Sociology Exam #2

chapter summary (chapter 5)

Groups are the essence of life in society. We become who we are because of our membership in human groups. The essential feature of a group is that its members have something in common and they believe that what they have in common is significant. The largest and most complex group that sociologists study is society (people who share a culture and a territory). Because of what appears to be a "natural" need for humankind to share culture, territory, and to seek significant others, societies developed. Anthropologists and sociologists have identified five types of societies that have developed in the course of human history. These five types of societies include hunting and gathering, pastoral and horticultural, agricultural, industrial, and postindustrial societies. Each is characterized by distinct forms of social division, social labor, and social inequality. The hunting and gathering society has the fewest social divisions and is the most egalitarian. In this society, the men hunt large animals and the women usually gather edible plants, fruits, and other food found growing in the wild. The first social revolution was based on the domestication of plants and animals. This resulted in the development of the pastoral society, which concentrated on the herding of animals, and the horticultural society, which specialized in planting and harvesting crops. The horticultural society made it possible for permanent settlements to be established since it was no longer necessary for people to follow the food supply. In the third social revolution, the invention of the plow made it possible for large areas of land to be cultivated and harvested. The society that developed, known as the agricultural society, made large cities possible because it freed some members of society from being dedicated to the production of their own food. In the fourth social revolution, the invention of the steam engine introduced the industrial society, which concentrated on the manufacturing and consumption of goods. The fifth social revolution occurred with the invention of the microchip. In this postindustrial society, the emphasis is on the development and transfer of technology, information, and knowledge. A biotech society, believed to be emerging in the twenty-first century, is based on the decoding of the human genome. Some sociologists, however, believe this latest revolution is only an extension of the postindustrial society. Regardless of the change that occurs, technological innovation is critical to the development and transformation of societies. Regardless of the technological significance of the society, all societies have a tendency to overpower the individual. This is most pronounced in the postindustrial society in which most of us now live. According to Emile Durkheim, small groups serve as a buffer between the individual and the complications and difficulties the larger society presents to the individual. Groups can be typed in terms of their social relationships and functions. Different types of groups within society include primary groups, secondary groups, in-groups and out-groups, reference groups, and social networks. To better understand how different groups work, sociologists study group dynamics, or the ways in which individuals affect groups and the ways in which groups influence individuals. Georg Simmel was one of the first sociologists to extensively study group size and the relationship between group members. Group dynamics are affected by group size, types of leaders, and leadership styles. As small groups become larger, they become more stable and less intimate. Group leaders can be instrumental (task oriented) or expressive (socioemotional). Leadership styles include authoritarian (leaders who give orders), democratic (leaders who work toward and/or forge a consensus), and laissez-faire (leaders who are highly permissive). Groups have a significant degree of influence over people's attitudes and actions. The Asch experiment demonstrated how difficult it is for individuals to resist peer pressure and how they have a need to belong. The Milgram experiment showed how difficult it is for individuals to challenge people in positions of authority. A potentially dangerous aspect of a group's influence over its members is groupthink, a narrowing of thought by a group of people, leading to the perception that there is only one correct answer to which all members of the group are impelled, by loyalty and trust, to accept. The two space shuttle disasters (Challenger and Columbia) are examples of how NASA engineers had a limited view of their options in either launching or landing the shuttle. In each case, the decision resulted in a disaster. The key to preventing groupthink is to encourage and circulate research results that provide the greatest number of options for decision makers to consider in an atmosphere of free expression and academic freedom.

key people (chapter 6)

Howard S. Becker*: Becker observed that an act is not deviant in and of itself, but only when there is a reaction to it. (166) William Chambliss: Chambliss demonstrated the power of the label in his study of two youth gangs—the Saints and the Roughnecks. (174) Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin*: These sociologists identified the illegitimate opportunity structures that are woven into the texture of life in urban slums and provide an alternative set of opportunities for slum residents when legitimate ones are blocked. (175) Emile Durkheim*: Durkheim noted that deviance is functional for society. (175) Robert Edgerton*: This anthropologist's studies document how different human groups react to similar behaviors, demonstrating that what is deviant in one context is not in another. (167) Harold Garfinkel*: Garfinkel used the term "degradation ceremonies" to describe formal attempts to mark an individual with the status of an outsider. (172) Erving Goffman*: Goffman wrote about the role of stigma in the definition of who and what is deviant. (166) Travis Hirschi: Hirschi studied the strength of the bonds an individual has to society in order to understand the effectiveness of inner controls. (171) Ruth Horowitz: This sociologist conducted participant observation in a Chicano neighborhood in Chicago. She found that attitudes about honor, which were common among residents, helped to propel young men into deviance. (170) Robert Merton*: Merton developed strain theory to explain patterns of deviance within a society. (175) Donald Partington: This lawyer examined executions for rape and attempted rape in Virginia between 1908 and 1963 and found that only black men were executed for these crimes during those years. (188) Walter Reckless: Reckless developed control theory, suggesting that our behavior is controlled by two different systems, one external (outer controls like the police, family and friends) and the other internal (inner controls like our conscience, religious principles, and ideas of right and wrong). (171) Edwin Sutherland*: Sutherland not only developed differential association theory, but was the first to study and give a name to crimes that occur among the middle class in the course of their work—white-collar crime. (178) Gresham Sykes and David Matza*: These sociologists studied the different strategies delinquent boys use to deflect society's norms—techniques of neutralization. (173) Thomas Szasz*: Szasz argued that mental illness represents the medicalization of deviance. (190) Mark Watson: Watson studied motorcycle gangs and found that these people actively embraced the deviant label. (174)

key people (chapter 1)

