CH-10-12 The Mass Media – Sociology: A Brief Introduction : Chapter Notes

This Document Contains Chapters 10 to 12 10 THE MASS MEDIA Contents: • Learning Objectives • Using Text Boxes to stimulate discussion • Video suggestions • Classroom activities • Key points from the text • Additional lecture ideas • Class discussion topics • Topics for students research • Audiovisual materials • Additional Readings • Thinking About Movies Learning Objectives: 10.1 Discuss the various roles of the media from the functionalist perspective. Define and discuss the narcotizing effect of the media on society. Define gate keeping and the dominant ideology, and discuss the consequences of both for society. Discuss the role of the media from feminist perspectives. Discuss the role of the media from the interactionist perspective. 10.2 Discuss the various aspects of an audience from both micro level and macro level views. 10.3 Describe the global nature of the media and its effect on society. Describe the nature of media concentration. Using Text Boxes to stimulate discussion: Social Policy and the Mass Media: The Right to Censorship in the Digital Village. To protect Canadian citizens from invasions of their privacy and unwanted use of their personal information, and to create trust and confidence in using the Internet to conduct business, the federal government has recently established new rules to protect Canadians’ personal information. The whole issue of privacy and censorship in this technological age is another case of culture lag, in which the material culture (the technology) is changing faster than the non-material culture(norms controlling technology). The question of how much free expression should be permitted on the Internet relates to the issue of censorship. To protect the privacy and personal information of Canadians n the digital landscape, the federal government implemented the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). PIPEDA provides a consistent set of provisions to protect Canadians’ personal; information and privacy, regardless of what province or territory they live in privacy and censorship are also global issues. Applying Theory: 1) How might interactionists study the ways that people can obtain information about other people? 2) Taking a conflict perspective, do you think corporations and employers have a right to monitor employees’ Internet activities? 3) Are you more concerned about government censorship of electronic communication or about unauthorized invasion of your privacy? Sociology in the Global Community: The Global Disconnect Social observers have noted that there is a “troubling gap between those who use computers and the Internet and those who do not” (Mehra et al. 2004:782). The global disconnect takes into account the gap in use between developing and developed countries. The Internet is virtually monopolized by North America and Europe and a few other industrial nations. The consequences of the global disconnect for developing nations are far more serious than not being able to “surf the Net”. Today, we have true emergence of what sociologist Manuel Castells and others refer to as a global economy because the world has the capacity to work as a single unit in real time. However, if large numbers of people and, indeed, entire nations are disconnected from the information economy, their slow economic growth will continue, with all the negative consequences it has for people. The educated and skilled will immigrate to labour markets that are part of this global economy, deepening the impoverishment of the nations on the periphery. Applying Theory: 1) What factors might contribute to the global disconnect in developing nations? 2) What are some of the social and economic consequences for nations that are not “connected”? What groups are particularly vulnerable to not being connected? Research in Action: Looking at Television from Four Perspectives Functionalist view: In examining any aspect of society, including television, functionalists emphasize the contribution it makes to overall social stability. Functionalists regard television as a powerful force in communicating the common values of our society and in promoting and overall feeling of unity and social stability. Conflict view: Conflict theorists argue that the social order is based on coercion and exploitation. They emphasize that television reflects and even exacerbates many of the divisions of our society and world, including those based on gender, race, ethnicity and social class. Interactionist view: Interactionists are especially interested in shared understandings of everyday behaviour. Consequently, they examine television on the micro level by focusing on how day-to-day social behaviour is shaped by television. Feminist views: Feminist theorists believe that gender is constructed by society; thus, television plays a major role not only in reflecting society’s ideas about gender but also in constructing its own images. Applying theory: What functions does television serve? What might be some dysfunctions? 2) If you were a television network executive, which perspective would influence your choice of programs? Why? Video suggestions: The Digital Divide (Director: Kenton Vaughan, 2004). A television documentary about access (or lack of access) to the Internet for ordinary people in developing countries, and how this “digital divide” impacts on human rights, democratization, and business opportunities for disadvantaged people. He film will show how even limited access to an Internet connection can help small businesses, traditional healers, and literacy and democracy activists in remote and impoverished places. Scanning Television (Director: John J. Pungente, 1996). Forty excerpts from television programming and commercials illustrate the media’s ability to persuade and influence thinking. Ideal for use in media literacy studies. Talk to Me ( Director: Kasi Lemmons, 2007) In Washington, D.C., in the late 1960s, R&B radio station WOL-AM struggles to hold its audience amidst the massive social change that followed the civil rights movement. Based on the real-life story of disc jockey and entertainer Petey Greene (Don Cheadle), the movie shows how Petey, hired to increase the station's listenership, used his self-professed knowledge of inner-city culture and penchant for "telling it like it is" to make his morning show a huge success. When violence breaks out after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Petey helps to end the riots by giving voice to a grieving community and reminding listeners of King's message of nonviolence. Talk to Me shows how a mass medium can support social cohesion, especially during times of crisis. Because the story is set in an era before the large-scale consolidation of media ownership, it illustrates the close connection between a community and its local broadcasting outlet that characterized the period. Classroom activities: Have students choose a particular country on the other side of the digital divide, and have them investigate the presence of the Internet in this country. Can ordinary citizens have full access to the “World Wide Web”? Does the country have the infrastructure to support web access? Is access restricted y the government or other body? Is there public access available (in libraries, schools, community centres, internet cafes)? Is the cost of an internet connection prohibitive to the ordinary citizen? Are certain groups (i.e. women, children, the poor) forbidden access? Do children use computers in schools? Are they being taught internet literacy? Key points from the text: Theoretical Perspectives on Mass Media: Functionalist View: One obvious function of the mass media is to entertain. While that is true, the media have other important functions. They also socialize us, enforce social norms, confer status, and promote consumption. The mainstream media also perform a dysfunction. Sociologists Paul Lazarsfeld and Robert Merton created the term narcotizing dysfunction to refer to the phenomenon in which he media provide such massive amounts of coverage that the audience becomes numb and fails to act on the information, regardless of how compelling the issue. Use Your Sociological Imagination: You are a news junkie. Where do you gather your facts or information – from newspapers, radio, tabloids, magazines, TV newscasts, or the Internet? Explain your choice of medium. Theoretical Perspectives on Mass Media: Conflict View: Conflict theorists emphasize that the media reflect, and even exacerbate, many of the divisions in our society and world, including those based on gender, race, ethnicity, and social class. They point in particular to the media’s ability to decide what is transmitted through a process called gatekeeping. This term describes how material must travel through a series of checkpoints (or gates) before reaching the public. Thus, a select few decide what images to bring to a broad audience, particularly in countries like Canada where media mergers have taken place. The term media monitoring has been used in the past to refer to interest groups’ monitoring of media content. Recently, however, use of the term has expanded to include monitoring of individuals’ media usage and choices without their knowledge. Conflict theorists argue that the mass media maintain the privileges of certain groups. Moreover, while protecting their own interests, powerful groups may limit the media’s representation of others. According to Marxist Antonio Gramsci, the term hegemony refers to a situation where the powerful groups are able to convince the less powerful to accept the way that the powerful group acts or sees the world as “normal” or “common sense”. This helps to maintain the social, economic, and political interests of the dominant classes. Media content may create false images or stereotypes- unreliable generalizations about all members of a group that do not recognize individual differences within the group. Stereotypes of subordinate groups can then become accepted as accurate portrayals of reality. Theoretical Perspectives on Mass Media: Feminist Views Many feminists share the view of conflict theorists that the mass media stereotype and misrepresent social reality. According to these views, the media powerfully influence how we look at women and men, communicating unrealistic, stereotypical, and limiting images of the sexes. A continuing troubling issue for some feminists is pornography, which frequently presents women as objects and attempts to normalize sexual violence by men toward women. Theoretical Perspectives on Mass Media: Interactionist View: Interactionists are especially interested in shared understandings of everyday behaviour. These scholars examine the media on the micro level to see how they shape day-to-day social behaviour. Increasingly, researchers point to the mass media as the source of major daily activity. Interactionists note too, that friendship networks can emerge from shared viewing habits or from recollection of a cherished television series from the past. The interactionist perspective helps us to understand one important aspect of the entire mass media system: the audience. Use Your Sociological Imagination: Think about the last time you were part of an audience. How similar or different from you were the other audience members? What might account for whatever similarities or differences you noticed? Media Audiences: The Segmented (or Niche) Audience: Increasingly, the media are marketing themselves to a particular audience (sometimes referred to as narrowcasting). Once a media outlet, such as a radio station or a magazine, has identified its audience, it targets that group – such a group can be called a niche or niche segmented audience. To some degree, this specialization is driven by advertising. Audience Behaviour: Sociologists have long researched how audiences interact with one another and how they share information after a media event. The role of audience members as opinion leaders particularly intrigues social researchers. An opinion leader is someone who influences the opinions and decisions of others through day-to-day personal contact and communication (e.g. movie or theatre critic). Media Concentration: The United States is the major global exporter of media products and programs, and the influence of U.S. media on Canadian culture remains substantial. A few multinational corporations now dominate the publishing, broadcasting, and film industries, though they may be hard to identify, since global conglomerates manage many different subsidiary companies as brands. In the United States, the gatekeeping process is in the hands of private individuals, who desire to maximize profits. In other countries, such as Canada, the same process is sometimes carried out by private business people but can also be done by political leaders and senior bureaucrats, who are mandated to strengthen Canada’s cultural integrity. The Media’s Global Reach: Canadian communications theorist Marshall McLuhan predicted 40 years ago that the rise of electronic media would create a “global village”. According to McLuhan, the mass media could potentially have the effect of creating a “Big Brother” society, where one voice prevailed. Today, physical distance is no longer a barrier, and instant messaging is possible across the world. The mass media have indeed created a global village. Not all countries are equally connected, but the progress has been staggering Additional lecture ideas: 1. Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft Sociology was born out of a desire to understand change. Ferdinand Tönnies (1855-1936) introduced the dichotomous Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft (1988, original edition 1887) as conceptualizations delineating the impact of the Industrial Revolution on social structure. Industrialism was seen as the catalyst altering the social structure from small-scale, intimate, and slow-paced (Gemeinschaft) to large-scale, impersonal, and technology-driven (Gesellschaft). However, the power of good ideas is in their adaptability, and while Tönnies examined large-scale issues, his concepts can help explore changes in more micro level, specific areas of social life. For example, morphing cultural conditions, historical and political events, and new technologies have had an impact on movie-going and movie theaters over the last century. In essence, if one is willing to expand the themes of Tönnies, modern movie theaters serve as a crystalline example of the features of Gesellschaft–impersonalism, rationalism, and standardization. This changing nature is explored in Douglas Gomery’s “If You’ve Seen One, You’ve Seen the Mall” (1990). Movie houses created before the 1920s were of elegant and impressive design; often employing exotic architectural motifs to decorate theaters of three or more thousand-seats. Indeed, such single-screened theaters were “palaces”; places where ordinary citizens could go for extraordinary experiences. Going to the “picture show” at early palaces such as New York’s Strand Theater was often seen as a special occasion, akin to attending the opera or a Broadway play today. Dressing up in formal attire to attend an evening screening was not uncommon. Upon entering palaces of the 1910s and 1920s, the patron might be exposed to art in ornate lobbies or see simulated night skies on massive ceilings. Ushers would walk patrons to their seats, where a small orchestra or large pipe organ would entertain before the show. It was not unheard of for palaces to provide infant care services and lounges for patrons to interact. Modern movie theaters, on the other hand, offer state-of-the-art digital picture and sound. Stadium seating ensures a good view for nearly everyone attending. Patrons can choose among numerous films playing at the same multiplex and purchase tickets online. Big-budget blockbusters can be watched on big or not-so-big screens. Indeed, many modern theaters are standardized and much smaller than previous movie palaces. They are often connected to shopping malls, creating a nexus of consumerism (watch the film, buy the soundtrack and novelization, collect the toy at the fast food restaurant). The ornate lobbies of the past are gone, replaced by what Gomery calls “profit centers” of video games and concessions. Ringing cell phones and talking during films have become more prevalent as audiences mimic the casual experience of seeing films at home on DVD. “Ushers” now rip the tickets, usually leaving patrons to make their own way to their seats. Both the experience of seeing films, and the architecture of theaters have changed. Like Tönnies’s view on the change towards Gesellschaft, movie theaters themselves can be interpreted as places where strangers interact for increasingly impersonal and standardized experiences (see Chapter 5, Social Interaction and Social Structure). Gomery suggests that modern theaters and the modern movie-going experience are not better than those of the past were. Quantity does not always equate with quality. Slick images and loud sound may just mean a bombardment of what Georg Simmel (1858–1918) called “nervous stimulation” (1950, original writing 1903). Or, as Gomery’s article posits, it may just mean that audiences in Theater 13 can hear the soundtrack from the film playing in Theater 12. A complementary analysis of this issue is offered in George Ritzer’s The McDonaldization of Society (2004), which offers an examination of the “predictability” or standardization of modern society. NOTE: Students can gain additional insight through a field trip or interview. Find a restored movie palace in your school’s area (web search engines like www.yahoo.com are helpful). Then locate a modern theater, ideally one that is attached to a shopping center. Take students on a field trip to each. Students can then engage their sociological imaginations by applying the basic concepts of Tönnies and the specific history of Gomery through a comparison of theaters. If there are no palaces near the school, or if a field trip is not feasible, students can be given an assignment where they interview a person thirty or forty years older than they are. The interview would examine what it was like to see films in that older person’s youth. Students can also take a virtual trip through movie palaces at the web site, “Some Enchanted Evenings: American Picture Palaces” created by Mary Halnon at the University of Virginia (xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/PALACE/home.html). Sources used for this essay and additional reading ideas include: Douglas Gomery, “If You’ve Seen One, You’ve Seen the Mall.” In Mark Crispin Miller (ed.). Seeing Through Movies. New York: Pantheon, 1990, pp. 49-80; Mary Halnon, “Some Enchanted Evenings: American Picture Palaces,” xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/PALACE/home.html; George Ritzer. The McDonaldization of Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2004; Georg Simmel, “The Metropolis and Mental Life.” The Sociology of Georg Simmel. New York: Free Press, 1950 (originally written 1903), pp. 409-424; Ferdinand Tönnies, Community and Society. Rutgers, NJ: Transaction, 1988 (originally written 1887). Also: Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com). 