CH-19-20 Health and the Environment – Sociology : Chapter Notes

This Document Contains Chapters 19 to 20 CHAPTER 19 HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT CHAPTER OUTLINE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON HEALTH AND ILLNESS Functionalist Approach Conflict Approach Interactionist Approach Labeling Approach SOCIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY AND HEALTH Social Class Race and Ethnicity Gender Age HEATLHCARE IN THE UNITED STATES A Historical View Physicians, Nurses, and Patients Alternatives to Traditional Healthcare The Role of Government MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE UNITED STATES Theoretical Models of Mental Disorders Patterns of Care SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE ENVIRONMENT Human Ecology Conflict View of the Environment Ecological Modernization Environmental Justice ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS Air Pollution Water Pollution Global Warming The Impact of Globalization SOCIAL POLICY AND THE ENVIRONMENT: ENVIRONMENTALISM Boxes Taking Sociology to Work: Lola Adedokun, Independent Consultant, Healthcare Research Research Today: Health Care, Retail Style Sociology in the Global Community: The Mysterious Fall of the Nacirema LEARNING OBJECTIVES WHAT’S NEW IN CHAPTER 19 1. Discuss the sociological perspectives on health and illness. 2. Discuss social epidemiology and the various findings regarding the significance of social class, race/ethnicity, gender, and age. 3. Trace the historical development of healthcare in the U.S., including present- day alternatives to traditional healthcare and the role of the government in health- care. 4. Discuss theoretical models and patterns of care regarding mental illness in the United States. 5. Explain the human ecology, conflict view, ecological modernization, and environmental justice perspectives on the environment. 6. Discuss the nature and extent of environmental problems. 7. Describe the impact of globalization on the environment. • Chapter-opening excerpt from Shopping Our Way to Safety: How We Changed from Protecting the Environment to Protecting Ourselves, by Andrew Szasz • Mapping Life Nationwide Map, “Percentage of Children without Health Insurance” • Discussion of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) • Trend Spotting Box, “Medical Technology and Telemedicine” • Research Today Box, “Health Care, Retail Style” • Discussion of the Tea Party movement’s objection to health care reform • Subsection on ecological modernization • Coverage of the globalization of the environmental justice movement • Coverage of the BP Gulf oil spill of 2010 • Discussion of the problem of water scarcity and its role in promoting armed conflict • Figure, “Are U.S. Teens Green Enough?” CHAPTER SUMMARY The World Health Organization has defined health as a “state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” Social factors may contribute to the evaluations of how we perceive healthy or sick people. The functionalist perspective accents the reciprocal obligations of a person viewed as ill and those in charge of treatment. The sick role refers to societal expectations about the attitudes and behavior of a person viewed as being ill. Talcott Parsons outlined the functionalist view required of people considered “sick.” Physicians function as gatekeepers for the sick role. Critics of the functionalist view charge that patients’ judgments about their own health may be related to gender, age, social class, and ethnicity. Conflict theorists use the term medicalization of society to refer to the growing role of medicine as a major institution of social control. Viewed from a conflict perspective, there are glaring inequalities in healthcare delivery for various populations within the United States. In examining health, illness, and medicine as a social institution, interactionists generally focus on the microlevel study of the roles played by healthcare professionals and patients. They emphasize that the patient should not always be viewed as passive. Labeling theorists suggest that the designation of “healthy” or “ill” involves social definition of others. Specifically, healthcare professionals have the power to define certain people as “sick.” Such labels commonly reshape how others treat us and how we see ourselves. Social epidemiology is the study of the distribution of disease, impairment, and general health status across a population. Studies in the United States and other countries have consistently shown that people in the lower classes have higher rates of mortality and disability. The poor economic and environmental conditions of groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans are manifested in high morbidity and mortality rates. Research indicates that in comparison to men, women experience a higher prevalence of many illnesses. Older people in the United States use health services more often than younger people and their disproportionate use of the healthcare system is a critical factor in discussions about reforms in the healthcare system. Historically, healthcare in the U.S. was characterized by self-help, prevention, and a variety of approaches to practice and types of practitioners. With the growth of the American Medical Association, the medical model became standard. By the 1920s, doctors gained significant control of medical practice, financing, and policy while excluding other practitioners. Critics of the medical model assert that medical school emphasizes technical and clinical skill, dehumanizing doctor- patient relationships. Nurses are expected to remain subordinate. Gender appears to contribute to lower status of female physicians. Holistic medicine, in which the practitioner considers the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual characteristics of the patient, is an increasing challenge to the medical establishment. Methods include massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, herbs, nutrition, visualization, and exercise. Approximately one-third of U.S. adults use some type of alternative therapy. However, most alternative therapies are not covered by health insurance. Government funding, especially via Medicare and Medicaid payments, has had a significant effect on the healthcare system. The term mental illness refers to a disorder of the brain which disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, and ability to interact with others. Traditionally, Americans have held a negative view of those with mental illness. However, more people today are seeking treatment for mental health issues and the stigma appears to be lessening. Even so, the need for mental health care outstrips the available resources. According to the medical model, mental health is rooted in biological causes that are treated through medical intervention. In contrast, labeling theory (resting upon a sociological framework) suggests that many behaviors labeled as mental illnesses are not; they are simply reactions to living in a stressful situation. Those with power have the ability to apply labels to others who demonstrate behaviors which are misunderstood or threatening. Human ecology is an area of study that is concerned with the interrelationships between people and their spatial setting and physical environment. Emphasis is placed on three relationships: a) the environment provides people the resources necessary for life, b) the environment serves as a waste repository, c) the environment “houses” our species. World systems analysis shows how a growing share of the human and natural resources of the developing countries is being redistributed to the core industrialized nations. This process only intensifies the destruction of natural resources in poorer regions of the world. From a conflict perspective, less affluent nations are being forced to exploit their mineral deposits, forests, and fisheries in order to meet their debt obligations. Ecological modernization focuses on the alignment of environmentally favorable practices with economic self-interest through constant adaptation and restructuring. Environmental justice is a legal strategy based on claims that racial minorities are subjected disproportionately to environmental hazards, and that the poor and oppressed continue to bear the brunt of environmental pollution. Americans increasingly realize that development has led to serious environmental problems, but there is less willingness to implement solutions. World population growth and technological innovations (e.g., plastics, detergents, synthetics, pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers) are significant causes of pollution. More than 1 billion people on the planet are exposed to potentially health-damaging levels of air pollution. Throughout the United States, streams, rivers, and lakes have been polluted by the dumping of waste materials by both industries and local governments. Global warming refers to the significant rise of the earth’s temperature caused by the release of industrial gases like carbon dioxide. World systems analysis suggests that the challenge of global warming is tied to global inequality. Globalization allows multinational corporations to relocate to countries with less stringent environmental standards and allows the exploitation of resources of developing countries in the interests of short-term profit. The spread of industrialization leads to further pollution. There has been an increase in environmental refugees. However, globalization gives multinational corporations an incentive not to overuse or waste resources in order to avoid depletion. RESOURCE INTEGRATOR Focus Questions Resources 1. How do functionalists, conflict theorists, and interactionists view health and illness? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: health, sick role, brain drain, infant mortality rate Box: Taking Sociology to Work, “Lola Adedokun, Independent Consultant, Healthcare Research” Visual Support: Photo of person in the ‘sick role’; Photo of exercising youth; Figure 19-1, “Infant Mortality Rates in Selected Countries,”; Photo of prescription drugs; Table 19-1, “Sociological Perspectives on Health and Illness” IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Topics and Sources for Student Research: Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Women in the Healthcare Field 2. What is meant by the social epidemiology of health? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: social epidemiology, incidence, prevalence, morbidity rate, mortality rate, curanderismo Visual Support: Photo of crowded emergency room; Figure 19-2, “Mapping Life Worldwide, People Living With HIV”; Figure 19-3, “Percentage of People Without Health Insurance” IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: 19-2, 19-3, 19-4, 19-5 Topics and Sources for Student Research: Healthcare and Race; Poverty and Healthcare; Social Impact of Chronic Illness Video Resources: The Uninsured REEL SOCIETY CD Topic Index: Health and Epidemiology 3. How did the institution of medicine develop in the United States? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: holistic medicine Box: Trend Spotting, “Medical Technology and Telemedicine” Box: Research Today, “Health Care, Retail Style” Visual Support: Figure 19-4, “Total Health Care Expenditures in the US, 1970-2019”; Photo of nurse, patient, and doctor; Photo of acupuncture patient; Figure 19-5, “Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine” IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: 19-1 Video Resources: The Uninsured 4. What are the key issues regarding mental health care in the U.S.? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: mental illness Visual Support: Photo of actress with mental disorder; photos of community mental health center 5. What are the sociological approaches to the study of the environment? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: human ecology, environmental justice Visual Support: Photo of Tea Party protestors; Photo of Greenpeace publicity stunt; Photo of community recycling containers IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: 19-6, 19-7, 19-8 Classroom Discussion Topics: 19-2, 19-3, 19-4 Video Resources: Livable Landscapes; Populations; Save Our Land, Save Our Towns; Too Many People, Too Little Space 6. What are the most important environmental issues in the world today? IN THE TEXT Visual Support: Cartoon about environmental concerns; Photo of polluted water; Cartoon about global warming; Photo of tourists in Belize; Figure 19-6, “Mapping Life Worldwide: Increase in Carbon Dioxide Emissions”; Figure 19-7, “The Environment Versus the Economy”; Figure 19-8, “Are U.S. Teens Green Enough?” LECTURE OUTLINE I. Sociological Perspectives on Health and Illness • Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity (1946 World Health Definition). A. Functionalist Approach • The sick role refers to societal expectations about the attitudes and behavior of a person viewed as being ill. • Parsons suggests sick people are exempted from everyday duties and do not suffer blame for their condition. They are obligated to get well. • Physicians function as gatekeepers for the sick role. • Critics of the functionalist view charge that patients’ judgments about their own health may be related to gender, age, social class, and ethnicity. Example: younger people ignoring serious warning signs. • Critics also suggest the sick role may be more applicable to people with short- term illnesses, and that various factors (e.g., employment) affect a person’s willingness to assume the sick role. B. Conflict Approach • Eliot Freidson contends medicine has an officially approved monopoly to define health and illness and to treat illness. 