Jane Addams*: Addams was the founder of Hull-House—a settlement house in the immigrant community of Chicago. She invited sociologists from the nearby University of Chicago to visit. In 1931 she was a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. (12) Mario Brajuha: During an investigation into a restaurant fire, officials subpoenaed notes taken by this sociologist in connection with his research on restaurant work. He was threatened with jail. (32) Auguste Comte*: Comte is often credited with being the founder of sociology, because he was the first to suggest that the scientific method be applied to the study of the social world. (5-6, 15) Charles Horton Cooley*: One of the founders of symbolic interactionism, a major theoretical perspective in sociology. (13) Lewis Coser: Coser pointed out that conflict is likely to develop among people in close relationships because they are connected by a network of responsibilities, power, and rewards. (18) W.E.B. Du Bois*: Du Bois was the first African American to earn a doctorate at Harvard University. For most of his career, he taught sociology at Atlanta University. He was concerned about social injustice, wrote about race relations, and was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). (9-12) Emile Durkheim*: Durkheim was responsible for getting sociology recognized as a separate discipline. He was interested in studying how individual behavior is shaped by social forces and in finding remedies for social ills. He stressed that sociologists should use social facts—patterns of behavior that reflect some underlying condition of society. (7, 15) Laud Humphreys*: This sociologist carried out doctoral research on homosexual activity but ran into problems when he misrepresented himself to his research subjects. Although he earned his doctorate degree, he was fired from his position because of his questionable ethics. (32) Harriet Martineau*: An Englishwoman who studied British and U.S. social life, Martineau published Society in America decades before either Durkheim or Weber were born. She is known primarily for translating Auguste Comte's ideas into English. (9, 12) Karl Marx*: Marx believed that social development grew out of conflict between social classes; under capitalism, this conflict was between the bourgeoisie—those who own the means to produce wealth—and the proletariat—the mass of workers. His work is associated with the conflict perspective. (6, 8, 17-18) George Herbert Mead*: Mead was one of the founders of symbolic interactionism, a major theoretical perspective in sociology. (13) Robert Merton*: Merton contributed the terms manifest and latent functions and dysfunctions to the functionalist perspective. (15-16) Wright Mills*: Mills suggested that external influences (a person's experiences) become part of his or her thinking and motivations and explain social behavior. As the emphasis in sociology shifted from social reform to social theory, Mills urged sociologists to get back to their roots. He saw the emergence of the power elite, composed of top leaders of business, politics, and the military, as an imminent threat to freedom. (4, 12, 19) William Ogburn: As early as 1933, Ogburn noted that personality was becoming more important in mate selection; this supported the symbolic interactionists' argument that there was a fundamental shift in the symbolic meaning of U.S. marriages. (14-15) Talcott Parsons*: Parsons' work dominated sociology in the 1940s and 1950s. He developed abstract models of how the parts of society harmoniously work together. (12) Diana Scully and Joseph Marolla: These two sociologists interviewed convicted rapists in prison and found that rapists are not sick or overwhelmed by uncontrollable urges but rather men who have learned to view rape as appropriate in various circumstances. (22, 31) Herbert Spencer*: Another early sociologist, Spencer believed that societies evolve from barbarian to civilized forms. He was the first to use the expression "survival of the fittest" to reflect his belief that social evolution depended on the survival of the most capable and intelligent and the extinction of the less capable. His views became known as social Darwinism. (6, 15) Max Weber*: Weber's most important contribution to sociology was his study of the relationship between the emergence of the Protestant belief system and the rise of capitalism. (8-9)

key people (chapter 7)

Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore*: According to these functionalists, inequality is universal because it motivates the most qualified members of society to strive for the most important social positions. (213) W.E.B. Du Bois*: This sociologist wrote about slavery in the United States, noting that over time the South became committed to keeping African Americans in slavery and killing those who rebelled against this institution. (201) William Domhoff: Drawing upon the work of C. Wright Mills, Domhoff states that the power elite is so powerful that no major decision in the U.S. government is made without its approval. (222) John Kenneth Galbraith: This economist argued that the Least Industrialized Nations remain poor because their own culture holds them back. (213) Dennis Gilbert and Joseph Kahl*: These sociologists developed a more contemporary stratification model based on Max Weber's work. (223) Ray Gold: In research on status inconsistency, Gold studied tenant reactions to janitors who earned more than they did. He found that the tenants acted "snooty" to the janitors, and the janitors took pleasure in knowing the intimate details of the tenants' lives. (223) Daniel Hellinger and Dennis Judd: These sociologists identified the average citizen's belief that he/she exercises political power through the voting process as the "democratic façade" that conceals the real source of power in the United States. (221) Elizabeth Higginbotham and Lynn Weber: These sociologists studied the mobility patterns for women. They found that those women who experienced upward mobility were most likely to have strong parental support to defer marriage and get an education. (233) Martha Huggins: This sociologist investigated poverty in Brazil. (205) Gerhard Lenski*: Lenski offered a synthesis of functionalist and conflict views of stratification that focused on surpluses that groups accumulate. (223) Gerda Lerner: This historian noted that women were usually the first enslaved by war and conquest. (200) Oscar Lewis: This anthropologist was among the first to write about the culture of poverty. (213) Karl Marx*: Marx concluded that social class depended exclusively on the means of production; an individual's social class was determined by whether or not he owned the means of production. (215-216) Wright Mills*: Mills used the term "power elite" to describe the top decision makers in the nation. (221-222) Melvin Tumin*: Tumin was the first to offer a criticism of the functionalist view on stratification. (214) Immanuel Wallerstein*: This historian proposed a world system theory to explain global stratification. (209) Max Weber*: Weber argued that social class was based on three components: property, prestige, and power. (217)

learning objectives (chapter 1)

