CH-13 Religion and Education – Sociology: A Brief Introduction : Chapter Notes

CHAPTER 13 RELIGION AND EDUCATION CHAPTER OUTLINE DURKHEIM AND THE SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO RELIGION WORLD RELIGIONS SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON RELIGION The Integrative Function of Religion Religion and Social Support Religion and Social Change Religion and Social Control: A Conflict Perspective Feminist Perspective COMPONENTS OF RELIGION Belief Ritual Experience RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION Ecclesiae Denominations Sects New Religious Movements or Cults Comparing Forms of Religious Organization SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON EDUCATION Functionalist Perspective Conflict Perspective Feminist Perspective Interactionist Perspective SCHOOLS AS FORMAL ORGANIZATIONS Bureaucratization of Schools Teachers: Employees and Instructors Student Subcultures Homeschooling SOCIAL POLICY AND RELIGION: RELIGION IN THE SCHOOLS Boxes Research Today: Mormons: A Controversial Denomination Sociology on Campus: The Debate over Title IX Taking Sociology to Work: Diane Belcher Gray, Assistant Director of Volunteer Services, New River Community College LEARNING OBJECTIVES WHAT’S NEW IN CHAPTER 13 1. Describe the sociological approach to religion. 2. Summarize the diverse nature of world religions. 3. Analyze the role of religion using the major sociological perspectives. 4. Describe the components of religious behavior. 5. Contrast the four basic forms of religious organization. 6. Analyze education using the functionalist, conflict, feminist, and interactionist sociological perspectives. 7. Describe the manifest and latent functions of schools, according to the functionalist view. 8. Summarize the inhibiting effects of education, according to the conflict perspective. 9. Describe the bureaucratization of schools and its impact on the teaching profession. • Opening excerpt from Toying with God: The World of Religious Games and Dolls, by Nikki Bado-Fralick and Rebecca Sachs Norris • Research Today box, “Mormons: A Controversial Denomination” • Discussion of the persistence of school segregation in the United States, despite recent suburbanization of African American and Hispanic families • Updated figure, “Tuition Costs, 1981–2011” • Updated Mapping Life Nationwide map, “Average Salary for Teachers” • Social Policy section, “Religion in the Schools” CHAPTER SUMMARY Émile Durkheim was perhaps the first sociologist to recognize the critical importance of religion in human societies. In Durkheim’s view, religion is a collective act and includes many forms of behavior in which people interact with others. Durkheim defined religion as a “unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things.” The sacred encompasses elements beyond everyday life that inspire awe, respect, and even fear. By contrast, the profane includes ordinary and commonplace elements. Durkheim argued that religious faiths distinguish between certain events that transcend the ordinary and the everyday world. Tremendous diversity exists in religious beliefs and practices. Overall, about 89 percent of the world’s population adheres to some form of religion. In sociological terms, religion is centrally important in most human societies. Christianity is the largest religion; Islam is second. Along with Judaism, they form the three major monotheistic religions. Hinduism is a major religion composed of multiple deities and belief in reincarnation; Buddhism was developed as a reaction to Hinduism and focuses on achieving enlightenment through meditation. Functionalists and conflict theorists evaluate religion’s impact as a social institution. Functionalists view religion as providing an integrative function for society. Religion provides a form of “societal glue,” which offers meaning and purpose for people’s lives. The integrative power of religion can be found in celebrations of life events such as weddings or funerals, or in times of crisis or confusion. Religion provides a framework for social support during stressful life events; its integrative power can also be seen in the role that religious institutions play for immigrants in the United States. Overall, religion plays a major role in social support and in helping people face calamities. Max Weber demonstrated the collective nature of religion in his pioneering work The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber’s Protestant ethic suggested an association between religious allegiance and capitalist development. Liberation theology, the use of a church in a political effort to eliminate poverty, discrimination, and other forms of injustice from a secular society, shows that clergy can sometimes be at the forefront of social change. The conflict view of religion suggests that religion impedes social change by encouraging oppressed people to focus on otherworldly concerns rather than on their immediate poverty or exploitation. Karl Marx described religion as an “opiate” that drugged the masses into submission. Marxists suggest that religious followers are lured into a “false consciousness” and that this lessens the possibility of collective political action. Feminists study the important role of women in religious socialization. Furthermore, feminist scholars bring attention to the patriarchal nature of most major world religions and the historical omission of women and women’s perspectives. Certain forms of religious behaviors help define what is sacred and profane within a society. Religious beliefs are statements to which members of a particular religion adhere. For example, the account of Adam and Eve is a religious belief that many people strongly adhere to and may even insist be taught in schools. Religious rituals are practices required or expected of members of a faith. They remind adherents of their religious duties and responsibilities. Religious experience refers to the feeling or perception of being in direct contact with the ultimate reality, such as a divine being, or being overcome with religious emotion. Sociologists find it useful to distinguish among four basic forms of religious organization. An ecclesia is a religious organization that claims to include most or all of the members of a society and is recognized as the national or official religion, such as Islam is in Saudi Arabia. A denomination is a large, organized, widely accepted religious tradition that is not officially linked to the state or government. A sect can be defined as a relatively small religious group that has broken away from some other religious organization to renew what it considers the original vision of faith. An established sect is a religious group that is the outgrowth of a sect, yet remains isolated from society. The Seventh-Day Adventists and the Amish are contemporary examples. A new religious movement (NRM) or cult is generally a small, loosely organized religious group (e.g., Heaven’s Gate) that represents either a new religion or a major innovation of an existing faith. NRMs, like sects, may transform over time into other types of religious organizations. The competitive market of religious organizations in the United States has also given rise to electronic churches and religious organizations’ use of the Internet. Education prepares citizens for the various roles demanded by other institutions, including religion. The functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives offer distinctive views when examining education as a social institution. Beyond the manifest function of transmitting knowledge, the functionalist perspective suggests that education performs the latent conservative function of transmitting the dominant culture by exposing each generation to the existing beliefs, norms, and values of that culture. Education serves the additional latent functions of promoting social and political integration, maintaining social control, and serving as an agent of change. By contrast, the conflict perspective views education as an instrument of elite domination in which a hidden curriculum subtly teaches the standards of behavior that are deemed proper by society. Schools convince subordinate groups of their inferiority, reinforce existing social class inequality, and discourage alternative and more democratic visions of society. Conflict theorists suggest that credentialism—an increase in the lowest level of education needed to enter a field—reinforces social inequality. The feminist perspective holds that the educational system of the United States has been characterized by discriminatory treatment of women. Gains in opportunity and achievement in recent decades have resulted in more women in higher education. Feminist theorists investigate the role of women’s education in economic development as a global concern. The interactionist perspective purports that the labeling of children may limit their opportunities to break away from expected roles. The term teacher-expectancy effect refers to the impact a teacher’s expectations about a student’s performance may have on the student’s actual performance. Max Weber noted five basic characteristics of bureaucracy, all of which are evident in the vast majority of schools: (1) a division of labor: specialized experts teach particular age levels of students and specific subjects; (2) a hierarchy of authority: each employee of a school system is responsible to a higher authority; (3) written rules and regulations: teachers and administrators must conform to numerous rules and regulations in the performance of their duties; (4) impersonality: bureaucratic norms may actually encourage teachers to treat all students in the same way; and (5) employment based on technical qualifications: at least in theory, the hiring of teachers and college professors is based on professional competence and expertise. Another significant recent trend in education that counters bureaucratization in schools is education over the Internet. Research on this type of learning is just beginning, so evaluation of web education as an effective learning method remains to be settled. The status of any job reflects several factors, including the level of education required, financial compensation, and the respect given the occupation by society. Teachers are feeling pressure in all three areas. While students may appear to constitute a cohesive, uniform group to some, the student subculture is actually complex and diverse. Among college students, four distinctive subcultures have been noted: collegiate, academic, vocational, and nonconformist. The cultural struggles of Black students and predominantly white universities has also been studied. An increasing number of students in the United States are being educated at home. Supporters of homeschooling believe that children can do as well or better in homeschools as they would in public schools. People are motivated to choose homeschooling by many factors. Critics believe that isolation from the larger community limits socialization and poses problems with quality assurance. The difficulty of ensuring quality control and the presence of religion in the home are also controversial topics related to home schooling. LECTURE OUTLINE Introduction • Excerpt from Toying with God: The World of Religious Games and Dolls by Nikki Bado-Fralick and Rebecca Sachs Norris I. Durkheim and the Sociological Approach to Religion • Durkheim recognized the importance of religion in human societies, focusing on the social impact. • Religion is a collective act, defined as a “unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things.” • The sacred encompasses elements beyond everyday life that inspire awe, respect, and fear. Example: rituals such as prayer or fasting • The profane includes the ordinary and commonplace, which can sometimes become sacred. Example: A candelabra becomes sacred for Jews (menorah), as do incense sticks for Taoists. II. World Religions • About 89 percent of the world’s population adheres to some religion. About 10 percent of the population is nonreligious. The level of adherence changes over time and also varies by country and age group. • Christianity is the largest single faith; Islam is the second largest. • Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are monotheistic. Islam is communalistic and often features a combination of religion and state. • Hinduism differs in that it adheres to multiple deities, though most worshippers are devoted primarily to a single deity. It is also distinguished by a belief in rebirth through reincarnation. • Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha, or Buddha. The goal of enlightenment is reached through meditation. • There are major variations within each of these faiths. III. Sociological Perspectives on Religion • Manifest functions of religion are open and stated explanations of events. • Latent functions are unintended, covert, or hidden. A. The Integrative Function of Religion • Durkheim viewed religion as an integrative power or “societal glue” that holds society together. Example: religious rituals surrounding celebrations (i.e., weddings) or loss (i.e., funerals) • The integrative impact is evident for immigrants and variant lifestyles in the U.S. • Religious loyalties can be dysfunctional. Example: Nazi Germany and Jews • Modern-day nations such as Lebanon (Muslims versus Christians) and Northern Ireland (Roman Catholics versus Protestants) have been torn by clashes that are in large part based on religion. B. Religion and Social Support • Idea of divine intervention allows people to face calamities as “God’s will,” thus having an ultimate benefit or purpose. • The religious function of social support is also apparent in people’s use of social media through sites like Facebook. C. Religion and Social Change 1. The Weberian Thesis • Max Weber examined the connection between religious allegiance and capitalist development. His findings were presented in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. • The Protestant ethic is an emphasis on a disciplined work ethic, this-worldly concerns (i.e., material things), and a rational orientation to life. A by-product of the Protestant ethic is to accumulate savings for future investment. • Weber stressed that the collective nature of religion has social consequences for society as a whole. • Conflict theorists stress that Weber’s theory should not be used as an analysis of mature capitalism. 