1. The Medicalization of Society • Medicalization of society: growing role of medicine as a major institution of social control. • Expanded domain of expertise in a wide range of issues, ruling out input from others and alternative views. • Places certain healthcare professionals outside the realm of acceptable medicine. Example: chiropractors and midwives. 2. Inequities in Healthcare • Poor areas are underserved, as medical services are concentrated in areas where people are wealthy. • In the U.S. there are about 27 physicians per 10,000 population compared to fewer than one per 10,000 in African nations. • Brain drain refers to the immigration of skilled professional to industrialized nations such as the U.S. • Inequalities in healthcare have life-and-death consequences. Example: infant mortality rates higher in nations with less access to healthcare. C. Interactionist Approach • Microlevel analysis. Interactionists are interested in roles played by physicians and patients. • Patients are not passive; often they actively seek healthcare services. Or, they may play an active role by failing to follow doctor’s advice. Example: stop taking medicines, take incorrect dosages, or other noncompliance. D. Labeling Approach • Social definitions of healthy or ill results in attaching of labels and resulting consequences. Example: Runaway slaves defined as suffering from drapetomania. • We can view a variety of life experiences as illnesses or not. Example: chronic fatigue syndrome still subject to debate. • Labeling of homosexuality not as a lifestyle but as a mental disorder subject to treatment was dropped in 1974 from psychiatric manuals. II. Social Epidemiology and Health • Social epidemiology is the study of the distribution of disease, impairment, and general health status across a population. Initially, it concentrated on epidemics. • Incidence refers to the number of new cases of a specific disorder occurring within a given population during a stated period of time, usually a year. • Prevalence refers to the total number of cases of a specific disorder that exists at a given time. • Morbidity rates (incidence per 100,000) are affected by social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and age. A. Social Class • Lower classes have higher rates of disability and mortality. • Crowded living conditions, substandard housing, financial strain, poor diet, higher stress, and inability to afford quality healthcare are major factors in health problems of less affluent. Example: disparities in health insurance. • More danger in lower-class workplaces compared to middle/upper classes. • Conflict theorists suggest maximizing profits is more important to capitalists than worker safety. • Vicious cycle: low income leads to poor health, which hinders upward mobility. B. Race and Ethnicity • Blacks die from heart disease, pneumonia, diabetes, and cancer at higher rates than Whites. • Blacks can expect to live to 71.7 years compared to Whites at 74.7 years. • Infant mortality is more than twice as high among Blacks compared to Whites. • National clinical studies conclude that racial and ethnic minorities are less likely than other groups to receive both standard healthcare and life-saving treatments for conditions such as HIV. • Blacks suffer the stress of racial prejudice, leading to hypertension, which is twice as common in Blacks as in Whites, and is a critical factor in Blacks’ high mortality rates from heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke. • Some Mexican Americans and other Latinos interpret illness according to traditional Latino folk medicine, curanderismo. While most Hispanics probably use folk healers infrequently, perhaps 20 percent rely on home remedies. C. Gender • Women experience higher prevalence of illnesses compared to men; however, they tend to live longer. • Women experience lower rates of cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption, and lower rates of employment in dangerous occupations. Some suggest these rates may explain about one-third of their greater longevity than men. • Some studies suggest differences in morbidity may be less pronounced than data suggest, because women are more likely than men to seek treatment, to be diagnosed, and thus to be included in data analyzed. • Conflict theorists note that women are especially vulnerable to the medicalization of society (e.g., birth and beauty treated in an increasingly medical context), and that they are often excluded from clinical studies. D. Age • Older people are troubled with conditions that affect quality of life and daily living. Examples: arthritis, visual and hearing impairments. • Alzheimer’s afflicts an estimated 5 million older people 65 or over (13 percent). • Older people disproportionately use the healthcare system compared to younger people. Those 75 and older are five times more likely to use health services and to be hospitalized than younger people (ages 15-24). •Healthcare for older Americans is a critical factor in all debate about healthcare costs and reforms. III. Healthcare in the United States A. A Historical View •Healthcare in the U.S. was characterized by self-help, prevention, a variety of approaches to practice, and types of practitioners. • American Medical Association, founded in 1848, set up standardized training and licensure, and conferred professional authority on those who complete their programs, excluding other practitioners. • Doctors gained significant control over the market for medical services and the various institutions that govern medical practice, financing, and policy. • By 1920, physicians controlled hospitals, division of labor of health personnel, and indirectly controlled related professions, such as nursing and pharmacy. B. Physicians, Nurses, and Patients • Physicians are the dominant professionals in healthcare in the U.S. • Medical school emphasizes technical and clinical skill, dehumanizing doctor- patient relationships. • Nurses are expected to remain subordinate. Example: doctor-nurse game. • Gender appears to contribute to lower status of female physicians. • Patients are getting healthcare messages from media, such as advertising and information from the Internet. Problems include inaccurate and incomplete information. C. Alternatives to Traditional Healthcare • One in three adults in U.S. use alternative healthcare methods. • Holistic medicine, in which the practitioner considers the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual characteristics, includes massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, herbs, nutrition, visualization, and exercise. • Some medical doctors include alternative medicine in their practices but acceptance by the medical establishment has been slow. • NIH opened Office of Alternative Medicine in 1992. However, most alternative therapies are not covered by health insurance. D. The Role of Government • First significant government funding was the Hill-Burton Act of 1946, subsidizing rural hospitals. The 1965 enactment of Medicare and Medicaid has had a huge effect on the healthcare system. E. Mental Illness in the United States • Mental illness is a disorder that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, and ability to interact with others. • Although one in four Americans suffer from some form of mental illness, less than half receive treatment. • Theoretical models of mental illness include the medical model and labeling theory, which highlights the stigmatization of mental illness in the U.S. • Deinstitutionalization has not been accompanied by effective reintegration of the mentally ill, leading to new problems. • As with physical healthcare, quality of treatment varies by race/ethnicity, class, and region. IV. Sociological Perspectives on the Environment A. Human Ecology • Human ecology studies how the physical environment shapes people’s lives and how people influence the surrounding environment. Emphasis is placed on three relationships: a) the environment provides people the resources necessary for life, b) the environment serves as a waste repository, c) the environment “houses” our species. • Human ecology stresses that tradeoffs are inherent in every decision that alters the environment. B. Conflict View of the Environment • Less affluent nations are being forced to exploit their mineral deposits, forests, and fisheries in order to meet their debt obligations. To survive, they plow mountain slopes, burn forests, and overgraze. Example: Brazil and deforestation of Amazon rain forest. • Conflict theorists contend the focus on developing countries is ethnocentric, that “energy-hungry” industrialized nations are more to blame than poverty-stricken and “food-hungry” of the Third World. • Western industrialized nations account for only 12 percent of the world’s population, but they are responsible for 60 percent of worldwide consumption. C. Ecological Modernization • This approach emerged in the 1980s and focuses on the alignment of environmentally favorable practices with economic self-interest through constant adaptation and restructuring. • Ecological modernization can occur on both the macro and micro levels. D. Environmental Justice • Legal strategy based on claims that racial minorities are subjected disproportionately to environmental hazards. Example: the Warren County struggle. • President Clinton issued executive order in 1994 ordering federal agencies to ensure that low-income and minority communities have access to information about their environment, and a chance to participate in shaping government policies. • Poor and oppressed continue to bear the brunt of environmental pollution. Example: Goshute Indians persuaded by federal government to accept more than 44,000 barrels of highly radioactive material; however, plan not yet implemented due to opposition. VI. Environmental Problems • Americans increasingly recognize that development has led to serious environmental problems, but there is less willingness to implement solutions. There is substantial disagreement about the priority that should be given to environmental concerns. • Basic causes of growing environmental problems: world population growth; technological innovations (e.g., plastics, detergents, synthetics, pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers). A. Air Pollution • Over 1 billion people worldwide are exposed to health-threatening levels of pollution. The problem is worst in developing countries. • Urban residents have come to accept smog as normal. • Auto emissions, electric power plants, and heavy industry account for most air pollution. B. Water Pollution • Industrial, agricultural, and residential waste has made many bodies of water unsafe for drinking, fishing, and swimming. • 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have safe and adequate drinking water, and 2.6 billion have no acceptable means of water sanitation. • Water is a highly contested commodity in many parts of the world. C. Global Warming • Global warming refers to the significant rise of the earth’s temperature caused by the release of industrial gases like carbon dioxide. • The United States produces 24 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions but has not agreed to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce global emissions. • World systems analysis suggests that the challenge of global warming is tied to global inequality. D. The Impact of Globalization • Globalization can be both good and bad for the environment. • Negative: Polluting companies relocate to countries with less stringent standards. • Negative: Multinationals exploit resources of developing countries for short- term profit. • Negative: Industrialization accompanying globalization has increased pollution: Examples: Mexico and China. • Positive: Multinational companies have an incentive not to overuse or waste natural resources, because the result could be depletion. • Globalization has increased the number of environmental refugees from developing nations due to droughts, shortage of arable land, environmental degradation, and concomitant poverty, poor health, poor living conditions. VII. Social Policy and the Environment: Environmentalism A. The Issue • Widespread concern among Americans over preservation of the environment. B. The Setting • Activist subculture of the 1960s, increased information about environmental problems, and the growing popularity of outdoor activities fueled the environmental movement. • Current environmentalists are motivated by the belief that the environment is in peril and that strong government action is required. • Public reaction to environmental issues is mixed, with the economic downturn causing many Americans to prioritize economic growth over environmental preservation. • Environmental groups vary greatly in size, organizational structure, goals for change, and tactics used to effect change. C. Sociological Insights • From a conflict perspective, bias is inherent in nationwide organizations due to predominantly White, male, affluent membership. • Many major environmental organizations accept funding from oil and chemical companies, compromising their ability to make disinterested policy recommendations. • Resistance to the environmental movement has become an organized opposition movement. Example: “Wise-use.” • Some members of opposition groups oppose particular environmental preservation strategies rather than the overall goal of environmental protection. Example: Diverting corn for biofuel will exacerbate global hunger. D. Policy Initiatives • The current recession has reduced demand for fossil fuels. • Government economic stimulus packages include funds for “green collar” jobs. • Nations worldwide are increasingly