LO 1.1: Explain why both history and biography are essential for the sociological perspective. (p. 2).3 LO 1.2: Trace the origins of sociology, from tradition to Max Weber. (p. 4) LO 1.3: Trace the development of sociology in North America and explain the tension between objective analysis and social reform. (p. 8) LO 1.4: Explain the basic ideas of symbolic interactionism, functional analysis, and conflict theory. (p. 13) LO 1.5: Explain why common sense can't replace sociological research. (p. 20) LO 1.6: Know the main elements of the 7 research methods: surveys, participant observation, case studies, secondary analysis, analysis of documents, experiments, and unobtrusive measures. (p. 22) LO 1.7: Explain how gender is significant in sociological research. (p. 31) LO 1.8: Explain why it is vital for sociologists to protect the people they study; discuss the two cases that are presented. (p. 32) LO 1.9: Explain how research versus reform and globalization are likely to influence sociology. (p. 34)

learning objectives (chapter 5)

LO 5.1 Summarize the main characteristics of these types of societies: hunting and gathering, pastoral and horticultural, agricultural, industrial, postindustrial, and biotech. (p. 129) LO 5.2 Discuss the main characteristics of primary groups, secondary groups, in-groups and out-groups, reference groups, and social networks. (p. 136) LO 5.3 Be familiar with the effects of group size on stability, intimacy, attitudes, and behavior; types and styles of leaders; the Asch experiment on peer pressure; the Milgram experiment on authority; and the implications of groupthink. (p. 142)

learning objectives (chapter 6)

LO 6.1 Summarize the relativity of deviance, the need of norms, and the types of sanctions; contrast sociobiological, psychological and sociological explanations of deviance. (p. 156) LO 6.2 Contrast three theories of deviance: differential association, control, and labeling. (p. 160) LO 6.3 Explain how deviance can be functional for society, how mainstream values can produce deviance (strain theory), and how social class is related to crime (illegitimate opportunities). (p. 166) LO 6.4 Explain how social class is related to the criminal justice system and how the criminal justice system is oppressive. (p. 172) LO 6.5 Be familiar with street crimes and prison, three strikes laws, the decline in violent crime, recidivism, bias in the death penalty, the medicalization of deviance, and the need for a humane approach. (p. 173)

learning objectives (chapter 7)

LO 7.1 Compare and contrast slavery (including bonded labor), caste, estate, and class systems of social stratification. (p. 189) LO 7.2 Compare the three worlds of global stratification: the Most Industrialized Nations, the Industrializing Nations, and the Least Industrialized Nations. (p. 193) LO 7.3 Discuss how colonialism and world system theory explain how the world's nations became stratified. (p. 199) LO 7.4 Contrast the functionalist and conflict views of why social stratification is universal. (p. 202) LO 7.5 Identify strains in today's system of global stratification. (p. 204) LO 7.6 Contrast the views of Marx and Weber on what determines social class. (p. 206) LO 7.7 Explain the three components of social class—property, power, and prestige; distinguish between wealth and income; explain how property and income are distributed; and describe the democratic façade, the power elite, and status inconsistency. (p. 206) LO 7.8 Review the six-tier model used to portray class structure in the United States and other capitalist countries. (p. 214) LO 7.9 Summarize the consequences of social class for physical and mental health, family life, education, religion, politics, and the criminal justice system. (p. 216) LO 7.10 Contrast the three types of social mobility, and review gender issues in research on social mobility and why social mobility brings pain. (p. 220) LO 7.11 Explain the problems in drawing the poverty line, how poverty is related to geography, race-ethnicity, education, feminization, age, and the culture of poverty; analyze why people are poor; and discuss deferred gratification and the Horatio Alger myth. (p. 223)

chapter summary (chapter 7)