2. Liberation Theology • Clergy in the forefront of social change • Liberation theology is the use of a church in a political effort to eliminate poverty, discrimination, and other forms of injustice in a secular society. Example: Roman Catholic activists in Latin America • Liberation theology suggests a moral responsibility to stand against oppression. • Critics charge that liberation theology ignores personal and spiritual needs. Some Catholics in Latin America are converting to mainstream Protestant faiths or to Mormonism. D. Religion and Social Control: A Conflict Perspective • Marx suggested that religion impeded social change by encouraging oppressed people to focus on other-worldly concerns rather than on their immediate poverty or exploitation. • Religion is an “opiate” harmful to oppressed people. Example: White slaveowners forbade slaves in the U.S. to practice native religions, instead pushing Christianity, which encouraged obedience. • Marx believed that religion’s promotion of social stability perpetuates social inequality. Example: Women are typically found in subservient positions both within religious institutions and at home. • Marxists suggest that by inducing a “false consciousness” among followers, religion lessens collective political action. E. Feminist Perspective • Religion serves to subordinate women. • Women play a fundamental role in the religious socialization of children. • Most faiths have a long tradition of exclusively male leadership. Women make up 34 percent of the students enrolled in theological schools in the U.S., but account for only 21 percent of the clergy. They tend to have shorter careers and to serve outside of congregational leadership. IV. Components of Religion • All religions have certain elements in common that are expressed distinctively in each faith and across cultures. A. Belief • Religious beliefs are statements to which members of a particular religion adhere. • Fundamentalism is an emphasis on doctrinal conformity and the literal interpretation of sacred texts. Fundamentalists vary widely in behavior. • In general, spirituality is not as strong in industrialized nations as in developing ones, though the United States is an exception to this trend. B. Ritual • Religious rituals are practices required or expected of members of a faith. Example: Muslims’ hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca • Rituals honor the divine power of the religion, affirm beliefs, and remind adherents of their religious duties. • Religion develops distinctive norms to structure behavior, and uses sanctions to reward or penalize behavior. Example: bar mitzvah gifts; expulsion for violating religious norms C. Experience • Religious experience refers to the feeling or perception of being in direct contact with the ultimate reality, such as the divine being, or of being overcome with religious emotion. Example: being “born again” • Among Christians, Southern Baptists are most likely to report such experiences, compared to Catholics or Episcopalians. V. Religious Organization • The collective nature of religion has led to many forms of religious association. A. Ecclesiae • An ecclesia is a religious organization that claims to include most or all of the members of a society and is recognized as the national or official religion. Example: Islam in Saudi Arabia • Generally, ecclesiae are conservative and do not challenge the leaders of secular government. B. Denominations • A denomination is a large, organized religion not officially linked to the state or government. • Like an ecclesia, it tends to have an explicit set of beliefs, a defined system of authority, and a generally respected position in society. But a denomination lacks the official recognition and power held by an ecclesia. • Roman Catholicism is the largest single denomination in the U.S. (22 percent of adults in the U.S.). • Collectively, Protestants account for about 45 percent (as of 2010) of the U.S. adult population. C. Sects • A sect is a relatively small religious group that has broken away from some other religious organization to renew what it considers the original version of the faith. • Sects are fundamentally at odds with society and do not seek to become established national religions. • They require intensive commitment and demonstrations of belief by members. • Sects are often short-lived. • An established sect is a religious group that is an outgrowth of a sect. Examples: Hutterites, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and Amish D. New Religious Movements or Cults • A new religious movement (NRM) or cult is generally a small, secretive religious group that represents either a new religion or a major innovation of an existing faith. • NRMs are similar to sects in that they tend to be small and are often viewed as less respectable than more established faiths. Example: Heaven’s Gate • Like sects, NRMs may be transformed over time into other types of religious organizations. Example: The Christian Science Church began as an NRM, but today exhibits the characteristics of a denomination. E. Comparing Forms of Religious Organization • Ecclesiae, denominations, and sects are best viewed as types along a continuum rather than as mutually exclusive categories. NRMs generally lie outside the continuum because they generally define themselves in terms of a new view of life rather than in terms of existing religious faiths. • Sociologists look at religion from an organizational perspective, which tends to stress the stability of religious adherence. • Electronic churches are a newer form of religious organization facilitated by cable television and satellite transmissions. Example: televangelists • The electronic church has expanded through the Internet, which offers sites online to augment or serve as substitutes for going to church in person. Example: GodTube VI. Sociological Perspectives on Education • In the past few decades, increasing proportions of people have obtained high school diplomas, college degrees, and advanced professional degrees in the U.S. A. Functionalist Perspective • The most basic manifest function of education is the transmission of knowledge. Another is conferral of status. • Latent functions include transmitting culture, promoting social and political integration, maintaining social control, and serving as agents of change. 1. Transmitting Culture • Education performs a conservative function through the transmission of the dominant culture. • Schooling exposes young people to existing beliefs, norms, and values. • Schooling teaches respect for social control and reverence of institutions. 2. Promoting Social and Political Integration • Diverse racial, ethnic, and religious groups are transformed into a group sharing a common identity. Example: socializing the children of immigrants into the norms, values, and beliefs of the dominant culture • An integrative function is the promotion of a common language. 3. Maintaining Social Control • Students learn punctuality, discipline, scheduling, and responsible work habits. • Schools direct and restrict student aspirations in a manner reflective of societal values and prejudices. Example: Males are directed into sciences and females into elementary teaching. 4. Serving as an Agent of Change • Sex education classes and affirmative action in admissions illustrate the efforts of education to stimulate social change. • Formal education is associated with openness to new ideas and critical analysis. • Formal education stresses both the importance of qualifying and the need at least to question established truths and practices. B. Conflict Perspective • The conflict perspective views education as an instrument of elite domination. • Education socializes students into values dictated by the powerful and stifles creativity and individualism. • Inhibiting effects are apparent in the hidden curriculum, credentialism, and bestowal of status. 1. The Hidden Curriculum • The term hidden curriculum refers to standards of behavior that are deemed proper by society and are taught subtly in schools. • The need for control and discipline takes precedence over learning. • Children must not speak until the teacher calls on them. • They must concentrate on their own work and not work together. • Value is placed on pleasing the teacher and remaining quiet. 2. Credentialism • The term credentialism is used to describe the increase in the lowest level of education needed to enter a field. • Employers may use credentialism as a discriminating factor by raising degree requirements for a position. • Conflict theorists suggest credentialism reinforces social inequality. 3. Bestowal of Status • Both functionalists and conflict theorists agree that schooling encourages social stratification, but conflict theorists focus on the idea that schools sort pupils according to their social class backgrounds. • Tracking refers to the practice of placing students in specific curriculum groups on the basis of test scores. • The correspondence principle refers to promoting values expected of individuals in each class. Example: working-class children placed in vocational tracks C. Feminist Perspective • Oberlin College was the first institution of higher learning to admit women, in 1833. • Many female students were encouraged to serve men and become wives and mothers. • Educational discrimination is evident in university professorship and administrative positions, which are predominately held by men. • Women have made great strides in one particular area: the proportion of women who continue their schooling. D. Interactionist Perspective • Labeling of children has an impact on school performance. • The teacher expectancy effect refers to a teacher’s expectations of a student’s performance affecting the student’s actual performance. • Studies have shown that teachers will wait longer for answers from high achievers and are more likely to give them a second chance. VII. Schools as Formal Organizations • Large-scale school systems are formal organizations, in the same way as factories, hospitals, and business firms. They are influenced by the market of potential students. A. Bureaucratization of Schools • Weber noted five basic characteristics of bureaucracy, which are evident in the vast majority of schools: (1) A division of labor: specialized experts teach particular age levels of students and specific subjects (2) A hierarchy of authority: each employee of a school system is responsible to a higher authority (3) Written rules and regulations: teachers and administrators must conform to numerous rules and regulations in the performance of their duties (4) Impersonality: large class sizes make it difficult for teachers to give individual attention to students (5) Employment based on technical qualifications: at least in theory, the hiring of teachers and college professors is based on professional competence and expertise • Functionalists take a generally positive view of the bureaucratization of education. Conflict theorists argue that the trend toward more centralized education has harmful consequences for disadvantaged persons. • School choice programs and Internet-based courses counter the bureaucratization of schools. B. Teachers: Employers and Instructors • Conflicts exist among serving as an instructor, disciplinarian, and an employee. • Between a quarter and a third of new teachers quit within their first three years, and as many as half leave poor urban schools in their first five years. • The appeal of teaching for college students is dramatically less than it was fifty years ago. • Salary considerations may impact those contemplating teaching. C. Student Subcultures • Schools provide for the social and recreational needs of children. • Schools aid in the development of interpersonal relationships. Example: College students may meet future husbands and wives. • High school cliques may develop based on race, social class, physical attractiveness, placement in courses, athletic ability, and leadership roles. • Trow and Horowitz both identified four ideal types of subcultures for college students: (1) Collegiate: focuses on having fun and socializing (2) Academic: identifies with the intellectual concerns of the faculty and values knowledge for its own sake (3) Vocational: views college as a means of obtaining degrees essential for advancement (4) Nonconformist: seeks out ideas that may or may not relate to studies • Feagin: Black students at predominantly white