2. Something Doesn’t Quite Ad Up In 1957, Vance Packard examined “depth approach.” These were analytical tools used by advertisers and others to tap into deep-rooted, core psychological needs of the public in an attempt to sell products, concepts, or candidates. In the chapter entitled “Marketing Eight Hidden Needs,” Packard explores some of the strategies used in advertisements to increase sales and affect consumer behavior. An interactive lecture could involve introducing students to these needs. Students could then look for advertisements in newspapers, magazines, the Internet, radio, television, and before movies at the theater, which try to tap into these needs. Or, the instructor could bring into the classroom advertisements as modern illustrations of Packard’s ideas. Advertisements could be for products, services, political candidates, events, or to promote an idea. Below is a list of the eight “hidden needs” discussed in Packard’s work, an interpretation, and suggestions for examples. Source used for this essay: Vance Packard, The Hidden Persuaders. New York: David McKay Company, 1957 (original edition). “Selling Emotional Security” Products like freezers and air conditioners can make consumers feel secure and safe in their homes, Packard’s book reveals. Here, examples can be found in products that overtly or covertly try to make consumers feel safe. Cars, medications promising to stop embarrassing conditions, home appliances, reliable internet connections, home security systems, car alarms, cell phones, and products that offer guarantees can all be examples and expansions of this hidden need. “Selling Reassurance of Worth” Depth approach studies posit that some products, ideas, and candidates will sell more effectively if they can make the consumer feel better about themselves. Owning a certain pair of shoes or type of dress can make a person feel important. These products can be elevating status symbols. These commercials often promise that other people will be envious of the consumer for having purchased the product. The same can be said for the following example. “Selling Ego-Gratification” Products to include here can be ones that encourage the consumer to spend money because they deserve it. Consumers will feel good for “splurging” or spending a little extra of their “mad money” on certain beauty products, restaurants, or technologies. “Selling Creative Outlets” Packard discusses how the depth approach revealed that consumers do not like to feel left out of the process of making or baking. Examples here can include advertisements for paint, do-it-yourself repairs, tools, and food. Consumers are encouraged to buy the product because it will release their creative talents. “Selling Love Objects” Often commercials for products will claim that consumers will “love” them. Include here products that become an object of affection for the consumer (a car, vacation, movie, or even a celebrity, as Packard points out). Many new “boy bands” and “girl bands” are sold to young consumers in this fashion. “Selling Sense of Power” Automobile, Internet, tool, and home appliance ads often expound upon the power behind the product. Such items promise to have more strength, speed, torque, and energy than others do; and all of these things can be controlled by the consumer’s powerful self. “Selling a Sense of Roots” Products that awaken feelings of nostalgia and tradition can include examples where commercials utilize the “home made” or “like mom/dad/grandma/grandpa used to make” or “old fashioned” slogans. Ads using monocolor, black and white, or sepia often try to recreate the past. “Selling Immortality” Packard discusses the marketing of products like insurance here; products that can give consumers some sense of immortality. Another interpretation could be to look at how many products tap into the societal and psychological pressure and desire to remain youthful. Here, commercials for beauty products, health clubs, energizing pills, or movies that claim to make consumers “feel like a kid again” can all be expansions of Packard’s idea. 3. Media Reflections Hard Bodies: Hollywood Masculinity in the Reagan Era by Susan Jeffords (1994) offers a comparison of motion picture box-office hits of the 1980s and the Ronald Reagan presidency of the same era. One of the main goals of the text is to examine the imagery and themes in both the films and the presidency in order to understand the mood of the audiences and voters in order to help discover what audiences and citizens found “pleasurable.” For instance, many blockbusters of that era involved the celebration of the “hard body,” a traditional and stereotypical masculine presentation involving aggression, strength, and muscles. So, too, did some of the policies and themes of the Reagan Revolution celebrate the hard body on a macro scale, through, for instance, the call for an increase in military spending and research. The media, therefore, can be argued to be not just an influencing agent on society, but also a reflecting agent as well (see Chapter 6, “The Mass Media” regarding “Dysfunctional Media: The Narcotizing Effect”. Creators of popular culture will try to tap into the zeitgeist of an era. Through the examination of popular culture and mass media items one can glean insight into prevailing spirits, norms, and cultural attitudes of a given time. An interactive lecture can be created utilizing Jeffords’s main theme and method, looking at popular items of culture to see what themes are present. By virtue of their popularity, they must hold some meaning for the audience. Examining the posters used for advertisement of motion pictures in newspapers and at theaters, for instance, can be a new adaptation of Jeffords’s work. In a study by the National Research Group, Inc. (1999), 62% of those surveyed said they utilized movie posters as a source of information about a film. Collect major newspapers from different times and/or places (these can be chosen by decade, by presidential eras, by differing nations, or before and after a specific historical event). These papers usually have a movie listing section with reproductions of movie posters. Internet sites or movie books may also be helpful for viewing posters. What types of images do the posters present in terms of gender, sex, violence, race, age, or other thematics? Do these images change with the times? (Are there more patriotic United States images, for instance, in posters created right after and during historic military events or wars than there were before the event took place? Do the images of men and women change over time, and how so? Does there appear to be more violence in posters from one era to another? Do there appear to be changes in the number of G-, PG-, and R-rated films released?) How are posters different from nation to nation—or are they? Globalization of entertainment might well be reflected in these posters if they are similar from nation to nation. While not a representative sample, having students discuss such posters and the images contained within can offer some insight into what movie poster and movie creators were trying to respond to and reflect. Sources used include: Susan Jeffords, Hard Bodies: Hollywood Masculinity in the Reagan Era. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1994; National Research Group, Inc., Newspapers: Just the Ticket—A 1999 Study of the Movie Market: Summary Report. www.naaa.org/PDF/dsplay/Final-Moviegoer.pdf. 4. Never-Ending Battles: Tracing Popular Mass Media Figures As the mass, electronic media nears its century mark, it becomes possible to engage in longitudinal analysis and interpretations. If the mass media is indeed a mirror to society and history as some argue, then it is useful to examine changes in popular cultural items because they would reflect trends in the real social world. One way to accomplish this is to take long-lived fictional characters and explore how they have been reinterpreted for each new generation. Characters like Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan or Ian Fleming’s James Bond—played by different actors, in different mediums, and recreated over several decades—could be used to explore many social issues. In “Getting to Know Us—An Introduction to the Study of Popular Culture: What Is This Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of?,” Jack Nachbar and Kevin Lause (1992) suggest that popular culture can be seen as a funhouse mirror in that it both “reflects” and “alters” our vision of society (7). The critical study of popular culture can become a barometer for understanding the zeitgeist of any given era. For instance, when Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster first introduced the world to their creation Superman in 1938, they could not have foreseen the long lasting cultural impact the character would eventually have. Through nearly 65 years of success in comics, books, radio, movies, television programs, and the Internet, Superman has gained a degree of popularity and longevity that make him a perfect choice for social reflection. (See Wolcott [2002] for more history and discussion on this argument). For instance, changes in the characterizations of Superman, his alter ego Clark Kent, and Lois Lane can serve as lessons about changing gender roles in the real world. When actor George Reeves played the superhero in 104 episodes of the syndicated television program that ran from 1952 through 1957, the characterization presented little difference between the temperament and attitudes of Clark and Superman (Skerry and Lambert 1987). The message at the time could have been that all men were actually supermen. However, the Clark Kent of the 1970s seen in motion pictures was different; this Clark can be interpreted as being more sensitive, more willing to share feelings and emotions. This Clark was a reflection of changing gender roles, expectations, and attitudes of the times. Lois Lane has been an important character in the history of comic books. In the 1950s and 1960s comic books, Lois spent a good deal of her time trying to marry Superman. Her career was a secondary issue, perhaps even a contrivance so that she could continue to be rescued and interact with the hero. Having marriage and family take precedence over work can be viewed as a reflection of The Feminine Mystique , which Betty Friedan wrote about in 1963. A woman, particularly a suburban woman of the 1940 and 1950s, was socialized to define her worth based upon the traditional roles of housewife and mother. By the 1990s, though, Lois (as played by Teri Hatcher on television) was presented as a professional and award-winning journalist. She was an equal partner with Superman—both discovering his secret and helping him to save citizens in distress. She was capable of balancing career and personal life. Even the name of the television program in the 1990s, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, was a clever twist on the historical “Lewis and Clark,” but also expressed the sentiment that Lois was equally as important as Clark as a character. Long-lasting popular culture icons can be useful in giving students accessible, interesting, and even fun entry points into more serious and socially relevant discussions. There is much room for debate, discussion, and differing interpretations of the previous points, which can make for good class discussion. Sources used for this essay include: CHARACTERS, FILMS, AND TELEVISION SHOWS: Ian Fleming (creator of James Bond); Edgar Rice Burroughs (creator of Tarzan); Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (creators of Superman, Clark Kent, and Lois Lane); The Adventures of Superman (MPTV, aired 1952–1957; syndicated); Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (Warner Brothers Television and December 3rd Productions, aired 1993–1997, ABC-TV); Superman: The Movie. Dir. Richard Donner. Alexander Salkind et al, 1978. PRINT SOURCES: Betty Friedan. The Feminine Mystique. New York: Dell, 1963; Jack Nachbar and Kevin Lause, “Getting to Know Us—An Introduction to the Study of Popular Culture: What Is This Stuff that Dreams Are Made Of?” In Jack Nachbar and Kevin Lause (eds.). Popular Culture: An Introductory Text. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1992; Philip Skerry with Chris Lambert, “From Panel to Panavision.” In Dennis Dooley and Gary Engle (eds.). Superman at Fifty! The Persistence of a Legend! Cleveland: Octavia Press, 1987, pp. 62-75; James Wolcott, “It’s a Bird, It’s A Plane . . . It’s the Zeitgeist,” Vanity Fair (March 2002): 130–139. 5: Sociology Meets Science Fiction Sociology and science fiction are connected. Sociology as a formal academic discipline emerged in the eras right before and after the Industrial Revolution. New technologies and industries created profound changes in work, family, and daily life. Early thinkers like Auguste Comte (1798–1857), Karl Marx (1818–1883), and Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) all tried to understand such changes (see Chapter 1 for more information). These theorists wondered, “What is social life like now and what would social life be like in the future?” Science fiction as a formal genre emerges out of similar roots. It too, like sociology, became more formalized, widespread, and popular around the time of the Industrial Revolution. Early science fiction authors such as Jules Verne (1828–1905) and H.G. Wells (1866–1946)—who compete with others for the title of “Father of Modern Science Fiction” among fans—were exploring much the same ground as early sociologists through their writings and stories. In particular, the nature and role of science became a paramount concern. Indeed, sociology and science fiction are the same in intent, if not form. Sociology employs the scientific method to understand groups, institutions, and social change. This discipline helps us to look to our collective future. What will work be like in the future? Will racial or sex inequality be lessened or eliminated? How does technology affect our daily lives? Science fiction employs metaphor and analogy as ways to understand the same kinds of social issues. Instead of discussing racism in its current form, a science fiction author might set a tale on another planet or in another time, having aliens stand in for real human races or ethnicities. Topics that are taboo or uncomfortable become palatable when presented as fiction. In this regard, science fiction can be a tool for educators desiring to give sociology a more concrete face for students. By discussing and debating the themes and messages in works of science fiction, a valuable learning experience can be shared. What follows is a list of science fiction (and near science fiction) works that would be beneficial for use in understanding sociological conceptualizations and topics. Students can watch these films at home and come to school ready to discuss the way in which these works reflect or illuminate a given topic. Please be aware that some films may be rated R, and, depending on the ages of the students, may not be appropriate. TO HELP ILLUMINATE “THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION” (see Chapter 1, “Understanding Sociology”): Sliding Doors. Dir. Peter Howitt. Mirimax Films, 1998. Spiderman. Dir. Sam Raimi. Sony Pictures, 2002. TO HELP ILLUMINATE STRATIFICATION ISSUES (RACIAL, SOCIAL CLASS, AGE, GENDER) (see Chapter 8, “Stratification in Canada”; Chapter 10, “Racial and Ethnic Inequality”; Chapter 11, “Gender Relations”): Brave New World (miniseries). Dir. Leslie Libman and Larry Williams. USA Network Studios, 1998. The Day the Earth Stood Still. Dir. Robert Wise. 20th Century Fox, 1951. Enemy Mine. Dir: Wolfgang Petersen. 20th Century Fox, 1985. The Matrix. Dir. Andy and Larry Wachowski. Silver Pictures, 1999. Star Trek: First Contact. Dir. Jonathan Frakes. Paramount Pictures, 1996. White Man’s Burden. Dir. Desmond Nakano. HBO, 1995. V (miniseries). Dir. Kenneth Johnson. Warner Bros. Television, 1983. TO HELP ILLUMINATE ÉMILE DURKHEIM’S CLASSIC STUDY OF SUICIDE AND SOCIAL COHESION (see Chapter 1, “Understanding Sociology”): Armageddon. Dir. Michael Bay. Jerry Bruckheimer Films, 1998. Independence Day. Dir: Roland Emmerich. 20th Century Fox, 1996. Star Wars. Dir. George Lucas. 20th Century Fox, 1977. TO HELP ILLUMINATE THE STUDY OF DEVIANCE (see Chapter 7, “Deviance and Social Control”): A Clockwork Orange. Dir: Stanley Kubrick. Warner Brothers, 1971. Logan’s Run. Dir. Michael Anderson. MGM, 1976. THX-1138. Dir: George Lucas. Warner Brothers and Zoetrope Studios, 1970. TO HELP ILLUMINATE THE IMPORTANCE OF ELEMENTS OF CULTURE (see Chapter 3, “Culture”): Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Columbia Pictures Corporation, 1977. E.T.: The Extraterrestrial. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Universal Pictures, 1982. 6-6: The Sociology of Television Fandom Watching television can be much more than just a way to pass the time. Some people become so absorbed in a particular show that watching and talking about it become a central part of their life. Fans of the television show Star Trek are a well-known example of people for whom a fictional show can become an all-encompassing interest. In his or her spare time, a fan of this show may dress up as and adopt the identity of a Star Trek character, or go to Star Trek conventions several times a year. Many also count other Star Trek fans among their closest friends. Television fandom lends itself to any number of interesting sociological questions, and, in fact, a sociological literature on television fandom exists. Regarding the Star Trek phenomenon, a sociologist might wonder whether Star Trek fans share a common socio-economic profile. In addition, how do Star Trek fans find out about one another, communicate, and organize group events? What sort of argot and rules of etiquette are used among Star Trek fans? Do Star Trek fans have an influence on the marketing of commercial products related to the show? How does being a Star Trek fan influence other areas of a person’s life, such as work and love? Perhaps most interesting is the question of how a science-fiction television show can loom so large in people’s lives. What can explain why some people develop such a driving interest in Star Trek? As most sociologists would guess, an individual’s reasons for taking up the Star Trek life can be rather complicated. Beyond the simple fact that they take pleasure in watching it, for many people the show resonates in ways that help them to overcome personal difficulties. Dan Madsen, who is now president of Star Trek: The Official Fan Club, describes how attending Star Trek conventions as a teenager allowed him, for the first time in his life, to feel accepted as a normal person. Outside the world of Star Trek fans, his unusually short height— four feet—always made him a strange object of curiosity. By contrast, he discovered a philosophy of universal acceptance on the Star Trek show that was likewise adopted by Star Trek conventioneers (Shatner 1999). Another fan became attached to the show as a child, while growing up in a troubled home. Play-acting as a Klingon allowed him to express anger about his home life in a safe and acceptable way (Davis 1994). In other cases, Star Trek fans may not be so consciously aware of the sociological reasons for their deep interest in Star Trek. In her fascinating ethnography of female Star Trek fans, Camille Bacon-Smith (1992) writes of a little-known subcategory of Star Trek fans: those who write and consume unauthorized fictional stories involving Star Trek characters. These stories fall into two categories: K/S and hurt-comfort fiction. K/S stories depict homosexual relationships between male Star Trek characters. In hurt-comfort stories, a Star Trek character in physical pain—often as the result of a violent act—is comforted by another character. Both types of stories are so controversial—both within and outside of Star Trek communities—that writers often use pseudonyms to protect their identities. Surprisingly, K/S and hurt-comfort stories are produced and consumed almost entirely by women. Why such an interest among women in stories that depict violence and male sexual relationships? Bacon-Smith discovered that this genre of writing appeals to women precisely because the characters in them, who are usually male and/or homosexual, are so utterly different from themselves. Thus, difficult issues in human relationships can be explored without any risk that the writer or reader will identity so closely with the characters that it becomes emotionally painful for them. She also found that hurt-comfort stories are often written by people who are undergoing traumas in their real lives, and who use the writing process as a way of dealing with these difficulties in a safe, distanced way. Indeed, in the process of writing a hurt-comfort story the author will often consult extensively with friends about the story line, and that this becomes a kind of indirect therapy for the author’s real problems (Bacon-Smith 1992). Citations used for this essay include: Camille Bacon-Smith. Enterprising Women. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992; Erik Davis, “TlhIngan Hol Dajatlh’a’ (Do You Speak Klingon?),” Utne Reader 62 (March-April 1994): 122-129; William Shatner. Get a Life! New York: Pocket Books, 1999. Class discussion topics: 1. Media Examples of Misinformation about Substance Abuse: The video Reefer Madness presents an excellent example of how the media disseminated misinformation about marijuana. Have the class view the video, and then discuss the misinformation it contains about the drug. 2.The Cohesive Function of the Mass Media—Is It Changing? Years ago, gathering around the radio to listen to a program was a family activity. Even in the early days of television, families often gathered on a particular night to watch a show. These kinds of activities encouraged family cohesion, so in a sense the mass media contributed to the stability of the family. How has this function of the mass media changed over the past 20 years? How many students—when they are home—sit down with their families on a particular night to watch a particular TV show? 3.Who Should Decide What News to Print? Mass media decision makers are overwhelmingly white, male, and wealthy. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the media tends to ignore the lives and ambitions of subordinate groups. Who, then, should decide what news to print? Ask students how they think decisions about what news to print should be made. Ask them if the government should have more control. 