Social stratification is the division of large numbers of people into layers according to their relative power, property, and prestige. It applies to both nations and to people within a nation, society, or other group. Social stratification affects all of one's life chances, from access to material possessions and position in society to life expectancy. Although they may differ as to which system of social stratification they employ, all societies stratify their members. The four major systems of social stratification are slavery, caste, estate, and class. Slavery is defined as a form of social stratification in which some people own other people. It has been common in world history, with reference to slavery being made in the Old Testament, the Koran, and Roman and Greek history. Slavery was usually based on debt, as punishment for a crime, or a matter of conquest. Racism was not associated with slavery until southern plantation owners developed a new ideology to justify their enslavement of Africans in the seventeenth century. Today, slavery is known to be practiced in the Sudan, Mauritania, and the Ivory Coast. The caste system is a form of social stratification based on ascribed status that follows an individual throughout his or her life. India provides the best example of a caste system. Based on Hinduism (reincarnation and karma), India's caste system has existed for almost three thousand years. Although the Indian government formally abolished the caste system in 1949, it still remains a respected aspect of Indian tradition and is strictly followed by a significant portion of the population. In the class system, social stratification is based on the possession of money or material possessions. A major characteristic of the class system is that it allows social mobility, or movement up and down the class ladder. Another method by which all societies stratify their members is by gender. Cutting across all systems of stratification, these gender divisions universally favor males over females. The nations of the world can be divided into three categories, using the extent of industrialization as a basis for stratification. This results in a triadic division of the Most Industrialized Nations, Industrializing Nations, and Least Industrialized Nations. Just as every society stratifies its members, the nations of the world are also stratified, with the Most Industrialized Nations controlling most of the world's wealth and resources. Three theories explain the origins of global stratification: colonialism, world systems theory, and the culture of poverty. According to those who attribute stratification to colonialism, those countries that industrialized first had an advantage over other countries and, in turn, colonized them, exploiting their labor and natural resources. World systems theory, developed by conflict theorist Immanuel Wallerstein, suggests that the world is divided between core nations (most developed economies), semi-peripheral nations (developing economies), peripheral nations (least developed economies), and external areas (not included in the development of capitalism and industrialization). Economist John Kenneth Galbraith proposed that the poor, whether in the United States or abroad, hold cultural values and beliefs, such as fatalism (luck, fate, and destiny), that limit their own economic growth. There is a tendency among sociologists to reject the culture of poverty belief because it places blame on the individual and downplays the importance of capitalism. Although all sociologists agree that social stratification is universal, they disagree as to why it is universal. The functionalist view of social stratification, developed by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, concludes that stratification is inevitable because society must make certain that its positions are filled and ensure that the most qualified people fill the most important positions; and to motivate the most qualified individuals to fill the most important positions, society must offer them the greatest rewards to fill the most important positions. Melvin Tumin identified three problems with the functionalist view: first, how does one determine which positions are more important than others? Second, to what degree are societies really meritocracies (promoting people on the basis of their achievements)? Third, how functional is stratification for the people on the lower ends of the stratification continuum? According to Marx, people's relationship to the means of production is the sole factor in determining their social class. They either belong to the bourgeoisie (those who owned the means of production) or the proletariat (those who work for the owners). According to Weber, Marx's typology is too limiting because social class, as well as people's social class standing, consists of three interrelated components: property, prestige, and power. Wealth and income are not synonymous. It is possible to have great wealth and little income, or little wealth and a high income. Wealth and income are unevenly distributed in the United States, with a large and growing gap separating the richest Americans from the poorest. The top 20 percent of the population receives almost half of all the income in the United States, while the bottom 20 percent receives only slightly more than 4 percent of the nation's income. An elite group of Americans, made up of the nation's wealthiest people, wield extraordinary economic, social, and political power in the United States. Conversely, the poorest Americans face tremendous hardships because they lack the means to afford even the most basic necessities of life. Jobs that pay more, require more education, entail more abstract thought, and offer greater autonomy are ranked higher than jobs that require less education, are lower paying, involve more physical labor, and are closely supervised. A chart of occupational prestige shows that physicians, college professors, and lawyers hold the most prestigious positions; and bill collectors, factory workers, and gas station attendants are among the least prestigious positions. Sociologists use the term "status inconsistency" to refer to people who rank higher on some dimensions of social class and lower on others. A study by Ray Gold showed that unionized apartment house janitors made more money than many of the tenants for whom they cleaned and carried out garbage. Although both Karl Marx and Max Weber proposed models of social class, both of these models have been modified to be more representative of the class structure as it now exists. Modifying Karl Marx's model of social class, sociologist Erik Wright identified four classes: capitalists, petty bourgeoisie, managers, and workers. Sociologists Dennis Gilbert and Joseph Kahl developed a social class model that consists of six classes: the capitalist class, the upper middle class, the lower middle class, the working class, the working poor, and the underclass. Among other things, social class affects and/or influences people's health, family life, education, religion, and politics. The lower one's social class, the more likely that individual will die before the expected age. People from the lower classes are also more likely to smoke, eat more fat, use drugs and alcohol excessively, become involved with violent crime, and exercise less; they are also more likely to practice unsafe sexual behavior, leading to higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases, higher rates of out-of-wedlock child births, higher infidelity rates, and higher divorce rates. Mental illness is also more closely associated with the lower-class population. Unlike other systems of stratification, class is the most fluid, offering opportunities and providing social mobility—both vertically and horizontally along the social class ladder. Sociologists have identified three basic types of social mobility: intergenerational mobility, structural mobility, and exchange mobility. The degree of mobility is significantly affected by many things, including culture, race-ethnicity, gender, age, access to technology, and, especially, marital status and where people live. To measure the degree of poverty a family faces, the government established a standard based on family size and income. The model is based on the factor of three times what the average family of a specific size would spend on food. Families making less than the calculated amount are considered to be below the poverty line and entitled to benefits specifically available to the poor. The poor are not evenly distributed throughout the United States. There is a clustering of poverty in the South, among African Americans and Latinos, among individuals with less education, and among women. Children are the most adversely affected by poverty and are more likely than adults to live in poverty. The number of children living in poverty is disproportionately high among single-parent families. The reasons people are poor fall between two competing explanations: one stresses features of society that limit some people's access to opportunities; the other focuses on people's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. In an effort to encourage people in poverty to be more self-sufficient, the welfare system was restructured in 1996, requiring states to place a lifetime cap on welfare assistance and requiring welfare recipients to look for and take available jobs. Portraying America as a land of limitless economic possibilities, the Horatio Alger myth equates hard work with upward social mobility. It suggests that all people who fail to achieve success in America fail because of their own shortcomings.

chapter summary (chapter 6)