universities face “pervasive whiteness.” Black students at such institutions experience both blatant and subtle racial discrimination, which has a cumulative effect that can seriously damage students’ confidence. D. Homeschooling • About 1.5 million American children are now educated at home by a parent. • Parents may choose to homeschool their children because of academic concerns, concerns about peer pressure, or fears about violence in schools. • Whether or not homeschooled children have adequate opportunities for socialization is a controversial issue. • Quality control is an issue in homeschooling, as is the presence of religion. • Parents who homeschool their children are more likely to have higher incomes and educational attainments. VIII. (Box) Social Policy and Religion: Religion in the Schools A. Looking at the Issue • Creationists believe in the biblical account of the creation of humans and the universe some 10,000 years ago—at odds with scientific evidence. They want this theory taught in the schools as at least an alternative to the theory of evolution. • Issues go to the heart of the First Amendment’s provisions regarding religious freedom. • In Engle v. Vitale, 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that nondenominational prayer in New York schools was unconstitutional. Subsequent decisions have allowed voluntary school prayer by students. • The general public in the U.S. is broadly supportive of creationism and highly skeptical of evolutionary theory. • Intelligent design, the idea that life is so complex it must have been created with divine purpose, has been advanced as a way of getting around Supreme Court decisions. It is not based explicitly on Biblical accounts, but it is largely accepted by fundamentalists. B. Applying Sociology • Supporters of school prayer believe the Supreme Court has driven too big a wedge between church and state and argue that prayer can provide socialization and spiritual guidance. • Opponents of school prayer argue that the religious majority may impose specific viewpoints onto religious minorities. C. Initiating Policy • Because public school education is mostly a financial issue, most initiatives and lobbying occur at the state and local level. • The Supreme Court has taken a hard line on religion in the schools. • Debate is still strong and ongoing. Critics worry that fundamentalist activism may one day lead to sectarian religious control of public education. KEY TERMS Correspondence principle The tendency of schools to promote the values expected of individuals in each social class and to perpetuate social class divisions from one generation to the next. Creationism A literal interpretation of the Bible regarding the creation of humanity and the universe, used to argue that evolution should not be presented as established scientific fact. Credentialism An increase in the lowest level of education needed to enter a field. Denomination A large, organized religion that is not officially linked to the state or government. Ecclesia A religious organization that claims to include most or all members of a society and is recognized as the national or official religion. Education A formal process of learning in which some people consciously teach, while others adopt the social role of learner. Established sect A religious group that is the outgrowth of a sect, yet remains isolated from society. Fundamentalism An emphasis on doctrinal conformity and the literal interpretation of sacred texts. Hidden curriculum Standards of behavior that are deemed proper by society and are taught subtly in schools. Intelligent design (ID) The idea that life is so complex that it could only have been created by intelligent design. Liberation theology Use of a church, primarily Roman Catholic, in a political effort to eliminate poverty, discrimination, and other forms of injustice from a secular society. New religious movement (NRM) or cult A small, secretive religious group that represents either a new religion or a major innovation of an existing faith. Profane The ordinary and commonplace elements of life, as distinguished from the sacred. Protestant ethic Max Weber’s term for the disciplined work ethic, this-worldly concerns, and rational orientation to life emphasized by John Calvin and his followers. Religion A unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things. Religious belief A statement to which members of a particular religion adhere. Religious experience The feeling or perception of being in direct contact with the ultimate reality, such as a divine being, or of being overcome with religious emotion. Religious ritual A practice required or expected of members of a faith. Sacred Elements beyond everyday life that inspire awe, respect, and even fear. Sect A relatively small religious group that has broken away from some other religious organization to renew what it considers the original vision of the faith. Secularization The process through which religion’s influence on other social institutions diminishes. Teacher-expectancy effect The impact that a teacher’s expectations about a student’s performance may have on the student’s actual achievements. Tracking The practice of placing students in specific curriculum groups on the basis of their test scores and other criteria. CHAPTER 14 GOVERNMENT AND THE ECONOMY CHAPTER OUTLINE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS Capitalism Socialism The Informal Economy POWER AND AUTHORITY Power Types of Authority TYPES OF GOVERNMENT Monarchy Oligarchy Dictatorship and Totalitarianism Democracy POLITICAL BEHAVIOR IN THE UNITED STATES Participation and Apathy Race and Gender in Politics MODELS OF POWER STRUCTURE IN THE UNITED STATES Power Elite Models Pluralist Model WAR AND PEACE War Peace Terrorism CHANGING ECONOMIES The Changing Face of the Workforce Deindustrialization The Temporary Workforce Offshoring SOCIAL POLICY AND THE ECONOMY: MICROFINANCING Boxes Sociology in the Global Community: Sovereignty in the Aloha State Research Today: Why Don’t More Young People Vote? Our Wired World: Politicking Online Taking Sociology to Work: Joseph W. Drummond, Management Analyst, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command Research Today: Affirmative Action LEARNING OBJECTIVES WHAT’S NEW IN CHAPTER 14 1. Describe capitalism, socialism, and the informal economy. 2. Explain how power operates in society. 3. Compare the three types of authority. 4. Contrast the various types of government. 5. Summarize political participation and apathy in the United States. 6. Describe the influence of race and gender on politics in the United States. 7. Compare and contrast the various models of power structure in the United States. 8. Summarize the various sociological approaches to war and peace. 9. Describe the nature and extent of changing economies. • Chapter-opening excerpt from Who Rules America? The Triumph of the Corporate Rich, Seventh Edition, by G. William Domhoff • Our Wired World box, “Politicking Online” • Subsection on the temporary workforce • Discussion of “reshoring,” a countertrend to offshoring of U.S. manufacturing and service centers CHAPTER SUMMARY Two basic types of economic systems distinguish contemporary industrial societies: capitalism and socialism. Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are held largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits. The prevailing early form of capitalism was laissez-faire, in which people could compete freely, with minimal government intervention in the economy. Current capitalism tolerates monopolies, which occur when a single business firm controls the market. In a socialist economy, the means of production and distribution in a society are collectively rather than privately owned. The basic objective of the system is to meet people’s needs rather than to maximize profits. Communism refers to an economic system under which all property is communally owned and no social distinctions are made on the basis of people’s ability to produce. In the informal economy, transfers of money, goods, or services take place but are not reported to the government. Participants in this type of economy avoid taxes and government regulations. Power is at the heart of a political system. Max Weber defined power as the ability to exercise one’s will over others. Weber identified three ideal types of authority. Legitimate power based on traditional authority is conferred by custom and accepted practice. Power made legitimate by law is known as rational-legal authority, in which authority is derived from written rules and regulations. Charismatic authority refers to power made legitimate by a leader’s exceptional personal or emotional appeal to his or her followers. There are five basic types of government: monarchy, in which a single member of a royal family holds power; oligarchy, in which a few individuals rule; dictatorship, in which a single person has near total power; totalitarianism, a dictatorship in which control over people’s lives is overwhelming; and democracy, or rule by the people. In general, people are becoming more apathetic in their participation in the political process. Studies reveal that only 8 percent of people in the United States belong to a political club or organization. Furthermore, in the 2012 general election, voter turnout was only around 61.8 percent of all eligible voters. Political strength is particularly lacking among marginalized groups. Women and racial and ethnic minorities continue to be underrepresented in positions of political power, even though current levels of elected offices held by minorities and women represent a high-water mark. Karl Marx and sociologist C. Wright Mills argued that power rests in the hands of a few, both inside and outside government. This group is known as the power elite; Mills argues that this group operates as a self-conscious, cohesive unit. Sociologist G. William Domhoff suggested that the elites of corporate communities and leaders of policy-formation organizations are largely White male upper-class groups that exercise a vast amount of power over other groups. Critics charge that power is more widely shared than the elite model of power relations contends. According to the pluralist model of power relations, many competing groups within the community have access to government, so that no single group is dominant. Socialists that adhere to the pluralist model agree that power is not evenly distributed in the U.S. There have been strong criticisms of all the power-elite models and the pluralist model. Conflict is a central aspect of social relations. Too often it becomes ongoing and violent, engulfing innocent bystanders as well as intentional participants. War is defined as conflict between organizations that possess trained combat forces equipped with deadly weapons. Sociologists have considered peace to be both the absence of war and a proactive effort to develop cooperative relations among nations. Sociologists and other social scientists who draw on sociological theory and research have tried to identify conditions that deter war. Terrorism is the use or threat of violence against random or symbolic targets in pursuit of political aims. The trend in the U.S. economy has been concentration of ownership by giant corporations. Another trend is a changing workforce that includes more women and minorities, a workforce that increasingly reflects the diversity of the population. Deindustrialization refers to the systematic, widespread withdrawal of investment in basic aspects of productivity, such as factories and plants. The term downsizing was introduced in 1987 to refer to reductions taken in a company’s workforce as part of deindustrialization. Both downsizing and deindustrialization have significant social costs. There is a trend toward growing use of part-time workers, including a growth in workers that embrace precarious work—employment that is poorly paid, and from the worker’s perspective, insecure and unprotected. A trend toward offshoring has increased the rate at which companies transfer work to foreign contractors. Offshoring is not inevitable; a recent countertrend called reshoring has involved the bringing back of manufacturing jobs and service centers to the United States. LECTURE OUTLINE Introduction • Excerpt from Who Rules America? The Triumph of the Corporate Rich, 7th edition, by G. William Domhoff I. Economic Systems • Economic system: a social institution through which goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed • Political system: the social institution that is founded on a recognized set of procedures for implementing and achieving society’s goals • The Industrial Revolution (roughly 1760 to 1830) brought about changes in the social organization of the workplace and introduced a new social structure: the industrial society, a society that depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services. • Industrialization has greatly increased the wealth of nations. • Two basic systems characterize industrial societies: capitalism and socialism. A. Capitalism • Capitalism: an economic system in which the means of production are held largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits • After the Industrial Revolution, the prevailing form was laissez-faire: People could compete freely, with minimal government intervention in the economy. • Current forms of capitalism still feature private ownership and maximization of