4.Censored News Stories: Peter Kaufman has designed an interesting class project that exposes students to news stories censored from the media, and allows them to explore the reasons for that censorship. Although it is designed as a long-term project with an out-of-class component, it can easily be revised as a one-time in-class discussion. Peter Kaufman, “All the News Not Fit to Print” Teaching Sociology 29 (January 2001): 80-87. 5.News Framing: In this exercise, students frame a news story in several different ways, thereby helping them to question the absolute neutrality of news reporting. See William A. Gamson (ed.). Learning Group Exercises for Political Sociology. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1989, pp. 33-47. 6.Hispanic Americans on TV? Ask students to name their favorite Hispanic TV stars. Next, ask students what kind of image they visualize when they think of Hispanics as they are portrayed on television. While African Americans have had some popular sitcoms, such as The Cosby Show, to date there have not been nearly as many Hispanic equivalents. Encourage students to discuss why African Americans have been more successful than Hispanics in making some breakthroughs in television. 7.Stimulating Classroom Discussion about the Video Killing Us Softly: Show the video Killing Us Softly, and then ask the following questions: Do students agree that the media portrays women as objects? What sociological perspective does this video take: the functionalist, the interactionist, or the conflict perspective? What are the some of the dysfunctions of this type of portrayal of women? Topics for student research: 1. News Framing in Television: This book explores how television media subjectively shape our perceptions of fear and danger. David L. Altheide. Creating Fear: News and the Construction of Crisis. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 2002. 2. Representation of Hispanics in Television Shows: See S. Robert Lichter and Daniel R. Amundson, “Distorted Reality: Hispanic Characters in TV Entertainment.” In Clara Rodriquez (ed.). Latin Looks. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000, pp. 57–92. 3. Reinforcement of Stereotypes through Films: See Bruce E. Johansen, “Race, Ethnicity, and the Media.” In Alan Wells and Ernest A. Hakanen (eds.). Mass Media and Society. Greenwich, CT: Ablex, 1997, pp. 513–25. 4. The Role of Popular Music in Social Change: See Tricia Rose, “Orality and Technology: Rap Music and Afro-American Cultural Resistance.” In Alan Wells and Ernest A. Hakanen (eds.). Mass Media and Society. Greenwich, CT: Ablex, 1997, pp. 207–16. 5. What Television Tells Us about Our Lives: S. Robert Lichter, Linda S. Lichter, and Stanley Rothman. Watching America: What Television Tells Us about Our Lives. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1991. Audiovisual materials: The Art of Manufacturing Consent (2012, YouTube, 6:09m; 3:41m). Norman Solomon, founder of the Institute for Public Accuracy in the U.S., discusses the “filtering” of information that is presented as “news.” Communications Media and Technology (Insight Media, 2002, 30m). This video gives a basic overview of media issues like gatekeeping, and explores both the pros and cons of mass media in our society. Control Room. (2004, 86m). A chronicle which provides a rare window into the international perception of the Iraq War, courtesy of Al Jazeera, the Arab world’s most popular news outlet. Criticized by Cabinet members and Pentagon officials for reporting with a pro-Iraqi bias, and strongly condemned for frequently airing civilian casualties as well as footage of American POW’s, he station has revealed (and continues to show the world) everything about the Iraq War that the Bush administration does not want the public to see. Explaining Men’s Actions in an AXE Ad ( 2013, YouTube, 0:32m). This commercial for AXE Chill Collection suggests that because girls are “hot,” men need to “keep their cool” before they act in an inappropriate manner. Game Over: Gender, Race and Violence in Video Games (2002, 41m). This video discusses the portrayal of violence in video games and its possible effects on children and other video game players. Examines the stereotypes of women, men, Blacks, and others found in many video games. The video is designed to encourage viewers to think critically about the influence of video games. Mass Media in Society (Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2001, 28m). In this program, academic and industry experts examine the globalization of information exchange, the way in which it has altered the social distance between nations and individuals, and the future of mass media. Media Impact (Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2001, 28m). This program emphasizes the seductive nature of films and television. It is an essential component of any course that addresses the importance of critical viewing skills and an awareness of the media’s impact on perceptions. Media Literacy: media ethics (2005, 31m). This program focuses on the ethics expected of media professionals. Includes interviews with journalists who talk about ethical standards of both print and online newspapers. Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema, and the Myth of Cool (Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2001, 46m). Using interviews with some of the biggest names in filmmaking, this provocative program addresses the impact on young viewers of smoking in movies and on TV, and debates questions of artistic license and social responsibility. Should You Let Them Watch? Assessing Media Violence (Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2000, 13m). In this ABC News program, noted psychology professor Jonathan Freedman and Pulitzer Prize–winning science author square off against the University of Michigan’s Leonard Eron and L. Rowell Hesumann to debate the issue of assessing media violence. We Live in Public (2009, 89m). This documentary traces the rise and fall of dot-com entrepreneur Josh Harris and has as its theme the loss of privacy. Webcam Girls (2004, 52m). This documentary profiles some of the early female pioneers in cyberspace who take on old ideas about fane and shame and open up a space for new kinds of art, pornography, celebrity and branding on the internet. What FACEBOOK and GOOGLE Are Hiding From the World ( 2010, TED Talk, 11;45m). Andre Gross disscused how FACEBOOK and GOOGLE selectively filter content according to individual user profiles. Why the World Needs WikiLeaks (2010, Ted Talk, 19:33m). Julian Assange, WikiLeaks founder, discusses how the site operates, what it has accomplished, and what drives him. Why We Buy (Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2003, 51m). This video examines the habits of American buying and shopping. Many topics, from branding to compulsive shopping are explored. Additional readings: Anderson, Mark Cronlund and Carmen L. Robertson. 2011. A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press. Chomsky, Noam. 2002. Media Control: The Spectacular Achievement of Propaganda, Second Edition. New York: Seven Stories Press. Croteau, David, and William Hoynes. 2006. The Business of Media: Corporate Media and the Public Interest(2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. Two sociologists examine the mass-media industry and the social changes it has undergone. Dolby, Nadine. 2001. Constructing Race: Youth, Identity and Popular Culture in South Africa. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. An examination of how the media and elements of the popular culture affect adolescents in South Africa. Fisherkeller, JoEllen. 2002. Growing up with Television: Everyday Learning among Young Adolescents. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. This study—predicated on the assumption that adolescents are an active media audience—examines how young people use television to mold an identity for themselves. Fleras, Augie. 2011. The Media Gaze: Representations of Diversities in Canada.Vancouver: UBC Press. This book explores the ways in which minority groups are represented in the mainstream media. Gant, Scott. 2007. We’re All Journalists Now: The Transformation of the Press and Reshaping of the Law and the Internet Age. Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada. Johnson, Phylis, and Michael C. Keith. 2000. Queer Airwaves: The Story of Gay and Lesbian Broadcasting. The first book-length study of the role of gays and lesbians in television and radio. Kozolanka, Kirsten, Patricia Mazepa and David Skinner (eds.). 2013. Alternative Media in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press. This book presents an exploration of the history and possible future of alternative media. Gasher, Mike, David Skinner and Rowland Lorimer . 2012. Mass Communication in Canada, Seventh Edition. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press. Miller, Toby, Nitin Govil, John McMurria, and Richard Maxwell. 2001. Global Hollywood. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Examines how the network of motion picture production companies, distributors, marketing firms, and banks maximize the impact of big-budget film making from Hollywood on the global marketplace. Pomerance, Mary, ed. 2001. Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls: Gender in Film at the End of the Twentieth Century. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. An examination of gender as portrayed in film both in the United States and worldwide. Thinking About Movies____________________________________________ Thank You For Smoking ( Jason Reitman, 2005) A group of tobacco lobbyists attempts to stem the tide of anti-smoking sentiment and block legislation designed to curtail cigarette sales. Nick Taylor (Aaron Eckhart) is a star lobbyist for the tobacco industry who uses his rhetorical prowess to score points for the tobacco industry. Nick devises a plan to bribe decision-makers in the media industry to show actors smoking on screen. This movie shows how the media industry promotes consumption by carefully placing products in the movie scenes. It also shows the inordinate amount of control that media gatekeepers exert over what is shown in the mass medium of film. For Your Consideration 1. How does Thank You for Smoking show the importance of product placement and how might that reflect the way in which the mass media promote consumption? 2. Who might act as media gatekeepers, and how might they influence what you see on film and television? 11 DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL Contents: • Learning Objectives • Using the Text Boxes to stimulate discussion • Video suggestions • Key points from the text • Additional lecture ideas • Class discussion topics • Topics for students’ research • Additional Audiovisual materials • Additional readings • Thinking About Movies Learning Objectives: 11.1 Define and discuss the elements of social control. Discuss informal and formal social control. 11.2 Define deviance and social stigma. Discuss the various functionalist concepts and views explaining deviance. Discuss the various interactionist concepts and views explaining deviance. Discuss the explanations of deviance from the conflict and feminist perspectives. 11.3 Describe the various types of crime. Discuss the nature and extent of crime in Canada. Using the Text Boxes to stimulate discussion: Research Today: Binge Drinking on Campus.) A survey Of Canadian campuses in 2004 by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health found that 32 percent of undergraduates drink at a dangerous level ( CBC 2008). Applying Theory: 1) Why do you think that most college or university students regard binge drinking as a normal rather than a deviant behaviour ? 2) Which do you think would be more effective in stopping drinking on your campus, informal or formal social control? Sociology in the Global Community: Singapore: A Nation of Campaigns. “Males with Long Hair Will Be Attended to Last!” “Throwing Litter from Apartments Can Kill!” “No Spitting!” These are some of the posters sponsored by the Singapore government in its effort to enforce social norms in this small nation of some four million people living in a totally urbanized area in Southeast Asia. Applying Theory: 1) How would a functionalist thinker view an administration-sponsored campaign at your educational institution against drinking? What would be some latent functions of such a campaign? 2) According to conflict thinkers, why would these social control campaigns work in Singapore? Social Policy and Social Control: Illicit Drug Use in Canada. Vancouver, British Columbia spends more money per capita in dealing with illicit drugs than any other city in Canada. In response to the problem of drug use, Vancouver authorities devised a drug strategy and harm-reduction plan, which is the first of its kind in North America. It shifts the focus away from drug use as a criminal activity and toward drug use as a health and safety issue. Under the plan, users would receive treatment rather than jail terms, and special treatment beds would be allocated to young users. Applying Theory: 1) How might conflict sociologists explain why certain drugs, and the individuals who use them, have been treated so differently? 2) According to functionalist perspectives, what functions might drug or alcohol addiction have in society? Video Suggestions: Knocked Up ( Director: Judd Apatow, 2007) Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is celebrating her promotion at a club when she meets Ben Stone (Seth Rogen). The two have a one-night stand that results in Allison's pregnancy. Notwithstanding the fact that the two hardly know each other, neither of them is ready for family life. Allison has just landed a job as an anchor for the El television network, and Ben is stalled in a perpetual state of adolescence. Nevertheless, for the sake of the baby, they try to make something of the relationship. Allison's pregnancy can be seen as deviant in two ways. First, her unwed status can be viewed a violation of social norms. Watch for the scene in which Ben and Allison visit a doctor to verify her pregnancy. Assuming that no norms have been broken, the physician refers to them as Mr. and Mrs. Stone. Second, Allison's pregnancy stigmatizes her in the entertainment industry, which expects women to adhere to an ideal body shape. East Side Showdown (46 min, 1998, National Film Board of Canada). Middle-class homeowners, angry radicals, desperate drug addicts and people simply looking for a place to lay their head, all are players in a bitter struggle in the downtown Toronto neighbourhood of Dundas and Sherbourne. This film highlights the dispute between the haves and have-nots, a struggle that is becoming move widespread across Canada. Quiet Rage: The Stanford Prison Experiment (50 min, 1992, Stanford University). Documentary of a classic experiment in social psychology, led by Stanford psychologist Philip Zimbardo. The film chronicles the “experimental” prison set up in the basement of the psychology building at Stanford. The experiment was called off after only six days because the situation had become so volatile that the researchers felt they no longer had control over the guards and the safety of their research subjects. This unique film reveals the chronology of the transition of good into evil, of normal into the abnormal. Original archival footage and new film captures the essence of this transformation of human nature and the unexpected power of social situations. Questions for stimulating a classroom discussion about Philip Zimbardo's study of "prison behaviour" can include the following: Based on Zimbardo's study, what would you conclude about the impact of social structure on social interaction? Is it valid to generalize from a small experiment, similar to the one conducted by Zimbardo? Based on the sociological code of ethics that you learned about in Chapter 2, do you believe that Zimbardo was ethical in conducting this experiment? In ending it when he did? Does Zimbardo's experiment explain prison guard/prisoner behaviour in a real prison? Can the findings of Zimbardo's experiment be generalized to other, non-prison social structures? High-Risk Offender (58 min, 1998, National Film Board of Canada). Director Barry Greenwald takes his camera into a Team Supervision Unit at Correctional Services Canada to track the progress of seven high-risk offenders -- federal prisoners guilty of everything from murder to white-collar crime and now eligible for parole. Over a ten month period, we witness the parole officers and therapists whose job it is to make sure the parolees stay clean, out of trouble and out of jail. The officers carry a heavy burden, juggling the roles of law enforcement officer, social worker and friend while ensuring the safe return back into society of federal inmates on conditional release; officers desperate to keep their clients out of prison and their own failures off the files. The offenders put up with routine urine tests for drugs, random curfew checks and therapy sessions. Obedience (45 min, 1965, produced by Stanley Milgram, Pennsylvania State University). This film chronicles the now classic experiment on obedience to authority conducted during 1962 at Yale University. The film shows both obedient and defiant reactions of subjects who are instructed to administer electric shock of increasing severity to another person. Students are generally shocked at the high degree of obedience among the experiments’ participants. Also excellent for a discussion of ethics surrounding social research. Key Points from the Text: Social Control: The term social control refers to the techniques and strategies for preventing deviant human behaviour in any society. Social control occurs on all levels of society-in the family, in peer groups, and in bureaucratic organizations. Most of us respect and accept basic social norms and assume that others will do the same. If we fail to act “properly,” we may face punishment through informal sanctions such as fear and ridicule, or formal sanctions such as jail sentences or fines. Conformity and Obedience: Stanley Milgram made a useful distinction between two important levels of social control. He defined conformity as going along with one’s peers, individuals of a person’s own status who have no special right to direct that person’s behaviour. By contrast, obedience is defined as compliance with higher authorities in a hierarchical structure. Use Your Sociological Imagination: If you were a participant in Milgram’s research on conformity, how far do you think you would go in carrying out orders? Do you see any ethical problem with the experimenter’s manipulation of the control subjects? Informal and Formal Social Control: Informal social control is social control carried out by people casually through such means as smiles, laughter, and ridicule. Formal social control is carried out by authorized agents, such as police officers, physicians, school administrators, employers, military officers, and managers of movie theaters. It can serve as a last resort when socialization and informal sanctions do not bring about desired behaviour. Law and Society: Some norms are so important to a society they are formalized into laws controlling people’s behaviour. Law is governmental social control. Sociologists have become increasingly interested in the creation of laws as a social process. In their view, law is not merely a static body of rules handed down from generation to generation. Rather it reflects continually changing standards of what is right and wrong, of how violations are to be determined, and of what sanctions are to be applied. Control theory suggests that our connection to members of society leads us to systematically conform to society’s norms. Deviance: For sociologists, deviance is behaviour that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society. Deviance involves the violations of group norms that may or may not be formalized into law. It is a comprehensive concept that includes not only criminal behaviour but also many actions not subject to prosecution. Deviance can be understood only within its social context. Deviance and Social Stigma: While deviance can include relatively minor day-to-day decisions about our personal behaviour, in some cases it can become part of a person's identity. This process is called stigmatization. The interactionist Erving Goffman coined the term stigma to describe the labels society uses to devalue members of certain social groups. Often people are stigmatized for deviant behaviours they may no longer engage in. Goffman draws a useful distinction between a prestige symbol that draws attention to a positive aspect of one's identity, such as a wedding band or a badge, and a stigma symbol that discredits or debases one's identity, such as a conviction for child molestation. The Functionalist View: According to functionalists, deviance is a common part of human existence, with positive (as well as negative) consequences for social stability. Deviance helps to define the limits of proper behaviour. As Émile Durkheim observed, the punishments established within a culture (including