CH-4-6 Socialization – Sociology: A Brief Introduction : Chapter Notes

This Document Contains Chapters 4 to 6 4 SOCIALIZATION • Contents: Learning Objectives Using the Text Boxes to stimulate discussion Classroom activities Video suggestions Key points from the text Additional lecture ideas Class discussion topics Topics for students research Additional readings Thinking About Movies Learning Objectives: 4.1. Define socialization. Discuss the roles and agents of socialization. 4.2. Define Cooley’s looking-glass self. Describe George Herbert Mead’s stages of the self. Discuss Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical approach and impression management. 4.3 Describe the psychological approaches to the self. Discuss the various agents of socialization. Describe the stages of the life course. 4.4. Discuss the sociological perspective on role transitions throughout the life course. Using the text boxes to stimulate discussion: Research Today: Impression Management by Students after Exams. As an example of impression management, the box uses the example of how, after receiving an exam back, students will act differently depending on who they are with. The Applying Theory questions are: 1) What theoretical perspective would most likely be employed in the study of students’ impression management strategies? 2) How do you think some feminist sociologists might approach the study of impression management on the part of their students? Sociology in the Global Community: Aging Worldwide. This box discusses the issues and consequences of aging populations around the globe with focus on policies and programs which address this population shift.. The Applying Theory questions are: 1) For an older person, how might life in Pakistan differ from life in France? 2. Do you know an elderly person who lives alone? What arrangements have been made (or might be made) for that person’s care in case of emergency? Social Policy and Socialization: Child care around the world.) The rise in the number of single-parent families, increased job opportunities for women, and the need for additional family income have all propelled an increasing number of mothers of young children into the paid labour force of Canada. In 2009, 66% of women with children under the age of 3 were in the paid labour force. Who, then, is responsible for children during work hours? For 25 percent of preschoolers with employed parents, the solution has become day care programs. The box goes on to discuss the implication of day care as an agent of socialization. The Applying Theory questions are 1) What importance would liberal feminist thinkers place on the establishment of a national child care program for Canada? What about radical feminist thinkers? 2) If you were a conflict sociologist, how would you view the establishment of such a program in light of the overall belief in the need to eliminate social inequality? 3) What role do you think a national child care program might serve in terms of the socialization of Canadian children? Suggestions for in-class activities: The opening vignette to the chapter features a story of a family who chose to keep the gender of their baby a secret, opting to raise a genderless child. The parents believed they were giving their child the freedom to choose who the child wanted to be, unconstrained by social norms related to gender. Socialization experiences related to gender contribute to the shaping of our personalities. A personality is used to refer to a person’s typical patterns of attitudes, needs, characteristics and behaviour. Use Your Sociological Imagination: Students are asked the following questions: What do you think the impact would be for a child who was raised in a gender-free world? Can you envision this world ever happening? Video suggestions: Quinceañera ( 2006, Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland). Magdalena (Emily Rios) is excited about her quinceañera, a 15th birthday celebration that is for many Latinas a rite of passage into adulthood. While her family fights over the party arrangements, Magdalena becomes pregnant by her boyfriend and must cope with adult issues sooner than expected. Her parents treat her harshly when they hear the news, forcing her to take refuge with her uncle Tomas. There she meets a young cousin who is experimenting with his sexuality. Magdalena begins to rethink her values and her definition of family. From a sociological point of view, Quinceañera shows a young girl going through a difficult stage of the life course. As Magdalena struggles to manage multiple social roles, we see her rebel against her nuclear family, one agent of socialization, and turn instead to her extended family, where she is exposed to cultural influences that differ from those she was raised with. Killing Us Softly 3 (2000, Media Ed Foundation, Jean Kilbourne; Directed, edited & produced by Sut Jhally, online teaching supports at www.mediaed.org). This film links to the opening vignette on advertising, which cites Jean Kilbourne. Shows how advertising socializes us into regarding an unattainable female body type as ideal. Unequal treatment of men and women. Argues that messages received over and over help to objectify women, and that objectification is the first step towards legitimating violence. Mickey Mouse Monopoly (2001, Produced & written by Chyng Sun, Directed, filmed and edited by Miguel Picker. An ArtMedia Production. Educational Distribution by the Media Education Foundation. Information at: http://www.mediaed.org/videos/CommercialismPoliticsAndMedia/MickeyMouseMonopoly#vidinfo A Girl Like Me ( YouTube, 2005, 7:15m). This short documentary film by Reel Works Teen Filmmaking explores young African American women’s views about race, racism, and standards of beauty. Key Points from the Text: Socialization: Socialization is the process whereby people learn the attitudes, values, and behaviour appropriate to individuals as members of a particular culture. From a microsociological perspective, socialization helps us to discover how to behave properly and what to expect from others if we follow (or challenge) society’s norms and values. From a macrosociological perspective, socialization provides for the transmission of a culture from one generation to the next and thereby for the long-term continuance of a society. Environment: The Impact of Isolation: Text cites the case of Isabelle, a child that lived in seclusion for six years. When found, Isabelle could not speak and reacted like an animal to strangers. After systematic socialization training was developed, Isabelle became well adjusted. Studies of animals raised in isolation support the importance of socialization in development. Harry Harlow (1971), a researcher at the primate laboratory of the University of Wisconsin, conducted tests with rhesus monkeys that had been raised away from their mothers and away from contact with other monkeys. As was the case with Isabelle, the rhesus monkeys raised in isolation were fearful and easily frightened. They did not mate, and the females who were artificially inseminated became abusive mothers. Apparently, isolation had had a damaging effect on the monkeys. Use your sociological imagination: Ask the students to think about which events in their lives had a strong impact on who they are. The influence of Heredity: Text uses the example of Oskar Stohr and Jack Yufe who were identical twins separate soon after their birth, and raised on different continents in very different cultural settings. When they were introduced as middle aged adults, they shared many things in common. However, they also had many differences. Twin studies are the main methodology used to study the influence of heredity and environment on social development. The preliminary results from twin studies indicate that both genetic factors and socialization experiences are influential in human development. Certain characteristics, such as temperaments, voice patterns, and nervous habits, appear to be strikingly similar even in twins reared apart, suggesting that these qualities may be linked to hereditary causes. However, identical twins reared apart differ far more in their attitudes, values, types of mates chosen, and even drinking habits: these qualities, it would seem, are influenced by environmental patterns. We need to be cautious when reviewing the studies of twin pairs and other relevant research. Overgeneralizing and granting too much importance to the impact of heredity may lead to blaming the poor and downtrodden for their unfortunate conditions. As this debate continues, we can certainly anticipate numerous efforts to replicate the research and clarify the interplay between hereditary and environmental factors. Sociobiology: Sociobiology is the systematic study of the biological bases of social behaviour. Sociobiologists basically apply naturalist Charles Darwin's principles of natural selection to the study of social behaviour. In its extreme form, sociobiology suggests that all behaviour is the result of genetic or biological factors and that social interactions play no role in shaping people's conduct. Socialization: The Major Theoretical Perspectives: Social Psychological Perspectives: Sociologists and psychologists alike have expressed interest in how the individual develops and modifies the sense of self as a result of social interaction. We all have different perceptions, feelings, and beliefs about who we are and what we are like. How do we come to develop these? Do they change as we age? Cooley and the Looking-Glass Self: In the early 1900s, Charles Horton Cooley advanced the belief that we learn who we are by interacting with others. Cooley used the phrase looking-glass self to emphasize that the self is the product of our social interactions with other people. A subtle but critical aspect of Cooley’s looking-glass self is that the self results from an individual’s “imagination” of how others view him or her. Mead: Stages of the Self: George Herbert Mead continued Cooley's exploration in social psychology. Mead developed a useful model of the process by which the self emerges, defined by three distinct states. During the preparatory stage, children merely imitate the people around them, especially family members with whom they continually interact. During the play stage, the child learns to pretend to be other people. Just as an actor “becomes” a character, a child becomes a doctor, parent, superhero, or ship captain. Finally, in the game stage, the child of about eight or nine years old no longer just plays roles but begins to consider several actual tasks and relationships simultaneously. Use your sociological imagination: Ask the students to think about how the generalized other influenced the decisions they have made. You could also ask them to think about conditions under which their behaviour is governed by the generalized other. Goffman: Presentation of the Self: Early in life, the individual learns to slant his or her presentation of the self in order to create distinctive appearances and to satisfy particular audiences. Erving Goffman refers to this altering of the presentation of the self as impression management. He makes so many explicit parallels to the theatre that his view has been termed the dramaturgical approach. According to this perspective, people resemble performers in action. Feminist perspectives on socialization: Some feminist theories believe that what a society believes to be ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ is culturally imposed through systematic socialization of girls and boys, as well as women and men, according to sex. This systematic socialization takes place in the family, among peers, in the school, in the workplace, in religious organization, and through the mass media. Liberal feminists stress the importance of avoiding this type of socialization in order to achieve equality of the sexes. Functionalist perspectives on socialization: Functionalist perspectives stress the importance of consensus, stability, and equilibrium in society; therefore, socialization of society’s members is essential to meet these goals. Socialization, according to functionalists, serves to ensure that the members of a given society share or buy into the basic values of that society in order to promote consensus or agreement and stability. Without high levels of agreement on the core values of society, functionalists argue that society will become destabilized and its survival may be threatened. Overall, functionalist perspectives stress the importance of the status quo. Socialization, therefore, is viewed as a way to ensure that a society’s members share values, beliefs, and goals that contribute to the maintenance of society as a whole. Conflict perspectives on socialization: Like the functionalist theorists, conflict thinkers agree that the socialization of a society’s members by the major institutions (e.g. the economy, the state, the mass media) contributes to the perpetuation of the status quo. For conflict thinkers, however, this is not viewed as desirable, given the inherent inequalities of the capitalist society. Since capitalist society is based on the unequal distribution of power and resources, conflict thinkers advocate that the messages communicated through various forms of socialization will reflect this inequity. Karl Marx, for example, believed that the dominant ideas of a society at any given time will be the ideas of the dominant ruling class. Psychological approaches to socialization: Freud stressed the role of inborn drives. He suggested that the self has components that are always fighting with each other. According to Freud, our natural impulsive instincts such as sex and aggression, which he referred to as he id, are in constant conflict with societal restraints of he superego, while the ego is the part of he personality which mediates between the id and the superego. Piaget found that newborns have no sense of a looking glass self. In his well known cognitive theory of development, Piaget identified four stages of child development. 