profits, but governments now broadly regulate capitalist economies. • Contemporary capitalism tolerates monopolies, which exist when a single business firm controls the market. Some systems, like the U.S., outlaw monopolies. • Conflict theorists point out that even when monopolies are outlawed, competition is still much more restricted than one might expect in what is called a free enterprise system. • Damage to the Congo demonstrates problems with unfettered global capitalism. B. Socialism • Socialist theory was refined in the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. • As an ideal type, a socialist economic system attempts to eliminate economic exploitation. • Under socialism, the means of production and distribution in a society are collectively rather than privately owned. • In practice, there is wide variation in the extent to which socialist systems tolerate private ownership. • Communism refers to an economic system under which all property is communally owned and no social distinctions are made on the basis of people’s ability to produce. • All 20th century “communist” nations fall far short of the ideal type in application. • There was broad collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in the 1980s and 1990s. C. The Informal Economy • Informal economy: transfers of money, goods, or services take place but are not reported to the government • The informal economy in the U.S. accounts for about 8 percent of total economic activity. • Functionalists contend that bureaucratic regulations sometimes contribute to the rise of an informal, or underground, economy. This type is dysfunctional for participants and workers. • The longer a worker remains in the informal economy, the less likely that person is to make the transition to the formal economy. II. Power and Authority • The struggle for power and authority inevitably involves politics: “who gets what, when, and how.” A. Power • Max Weber defined power as the ability to exercise one’s will over others. • Three basic sources of power within a political system are: force (actual or threatened use of coercion to impose one’s will over another), influence (power through persuasion), and authority (institutionalized power recognized by the people over whom it is exercised). B. Types of Authority • Weber developed three ideal types of authority. 1. Traditional Authority • This is legitimate power conferred by custom and accepted practice. Example: a king or queen • Authority rests in custom, not personal characteristics, competence, or even written law. 2. Rational-Legal Authority • This is power made legitimate by law. Example: the U.S. Constitution 3. Charismatic Authority • This refers to power made legitimate by a leader’s exceptional personal or emotional appeal. Example: Joan of Arc or Martin Luther King Jr. • Authority is derived more from belief than the actual qualities of leaders. • Carl Couch points out the media have facilitated the development of charismatic authority (interactionist perspective). III. Types of Government A. Monarchy • In a monarchy, a single member of a royal family holds power. B. Oligarchy • In an oligarchy, a few individuals hold all power. • This method of governing flourished in ancient Greece and Egypt, and currently exists in the leadership of the People’s Republic of China C. Dictatorship and Totalitarianism • A single person has near total power to make and enforce laws in a dictatorship. Power is typically seized. • In a totalitarian state, there is virtually complete government control and surveillance over all aspects of a society’s social and political life. Example: Nazi Germany D. Democracy • Democracy is rule by the people. • In the U.S. and in most modern democracies, popular rule is generally maintained through representative democracy, a form of government in which certain individuals are selected to speak for the people. IV. Political Behavior in the United States A. Participation and Apathy • About 8 percent of the people in the U.S. belong to a political club or organization. Not more than 20 percent has ever contacted an official of national, state, or local government about a political issue. • Voters of all ages appear less enthusiastic than ever about elections. Example: Only 63.6 percent of citizens voted in 2008 presidential election, well below the 80 percent of 1896. In 2012, participation fell to 61.8 percent. • Participation in politics in general may be increasing, especially on the Internet. • Lower voter turnout is evident among racial and ethnic minorities and the poor. • Low participation makes the government less accountable. B. Race and Gender in Politics • Political strength is lacking in marginalized groups, such as women and racial and ethnic minorities. Examples: Women did not get the vote until 1920; African Americans were disenfranchised until 1965. • As of 2014, 20 out of 100 U.S. senators were women; 2 were Latino and 2 were Asian Americans, leaving 79 White non-Hispanic men. • Today, record-high numbers of Blacks and Latinos hold elective office. These numbers are still relatively low, even though they represent a high-water mark for these groups. • “Fiesta politics” refers to a tendency of White power brokers to visit racial and ethnic minority communities only when they need electoral support and want photo ops. • Media are more likely to report on a female candidate’s personal life, appearance, and personality than a male candidate’s. • Women do not account for half the members of the national legislature in any country except Rwanda. The United States ranked 95th among 187 nations in the proportion of women serving as national legislators at the end of 2011. V. Models of Power Structure in the United States A. Power Elite Models • Marx believed that small numbers of capitalists dominate society. • Government officials and military leaders are servants of the capitalist class. • In the elite model of power relations, society is ruled by a small group of individuals who share a common set of political and economic interests. 1. Mills’s Model • The power elite are leaders of military, industry, and governmental agencies that collectively control the fate of the U.S. • Mills suggested that the economically powerful coordinate their maneuvers with military and political establishments to serve their common interests; this concept is a striking difference from the work of Karl Marx. • Mills failed to clarify when the elite opposes protests and when it tolerates them. He also failed to provide detailed case studies. • In recent scandals that have rocked major corporations such as Enron and AIG over the past 15 years, observers have noted that members of the business elite are closely interrelated. 2. Domhoff’s Model • Domhoff agrees that the power elite runs the U.S., and notes that this group is mainly White, male, and upper class. • A corporate-conservative coalition has played a large role in political parties. A liberal-labor coalition is based in unions, environmental organizations, and minority groups. • Domhoff’s model reflects the influence of interest groups. B. Pluralist Model • No single group is dominant. Several conflicting groups have access to government and play a role in decision making. • Dahl suggested that community power is diffuse. • Critics like Domhoff have charged that pluralists have failed to trace how local elites who were prominent in decision making belonged to a larger national ruling class. • The pluralist model agrees with the elite perspective that power is unevenly distributed. VI. War and Peace A. War • War is a conflict between organizations that possess trained combat forces equipped with deadly weapons. • The global view studies how and why two or more nations become engaged in military conflict. • The nation-state view stresses the interaction of internal political, socioeconomic, and cultural forces. From the nation-state perspective, there is little to be said for the supposed socioeconomic benefits of war. • The micro view focuses on the social impact of war on individuals and the groups they belong to. War can bring out the best and worst in people. B. Peace • Peace is considered both the absence of war and a proactive effort to develop cooperative relations among nations. • In the 1990s, 90 percent of the world’s armed conflicts occurred within rather than between states. • The Global Peace Index measures 24 indicators. • Sociologist have tried to identify conditions that deter war, such as international trade; charities and activist groups; and strong mutual security agreements. C. Terrorism • Terrorism is the use or threat of violence against random or symbolic targets in pursuit of political aims. • Contemporary terrorism makes strong use of the media. • Governments worldwide have renewed their efforts to fight terrorism since September 11, 2001, but the public worries about the increased surveillance of all citizens. VII. Changing Economies A. The Changing Face of the Workforce • The U.S. workforce is constantly changing. Significant shifts occurred with the entering of women during WWII and the entering of more minorities with the civil rights movement of the 1960s. • Sociologists and labor specialists foresee a workforce increasingly composed of women and racial and ethnic minorities. • The workforce increasingly reflects the diversity of the population. B. Deindustrialization • Deindustrialization refers to the systematic, widespread withdrawal of investment in basic aspects of productivity, such as factories and plants. Changes include urban to suburban relocation, and relocation abroad. • Deindustrialization can also take the form of corporate restructuring. The term downsizing was introduced in 1987 to refer to reductions taken in a company’s workforce as part of deindustrialization. • There are extreme costs associated with deindustrialization and downsizing. C. The Temporary Workforce • There is greater and greater reliance on the part-time workforce in the U.S. The economic downturn accelerated this trend. • There is less protection for many workers in slow economic times, and an increase in precarious work—employment that is poorly paid, and from the worker’s perspective, insecure and unprotected. D. Offshoring • Offshoring is a new trend in which companies transfer work to foreign contractors. • This formerly involved just industrial work, but now office and professional jobs are offshored as well. • Some reshoring occurs, where jobs are brought back into the U.S. • Offshoring can be viewed as functional to society because it increases business efficiency; but conflict theorists charge that it enhances social inequality. VIII. (Box) Social Policy and the Economy: Microfinancing A. Looking at the Issue • Microfinancing is the lending of small sums of money to the poor so they can work their way out of poverty. Borrowers use the money to start small businesses in the informal economy. • Sometimes referred to as “banking the unbanked,” microfinancing was the brainchild of Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus (pronounced Iunus). The idea came to Yunus when he reached into his pocket to help local villagers who asked him for help and subsequently established the Grameen Bank. • Working through local halls or meeting places, the Grameen Bank has now extended credit to nearly 7 million people. The idea has spread and has even been underwritten by over a thousand for-profit banks and multinational organizations. According to recent estimates, microfinancing is now reaching 91 million people in 100 countries. • Critics charge that some lenders are taking advantage of the poor. B. Applying Sociology • Interactionists have shown there is more to microfinance than money. A study done by microfinance expert Daryl Collins and his colleagues (2009) shows how even with modest assistance, poor people can significantly improve their circumstances through mutual support. • Drawing on world systems analysis (see Chapter 9), sociologist Marina Karides (2010) contrasts microfinancing with the Western model of economic development, in which multinational corporations based in core countries take advantage of the low wages and natural resources in periphery and semi-periphery countries. • Because an estimated 90 percent of the recipients of microcredit are women, feminist theorists are especially interested in the growth of microfinancing. C. Initiating Policy • Even supporters of microfinancing acknowledge the need to reduce overlending and monitor the success of small loans in helping borrowers to escape poverty. Some indicators suggest that many borrowers do not achieve self-sufficiency. If that is true, lenders should increase their oversight and attempt to identify best practices. • Lenders should also work with political leaders. In an attempt to combat profiteering, officials of one state in India required all loans to be approved by the government, and their eventual repayment to be made in person before a public official. KEY TERMS Affirmative action Positive efforts to recruit minority group members or women for jobs, promotions, and educational opportunities. Authority Institutionalized power that is recognized by the people over whom it is exercised. Capitalism An economic system in which the means of production are held largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits. Charismatic authority Power made legitimate by a leader’s exceptional personal or emotional appeal to