viewing environmental problems as a global threat, putting more pressure on the U.S. and other G-8 nations to take action. . KEY TERMS Brain drain The immigration to the United States and other industrialized nations of skilled workers, professionals, and technicians who are desperately needed in their home countries. Culture bound syndrome A disease or illness that cannot be understood apart from its specific social context. Curanderismo Latino folk medicine, a form of holistic healthcare and healing. Ecological modernization An approach to environmental awareness that focuses on the alignment of environmentally favorable practices with economic self-interest through constant adaptation and restructuring. Environmental justice A legal strategy based on claims that racial minorities are subjected disproportionately to environmental hazards. Health As defined by the World Health Organization, a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. Holistic medicine Therapies in which the healthcare practitioner considers the person’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual characteristics. Human ecology An area of study concerned with the interrelationships between people and their environment. Incidence The number of new cases of a specific disorder occurring within a given population during a stated period. Infant mortality rate The number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births in a given year. Mental illness A disorder of the brain that disrupts a person’s thinking, feeling, and ability to interact with others. Morbidity rate The incidence of disease in a given population. Mortality rate The incidence of death in a given population. Prevalence The total number of cases of a specific disorder that exist at a given time. Sick role Societal expectations about the attitudes and behavior of a person viewed as being ill. Social epidemiology The study of the distribution of disease, impairment, and general health status across a population. ADDITIONAL LECTURE IDEAS 19-1: Professional Marginality: Chiropractors The chiropractic vocation occupies a marginal position as a profession. Chiropractors use manipulation of body structures, primarily the spinal column, to bring about healing. Some combine such manipulations with nutritional guidance and even acupuncture. Although they view themselves as professionals, chiropractors are not highly regarded by the medical profession. In fact, the American Medical Association (AMA) has officially labeled chiropractors as impostors in the role of physicians. Some doctors go so far as to use the emotion-laden term quacks in describing chiropractors. Despite these charges, chiropractors resemble a profession in important respects; indeed, they resemble the medical profession. Chiropractors complete a four-year training program that culminates in the receipt of a doctor of chiropractic degree. Like graduates of medical schools, chiropractors belong to professional associations and publish specialized journals. Most establish private practices or work in small clinics. Interestingly, in contrast to the AMA’s position, certain physicians develop informal ties to chiropractors and refer patients to them. According to surveys of public opinion, chiropractic has lower status as an occupation than other medical specialties. Chiropractors do surpass subordinate medical personnel such as nurses and physical therapists in terms of both income and professional autonomy. Yet, chiropractors find it difficult to receive payment for their services through Medicare and other health insurance programs. In good part, this reflects the political power of the AMA and the continuing stigma it has attached to the work of chiropractors. Currently, chiropractors are moving in the direction of even greater professionalization. They have become stricter about qualifications for entry into this vocation and have worked to upgrade professional training in chiropractic. The American Chiropractic Association lists as one of its objectives legislation defining chiropractic “in modern terms and legalizing its practice.” In some states, chiropractors are officially termed “chiropractic physicians,” and they are increasingly identifying themselves with the medical profession. The attempt of chiropractors to win acceptance by physicians indicates that they have not fully moved from the status of an occupation to that of a profession. See George Ritzer. Working, Conflict and Change (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997, pp. 192–193; Denise S. Akey (ed.). Encyclopedia of Associations, vol. 1. Detroit: Gale Research, 1981, p. 818; Walter I. Wardwell, “The Reduction of Strain in the Marginal Social Role,” American Journal of Sociology 61 (July 1955): 16–25. 19-2: Native-American Healthcare For Native Americans, “healthcare” is a misnomer, another broken promise in the array of unmet promises that the government has made. Native Americans are more likely to die before age 45 than are members of any other racial or ethnic group. Even more frustrating, in 1994 they tended to die of treatable diseases, like tuberculosis, at rates 700 percent higher than that for White Americans. This dramatic difference arises out of their poverty and also out of the lack of health services. There are only 96 doctors per 100,000 Native Americans, compared with 208 per 100,000 of the general population. Similarly, there are 251 nurses per 100,000 Native Americans, contrasted to 672 per 100,000 for the nation as a whole. In 1955, the responsibility for healthcare for Native Americans was transferred from the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) to the Public Health Service (PHS); although the health of Native Americans as a group has improved markedly since the mid-1960s, serious problems remain. As is true of industrial development and education for Native Americans, advances in healthcare are hampered by the poverty and, for those who live there, geographic isolation of the reservations. Also, as in the educational and economic sectors, health policies in effect initiate a cultural war in which Native Americans must often reject their traditions in order to secure better medical treatment. With the pressure for Native Americans to assimilate into the dominant culture in all aspects of their lives, there has been little willingness to recognize their traditions of healing and treating illnesses. In the 1990s, there emerged a pluralistic effort to recognize alternative forms of medicine, including those practiced by Native Americans. In addition, healthcare workers on reservations have begun to accommodate traditional belief systems as they administer the White culture’s medicine. It is not merely that Native Americans collectively have more diseases and shorter average life spans than the rest of the population; the Native American population tends also to have a higher incidence of acute problems in such areas as mental health, nutrition, elder care, and alcoholism, which have been documented for generations but have only recently been addressed through innovative programs. Further improvement can be expected, but it will be some time before the gains make healthcare for Native Americans comparable to that for the general population. Sources: Natalie Angier, “U.S. Opens the Door Just a Crack to Alternative Forms of Medicine,” New York Times (January 10, 1993): 1, 13; Ron Coddington, “Native American Health Crisis,” USA Today (November 12, 1991): A1; Patricia Edmonds, “Tribes Fight Desperately with Determination,” USA Today (April 8, 1992): A8; Elaine Fox, “Crossing the Bridge: Adaptive Stages among Navajo Health Care Workers.” Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology 20 (May 1992): 25–34; Indian Health Service. Trends in Indian Health 1995. Washington, DC: Indian Health Service, 1995; Linda Kanamine, “Amid Crushing Poverty, Glimmers of Hope,” USA Today (November 30, 1992): A7; Kanamine, “Tribal Leaders Now Feel They ‘Can Be Heard.’” USA Today (April 28, 1994): A1, A2; and Stephen J. Kunitz, “The History and Politics of U.S. Health Care Policy for American Indians and Alaskan Natives,” American Journal of Public Health 86 (October 1996): 1464–1473. 19-3: Bad Blood In late July of 1972, the Associated Press broke a story about a medical experiment that the federal government had been conducting for 40 years in Macon County, Alabama, in and around the county seat of Tuskegee. The government conducts experiments all the time, but the details of this one—the Tuskegee Study, as it came to be called—were shocking. It involved 399 Black men with syphilis who were left untreated while the course of the disease was observed. Syphilis is a very serious disease. If untreated, it causes skin lesions, tumors, liver damage, paralysis, blindness, deafness, and eventually death. All these complications were known to medical science when the Tuskegee Study began in 1932. Other aspects of this dreadful experiment are less clear. For example, there is contradictory evidence about whether the Black men were ever informed of what was being done to them. In any event, however, the men were poor and illiterate, and the “pay” they were offered for participating, about $100, must have seemed irresistible in 1932. As the experiment progressed and the skin lesions appeared, the men were told that they had “bad blood.” Occasionally, the men would come to the attention of medical personnel outside the study group. When that happened, representatives of the study would advise the subjects that they should not take any outside treatment or they would be dropped from the study and lose all their benefits. Treatment for other illnesses (such as antibiotics) would also be withheld if it might affect the course of the syphilis. Treatments for syphilis were developed after 1932, including penicillin, which became generally available in 1953. However, the subjects were given no opportunity to have their painful condition eased. This experiment was not a secret; in fact, it was reported from time to time in government and medical journals. The reaction to such reports was always strong, but the erroneous assumption was made that the men would be treated. The fact that all the men were Black says something about the racial considerations underlying the Tuskegee Study, although the government officials have repeatedly denied charges of racism. Why did the experiment continue year after year, even when it came under fire? Historian James H. Jones contends that the researchers soon realized that autopsies yielded far more reliable data than clinical observations. (See Jones. Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. New York: Free Press, 1981.) Threatened with closure, the researchers and their supervisors would continue “a bit longer” to provide more subjects for autopsies. The result was the longest-known medical experiment involving untreated subjects. Given the ethical questions, one might ask what was really learned. Late in 1970, Dr. James B. Lucas, the assistant chief of the Venereal Disease Branch of the Public Health Service, declared, “Nothing learned will prevent, find, or cure a single case of infectious syphilis or bring us closer to our basic mission of controlling venereal disease in the United States” (Jones 1981: 202). Eventually, the survivors of the Tuskegee Study were treated. In 1973, a payment of $37,500 was authorized for each of them, in order to avoid lawsuits. Smaller payments went to the heirs of the subjects who had died. Two years later, the government extended treatment to members of the subjects’ families who had contracted syphilis. 19-4: Contagious Immigrants People who are devalued are also not viewed as healthy. Historian Alan Kraut has shown how epidemics and disease have been linked in the public mind with immigrants. The Irish in New York were wrongly blamed for the cholera epidemic of 1832, the Chinese in San Francisco were vilified for causing bubonic plague in 1900, and the Haitian “boat people” arriving in south Florida in the 1980s were stigmatized as AIDS carriers. One such example is what medical author Stephen S. Hall termed the “adenoid riots.” This little-known chapter in the history of civil unrest in New York City began to unfold toward the end of the school year in 1906. A group of well-intentioned physicians descended on P.S. 110 on the Lower East Side and, in a bloody but minor surgical procedure, snipped away the adenoids—growths of lymphoid tissue between the back of the nose and the throat—of a number of schoolchildren, acting with the consent of the mostly immigrant parents. The rationale for such surgery, Alan M. Kraut writes, was that swollen adenoids “often caused youngsters to breathe through their mouths, a practice that physicians of the day believed could lead to insufficient oxygen reaching the brain. Allowed to continue, mouth breathing might yield a feebleminded person.” So the surgeons snipped, and ill-founded rumors spread of bloodied and irreparably mutilated children. Within a week, outraged parents, first Eastern European Jews and then Italians, stormed neighboring schools, disrupting commencement ceremonies and requiring 75 police officers to disperse the caterwauling mobs, which were protesting a medical practice that, incidentally, holds no currency today. See Hall, “The Contagious Other,” New York Times Book Review (February 27, 1994): 12, 14; Kraut. Silent Travelers: Germs, Genes, and the “Immigrant Menace.” New York: Basic Books, 1994. (415) 19-5: The Nun Study At age 93, Sister Nicolette reads, crochets, and plays cards, and, until a recent fall, walked several miles a day. Her younger sibling, Sister Mary Ursula, is confined to a wheelchair and can barely