest the vendor if the books are not dutifully returned. - Because she is scared for the future of her shop due to small vendors outside of the shop (on the sidewalk) that sell it for cheaper/wholesale prices. This feeling is mutual amongst other bookstore owners. - Frustration: The book thieves would not be thriving if street vendors did not purchase books from said thieves; the vendors were acting as fences. Bookshop owners are stressed and annoyed about the fact that the vendors continue to buy obviously stolen books. - Techniques of neutralization: Ways that society's behavior is turned back or "neutralized" (pg. 221). Hakim (street vendor) denies his responsibility, denies that he is injuring others, claiming that said injuries he caused are justified under the circumstances, or condemns the condemners. - The effect: This way of thinking allows a person to engage in his acts while remaining committed to the dominant value system of the society. - Normalization of deviance: Hakim never saw his behavior as deviant in the first place. He always found a way to turn the accusations of wrongdoings back on the bookstores. This was often met with sympathy from the customers (his audience). - Members of the culture have to still find ways of setting limits on how much of such deviant behavior is considered normal so that things don't spiral out of control. An example of a subculture enforcing limits, they say theft is okay but it can only go so far. - The business culture that they belong to shapes a perspective from which they don't see this behavior as deviant in the first place. Hence, the "normalization" of deviance. - The most vulnerable people in a society like this: street vendors and people of color. Delinquent stereotype. -A fence, a.k.a. a middleman, must be 'public' and have a good reputation as a successful dealer amongst the people. - Formal economy vs. street economy. Informal activity of the street economy has provided an atmosphere in which criminal activity flourishes because informal social controls cannot contain such activity.

"The Strength of Weak Ties"

Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler (2009) - "Strong ties may bind individuals together into groups, but weak ties bind groups together into a the larger society and are crucial for the spread of information" - Weak ties help reach everyone in a group, even if you don't know the person these relationships also help better the self through feedback loops - Strong ties form clusters of individuals → "tangled pile of spaghetti" New information rarely found from strong ties (no domino effect) - Weaker connections bridge one group to another (mutual friends, near strangers) Weak ties = rich source of new information - People who act as bridges between groups are central, (financially) rewarded - People leapfrog over natural boundaries to intentionally find information out of the network

"Social Structure and Anomie"

Robert K. Merton (1938) - This reading focuses on the aims of society and the ways in which we go about achieving those aims. Merton's main point is that since we are in a society in which there is an idea of equal opportunity, when in reality there isn't that equal opportunity, that those with less fortunate circumstances will undergo means other than those institutionalized. - Another basic idea is of america's idea of wealth as a symbol of success. So whereas in other countries with more defined caste systems those that have less opportunities do not expect to achieve that wealth. Whereas in our culture, it is said many times that no matter where you start, you can make it here (Am Dream) - However those in the lower classes have a twofold mental conflict- they want to use institutionalized means and feel an obligation to do that, however in order to achieve goals must use illegitimate means. Because of this frustration, usually drops out of the american competition for wealth. - Institutional Means- the socialized way about going about achieving a goal- studying for a class, practicing for a sport - Cultural goal- an aim that is collectively believed to be true -money=success - Conformity, Innovations, Ritualism, Retreatism, and Rebellion

"The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy"

Robert K. Merton (1949) - Thomas Theorem: "If men define situations as real, they become real in their consequences." -"sociological parable" - Bank, Failing Student - defines the beginning of self-fulfilling prophecy as "a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true." - "reign of error," - "Only when the original assumption is questioned and a new definition of of the situation introduced...Only then does the belief not father the reality." (478). -In groups and out groups

"Group Forces in the Modification and Distortion of Judgments"

Solomon Asch (1952) - Study to determine whether or not people would conform to a group's decision. The decision in this study is which line on a sheet of paper is the same as the "standard line". - In this study, the "critical subject" is placed in a room with the "majority". The majority is instructed to choose the lines that don't match with the standard line in order to confuse the critical subject. - Common theme that we are dependent on others for our sense of reality -This presumes that all others are always telling what they truly feel - Remaining independent vs. submitting to social pressure - interaction between individuals and groups - Majority vs. Minority of One experiment showed significantly distorted responses in line comparison test (compared with a control group with private responses) - Ranges from complete yielding to pressure and complete independence - Though a majority of answers are still correct (67% vs. 93%), there is a pronounced movement toward the majority by the minority individual