his or her followers. Color-blind racism The use of the principle of race neutrality to defend a racially unequal status quo. Communism As an ideal type, an economic system under which all property is communally owned and no social distinctions are made on the basis of people’s ability to produce. Deindustrialization The systematic, widespread withdrawal of investment in basic aspects of productivity, such as factories and plants. Democracy In a literal sense, government by the people. Dictatorship A government in which one person has nearly total power to make and enforce laws. Downsizing Reductions taken in a company’s workforce as part of deindustrialization. Economic system The social institution through which goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed. Elite model A view of society as being ruled by a small group of individuals who share a common set of political and economic interests. Force The actual or threatened use of coercion to impose one’s will on others. Industrial society A society that depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services. Influence The exercise of power through a process of persuasion. Informal economy Transfers of money, goods, or services that are not reported to the government. Laissez-faire A form of capitalism under which people compete freely, with minimal government intervention in the economy. Microfinancing Lending small sums of money to the poor so they can work their way out of poverty. Monarchy A form of government headed by a single member of a royal family, usually a king, queen, or some other hereditary ruler. Monopoly Control of a market by a single business firm. Offshoring The transfer of work to foreign contractors. Oligarchy A form of government in which a few individuals rule. Peace The absence of war, or more broadly, a proactive effort to develop cooperative relations among nations. Pluralist model A view of society in which many competing groups within the community have access to government, so that no single group is dominant. Political system The social institution that is founded on a recognized set of procedures for implementing and achieving society’s goals. Politics In Harold Lasswell’s words, “who gets what, when, and how.” Power The ability to exercise one’s will over others. Power elite A small group of military, industrial, and government leaders who control the fate of the United States. Precarious work Employment that is poorly paid, and from the worker’s perspective, insecure and unprotected. Rational-legal authority Power made legitimate by law. Representative democracy A form of government in which certain individuals are selected to speak for the people. Socialism An economic system under which the means of production and distribution are collectively owned. Sovereignty movement The effort by the indigenous people of Hawai`i to win self-government, as well as the restoration of—or compensation for—their ancestral lands. Terrorism The use or threat of violence against random or symbolic targets in pursuit of political aims. Totalitarianism Virtually complete government control and surveillance over all aspects of a society’s social and political life. Traditional authority Legitimate power conferred by custom and accepted practice. War Conflict between organizations that possess trained combat forces equipped with deadly weapons. CHAPTER 15 HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT CHAPTER OUTLINE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON HEALTH AND ILLNESS Functionalist Perspective Conflict Perspective Interactionist Perspective Labeling Perspective SOCIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY AND HEALTH Social Class Race and Ethnicity Gender Age HEATLH CARE IN THE UNITED STATES A Historical View Physicians, Nurses, and Patients Alternatives to Traditional Health Care The Role of Government WHAT IS MENTAL ILLNESS? Theoretical Models of Mental Disorders Patterns of Care SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE ENVIRONMENT Human Ecology Conflict Perspective on the Environment Ecological Modernization Environmental Justice ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES Air Pollution Water Pollution Climate Change The Impact of Globalization SOCIAL POLICY AND THE ENVIRONMENT: ENVIRONMENTALISM Boxes Taking Sociology to Work: Lola Adedokun, Independent Consultant, Health Care Research Research Today: Health Care, Retail Style Research Today: Women as Physicians and Surgeons LEARNING OBJECTIVES WHAT’S NEW IN CHAPTER 15 1. Analyze health and illness using the functionalist, conflict, interactionist, and labeling approaches. 2. Explain social epidemiology. 3. Describe how social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and age can affect the overall health of populations. 4. Describe the development and current system of health care in the United States. 5. Summarize alternatives to traditional health care and explain the role of government in health care. 6. Analyze the environment using the human ecology, conflict, and environmental justice perspectives. 7. Describe the nature and extent of environmental problems, including how globalization and technology affect the environment. 8. Analyze the impact of environmentalism on social policy. • Figure, “AIDS by the Numbers” • Section on mental illness, with subsections on (a) theoretical models of mental disorders, including the medical model and labeling theory, and (b) patterns of care; and Use Your Sociological Imagination exercise • Subsection on climate change, with key term treatment of climate change and global warming • Discussion of migrations caused by climate change in the western United States CHAPTER SUMMARY The World Health Organization has defined health as a “state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” Social factors may contribute to the evaluations of how we perceive healthy or sick people. The functionalist perspective accents the reciprocal obligations of a person viewed as ill and those in charge of treatment. The sick role refers to societal expectations about the attitudes and behavior of a person viewed as being ill. Talcott Parsons outlined the functionalist view of the behavior required of people considered “sick.” Physicians function as gatekeepers for the sick role. Critics of the functionalist view charge that patients’ judgments about their own health may be related to gender, age, social class, and ethnicity. Conflict theorists use the term medicalization of society to refer to the growing role of medicine as a major institution of social control. Viewed from a conflict perspective, there are glaring inequalities in health care delivery for various populations within the United States. In examining health, illness, and medicine as a social institution, interactionists generally focus on the micro-level study of the roles played by health care professionals and patients. They emphasize that the patient should not always be viewed as passive. Labeling theorists suggest that the designation of “healthy” or “ill” involves social definition of others. Specifically, health care professionals have the power to define certain people as “sick.” Such labels commonly reshape how others treat us and how we see ourselves. Social epidemiology is the study of the distribution of disease, impairment, and general health status across a population. Studies in the United States and other countries have consistently shown that people in the lower classes have higher rates of mortality and disability. The poor economic and environmental conditions of groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans are manifested in high morbidity and mortality rates. Research indicates that in comparison to men, women experience a higher prevalence of many illnesses, although their life expectancy is longer. Older people in the United States use health services more often than younger people, and their disproportionate use of the health care system is a critical factor in discussions about reforms in the health care system. Historically, health care in the United States was characterized by self-help, prevention, and a variety of approaches to practice and types of practitioners. With the growth of the American Medical Association, the medical model became standard. By the 1920s, doctors gained significant control of medical practice, financing, and policy while excluding other practitioners. Critics of the medical model assert that medical school emphasizes technical and clinical skill, dehumanizing doctor–patient relationships. Nurses are expected to remain subordinate. Gender appears to contribute to lower status of female physicians. Holistic medicine, in which the practitioner considers the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual characteristics of the patient, is an increasing challenge to the medical establishment. Methods include massage, chiropractic medicine, acupuncture, herbs, nutrition, visualization, and exercise. Approximately one-third of U.S. adults use some type of alternative therapy. However, most alternative therapies are typically not covered by health insurance. Government funding, especially via Medicare and Medicaid payments, has had a significant effect on the health care system. Mental disorders affect not just individuals and their families, but society as a whole. The term mental illness should be reserved for a disorder of the brain that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, and ability to interact with others. Traditionally, in the U.S., people have maintained a suspicious and negative view of mental disorders. Despite the stigmatization of mental illness, more people are seeking care and professional assistance than in the past. According to the medical model, mental illness is rooted in biological causes that can be treated through medical intervention. In contrast, labeling theory suggests that some behaviors that are viewed as mental illnesses may not really be illnesses. For most of human history, care of mental illness was in the hands of the family, but government has recently taken a strong role in mental illness. The government has increased its own direct care of mental illness and compelled insurance companies to extend benefits for mental health care. Human ecology is an area of study that is concerned with the interrelationships between people and their spatial setting and physical environment. Scientific research has linked pollutants in the physical environment to people’s health and behavior. From the conflict perspective, world systems analysis shows how a growing share of the human and natural resources of developing countries is being redistributed to the core industrialized nations. This process only intensifies the destruction of natural resources in poorer regions of the world. Less affluent nations are being forced to exploit their mineral deposits, forests, and fisheries in order to meet their debt obligations. Proponents of ecological modernization, an approach that emerged in the 1980s, focus on the alignment of environmentally favorable practices with economic self-interest through constant adaptation and restructuring. Environmental justice is a legal strategy based on claims that racial minorities are subjected disproportionately to environmental hazards, and that the poor and oppressed continue to bear the brunt of environmental pollution. Americans for the most part do not see environmental issues as the most pressing of concerns, and they often balk at proposed solutions. And yet more than 1 billion people on the planet are exposed to potentially health-damaging levels of air pollution. Throughout the United States, streams, rivers, and lakes have been polluted by the dumping of waste materials by both industries and local governments. Climate change is an observable alteration of the global atmosphere that affects natural weather patterns over several decades or longer. Global warming, an aspect of climate change, refers to the significant rise of the earth’s temperature caused by the release of industrial gases like carbon dioxide. World systems analysis suggests that the challenge of global warming is tied to global inequality. Globalization allows multinational corporations to relocate to countries with less stringent environmental standards and allows the exploitation of resources of developing countries in the interests of short-term profit. The spread of industrialization leads to further pollution. There has been an increase in environmental refugees. However, globalization gives multinational corporations an incentive not to overuse or waste resources in order to avoid depletion. LECTURE OUTLINE Introduction • Excerpt from Shopping Our Way to Safety: How We Changed from Protecting the Environment to Protecting Ourselves by Andrew Szasz I. Sociological Perspectives on Health and Illness • Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity (1946, World Health Organization). A. Functionalist Perspective • The sick role refers to societal expectations about the attitudes and behavior of a person viewed as being ill. • Parsons suggests sick people are exempted from everyday duties and do not suffer blame for their condition. They are obligated to get well. • Physicians function as gatekeepers for the sick role. • Critics of the functionalist view charge that patients’ judgments about their own health may be related to gender, age, social class, and ethnicity. Example: younger people ignoring serious warning signs • Critics also suggest the sick role may be more applicable to people with short-term illnesses, and that various factors (e.g., employment) affect a person’s willingness to assume the sick role. B. Conflict Perspective • Eliot Freidson contends medicine has an officially approved monopoly to define health and illness and to treat illness. 