both formal and informal mechanisms of social control) help to define acceptable behaviour and thus contribute to stability. If improper acts were not committed and then sanctioned, people might stretch their standards as to what constitutes appropriate conduct. Merton's Theory of Deviance: Using a functionalist analysis, Robert Merton adapted Durkheim's notion of anomie to explain why people accept or reject the goals of a society, the socially approved means of fulfilling their aspirations, or both. Merton developed the anomie theory of deviance, which posits five basic forms of adaptation. Conformity to social norms, the most common adaptation in Merton's typology, is the opposite of deviance. It involves acceptance of both the overall societal goal and the approved means. The "innovator" accepts the goals of a society but pursues them with means regarded as improper. The "ritualist" has abandoned the goal of material success and becomes compulsively committed to the institutional means. The "retreatist" has basically withdrawn from both the goals and the means of a society, and the "rebel" feels alienated from dominant means and goals and may seek a dramatically different social order. Interactionist Perspective: The emphasis on everyday behaviour is the focus of the interactionist perspective on deviance and conformity. It is best reflected in cultural transmission theory, routine activities theory, and labeling theory. Cultural Transmission and Differential Association: Sociologist Edwin Sutherland drew upon the cultural transmission school of criminology, which emphasizes that criminal behaviour is learned through interactions with others. Sutherland maintained that through interactions with a primary group and significant others, people acquire definitions of behaviour that are deemed proper and improper. He used the term differential association to describe the process through which exposure to attitudes favourable to criminal acts leads to violation of rules. People are more likely to engage in norm-defying behaviour if they are part of a group or subculture that stresses deviant values. Routine activities theory contends that criminal victimization is increased when motivated offenders and suitable targets converge. It goes without saying that you cannot have car theft without automobiles, but the greater availability of more valuable automobiles to potential thieves heightens the likelihood that such a crime will occur. Labeling Theory: Reflecting the contribution of interactionist theorists, labeling theory emphasizes how a person comes to be labeled as deviant or to accept that label. Labeling theory is also called the societal-reaction approach, reminding us that it is the response to an act and not the behaviour that determines deviance. An important aspect of labeling theory is the recognition that some people or groups have the power to define labels and apply them to others. The practice of racial or ethnic profiling, in which people are identified as criminal suspects purely on the basis of their race or ethnicity, has come under scrutiny in recent years. The popularity of labeling theory is reflected in the emergence of a related perspective called social constructionism. According to the social constructionist perspective, deviance is the product of the culture we live in. Social constructionists focus specifically on the decision-making process that creates the deviant identity. Use your sociological imagination: You are a teacher. What kinds of labels freely used in educational circles might be attached to your students? The Conflict View of Deviance: Why is certain behaviour evaluated as deviant while other behaviour is not? According to conflict theorists, it is because people with power protect their own interests and define deviance to suit their own needs. Sociologist Richard Quinney and other conflict theorists argue that lawmaking is often an attempt by the powerful to coerce others into their own brand of morality. On the whole, conflict theorists contend that the criminal justice system treats suspects and offenders differently, on the basis of racial, ethnic, and social class backgrounds. Feminist Perspectives: Feminist perspectives on deviance are varied, like feminist perspectives themselves. Liberal perspectives tend to view women's crime rates as a reflection of the degree to which women have been granted opportunities in all facets of social life (e.g., sports, business, law, politics and education). Radical feminist perspectives see patriarchy as key to understanding why certain offences such as prostitution are more common for women than men. Patriarchal institutions such as the family and the criminal justice system maintain control over women's bodies and minds. Crime: Crime is a violation of criminal law for which some governmental authority applies formal penalties. It represents a deviation from formal social norms administered by the state. A professional criminal is a person who pursues crime as a day-to-day occupation, developing skilled techniques and enjoying a certain degree of status among other criminals. Organized crime is the work of a group that regulates relations among various criminal enterprises involved in the smuggling and sale of drugs, prostitution, gambling, and other illegal activities. White collar crime is illegal acts committed in the course of business activities, often by affluent, “respectable” people. Victimless crime is a term used to describe the willing exchange among adults of widely desired, but illegal, goods and services. Use your sociological imagination: As a newspaper editor, how might you treat stories on corporate crime differently from those on violent crimes? Crime Statistics: Crime statistics are not as accurate as social scientists would like. Public opinion polls reveal that Canadians believe the crime rate is increasing in the country, despite the release of statistics that indicate the national crime rate in 2006 hit its lowest point in 25 years. Sociologists have several ways of measuring crime. Police statistics are commonly used, however, do not represent as accurate representation of the incidence of crime; many crimes, for example, go unreported. Partly because of the deficiency of official crime statistics, there is a vital role for victimization surveys. These surveys question ordinary people; not police officers, to learn how much crime occurs. International Crime Rates: During the 1980s and 1990s violent crimes were much more common in the United States than in Canada and Western Europe. Yet the incidence of certain other types of crime appears to be higher elsewhere. For example, England, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand all have higher rates of car theft than in the United States. Transnational Crime: Transnational Crime is crime that occurs across multiple national borders. Historically, probably the most dreaded example of transnational crime has been the enslavement and trafficking of Africans. In the twentieth century, transnational crime grew to embrace trafficking in endangered species, drugs, and stolen art and antiquities. Efforts to fight transnational crime are complicated by sensitive legal and security issues. Additional Lecture Ideas: 1: Ethical Implications of Milgram’s Research In Chapter 2 of the text we discussed some of the difficult ethical issues that confront social science researchers. While conducting his experiments on obedience to authority, Stanley Milgram was well aware that his study might leave subjects (especially those who had “shocked” others) with disturbing aftereffects. Thus, as part of the normal procedure for the project, each subject was informed that the “victim” had not actually received dangerous shocks, was carefully debriefed, and was given time to discuss the experiment with someone on Milgram’s staff. Obedient subjects were assured that their behaviour was normal and had friendly meetings with unharmed “learners.” See Milgram. Obedience to Authority. New York: Harper & Row, 1975, p. 24. All subjects also received a follow-up questionnaire, which again allowed them to communicate their feelings about the experiment. Almost 84 percent stated that they were glad to have been in the study, while roughly 15 percent were neutral, and only 1.3 percent indicated negative feelings. In addition, 74 percent noted that they had learned something of personal importance from the experience. One subject wrote, “The experiment has strengthened my belief that man should avoid harm to his fellow man even at the risk of violating authority.” Another commented, “If this experiment serves to jar people out of complacency, it will have served its end” (pp. 195-196). These measures, while impressive, are not conclusive; the experiment still could have been harmful to participants who had to face their willingness to inflict pain on others. Therefore, Milgram had a psychiatrist examine 40 subjects of the experiment. None showed any indications of “traumatic reactions” (p. 197). Yet even this test cannot guarantee that the same was true of the nearly 1,000 remaining participants in the obedience experiments. See Kenneth Ring et al., “Mode of Debriefing,” Representative Research in Social Psychology, 1 (1970):67-88. A troubling question underlies Milgram’s important research, and it also applies, to a lesser extent, to the studies conducted by Solomon Asch (described in the text) and by West, Gunn, and Chernicky (noted below in “Topics for Student Research”). What are the long-range consequences of social science research that misleads, deceives, and may actually be of harm to participants? If the public comes to believe that researchers are not sensitive to ethical issues-and will risk-hurting subjects in the pursuit of knowledge-it may become increasingly difficult to recruit subjects for worthwhile (and ethically scrupulous) experiments. See Bem Allen. Social Behaviour: Fact and Falsehood. Chicago: Nelson Hall, 1978, pp. 58-63. See also Diane Baumrind, “Some Thoughts on Ethics of Research,” American Sociologist, 19 (June 1964): 421-423. See also the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association’s (CSAA) Statement of Professional Ethics, approved June 1994, as they relate to protecting people in the research environment. 2: Social Control on the Streets Is walking or standing on the sidewalk asking passersby for spare change, either verbally or by the use of a sign, legal? In an effort to prevent behaviour that some Canadian communities regard as undesirable, walking or standing in public places for the purpose of collecting money is now being subjected to sanctions. In the case of laws on vagrancy, these restrictions are not all new. The first full-fledged law against vagrancy was passed in England in 1349. Much of this early legislation was motivated by concern that people idly standing around might be carriers of disease. Many early statutes required such idle people to take jobs that might be available. Later statutes shifted from a concern with disease and idleness to a concern with criminal activity or those behaviours considered to be a nuisance. How does society define or come to label people as a “nuisance?” Obviously, not all people are equally likely to be subjected to such labeling. The homeless, the poor, the mentally ill and young people come to mind as groups that have been subjected to social control over their ability to stand or walk at certain times or in certain places while asking for spare change. In the 1990s many Canadian cities put in place municipal panhandling bylaws that took a number of forms. Some, such as in the case of Ottawa and Sudbury banned panhandling completely. Other municipalities restricted the time of day panhandling could occur while others restricted panhandling in specific areas. Vancouver’s bylaw is one of the most inclusive in terms of the conditions of restrictions on panhandling. For example, the by-law restricts panhandling by time, place, and method; it is prohibited between sunset and sunrise; it cannot occur within a minimum distance of 10 metres from certain institutions such as ATM's, banks, and liquor stores; it is prohibited from taking place in a motor vehicle and it must not be conducted from a seated or prone position. The Vancouver by-law is being challenged by anti-poverty groups on jurisdictional and Charter grounds, including section 7 relating to the rights to life, liberty and security of a person by denying certain classes the ability to provide the necessities of life. Arthur Shafer, a University of Manitoba ethicist, believes that the courts will find these restrictions to be an unwarranted violation of basic human rights. Shafer argues that these laws are an attack on the weakest members of our society through attempts to limit their income, their self-respect and their interaction with fellow citizens. Sources:” Brother Can You Spare a Dime; panhandling intrudes into the daily like in the city. 1999."The Globe and Mail, (June 15): A25. William J. Chambliss. 1964. “A Sociological Analysis of the Law of Vagrancy.” Social Problems, 12 (Summer): 67-77; James Laxer.1999.The Undeclared War: Class Conflict in the Age of CyberCapitalism. Toronto: Penguin Books. Barbara Murphy. 1999. The Ugly Canadian: The Rise and Fall of a Caring Society. Winnipeg Manitoba: J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing Inc. Arthur Shafer.1998. Down and Out in Winnipeg and Toronto: the Ethics of Legislating Against Pandhandling. Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy (August). 3: Deviance or Sport A type of athletic contest is the subject of a clash in interpretations as to whether it constitutes sport or violence. In question are two rival organizations, the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Extreme Fighting, which mount competitions between two combatants. These competitions take place in an octagonal ring surrounded by a chain-link fence, and the only rules are no eye-gouging or biting. Chokeholds, head butts, and rabbit punches to the brain stem are legal. So are knees to the throat and elbows to the kidney. The fight is over when a doctor intervenes or when a fighter “taps out,” slamming a hand repeatedly on the mat. Although live audiences to such events, called “extreme fighting,” are limited, up to 350,000 households watched the “competition” between Dan “The Beast” Severn and “The Russian Bear” Oleg Taktarov at home on pay-per-view TV. Several jurisdictions have passed legislation banning such events, and as word spreads more are considering that option. The stated purpose of such events is to determine which form of the martial arts, judo, kickboxing, tae kwon do, jujitsu, kung fu, or another discipline-is superior. Supporters defend this type of competition and note that it pays off business-wise. They argue that hockey and football are more violent and that the critics are elitist, merely reflecting their negative opinion of the millions of people in the North America who compete in the martial arts. The issues are not really new. What is defined as deviant in the realm of sport and entertainment? The case of Marty McSorley, a player in the National Hockey League, was one in which a stick-wielding incident on the ice was judged, off the ice, to be a form of assault. Canadians are divided in their views on whether hockey crosses the line from sport to deviant behaviour. As well, in different cultures boxing, bullfighting, rodeo-riding, and cockfighting are variously cheered on or seen as criminal and barbaric. Sources: R. Giulianotti, N. Bonney, and M. Hepworth (eds.), Football, Violence and Social Identity .London: Routledge, 1994. B. Kidd, "Sports and Masculinity" in M. Kaufman (ed.) Beyond Patriarchy: Essays by Men. Toronto: Oxford, 1987, M.D. Smith, Violence in Sport, Toronto: Butterworths, 1983, N. Therge, "A Feminist Analysis of Responses to Sports Violence: Media Coverage of the 1987 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships," Sociology of Sport Journal 6:247-56, 1989. 4: Primary and Secondary Deviance Edwin Lemert has offered a useful clarification of the labeling approach. He distinguishes between primary and secondary deviance. Primary deviance is the rationalized violation of rules that define acceptable behaviour. A person who abuses alcohol temporarily after the death of a loved one or a business failure is generally not regarded as deviant. Similarly, a college student who uses cocaine once to find out what his or her friends are talking about will probably not be regarded as a “drug abuser.” Excused or undetected deviant acts do not generate the self-image of a “delinquent” or a “criminal” and may involve the use of techniques of neutralization. Lemert argues that if people who are in a position to apply socially respected labels learn of deviant behaviour, an act of deviance will take on a much different meaning. Secondary deviance occurs when a person has been labeled as “deviant.” This labeling arises more frequently when a person engages in repeated acts of misconduct. As a result of the labeling process, the person may reorganize his or her life around this new deviant status and thus embark on a life of norm-violating behaviour. For example, suppose that an adolescent boy is brought before a court and charged with his first offense, shoplifting. He may regard the experience with fear and awe at the time. But if he is “let off” on the basis of his previous good conduct, the memory of the court appearance will fade. The act thus remains one of primary deviance: the boy is labeled a “good kid” who “made a mistake.” Suppose, however, that he is bitterly condemned by his family and rejected by his friends. If the youth perceives that he is being viewed as a delinquent, he may begin to see himself that way. Once he accepts this self-image, the incident is transformed into one of secondary deviance. Lemert’s work emphasizes the process of developing a deviant identity over time, just as one can gradually accept the identity of “born leader” or “class clown.” See Edwin Lemert. Social Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1951. See also Lemert. Human Deviance: Social Problems and Social Control. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1967. 5: Discretionary Justice Conflict theorists contend that social control is applied differentially to suspects because of social class, occupation (e.g., students), backgrounds, gender, nationality, or race. Allegations of racism, discrimination, harassment, indifference, and intimidation on the part of some members of Canadian police forces, have led some to question police legitimacy. Questions surrounding the practice of policing have motivated some local groups to support the establishment of the practice of community policing, in which the community becomes empowered to play an active role in crime prevention. Often, the move to establish community policing organizations is met with opposition by conventional police forces, as the subcultural values of conventional policing and those of community policing are in opposition to one another. The former stresses crime- fighting while the latter stresses community service. Police forces, therefore, may resist the incorporation of community into their activities since their subcultures and institutional bureaucracies are based on opposing goals and values. According to E.D. Nelson and Augie Fleras (1995), resistance to community policing will be commonplace unless management finds ways of: 1. breaking down barriers to social change 2. educating police officials about the benefits and advantages 3. addressing manageable problems before embarking on widespread reforms 4. conveying that community policing is a natural outgrowth of development in the police department 5. demonstrating the merits of community policing to the general public as well as to elected officials. 6. giving clear indications of changes in training, reward structures, and career enhancement 7. revealing how administrative rules and management techniques will be redesigned to meet new concerns 8. clearing up misunderstanding and misconceptions regarding the goals, content, and scope of community policing. Sources: Lee P. Brown.1988.Community Policing: Issues and Policies Around the World. Washington D.C. National Institute of Justice. E.D. Nelson and Augie Fleras. 1995. Social Problems in Canada; Issues and Challenges. Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall Canada Inc. 6: Being a Hit Man Homicide violates a serious norm that is sanctioned with prison sentences and under some circumstances even with the death of the assailant. People who kill in a hot-blooded burst of passion can draw some comfort from the law, which provides lighter punishments for killings performed without premeditation or intent. But what about someone who kills repeatedly and intentionally, aware that these acts of homicide are unlawful? Ken Levi interviewed, over a four-month period, a self-styled “hit man,” know as "Pete," who was serving a prison sentence. Being a hit man might seem to be a life without responsibility to society’s norms; but Pete emphasizes that he is strictly governed by a contract, and failure to fulfill it carries severe penalties. Pete and other hit men insist on big money because they know that less “professional” hired killers (such as drug addicts) who offer to work for low fees often receive a bullet for their pains. It is believed that people who would kill for so little would also require little persuasion to make them talk to the police. Therefore, his and other hit men’s reputation for charging high fees is functional; it helps them to carry out their tasks successfully and, not incidentally, to remain alive. An important way for “freelance” hit men to view their work as appropriate is to “reframe” a hit. Erving Goffman describes “frames” (or “breaks”) as portions of a given situation. Often, norm violators will dissociate themselves from a frame; a prostitute, for instance, may remain absolutely detached, her mind miles away, when having sex with a client. Even surgeons partially dissociate themselves from their patients by having the patient completely covered except for the part to be operated on; this helps them to work in a more impersonal way. Pete, the hit man interviewed by Levi, goes through a process of reframing his hits; he reveals that afterward he can rarely recall a victim’s personal features. Also, he refers to his victims as “targets,” not people. Even at the time of contract, he specifically requests not to be told why the contract has been “let” because even though the motive might justify the hit, it would make the “target” more of a person. Homicide is one of society’s mores. Pete knows that, but he accommodates this potentially discrediting feature of his life by emphasizing the new norms he must obey. Therefore he considers himself “law-abiding,” even if the laws are not those of the larger society. Similarly, he approaches the hit as “just a job” and thus goes as far as he can in denying his norm violation. See Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada 1997. Ottawa: Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, 1997; Erving Goffman. Frame Analysis. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press, 1974. See also Delos H. Kelly (ed.). Deviant Behaviour (2nd ed.). New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1985, pp. 528-529, and 692-703. See also John Evans and Alexander Himelfarb. 1996."Counting Crime." In Rick Linden (ed), Criminology; A Canadian Perspective (3rd. ed). Toronto: Harcourt Brace and Company, 61-94. 7: Marijuana for Medical Use In the past, drug use has sometimes been advanced as a “victimless crime.” However, critics of this stance have pointed to the elaborate crime operations that have developed globally to fulfill the demand for drugs. Yet marijuana has often had a special role in this debate, partly because many regard it as much less harmful or addictive than heroin. Furthermore, when it first became widely known to the general public, marijuana became, for better or worse, associated with the “flower children” of the 1960s. To get a more historical perspective, marijuana, as we know it today, first arrived in the 1840s and was touted as a treatment for a variety of ailments, including syphilis. Although there is little evidence today for such claims, there is also no consensus within the medical community about its potential benefits or dangers. The drug does appear to alleviate pain and stimulate appetite in the chronically ill. There are indications, however, that taken in sufficient quantities, marijuana may alter a person’s powers of attention, permanently impair memory, produce physical addiction, and increase the risk of lung cancer. These conclusions are not firmly accepted, however, and there is conflicting evidence. There is certainly not the level of documentation of medical hazards as has been accumulated concerning alcohol abuse, for example. Part of the reason for this lack of evidence is the absence of medical trials or controlled experiments of marijuana users. Some critics argue that politics and scare tactics have blocked medical researchers from receiving the research-grade marijuana necessary for good clinical science. The problem is also complicated by the type of marijuana being studied; most observers concur that today’s marijuana is more potent than earlier samples and is typically taken in larger doses. Many surveys do show that marijuana is a “gateway” substance, that is, one whose use makes experimentation with more hazardous substances more likely, although it is not necessarily a causal agent of such use. In July 2001, Canada became the first country to adopt a system for the medical use of marijuana. Individuals suffering from medical conditions such as HIV/ AIDS, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, as well as those suffering from the effects of chemotherapy, may apply to the government for the legal right to use marijuana. Health Canada awarded a Saskatoon company the first license to grow marijuana for medical purposes; this supply is being grown in underground in an old mine in northern Manitoba. Health Canada has also sponsored clinical trials to study whether marijuana provides relief for those with chronic pain. Most of Canada's marijuana, however, is not produced for medical purposes. Canada produces about 800 tons of illicit marijuana a year, the majority of which is produced in British Columbia. Sources for this lecture include the following: DeNeen Brown,” Canada Issues Plan On Medical Marijuana: Patients Have to Show Drug's Benefits" Washington Post, (April 7, 2001): A14; P.J. Giffen, S. Endicott and S. Lambert, Canada's Drug Laws: A Study in the Sociology of Law, Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, 1991Erich Goode. Drugs in American Society. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993; Sarah Ferguson. “The Battle for Medical Marijuana,” The Nation, 264 (January 6, 1997): 14-17; Craig Jones, “Much Ado about Marijuana," CMAJ 165(4): 523-25; (Christopher Wren, “Votes on Marijuana Are Stirring Debate,” New York Times (November 17, 1996): 9. Class Discussion Topics: 1. Police Decision Making: To recreate a simulation of curbside justice as exercised by police officers, see Technique No. 87 in Edward L. Kain and Robin Neas (eds.). Innovative Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1993, pp. 87-89. 2. Field Trips: Classroom discussion of criminal justice would be enhanced by a visit to a correctional facility, courtroom, or police station, followed by a question-and-answer session with agency representatives. 3. What is Deviance: Ask students to give an example of a human behaviour that is universally considered to be deviant. Distinguish between the label for an action- "murder"-as opposed to the action-taking another individual's life. There are no actions that are universally defined as deviant. This is a good discussion to use as a basis for defining deviance, for introducing labeling theory, for examining variations of deviance within a culture, and for examining cross-cultural variations in deviant behaviour. Sources for this discussion include the following: Howard Becker. The Outsiders: Studies in Sociology of Deviance. New York: Free Press, 1963; Kai T. Erikson, "Notes on the Sociology of Deviance," Social Problems, 9 (1962):307-314; Kai T. Erikson. Wayward Puritans: A Study of the Sociology of Deviance. New York: Wiley, 1966; J. Gusfield. Contested Meanings: The Construction of Alcohol Problems. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1996. 4. Crayons as Deviance: Ask students to use crayons for taking notes in a class and to note the reaction of the people around them. This is a variation of an exercise proposed in Jerry M. Lewis. Tips for Teaching Introductory Sociology. Minneapolis, MN: West, 1995, p. 77. 5. Positive Deviance: Students and instructors tend to focus on negative examples of deviance, such as murder, theft, and sexual dysfunctions. However, Angela Lewellyn Jones has students focus on positive deviance, such as saintly behaviour, that assists them in understanding the sociological meaning of "deviance." See Angela L. Jones, "Random Acts of Kindness: A Teaching Tool for Positive Deviance," Teaching Sociology, 26(July, 1998):179-189. 6. Becker and Labeling: Howard Becker, who is noted in the text for popularizing the labeling approach, has taken some interesting and controversial positions regarding marijuana. See Becker, “Becoming a Marijuana User,” American Journal of Sociology, 59(November, 1953): 235-242. Becker stressed that one must learn how to enjoy this substance. Later, he proposed that the solution to the “problem of campus drug use” is that “college administrators have learned to live with sex and drink and must do so with drugs; and that students, for their part, must become more cautious.” See Becker, “Ending Campus Drug Incidents,” Transaction (April 1968): 4-5. Has that bargain been struck on your campus? 7. Violence and Crime: Jeana Abromeit provides several critical-thinking activities on criminal violence. See the description in Teodora O. Amoloza and James Sikora (eds.). Introductory Sociology Resource Manual (4th ed.). Washington, DC, 1996: American Sociological Association, pp. 173-178. 8. Innovative Techniques: As a result of an Exxon grant, a project was undertaken to develop new ways of presenting familiar material. See “Criminology,” in L.R. Meeth and Dean S. Gregory. Directory of Teaching Innovations in Sociology. Arlington, VA: Studies in Higher Education, 1981. 9. Campus Crime Statistics: See Richard A. Wright, "Using Campus Crime Statistics in Classroom Discussions of Official Measures of Crime," Teaching Sociology, 25 (January 1997): 49-56. 10. Ranking Crimes: See Technique No. 12 in Edward L. Kain and Robin Neas (eds.). Innovative Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts, (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1993, pp. 87-89. 11. Teaching about Sexual Assault: See Amanda Konradi, “Teaching about Sexual Assault: Problematic Silences and Solutions,” Teaching Sociology, 21(January 1993): 13-25. 12. Using Humour: David S. Adams has produced a monograph that includes funny examples that could be incorporated in lectures associated with this chapter. See Adams. “Deviance.” In Using Humor in Teaching Sociology: A Handbook. Washington, DC: ASA Teaching Resources Center, 1982. See also Joseph E. Faulkner. "Deviance and Social Control." In Sociology through Humor. New York: West, 1987. Topics for Student Research: 1. Bystander Apathy: Is the “Good Samaritan” extinct, or do bystanders still come to the aid of their fellow human beings? Social psychologists have created several experiments to answer this question with interesting results. See Bem Allen. Social Behaviour: Fact and Falsehood. Chicago: Nelson Hall, 1978; R. Lance Shotland, “Spontaneous Vigilantes,” Society, 13(1976): 30-33; R. Lance Shotland and Margaret K. Straw, “Bystander Response to an Assault: When a Man Attacks a Woman,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34(1976): 990-999. 2. Crime and Violence within First Nations Communities: See Timothy F. Hartnagel, "Correlates of Criminal Behaviour," in Relined (ed.), Criminology: A Canadian Perspective (3rd ed.) Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 95-137, 1996. 3. Obedience: Another Look: What replications have there been of Milgram’s experiment? Students might be interested in examining a Watergate-type replication. See Stephen West, Steven Gunn, and Paul Chernicky, “Ubiquitous Watergate: An Attributional Analysis,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32(July 1975): 55-65. These researchers conducted an elaborate experiment to assess the willingness of Americans to engage in crimes at their government’s request. Unsuspecting college students were contacted by a private investigator and presented with a plan for the burglary of a local advertising firm. The students were given various rationales for the crime and were asked to participate in it. Some were told that the firm was defrauding the government of millions of dollars and that the Internal Revenue Service wanted to make microfilm copies of its records. The researchers found that 45 percent of the subjects were willing to participate in a burglary if guaranteed immunity from prosecution. Students may also wish to examine a critical view of the ethical issues raised by this experiment. See Stuart W. Cook, “A Comment on the Ethical Issues Involved in West, Gunn, and Chernick’s ‘Ubiquitous Watergate: An Attributional Analysis,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32(July 1975): 66-68. 4. Police and Social Control: In light of the trial of the police officers accused of the 1992 beating of Rodney King, it may be useful to revisit William B. Waegel, “How Police Justify the Use of Deadly Force,” Social Problems, 32(December 1984): 144-155. 5. Rape Education Videos: Can visual images effectively teach about sexual violence? See Martha McCaughey and Neal King, “Rape Education Videos: Presenting Mean Women Instead of Dangerous Men,” Teaching Sociology, 23(October 1995): 374-388. 6. Campus Violence: S Walter De Keseredy and Martin D. Schwartz, Woman Abuse on Campus: Results from the Canadian National Survey. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998. 7. Urban Gangs: See John M. Hagedorn, “Gangs, Neighbourhoods, and Public Policy,” Social Problems, 38(November 1991): 529-542. 8. White-Collar Crime: For an examination of the current approaches to this concept, begin with the book review essay by Craig B. Little, “Whither White-Collar Crime,” Teaching Sociology, 24(July 1996): 333-337. 9. Geographic Mobility and Crime: See Timothy Hartnagel, "Crime Among the Provinces: The Effect of Geographic Mobility" Canadian Journal of Criminology, 3994): 387-402 10. Sexual Violence and the Media: See Maria Los and Sharon Charmard, "Selling Newspapers or Educating the Public? Sexual Violence in the Media, “Canadian Journal of Criminology, 39(3): 293-328. 11. Labeling: The labeling perspective can be applied to groups other than those that are criminally deviant. See Richard Hurzeler, “Generation X,” in Teodora O. Amoloza and James Sikora (eds.). Introductory Sociology Resource Manual (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1996, p. 217. Also see Technique No. 11 in Edward L. Kain and Robin Neas (eds.). Innovative Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, pp. 17-18. 12. Youth Violence: See A.N. Doob and J.B. Sprott, "Is the Quality of Youth Violence Becoming More Serious?" Canadian Journal of Criminology, 40(2), 185-194. 13. Labeling of People with AIDS: See Lawrence J. Ouellet, Matta Kelly, Andrea Coward, and W. Wayne Wiebel, “Developing Community Resources for a Stigmatized Population.” In Gary L. Albrecht (ed.) Advances in Medical Sociology, vol. 6. Greenwich, CT.: JAI Press, 1995, pp. 207-230. 14. Race and Criminology: See Jeanette Covington, “Racial Classification in Criminology: The Reproduction of Racialized Crime,” Sociological Forum, 10(4)(1995): 547-568. Additional Audiovisual Materials: “Blurred Lines” and Rape Culture ( 2013, YouTube, 4:32m). The Robin Thicke video “ Blurred Lines” sparked a public conversation about rape culture and the objectification of women. Drug Deals (2001,50mins). Examines the degree to which universities, hospitals, doctors, researchers, and health protection agencies are influenced by the power and money of the pharmaceutical industry. Explaining Social Deviance (1995, 10 lectures of 45m). University of Pennsylvania Professor Paul Root addresses power, conformity, and criminality. Discusses Freud, Durkheim, and Lombroso. Exploring Alternatives to Prison and Probation (1991, 22m). Visits five alternative sentencing programs, including one in which offenders must perform community service, one that has criminals paying restitution to their victims, and a house-arrest program in which offenders are monitored by electronic surveillance. Pros and cons of each program are explored. Matrimony ( 2013, YouTube, 8:23m). Filmmaker Greg Scott and a crew of sociologists chronicles the lives of a homeless, heroin-addicted married couple. Men, Sex, and Rape (1993, 75m). Peter Jennings is joined by law enforcement officials and criminal justice experts to examine what causes some men to rape. The program explores men’s views of women, looking at how such widely accepted male rituals as bachelor parties and topless bars affect men’s attitudes. Interviews with both rapists and victims of rape illuminate the motives and the effects of the crime. Obedience to Authority (1997, tape, 55m). Heywood Hale Broun interviews Stanley Milgram (Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View) and Dr. Ernest Van Den Haag. Racial profiling: The Bike Thief. ( 2010, YouTube, 4:41m). A clip from an American television show, What Would You Do?, helps to illustrate the concept of racial profiling. The Salem Witch Trials: You Are There (1957, B&W, 28m). It is August 1692; Salem village is in a ferment of fear and hysteria as the witch-hunt continues. The trials of George Burroughs and Mary Eastey epitomize the evil that hangs over the community as hysterical young girls accuse innocent people of being witches--a course of events that leads to the execution of 20 people. A dramatic insight into the unfortunate impact that labeling can have. Societies Under the Influence(1998,52 mins.). A look into how the so-called "drug war" protects big business, organized crime, and American foreign interests. What Do You Do to Protect Yourself from Sexual Violence? ( 2013, YouTube, 4:40m). This video clip was produced by an undergraduate sociology seminar group, focusing on interpersonal violence and the prevalence of rape culture. Additional reading: Adler, Patricia A, and Peter Adler. Construction of Deviance: Social Power, Context, and Interaction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2011. A textbook for classes in the sociology of deviance that focuses on the use of power in the social construction of deviance. Beare, Margaret. Criminal Conspiracies: Organized Crime in Canada. Toronto: Nelson Canada, 1996. An examination of the scope and activities of organized crime in Canada. ____________. Transnational Organized Crime. Surrey, U.K. :Ashgate Pub. Co., 2013 Becker, Howard. The Outsiders. New York: Free Press, 1963. Becker develops labeling theory in this classic and uses the theory to examine the lives of marijuana users and jazz musicians. Bereska, Tami. Deviance, Conformity, and Social Control in Canada ( 3rd ed.). Toronto: Pearson Education Canada, 2010. A critical introduction to the study of deviance containing everyday situations that may be relevant to students’ lives. Erikson, Kai. Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance. New York: Wiley, 1966. An insightful attempt to extend the functionalist approach to historical materials (in this case, to the Puritan settlers of 17th-century Massachusetts). Fong, Josephine Sui-Fun, ed. Toronto: CSPI/WP, 2007. Specific and Central Issues in Woman Abuse. A Collection of articles on the abusive manifestations of male dominance in relationships and households in Canada. Glasbeek, Amanda, ed. Toronto: CSPI/WP, 2006. Moral Regulation and governance in Canada: History, Context, and critical Issues. An array of readings on issues of deviance, moral regulation, and governance from a Canadian perspective. Goffman, Erving. Stigma: Notions on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: 1982. Goffman's classic work in which he applies labeling theory to people who are thought of and treated differently because they deviate from the norm. Hills, Stuart L. (ed.). Corporate Violence: Injury and Death for Profit. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1987. An anthology covering such examples of white-collar crime as workplace crimes, environmental pollution, and victimization of the consumer. Johnson, Holly. Dangerous Domains: Violence Against Women in Canada. Toronto: Nelson Canada, 1996. A thorough account of the incidence of violence against women in Canada. Ksenych, Ed (ed.) Exploring Deviance in Canada: A Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. An edited collection of classical and contemporary articles on deviance with a Canadian focus. Lavigne, Yves. Hell's Angels: Taking Care of Business. Toronto: Ballantine Books, 1987. An examination the subculture and activities of the Hell's Angels in Canada. Linden, Rick. Criminology: A Canadian Perspective (6th ed.) Toronto: Harcourt Brace Company, 2008. A comprehensive examination of criminology in a Canadian context. Milgram, Stanley. Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View. New York: Harper and Row, 1975. The variations of the shock-generator obedience studies are described in detail. Milgram concludes with a discussion of the ethical issues raised by the study. Miller, Eleanor. Street Women. Philadelphia: Temple University, 1986. An analysis of women engaged in crime as street hustlers and how they organize their lives around their criminal activity. O’Grady, William. Don Mills,ON: Oxford university Press, 2007. Crime in the Canadian Context. In this book, O’Grady provides students with a through look at the issues and questions relevant to criminology in Canada. Thinking About Movies__________________________________ American Gangster (Ridley Scott, 2007) An organized crime leader in New York dies, leaving a vacancy that is quickly filled by ambitious Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington). Frank rises to power in the drug trade by importing heroin from Asia. Meanwhile, detective Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe), an honest cop in a corrupt system, searches for the source of the higher-quality product that has been hitting the streets. This movie shows the drug business as a transnational criminal network. It also shows organized crime as a form of entrepreneurship, as well as a bureaucratic organization. For Your Consideration 1. From a functionalist perspective, what are some major characteristics of Frank Lucas’s crime organization? 2. What are some of the implications of transnational crime for society, both locally and globally? 12 FAMILIES AND INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS Contents: • Learning Objectives • Using Text Boxes to stimulate discussion • Classroom activity • Video suggestions • Key points from the text • Additional lecture ideas • Class discussion topics • Topics for student research • Additional audiovisual suggestions • Additional readings • Thinking About Movies • Which of These Is a Family? Exercise Learning Objectives: 12. 1 Describe the various compositions of families. Discuss the significance of kinship patterns. 12. 2 Analyze families using the main sociological perspectives. 12.3 Discuss the interrelationship of marriage and families. Discuss the diversity of families and intimate relationships. Discuss varying child-rearing patterns in families. Describe the trends and factors associated with divorce. Discuss the impact of reproductive technology on families. Using the text boxes to stimulate discussion: Sociology in the Global Community: Domestic Violence. (p.?) Drawing on studies on family violence from around the world, we can make the following generalizations: • Women are most at risk of violence from the men they know; • Violence against women occurs in all socioeconomic groups • Family violence is at least as dangerous as assaults committed by strangers • Though women sometimes exhibit violent behaviour toward men, the majority of violent acts that cause injury are perpetrated by men against women • Violence within intimate relationships tends to escalate over time • Emotional and psychological abuse can be at least as debilitating as physical abuse • Use of alcohol exacerbates family violence but does not cause it Applying Theory: Do you know of a family that has experienced family violence? Did the victim(s) seek outside help, and, if so, was it effective? 2) Why might the degree of equality in a relationship correlate to the likelihood of family violence? How might conflict theorists explain this finding? Social Policy and the Family: Reproductive Technology. In an effort to overcome infertility, many couples turn to a recent reproductive advance known as in vitro fertilization (IVF). Replacing personnel is a functional prerequisite that the family as a social institution performs. However, the conflict perspective would note that in the world today the technologies available are often only accessible to the most affluent. In 2004, Canada enacted legislation (Bill c-13) to regulate assisted human reproduction and, in 2006, established the Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada. Under Bill C-18, the following are some of the practices which are not allowed: cloning of people; selecting sex; making changes to human DNA; buying or selling embryos, sperm, eggs, or other human reproduction material. Practices which are allowed include: using surrogate mothers; donating sperm, eggs, and other reproductive material; using human embryos and stem cells in research. Applying Theory: 1) How might functional thinkers view the changing definitions of motherhood and fatherhood? 2) What concerns might some feminist thinkers raise over recent innovations in the area of reproductive technology? Classroom Activities: At the end of this Instructor’s Manual chapter, there is a page ready to be photocopied, asking students to go over a list of people, and decide which constitute a family, and which do not. This works well as a Think/Pair/Share exercise, or a group exercise. Inevitably, the students come back with a definition of family that is based on love or self-definition. Lead them into thinking about the social structural and legal ramifications of “family.” For example, if the widower and his dog are a “family” – should the widower get child support for Fido? Should Fido get part of the widower’s pension when he dies? This is an extreme example, but it gets the students talking. The list raises issues of family diversity facing many Canadians today: gay/lesbian families, surrogate motherhood, “test tube” babies, and non-traditional families. Video Suggestions: Chore Wars (48 min., 1995, Kathy Garneau and Lauren Davis). This film takes a light-hearted look at the housework dilemma of the '90s by going into four homes to find out who does the laundry, washes the dishes, mows the lawn, vacuums carpets, parents, - and trains the kids on how to do chores. Students react well to it, as everyone lives in a home – whether with parents or partners. Fighting for the Family (46 min., Barbara Anderson, Brad Newcombe, Amazon Communications). This film explores alternative family forms, focusing on gay, lesbian, blended and extended families. The film makes the argument that it is love and respect that make a family work, and features a sociologist from Simon Fraser University, talking about family diversity in the 21st century. Soloparent (52min., Doina Harap, InfoprmAction/TeleQuebec/TV5). Reconciling work, preserving intimacy, cultivating other relationships, the social innovators in this film juggle their time without the fallback positions hat having a partner affords. Shot in Canada, the United States and Sweden, the stories of these soloparents are put into a wider context of social and economic change by several professionals. Variations on a Familiar Theme (58 min., National Film Board of Canada). This film documents the many forms of the contemporary Canadian family: single-parent, same-sex, blended, common-law, disabled, inter-cultural, spiritual and traditional. Through portraits of seven very different families, this documentary shows that the family is still the mainstay of the individual. Key Points from text: Composition: What are Families? Families can be defined as sets of people related by blood, marriage (or some other agreed-upon relationship), or adoption who share the primary responsibility for reproduction and caring for members of society. Many people still think of families in very narrow terms: as a heterosexual married couple and their unmarried children living together. However, this is but one type of family, what sociologists refer to as a nuclear family. Some people in Canada may see the nuclear family as the preferred form of family arrangement. By contrast, an extended family is a family in which relatives in addition to parents and children live in the same home. The term monogamy describes a form of marriage in which two people are married only to each other. Under serial monogamy, a person may have several spouses in his or her life but only one spouse at a time. Some cultures allow an individual to have several spouses simultaneously. This form of marriage is known as polygamy. There are two basic types of polygamy: polygyny refers to the marriage of a man to more than one woman at the same time. The other principal variation of polygamy is polyandry, under which a woman can have more than one husband at the same time. Kinship Patterns: To Whom Are We Related? The state of being related to others is called kinship. Generally in Canada people follow the system of bilateral descent, which means that both sides of a person's family are regarded as equally important. Patrilineal descent indicates that only the father's relatives are important in determining property, inheritance, and emotional ties. Conversely, in societies that favour matrilineal descent, only the mother's relatives are significant. New forms of reproductive technology will force a new way of looking at kinship. Today a combination of biological and social processes can "create" a family member, requiring that more distinctions be made about who is related to whom. Authority Patterns: Who Rules? Societies vary in the way that power within the family is distributed. If a society expects males to dominate in all family decision-making, it is termed a patriarchy. By contrast, in a matriarchy, women have greater authority than men. The third type of authority pattern, the egalitarian family, is one in which spouses are regarded as equals. This does not mean, however, that each decision is shared in such families. Wives may hold authority in some spheres, husbands in others. Functionalist View of Families: There are six paramount functions performed by families; they were first outlined a half-century ago by sociologist William F. Ogburn. These are (1) reproduction, (2) protection, (3) socialization, (4) regulation of sexual behaviour, (5) affection and companionship, and (6) providing of social status. Conflict View of the Families: Conflict theorists view families not as a contributor to social stability, but as a reflection of the inequality in wealth and power found within the larger society. Feminist theorists and conflict theorists note that families have traditionally legitimized and perpetuated male dominance. While egalitarian families have become a more common pattern in Canada in recent decades, male dominance within the family has hardly disappeared. Conflict theorists also view families as economic units that contribute to societal injustice. Children "inherit" the privileged or less-than-privileged social and economic status of their parents. Interactionist View: Interactionists focus on the micro level of families and other intimate relationships. They are interested in how individuals interact with one another, whether they are gay, lesbian, or heterosexual couples, and so on. Interactionists might, for example, study the role of the step-parent. Feminist Views: No single theory represents how feminist theories conceptualize families. Feminist perspectives do, however, share certain assumptions in their study of the family. Some of these assumptions include a rejection of the belief in families’ “naturalness” (Luxton 2001). Feminist theorists argue that families are a socially constructed and, thus vary according to time and place. Canadian feminist Margrit Eichler (2001) argues that the way in which sociologists study families often contain biases. These include a monolithic bias, which is a tendency to assume “the family” is uniform rather than diverse; a conservative bias, which treat recent changes in families as fleeting and ignores or treats as rare some of the uglier aspects of family life (e.g. family violence); an ageist bias, which regards children and the aged only as passive members of families; a microstructural bias which overemphasizes microlevel variables and neglects macrolevel variables; a racist bias, which explicitly or implicitly assumes the superiority of the family form of the dominant group and ignores race and racism when relevant; and a heterosexist bias, which either ignores same-sex families or treat them as problematic and deviant. Marriage and Families: Diversity of Patterns: Historically, the most consistent aspect of families in this country has been the high rate of heterosexual marriage. However, for the first time, according to the 2006 Canadian census, married people were the minority. Courtship and Mate Selection: One unmistakable pattern in mate selection is that the process appears to be taking longer today than in the past. A variety of factors, including concerns about financial security and personal independence, has contributed to this delay in marriage. Endogamy specifies the groups within which a spouse must be found and prohibits marriage with others. In Canada, may people are expected to marry within their own racial, ethnic, or religious group and are strongly discouraged or even prohibited from marrying outside the group. Exogamy requires mate selection outside certain groups, usually outside the family or certain kinfolk. The incest taboo, a social norm common to almost all societies, prohibits sexual relationships between certain culturally specified relatives. For people in Canada, this taboo means that we must marry outside the nuclear family. We cannot marry our siblings; however, we are able to marry our first cousins. The Love Relationship: In North America, love is socially constructed as important in the courtship process. This is by no means a cultural universal. In fact, in many cultures (both today and in the past) love and marriage are unconnected and are sometimes at odds with each other. For example, feelings of love are not a pre-requisite for marriage among the Yaruros of inland Venezuela or in other cultures where there is little freedom for mate selection. Arranged marriages are often engineered by parents or religious authorities, and economic considerations play a significant role. Use your sociological imagination: Your parents or a matchmaker are going to arrange a marriage for you. What kind of mate will they select? Will your chances of having a successful marriage be better or worse than if you had selected your own mate? Parenthood and Grandparenthood: The socialization of children is essential to the maintenance of any culture. Consequently, parenthood is one of the most important (and most demanding) social roles in North America. Sociologist Alice Rossi identified four factors that complicate the transition to parenthood and the role of socialization. First, there is little anticipatory socialization for the social role of caregiver. Second, only limited learning occurs during the period of pregnancy itself. Third, the transition to parenthood is quite abrupt. Finally, in Rossi's view, our society lacks clear and helpful guidelines for successful parenthood. Adoption: In a legal sense, adoption is a “process that allows for the transfer of the legal rights, responsibilities, and privileges of parenthood” to a new legal parent or parents (E. Cole 1985:638). In many cases, these rights are transferred from a biological parent or parents (often called birth parents) to an adoptive parent or parents. Dual-Income Families: The idea of a family consisting of a wage-earning male spouse with a female spouse who stays at home has largely given way to the dual-income household. In Canada, dual income families make up 63 percent of all households. A major factor in the rise of dual-income couples is economic need. Other factors contributing to the rise of the dual-income model include the nation's declining birthrate, the increase in the proportion of women with a post-secondary education, the shift in the economy of Canada from manufacturing to service industries, and the impact of the feminist movement in influencing societal attitudes. Single-Parent Families: Single-parent families, in which there is only one parent to care for the children, can hardly be viewed as a rarity in Canada. in 2006, approximately 26 percent of families were run by a lone parent. The lives of single parents and their children are not necessarily more difficult than life in other types of families. Nevertheless, life in a single-parent family can be extremely stressful, in both economic and emotional terms. Economic inequality and poverty are striking characteristics of lone-parent families. Blended Families: For a couple or individual who separates or divorces and the goes on to form a second or thirds relationship, a blended family may be the result. Blended families are an exceedingly complex form of family organization. Step=parents can play valuable and unique roles in their stepchildren’s lives, but their involvement does not guarantee an improvement. In fact, standards may decline. Family Violence in Canada: Families are often portrayed through the mass media and other institutions as a source of comfort, security, and safety; as a place to which its members retreat to escape the rough and tumble of the public world of work and school. This social construction of “ the family” as a “haven in a heartless world” (Lasch 1977) often obscures the reality that many members of families face; that is, the family is a source of conflict and, possibly, danger. Sociologists Gelles and Straus (1988:18) point out that “You are more likely to be physically assaulted, beaten, and killed in your own home at the hands of a loved one than anyplace else, or by anyone else in society” (1988:18). Divorce: The media frequently report that one out of every three opposite-sex marriages ends in divorce. Figures can be misleading, since many marriages last for decades. These reports are based on a comparison of all divorces that occur in a single year (regardless of when the couples were married) against the number of new marriage in the same year. Factors Associated with Divorce: Perhaps the most important factor in the increase in divorce throughout the 20th century has been the greater social acceptance of divorce. Most importantly, various religious denominations have relaxed negative attitudes toward divorce, and most religious leaders no longer treat it as a sin. In addition, there are more liberal divorce laws, families have fewer children, more couples can afford divorces, and more and more women are becoming less dependent on their husbands—both economically and emotionally. Use your sociological imagination: In a society that maximizes the welfare of all family members, how easy should it be for couples to divorce? How easy should it be to get married? Remarried? Cohabitation: One of the most dramatic trends of recent years has been the tremendous increase in opposite-sex couples who choose to live together without marrying, thereby engaging in what is commonly called cohabitation. In 2006, 15.5 percent of all Canadian couples were cohabiting, up from 7.3 percent in 1986. Older people may choose cohabitation rather than marriage for many reasons: religious differences, to preserve full old age security benefits, fear of commitment, to avoid upsetting children from previous marriages, because one or both partners are not legally divorced, or because one or both have lived through a spouse’s illness and death and do not want to experience that again. Remaining Single: More and more people are postponing entry into first marriages. The trend toward maintaining a single lifestyle is related to the growing economic independence of young people. This is especially significant for women. Freed from financial needs, women don't necessarily have to marry to enjoy a satisfying life. Lesbian and Gay Relationships: In 2001, after a decade of court challenges, Nova Scotia became the first jurisdiction in Canada to recognize same-sex relationship as legal domestic unions. The lifestyles of lesbians and gay men vary greatly. Some live in long-term monogamous relationships. Some couples live with children from former heterosexual marriages or adopted children. A domestic partnership may be defined as two unrelated adults who reside together; agree to be jointly responsible for their dependents’ basic living expenses, and other common necessities; and share a mutually caring relationship. Marriage without Children: According to the 2006 census, for the first time in Canada, there were more families without children (42.7 percent) than with children (41.4 percent). Rates of childlessness began to increase for women born after 1941. Economic considerations have contributed to this shift in attitudes; having children has become quite expensive. Use your sociological imagination: What would happen to our society if more married couples decided not to have children? How would society change if cohabitation or singlehood became the norm? Additional Lecture Ideas: 1: Cultivation Theory Cultivation theory, which was developed by media researchers, suggests that there are consistent images, themes, and stereotypes that cut across programming genres. As a whole, these different media images cultivate a view of the family and gender roles, for example, that is consistent. Thus, viewers who watch comedies, soap operas, news stories and weekly news programs, sporting events, dramas, and late night television programs will develop similar and consistent views. Unfortunately, these media views of the family and gender roles are oftentimes partially or completely incorrect and widespread. Males are generally viewed as more ambitious and successful than women, and women are more nurturing and emotional than men. Similarly, the view families presented in Leave it to Beaver, The Brady Bunch, One Day at a Time, Roseanne, The Simpsons, and Dawson's Creek have influenced generations of viewers’ thoughts about the typical family system, not only in the United States, but in Canada as well. Families have never been as perfect as we were led to believe by the Cleaver family of Leave it to Beaver, and they are generally not as dysfunctional as is presented in The Simpsons. William Ogburn suggests that the family is in the process of dying because it is no longer fulfilling the functions that were its traditional responsibility. These functions, he claims, are now being fulfilled by other social institutions: school systems, welfare departments, police departments, and the like. However, Coontz, Skolnick, and others suggest that the family is changing to meet the needs of a changing society, and that the media distorts our impression of the functions and the success of family systems in any of the supposed golden eras of this institution. (NOTE: This would be a good point to generate a class discussion about the media's current and past presentation of the family and gender roles. Students have access to "classic" television programs on cable and they can compare and contrast the changing views of the family and male and female gender roles, and assess the accuracy and impact of these presentations.) See Stephanie Coontz. Ward, Margaret. The Family Dynamic: a Canadian Perspective. Toronto. Nelson Thomson. Conway, John Fredrick. 