lift her head or hands: She is a victim of Alzheimer disease. Both these real-life sisters had a similar family background, and both lived for most of their lives in the same Roman Catholic convent under the same conditions. Why is one so robust and the other so afflicted? This is one question that Dr. David Snowdon, a scientist at the University of Kentucky, hopes to answer from his long-term study of an order of nuns living in Mankato, Minnesota. Snowdon is particularly interested in detecting the causes of Alzheimer disease and in finding ways to delay or prevent its onset. He began studying the lives of the 678 nuns in 1986, when the sisters ranged in age from 75 to 103. As of 2001, 295 were alive, all over age 85; some were suffering from Alzheimer’s and other diseases of the brain, while others were entirely symptom- free. The order of nuns presents an ideal research group for an epidemiological study because the participants lead such similar lives. They eat the same meals, receive the same healthcare, do not smoke, drink very little alcohol, and have not experienced physical changes associated with pregnancy; most were teachers. These similarities allow the researchers to discount some factors that often contribute to illness, such as diet deficiency or smoking. It is also significant that the entire group is made up of aging women. In the past, most medical research of this type concentrated on middle-aged men, despite the fact that women constitute the great majority of the elderly population. Snowdon examines the nuns each year, taking blood samples and testing their cognitive ability to trace the course of their health. He has persuaded the nuns to donate their brains after they die, because a brain autopsy is the only sure way to diagnose Alzheimer disease. Although all this information was helpful to Snowdon, he had to rely on the nuns’ memories to establish facts of their background before they entered the order, and memories in the elderly can be unreliable, especially among those afflicted with brain disease. Then he ran across a treasure trove of data—archives documenting the births, parentage, and socioeconomic backgrounds of the nuns. These data helped to establish health risk factors for each nun earlier in life. Perhaps the most valuable research tools in the archives were autobiographies written by the applicants to the convent when they were in their twenties. From examining these writings and looking at the current health status of the nuns, Snowdon concluded that an active intellectual life, an ability to express oneself with complex ideas, and a positive outlook all correlate with healthy aging and a long life. Snowdon has found other factors associated with healthy aging, including a good diet and avoidance of stroke-causing behavior. He does not discount the value of spiritual and communal living. But he hopes other studies will back up his findings about the importance of early language ability and a positive emotional outlook. Sources Pam Belluck. 2001. “Nuns Offer Clues to Alzheimer’s and Aging,” New York Times, May 7, p. A1; Michael D. Lemonick and Alice Park Mankato. 2001. “The Nun Study,” Time 157 (May 14): 54-59, 62, 64; The Nun Study. 2005: The Nun Study: What’s New. Accessed May 25 (www.mcuky.edu/nunnet); David Snowdon. 2001. Aging with Grace. New York: Bantam. 19-6: Human Ecology: Housing in Japan In the text, the human ecological approach is illustrated on the macrolevel, as in urban spatial patterns. It can also be applied to the microlevel, that is, to social interaction along a block or residence hall corridor, or even within a dwelling. Obviously, whether siblings share bedrooms has explicit and subtle impact on socialization patterns. Therefore, it is of more than passing interest to note that the typical Japanese household shares much less space than its counterparts in Europe, and even a smaller proportion of the household size that is typical in North America. Large numbers of Japanese commute long distances. Even in more rural areas, their macro spatial patterns reflect housing that is cramped by U.S. standards. Government regulations and tax laws keep housing prices astronomical by encouraging inefficient use of land and discouraging an active market in property. The dwellings are half the size of housing in the United States and getting smaller. One social impact is that Japanese rarely entertain in their homes; they have no room for guests. They gather in restaurants and other public places for social occasions. The master bedroom of a mid-level Japanese manager is smaller than the hallway in most homes in the United States. Why the long commute? Why don’t Japanese businesses relocate in Japanese versions of “edge cities”? A major barrier is the tightly centralized control government bureaucrats maintain over the economy in Japan. Companies need licenses, approvals, and informal guidance to do just about anything. Therefore, they locate close to the various government ministries in central Tokyo. See James Sterngold, “Life in a Box: Japanese Question Fruits of Success,” New York Times (January 2, 1994): 1, 5. (400) 19-7: Squatter Settlements Bariadas, favelas, bustees, kampungs, and bidonvilles: The terms vary depending on the nation and language, but the meaning is the same: ”squatter settlements.” In squatter settlements, areas occupied by the very poor on the fringe of cities, housing is constructed by the settlers themselves from discarded material, including crates from loading docks and loose lumber from building projects. While the term squatter settlement is widely used, many observers prefer to use a less pejorative term, such as autonomous settlements. This type of settlement is typical of cities in the world’s developing nations. In such countries, new housing has not kept pace with the combined urban population growth resulting from births and migration from rural areas. Squatter settlements also swell when city dwellers are forced out of housing by astronomical jumps in rent. By definition, squatters living on vacant land are trespassers and can be legally evicted. However, given the large number of poor people who live in such settlements (by UN estimates, 40 or 50 percent of inhabitants of cities in many developing nations), governments generally look the other way. Obviously, squatters live in substandard housing, yet that is only one of the many problems they face. Residents do not receive most public services, since their presence cannot be legally recognized. Police and fire protection, paved streets, and sanitary sewers are virtually nonexistent. In some countries, squatters may have trouble voting or enrolling their children in public schools. Despite such conditions, squatter settlements are not always as bleak as they may appear from the outside. You can often find a well-developed social organization there, rather than a disorganized collection of people. A thriving “informal economy” typically develops: residents establish small, home-based businesses such as grocery stores, jewelry shops, and the like. Local churches, men’s clubs, and women’s clubs are often established in specific neighborhoods within the settlements. In addition, certain areas may form governing councils or membership associations. These governing bodies may face the usual problems of municipal governments, including charges of corruption and factional splits. Squatter settlements remind us that respected theoretical models of social science in the United States may not directly apply to other cultures. The various ecological models of urban growth, for example, would not explain a metropolitan expansion that locates the poorest people on the urban fringes. Furthermore, solutions that are logical in a highly industrialized nation may not be relevant in developing nations. Planners in developing nations, rather than focusing on large-scale solutions to urban problems, must think in terms of basic amenities, such as providing water or electric power to the ever-expanding squatter settlements. Sources: Manuel Castells. 1983. The City and the Grass Roots. Berkeley: University of California Press; Carl V. Patton, ed. 1988. Spontaneous Shelter: International Perspectives and Prospects. Philadelphia: Temple University Press; Larry Rohter. 2003. “Brazil to Let Squatters Own Homes,” New York Times, April 19, p. A7; Michael Wines. 2003. “Zimbabwe’s ‘Cleanup’ Takes a Vast Human Toll,” New York Times, June 11, pp. A1, A6; World Bank. 2003. World Development Report 2003: Sustainable Development in a Dynamic World. Washington, DC: World Bank; Kioe Sheng Yap. 1998. “Squatter Settlements.” Pp. 554-56 in The Encyclopedia of Housing, edited by Willem van Vliet. Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage. 19-8: Environmental Racism in Albany The fallen snow was black from the filth of a nearby incinerator, a facility that had been declared safe for 12 years; that is, until it affected the snow at the governor’s mansion in Albany, New York. Three weeks later, the facility was closed. For the last 12 years, officials have assured residents of a predominantly Black neighborhood in Albany’s inner city that a trash-burning incinerator was no health threat. But less than three weeks after the incinerator’s emissions blackened the snow at the nearby governor’s mansion, the incinerator was shut down. For Emily Grisom and others, the garbage-burning incinerator had been a long-standing irritant and an example of environmental racism. Grisom has lived on the same block as the state-owned incinerator since it began burning trash in 1981. In the summer, she has had to close her windows because of the stench of burning garbage. In addition, she says that on occasion, she and her neighbors have suffered from stuffed-up noses. Grisom says she knows at least 10 neighborhood children who suffer from asthma, and she links their problems to the incinerator. “. . . . [But] no one’s looking at that,” she says. “They have not bothered, because this area is 99-percent Black. They have never bothered. If it were a White community, five or 10 kids, they would say, ‘That’s outrageous.’” Until January 29, the day it closed, the plant burned approximately 350 tons of waste each day, sending arsenic, lead, mercury, and other pollutants into the air. It also provided steam to heat and cool the nearby offices of then-Governor Mario Cuomo and state legislators. Although state officials had said they were sure the incinerator, dubbed the ANSWERS plant, was not harming residents, they had concluded it was outdated. They said it would have been very costly to bring it up to the standards of newer plants. State officials had planned to close it in two years. But a malfunction at the plant on January 10 caused a shower of unburned oil particles to darken the snow-covered ground in downtown Albany, including the governor’s mansion. The incident hastened the incinerator’s shutdown date. A 1991 study by the federal Environmental Protection Agency concluded that most hazardous waste sites are in minority neighborhoods or in White, poor rural areas. “It’s a fairness issue. It’s unfair that these communities bear a disproportionate risk burden simply because of their race or economic background,” said Robert Knox, deputy director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Equity in Washington. See Los Angeles Times (March 6, 1994): A4. CLASSROOM DISCUSSION TOPICS 19-1. Alternatives to Traditional Healthcare: Encourage students to share experiences they have had with alternatives to traditional healthcare. Some of them, for example, may have tried acupuncture, or may have grandparents who know home remedies for various ailments. Lead into a discussion of why the medical field tends to discourage alternatives to traditional healthcare, and ask students to analyze this issue from the conflict perspective. 19-2. Class Activity: Throwing the Sociological Imagination into the Garbage: Using Students’ Waste Disposal Habits to Illustrate C. Wright Mills’s Concept: Teaching Sociology v. 34 no. 2 (April 2006) p. 150-5. Students bring in a day’s worth of their garbage/trash, collect, count, categorize it. This activity can serve as a springboard for discussion of waste, environmental degradation, pollution, as well as consumption habits among students in the U.S. The activity also illustrates the sociological imagination and gives students a real-life exposure to data collection. 19-3. Pollution and Technological Accidents: What is the potential tie between normal accidents and environmental pollution? 19-4. Class Project—Learning More about Environmental Problems: Assign teams of students to do further research on the environmental problems discussed in the text, and present their findings to the class. This can lead to a discussion of how we, as a society, should respond to these problems. 19-5. Stimulating Classroom Discussions about A New Species of Trouble: Questions for stimulating a classroom discussion about Kai Erikson’s A New Species of Trouble can include these: After reading the excerpt from Erikson’s book, what common thread do you see running through these examples of floods, toxic poisoning, larceny, gasoline spills, and nuclear accidents? Are you familiar with other examples of the environment being negatively affected by overpopulation? Are you familiar with public and private efforts to avoid or eliminate disasters? How does consumerism relate to each of the disasters examined by Erikson? 19-6. Environmental Justice: Students can examine this interesting case of a movement for environmental justice. David Naguib Pellow. Garbage Wars: The Struggle for Environmental Justice in Chicago. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002. 