1. The Medicalization of Society • Medicalization of society refers to the growing role of medicine as a major institution of social control. • Medicine has greatly expanded its domain of expertise in a wide range of issues, ruling out input from others and alternative views. • Once a problem is viewed using this medical model, it becomes more difficult for common people to join the discussion and exert influence on decision making. • This places certain health care professionals outside the realm of acceptable medicine. Examples: chiropractors and midwives 2. Inequities in Health Care • Poor areas are underserved, as medical services are concentrated in areas where people are wealthy. • In the U.S. there are about 24 physicians per populations of 10,000, compared to fewer than one per 10,000 in African nations. • Brain drain refers to the immigration of skilled professionals to industrialized nations such as the U.S., a phenomenon that makes the medical care situation worse in developing countries. • Inequalities in health care have life-and-death consequences. Example: Infant mortality rates are higher in nations with less access to health care. C. Interactionist Perspective • Micro-level analysis • Interactionists are interested in the roles played by physicians and patients. • The technical language students learn in medical school becomes the basis for the script they follow as novice physicians (Beagan). • Patients are not passive; often they actively seek health care services. Or, they may play an active role by failing to follow a doctor’s advice. Example: They may stop taking medicines, take incorrect dosages, or engage in other forms of noncompliance. D. Labeling Perspective • Social definitions of healthy or ill result in the attaching of labels and resulting consequences. Example: runaway slaves defined as suffering from drapetomania • We can view a variety of life experiences as illnesses or not. Examples: Premenstrual syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorders would be considered questionable by labeling theorists. • The labeling of homosexuality not as a lifestyle but as a mental disorder subject to treatment was dropped in 1974 from psychiatric manuals. II. Social Epidemiology and Health • Social epidemiology is the study of the distribution of disease, impairment, and general health status across a population. Initially, it concentrated on epidemics. • Contemporary epidemiology is much broader in scope. • Morbidity rates (incidence per 100,000) are influenced by social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and age. Mortality rate refers to the rate of death in a given population. A. Social Class • The lower classes generally have higher rates of disability and mortality. • Crowded living conditions, substandard housing, financial strain, poor diet, higher stress, and inability to afford quality health care are major factors in health problems of the less affluent. Example: disparities in health insurance • Lower-class workplaces are more dangerous compared to those of the middle and upper classes. • Conflict theorists suggest maximizing profits is more important to capitalists than worker safety. Workers suffer many preventable job-related injuries and illnesses because the government doesn’t properly regulate workplaces. B. Race and Ethnicity • Poor economic and environmental conditions of groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans are manifested in high morbidity and mortality rates for those groups. • Infant mortality is more than twice as high among Blacks compared to Whites. • National clinical studies conclude that racial and ethnic minorities are less likely than other groups to receive both standard health care and life-saving treatments for conditions such as HIV. • Blacks suffer the stress of racial prejudice, leading to hypertension, which is twice as common in Blacks as in Whites and is a critical factor in Blacks’ high mortality rates from heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke (Waitzkin). • Some Mexican Americans and other Latinos interpret illness according to traditional Latino folk medicine, curanderismo. While most Hispanics probably use folk healers infrequently, perhaps 20 percent rely on home remedies. C. Gender • Women experience higher prevalence of illness compared to men; however, they tend to live longer. • Women experience lower rates of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption, and lower rates of employment in dangerous occupations. Some suggest these rates may explain about one-third of their greater longevity. • Some studies suggest differences in morbidity may be less pronounced than data suggest, because women are more likely than men to seek treatment, to be diagnosed, and thus to be included in data analyzed. • Conflict theorists note that women are especially vulnerable to the medicalization of society (e.g., birth and beauty treated in an increasingly medical context), and that they are often excluded from clinical studies. D. Age • Older people are troubled with conditions that affect quality of life and daily living. Examples: arthritis, visual and hearing impairments • Alzheimer’s afflicts an estimated 5.4 million people aged 65 or over (13 percent). • Older people disproportionately use the health care system compared to younger people. Those 75 and older are five times more likely to use health services and to be hospitalized than younger people (ages 15–24). • Health care for older Americans is a critical factor in all debate about health care costs and reforms. III. Health Care in the United States A. A Historical View • Health care in the U.S. was characterized by self-help, prevention, a variety of approaches to practice, and types of practitioners. • The American Medical Association, founded in 1848, set up standardized training and licensure, and conferred professional authority on those who completed their programs, excluding other practitioners. • Doctors gained significant control over the market for medical services and the various institutions that govern medical practice, financing, and policy. • By 1920, physicians controlled hospitals and the division of labor of health personnel, and indirectly controlled related professions, such as nursing and pharmacy. • Patients are getting health care messages from media and Internet sources, such as advertising and information from the Internet. Problems include inaccurate and incomplete information. B. Physicians, Nurses, and Patients • Physicians are the dominant professionals in health care in the U.S. • Medical school emphasizes technical and clinical skill, dehumanizing doctor–patient relationships. Widespread publicity about malpractice suits and high medical costs has further strained the physician–patient relationship, • Nurses are expected to remain subordinate. Example: doctor–nurse game • Gender appears to contribute to the lower status of female physicians. C. Alternatives to Traditional Health Care • One in three adults in the U.S. use alternative health care methods. • Holistic medicine, in which the practitioner considers physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual characteristics, includes massage, chiropractic medicine, acupuncture, herbs, nutrition, visualization, and exercise. • Some medical doctors include alternative medicine in their practices, but acceptance by the medical establishment has been slow. The World Health Organization has begun to monitor the use of alternative medicine around the world. D. The Role of Government • The first significant government funding was the Hill-Burton Act of 1946, subsidizing rural hospitals. The 1965 enactment of Medicare and Medicaid has had a huge effect on the health care system. • Medicare has had a huge impact on the health care system and has expanded its scope since initiated. • The 2010 Affordable Care Act improved health insurance coverage for people of all ages, but has also been strongly opposed by many. IV. What Is Mental Illness? • The words mental illness and insanity evoke dramatic and often inaccurate images of emotional problems. • The term mental illness should be reserved for a disorder of the brain that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, and ability to interact with others. • Traditionally, people in the United States have maintained a negative and suspicious view of those with mental disorders. • The Newtown shooting increased debate about mental illness and guns; and has furthered the stigma associated with mental illness. Stigma refers to the labels society uses to devalue members of certain social groups. • The general public has slowly become more sophisticated in thinking about mental illness. More are seeking care and professional assistance. A. Theoretical Models of Mental Disorders • According to the medical model, mental illness is rooted in biological causes that can be treated through medical intervention. • Social and cultural factors contribute to mental illness. Example: U.S. culture considers hallucinations highly abnormal. • The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders was introduced in 1952 by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). It was intended to establish standard criteria for diagnosing mental disorders. The manual has been highly controversial due to its ever-changing descriptions and prescriptions, as well as its relationship to insurance coverage. • According to labeling theory, some behaviors that are viewed as mental illnesses may not really be illnesses. Proponents claim that mental illness is a distinctively social process. • Numerous personality disorders are not diseases, but simply patterns of conduct labeled as disorders by significant others (Szasz). B. Patterns of Care • Care for mental illness was the responsibility of the family for most of human history. Government took a strong role in mental illness even before physical illness because of the disruptions that mental illness causes. • The Community Mental Health Centers Act (1963) increased the federal government’s involvement in the treatment of people with mental illness and created community mental health centers. • By the 1980s, community-based mental health care had replaced hospitalization as the typical form of treatment. • Several states have recently made it easier to commit mental patients to hospitals involuntarily. • The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 requires insurers to extend comparable benefits for mental and physical health care. • African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians have higher rates for several mental disorders, but are much less likely than Whites to receive treatment. V. Sociological Perspectives on the Environment A. Human Ecology • Human ecology studies how the physical environment shapes people’s lives and how people influence the surrounding environment. Scientific research has linked pollutants in the physical environment to people’s health and behavior. • Global population growth has had a huge impact on the environment. • Human ecology stresses that tradeoffs are inherent in every decision that alters the environment. B. Conflict Perspective on the Environment • Less affluent nations are being forced to exploit their mineral deposits, forests, and fisheries in order to meet their debt obligations. To survive, they plow mountain slopes, burn forests, and overgraze. Example: Brazil and the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest • Conflict theorists contend the focus on developing countries is ethnocentric, and that “energy-hungry” industrialized nations are more to blame than poverty-stricken and “food-hungry” nations of the Third World. • Western industrialized nations account for only 12 percent of the world’s population, but they are responsible for 60 percent of worldwide consumption. C. Ecological Modernization • Ecological modernization is the alignment of environmentally favorable practices with economic self-interest through constant adaptation and restructuring. • Ecological modernization can occur on both the macro and micro levels. On a macro level, adaptation and restructuring can mean reintegrating industrial waste back into the production process. On a micro level, it can mean reshaping individual lifestyles. D. Environmental Justice • Environmental justice is a legal strategy based on claims that racial minorities are subjected disproportionately to environmental hazards. Example: the Warren County struggle • Studies have shown a higher rate of toxic facilities located in poor neighborhoods than middle- or upper-class ones. • The poor and oppressed continue to bear the brunt of environmental pollution. The environmental justice movement has become globalized. VI. Environmental Issues • In the United States, survey respondents do not see environmental issues as the most pressing of concerns, and they often balk at proposed solutions. A. Air Pollution • Over 1 billion people worldwide are exposed to health-threatening levels of pollution. The problem is worst in developing