1) sensorimotor stage (use senses to make discoveries); 2) preoperational stage (begin to use words and symbols); 3) concrete operational stage (children engage in more logical thinking); and 4) the formal operational stage (adolescents are capable of sophisticated abstract thinking. Piaget believed that social interaction is the key to development. Agents of Socialization The Family as an Agent of Socialization: Almost all available research shows that the role of the family in socializing a child cannot be underestimated. Obviously, one of its primary functions is the care and rearing of children. The lifelong process of socialization begins shortly after birth. An infant enters an organized society, becomes part of a generation, and typically enters into a family. Gender socialization is an aspect of socialization through which we learn the attitudes, behaviours and practices associated with being male or female (called gender roles). As the primary agents of socialization, parents play a critical role in guiding children into those gender roles deemed appropriate in a society. Schools and Socialization: Like the family, schools have an explicit mandate to socialize people in Canada—especially children—into the norms and values of the dominant culture. Functionalists point out that, as agents of socialization, schools fulfill the function of teaching children the values and customs of the larger society. Conflict theorists agree but add that schools can reinforce the divisive aspects of society, especially those of social class. Conflict theorists such as Bowles and Gintis (1976) have observed that schools foster competition through built-in systems of reward and punishment, such as grades and evaluations by teachers. Peer groups as an Agent of Socialization: Peer groups can ease the transition of children into adult responsibilities. For adolescents, family diminishes in importance, and peer groups increasingly assume the role of significant others. Peer support can be both negative and positive toward socialization of values. Teenagers imitate their friends in part because the peer group maintains a meaningful system of rewards and punishments. Gender differences are noteworthy in the social worlds of adolescents, as considerable gender role socialization happens in peer groups. Mass Media and Technology as an Agent of Socialization: In the past 75 years, media innovations – radio, motion pictures, downloadable music, television, the Internet and cell phones – have become important agents of socialization. Television in particular is a critical force in the socialization of children in North America. On average, Canadians watch 21.4 hours of television per week. Women over 60 watch the most television (an average of 35.6 hours per week), while children between two and eleven years of age watch, on average, about 14.1 hours per week. Television has certain characteristics that distinguish it from the other agents of socialization. It permits imitation and role playing but does not encourage more complex forms of learning. Issues have been raised regarding the content of television, popular music, music videos, motion pictures, video games, and Internet Web sites. These forms of entertainment serve as powerful agents of socialization for many young people in Canada and elsewhere. Workplace as an Agent of Socialization: Learning to behave appropriately within an occupation is a fundamental aspect of socialization in industrialized countries. Boyce (2001) discovered that 46.3 percent of high school students in Ontario were working, while in 1996 the number was 31 percent. Researchers are trying to gauge the impact on students’ lives and have found that those students who work fewer than 20 hours per week often do better academically are more involved in the hobbies and sports than those students without jobs (Philip 2001). Workplace socialization changes when a person shifts to full-time employment. The State as an Agent of Socialization: Social scientists have increasingly recognized the importance of the state as an agent of socialization because of its growing impact on the life course. Traditionally, family members have served as the primary caregivers in our culture, but in the twentieth century, the family's protective function has steadily been transferred to outside agencies such as hospitals, mental health clinics, and insurance companies. The state runs many of these agencies or licenses or regulates them. Socialization and the Life Course: Celebrating rites of passage is a means of dramatizing and validating changes in a person’s status. Socialization continues through the life course. Some of the most difficult socialization is encountered in the later years of life. Use your sociological imagination: What was the last rite of passage you participated in? Was it formal or informal? Aging and Society: There are no clear-cut definitions for periods of the aging cycle in Canada. Old age has typically been regarded as beginning at 65, but not everyone in our society accepts this definition. Gerontology is the scientific study of the sociological and psychological aspects of aging and the problems of the aged. A functionalist approach to the aging is the disengagement theory. This theory, based on a study of elderly people in good health and relatively comfortable economic circumstances, contends that society and the aging individual mutually sever many of their relationships. The interactionist view is activity theory, which argues that the elderly person who remains active and socially involved will be best adjusted. Prejudice and discrimination against the aged is called ageism; it reflects a deep uneasiness among young and middle-aged people about growing old. Anticipatory Socialization and Resocialization: Anticipatory socialization refers to the processes of socialization in which a person “rehearses” for future positions, occupations, and social relationships. Example: High school students preparing for post-secondary education by looking at post-secondary institutional websites. Occasionally, assuming new social and occupational positions or moving to a new region or country requires us to unlearn a previous orientation. Resocialization refers to the process of discarding former behaviour patterns and accepting new ones as part of a transition in one’s life. Examples are prisons, indoctrination camps, and religious conversions. Total Institutions: Goffman suggested resocialization is particularly effective in a total institutional environment (prisons, mental hospitals, and military organizations). Erving Goffman coined the term total institutions to refer to institutions, such as prisons, the military, mental hospitals, and convents that regulate all aspects of a person's life under a single authority. Total institutions share four common traits: All aspects of life are conducted in the same place and are under the control of a single authority. Any activities within the institution are conducted in the company of others in the same circumstances – for example, novices in a convent, or army recruits. The authorities devise rules and schedule activities without consulting the participants. All aspects of life within a total institution are designed to fulfill the purpose of the organization. Because the total institution is generally cut off from the rest of society, it provides for all the needs of its members. Individuality is often lost in total institutions as the individual becomes secondary in the environment and experiences the humiliations of degradation ceremonies, such as being stripped of clothing, jewellery, and personal possessions upon entry into a prison. Additional lecture ideas: 1. Nature versus Nurture The interplay between hereditary and environmental factors is evident in a fascinating study involving a young chimpanzee named Gua. (See Winthrop Kellogg and Luella Kellogg. The Ape and the Child. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1933. See also Cathy Hayes. The Ape in Our House. New York: Harper, 1951.) In 1931 Winthrop and Luella Kellogg took Gua, then 7½ months old, into their home with the intention of rearing the animal in the same way as they were rearing their nine-month-old son, Donald. The two babies lived together as companions and playmates for nine months of the experiment. Kellogg and Kellogg attempted, as far as possible, to treat, feed, and clothe their two “children” similarly. The Kelloggs tried to teach skills to both Donald and Gua and did not “train” Gua as one usually trains a household pet. What were the results of this experiment, other than the many strange looks the Kelloggs got from their neighbours as they went walking with Donald and Gua? For one thing, they noticed interesting differences in rates of development. Gua actually learned more quickly than Donald in areas requiring strength, agility, and muscular coordination. For example, the chimpanzee climbed into a high chair at age 7½ months, whereas Donald could not fully accomplish this until age 18½ months. However, Gua did not surpass Donald in all areas. Donald demonstrated a much better grasp of language and use of symbols. Initially, Gua seemed to understand comments such as “Open the door” better than Donald. Kellogg and Kellogg attributed this to Gua’s greater ability to move around. In terms of speech, they foresaw that Gua would not advance beyond a few rudimentary sounds. Even at this young age, the most significant aspect distinguishing the behaviour of ape from that of child involved language skills. Kellogg and Kellogg’s experiment reveals an intriguing interplay of hereditary and environmental factors. Biology seemed to limit Donald’s adaptation to walking and Gua’s potential for verbal and symbolic communication. On the other hand, socialization may well have stretched the chimpanzee’s language skills. Certainly this unusual research attests to the importance of nature in development. Also see Lionel Tiger, "The Return of Human Nature," The Wilson Quarterly, XX(1)(1996):13–32. 