19-7. Using Humor: Joseph E. Faulkner has produced a monograph that includes funny examples that could be incorporated into lectures associated with Chapter 15. See chapter 14 in Faulkner, Sociology Through Humor. New York: West, 1987. This book is out of print, but used copies are readily available. TOPICS FOR STUDENT RESEARCH AND CLASSROOM DISCUSSION 1. Ask students to identify why they would choose to limit the number of children they have, and discuss the relative merits of the Marxian and Malthusian views on population control. 2. Ask students to analyze whether their community would be considered gemeinschaft or gesellschaft, and discuss the various natures of different types of cities. 3. Ask students to research recent public attention on obesity becoming an epidemic health risk in the United States, and discuss how a conflict theorist would likely explain the origins of such concerns. 4. Ask students to analyze the use of steroids among professional athletes from both the conflict and interactionist perspectives. 5. Ask students to predict the reactions of society when learning of a famous movie celebrity, a military veteran, and a gay man, all of whom are diagnosed as HIV-positive, and then discuss the social factors affecting each designation from a labeling perspective. CHAPTER 20 POPULATION, COMMUNITIES, AND URBANIZATION CHAPTER OUTLINE DEMOGRAPHY: THE STUDY OF POPULATION Malthus’s Thesis and Marx’s Response Studying Population Today Elements of Demography WORLD POPULATION PATTERNS Demographic Transition The Population Explosion FERTILITY PATTERNS IN THE UNITED STATES The Baby Boom Stable Population Growth POPULATION AND MIGRATION International Migration Internal Migration HOW HAVE COMMUNITIES CHANGED? Preindustrial Cities Industrial and Postindustrial Cities URBANIZATION Functionalist View: Urban Ecology Conflict View: New Urban Sociology TYPES OF COMMUNITIES Central Cities Suburbs RURAL AREAS Rural Diversity Rural Challenges SOCIAL POLICY AND COMMUNITIES: SEEKING SHELTER WORLDWIDE Boxes Taking Sociology to Work: Kelsie Lenor Wilson-Dorsett, Deputy Director, Department of Statistics, Government of Bahamas Sociology in the Global Community: Population Policy in China Sociology in the Global Community: Squatter Settlements Trend Spotting: Urbanization and Its Costs LEARNING OBJECTIVES WHAT’S NEW IN CHAPTER 20 1. Define the term “demography.” 2. Discuss Malthus’s thesis and Marx’s response. 3. Identify and discuss the various elements of studying population. 4. Discuss the various patterns of world populations. 5. Discuss the various patterns of fertility in the United States. 6. Describe the various types of population migration patterns. 7. Discuss early communities and the shift to preindustrial cities. 8. Discuss the precursors to, and nature of, industrial and postindustrial cities. 9. Discuss the functionalist view of urban ecology. 10. Discuss the conflict view known as new urban sociology. 11. Discuss and differentiate the nature of central cities, suburbs, and rural areas. 12. Discuss the issues surrounding homelessness worldwide. • Chapter-opening excerpt from Aerotropolis: The Way We’ll Live Next, by John Kasarda and Greg Lindsay • Figure, “Population Growth Rate in Selected Countries” • Trend Spotting Box, “Urbanization and Its Costs” • Discussion of the decoupling of agriculture and small rural communities • Figure, “Change in Population by County, 2000-2010” CHAPTER SUMMARY Demography is the scientific study of population that draws on several components of population, including size, composition, and territorial distribution, to understand the social consequences of population change. The Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus suggested that the world’s population was growing more rapidly than the available food supply. Malthus argued for couples to take responsibility for the number of children they choose to bear. Conversely, Karl Marx believed that capitalism was the cause of social ills, not the rising population. A census is an enumeration or counting of the population. In the United States and most other countries, the census is the primary mechanism for collecting population information. This periodic investigation is supplemented by vital statistics such as records of births, deaths, marriages, and divorces that are gathered through a registration system maintained by governments. Demographic transition is a term used to describe changes in birthrates and death rates during stages of a nation’s development, which result in new patterns of vital statistics. Apart from war, rapid population growth has been the dominant international social problem of the past 40 years. The most recent period of high fertility in the United States has often been referred to as the baby boom. The boom resulted from a striking decrease in the number of childless marriages and one-child families. The peak of 1957 of over 20 live births per 1,000 population compares today with 14 live births per 1,000 population. Zero population growth (ZPG) refers to the state of population where the number of births plus immigrants equals the number of deaths plus emigrants. In the 1980s and early 1990s, some analysts suggested the United States might reach ZPG. Current projections show population declining in 41 nations, including 24 in Europe, between 2008 and 2050. Along with births and deaths, migration is one of the three factors affecting population growth or decline. International migration refers to changes of residence across national boundaries. Migratory movements within societies are referred to as internal migration. Three distinctive trends of recent internal migration include: suburbanization, sunning of America, and rural life rebound. A community may be defined as a spatial or political unit of social organization that gives people a sense of belonging. Generally, a preindustrial city only had a few thousand people living within its borders and was characterized by a relatively closed class system and limited mobility. The industrial city was based on very different principles of social organization, which included a more open class system and more mobility. A postindustrial city is a city in which global finance and the electronic flow of information dominate the economy. Only four states are now considered rural—that is, more than half the population lives in towns of fewer than 2,500 residents. Since World War II, there has been an urban “explosion” in the world’s developing nations. Some metropolitan areas have spread so far that they are now connected with other urban centers referred to as a megalopolis. Human ecology is an area of study that is concerned with the interrelationships between people and their environment. Early urban ecologists concentrated on city life, but drew on the approaches used by ecologists in studying plant and animal communities. In the 1920s, Ernest Burgess devised the concentric zone theory that suggested that families and businesses compete for the most valuable land. Because of its functionalist orientation and its emphasis on stability, the concentric zone theory tended to understate certain tensions apparent in metropolitan areas. Multiple-nuclei theory contends that a metropolitan area may have many centers of development, each of which reflects a particular urban need or activity. Contemporary urban ecologists have begun to study “edge cities” that have grown up on the outskirts of major metropolitan areas, which have social centers and identities of their own. Drawing on conflict theory, an approach that has come to be called the new urban sociology considers the interplay of local, national, and worldwide forces and their effect on local space, with special emphasis on the impact of global economic activity. The new urban sociology utilizes the work of Immanuel Wallerstein’s world systems analysis. Wallerstein argues that certain industrialized nations such as the United States, Japan, and Germany hold a dominant position at the core of the global economic system. They view cities not as independent and autonomous entities but rather as the outcome of decision-making processes directed or influenced by a society’s dominant classes and by core industrialized nations. Communities vary substantially in the degree to which their members feel connected and share a common identity. In 2000, some 226 million people, or 79 percent of the population of the United States, lived in metropolitan areas. Many urban residents are descendants of European immigrants. Urban devastation through the death of entire neighborhoods has greatly contributed to the growing problem of homelessness. Lack of funding for mass transportation programs has assisted in the decline of urban neighborhoods. As urban areas decline, suburbanization expands. The suburban boom has been especially evident since World War II. From the perspective of the new urban sociology, suburban expansion reflects the distinct priorities of powerful economic and political interests. Suburbs include a significant number of low-income people from all backgrounds. Twenty-one percent of the American population lives in rural areas. RESOURCE INTEGRATOR 1. What is involved in the study of demography? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: aerotropolis, community, fertility, demography, census, vital statistics, birthrate, total fertility rate, death rate, infant mortality rate, life expectancy, growth rate Box: Taking Sociology to Work, “Kelsie Lenor Wilson-Dorsett, Deputy Director, Department of Statistics, Government of Bahamas” Visual Support: Photo of airport security check; Cartoon about Malthusian hunger; Figure 20-1, “Population Growth Rate in Selected Countries” IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: 20-1, 20-2, 20-3 Classroom Discussion Topics: 20-2, 20-3, 20-4 Video Resources: Baby Crash; Populations REEL SOCIETY CD Topic Index: Population 2. What are the most important population issues in the world today? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: demographic transition, population pyramid Visual Support: Figure 20-2, “Demographic Transition”; Photo from Warsaw, Poland; Table 20-1, “Estimated Time for Each Successive Increase of 1 Billion People in World Population” IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: 20-3, 20-4 Classroom Discussion Topics: 20-4, 20-5 3. What are the current fertility patterns in the United States today? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: zero population growth; migration Box: Sociology in the Global Community, “Population Policy in China” Visual Support: Figure 20-3, “Population Structure of Afghanistan, Italy, and the United States, 2014” IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: 20-1, 20-2 Classroom Discussion Topics: 20-3, 20-4 4. What are the key types of societies that humans have lived in, historically and today? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: preindustrial city, industrial city, postindustrial city, urbanism Visual Support: Photo of refugees; Photo of luggage; Photo of people in Toronto; Table 20-2, “Comparing Types of Cities” IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: 20-7, 20-8 Video Resources: Communities, Societies, and Nations 5. What is the functionalist view of human ecology? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: human ecology, urban ecology, concentric zone theory, multiple-nuclei theory Visual Support: Figure 20-4, “Mapping Life Worldwide: Global Urbanization 2015”; Figure 20-5, “Comparison of Ecological Theories of Urban Growth”; Photo of Las Vegas IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: 20-6 Classroom Discussion Topics: 20-7, 20-8, 20-10 6. What is the conflict view of human ecology? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: new urban sociology, world systems analysis Box: Sociology in the Global Community, “Squatter Settlements” Visual Support: Table 20-3, “Sociological Perspectives on Urbanization” 7. What are the primary forms of communities? IN THE TEXT Key Terms: suburb Box: Trend Spotting, “Urbanization and Its Costs” Visual Support: Photo of a London traffic congestion zone; Photo of Hispanic family in small town; Figure 20-6, “Change in Population by County, 2000-2010” IN THE INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL Additional Lecture Ideas: 20-5, 20-8, 20-9 Classroom Discussion Topics: 20-6, 20-9, 20-10 LECTURE OUTLINE I. Demography: The Study of Population • Fertility refers to the level of reproduction in a society. • Demography is the scientific study of population. A. Malthus’s Thesis and Marx’s Response • Malthus criticized the church and slavery. Argued that the world’s population was growing more than the available food supply. • He contended that the food supply increases in arithmetic progression 1, 2, 3, 4, and that population expands by geometric progression 1, 2, 4, 8. • Malthus advocated population control by postponing marriage and choosing the number of children to bear. • Marx linked overpopulation to unequal distribution of resources. • Neo-Malthusian view suggests that birth control measures are needed to regulate population increases. z B. Studying Population Today • Malnutrition remains the largest contributing factor to illness and death among children in developing nations. • Census is an enumeration of a population. Constitution requires it be held every 10 years. • Vital statistics include records of birth, death, marriage, and divorce maintained by government units. C. Elements of Demography • Birthrate is the number of live births per 1,000. In 2008, there were 14 per 1,000 people in the U.S. • Total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children born alive to any woman. TFR in the U.S. in 2008 was 2 per woman. • The death rate is the number of deaths per 1,000. In 2008, the death rate was 8 per 1,000 in the U.S. • The infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a year. In 2008, the U.S. infant mortality rate was 8 per 1,000. This rate serves an indicator of healthcare. • Life expectancy is the median number of years a person can be expected to live under current mortality conditions. Japan reports 82; U.S., 78; and less than 40 in several developing nations, including Botswana. • Growth rate is the difference between births and deaths, plus the difference between immigrants and emigrants. In 2008, the U.S. reported 0.6 percent compared to a worldwide rate of 1.2 percent. II. World Population Patterns A. Demographic Transition • Demographic transition is used to describe changes in birthrates and death rates during stages of a nation’s development, resulting in new patterns of vital statistics. • Three stages: pretransition 1) (high birthrates and death rates with little growth), 2) transition (declining death rates, high fertility rates result in population growth), and 3) posttransition (low birthrates and death rates with little growth). • Demographic transition in developing nations has involved a rapid decline in death rates without adjustments in birthrates. Example: Post-World War II period (antibiotics, DDT, immunization). B. The Population Explosion • Population rose from 1 billion in 1800, to 6.7 billion in 2008 worldwide. • A population pyramid is a bar chart that distributes population by age and gender. Example: Afghanistan’s momentum for population growth is greater due to number of children whose childbearing years are still to come. • AIDS is a factor in restricting population growth. III. Fertility Patterns in the United States A. The Baby Boom • Following the end of World War II, the boom resulted in a decrease in the number of childless marriages and one-child families. • Peak reached in 1957 and remained high until 1964. Twenty live births per 1,000. • In 2008, 14 live births per 1,000. B. Stable Population Growth • Population grows due to momentum built into the age structure and continued high rates of immigration. • Zero population growth (ZPG) is the state of a population in which the number of births plus immigrants equals the number of deaths and emigrants. IV. Population and Migration • Migration refers to the relatively permanent movement of people with the purpose of changing their residence. A. International Migration • International migration has accounted for 45 to 60 percent of growth in the U.S. • Western Europe has been the target for many fleeing poverty, persecution, and warfare. • Asia and Africa are also in demand as destinations for immigrants. B. Internal Migration • Suburbanization: Grew by 15 percent between 2000–2008 while central cities shrank. • Sunning of America: Since 1970 nearly two-thirds of the population growth has been absorbed by the sun belt. Driven by expanding economy and desirable climate. • Rural life rebound: Trend leveled off in 1998 as downtown areas were reborn. V. How Have Communities Changed? A. Preindustrial Cities • Generally only a few thousand people living within its borders. Closed class system and limited mobility. • Status based on ascribed factors. • Key factors restricted urbanization: Reliance on animal power, modest levels of agricultural surplus, problems in transportation and storage of food, hardships of migration to the city, and dangers of city life. B. Industrial and Postindustrial Cities • Industrial revolution began in the middle of the eighteenth century. Emerging urban settlements became centers of industry, banking, and industrial management. Example: Development of the factory system. • Industrial cites have a more open class system and more mobility. • Formal education become more available to children of the poor and working- class families. • The postindustrial city emerged in the latter part of the twentieth century. • Global finance and electronic flow of information dominate the economy. • Production is decentralized and takes place outside of urban centers. • Social change is a constant feature of postindustrial cities. • Louis Wirth identified three factors in urbanism: size of the population, population density, and heterogeneity of the population. VI. Urbanization • Maine, Mississippi, Vermont, and West Virginia are the only rural states in the U.S., where more than one-half the population live in towns with fewer than 2,500 residents. • Megalopolis refers to the connection of two or more cities and their suburbs. Example: Washington DC. A. Functionalist View: Urban Ecology • Human ecology focuses on interrelationships between people and their environment. • Urban ecology focuses on relationships as they emerge into urban areas. Example: Concentric Zone theory. • Multiple-nuclei theory suggests urban growth is contained in many centers, and does not radiate outward from the center. Example: Suburban shopping malls. • Edge cities have grown up on the outskirts of metropolitan areas and have an identity all their own. B. Conflict View: New Urban Sociology • New urban sociology contends that social forces guide urban growth. • Central business districts are contingent on tax exemptions to developers. • Wallerstein’s world systems analysis suggests that dominant nations (core) exploit developing nations (periphery). • Cities are the result of decision-making processes directed by the dominant core and not independent or autonomous entities. VII. Type of Communities • Gemeinschaft is a close-knit community with intimate social interaction. • Gesellschaft describes the modern urban life where people feel little in common with others. A. Central Cities • In 2000, 79 percent of the nation’s population lived in metropolitan areas. 1. Urban Dwellers • Many descend from European immigrants. • Gans distinguished five type of people found in cities: Cosmopolites, unmarried and childless people, ethnic villagers, the deprived, and the trapped. 2. Issues Facing Cities • Death of entire neighborhoods. Decay and nonexistent business activity. • Residential segregation. Example: American apartheid. • Lack of mass transportation. Affects lower classes more often. B. Suburbs • Defies simple definition. Generally refers to any community near a large city. • Suburbs are generally less dense than cities, almost exclusively private space, and have more exacting building design codes. 1. Suburban Expansion • First grew along transportation lines, railroads, and freeways. • New urban sociologists suggest tax incentives and subsidies encouraged business to relocate. 2. Diversity • Race and ethnicity are factors distinguishing cities from suburbs. • Over the last 20 years, suburbs have become more diverse in terms of race and ethnicity. C. Rural Areas • Twenty-one percent of the population lives in rural areas. 1. Rural Diversity • Rural communities do not fit one set image. • Historically, rural communities have been ethnically and racially diverse. 2. Rural Challenges • Census calculates farm residents account for only 1 percent of the population. • Encouragement of prison building in some areas, and arrival of large discount stores. VIII. Social Policy and Communities: Seeking Shelter Worldwide A. The Issue • Homelessness and adequate shelter. B. The Setting • Homeless in U.S. number at least 670,000 on any given night. • In Third World countries the population has outpaced housing. C. Sociological Insights • Homelessness functions as a master status. • Homeless people are mostly minorities with the average age in the low thirties. • The recent economic downturn has resulted in increasing homelessness among middle-class families of all races, ethnicities. • Gentrification has increased homelessness in some instances. D. Policy Initiatives • The McKinney Homeless Assistance Act in 1987 authorized federal aid for homeless. • During the past 20 years, a growing trend to criminalize homelessness led many communities to enact restrictions on panhandling and sitting on sidewalks. KEY TERMS Birthrate The number of live births per 1,000 population in a given year. Also known as the crude birthrate. Census An enumeration, or counting, of a population. Community A spatial or political unit of social organization that gives people a sense of belonging, based either on shared residence in a particular place or on a common identity. Concentric-zone theory A theory of urban growth devised by Ernest Burgess that sees growth in terms of a series of rings radiating from the central business district. Death rate The number of deaths per 1,000 population in a given year. Also known as crude death rate. Demographic transition A term used to describe the change from high birthrates and death rates to low birthrates and death rates. Demography the scientific study of population. Fertility The level of reproduction in a society. Gentrification The resettlement of low-income city neighborhoods by prosperous families and business firms. Growth rate The difference between births and deaths, plus the difference between immigrants and emigrants, per 1,000 population. Human ecology An area of study that is concerned with the interrelationships between people and their environment. Industrial city A relatively large city characterized by open competition, an open class system, and elaborate specialization in the manufacturing of goods. Infant mortality rate The number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1,000 live births in a given year. Life expectancy The median number of years a person can be expected to live under current mortality conditions. Megalopolis A densely populated area containing two or more cities and their suburbs. Migration The relatively permanent movement of people, with the purpose of changing their place of residence. Multiple-nuclei theory A theory of urban growth developed by Harris and Ullman that views growth as emerging from many centers of development, each of which reflects a particular urban need or activity. New urban sociology An approach to urbanization that considers the interplay of local, national, and worldwide forces and their effect on local space, with special emphasis on the impact of global economic activity. Population pyramid A special type of bar chart that shows the distribution of a population by gender and age. Postindustrial city A city in which global finance and the electronic flow of information dominate the economy. Preindustrial city A city of only a few thousand people that is characterized by a relatively closed class system and limited mobility. Squatter settlement An area occupied by the very poor on the fringe of a city, in which housing is constructed by the settlers themselves from discarded material. Suburb According to the Census Bureau, any territory within a metropolitan area that is not included in the central city. Total fertility rate (TFR) The average number of children born alive to any woman, assuming that she conforms to current fertility rates. Urban ecology An area of study that focuses on the interrelationships between people and their environment in urban areas. Urbanism A term used by Louis Wirth to describe distinctive patterns of social behavior evident among city residents. Vital Statistics Records of births, deaths, marriages, and divorces gathered through a registration system maintained by governmental units. World systems analysis Immanual Wallerstein’s view of the global economic system as one divided between certain industrialized nations that control wealth and developing countries that are controlled and exploited. Zero population growth (ZPG) The state of a population in which the number of births plus immigrants equals the number of deaths plus emigrants. ADDITIONAL LECTURE IDEAS 20-1: Total Fertility Rates Reflect Society’s Diversity The Bureau of the Census released new findings on birthrates that reflect significant ethnic differences. Using data from the 1990 census, the analysis showed a range among women 15 years and older from a lifetime total of 1.4 children for the Thai to a high of 2.7 for the Inuit. The specific numbers for 17 selected ethnic or racial groups within the United States are as follows: Thai, 1.4; Japanese, 1.5; Korean, 1.6; Asian Indian, 1.6; Chinese, 1.7; White, 1.8; Filipino, 1.9; Vietnamese, 1.9; Guamanian, 2.0; Black, 2.1; Hawaiian, 2.1; Samoan, 2.3; Native American, 2.3; Aleut, 2.3; Laotian, 2.5; Cambodian, 2.5; and Inuit, 2.7. See data from the Population Division of the U.S. Census Bureau reported in Aletha Yip, “Making Babies,” Asian Week 18 (November 8, 1996): 14. 