Sociologists use the term deviance to refer to any violation of rules and norms. From a sociological perspective, deviance is relative. Definitions of "what is deviant" vary across societies and from one group to another within the same society. Howard S. Becker described the interpretation of deviance as "... not the act itself, but the reaction to the act that makes something deviant." This coincides with the symbolic interactionist view. In some cases, an individual need not do anything to be labeled a deviant. He or she may be falsely accused or discredited because of a birth defect, race, or disease. Even crime is relative when interpreting the deviance of the actor. Deviance is based on adherence to and violation of norms. Human groups need norms to exist. By making behavior predictable, norms make social life possible. Consequently, all human groups develop a system of social control, which involves formal and informal means of enforcing norms. Those who violate these norms face the danger of being labeled "deviant." Violators can expect to experience negative sanctions for the violation of norms. Members of society who conform to societal norms, especially those who go above and beyond what is commonly expected, receive positive sanctions. In some societies, such as the Amish, shaming is a common negative sanction that acts strongly as a means of social control, minimizing deviance. Biologists, psychologists, and sociologists have different perspectives on why people violate norms. Biological explanations focus on genetic predispositions, psychologists concentrate on abnormalities within the individual (commonly known as personality disorders), and sociologists look at social factors outside the individual. Symbolic interactionists interpret deviance through the following social theories: differential association theory (people learn deviance from the groups with whom they associate), control theory (people generally avoid deviance because of an effective system of inner and outer controls), and labeling theory (people are directed toward or away from deviance by the labels others pin on them). Functionalists contend that deviance is functional for society; it contributes to the social order by clarifying moral boundaries, promoting social unity, and initiating social change. Furthermore, according to "strain theory," people are likely to experience strain, which, in turn, can lead some people to chose deviant and/or criminal behavior rather than conforming to cultural goals and/or engaging in legitimate institutional means. In addition to strain theory, functionalists stress theories addressing illegitimate opportunity structure in society. Conflict theorists note that power plays a central role in defining and punishing deviance. The group in power imposes its definitions of deviance on other groups and then uses the law and criminal justice system to maintain its power and privilege over those other groups. Reactions to deviance in the United States include everything from mild sanctions to capital punishment. Since the 1980s, the United States has adopted a "get tough" policy on crime that has imprisoned millions of people. Prisoners are generally much younger than the average American, nearly 94 percent male, and disproportionately African American. Because crime statistics are produced within a specific social and political context for particular purposes, they must be interpreted with caution. Power plays a central role in determining which behaviors are defined as crimes, as well as in how actively "criminal behaviors" are prosecuted and/or punished. For example, although street crime is given the greatest attention by the media because of the violence associated with it, white-collar crime actually costs the American taxpayers more. Even cases of gross negligence that cause death are funneled into administrative hearings that, at times, result in little more than a fine for the corporation. The definition of crime is subject to change, however, and the ways various acts are treated by society changes with shifts in power and public priority. Since the early twentieth century, there has been a growing tendency toward the medicalization of deviance, viewing deviance, including crime, as mental illness. Thomas Szasz offers another perspective, claiming that mental illnesses are neither mental nor illness. Rather, they are problem behaviors that are related to people's particular experiences in life. For example, disruptive and unruly behaviors that disrespect authority and deviate from social norms are now a treatable mental illness recognized as attention-deficit disorder (ADD). As deviance is inevitable, the larger issues include finding ways to protect people from those forms of deviance that harm them and/or others, tolerating deviant behaviors that are not harmful, and developing systems of fairer treatment for deviants.

chapter summary (chapter 1)