2001 The Canadian Family in Crisis. Toronto. J. Lorimer The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trip. New York: Basic Books, 1992; Bryan Strong, Christine DeVault, and Barbara W. Sayad. The Marriage and Family Experience (7th ed.). New York: Wadsworth, 1998. Arlene Skolnick, "Public Images, Private Realities: The American Family in Popular Culture and Social Science." In Changing Images of the Family, Virginia Tufte and Barbara Myerhoff (eds.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979, pp. 297–315; William F. Ogburn, "The Changing Family," The Family, 19 (1939): 139–143; 2: Tibetan Family Life From 1938 through 1957, His Royal Highness Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark, a trained anthropologist, carefully recorded his observations of family life in mountainous Tibet. His work offers a glimpse at family life in a culture very different from our own. The ideal Tibetan family was a polyandrous one in which all brothers had a common wife. Unrelated men might, in some cases, share a woman. However, the close association of brothers served to reduce the jealousy that might arise if a number of unrelated men were sharing the same wife. The cohusbands of a particular woman would agree among themselves as to which one would have sexual relations with the wife on any given day. Apparently the women had little say in the matter. Birth control was nonexistent and restriction on sexual behaviour prior to marriage was minimal. Nevertheless, in a very poor society that could not afford to feed many children, an unmarried woman bearing a child was expected to abandon the baby in the river. The proportion of Tibetan marriages that were polyandrous varied from 90 percent in the rural areas to only 2 percent in the capital of Lhasa. Since polyandry was so common and more than one-fourth of Tibetan males were Buddhist monks, many women remained single throughout their lives. Some became nuns, some lived permanently in the households of their married brothers, and others turned to prostitution. As in most societies, Tibetan families did not all correspond to the ideal. Most families were monogamous, especially in the cities. Some affluent nobles and merchants practiced polygyny (one man having several wives). In rare cases, the cohusbands of a polyandrous family would collectively take on a second wife. Generally, this occurred when the first was unable to bear a p’horjag, or heir. It should be noted that since Prince Peter recorded these observations, Tibet has become an autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China. As a result, these patterns have undoubtedly undergone change. See H.R.H. Prince Peter of Greece and Denmark, “The Tibetan Family System.” In Meyer F. Nimkoff (ed.). Comparative Family Systems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965, pp. 192–208. 3: Marital Power Sociologist Robert Blood, Jr., and Donald Wolfe developed the concept of marital power to describe the manner in which decision-making is distributed within families. They defined power by examining who makes the final decision in each of eight important areas that, the researchers argue, traditionally have been reserved entirely for the husband or for the wife. These areas include what job the husband should take, what house or apartment to live in, where to go on vacation, and which doctor to use if there is an illness in the family. Recent research suggests that money plays a central role in determining marital power. Money has different meanings for members of each sex: For men it typically represents identity and power; for women, security and autonomy. Apparently, money establishes the balance of power not only for married couples but also for unmarried heterosexual couples who are living together. Married women with paying work outside the home enjoy greater marital power than full-time homemakers do. Labour not only enhances women’s self-esteem but also increases their marital power, because some men have greater respect for women who work at paying jobs. Sociologist Isik Aytac studied a national sample of households in the United States and found that husbands of women holding management positions share more of the domestic chores than do other husbands. In addition, as a wife’s proportional contribution to the family income increases, her husband’s share of meal preparation increases. Aytac’s research supports the contention that the traditional division of labour at home can change as women’s position in the labour force improves and women gain greater marital power. Comparative studies have revealed the complexity of marital power issues in other cultures. For example, anthropologist David Gilmore examined decision making in two rural towns in southern Spain. These communities, one with 8,000 residents and the other with 4,000, have an agricultural economy based on olives, wheat, and sunflowers. Gilmore studied a variety of decision-making situations, including prenuptial decisions over household location, administration of domestic finances, and major household purchases. He found that working-class women in these communities, often united with their mothers, are able to prevail in many decisions despite opposition from their husbands. Interestingly, wives’ control over finances in these towns appears to lessen with affluence. Among the wealthier peasants, husbands retain more rights over the family purse strings, especially in terms of bank accounts and investments. In some cases, they make investments without their wives’ knowledge. By contrast, in the working-class, where surplus cash is uncommon and household finances are often based on borrowing and buying on credit because of the uncertainties of household employment, the wife “rules” the household economy, and the husband accepts her rule. Sources: Isik A. Aytac, “Wife’s Decision-Making at Work and Contribution to Family Income as Determinate of How Domestic Chores Are Shared.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Boston, 1987; Robert O. Blood, Jr., and Donald M. Wolfe. Husbands and Wives: The Dynamics of Married Living. New York: Free Press, 1960; Philip Blumstein and Pepper Schwartz. American Couples: Money, Work, Sex. New York: Morrow, 1983; Deborah D. Godwin and John Scanzoni, “Couple-Consensus during Marital Joint Decision-Making: A Context, Process, Outcome Model,” Journal of Marriage and the Family, 31(November 1983): 943–956; Gladis Kaufman, “Power Relations in Middle-Class American Families,” Wisconsin Sociology, 22(Winter 1985): 13–23. 4: Arranged Marriages For many immigrant families in Canada, the question of freedom to choose one’s life partner challenges a tradition that reflects their original culture’s respect for parental authority. For that reason, the defense of this practice in many minority communities is hard fought. In his 2001 article “The Attack on Human Rights.” Michael Ignatieff examines the struggle begun when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted in 1947. The article focuses on the rationale behind the concept of arranged marriage, pointing to the traditions that the practice serves, particularly within the Saudi Arabian Culture. See Ignatieff, Michael. 2001. “The Attack on Human Rights.” Foreign Affairs. Nov/Dec 2001 v.80 6, 102-117. 5: Steps to Prevent Domestic Violence The following five steps have been identified as useful in trying to prevent domestic violence: 1. Eliminate the norms that legitimize violence in society and the family. The elimination of spanking as a child-rearing technique, gun control to get deadly weapons out of the home, the elimination of the death penalty, the elimination of corporal punishment in schools, and the elimination of media violence are all necessary steps. 2. Reduce violence-provoking stress created by society. Reducing poverty, inequality, and unemployment and providing adequate housing, nutrition, medical and dental care, and educational opportunities could reduce stress in families. 3. Integrate families into a network of families and the community. Reducing social isolation could reduce stress and increase the ability of families to manage stress. 4. Change the sexist character of society. Sexual inequality, perhaps more than economic inequality, makes violence possible in the home. The elimination of the separation of men’s work from women’s work would be a major step toward equality inside and outside the home. 5. Break the cycle of violence in the family. Violence cannot be prevented as long as we are taught it is acceptable to hit the people we love. Physical punishment of children is perhaps the most effective means of teaching violence, and eliminating it would be an important step in violence prevention. See Richard J. Gelles, “Family Violence.” In Craig Calhoun and George Ritzer (eds.), Introduction to Social Problems. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993, pp. 553–571 (see especially p. 568). Also see Fox, Bonnie J. 2001 Family Patterns: Gender Relations. 2e. Don Mills. Oxford University Press. 6: Single Mothers and Society The following is a true story that took place at a large urban high school attended by one of the authors. In the spring of 1964, Violet stunned her parents by revealing that she was pregnant. The 18-year-old honours student had been their pride and joy until that dreadful moment, and there had been no hint that she had been sexually active. After a brief but dramatic family conference involving lots of tears and as much shouting, it was decided to try to make the best of an unfortunate situation. Violet’s mother agreed to phone the school and arrange a meeting with Mrs. Murphy, the assistant principal. It would be easier, talking to a woman, she said. The following day, Violet’s parents—her father barely disguising his anger—met with Mrs. Murphy. After listening stone faced to the story, the vice principal shook her head and informed Violet’s parents that the school had a rigid policy automatically suspending any pregnant girl. She was sorry that this had happened. Violet had been an exemplary student—straight ‘A’s all the way through high school, a member of the student council, a leader within the schools Prefect program, and so on. There had been every expectation, she said, that Violet would be one of the few girls from this working class neighbourhood to go on to university. Violet’s mother tried to plead her daughter’s case. She thought of pointing out that there would be no similar punishment handed out to the boy involved, but decided against it. The boy, she knew, would be reprimanded with a lecture about responsibility and the matter would be dropped—for him—at that. Perhaps, she suggested, given her daughter’s history with the school, there might not be some chance for an exception. Mrs. Murphy said no. At this point, Violet’s father spoke up, demanding, with patriarchal authority, that he be allowed to see the principal. His request was granted, and the parents were ushered into Mr. Meeks’ office. Violet’s dad, after an exchange of firm handshakes, laid out his case. He appealed to the principal’s sympathies as a dad. Didn’t Mr. Meeks have daughters himself? How would he like one of them to be treated if this happened? Not to excuse the mistake, Violet’s dad reassured sternly, but to minimize the devastating effect this was sure to have on her life. After some token resistance, the principal suggested that perhaps there was some room for accommodation. He could, because of Violet’s sterling record, allow her to finish her final year. Of course, he quickly qualified, she would not be entitled to attend any more classes. Arrangements would have to be made with all of Violet’s teachers, to have her homework picked up and delivered be a third party. Violet finished her senior year at home. She was not permitted to attend any of her classes or school functions, but she was allowed to contact her teachers either through notes or by phone. She completed all of her work, and despite the distraction of her pregnancy, maintained the quality the teachers had come to expect from her. But, there was one final hurdle for Violet—the provincial final exams. All students had to take these exams to receive their high school diploma, and the venue at this school was the gym. Violet wasn’t allowed on school property, so how could she participate? The solution finally arrived at by Mr. Meeks was to have Violet write her exams in his office. On the day of the first exam, all 2 500 students attending the school were shepherded into their rooms—or the gym, the doors closed, and only then could Violet leave her parents’ car and climb the stairs to the office. After she was done, she left the same way before any other students were permitted into the hallways. Violet passed her provincial finals with honours, but never did attend university. The attitudes within Canadian culture toward pregnant teenagers have changed dramatically since Violet’s experience. However, this is an excellent illustration of the labeling perspective at work. For example, is a woman in her thirties who chooses to become pregnant for the first time and have her child considered a part of a “social problem?” Is a married mother aged 17 part of a “social problem?” Is it a problem of age or marital status or both? The power of labeling can also be seen in terminology popularly used to refer to these issues: broken, disrupted, unfit, illegitimate, unadjusted, unsuitable, or bastard as compared to intact, nuclear, or stable. More specifically, this labeling is another example of the type of stereotyping that sociologist Erving Goffman has referred to as stigmatization. By definition when we so stigmatize people, they are not quite so human. It allows us the luxury of planning for them and not with them, as in the debate over welfare policies. Goffman argues that in stigmatization, we construct stigma theory, an ideology to explain someone’s inferiority and account for the alleged danger it represents. But research is now indicating that perhaps it is not the pregnancy that is responsible for differential life outcomes, but perhaps other, more generic factors. In a 2000 review of literature, Mary Bissel has found evidence to suggest that factors including access to opportunity associated more with being a young woman are more critical to individual success than any social fallout from teenage pregnancy. For example, a Nova Scotia study found that dropping out of school had a more significant impact on likelihood of finishing secondary education than pregnancy. In terms of life chances, the study concluded that older unmarried mothers seemed more disadvantaged than their teenaged counterparts. In another study, Grindsraff (1988) found that there was no long-term labour market participation for young women who had become mothers as teenagers. Reviewing the experiences of some 200 000 Canadian women, the author found, in fact, that a higher proportion of former teenage mothers were working full time than were women who had their children after the age of 25. Sociologist Kristin Luker (1996:11) in Dubious Conceptions, draws upon two decades of social science research to conclude: “The short answer to why teenagers get pregnant and especially why they continue those pregnancies is that a fairly substantial number of them just don’t believe what adults tell them, be it about sex, contraception, marriage, or babies. They don’t believe in adult conventional wisdom—not because they are defiant or because they are developmentally too immature to process the information (although many are one or the other and some are both), but because the conventional wisdom does not accord with the world they see around them. When adults talk to teenagers, they draw on a lived reality that is now ten, twenty, thirty, forty or more years out of date. But today’s teenagers live in a world whose demographic, social, economic, and sexual circumstances are almost unimaginable to older generations. Unless we can begin to understand that world, compete with its radically new circumstances, most of what adults tell teenagers will be just blather.” Another way of viewing this difficulty in communicating across generations is to view it in what sociologist William S. Ogburn termed culture lag. Many elements in our society, including both people and social institutions, refuse to adjust to the profound social changes, such as family formation and pregnancy, which have occurred during the latter half of the 20th century. From a feminist perspective the welfare debate certainly qualifies as “blaming the victim.” sociologist Patricia Hill Collins notes that the tendency to view Black women matriarchally, as the sole positive influence in otherwise dysfunctional households, also leads to blaming them for the failure of their children and for the continuance of poverty intergenerationally. Emphasizing the need to get welfare women jobs also seems to undermine the importance of parenting producing the irony of trying to strengthen the household economically while undermining the family’s integrity. The discussion about single mothers and welfare has changed in the last 20 years. In the 1970s, conservatives wanted teens to be less active sexually, to have fewer abortions, and to contribute less to the growing welfare rolls. Liberals sought to have women regain control over their reproductive destinies and economic future. Increasingly, conservatives were joined by what has been termed the “New Right,” which saw the issue in moral terms. Today, according to Luker, the debate over early childbearing has become more heated due to the slowdown in economic growth and greater disparity between rich and poor. Liberals argue that society should make a greater investment in teenage mothers through training programs and education, but this approach ignores the multiple problems (violence, poverty, racism, a history of sexual abuse or domestic violence, and underequipped schools) that so many bring with them. In this social context, training programs have very real limits. Luker defends the need for better public funding of contraception and improved sex education. But she cautions that if trends continue (the number of sexually active teenagers doubled between 1970 and 1990) there may be only modest improvement in delaying childbirth. Sources: Bieell, Mary. 2000. “Socio-economic Outcomes of Teen Pregnancy and Parenthood: A Review of Literature. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality. V.0, 3 191-205. Nova Scotia Department of Family Services. 1991. Mothers and children: One Decade Later. Halifax. Department of Community Services. Grandstaff, C. 1988 “Adolescent Marriage and Childbearing: The Long-term Economic Outcome, Canada in the 1980s.” Adolescence 23, 45-58. ; Erving Goffman. Stigma: Notes on Management of a Spoiled Identity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1963; Kristin Luker. Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press, 1996; Katha Pollitt, “Subject to Debate,” The Nation, 259(July 11, 1994): 45; Pollitt. “Just the Facts,” The Nation, 262(June 24, 1996): 9; and Ruth Sidel. Keeping Women and Children Last. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. 