countries. • Urban residents have come to accept smog as normal. • Auto emissions, electric power plants, and heavy industry account for most air pollution. • People are capable of changing their behavior for special circumstances, but they are unwilling to make such changes permanent. B. Water Pollution • Industrial, agricultural, and residential waste has made many bodies of water unsafe for drinking, fishing, and swimming. Example: Every year about 17,000 Egyptian children die from diarrhea and dehydration after contact with the Nile River’s polluted water. • Water is a highly contested commodity in many parts of the world. C. Climate Change • Global warming refers to the significant rise of the earth’s temperature caused by the release of industrial gases like carbon dioxide. • To date, 191 countries are party to the Kyoto Protocol, which is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the U.S. has failed to ratify it. Opponents of the protocol argue that doing so would place the nation at a disadvantage in the global marketplace. • World systems analysis suggests that the challenge of global warming is tied to global inequality. • Paul Ehrlich and Anne Ehrlich see the pressure of world population growth as the central factor in environmental deterioration. Barry Commoner, a biologist, places primary blame on increasing use of technological innovations that are destructive to the environment. D. The Impact of Globalization • Globalization can be both good and bad for the environment. • Negatives: ▫ Polluting companies relocate to countries with less stringent standards. ▫ Multinationals exploit resources of developing countries for short-term profit. ▫ The industrialization accompanying globalization has increased pollution. Examples: Mexico and China • Positive: Multinational companies have an incentive not to overuse or waste natural resources, because the result could be depletion. • Globalization has increased the number of environmental refugees from developing nations due to droughts, shortage of arable land, environmental degradation, and concomitant poverty, poor health, and poor living conditions. VII. (Box) Social Policy and the Environment: Environmentalism A. Looking at the Issue • There is widespread concern among Americans over preservation of the environment. • The activist subculture of the 1960s, increased information about environmental problems, and the growing popularity of outdoor activities fueled the environmental movement. • Current environmentalists are motivated by the belief that the environment is in peril and that strong government action is required. Efforts to publicize environmental concerns have expanded through the Internet. • Public reaction to environmental issues is mixed, with the economic downturn causing many Americans to prioritize economic growth over environmental preservation. Many question the basic science, and antagonism over the issue has increased between the two major U.S. political parties. • Today’s college students show less interest in the environment than students of past decades. B. Applying Sociology • From a conflict perspective, bias is inherent in nationwide organizations due to the predominantly White, male, affluent membership. • Many major environmental organizations accept funding from oil and chemical companies, compromising their ability to make disinterested policy recommendations. • According to the conflict perspective, disproportionate exposure of the poor and minorities to environmental pollutants can act as a disincentive for others to take action. Environmental movements either do not include the poor and minorities or do not address their concerns. C. Initiating Policy • The 2008 global economic downturn has been a mixed blessing for environmentalists; interest has shifted toward economic growth, but there has been a sharp reduction in the use of fossil fuels. • Government economic stimulus packages include funds for “green-collar” jobs. • Nations worldwide are increasingly viewing environmental problems as a global threat, putting more pressure on the U.S. and other G-8 nations to take action. KEY TERMS Brain drain The immigration to the United States and other industrialized nations of skilled workers, professionals, and technicians who are desperately needed in their home countries. Climate change An observable alteration of the global atmosphere that affects natural weather patterns over several decades or longer. Curanderismo Latino folk medicine, a form of holistic health care and healing. Ecological modernization The alignment of environmentally favorable practices with economic self-interest through constant adaptation and restructuring. Environmental justice A legal strategy based on claims that racial minorities are subjected disproportionately to environmental hazards. Environmental refugee A person who has been displaced by rising seas, destructive storms, expanding deserts, water shortages, or high levels of toxic pollutants. Global warming A significant rise in the earth’s surface temperatures that occurs when industrial gases like carbon dioxide turn the planet’s atmosphere into a virtual greenhouse. Health As defined by the World Health Organization, a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. Holistic medicine Therapies in which the health care practitioner considers the person’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual characteristics. Human ecology An area of study that is concerned with the interrelationships between people and their environment. Infant mortality rate The number of deaths of infants under 1 year old per 1,000 live births in a given year. Labeling theory An approach to deviance that attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants while others engaged in the same behavior are not. McDonaldization The process by which the principles of bureaucratization have increasingly shaped organizations worldwide. Medical model An approach in which medical experts define illness or disease, determine and control the course of treatment, and even affect patients’ view of themselves. Mental illness A disorder of the brain that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, and ability to interact with others. Morbidity rate The rate of disease in a given population. Mortality rate The rate of death in a given population. Sick role Societal expectations about the attitudes and behavior of a person viewed as being ill. Social epidemiology The study of the distribution of disease, impairment, and general health status across a population. Stigma A label used to devalue members of certain social groups. CHAPTER 16 SOCIAL CHANGE IN THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY CHAPTER OUTLINE SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Relative Deprivation Approach Resource Mobilization Approach Gender and Social Movements New Social Movements COMMUNICATIONS AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE Evolutionary Theory Functionalist Perspective Conflict Perspective RESISTANCE TO SOCIAL CHANGE Economic and Cultural Factors Resistance to Technology GLOBAL SOCIAL CHANGE Anticipating Change Social Change in Dubai TECHNOLOGY AND THE FUTURE Computer Technology Privacy and Censorship in a Global Village Biotechnology and the Gene Pool SOCIAL POLICY AND GLOBALIZATION: TRANSNATIONALS Boxes Sociology in the Global Community: Women’s Social Movements in South Korea and India Our Wired World: Organizing for Controversy via Computer-Mediated Communication Our Wired World: The Internet’s Global Profile LEARNING OBJECTIVES WHAT’S NEW IN CHAPTER 16 1. Describe social movements according to the relative deprivation and resource mobilization theories. 2. Describe and summarize examples of new social movements. 3. Analyze the impact of new communications technology on social movements. 4. Analyze social change according to the evolutionary, functionalist, and conflict theories. 5. Describe the factors that create resistance to social change. 6. Explain the global nature of social change. 7. Describe the impact of increased use of the Internet on social change. 8. Summarize the concerns about privacy and censorship brought about by increased use of the Internet and technology. 9. Describe the impact of recent developments in biotechnology on social change. 10. Compare traditional immigration with transnational and modern immigration. • Opening excerpt, “The Information Revolution’s Broken Promises,” by Karl Albrecht • Our Wired World box, “Organizing for Controversy via Computer-Mediated Communication” • Discussion of the possibility that technological advances may eliminate people’s jobs, with table, “Jobs Projected to Be Eliminated by Computerization” • Our Wired World box, “The Internet’s Global Profile” • Discussion of transnationals’ participation in social movements • Thinking Critically exercise CHAPTER SUMMARY Social movements are the most all-encompassing type of collective behaviors. Social movements refer to organized collective activities to bring about or resist fundamental change in an existing group or society. Social movements imply the existence of conflict, but we can also analyze their activities from a functionalist perspective, which views social movements as training grounds for leaders of the political establishment. Sociologists rely on two explanations, relative deprivation and resource mobilization, to understand why people mobilize. The term relative deprivation is defined as the conscious feeling of a negative discrepancy between legitimate expectations and present actualities. It may be characterized by scarcity rather than a complete lack of necessities. A relatively deprived person is dissatisfied because he or she feels downtrodden relative to some appropriate reference group. A group will not mobilize into a social movement unless there is a shared perception that its relative deprivation can be ended through collective action. Resource mobilization refers to the ways in which a social movement utilizes such resources as money, political influence, access to the media, and personnel. Leadership is a central factor in mobilization of the discontented into social movements. Karl Marx recognized the importance of recruitment when he called on workers to become aware of their oppressed status. Gender is an important element in understanding social movements. In a male-dominated society, women find it more and more difficult to assume leadership positions in social movement organizations, although they are often involved in support positions. New social movements refer to organized collective activities that address values and social identities as well as improvements in the quality of life. Due to expanded technology, social activists can now reach a large number of people around the world almost instantaneously. New forms of social networking allow organizers of social movements to enlist others without face-to-face contact, often referred to as computer-mediated communication. Evolutionary theorists view social movements as part of societal change in a definite direction, often toward a higher state of being. Functionalists view social movements as temporary diversions from the normal state of equilibrium. The dominant theme in society is stability. Social changes are adaptive mechanisms that allow society to continue to flow and function smoothly. Functionalists assume that social institutions would not continue to thrive unless they contributed something worthwhile to society. Conflict theorists, on the other hand, argue that social change often perpetuates a system of exploitation; however, social change is also essential because it can correct for social injustices and inequalities. There are several reasons why social change is sometimes resisted. Economic factors may serve as a barrier to advancement, particularly for those in the dominant class, such as those in upper management, politicians, or other members of the power elite. Local residents may feel a need to protect their investments (i.e., their homes) and thus, may resist change in their communities. There is a global component to this resistance, which has essentially formed into an anti-globalization movement. Some are fearful that we have become too reliant on technologies and/or that modern technology is harmful to the quality of social life. Ogburn introduced the term culture lag to refer to the period of maladjustment when the nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions. Predicting social and technological change is extremely difficult. One sociologist managed to recognize the factors that led to the downfall of the Soviet Union as they were happening, but the intelligence services of entire governments failed to do so. Dubai serves as an example of wealth creating extreme change and also producing negative social and environmental consequences in the process. As technology continues to advance, it will affect society in a number of ways. The Internet is now widely available. However, the prevalence of quick electronic transactions has raised concerns about the privacy of such transactions. From a sociological point of view, concerns over privacy and censorship can be considered illustrations of cultural lag. That is, technology has advanced far beyond society’s beliefs and norms. Technology has also provided society’s members with a number of medical options—unheard of just a few decades ago. Biotechnological advances include