20-2: Japan: The 1.57 Shock Beginning in 1990, Japanese newspapers, magazines, and television newscasts gave increasing attention to a phenomenon they called the “1.57 shock.” This phrase captured the widespread sense of disbelief over the fact that Japan’s total fertility rate (TFR) had fallen to 1.57 births: Japanese women were averaging only slightly above 1-1/2 children per lifetime. And the shocks kept coming. By 1991, Japan’s TFR fell again to 1.53 births. As of 2005, the birth rate was 1.26. To put Japan’s total fertility rate in perspective, the lowest TFR ever achieved in the United States was 1.74 births in 1976. Previously, the lowest figure ever reported was 1.28 births in West Germany in 1985. Conversely, the Hutterites, a North American religious sect, averaged 12 children per women in the 1930s by promoting early and universal marriage and by discouraging use of birth control measures. According to official population estimates, Japan’s annual growth rate fell to its lowest postwar level between 1989 and 1990—just 0.33 percent per year. Population projections released in 1992 suggested that its population will actually begin to decline after 2010. Japan is already experiencing some of the demographic consequences typically associated with low fertility, among them a shortage of younger workers and rises in the cost of healthcare for the elderly. Indeed, Tokyo Shoko Research reports that whereas only 1 percent of successful Japanese businesses had to close in 1988 due to a shortage of labor, this figure had increased to 6 percent by 1990. Why has there been such a continuing decline in Japan’s total fertility rate? While Japanese men continue to favor traditional gender roles both in the workplace and within marriage, an increasing proportion of Japanese women resent male dominance and view marriage as a “raw deal” that denies them of opportunities available to men. In 1970, only 18 percent of women 25 to 29 years old were single, but by 1989, 38 percent of women in this age group were single. Even among couples that do marry, work and financial pressures have contributed to lower fertility. “People feel so much pressure on the job that they work until nine, ten o’clock at night,” observes Kunio Kitamura, a Tokyo obstetrician. “Then they have another hour and a half home on the train, because most people can’t afford a house anywhere near the office. You probably can’t get a seat, and the train is full of drunks, singing and throwing up. After all that, who has the strength to get in bed and make a baby?” (Schwartz 1991:20). Sources: Carl Haub and Machiko Yanagishita. World Population Data Sheet 1995. Washington, DC: Population Reference Bureau, 1995; Joseph A. McFalls, Jr., “Where Have All the Children Gone?” USA Today (March 1981): 30–33; Joe Schwartz, “Why Japan’s Birthrate Is So Low,” American Demographics 13 (April 1991): 20; and Machiko Yanagishita, “Japan’s Declining Fertility: ‘1.53.’” Population Today 20 (April 1992): 3–4. 20-3: World Gender Ratios According to estimates, there are approximately 100 million females “missing” from the world’s population (Sen 1992). These are females who have been eliminated through a combination of selective abortion, female infanticide, and early-childhood neglect, in a number of countries. Were it not for these practices, there would be approximately 40 million more females in China, 36 million more in India, and millions more in Bangladesh, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan, Egypt, Turkey, and Nepal (Croll 2001; MacFarquhar and Seter 1994). Because so many females are missing, gender ratios in these countries are skewed—often markedly— toward males. In Western industrialized countries, gender ratios are typically around 105:100, meaning that for every 100 males, there are 105 females. By contrast, India has a gender ratio of 92.9:100, and China’s is 93.8:100 (Kristof 1991). Moreover, in at least several of these countries this trend is on the increase (Croll 2001). What are the sociological reasons for such a population pattern? Some societies with skewed gender ratios are those in which a bride’s family is expected to pay a large dowry to the groom’s family at marriage. In a poor society, these dowry expectations can be so financially overwhelming that families feel compelled to limit the number of female children that they raise. Reflecting this motivation, the risk of an early death for a first-born girl is often much lower than the risk that a second or third-born girl faces. In addition, societies with skewed gender ratios tend to have strong patterns of patrilineal descent, in which sons—but not daughters—are expected to support their parents in old age. Under these circumstances, raising a son is always an investment that pays off. Daughters, on the other hand, become a double liability with no payoff. There are substantial expenses involved in raising and marrying her, but once she is married, her financial obligations to her natal family come to an end (Allahbadia 2002; Croll 2001). For these and other reasons, in societies with skewed gender ratios, female infanticide— though illegal—may be accepted informally as a necessary practice, and not reported to the authorities. Sonogram technology has also played a role in this population trend. It allows families to determine the sex of a fetus, and, if female, abort the fetus. Although the governments of both China and India have made it illegal for sonograms to be performed for the purpose of sex determination, they are nonetheless widely available through illegal channels. It is also estimated that many of the missing females are children who lived through early infancy, but whose health needs were given a lower priority than those of their brother(s). In a very poor family, failing to receiving as much food as a brother, or not receiving medical care when ill, can make the difference between living to adulthood or dying in childhood (Allahbadia 2002; Croll 2001; Kristof 1991). It should be noted that not everyone concurs that the number of missing females is quite so high. Instead, it is argued, girls are simply underreported in official government population tallies. Chinese officials have suggested that rural families who have illegally exceeded birth quotas set by the national government may fail to officially report the birth of a girl, even though she is alive and well (Kristof 1991). Others have remarked that in India, traditions of patrilineal descent are so strong that householders may feel it irrelevant to report the existence of their daughters to census takers (Mangla 1991). Apart from the obvious concerns that are raised by female infanticide, selective abortion, and female neglect, skewed gender ratios have led to much broader social problems and concerns. In China, a shortage of women, coupled with strong cultural expectations that all men should marry, has fueled an alarming illegal trade in women. Men unable to find a bride through legal means simply buy one who has been kidnapped (Rosenthal 2001). Still, in a monogamous society with more men than women, it is a statistical impossibility for all men to marry. For those who do not, traditional means of old-age support—through sons—will also be impossible (Asiaweek 1995). Sources used for this essay include: Gautam N. Allahbadia, “The 50 Million Missing Women,” Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics 19 (September 2002): 411-416; Asiaweek. “The Sexes: Disappearing Girls,” (March 3, 1995); Elisabeth Croll, “Amartya Sen’s 100 Million Missing Women,” Oxford Development Studies 29 (2001): 225-244; Nicholas Kristof, “Stark Data on Women: 100 Million Are Missing,” New York Times, (November 5, 1991); Emily MacFarquhar and Jennifer Seter, “The War Against Women,” U.S. News and World Report 116 (March 28, 1994): 42-47; B. Mangla, “India: Missing Women,” Lancet 338 (September 14, 1991): 685-686; Elisabeth Rosenthal “Harsh Chinese Reality Feeds a Black Market in Women,” New York Times, (June 25, 2001); Amartya Sen, “Missing Women,” British Medical Journal 304 (March 7, 1992): 587-588. 20-4: Foreign-Born Population Rising in the United States The latest Bureau of the Census reports show that an increasing proportion of the population of the United States is foreign-born. As shown in the accompanying tables, 8.7 percent of the population in 1994 was foreign-born, nearly double the percent of foreign-born residents in 1970. However, while the percent of the foreign-born is at its highest level since before World War II, much greater proportions were foreign-born during the early part of the previous century. The data from the report show a seeming paradox, that the foreign-born may be more educated or less educated than people born in the United States are. While 11.5 percent of recent immigrants have a graduate or professional degree, only about 7.5 percent of natives and immigrants in earlier years had such degrees. Recent immigrants age 25 and over are also more likely to have bachelor’s degrees (20.9 percent) than either natives (14.7 percent) or earlier immigrants (13.9 percent). As shown in the second accompanying table, of the 22,568,000 foreign-born persons living in the United States in March 1994, 6.2 million came from Mexico. Mexico was by far the country of origin of the largest number of immigrants. The next largest group was from the Philippines, comprising 1,033,000 immigrants. Percent Foreign-Born: 1900–1994 Year Number of Foreign-Born Immigrants Year Number of Foreign-Born Immigrants 1900 13,600,000 1960 5,400,000 1910 14,700,000 1970 4,800,000 1920 13,200,000 1980 6,200,000 1930 11,600,000 1990 7,900,000 1940 8,800,000 1994 8,700,000 1950 6,900,000 Country of Foreign-Born Population, 1994 Country Number of Foreign-Born Country Number of Foreign-Born India 494,000 China 565,000 Vietnam 496,000 Germany 625,000 Korea 533,000 El Salvador 718,000 Dominican Republic 556,000 Cuba 805,000 Philippines 1,033,000 Mexico 6,264,000 Canada 679,000 See Kristian A. Hansen and Amara Bachu, “The Foreign-Born Population: 1994,” Current Population Reports ser. p-20, no. 486, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1995. 20-5: Systemic Model Some of Louis Wirth’s colleagues at the University of Chicago shared his interest in the effects of urbanization on behavior but came to somewhat different conclusions. William I. Thomas, along with Robert Park and Ernest Burgess, asked if a Gemeinschaft was ever truly characteristic of preindustrial societies. They proposed a systemic model of urbanism as resulting from a variety of factors, of which population size was only one. In their view, in order to understand urbanism fully, it is essential to examine the entire social system, including people’s interactions, their participation in social institutions, and the influence of societal norms and values. For example, if one is a recent arrival to a city or if one’s neighbors are constantly changing as people move into and out of the city, one’s sense of community attachment and belonging will be reduced. The systemic model tends to emphasize geographic mobility, rather than community size, as a crucial determinant of community attachment. Family ties and friendships can overcome the anonymity of densely populated urban areas, but only if people have enough time to become acquainted and to maintain stable and supportive relationships. The research of John Kasarda and Morris Janowitz offers support for the systemic model. Over 2,000 adults in England were interviewed and asked if they felt “at home” in their communities, if they would be disappointed if they had to move away, and so forth. The researchers found that length of residence was a better predictor of community attachment than other factors were, including the size of a community’s population. A subsequent study of 50 northern California communities by Claude Fischer also suggested that population size was not the central factor leading to feelings of alienation from friends and neighbors. We can better understand the evidence for the systemic model if we use the analogy of the classroom. Generally, educators argue that smaller classes promote a more personal relationship among students and faculty, an academic Gemeinschaft, in a sense. But suppose that in a 25-member seminar, four or five new students join the class every week, while a similar number drop the course. It will be difficult to develop any sense of community attachment. On the other hand, if a larger class of 60 students remains together for two years, everyone (including the instructor) will get to know each other fairly well. Thus, length of contact, as well as group size or density, can be a crucial determinant of social relationships. The data developed by Kasarda and Janowitz, as well as by Fischer, appear to lend greater support to the systemic model than to the linear-development model. For both Tönnies and Wirth, large industrial cities are characterized by anonymity and impersonality. However, these researchers may have given insufficient emphasis to the effects of large-scale migration on community attachment within urban centers. Therefore, if we wish to identify key factors that affect urbanism, we need to add mobility to size, density, and heterogeneity of population. Sources: Claude S. Fischer. To Dwell among Friends: Personal Networks in Town and City. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982; John Kasarda and Morris Janowitz. “Community Attachment in Mass Society,” American Sociological Review 39 (June 1974): 328–339; Robert E. Park and Ernest Burgess. Introduction to the Science of Sociology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1921; William I. Thomas. The Polish Peasant in Europe and America. New York: Knopf and Charles R. Tittle, 1927; “Influences on Urbanism: A Test of Predictions from Three Perspectives,” Social Problems 36 (June 1989): 270–288. 20-6: Human Ecology: Housing in Japan In the text, the human ecological approach is illustrated on the macro level, as in urban spatial patterns. It can also be applied to the micro level, that is, to social interaction along a block or residence hall corridor, or even within a dwelling. Obviously, whether siblings share bedrooms has explicit and subtle impact on socialization patterns. Therefore, it is of more than passing interest to note that the typical Japanese household shares much less space than its counterparts in Europe, and even a smaller proportion of the household size that is typical in North America. Large numbers of Japanese commute long distances. Even in more rural areas, their macro spatial patterns reflect housing that is cramped by U.S. standards. Government regulations and tax laws keep housing prices astronomical by encouraging inefficient use of land and discouraging an active market in property. The dwellings are half the size of housing in the United States and getting smaller. One social impact is that Japanese rarely entertain in their homes; they have no room for guests. They gather in restaurants and other public places for social occasions. The master bedroom of a mid-level Japanese manager is smaller than the hallway in most homes in the United States. Why the long commute? Why don’t Japanese businesses relocate in Japanese versions of “edge cities”? A major barrier is the tightly centralized control government bureaucrats maintain over the economy in Japan. Companies need licenses, approvals, and informal guidance to do just about anything. Therefore, they locate close to the various government ministries in central Tokyo. See James Sterngold, “Life in a Box: Japanese Question Fruits of Success,” New York Times (January 2, 1994): 1, 5. 