Sociology offers a perspective, a view of the world. The sociological perspective opens a window into unfamiliar worlds and offers a fresh look at familiar worlds. Sociologists study the broader social contexts that underlie human behavior. These include the social groups that influence human behavior and the larger society that organizes it. The sociological perspective is an approach to understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context. C. Wright Mills referred to the sociological perspective as the intersection of biography (the individual) and history (social factors that influence the individual). Sociology grew out of the social, political, economic, and technological revolutions of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Industrial Revolution, in particular, eroded old traditions and necessitated new ways of perceiving and examining the social world. With the success of the natural sciences serving as a model for the social sciences, sociology emerged in Western Europe as a distinct discipline in the mid-1800s. Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber were early thinkers in the development of sociology. The idea of applying the scientific method to the social world, known as positivism, was first proposed by Auguste Comte. Based on this innovation and Comte's effort to apply the scientific method to social life, he is credited as being the founder of sociology. Herbert Spencer, one of the most dominant and influential English sociologists, is often called the "second founder of sociology." Spencer's concept of social Darwinism suggested that societies evolve from primitive to civilized and that the "fittest" societies evolve and survive, while unfit societies become extinct. The early history of sociology in North America was characterized by a debate over whether sociology should analyze or reform society. Jane Addams won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the disadvantaged in society and the development of the Hull House. W.E.B. Du Bois, the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University, was a social critic and dedicated his life to analyzing and writing about social injustice. During the 1940s, the emphasis in American sociology shifted from social reform to social theory. "Grand theorists," such as Talcott Parsons, developed detailed, abstract models of how the complex parts of society harmoniously functioned together. Although this helped to legitimize sociology as a "science," it did little to critique, reform, and/or help to change the social injustices in society. C. Wright Mills' influential analysis of "the power elite"—a small group of business, political, and military leaders whose monopoly on power threatens freedom—helped to shift sociology back toward social reform in the 1960s and 1970s. Many sociologists continue to disagree over the proper uses of social research. Some sociologists practice basic (or pure) sociology, while others practice applied sociology. Whether one practices basic or applied sociology, a primary goal of social research is to separate fact from fiction while examining the links between what people do and the social settings that help shape their behavior. The current state of sociology encompasses social analysis and social reform, with a growing emphasis on applied sociology—a sort of middle ground that, rather than focusing on large and/or radical social change, uses sociological analysis to help solve problems in a specific setting. In an effort to pursue a social reform agenda, the American Sociological Association is now promoting "public sociology" with the goal of influencing politicians, public officials, and policy makers. Central to the study of any science is the development of theory. A theory is a general statement about how parts of the world fit together, relate to one another, and affect each other. Sociologists use three major theories—symbolic interactionism, functional analysis, and conflict theory—to observe and interpret social contexts, relationships, and realities in distinct ways. Symbolic interactionism analyzes how people use symbols to develop and share their view of the world. Focusing on the micro level, it studies the different ways that individuals and small groups create, disseminate, and/or interpret "reality" through their everyday, face-to-face interactions. Functional analysis examines how the various parts of society work together to fulfill their respective functions and, consequently, create a harmonious society. Focusing on the macro level, it also looks at how parts of society occasionally dysfunction, negatively affecting other parts of society and, consequently, contributing to a more unstable society. Conflict theory views the social world in terms of competing groups struggling over scarce resources. Also focusing on the macro level, conflict theory examines how groups of people with power maintain and/or impose their power, and how groups of people without power work to acquire power. Sociologists conduct research on almost every area of human behavior. The research conducted may be at the macro level, encompassing broad matters such as social structure, or at the micro level, which addresses individualistic and small group interaction. Sociological research is necessary for a variety of reasons. Research will confirm or deny the validity and extent of what is considered to be true simply because it "makes sense." Whereas culture has a significant impact on what one believes to be true, there needs to be a more objective manner in which to discover truth. Research provides the method through which truth can be discovered. Henslin identifies eight steps in the scientific research model. These are (1) selecting a topic, (2) defining the problem, (3) reviewing the literature, (4) formulating a hypothesis, (5) choosing a research method, (6) collecting the data, (7) analyzing the results, and (8) sharing the results. Other authors may identify more than or fewer than eight steps, but the basic model remains the same. Two key elements to research are validity and reliability. Validity addresses whether or not the research measures what it is intended to measure. Reliability is the extent to which research produces consistent or dependable results. In conducting research, sociologists choose between seven research methods: (1) survey, (2) participant observation, (3) secondary analysis, (4) documents, (5) unobtrusive measures, (6) case studies, and (7) experiments. Sociologists choose their research method(s) based on four primary factors: resources, access to subjects, purpose of the research, and the researcher's background. There are a number of factors researchers must take into consideration beyond the research method chosen. Some of these are beyond the control of the researcher, such as a change in the subject's behavior because he or she is aware of being studied. Gender is also a consideration that must be controlled by the researcher, especially when the sample being studied or the subject of the research is gender related. Gender can be a significant confounding factor in sociological research, and sociologists need to take careful steps to prevent gender differences from biasing their findings. Ethics are of fundamental concern to sociologists when it comes to doing research. Although sociologists are expected to follow ethical guidelines that require openness, honesty, truth, and the protection of research subjects, their studies can occasionally elicit great controversies. The Brajuha research created considerable controversy and legal complications over the protection of subjects. Laud Humphreys generated a national controversy by misleading subjects when conducting sensitive research about bisexual men's personal lives. A national columnist referred to his research as the product of "sociological snoopers." A court case loomed over his actions. As the world becomes more globally connected, American sociology is likely to expand its current horizons, incorporating new perspectives and worldviews that include—and encompass—global issues and concerns.

key people (chapter 5)

Solomon Asch*: Asch is famous for his research on conformity to peer pressure. (155-156) Herbert Blumer: He describes an industrial society as one in which goods are no longer produced by the brute force of humans or animals but by machines powered by fuels. (141) Elise Boulding: This sociologist hypothesized that women's status in agricultural societies declined sharply once men were put in charge of plowing and the cows. (141) Charles H. Cooley*: It was Cooley who noted the central role of primary groups in the development of one's sense of self. (145) John Darley and Bibb Latané*: These researchers investigated how group size affects members' attitudes and behaviors. They found that as the group grew, individuals' sense of responsibility diminished, their interactions became more formal, and the larger group tended to break down into small ones. (152) Emile Durkheim*: Durkheim viewed the small group as a buffer between the individual and society, helping to prevent anomie. (144) Lloyd Howells and Selwyn Becker: These social psychologists found that factors such as location within a group underlie people's choices of leaders. (153) Irving Janis*: Janis coined the term "groupthink" to refer to the tunnel vision that a group of people sometimes develop. (158) Ronald Lippitt and Ralph White: These social psychologists carried out a classic study on leadership styles and found that the style of leadership affected the behavior of group members. (154) Robert Merton*: Merton observed that the traits of in-groups become viewed as virtues, while those same traits in out-groups are seen as vices. (147) Stanley Milgram*: Milgram's research has contributed greatly to sociological knowledge of group life. He did research on social networks and individual conformity to group pressure. (149, 154) Georg Simmel*: This early sociologist was one of the first to note the significance of group size; he used the terms dyad and triad to describe small groups. (150)

key terms (chapter 5)