2. Rethinking the Life Course As we live longer and frequently healthier lives, various researchers have rethought the standard life course. The classic description of the life course that is presented in many sociology and psychology texts was developed by Erik Erikson. He divides the life course into eight stages that have served as a model for several generations. A classroom presentation/discussion could certainly focus on the applicability of Erikson's model to our society 100 or 200 years ago when the life expectancy was much shorter than it was when he was writing. One could also examine his stages with respect to gender, race, and social class issues and ask whether his stages are appropriate for each of these groups. However, another way to examine the life course would be to examine some of the popular views of how the life course has changed in recent years that reflect our longer life expectancy. One author who has written commercially and critically successful books about these types of alterations in the life cycle is former New York Magazine writer Gail Sheehy. Her initial foray into this area of investigation was in the now classic book, Passages. However, she has followed up on that initial examination with several other stimulating reassessments. In particular, New Passages suggests thought- and discussion-provoking modifications in the life course model. (NOTE: Older students who read this book in its entirety consider it to be a provocative, eye-opening assignment. Younger students do not relate to the book as well; they believe that is explains their parents' lives and not their own.) Sheehy's model of adult socialization, which she developed in New Passages: Mapping Your Life Across Times, divides adult socialization into three stages, each with one or more substages. Stage I is "Provisional Adulthood" (18–30) that includes the "Tryout Twenties," and in which an individual moves through "Catch 30: Passage to First Adulthood" to reach Stage II. Stage II is the "First Adulthood" (30–45), which includes the "Turbulent Thirties" and the "Flourishing Forties," and which concludes with the "Passage to the Age of Mastery." Stage III is the "Second Adulthood," (45–85+), which includes the "Flaming Fifties," the "Serene Sixties," the "Sage Seventies," the "Uninhibited Eighties," the "Nobility of the Nineties," and the "Celebratory Centenarians." For details and alternative models see Erik H. Erikson. Childhood and Society. New York: W. W. Norton, 1950. See also Erikson. Identity and the Life Cycle. New York: W. W. Norton, 1980; Jones, Eric. Adolescence: the age of minority in contemporary Canadian society [Vancouver, B.C.]: University of British Columbia, 1981. Personal growth [kit]: humanities resource book (Primary and intermediate). Victoria, B.C.: Province of British Columbia Ministry of Education. Educational Programs, 1990. Marshall, Victor W. Aging in Canada: social perspectives 2nd ed. -- Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, c1987 Gail Sheehy. Passages: Predictable Crisis of Adult Life. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1977; Sheehy. New Passages: Mapping Your Life Across Times. New York: Random House. 1996; Sheehy. The Silent Passage: Menopause. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998; Sheehy. Understanding Men's Passages: Discovering the New Map of Men's Lives. New York: Ballantine, 1999; Schaie, K. Warner and Willis, Sherry L. Adult Development and Aging, Fifth Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. 3. Reverse Socialization and Gender Roles Conventionally, social scientists examine how parents create gender roles for children from birth through adolescence. Lawrence Ganong and Marilyn Coleman have found that children can also affect their parents’ gender roles. They administered the Bem Sex Role Inventory to 306 parents (153 couples) who had daughters only (N=41), sons only (N=41), or an equal number of sons and daughters (N=71). Fathers with sons had lower “femininity” scores than fathers with daughters only. Mothers with sons were significantly more “feminine” than those with daughters only. These results do not support the “common-sense” expectation that socializing daughters would have a feminizing effect on parents and that socializing sons would have a masculinizing effect. Ganong and Coleman contend that parents become more sex-typed (that is, fathers become more masculine than feminine and mothers more feminine than masculine). Parents seem to respond to sons by becoming clearer role models of masculinity and femininity. Daughters, on the other hand, have no such effect because there is relatively less concern for teaching them a rigid gender role. The study supports yet another interactionist dimension to gender roles, that the child-parent relationship is mutually influential. See Lawrence Ganong and Marilyn Coleman, “Effects of Children on Parental Sex-Role Orientation,” Journal of Family Issues, 8(September 1987):278–290. 4. Hutterites Coming of Age Child-rearing practices differ among peoples of the world. The practices of the Hutterites, a group found in Alberta, Saskatchewan and several northern states in America, are at variance with those typically found in Canada and the United States. Although the Hutterites number about 30,000, few Americans know much about them. Today’s Hutterites are descended from Russian immigrants who came to North America in 1874. They live together in some 250 communal villages, called Bruderhofs, in western Canada, the Dakotas, Montana, Washington, and Texas. Their religious faith is Anabaptism, they practice adult baptism, and they are firmly pacifistic. Both economically and theoretically, the Hutterites practice communalism. The live and work together for the good of the community. When Hutterites use the pronoun we, they refer not to their own family but to the Bruderhof. They do not knock before entering each other’s residences; they drop in unannounced at all hours. As they see it, seclusion by individual families is unnecessary and lessens group loyalty. Accordingly, the goal of child rearing among the Hutterites is young adults’ voluntary decision to submit themselves to the community. The sense of community will is transmitted very early in life. Only for the first 13 weeks of an infant’s life is the mother relieved of her responsibilities to the Bruderhof; after that, the mother returns to her previous responsibilities, such as helping in the community kitchen. The community essentially dictates a schedule for babies, specifying times for feeding, playing, and sleeping. A child’s hands are held together in the position of prayer before each feeding. Children pray voluntarily before each meal by the time they are one year old, a procedure they will follow for the rest of their lives. Children are believed to be completely innocent until they are observed to strike someone or try to comb their own hair. Either activity is believed to indicate a level of comprehension sufficiently high to understand discipline. Young children learn that they can avoid adult displeasure if, after hitting someone, they immediately hug and kiss. Infants and young children are watched over by all members of the Bruderhof. At age three they enter kindergarten, where as one Hutterite minister put it, “they learn to obey, sing, sleep, memorize, and pray together.” Punishment tends to emphasize that exclusion from the group is most unpleasant. The most important birthday for a Hutterite is the 15th, since on that day the schoolchild becomes an adult. Almost as a rite of passage, the child is moved from the children’s dining room to the adults’ dining room and from the play group into the adult work force. Since these changes involve a single individual whereas the Hutterites emphasize the colony as a whole, the movement into adulthood goes uncelebrated. Gradually, the Bruderhof awards the new adults various gifts that reflect their altered situation. Both boys and girls are given a wooden chest with a lock, in which to keep their personal belongings. Boys are given tools; girls receive a scrubbing pail, a broom, and knitting needles. The first years of adulthood are occupied in apprenticeships to older people, but soon young people enter jobs considered suitable to their sex. Despite being surrounded by the culture of Canada and the United States, Hutterite youngsters grow up to accept the Hutterites’ philosophy of life, economic communalism, and religious beliefs. See Gertrude Huntington, “Children of the Hutterites,” Natural History 90(February 1981):34–47. See also William Kephart and William Zellner. Extraordinary Groups (4th ed.). New York: St. Martin’s, 1991. 5. Occupational Socialization: Police Viewed as Outsiders Solving crimes, protecting children, and keeping reckless drivers off the highways are all critical tasks for the police. However, the consequences of being a police officer are rarely appreciated by the public or, worse yet, by police recruits themselves. Psychologist Monroe Miller has described a number of factors that contribute to the general view of police officers as outsiders: The public comes into contact with police officers only in negative circumstances (receiving a traffic ticket, for instance) or unpleasant circumstances (such as witnessing or being a victim of a crime). The media emphasize police scandals. Police are perceived in hostile terms by many members of racial and ethnic minorities. Many officers are newcomers to the community or neighbourhood. They are seen as agents of the government rather than as representatives of the community. In addition to these image problems, officers are highly constrained in their behaviour. Police work is based on a paramilitary model that often conflicts with societal expectations (onlookers may expect police to be more lenient or more rough). Police soon learn they are socially isolated from the community they serve. This is, in part, because their law enforcement responsibilities continue 24 hours a day. Officers find it difficult, even when off duty, to engage in casual social interactions or to ignore extralegal behaviour generally condoned by the public, such as gambling. Their problems extend even further. Officers’ children face special challenges (“She’s a cop’s kid”). Working on holidays and moonlighting to supplement their salary place additional strains on their families. Potential police officers are aware of many of the challenges of their job, but they generally think in terms of personal safety. Rarely does their anticipatory socialization prepare them for the feeling of being an “outsider.” See Monroe J. Miller, “The Policeman.” In Dan Spiegel and Patricia Keith-Spiegel (eds.). Outsiders, USA. San Francisco: Rinehart, 1973, pp. 529–546. Class discussion topics: 1. Stimulating Classroom Discussions about Childhood Socialization: Questions for stimulating a classroom discussion about Patricia and Peter Adler's study of "eye work" include: Can researchers be objective when they "jump into the lives of their own children, and children of their own friends?” Is it possible to generalize from the Adlers’ study to the socialization experiences of other children in different ethnic, racial, and social class groupings, and in different societies? How valid and reliable is the Adlers' research? When does the peer culture begin to compete or to dominate the family input into the socialization process? Does the significance of the peer group differ for male and female children? Is television, the family, or the peer group a more significant agent of socialization? Does the answer to the previous question vary based on the age, gender, or socioeconomic status of the child? 2. Looking-Glass Self: This activity was developed by Steven Wexler at the College of Staten Island to use music as a means of examining concepts such as “looking-glass self.” See Technique No. 58 in Reed Geersten (ed.). 1982. Eighty-One Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, D.C.: ASA Projects on Teaching Undergraduate Sociology. 3. Lifeline: This exercise demonstrates for the students the power and pervasiveness of their socialization experience. There is obviously room for personal style in the presentation, but this is one way to make the point. Begin by drawing a continuum on the board or overhead, putting a point at each end. The first representing birth, the second, death. The line between the two is the Lifeline. Explain to you students that the line represents the ideal mainstream life in our society, a string of life altering social events that, for the most part, we all share. Begin by pointing out that the first major event is our learning to talk. Prior to this, society has no expectations for its members. We are free to ignore social standards to the extent that no one thinks it unacceptable if we go to the bathroom in our pants, or eat with our hands. Once we learn to talk, however, that all changes and society begins to have expectations. From here, you can let the students suggest the points on the line, with you providing the explanation between the point and the socialization accompanying it. At the end of the line—death—you can make the point that they all seem to have the same expectations about how an ideal life in our society unfolds. 