7: Stages of Divorce Divorce is a complex and difficult experience for all family members. Anthropologist Paul Bohannan has identified six overlapping experiences that arise from divorce and which vary in intensity depending on the couple. The “six stations of divorce,” as Bohannan calls them, are as follows: 1. Emotional divorce, which represents the problem of the deteriorating marriage. 2. Legal divorce, based on the grounds on which the marriage will be dissolved. 3. Economic divorce, which deals with the division of money and property. 4. Coparental divorce, which includes decisions having to do with child custody and visitation rights. 5. Community divorce, or the changes in friendships and institutional ties that a divorced person experiences. 6. Psychic divorce, focused on the person’s attempt to regain autonomy and self-esteem. As Bohannan has observed, “undivorced” people rarely appreciate the difficulties that the divorced person experiences in mastering these “stations of divorce.” See Paul Bohannan, “The Six Stations of Divorce.” In Paul Bohannan (ed.), Divorce and After. New York: Doubleday, 1970, pp. 33–62. Also see Naomi Gerstel, “Divorce and Stigma,” Social Problems, 34(April 1987): 172–186. 8: Inheriting Divorce Are the children of divorced couples more likely to become divorced themselves? The answer appears to be in the affirmative, but the reasons are complex. Sociologist Paul Amato analyzed longitudinal data to determine the extent of intergenerational transmission of divorce. Data came from the Study of Marriage Over the Life Course, which consisted of telephone interviews with a national sample of 2,033 married persons who were 55 years old and younger in 1980. They were then interviewed again, in keeping with a longitudinal analysis, in 1983, 1988, and 1992. Based on these data, parental divorce is associated with increased risk of offspring divorce, especially when the wives or both spouses have experienced the dissolution of their parents’ marriage. This association is true in second marriages, as well as in the initial marriages. The age of offspring at marriage, cohabitation, socioeconomic attainment, and prodivorce attitudes have only modest impact on the estimated effect of parental divorce. In contrast, a series of interpersonal behaviours offers the largest share of explanation. Among interpersonal behaviours, Amato includes problems with anger, jealousy, hurt feelings, communication, infidelity, and so forth. These findings suggest that parental divorce elevates the risk of offspring divorce by increasing the likelihood that children will exhibit behaviours that interfere with the maintenance of a mutually rewarding marriage relationship. Adult children from divorces are exposed to poor models of two-person behaviour and may not learn the skills and attitudes that facilitate functioning in a dyadic social relationship. Similarly, children of divorce may be predisposed to develop traits, such as a lack of trust or an inability to commit, that lead to disharmony. See Paul Amato, “Explaining the Intergenerational Transmission of Divorce,” Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58(August, 1996): 628–640. 9: Joint Marriage Rights The official recognition of marriages between same-sex individuals raises the possibility that the same legal and financial benefits traditionally enjoyed by married couples in Canada would be extended to gay and lesbian couples. Among those benefits are the following: • Entitlement to share in one another’s government benefits. • Joint insurance policies. • Joint tenancy in property ownership. • Inheritance rights. • Tax advantages. • Hospital visitation rights. • The right to make medical decisions for a partner. • Family leave to care for a sick partner. • Confidentiality of conversations. • Wrongful-death benefits. • Immigration for foreign partners. • Domestic violence protection orders. • Joint parental custody. • Divorce rights; alimony. 10: Housework within Lesbian and Gay Households The recognition that family structures are variable has led social scientists to begin exploring some previously overlooked variations. Combining interviews and observation research, sociologist Christopher Carrington conducted a study of the housework of 52 “lesbigay” households (26 lesbian households and 26 gay men’s households). Carrington looked at couples who had been in relationships at least two years. The housework considered included cleaning, taking care of pets and plants, yard work, laundry, and household paperwork. In general, housework is often taken for granted or designated as an unfortunate part of family life. Rarely in Canada is daily housework viewed in a positive light. However, the research suggested that participating in housework helps “lesbigays” develop a stronger sense of themselves as families, “maintaining our yard and building.” “Lesbigay” couples with more resources were able to invest more money and time into the housework. Carrington found such couples to have developed more of an identity as a family. See Christopher Carrington, “Housework among Lesbigay Families: Sociological Variation in the Extent and Character of Housework.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York, 1996. Class Discussion Topics: 1. Stimulating Classroom Discussions about the War against Parents: Questions for stimulating a classroom discussion about Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Cornell West's The War against Parents include these: How do you feel about the solution that West devised for seeing his children? How do you react to West's statement that "It's sobering to realize how thoroughly the decks are stacked against dads' being effective parents in the wake of divorce?” Traditional divorce law was based on the accepted practice that mothers raise children and that fathers financially support children. West seems to reject this position. Do you agree with him? In a family that contains children, should parents stay together for the sake of the children? Why or why not? 2. Family History: A useful project is explained in Susan Aminoff, “The Family History Exercise: Developing Positive Awareness in Culturally Diverse College Classrooms,” Teaching Sociology, 25(April 1995): 155–158. 3. What Is a Marriage?: Ask students to provide a definition of marriage that is universal—a definition that would include all types of marriages throughout our culture and throughout the world. This is a good exercise in critical thinking and understanding cultural and cross-cultural variations. Do marriages need to be between two people? between members of different sexes? legally consummated? based on law? permanent? based on love? involve children? have religious sanction? involve sexual relationships? After these and other issues have been discussed, try to explain what is left—what is at the core of universal definition of marriage. Resources for this discussion include the following: William N. Stephens. The Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963; George Peter Murdock. Social Structure. New York: Macmillan. 4. Extraordinary Groups: For brief, but informative discussions of the family and other institutions in Amish, Oneida, Father Divine, Gypsy, Shaker, Mormon, and modern commune communities, see William Kephart. Extraordinary Groups. (3rd ed.). New York: St. Martin’s, 1987. 5. Family Rituals: See Diane E. Levy, “Teaching Family Ritual: Sunday, Sausage, and Solidarity,” Teaching Sociology, 20(October, 1992): 311–313. 6. Homogamy: This activity was developed by Emily Gunning to show graphically how a culture narrows choice of mate. See Technique No. 26 in Reed Geertsen (ed.). Eighty-One Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, DC: ASA Projects on Teaching Undergraduate Sociology, 1982. 7. Research on Romantic Love: For his research on love, Zick Rubin recruited dating couples. A sizable number of couples reported that as a result of participating in the research, they had learned something about their relationship. For example, “Your study was not the initial cause of the breakup, just a little pusher . . .” See Rubin. “Measurement of Romantic Love,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16(February, 1970): 265–273. See also M. Patricia Golden (ed.). The Research Experience. Itasca, IL: Peacock, 1976, pp. 495–553. 8. Communication in Families: This activity was developed by Frances Dressler at De Anza College to illustrate situational barriers to communication. See Technique No. 8 in Reed Geertsen (ed.). Eighty-One Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, DC: ASA Projects on Teaching Undergraduate Sociology, 1982. 9. Family Assumptions: Discuss Margrit Eichler’s notion of Monolithic Bias, focusing on the potential consequences it might have for non-traditional families. See Eichler, Margrit. 2001 10. Immigrant Children and Poverty: See Poverty, Family Process, and the Mental Health of Immigrant Children in Canada. By: Beiser, Morton; Hou, Feng; Hyman, Ilene; Tousignant, Michel; American Journal of Public Health, Feb2002, Vol. 92 Issue 2, p220, 8p 11. Speakers: Invite a marriage therapist or counselor to speak to the class about problems couples face in a traditional marriage. 12. Good Marriages: Have students read sections of Judith S. Wallerstein and Sandra Blakeslee. The Good Marriage: How and Why Love Lasts. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. The book takes a positive approach to what variables seem to make for good, thriving marriages. 13. Panel on Being Single: Have your students organized a panel of themselves or invited speakers on the joys and sorrows of being unmarried adults. See the class exercise on p. 79 of Jerry M. Lewis. Tips for Teaching Introductory Sociology. Minneapolis: West, 1995. 14. Gay and Lesbian Marriages: While some Canadian jurisdictions have legitimized gay and lesbian marriages, there is an ongoing public debate about the rights of same sex spouses to equal treatment under the law. Ask the class to identify the costs and benefits they imagine would be associated with such recognition. Are there any outside of contradictions of a religious doctrine? 15. Using Humour: David S. Adams has produced a monograph that includes funny examples that could be incorporated in lectures associated with this chapter. See Adams, “The Family.” In Using Humor in Teaching Sociology: A Handbook. Washington, DC: ASA Teaching Resources Center, 1982. See also Joseph E. Faulkner, "The Family." In Sociology through Humor. New York: West, 1987. Topics for Student Research: 1. The Family Allowance: Benefits for Children: A Four Country Study. Ottawa: Caledon Institute of Social Policy, c2001. 2. Canadian Families at the Crossroads: See Conway, John Frederick. The Canadian Family in Crisis, Third Edition. Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1997. 3. Romantic Love Cross-Culturally: See Carolyn H. Simmons, Alexander Von Kolke, and Hideko Shimizi, “Attitudes toward Romantic Love among American, German, and Japanese Students,” Journal of Social Psychology, 126(June 1986): 327–336. 4. Commuter Marriages: See Melissa M. Groves and Diane M. Horm-Winegerd, “Commuter Marriages: Personal, Family, and Career Issues,” Sociology and Social Research, 75(July 1991): 212–217. 5. Infant Care by Men and Women: See Susan Walzer, “Thinking About the Baby: Gender and Divisions of Infant Care,” Social Problems, 43(May 1996): 219–234. 6. Marital Violence: Johnson, Holly; Bunge, Valerie Pottie. “Prevalence and Consequences of Spousal Assault in Canada,” Canadian Journal of Criminology, Jan2001, Vol. 43 Issue 1, p27, 19p 7. Gift Giving and Kinfolk: The Middletown III Project is the basis for Theodore Caplow, “Christmas Gifts and Kin Networks,” American Sociological Review, 47(June 1982): 383–392. 8. Canadian Fathers and their Children: See “Fathers of Canadian Children and Youth: Measures of Paternal Characteristics and Influence on Children for the NLSCY,” First Edition [Hull, Quebec]: Applied Research Branch, Strategic Policy, Human Resources Development Canada, 1999. 9. Adolescent Sexuality: See Irma T. Elo, Rosalind B. King, and Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., "Adolescent Females: Their Sexual Partners and the Fathers of Their Children," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61(February 1999): 74–84; Kathleen B. Rodgers, "Parenting Processes Related to Sexual Risk-Taking Behaviours of Adolescent Males and Females," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61(February 1999): 99–109; Kathleen E. Miller, Donald F. Sabo, Michael P. Farrell, Grace M. Barnes, and Merrill J. Melnick, "Athletic Participation and Sexual Behaviour in Adolescents: The Different Worlds of Boys and Girls," Journal of Health & Social Behaviour, 39(June 1998):108–123. 10. Contemporary Fiction: Cosbey develops a research project based on utilizing concepts about marriages and families to analyze a selection of contemporary novels. See Janet Cosbey, "Using Contemporary Fiction to Teach Family Issues," Teaching Sociology, 25(July 1997): 227–233. Additional Audiovisual Materials: After Solidarity: Three Polish Families in America (1989, 58m). Filmed over a two-year period, After Solidarity is the personal chronicle of three Solidarity families who were forced to leave Poland. One sees the immigrant experience as it occurs over time—from initial euphoria through the strains of joblessness, isolation, and cultural shock—and its specific effect on family life. Breaking Silence (1985, 58m). A moving exploration of the feelings of self-hatred, guilt, shame, fear, and embarrassment of victims of child sexual abuse and incest. Profiling two individuals and a family, as well as one abusive parent, the program examines the psychology of the abuser and the abused. CBC News—StatsCan includes gay families ( Sept. 13 2007, Youtube, 5:04m). A news clip from CBC’s National News examines developments in families based on census data. Family Violence: Breaking the Chain (28m, colour, McGraw-Hill). This program looks at the effects of family violence on the abused and the abuser; at the danger that abused children will grow up to repeat the pattern of violence in their own relationships; at the problems of date violence; and at the physical and emotional abuse women suffer at the hands of their husbands and lovers. While showing the benefits of therapy, it stresses the need of the abused for safety from those who abused them through shelters, hot-lines, and community assistance. Fifty Shades of Gay. ( 2012, YouTube, 18:18m). Artist iO Tillet Wright discusses how sexuality and gender are fluid categories and how most people are not 100% one or the other. The Host (Director: Joon-ho Bong, 2007) On the banks of the River Han in Seoul, South Korea, people are enjoying a leisurely summer's day when a terrifying monster emerges from the deep and goes on a rampage, killing or capturing several victims. Before escaping into the sewers, the monster seizes Park Hyun-seo (Ah-sung Ko), a young girl whose father, Park Gang-Du (Kang-ho Song), works in a snack shop by the river. Gang-Du and his extended family work together to find the monster's lair and rescue Hyun-seo. As they search for her, we learn more about their familial ties, as well as some ways in which children are raised in single-parent families. Though on the surface The Host seems like a conventional creature feature, it is also a delicate portrayal of an extended family that includes two nuclear families whose fathers are the primary caregivers. Pay particular attention to the early scenes that establish the relationships between three generations of the Park family. The Human Animal: Family and Survival (52m, colour, McGraw-Hill). This specially adapted Phil Donahue program investigates the state of the American family. Less than 5 percent of American households fit the stereotype of the traditional nuclear family with a working father and a wife/mother who stays home to take care of the house and children. The stresses created by divorce, both parents working, and single-parenting are far more common today. It is the children who bear the heaviest burden. Hutterites (1963, 28m). A portrait of daily life in a religiously based communal farm settlement in Alberta, Canada. Gives a brief historical background of the Hutterite faith. Interracial Marriage (52m, colour, McGraw-Hill). Two generations ago it was a recipe for social ostracism; a generation ago tongues wagged; and now some ethnic groups that were once completely clannish have a 60 percent rate of intermarriage. This program examines how and why couples of different colours, religions, and ethnic roots are drawn to one another; how their differences affect their marriages; how they deal with their friends; and how their parents make peace with children-in-law they wish were of their own race or background. An Overview of families, households and martial status data, 2011. (2012, YouTube, 4:30m). Sociologist Anne Milan presents an overview of families in Canada, based on the 2011 Census. Streetlife: The Invisible Family (1990, 58m). This documentary introduces viewers to several displaced families and to the people who are trying to assist them in their struggle to secure employment, shelter, and food. Values and the Traditional Family (1994, colour, 15m). Historian Stephanie Coontz is interviewed about her contention that the idealized traditional family never really existed. Additional Readings: Baker, Maureen, ed.. Families: Changing Trends in Canada, 6th ed. Whitby: ON: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 2009. An edited collection by sociologists examining such areas as family violence, ethnic families, biases in family literature, and divorce and remarriage. Dorais, Michael. Don’t Tell: The Sexual Abuse of Boys .Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008. Duffy, Ann. Mandell, Nancy. Canadian families: diversity, conflict and change 4th ed. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Canada, 2010 . Vanier Institute of the Family. Modern Families. Ottawa: The Vanier Institute of the Family, 2013. Cheal, David J. ed., Canadian Families Today: New Perspectives. Toronto; OUP. 2010. Conway, John Frederick. The Canadian Family in Crisis, 5th ed. Toronto: J. Lorimer, 2003. Klein, David M., and James W. White. Family Theories: An Introduction, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2007.. An overview of the major conceptual frameworks that are used to study the family. Lynn, Marion. (ed) 2003 Voices:Essays on Canadian Families. Toronto. Nelson. Mitchell, Barbara A., An Introduction to Family Matters in Canada, 2nd ed. Toronto: 2012. This book focuses on a wide variety of substantive issues relevant to the diversity of family life in Canada as well as the theory and research in the area. Strong, Bryan, Christine DeVault, and Barbara W. Sayad. The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationships in a Changing Society (7th ed.). New York: Wadsworth, 1998. In a field with numerous solid textbooks, one of the most solid and comprehensive. A compendium of material on most subjects of interest to students and instructors. Tannen, Deborah. You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation. New York: Ballantine, 2001. A classic analysis of the different languages spoken by men and women and the significance of those language differences for interaction within relationships. . Wallerstein, Judith S., and Sandra Blakeslee. The Good Marriage: How and Why Love Lasts. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1995. A nationwide research study forms the basis for an analysis of what makes a successful marriage. Authors believe that too much attention has been focused on what is wrong with marriages. Weeks, Jeffrey, Brian Heaphy, and Catherin Donovan( Google ebook). Same Sex Intimacies: Families of Choice and Other Life Experiments. London, UK: Routledge, 2013. The authors’ examine the rich diversity of family types and intimate relationships. White, James M. and David M. Klein. Family Theories, 3rd ed.. New York: Sage, 2007. A thorough introduction to current and traditional theories of the the family. Thinking About Movies: Juno (Jason Reitman, 2007)______________________________________ High school student , Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) becomes pregnant. Opting to put her child up for adoption, she responds to a local advertisement by a seemingly loving couple. As she comes to know the prospective parents, Juno is forced to make some difficult decisions about her unborn child’s future. This movie shows adoption from the perspectives of both the birth mother and the adoptive parents. Watch for signs of social class difference between Juno and the adoptive couple. For Your Consideration 1. How do Juno’s perspective on the adoptive parents and her hopes for her child’s socialization in their family change as she comes to know them? 2. In what ways does Juno’s stepfamily affect her own socialization and her effort to find a home for her unborn child? Instructor Manual for Sociology: A Brief Introduction, Richard T. Schaefer, Jana Grekul 9781260065800