aggregate: individuals who temporarily share the same physical space but do not see themselves as belonging together (145) agricultural revolution: the second social revolution, based on the invention of the plow, which led to agricultural societies (139) agricultural society: a society based on large-scale agriculture (139) authoritarian leader: an individual who leads by giving orders (154) biotech society: a society whose economy increasingly centers on the application of genetics to produce medicine, food, and materials (142) category: people who have similar characteristics (145) clique: a cluster of people within a larger group who choose to interact with one another (148) coalition: the alignment of some members of a group against others (151) democratic leader: an individual who leads by trying to reach a consensus (154) domestication revolution: the first social revolution, based on the domestication of plants and animals, which led to pastoral and horticultural societies (139) dyad: the smallest possible group, consisting of two persons (150) expressive leader: an individual who increases harmony and minimizes conflict in a group; also known as a socioemotional leader (153) group: people who have something in common and believe that what they have in common is significant; also called a social group (138) group dynamics: the ways in which individuals affect groups and the ways in which groups affect individuals (150) groupthink: a narrowing of thought by a group of people, leading to the perception that there is only one correct answer and to even suggest alternatives becomes a sign of disloyalty (158) horticultural society: a society based on cultivating plants by the use of hand tools (139) hunting and gathering society: a human group that depends on hunting and gathering for its survival (138) Industrial Revolution: the third social revolution, occurring when machines powered by fuels replaced most animal and human power (142) industrial society: a society based on the use of machines powered by fuels (142) in-groups: groups toward which people feel loyalty (147) instrumental leader: an individual who tries to keep the group moving toward its goals; also known as a task-oriented leader (153) laissez-faire leader: an individual who leads by being highly permissive (154) leader: someone who influences other people (153) leadership styles: ways in which people express their leadership (154) out-groups: groups toward which people feel antagonism (147) pastoral society: a society based on the pasturing of animals (139) postindustrial (information) society: a society based on information, services, and high technology, rather than on raw materials and manufacturing (142) primary group: a group characterized by intimate, long-term, face-to-face association and cooperation (145) reference group: a group whose standards we refer to as we evaluate ourselves (148) secondary group: compared with a primary group, a larger and more anonymous, formal, and impersonal group; also relatively temporary and based on some interest or activity (145) shaman: the healing specialist of a tribe who attempts to control the spirits thought to cause a disease or injury; commonly called a witch doctor (138) small group: a group small enough for everyone to interact directly with all the other members (150) social network: the social ties radiating outward from the self that link people together (148) society: people who share a culture and a territory (138) triad: a group of three people (151)

key terms (chapter 7)

anomie: Durkheim's term for a condition of society in which people become detached from the norms that usually guide their behavior (224) bonded labor (indentured service): a contractual system in which someone sells his or her body (services) for a specified period of time in an arrangement very close to slavery, except that it is entered into voluntarily (201) bourgeoisie: Marx's term for capitalists, those who own the means of production (216) caste system: a form of social stratification in which people's statuses are determined by birth and are lifelong (202) class consciousness: Marx's term for awareness of a common identity based on one's position in the means of production (216) class system: a form of social stratification based primarily on the possession of money or material possessions (203) colonialism: the process by which one nation takes over another nation, usually for the purpose of exploiting its labor and natural resources (208-209, 213) culture of poverty: the assumption that the values and behaviors of the poor make them fundamentally different from other people, that these factors are largely responsible for their poverty, and that parents perpetuate poverty across generations by passing these characteristics to their children (213) downward social mobility: movement down the social class ladder (232) endogamy: the practice of marrying within one's own group (202) exchange mobility: about the same numbers of people moving up and down the social class ladder such that, on balance, the social class system shows little change (233) false class consciousness: Marx's term to refer to workers identifying with the interests of capitalists (217) globalization of capitalism: capitalism (investing to make profits within a rational system) becoming the globe's dominant economic system (209) Horatio Alger myth: the belief that due to limitless possibilities anyone can get ahead if he or she tries hard enough (237) ideology: beliefs about the way things ought to be that justify social arrangements (201) income: money received, usually from a job, business, or assets (218) intergenerational mobility: the change that family members make in social class from one generation to the next (231) means of production: the tools, factories, land, and investment capital used to produce wealth (216) meritocracy: a form of social stratification in which all positions are awarded on the basis of merit (214) poverty line: the official measure of poverty; calculated to include incomes that are less than three times a low-cost food budget (234) power: the ability to get your way, even over the resistance of others (220) power elite: C. Wright Mills' term for the top people in U.S. corporations, military, and politics who make the nation's major decisions (222) prestige: respect or regard (222) proletariat: Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production (216) property: material possessions: animals, bank accounts, bonds, buildings, businesses, cars, furniture, land, and stocks (218) slavery: a form of social stratification in which some people own other people (200) social class: according to Weber, a large group of people who rank close to one another in wealth, prestige, and power; according to Marx, one of two groups: capitalists who own the means of production and workers who sell their labor (218) social mobility: movement up or down the social class ladder (203) status consistency: ranking high or low on all three dimensions of social class (222) status inconsistency: ranking high on some dimensions of social class and low on others; also called status discrepancy (222) structural mobility: movement up or down the social class ladder that is due to changes in the structure of society, not to individual efforts (232) underclass: a group of people for whom poverty persists year after year and across generations (227) upward social mobility: movement up the social class ladder (231) wealth: the total value of everything someone owns, minus the debts (218) world system theory: economic and political connections that tie the world's countries together (209)

key terms (chapter 1)