4. Growing Up in Poverty: Many of our students have not had to deal with poverty and too many of our students believe that the poor are to blame for their continued poverty. Numerous websites and recent books powerfully illustrate the desperate lives in which poor people live in Canada today. The following materials present shocking portrayals that sensitize students to the plight of the poor: Campaign 2000: End Child and Family Poverty in Canada. http://www.campaign2000.ca/Canada Morris, Marika and Gonsalves, Tahira. Fact Sheets: Women and Poverty, Third Edition. Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. http://www.criaw-icref.ca/factSheets/Women%20and%20Poverty/Poverty%20Fact%20sheet_e.htm Make Poverty History: The First Nations Plan For Creating Opportunity. The Shocking Reality: First Nations Poverty. Assembly of First Nations Canada. http://www.afn.ca/cmslib/general/SR-FS.pdf Wallis, Maria A. and Kwok, Siu-ming. Daily Struggles: the Deepening Racalization and Feminization of Poverty in Canada. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press, c2008. Layton, Jack, with Michael Shapcott. Homelessness: How to End the National Crisis. Toronto: Penguin Canada. c. 2008. Elliot Liebow. Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women. New York: Penguin, 1993. 5 Socialization among the Doukhobors: From the time they left tsarist Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Doukhobors have maintained the integrity of their communities by controlling the socialization process to which their members, and in particular, their children have been exposed. These hard working agriculturalists were so adamant in their insistence to have their spiritual teachings included in the school curriculum that the Government of British Columbia called in the RCMP to seize the children and hold them in a detention-style camp far from their parents. For more information on the Doukhobour struggle to have their community standards incorporated into the school-based socialization, visit: http://www.castlegar.com/tourism/doukhobor/who.html 6 Using Humour: David S. Adams has produced a monograph that includes funny examples that could be incorporated in lectures associated with this chapter. See Adams. “Socialization.” In Using Humor in Teaching Sociology: A Handbook. Washington, DC: ASA Teaching Resources Center, 1982. See also Joseph E. Faulkner. "Socialization." In Sociology through Humor. New York: West, 1987. Topic for Student Research: First Nations Socialization: See Briggs, Jean L. Aspects of Inuit Value Socialization Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1979. Disabilities and Socialization: See Hill, Linda, Discovering connections: a guide to the fun of bridging disability differences. Duncan, BC: Building Bridges, 1998. Mass Media as Viewed by Native Americans: See JoEllen Shirley. “Cowboys and Indians: Perceptions of Western Films among American Indians and Anglos,” American Sociological Review, 57(December, 1992):725–734. Ethnic Minorities and the Socialization Experience: See Isajiw, Wsevolod W., Socialization as a factor in ethnic identity retention. Toronto: Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto, 1982. Gender Socialization: See Mackie, Marlene. Gender relations in Canada: further explorations Toronto: Harcourt Brace Canada, [1996], c1991. Socialization into Deviant Occupations: People who are part of a deviant occupation also go through a process of socialization to learn the appropriate attitudes, values, and actions. See Paula L. Dressel and David M. Petersen, “Becoming a Male Stripper,” Work and Occupations, 9(August,1982:387–406. Socialization into Sports: See Eldon E. Snyder, “Athletic Dressing Room Slogans as Folklore: A Means of Socialization,” International Review of Sports Sociology, 7 (1972). XYY Males: Bridging criminology and sociobiology has been research into whether males with an extra Y chromosome are more prone to violence. See Edward O. Wilson. On Human Nature. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press, 1978. See also Herman A. Witkin et al., “Criminality in XYY and XXY Men,” Science, 193(August 13, 1976):547–555. Adolescent Parenting: What happens when young people become parents. See Leanne Whiteside-Mansell, Sandra K. Pope, and Robert H. Bradley, “Patterns of Parenting Behaviour in Young Mothers,” Family Relations, 45(July 1996):273–281. Sociology and Biology: See J. Richard Udry, “Sociology and Biology: What Biology Do Sociologists Need to Know?” Social Forces, 73(June 1995):1267–1278; Frans B. M. de Waal, “The Biological Basis of Behaviour,” Chronicle of Higher Education, 42(June 14, 1996): B1–B2; David L. Wheeler, “Evolutionary Economics,” Chronicle of Higher Education, 42(June 14, 1996):A8, A12. 12. Socialization and Sociologists: See Joan M. Morris and Michael D. Grimes, “Contradictions in the Childhood Socialization of Sociologists from the Working Class,” Race, Gender, and Class, 4(1)(1996):63–81. 13. The Creation of Body Image: See Wolf, Naomi, The beauty myth /Rev. ed. Toronto: Vintage Books, c1991. Additional Readings: Beagan, Brenda L. Personal, public, and professional identities: conflicts and congruencies in medical school Vancouver: University of British Columbia, 1998. An examination of the professional socialization process of medical students. Berns, Roberta. Child, Family, Community: Socialization and Support (3rd ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace. 1993. A text that reports the latest sociological findings in the field of socialization. Cooley, Charles Horton. Human Nature and the Social Order. New York: Charles Scribner. 1902. A classic work on the process of social communication as a vital component in the socialization process. Danesi, Marcel. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003 Forever Young: The “Teen-Aging” of Modern Culture. Danesi uses five years of interviews with adolescents and their parents to illustrate the “forever young” mentality and how mass media exploit this mentality for economic purposes. Erikson, Erik H. Childhood and Society (2nd ed.). New York: Norton, 1963. First published in 1950, this book presents Erikson's "eight stages of man," a view of socialization in which the individual must cope with a series of crises. . Goffman, Erving. New York: Doubleday, 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Goffman demonstrates his interactionist theory that the self is managed in everyday situations in much the same way that a theatrical performer carries out a stage role. Gonick. Marnina and Susanne Gannon (eds.). 2013. Becoming Girl. Toronto:Women’s Press. A collection of accounts on gendered subjectivity and youth relevant to topics to such topics as feminist research, girl studies, and education. Greig, Christopher and Wayne Martino (eds.). Canadian Men and Masculinities. 2012. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc. This edited collection examines the meanings of masculinity in a variety of contexts. Hamett, Roberta F., and Kathy Sanford. Toronto: CSPI/WP, 2007. Boys,Girls and the Myths of Literacies and Learning. Hammett and Sanford explore the ways in which gender influences learning; the authors also examine class, ethnicity, and sexuality as they relate to learning. Maaka, Roger, and Chris Anderson. Toronto: CSPI/WP, 2006. The Indigenous Experience: Global Perspectives. Here, the authors present some of the richness and heterogeneity of indigenous colonial experiences around the globe. Mead, George Herbert. Mind, Self and Society from the Standpoint of a Social Behaviourist. Chicago: University of Chicago. 1962. A classic book about the development of the self that was compiled by Mead's students after his death. Smith, Joan. Different for Girls: How Culture Creates Women. London: Chatto & Windus, 1997. van den Berghe, Pierre L. Man in Society: A Biosocial View (2nd ed.). New York: Elsevier, 1978. The author covers a wide range of topics from kinship and social inequality to religion and entertainment. His work tends to support the sociobiological perspective. Thinking About Movies___________________________________ The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006) Frank Costello ( Jack Nicholson), an organized-crime boss in South Boston, is under investigation by the Massachuetts State Police. To infiltrate Frank’s syndicate, the agency assigns a new recruit named Billy Costigan ( Leonardo DiCaprio). Meanwhile, Frank sends one of his men, Collin Sullivan ( Matt Damon), to covertly gather intelligence on the police. As both sides realize, they have traitors in their midst. This movie contains an example of the looking glass self, or the development of self-identity in relation to social groups. Because Billy Costigan was raised by divorced parents, one working class and the other middle class, he grew up with dual identities, complete with distinctive accents. Pay attention to the scene where Billy interviews for the undercover job. For Your Consideration 1. How does Billy present his “self” in different social settings? 2. Give three examples of impression management by the two undercover agents, and explain why they used the strategy to support a particular social identity. 5 SOCIAL INTERACTION, GROUPS, AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE • Contents: Learning Objectives Using Text Boxes to stimulate discussion Classroom activities Video suggestions Key points from the text Additional lecture ideas Class discussion topics Topics for students research Additional Audiovisual suggestions Additional readings Class exercise on Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft Thinking About Movies Learning Objectives: 5. 1. Define social interaction and social reality. 5.2 Identify and discuss the various elements of social structure. Discuss the differences between ascribed and achieved statuses. Identify and describe the various types of social role situations. Discuss the contribution of groups to the function of social structure. Describe the various types of groups. Discuss the impact of social networks and technology on social relationships. Analyze the importance of social institutions using the three major sociological perspectives. 5.3 Discuss the importance of social structure from a global perspective. 5.4 Discuss formal organizations. 5.5. Describe the various characteristics of a bureaucracy. Define McDonaldization and discuss the worldwide bureaucratization of society. Using Text Boxes to stimulate discussion: Sociology in the Global Community: Disability as a Master Status. Drawing on the earlier work of Erving Goffman, contemporary sociologists have suggested that society has attached a stigma to many forms of disability and that this stigma leads to prejudicial treatment. People with disabilities frequently observe that people without disabilities see them only as blind, wheelchair-ridden, and so forth, rather than as complex human beings with individual strengths and weaknesses, whose blindness or use of a wheelchair is merely one aspect of their lives. Applying Theory: 1) How would interactionist perspectives differ from conflict positions when it comes to the study of disabilities? 2) What emphases would feminist thinkers be most likely to bring to the study of disabilities? Sociology in the Global Community: McDonald’s and the Worldwide Bureaucratization of Society. In his book The McDonaldization of Society (2004), sociologist George Ritzer notes the enormous influence of a well-known fats-food organization on modern-day culture and social life. Ritzer defines McDonaldization as “the process by which the principles of the fat-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of U.S. society as well as the rest of the world”. Worldwide, the giant fast-food establishment’s brand of predictability, efficiency, and dependence on non-human technology have become customary in a number of services, ranging from medical care to wedding planning to education. Applying Theory: 1) Do you patronize McDonald’s and other fast-food establishments? If so, what features of these restaurants do you appreciate? Do you have complaints about them? 2) Analyze life at your college or university using Weber’s model of bureaucracy. What elements of McDonaldization do you see? Do you wish life were less McDonaldized? Research Today: The box examines how obesity has become a public health issue in the United States and how social networks relate to weigh gain. Applying Theory: 1) Have you ever tried to lose weigh, and if so, did your cluster of friends and family help or hinder you? In your experience, do people who are overweight tend to cluster in separate groups from those who of normal weight? 