20-7: Apathy in the City In 1973, in Queens, New York, Kitty Genovese was attacked on her way home from work in the early hours of the morning. Wounded, she made her way into an apartment building near her own, only to be found again by her assailant, a small man in an overcoat. He renewed his attack, alternatively stabbing her and attacking her sexually. Kitty Genovese died on the way to the hospital. This case, though unfortunately not an unusual incident, received international attention. Why? There were a number of witnesses to the attack, people who saw or heard it from the vantage points of their own apartments. But 35 minutes elapsed between the beginning of the attack and the first call for help from any of them. Many other people condemned these onlookers for their unwillingness to become involved; however, a series of studies has documented the reluctance of people in general to take action in such situations. Bibb Latane, working with other social psychologists, created an experimental situation to clarify what motivates a person to become involved or remain aloof from people in need. The subjects, male students, reported to a room where they were to complete a questionnaire given to them by a female secretary. She then went into an adjoining room from which sounds could be heard indicating that she was climbing onto something to reach a high object. (The sounds the men heard were actually coming from a tape recorder.) Next, the subjects heard a crash followed by a cry and “Oh, my foot. . . . my ankle.” Would the students come forward? That evidently depended on certain conditions that the experimenter varied. In one condition, the true subject was in the room with another “subject” who was a confederate in the experiment and showed no interest in coming to the aid of the “victim.” In another condition, the subject was alone in the room. Two-thirds of the subjects who were alone came to the aid of the victim within one minute, but only 7 percent of the subjects tested with the reluctant confederate intervened. It seems that the presence of an unresponsive bystander strongly inhibits intervention; we take our social cues from others, including a cue to remain inactive in an emergency. In another study, the apparent “victim” was a male and the potential “Good Samaritans” were undergraduate women. A number of subjects took places in booths like those in a language laboratory, ostensibly to discuss college life. Shortly after the discussion began, the male confederate would reveal that he sometimes experienced seizures when under stress. Next, the “victim” would begin to stutter and stammer; then his microphone would become silent. In this experiment, too, the more people were present, the less help was given. These two studies help to explain, although they do not justify, the apparent apathy of the onlookers of Kitty Genovese’s tragic death. Several of them explained that they would have called for help but assumed that others must already have done so. Perhaps most chilling was Winston Mosley’s assessment of the bystanders: He commented that he knew no one would call the police; “people never do.” Mosley should have known, since he was the killer. (However, he was eventually apprehended during a burglary, thanks to bystanders’ involvement.) See Bem P. Allen. Social Behavior: Fact and Falsehood. Chicago: Nelson Hall, 1978; John M. Darley and Bibb Latane, “Bystander Intervention in Emergencies: Diffusion Responsibility,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 8 (October 1978): 377–383; Bibb Latane and John Darley. The Unresponsive Bystander: Why Doesn’t He Help? New York: Appleton-Century Crofts, 1970. 20-8: The Continuing Move to the Suburbs—Chicago The migration from many older cities continues, and if a 1993 survey is accurate, the reason is crime. In 1992, at least 60,000 Chicagoans moved out of the city, taking with them a combined income of more than $1 billion. The Chicago Tribune surveyed the migrants and found that 77 percent cited the desire for a safer place to live as an extremely important or very important reason for leaving. Only 31 percent had children under 19, but among those, distrust of the school system was also a major factor. This distrust includes not only fear of an inadequate education in Chicago, but also fear of gangs and crime in the schools. These changes led the Chicago Tribune to wonder if “Chicago is being transformed into a suburb of its suburbs” (Reardon 1993:1). In 1993, Chicago had only half as many people and one-third as many factories as the suburbs. The city’s per capita income has declined nearly 50 percent, and it has 50 percent fewer jobs. The city’s poverty rate is four times higher than the suburbs. Those moving away from Chicago are people the city can ill afford to lose, and when they go, they take their vigor, strength, and economic stability. The survey found that they are: • Affluent: They average a per capita income that is 31 percent higher than the average in Chicago. • Young: Half are between the ages of 25 and 34. • Well-educated: Two of every three of the adults is a college graduate. • Longtime Chicagoans: More than half of those who left in 1992 had lived in the city for at least 10 years, and fully a third had lived there for 25 years or more. See Patrick T. Reardon, “Second City to Suburbs,” Chicago Tribune (November 28, 1993): 1, 12–13. 20-9: Zoning Laws and Minorities Minorities sometimes find themselves guilty of disobeying laws that are rarely, if ever, enforced against Whites. Zoning laws are an example of what amounts to institutional racism. Sonia Paz wanted to rent out an apartment in her suburban Chicago home, just as the previous owner had done for 10 years. However, when she found a tenant for her apartment, she also received several visits from city inspectors, who questioned her neighbors, examined the names on her mailbox, and took photographs. The only difference between Paz, her husband, and four-month-old son and the previous owner was that they are Mexican, whereas the previous homeowner who rented was White. Her experience is not unique. Her community, Northlake, is now 16.2 percent Hispanic, and the community has now begun to enforce long-standing zoning and occupancy laws. Neighboring suburbs (Franklin Park, Des Plaines, and Bensenville) that are also experiencing large increases in their Hispanic population began suffering enforcement of occupancy codes in 1992. Hispanics may have larger families, but most do not live in overcrowded conditions. According to a widely accepted standard, a home is considered overcrowded when it has more than one person per room, according to the Latino Institute. Of the five suburbs, only Franklin Park has a significant overcrowding problem; 53.5 percent of Latinos who live there live in overcrowded conditions, according to 1990 statistics provided by the Latino Institute. On March 25, 1993, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the town of Cicero (another Chicago suburb), charging that a 1991 ordinance that limited the number of residents in a home discriminated against Hispanics. It was the first time that the Justice Department had challenged an occupancy ordinance, said Isabelle M. Thabault, the agency’s deputy chief of housing and civil enforcement. In December 1997, the case was settled in favor of the Justice Department. After Cicero passed the for-sale ordinance on September 14, the West Towns Board of Realtors, Inc., of Cicero challenged the law in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging that it discourages Hispanic home buyers. “It’s simply a pretext to cover the real motive,” said Robert D. Butters, an attorney for the realtor board. “If they can slow down homes for sale in Cicero, they can slow the number of Hispanics moving in.” “No matter what we do, people always accuse us of trying to keep Hispanics out,” said Cicero spokesman Raymond Hanania. “For-sale signs are often used by realtors to stir up real estate activity.” Hanania said Cicero is reaching out to Latinos. He noted that the Republican party backed two Hispanic candidates in recent nonpartisan school board elections. Both lost. See Paul F. Cuadros, “Zoning Laws Hit Latinos in Suburbs,” Chicago Reporter 22 (December 1993): 3–5. CLASSROOM DISCUSSION TOPICS 20-1. Stimulating Classroom Discussions about Sidewalk: Questions for stimulating a classroom discussion about Mitchell Duneier’s excerpt could include: What kind of sociological research method was employed by Duneier? How can the role of the sidewalk vender be examined from a functionalist perspective? From an interactionist perspective? If any students are familiar with sidewalk vendors, do they agree with Duneier’s assessment? In what other ways do sidewalk vendors contribute to the neighborhood community? 20-2. Life Tables: This exercise was developed by James H. Gundlach at Auburn University to give students an experience of creating life-table values for 20-year-olds. See Technique No. 35 in Edward L. Kain and Robin Neas, (eds.). Innovative Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1993. 20-3. Demographic Transition: Select one nation to represent each of the three stages of demographic transition (described in the text). Compare the age and sex compositions of these countries by means of population pyramids. What social factors help to explain the different population pyramids? The current United Nations Demographic Yearbook is the best source of easily attainable comparative data. 20-4. Population Pyramid: Consult current census data and construct an age-sex profile for your state and community. If yours is a college town, there should be some obvious bulges in certain age cohorts. 20-5. Russia’s Population Implosion: News reports have begun documenting a rising death rate in Russia, accompanied by a low total fertility rate of 1.4. For supporting material, see Michael Specter, “Climb in Russia’s Death Rate Sets Off Population Implosion,” New York Times (March 6, 1994): 1, 4. 20-6. Community Theory and Simulation: The SimCity computer game is widely available and combines entertainment with some real-life applications. See Michael Manocchia’s review of SimCity as a pedagogical tool, for thoughtful ways to incorporate this game into a class. (“Software Review,” Teaching Sociology 27 (April 1999): 212-215.) 20-7. Land-Use Map: Develop a land-use map for the community or neighborhood near the college, noting, for example, such uses as public buildings, schools and churches, parks, single-family dwellings, multifamily dwellings, and businesses. The map can then be used to discuss urban ecology and community problems. 20-8. Community Awareness: How familiar are students with their local college community? See Technique No. 47 in Edward L. Kain and Robin Neas, (eds.). Innovative Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1993. 20-9. Urban Problems—Homelessness, Prostitution, and Drugs: Invite a local law enforcement officer to class to discuss the urban problems of homelessness, prostitution, and drugs in your city. Encourage students to ask frank questions about these issues. You might also arrange for students to visit a homeless shelter in your city, or work there as a volunteer for a day. 20-10. Neighborhood Stabilization: Many colleges and universities are located in or near unstable urban centers. What steps can be taken to stabilize these communities? See Patrick G. Donnelly and Theo J. Majka, “Residents’ Efforts at Neighborhood Stabilization: Facing the Challenges of Inner City Neighborhoods,” Sociological Forum 12 (June 1998): 189–214. TOPICS FOR STUDENT RESEARCH AND CLASSROOM DISCUSSION 1. Ask students to identify why they would choose to limit the number of children they have, and discuss the relative merits of the Marxian and Malthusian views on population control. 2. Ask students to identify events that result in minor spikes in the birth rate, such as power outages or inclement weather events, and discuss the baby boom. 3. Ask students to research the original settling of their community, and discuss the evolution of cities. 4. Ask students to identify the core area of their community for evidence of concentric zones, and discuss the nature and interrelationships of urban ecology. 5. Ask students to analyze whether their community would be considered gemeinschaft or gesellschaft, and discuss the various natures of different types of cities. 6. Ask students to identify any community-based programs or other evidence that would support that their community seeks to identify its strengths and mobilizes its resources or assets, and discuss current problems facing cities. 7. Ask students to identify evidence of any rural communities that have transitioned from farming to activities or businesses normally associated with urban areas. Instructor Manual for Sociology Richard T. Schaefer 9780078026669