reproductive technologies, stem cell research, and cloning, to name a few—all of which have caused considerable controversy and personal ethical dilemmas for many. LECTURE OUTLINE Introduction • Excerpt from “The Information Revolution’s Broken Promises” by Karl Albrecht I. Social Movements • Social movements refers to organized collective activities to bring about or resist fundamental change in an existing group or society. • Social movements imply the existence of conflict, but we can also examine them from the functionalist perspective. Example: contraceptives A. Relative Deprivation Approach • Relative deprivation is the conscious feeling of negative discrepancy between legitimate expectations and present actualities. Relatively deprived people are dissatisfied because they feel downtrodden relative to some appropriate group. Example: blue-collar workers who are surrounded by white-collar persons or images • In order for a social movement to occur, people must feel relative deprivation and also feel they have a right to their goals and that they deserve better. • A group will not mobilize into a social movement unless there is a shared perception that collective action can end its relative deprivation. • Critics charge that people do not have to feel deprived to act. B. Resource Mobilization Approach • Resource mobilization refers to the ways in which a social movement utilizes resources such as money, political influence, access to media, and workers. • Leadership is central to mobilization. • Many social movements are mobilized by institutional insiders. • Karl Marx stressed the importance of recruitment to promote awareness of being oppressed. C. Gender and Social Movements • Gender bias causes the extent of women’s influence in social movements to be overlooked. • Sociopolitical systems tend to focus on male-dominated corridors of power. Examples: legislatures and corporate boardrooms • Calls for a more serious study of the role of emotion are frequently seen as applying only to the women’s movement. D. New Social Movements • This refers to organized collective activities that address values and social identities as well as improvements in the quality of life. • Educated, middle-class people are significantly represented in new social movements. Examples: women’s movements; gay and lesbian rights • The environmental social movement is one of many movements that have adopted a worldwide focus, exemplifying the global nature of new social movements. II. Communications and the Globalization of Collective Behavior • The impact of the latest technology on various forms of collective behavior is of interest to sociologists. Electronic enhancement of established social movements, or computer-mediated communication (CMC), has been used to mobilize people—as in the Arab Spring and the Occupy Wall Street movements. III. Theories of Social Change • The new millennium provides the occasion to offer explanations of social change, which is a significant alteration over time in behavior patterns and culture. A. Evolutionary Theory • Evolutionary theory views society as moving in a definite direction. • Auguste Comte saw human societies moving forward in their thinking, from mythology to the scientific method. B. Functionalist Perspective • According to Talcott Parsons’s equilibrium model, as changes occur in one part of society, adjustments must be made in other parts. If not, society’s equilibrium will be threatened and strains will occur. • Parsons’s four processes of social change are differentiation, adaptive upgrading, inclusion, and value generalization. • The dominant theme in the functionalist model is stability. Society may change, but it remains stable through new forms of integration. C. Conflict Perspective • Social institutions and practices persist because powerful groups have the ability to maintain the status quo. • Social movements are needed to correct social injustices and inequalities. • Marx argued that through revolution led by the proletariat, human society will move toward the final stage of development: a classless communist society. The appeal of this argument is in how it does not restrict people to a passive role in responding to inevitable cycles or changes in material culture. IV. Resistance to Social Change • Efforts to enact social change are likely to meet with resistance. Resistance may be due to economic or cultural factors (i.e., protection of one’s investments) and/or reluctance to use or fear of technology. • Vested interests refers to those people or groups who will suffer in the event of social change (Veblen). A. Economic and Cultural Factors • Conflict theorists argue that companies under economic pressure may resist social change by cutting corners or by pressuring the government to ease regulations. • A “not on planet Earth” campaign, essentially an anti-globalization movement, has emerged. • Culture lag refers to the period of maladjustment when the nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions (Ogburn). • Changes in material culture can strain the relationships between social institutions. Example: new means of birth control and its effect on large families and Roman Catholicism B. Resistance to Technology • Technology is cultural information about the ways in which the material resources of the environment may be used to satisfy human needs and desires. The Industrial Revolution was a scientific revolution focused on the application of nonanimal sources of power to labor tasks. • Luddites were violent opponents of new technology during Industrial Revolution. • We are currently in a second industrial revolution. Many sociologists believe that we are living in a postindustrial society. • The urban amish resist technological devices that have become part of our daily lives, such as cell phones. V. Global Social Change A. Anticipating Change • There is difficulty in predicting technological and social change. Randall Collins predicted that the coincidence of social crises on several frontiers would precipitate the collapse of the Soviet Union. • Maureen Hallinan (1997) cautioned that we need to move beyond the restrictive models of social change—the linear view of evolutionary theory and the assumptions about equilibrium in the functionalist perspective. B. Social Change in Dubai • In less than a single generation, Dubai had transformed itself into the richest city in the world. • Although it is undemocratic, it is relatively socially progressive for its region. Citizens share the affluence of the city: cheap electricity, free land and water, free health care and education, and individual subsidies. • Massive social and environmental costs are associated with the wealthy lifestyle, including poor treatment of immigrant labor and very little government oversight. VI. Technology and the Future • In the past generation alone, industrial countries have seen a major shift in consumer technologies, such as a 3-year (instead of 10-year) lifespan for electronic devices. A. Computer Technology • The explosion of computer technology can be seen particularly in relation to the Internet. Today, virtually anyone can reach the Internet with a phone line, a computer, and a modem. • The pattern of inequality seen in terms of access to computer technology and the Internet is global. • A possible negative effect of technological growth is that it could eliminate some types of jobs. Cheap labor or labor organizing might mitigate this effect, but predictions are not airtight. B. Privacy and Censorship in a Global Village • Recent advances in computer technology have made it increasingly easy for business firms, government agencies, and even criminals to retrieve and store information about us. • The loss of huge databases to theft have confirmed fears about information privacy. • The material culture (technology) is changing faster than the nonmaterial culture; the result is an “anything goes” approach to the use of new technologies. • The Electronic Communications Privacy Act was undermined by Patriot Act. • Functionalists take a generally positive view of Internet, while conflict theorists stress the danger that the most powerful groups in a society will use technology to violate the privacy of the less powerful. • The widespread use of GPS technology is also controversial. C. Biotechnology and the Gene Pool • Ritzer’s concept of McDonaldization applies to biotechnology: No phase of life now seems exempt from therapeutic or medical intervention. • One great success is in the treatment of traumatic injuries. • A startling advance is the possibility of altering human behavior or physical traits through genetic engineering. • Biotechnology raises difficult ethical and political questions, among them the desirability of tinkering with the gene pool, which could alter the environment in unpredictable ways. • GMO foods are controversial. • Cell phones can play a role in improving agriculture in developing countries. VII. (Box) Social Policy and Globalism: Transnationals A. Looking at the Issue • Transnationals are immigrants who sustain multiple social relationships that link their societies of origin with their societies of settlement. • As of 2013, 232 million people, or about 3 percent of the world’s population, were international migrants. That is more than double the number in 1970. The rest of the world’s population were “stayers”—that is, people who continued to live in the countries where they were born. • Globalization has changed the immigrant experience as well as the labor market. In generations past, immigrants read foreign language newspapers to keep in touch with events in their home countries. Today, the Internet gives them immediate access to their countries and kinfolk. In this global framework, immigrants are less likely than they were in the past to think of themselves as residents of just one country—hence the emergence of the concept of transnationals. B. Applying Sociology • Functionalists see the free flow of immigrants, even when it is legally restricted, as one way for economies to maximize their use of human labor. • Conflict theorists charge that globalization and international migration have increased the economic gulf between developed and developing nations. • Interactionists are interested in the day-to-day relationships transnationals have with the people around them, from those of their country of origin to those of the host country and fellow workers from other countries. These scholars are studying transnationals’ involvement in local ethnic organizations, to see whether their membership facilitates or retards their integration into the host society. • Transnationals participate in social movements; they often move to countries with more democratic or tolerant societies. C. Initiating Policy • As we saw in the case study of Dubai, immigrant laborers often face difficult living and working conditions. Some sending countries, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, have created national agencies to ensure the protection of their workers abroad. • Another unresolved transnational issue is voter eligibility. Not all nations allow dual citizenship; even those countries that do may not allow absent nationals to vote. • Finally, the controversial issue of illegal immigration has yet to be settled, perhaps because of culture lag. KEY TERMS Computer-mediated communication Communicative interaction through two or more networked devices, such as a computer or cell phone. The term applies to a variety of text-based or video interactions, including e-mails, chat rooms, and text messages, some of which may be supported by social media. Culture lag A period of maladjustment when the nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions. Equilibrium model The functionalist view that society tends toward a state of stability or balance. Evolutionary theory A theory of social change that holds that society is moving in a definite direction. False consciousness A term used by Karl Marx to describe an attitude held by members of a class that does not accurately reflect their objective position. Luddites Rebellious craft workers in 19th-century England who destroyed new factory machinery as part of their resistance to the Industrial Revolution. New social movement An organized collective activity that addresses values and social identities, as well as improvements in the quality of life. Relative deprivation The conscious feeling of a negative discrepancy between legitimate expectations and present actualities. Resource mobilization The ways in which a social movement utilizes such resources as money, political influence, access to the media, and personnel. Social change Significant alteration over time in behavior patterns and culture, including norms and values. Social movement An organized collective activity to bring about or resist fundamental change in an existing group or society. Technology Cultural information about the ways in which the material resources of the environment may be used to satisfy human needs and desires. Transnational An immigrant who sustains multiple social relationships that link his or her society of origin with the society of settlement. Vested interests Those people or groups who will suffer in the event of social change, and who have a stake in maintaining the status quo. Instructor Manual for Sociology: A Brief Introduction Richard T. Schaefer 9780078027109, 9781259374630, 9781259252242, 9781259912436