2. Besides public health campaigns, what applications can you think of for research on social networking? Social Policy and Organizations: The State of the Unions. In 1991, unions represented 35.6 percent of workers in the Canadian economy; in 2011 they represented 31 percent. Labour unions consist of organized workers sharing either the same skill or the same employer. Few people today would dispute the fact that the Canadian union movement is in transition. Among the reasons offered are: 1) the feminization of the movement; 2) the rising rate of unionization of the public sector and the falling rate of unionization in the private sector; 3) the waning influence of international unions headquartered outside Canada; and 4) the changing scope of union membership. Both Marxists and functionalist view unions as a logical response to the emergence of impersonal, large-scale, formal, and often alienating organizations. Applying Theory: 1) If conflict thinker Karl Marx were alive today, how do you think he would view the role of unions in contemporary Canadian society? 2) How do you view the relevance of unions as a means of promoting gender equality? Classroom activities: Gesellschaft versus Gemeinschaft – Characteristics of our communities: There is a text box giving students the characteristics of Gemeinschaft versus Gesellschaft types of communities. At the very end of this chapter in this Instructor’s manual, there is a handout to turn this into a class activity. McDonaldization: This can be done as a “Think/Pair/Share” exercise, or in groups. (For Think/Pair/Share have students first think on their own about the questions, then talk to a partner or someone seated nearby them; then invite the pairs to share their ideas with the class.) Have students read the opening excerpt from George Ritzer's book, The McDonaldization of Society. Have students think about the kinds of jobs they have held, especially those who have worked in fast-food restaurants. Have them make a list of examples of the routinization of their work. How are they expected to greet customers? How are they expected to respond to customers who keep changing their order? How are they expected to create a hamburger? Determine whether students working in non-fast food settings have experienced the same "McDonaldization" of their work. How has the McDonaldization of work affected their work experience? Is their work easier or harder? More or less satisfying? What is the purpose of McDonaldization? What types of jobs are or are not McDonaldized? Why? Has the advent of the computer led to the McDonaldization of many other jobs? When students graduate from university – are they hoping to get another “McJob?” Ask them to explain how their “ideal” job will differ from a McJob. Achieved versus Ascribed characteristics: This works well as a “Think/Pair/Share” activity, and in any size classroom. After going over the difference between ascribed and achieved characteristics, ask student to make two lists, one called “ascribed” and one called “achieved.” Then ask them to think, individually, about all the characteristics they have that fit into each column. Encourage students to think about their cultural backgrounds, to include characteristics that may not be part of “mainstream” culture, but those that they may have inherited or achieved within their own cultures. Explore religion, gangs, work, etc. Then get the students to pair up and share their characteristics with each other, then with two more people. Last, invite students to share examples from their lists with the entire class. Video Suggestions: Quiet Rage – The Stanford Prison Experiment (50 min., 1992, Palo Alto, California, Stanford University). The opening vignette to the chapter discusses Phillip Zimbardo’s famous experiment on social structure. The film is a documentary of a classic experiment in social psychology, which was called off after only six days because the situation had become so volatile that the researchers felt they no longer had control over the guards and the safety of their research subjects. This film shows the powerful effects of social structure (even an “unreal” structure), on human behaviour. As in many real-life prisons, the simulated prison at Stanford University had a social structure in which guards held virtually total control over prisoners. The social structure of Zimbardo’s mock prison influenced how the guards and prisoners interacted. Social structure can be patterns of social relationships that people create through the meanings they attach to others’ actions; social structure becomes something that is constructed through meaningful interactions with others. From the text: Use your sociological imagination: If you had been selected to be a guard in the Stanford prison experiment, what meaning do you think the actions of the prisoners might have had for you? In what way do you think social reality was being constructed in the Stanford prison experiment? Questions to stimulate discussion: Based on Zimbardo's study, what would you conclude about the impact of social structure on social interaction? Is it valid to generalize from a small experiment like the one conducted by Zimbardo? Based on the sociological code of ethics that you learned about in Chapter 2, do you believe that Zimbardo was ethical in conducting this experiment? Ending it when he did? Does Zimbardo's experiment explain prison guard/prisoner behaviour in a real prison? Do you think that Zimbardo’s claim that there were no long-lasting effects of the experiment is valid? How would you feel if you had been a guard or a prisoner in this experiment? The Experiment: Exploring the Psychology of Groups and Power (2005, 120 min., BBC Worldwide Education). This film was stimulated by the years of scholarly reaction to the Stanford Prison Experiment. Excerpt from the manual accompanying the film: “Filmed by the BBC and conducted by two senior British academics — Professor Alex Haslam and Dr Steve Reicher — it was a major investigation into the psychology of groups and power. The Experiment examined the behaviour of 15 participants who had been assigned to roles as Prisoners and Guards within a purpose-built environment over a period of nine days. The results provide fascinating, powerful and thought-provoking insights into processes of social, clinical and organizational psychology. The programmes cover a range of issues that help to understand the way that people and organizations work. They offer vivid, powerful and dramatic examples that bring alive topics such as leadership and negotiation, conflict and co-operation, work satisfaction and stress, tyranny and resistance, power and powerlessness, research methodology and social scientific theory.” The Corporation: A Documentary (2004, by March Achbar, Jennifer Abbott, Joel Bakan; Big Picture Media Corporation, Kelowna, B.C.). The whole film is too long for use in class. The first 25 minutes or so shows how the corporation became a legal person, with all the rights that people have. Part 1 examines the pathological self-interest of the modern corporation. From the container: “The corporation delivers a laissez-faire capitalism that fully meets the diagnostic criteria of a psychopath.” Part 2 looks at the scope of commerce and the sophisticated, even covert, techniques marketers use to get their brands into our homes. From the container: "In the 1600s, the enclosure movement fenced public grazing lands so they could be privately owned. Today, every molecule on the planet is up for grabs. Corporations own the song "Happy birthday"; patents on plants and animals; even your next disease. When they own everything, who will stand for the public good?" Part 3 examines how corporations cut deals with any style of government - from Nazi Germany to despotic states today - that allow or even encourage sweatshops, as long as sales go up. Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices (97 min, 2005, New York: Disinformation Company). Looks at the effect Wal-Mart stores have on local businesses, their employees' economic status, the rights of women and minorities as Wal-Mart Associates, the lack of environmental responsibility by Wal-Mart starting with corporate headquarters on down, and the exploitation of Chinese and Bangladesh workers. Shows that Wal-Mart has concern for its own profits by heavy in-store security but well-known lack of security in their parking lots which have an inordinate amount of crime. Gives some case studies of activist groups that have won some victories for the workers and have prevented construction of Wal-Mart stores in various communities. Key Points from the text: Social Interaction and Social Structure: Sociologists use the term social interaction to refer to the ways in which people respond to one another. Social structure refers to the way in which a society is organized into predictable relationships. These concepts are central to sociological study and they are closely related to socialization. Use Your Sociological Imagination: If you had been selected to be a guard in the Stanford prison experiment, what meaning do you think the actions of the prisoners might have had for you? In what way do you think social reality was being constructed in the Stanford prison experiment? Social Interaction and Reality: The distinctive characteristic of social interactions among people, according to Herbert Blumer, is that “human beings interpret or ‘define’ each other’s actions instead of merely reacting to each other’s action." Reality is shaped by our perceptions, evaluations, and definitions. The ability to define social reality reflects a group’s power within a society. Indeed, one of the most crucial aspects of the relationship between dominant and subordinate groups is the ability of the dominant or majority group to define a society’s values. Statuses: We normally think of a person's "status" as having to do with influence, wealth, and fame. However, sociologists use status to refer to any of the full range of socially defined positions within a large group or society—from the lowest to the highest position. Clearly, a person holds more than one status simultaneously. Ascribed and Achieved Status: An ascribed status is assigned to a person by society without regard for the person’s unique talents or characteristics. Generally, this assignment takes place at birth; thus, a person’s racial background, gender, and age are all considered ascribed statuses. Unlike ascribed statuses, an achieved status is attained by a person largely through his or her own effort. One must do something to acquire an achieved status— go to school, learn a skill, establish a friendship, or invent a new product. A master status is a status that dominates others and thereby determines a person’s general position within society. Social Roles: A social role is a set of expectations for people who occupy a given social position or status. With each distinctive social status, whether ascribed or achieved, comes particular role expectations. Roles are a significant component of social structure. Viewed from a functionalist perspective, roles contribute to a society’s stability by enabling members to anticipate the behaviour of others and to pattern their own actions accordingly. Yet social roles can also be dysfunctional by restricting people's interaction and relationships. Role conflict occurs when incompatible expectations arise from two or more social positions held by the same person. Role strain describes the difficulty that arises when the same social position imposes conflicting demands and expectations. Role exit describes the process of disengagement from a role that is central to a person’s self-identity in order to establish a new identity and role. Use your sociological imagination: If you were a male nurse, what aspects of role conflict would you need to consider? Now imagine you are a female professional boxer. What conflicting role expectations might that involve? In both cases, how well do you think you would handle role conflict? Groups: In sociological terms, a group is any number of people with similar norms, values, and expectations who regularly interact. Groups play a vital part in a society’s social structure. Much of our social interaction takes place within groups and is influenced by their norms and sanctions. A primary group refers to a small group characterized by intimate, face-to-face association and co-operation. A