applied sociology: the use of sociology to solve problems—from the micro level of family relationships to the macro level of crime and pollution (12) bourgeoisie: Karl Marx's term for capitalists, those who own the means to produce wealth (17) case study: an analysis of a single event, situation, or individual (27) class conflict: Marx's term for the struggle between the proletariat (workers) and the bourgeoisie (capitalist) (17) closed-ended questions: questions that are followed by a list of possible answers to be selected by the respondent (25) common sense: those things that "everyone knows" are true (13) control group: the subjects in an experiment who are not exposed to the independent variable (29) conflict theory: a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of groups competing for scarce resources (17) dependent variable: a factor in an experiment that is changed by an independent variable (29) documents: in its narrow sense, written sources that provide data; in its extended sense, archival material of any sort, including photographs, movies, CDs, DVDs, and so on (28-29) experiment: the use of control and experimental groups and dependent and independent variables to test causation (29) experimental group: the group of subjects exposed to the independent variable in a study (29) functional analysis: a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of various parts, each with a function that, when fulfilled, contributes to society's equilibrium; also known as functionalism and structural functionalism (15) generalizability: the extent to which the findings from one group (or sample) can be generalized or applied to other groups (or populations) (27) globalization: the extensive interconnections among nations due to the expansion of capitalism (33) globalization of capitalism: capitalism (investing to make profits within a rational system) becoming the globe's dominant economic system (35) hypothesis: a statement of how variables are expected to be related to one another, often according to predictions from a theory (20) independent variable: a factor that causes a change in another variable, called the dependent variable (29) interviewer bias: effects that interviewers have on respondents that lead to biased answers (31) macro-level analysis: an examination of large-scale patterns of society (18) micro-level analysis: an examination of small-scale patterns of society (18) nonverbal interaction: communication without words through gestures, space, silence, and so on (19) objectivity: total neutrality (26) open-ended questions: questions that respondents answer in their own words (25) participant observation (or fieldwork): research in which the researcher participates in a research setting while observing what is happening in that setting (27) population: the target group to be studied (24) positivism: the application of the scientific approach to the social world (5) proletariat: Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production (6) public sociology: sociology being used for the public good; especially the sociological perspective (of how things are related to one another) guiding politicians and policy makers (13) random sample: a sample in which everyone in the target population has the same chance of being included in the study (24) rapport: a feeling of trust between researchers and the people they are studying (25) reliability: the extent to which research produces consistent or dependable results (20) research method (or research design): one of seven procedures that sociologists use to collect data: surveys, participant observation, case studies, secondary analysis, documents, experiments, and unobtrusive measures (22) respondents: the people who respond to a survey, either in interviews or by self-administered questionnaires (25) sample: the individuals intended to represent the population to be studied (24) science: the application of systematic methods to obtain knowledge and the knowledge obtained by those methods (5) scientific method: the use of objective, systematic observations to test theories (5) secondary analysis: the analysis of data that have been collected by other researchers (27) social interaction: what people do when they are in one another's presence (18) social location: the group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society (4) society: a term used by sociologists to refer to a group of people who share a culture and a territory (4) sociological perspective: understanding human behavior by placing it within its broader social context (4) sociology: the scientific study of society and human behavior (6) stratified random sample: a sample from select subgroups of the target population in which everyone in these subgroups has an equal chance of being included in the research (24) survey: the collection of data by having people answer a series of questions (24) symbolic interactionism: a theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another (13) theory: a general statement about how some parts of the world fit together and how they work; an explanation of how two or more facts are related to one another (13) unobtrusive measures: the various ways of observing people so they do not know they are being studied (31) validity: the extent to which an operational definition measures what it was intended to measure (20) variable: a factor thought to be significant for human behavior, which can vary (or change) from one case to another (20)

key terms (chapter 6)

capital punishment: the death penalty (168, 187) control theory: the idea that two control systems—inner and outer controls—work against our tendencies to deviate (171) corporate crime: crimes committed by executives in order to benefit their corporation (178) crime: the violation of norms written into law (166) criminal justice system: the system of police, courts, and prisons set up to deal with people who are accused of having committed a crime (181) cultural goals: the objectives held out as legitimate or desirable for the members of a society to achieve (175) degradation ceremony: a term coined by Harold Garfinkel to refer to a ritual whose goal is to reshape someone by stripping away that individual's self-identity and stamping a new identity in its place (173) deviance: the violation of norms (or rules or expectations) (166) differential association: Edwin Sutherland's term to indicate that people who associate with some groups learn an "excess of definitions" of deviance, increasing the likelihood that they will become deviant (169) genetic predisposition: inborn tendencies (for example, a tendency to commit deviant acts) (168) hate crime: a crime that is punished more severely because it is motivated by hatred (dislike, hostility, animosity) of someone's race-ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin (188-189) illegitimate opportunity structure: opportunities for crimes that are woven into the texture of life (177-178) institutionalized means: approved ways of reaching cultural goals (175) labeling theory: the view that the labels people are given affect their own and others' perceptions of them, thus channeling their behavior into either deviance or conformity (173) medicalize: the transformation of a human condition into a matter to be treated by physicians (190-191) medicalization of deviance: to make deviance a medical matter; a symptom of some underlying illness that needs to be treated by physicians (191) negative sanction: an expression of disapproval for breaking a norm, ranging from a mild, informal reaction such as a frown to a formal reaction such as a prison sentence or an execution (168) personality disorders: the view that a personality disturbance of some sort causes an individual to violate social norms (169) police discretion: the practice of the police, in the normal course of their duties, to either arrest or ticket someone for an offense or to overlook the matter (191) positive sanction: a reward or positive reaction for following norms, ranging from a smile to a material award (168) recidivism rate: the proportion of released convicts who are rearrested (186) serial murder: the killing of several victims in three or more separate events (187) social control: a group's formal and informal means of enforcing its norms (168) social order: a group's usual and customary social arrangements, on which its members depend and on which they base their lives (168) stigma: "blemishes" that discredit a person's claim to a "normal" identity (166) strain theory: Robert Merton's term for the strain engendered when a society socializes large numbers of people to desire a cultural goal (such as success) but withholds from some the approved means of reaching that goal; one adaptation to the strain is crime, the choice of an innovative means (one outside the approved system) to attain the cultural goal (175) street crime: crimes such as mugging, rape, and burglary (168) techniques of neutralization: ways of thinking or rationalizing that help people deflect (or neutralize) society's norms (173) white-collar crime: Edwin Sutherland's term for crimes committed by people of respectable and high social status in the course of their occupations; for example, bribery of public officials, securities violations, embezzlement, false advertising, and price fixing (178)