secondary group refers to a formal impersonal group in which there is little social intimacy or mutual understanding. An in-group is a group or category to which people feel they belong, while an out-group is one to which people feel they do not belong. A reference group is a group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own behaviour. Coalitions are temporary or permanent alliances geared towards a common goal. Social Networks: We all belong to a number of different groups, and through our acquaintances make connections with people in different social circles. A social network is a series of social relationships that link a person directly to others, and through them indirectly to still more people. Some networks may contain people by limiting their range of interactions, yet networks can also empower people by making vast resources available to them. Involvement in social networks is commonly known as networking. With advances in technology, we can now maintain social networks electronically. One such network, in particular, is changing the way people interact. Texting is the exchange of wireless emails over cell phones. Use Your Sociological Imagination: If you were deaf, what impact might instant messaging, or texting, have on you? Social Institutions: The mass media, the government, the economy, the family, and the health care system are all examples of social institutions found in our society. Social Institutions are organized patterns of beliefs and behaviour centered on basic social needs, such as replacing personnel (the family) and preserving order (the government). Functionalist View of Social Institutions: One way to understand social institutions is to see how they fulfill essential functions. Social scientists have identified five major tasks, or functional prerequisites, that a society or relatively permanent group must accomplish if it is to survive. These are (1) replacing personnel, (2) teaching new recruits, (3) producing and distributing goods and services, (4) preserving order, and (5) providing and maintaining a sense of purpose. Conflict View of Social Institutions: While both the functionalist and the conflict perspectives agree that social institutions are organized to meet basic social needs, conflict theorists object to the implication inherent in the functionalist view that the outcome is necessarily efficient and desirable. From a conflict perspective, major institutions help to maintain the privileges of the most powerful individuals and groups within a society, while contributing to the powerlessness of others. Feminist View of Social Institutions: Feminist thinkers such as Patricia Hill Collins argue that social institutions operate in gendered or racist environments. In schools, offices, and governmental institutions, assumptions are made about what people that can do reflect the sexism and racism of the larger society. Liberal feminists, or equality feminists, stress that benefits such as child care or parental leave, are a means of strengthening employment opportunities for women, thus promoting gender equality. Radical feminist believe that in order for gender equality to be achieved, patriarchy must be eliminated. Use your sociological imagination: Would social networks be more important to a migrant worker in British Columbia than to someone with political and social clout? Why or why not? Interactionist View of Social Institutions: Interactionist theories emphasize that our social behaviour is conditioned by the roles and statuses that we accept, the groups to which we belong, and the institution within which we function. Tönnies’ Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft: According to sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies, the Gemeinschaft community is typical of rural life. It is a small community in which people have similar backgrounds and life experiences. By contrast, the Gesellschaft is a community that is characteristic of modern urban life. Most people are strangers and feel little in common with other community residents. Len ski’s Sociocultural Evolution Approach: Sociologist Gerhard Lenski sees human societies as undergoing change according to a dominant pattern, known as sociocultural evolution. This term refers to long-term trends in societies resulting from the interplay of continuity, innovation and selection. There are three types of preindustrial societies, which are categorized according to the way in which the social institution of the economy is organized: the hunting-and-gathering society, the horticultural society, and the agrarian society. As the industrial revolution proceeded, a new form of social structure emerged. An industrial society is a society that depends on mechanization to produce its goods and services. Industrial societies relied on new inventions that facilitated agricultural and industrial production and on new sources of energy such as steam. A post-industrial society is a society whose economic system is engaged primarily in the processing and control of information. The main output of a postindustrial society is services rather than manufactured goods. Sociologist have recently gone beyond discussion of the post-industrial society to the model of the post-modern society, a technologically sophisticated society that is preoccupied with consumer goods and media images and which consumes goods and information on a mass scale. Postmodern theorists take a global perspective, noting the ways in which particular aspects of culture cross national boundaries. Formal Organizations and Bureaucracies: A formal organization is a group designed for a special purpose and structured for maximum efficiency. Though organizations vary in their size, they are all structured to facilitate the management of large-scale operations. A bureaucracy is a component of formal organization that uses rules and hierarchical ranking to achieve efficiency. Max Weber first directed researchers to the significance of bureaucratic structure. He developed an ideal type (a construct or model for evaluating specific cases)of bureaucracy that would reflect the most characteristic aspects of human organizations. The ideal bureaucracy displays five basic characteristics: 1) division of labour; 2) hierarchy of authority; 3) written rules and regulations; 4) impersonality; 5) employment based on technical qualifications. The term bureaucratization refers to the process by which a group, organizations, or social movement becomes increasingly bureaucratic. Robert Michels originated the idea of the iron law of oligarchy, which describes how even a democratic organization will eventually develop into a bureaucracy ruled by a few (an oligarchy). Bureaucracy and Organization Culture: According to the classical theory of formal organizations, also known as the scientific management approach, workers are motivated almost entirely by economic rewards. This theory stresses that the only physical constraints on workers limit their productivity. Therefore, workers may be treated as a resource. An alternative way of considering bureaucratic dynamics, the human relations approach, emphasizes the role of people, communications, and participation in a bureaucracy. Changes to the Workplace:Organizations Restructuring Collective decision making is the active involvement of employee problem-solving groups in corporate management. Minimal hierarchy offers workers greater access to those in authority. Organizations work teams are when team members are released to some degree from their regular duties in order to contribute to the organizations-wide effort. The common purpose of work teams, minimal hierarchy, and collective decision making is to empower workers. Changes to the Workplace: Telecommuting Telecommuters are employees who work full-time or part-time at home rather than in an outside office, and who are linked to their supervisors and colleagues through computer terminals, phone lines, and fax machines. Use Your Sociological Imagination: If your first full-time job after college involved telecommuting, what do you think would be the advantages and disadvantages of working out of a home office? Do you think you would be satisfied as a telecommuter? Why or why not? Changes to the Workplace:Electronic Communication Electronic communication in the workplace has raised various controversies On the one hand, emailing is convenient and democratic. On the other hand, it does not convey body language, leaves a permanent record, runs the risk of being sent unintentionally, and has contributed significantly to the fragmentation of work. Additional lecture ideas: 1: Pathology of Imprisonment An experiment at Stanford University (described briefly on pages 100–101 of the text) provided a significant critique of the impact of a total institution. Philip Zimbardo and a team of social psychologists carefully screened more than 70 volunteers for participation in a simulated prison. It is important to stress that the two dozen males selected were mature, intelligent, emotionally stable college students from middle-class homes. Subjects were paid $15 a day to live in a mock prison created in a classroom building. By a flip of a coin, half were arbitrarily designated as prisoners and the others as guards. The guards were allowed to make up their own rules for maintaining law, order, and respect. The students designated as “prisoners” were unexpectedly picked up at their homes by a city police officer in a squad car, searched, handcuffed, fingerprinted, booked at the station house, and taken blindfolded to the mock jail. The results of this experiment startled prisoners, guards, and researchers alike. After only six days (rather than the intended two weeks) Zimbardo and his colleagues, aware of the ethical implications of using human subjects, had to terminate the simulation because such frightening behaviour had taken place. The student guards had begun to take pleasure in cruel treatment of prisoners. Physical punishment was prohibited, but the guards created their own forms of abuse, including solitary confinement, hourly roll calls throughout the night, and removal of blankets from uncooperative inmates. About a third were tyrannical and arbitrary in their use of power; and the remaining guards did not interfere with this tough approach. At the same time, the prisoners meekly accepted not only their confinement but also their mistreatment. When their requests for parole were denied, these subjects merely returned quietly to their cells, where they cried hysterically. This experiment serves as a sobering commentary on the possibility of improving prison life. Although Zimbardo argues for better training programs for prison guards, it appears that the guards themselves are “prisoners” of their social position as defined within the prison community and by society at large. Zimbardo’s participants were not subjected to the racism, sexual aggression, and lethal violence that can be found in contemporary prisons. Therefore, it is all the more discouraging to read that four inmates were discharged prematurely because of “severe emotional responses.” Zimbardo’s research suggests that some of the problems found in prisons are inevitable and casts a disturbing shadow on hopes for reform of correctional institutions. See Philip Zimbardo, “Pathology of Imprisonment,” Society, 9(April 1972):4,6,8; Zimbardo, “On the Ethics of Intervention in Human Psychological Research: With Special Reference to the Stanford Prison Experiment,” Cognition 2(2)(1974):243–256; Craig Haney, Curtis Banks, and Philip Zimbardo, “Interpersonal Dynamics in a Simulated Prison,” International Journal of Criminology and Penology, 1(February 1973):69–97. Sue Titus Reid. Crime and Criminology (2nd ed.). New York: Holt, 1971, p. 664. 2: The Caine Mutiny and Obedience to Rules Under what circumstances is an individual justified in challenging the rules of an organization? This question was explored by Herman Wouk in his best-selling 1951 novel, The Caine Mutiny, later converted into a Broadway play and a Hollywood film. In the 1954 movie version, Humphrey Bogart stars as Captain Queeg, the veteran naval lieutenant-commander in charge of the Caine, a run-down minesweeper. As the film progresses, Queeg becomes increasingly neurotic and paranoid. In a typical display, he orders a search of the entire ship in an unsuccessful attempt to recover an alleged duplicate key to the kitchen, which he insists was used to steal a quart of strawberries. The film reaches a climax during a dangerous typhoon. Queeg becomes paralyzed with fear and indecision, and the fate of the ship seems uncertain. As a result, a lieutenant forcibly relieves him of his command and steers the ship to safety. Subsequently, this officer and others are charged by the Navy with mutiny. An explosive court-martial is held, during which the defense attorney exposes Queeg as a neurotic coward. The Navy acquits the accused officers, and the captain’s career is finished. However, the film does not end at this point. In a final plot twist, the defense attorney makes a stormy appearance at a party being held by the freed officers of the Caine and calls into question the moral basis for their actions. He bitterly charges that they—not Captain Queeg—were the real villains of the Caine mutiny. Without loyal career officers like Queeg, insists the lawyer, the Navy (and our country) would not survive. No one can respond to this angry rebuke, and the officers leave the party in embarrassed silence. The movie’s lesson is plain: it is not for the individual to challenge the rules of the organization. The mutiny was not justified; the ship should have been left in the hands of its rightful commander. Even when a leader appears incompetent and insane—even when the ship may sink—subordinates should respect the system and follow orders. In The Organization Man, William H. Whyte, Jr., asked if Americans gagged on this extraordinary point of view. Apparently, they did not. Wouk’s novel received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1952. Reviews of the book, the play, and the film supported the view that one should not question one’s superiors. Walter Kerr, a respected theater critic, exclaimed: “We are exhilarated by a ringing, rousing, thoroughly intelligible statement in Queeg’s defense!" (W. H. Whyte, Jr. The Organization Man. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1959, pp. 245–246). Thus, the message that the rules and authority of an organization must be obeyed proved to be a popular one in the United States during the 1950s. 3: Multicultural Groups The growing diversity of the paid labour force, especially in Europe and North America, is well documented. What impact will this diversity have on decision making within organizations? How does cultural diversity affect the performance of small groups in the workplace? Since policies and procedures are typically developed in meetings of relatively modest size, small-group research can be especially useful in helping us understand the impact of diversity within organizations. In many experimental studies, a small group is created and then assigned a task or problem to resolve. The overall conclusion of such research is that heterogeneous small groups (including culturally diverse groups) produce solutions of higher quality than do homogeneous groups. In fact, as a group’s composition becomes more diverse, additional alternatives are proposed that enhance the quality of decision making. The likelihood that a group will offer many ideas and proposals is particularly attractive in light of the current demands on many organizations to be more innovative and creative. This general finding about the advantages of diversity in small groups has been tempered by the fact that such groups often fail to benefit from racial and ethnic minorities. Researchers report that minorities are less active participants within small groups and are slightly less committed to the group’s efforts than are other members. For example, one Canadian study focused on 45 small groups in which most minority participants were from Asian backgrounds. In 34 of the 45 groups (76 percent), the member who contributed least often was a minority group member. Such studies raise two sobering questions for organizations: How do the dynamics of small groups impede minority participation? and How can organizations assist and benefit from employees who may be reluctant to participate in small-group decision making? Viewed from a conflict perspective, the apparently subordinate role of racial and ethnic minorities within small groups, like the subordinate role of females in conversations with males, reminds us that the power relations of the larger society influence members of small groups within an organization. So long as inequality based on gender, race, and ethnicity is evident throughout our society, it will influence people’s self-confidence and their ability to exercise leadership within a small group. Sources: Catherine Kirchmeyer,, “Multicultural Task Groups: An Account of the Low Contribution Level of Minorities,” Small Group Research, 24(February 1993):127–148; Catherine Kirchmeyer and Aaron Cohen, “Multicultural Groups: Their Performance and Reactions with Constructive Conflict,” Groups and Organization Management, 17(June 1992):153–170; and J. Ruhe and J. Eatman, “Effects of Racial Composition on Small Work Groups,” Small Group Behaviour, 8:479–486. 4: China and People with Disabilities Having a disability is a master status found throughout the world. Sometimes its power surfaces in unusual ways. In 1994, Fang Zheng was hailed as China’s discus champion among athletes with a disability. In his case, the disability that he had overcome was the loss of both legs. But the Chinese government barred him from international competition when Communist party officials learned that his disability occurred during the Tiananmen Square uprising of June 4, 1989, when students and workers were demonstrating for democratic reforms. His legs were crushed and later amputated when a Chinese Army tank ran him down and dragged him 30 feet as the tank plunged into the crowd to suppress dissenters. Prior to the publicity associated with this event, sociologist C. Edward Vaughan evaluated public policy and the existing laws regarding people with disabilities in the People’s Republic of China. In 1988, China published its first five-year plan for the rehabilitation and education of people with disabilities. The Handicapped People’s Association, an organization sponsored by the Chinese government, participated in the preparatory work and discussions that led to the final document. The plan focuses on improving educational opportunities for people with disabilities and on strengthening special education programs. While the plan encourages all levels of government to enhance the employment, health, education, and general welfare of people with disabilities, these policies are outlined in broad terms and lack specific goals. In 1990, China’s national government issued the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Disabled Persons.” This law was shaped, in part, through the advocacy efforts of the Disabled People’s Association. The law suggests that employers offer work opportunities to people with disabilities who pass entrance examinations. All levels of society are encouraged to offer access to people with disabilities, including access to cultural materials and transportation. To bring greater recognition to the contribution of people with disabilities, the third Sunday of every May was established as National Disabled Persons’ Day. The new legislation prohibits public officials from violating the interests or rights of people with disabilities. It outlaws violent and insulting behaviour aimed at the disabled, as well as mistreatment of people with disabilities by family members or caregivers. Unfortunately, as Vaughan observes, it will be difficult for many people with disabilities to obtain justice. Few attorneys available to represent disabled people in cases arising from the 1990 law. Most people with disabilities have limited economic resources and few connections to powerful public officials. See Patrick E. Tyler, “China Discus Champ: Alone, Disabled, and Barred,” New York Times (September 8, 1994):A3; C. Edwin Vaughan, “The Development of Public Policy and New Laws Concerning the Rights of People with Disabilities in the People’s Republic of China,” Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 4(1)(1993):131–140. 5: Social Roles amidst Disasters There have been countless stories of personal sacrifice emerge from the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. But perhaps the one that has come to epitomize the bravery demonstrated by so many is the action taken by some of the passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 in the skies over rural Pennsylvania. Made aware that attacks had already taken place against the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon, the passengers of this flight decided to act. At least four men, and perhaps other men and women who we will never know about, collaborated to challenge the armed hijackers, preventing them accomplishing yet another act of terrorism. These individuals, business people and professionals, parents and sons and daughters, acted in ways not defined by their existing social roles. Their decision to risk their lives came from a sense of responsibility to the community of which they were a part, in this case, the American nation. It isn’t often we are faced with life and death situations, but our response to them, beyond any personal choices, is dictated by our sense of right and wrong as defined by the culture to which we have been socialized. 6: Role Transitions Sociologists and other social scientists have examined the transitions that people make from one social role to another. Usually, researchers look at major turning points in the life course, such as rites of passage when people move between different sets of social networks. Sociologist Ira Silver notes that these studies fail to acknowledge the importance of material objects and the physical space in which role transitions take place. He explores one particular role transition, moving away to college, to illustrate that objects play a central role in how students contract their social identities. By social identifies is meant the meaning individuals perceive that others may attach to their particular social roles. Following the work of Erving Goffman and the dramaturgical approach, Silver pays specific attention to the objects that are used as “props” with which to manage the impressions that others form about the roles a given individual occupies. Students make what amount to strategic choices about which objects to leave at home, objects that Silver refers to as anchors or prior identities, and which ones to bring to school as master of new identities. The researcher conducted interviews with first- and second-year students at a residential university. Students indicated the strong ties they had to their anchors, those objects that they associated exclusively with prior stages in their lives, such as childhood or early adolescence. Students commented that leaving behind the objects representing the ties they felt to their parents seemed to assume that most of their prized possessions were left behind. The anchors that the students chose to bring with them often reflected a conscious assemblage of their different past activities or accomplishments. By contrast, markers (for example, record and CD collections and mementos from trips to exotic places) are objects symbolic of where the students saw themselves presently and of the type of impression they wanted to generate. For example, one female student made it clear that she never considered bringing her stuffed animals. Another made a similar statement about dolls. While this may seem obvious, such decisions are conscious efforts to move into another social role. Conscious efforts also go into deciding what to display on the walls of one’s room. One male student, for example, purposely put up an unusual Beatles poster to signal to others that he was a real fan and had not just picked one up that could be conveniently obtained anywhere. The research confirms the enduring accuracy of the famed interactionist Herbert Blumer’s three fundamental principles: (1) human beings act toward things on the basis of the meaning that the things have for them; (2) the meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with one’s peer group; and (3) these meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretive process used by people in dealing with the things they encounter (p. 2). Sources: Herbert Blumer. Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969. Blumer, “Role Transitions, Objects, and Identity,” Symbolic Interaction 19(1)(1996):1–20. 7: Organizational variables: How do sociologists study the wide range of formal organizations found in Canadian society? Sociologist Dean Champion has arranged the variables that have been studied under four headings: 1. Organizational structure a. Size: payroll or clientele b. Complexity: differentiation of duties c. Formalization: written rules or codes 2. Organizational control a. Size of administrative component b. Bureaucratization: degree of specialization and dependence on written rules c. Centralization: power retained by the central organizational hierarchy d. Level of authority: numbers of layers of different positions 3. Organizational behaviour a. Climate: feelings of workers toward the organization b. Effectiveness: ability of an organization to achieve its goals c. Goals: intentions and activities 4. Organizational change a. Labour turnover: percentage of people who leave in the course of a year b. Conflict: tension, interference, and disagreements c. Flexibility: degree to which an organization is adaptable to external and internal changes d. Growth: change in number of employees, assets, departments, new product markets, and so forth e. Administrative succession: turnover among administrative heads in an organization f. Technology: mechanisms or processes, including automation This model of variables for study is only one of many ways of examining organizations. Owing to the complexity and importance of this subject, there are many interpretations of organizational structure, control, behaviour, and change. See Champion. The Sociology of Organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. 8: Community Organizations: During the coming out period of the baby boomers between the late 1960s through to the end of the 1970s two social forces shifted the way services were provided for the marginalized in Canadian society. First, the economic boom that accompanied the emergence of the two-income family and its attendant inflation provided government with a bonanza of tax revenues. Second, the social conscience that baby boomers displayed in its antiestablishment movements of the 60s laid the foundation for a renewed vision of the social contract. These two phenomena led to an unparalleled expansion of government involvement in the provision of generous social programs. This expansion, despite lasting only just over a decade, set a precedent for expectations that governments at all levels have been trying to shed themselves of ever since. The economic downturn of the early 1980s produced the exploding debt of most industrialized countries including Canada, and as a result, a cascade of devolution of responsibility for social services began. First it was the federal government passing things off to the provinces. Then it was the provinces passing those charges on to the municipalities and districts. Finally, it was those authorities abdicating responsibility citing excessive debt. In the end, community organizations stepped forward to take up the slack. Perhaps the most recognizable symbol of this transition is the food bank. Just over 20 years ago, in an inner city neighbourhood of Edmonton, a community organization opened the doors of Canada’s first food bank. In doing so it effectively opened the door to government permanently abandoning at least part of its responsibility for the country’s poor. In his article “What is left of community?” Eric Shragge looks at how the role of community organizations in Canada has changed from being precipitators of social change, to being managers of service programs. See also: Eric Shragge, “What is left of community?” Canadian Dimension March-April 2002 vol 36 no 2 p41-2; Henri Lamoureux, Robert Mayer, and Jean Panet-Raymond, “Community Action: Organizing fro Social Change” Canadian Journal of Sociology, winter 1991 vol 16 no 1 p100-2; and Sheldon Goldenberg and Valerie A. Haines, “Social networks and institutional completeness: from territory to ties, Canadian Journal of Sociology, 1992 vol 17 no 3 p301-12. 9: Durkheim’s Mechanical and Organic Solidarity Sociologists have presented many typologies of social structure, among them the theories of Tönnies and Lenski. In addition, Émile Durkheim presented a twofold typology of mechanical and organic solidarity. In his Division of Labour (1933, original edition 1893), Durkheim argued that social structure depends on the level of division of labour in a society; in other words, on the manner in which tasks are performed. Thus, a task such as providing food can be carried out almost totally by one individual or can be divided among many people. The latter pattern typically occurs in modern societies; the tasks of cultivation, processing, distribution, and retailing a single food item are performed by literally hundreds of people. In societies in which there is minimal division of labour, a collective consciousness develops with an emphasis on group solidarity. Durkheim termed this mechanical solidarity, implying that all individuals perform the same tasks. No one needs to ask, “What do your parents do?” since all are engaged in similar work. Each person prepares food, hunts, makes clothing, builds homes, and so forth. People have few options regarding what to do with their lives, so there is little concern for individual needs. Instead, the group will is the dominating force in society. Both social interaction and negotiation are based on close, intimate, face-to-face social contacts. Since there is little specialization, there are few social roles. As societies become more advanced technologically, greater division of labour takes place. The person who cuts down timber is not the same person who puts up your roof. With increasing specialization, many different tasks must be performed by different individuals, even in manufacturing one item, such as a radio or stove. In general, social interactions become less personal than in societies characterized by mechanical solidarity. We begin relating to others on the basis of their social positions (“butcher,” “nurse”) rather than their distinctive human qualities. Statuses and social roles are in perpetual flux as the overall social structure of the society continues to change. In Durkheim’s terms, organic solidarity involves a collective consciousness resting on the need a society’s members have for one another. Once society becomes more complex and there is greater division of labour, no individual can go it alone. Dependence on others becomes essential for group survival. Durkheim chose the term organic solidarity, since, in his view, individuals become interdependent in much the same way as organs of the human body. See Émile Durkheim. Division of Labour in Society. Trans. George Simpson. New York: Free Press, 1933 (originally published in 1893). Class discussion topics: 1. Alternative Social Structure: As a starting point for emphasizing the importance of structure, outline the island social structure and subsequent breakdown of social control presented in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (London: Farber and Farber, 1954). Note that sociologists make a distinction between a slum (a deteriorated urban community) and a ghetto (an urban community that is home to a particular ethnic group). A ghetto, as originally discussed by Herbert Gans and later by Elliot Liebow and others may be a highly organized community, although it may not appear that way to outsiders. See Herbert Gans. The Urban Villagers. New York: Free Press, 1962. See also Elliot Liebow. Tally's Corner. Boston: Little, Brown, 1967. 2. Heightism: Among our ascriptive characteristics is our height. Does height represent an ascriptive criterion for social significance in the same way as skin colour and gender? If we think about the situations in which height does affect our behaviour (such as dating, choice of spouse, perception of one as an authority figure, and so forth) the answer will be a resounding “Yes.” See Leland P. Deck, “Buying Brains by the Inch,” The Journal of the College and University Personnel Association, 12(1968):33–37. 3. Physical Attractiveness as a Cultural Construction: See Wolfe, Naomi. 1991. The Beauty Myth. Toronto: Vintage Books. 4. Social Roles and Dating: Have class members indicate what they like and do not like about dating. Analyze the results in terms of males’ and females’ responses regarding role performance, differences between role expectations and actual role performance, and the line between “onstage” and “backstage” behaviour (impression management). The students may discuss the conclusions they drew from the survey and general trends in the rituals of dating. This activity always results in enthusiastic discussion as well as insights. 5. Social Participation: See De Ville, Barry. Community infrastructure and participation in culture : A study of the effects of the supply of cultural facilities and resources on cultural participation in thirty-one Canadian communities : A report. Ottawa : Secretary of State, 1980, c1981. 6. Hunting and Gathering: Richard Hurzeler has developed a class exercise to help re-create a hunting and gathering society. See the description on p. 219 of Teodora O. Amoloza and James Sikora (eds.). Introductory Sociology Resource Manual (4th ed.). Washington, D.C.: American Sociological Association, 1996. 7. Using Humour: David S. Adams has produced a monograph that includes funny examples that could be incorporated in lectures associated with this chapter. See Adams, “Interaction and Related Concepts.” In Using Humor in Teaching Sociology: A Handbook. Washington, DC: ASA Teaching Resources Center. See also Joseph E. Faulkner, "Forms of Human Organization. " In Sociology through Humor. New York: West, 1987. 8. Effects of Dynamite Charge: Judges often deliver a supplemental instruction that urges jurors to rethink their views in an effort to reach a unanimous verdict. See Vicki L. Smith and Saul M. Kassin, “Effects of the Dynamite Charge on the Deliberations of Deadlocked Mock Juries,” Law and Human Behaviour, 17(6)(1993):625–643. 9. Group Behaviour: Everyone has a horror story about working in a task group--the conflicting personalities, the confusion of processes, and the incompatibility of goals. Richard Ofshe’s classic compilation of articles on the dynamics of small groups offers insight into how and why small groups are so difficult to work within. See Ofshe, Richard J. Ed. 1973 Interpersonal Behaviour in Small Groups. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Prentice Hall. 10. Social Networks among the Homeless: See Cynthia J. Boagard, J. Jeff McConnell, Naomi Gerstel, and Michael Schwartz, "Homeless Mothers and Depression: Misdirected Policy," Journal of Health & Social Behaviour, 40(March 1999):46–62. See also Susan T. Ennett, Susan L. Bailey, and E. Belle Federman, "Social Network Characteristics Associated with Risky Behaviours among Runaway and Homeless Youth," Journal of Health & Social Behaviour, 40(March 1999): 63–78. 11. Nepotism: Employment of relatives is based on the ascriptive characteristic “relationship”; however, prohibiting nepotism often serves to prevent women from gaining access to jobs for which they qualify. Discuss examples of nepotism and cases in which it may have been wrongly tolerated or inappropriately denied. Topics for student research: Sustainable Networks: Creech, Heather. Strategic intentions : managing knowledge networks for sustainable development / Winnipeg : International Institute for Sustainable Development, c2001 * Interracial Friends: See Maureen T. Hallinan and Richard A. Williams, “Interracial Friendship Choices in Secondary Schools,” American Sociological Review, 54(February 1989): 67–78. Gerhard Lenski: See Gerhard Lenski and Patrick D. Nolan, “Trajectories of Development:: A Test of Ecological-Evolutionary Theory,” Social Forces 63(September 1984):1–23; and “Trajectories of Development: A Further Test,” Social Forces, 64(March 1984):744–795. Economic Prosperity and the Social Structure: See Dayton-Johnson, Jeff. 2001. Social Cohesion and Economic Prosperity. Toronto: J. Lorimer. Networking among Men and Women: See Gwen Moore, “Structural Determinants of Men’s and Women’s Personal Networks,” American Sociological Review, 55 (October 1990):726–735. Social Interaction and the Media: See Koelsch, Frank. The Infomedia Revolution : How it is Changing our World and Your life. /Toronto : McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1995 Prison Interaction: See Geoffrey Hunt, et al., “Changes in Prison Culture: Prison Gangs and the Case of the ‘Pepsi Generation,'” Social Problems, 40(August 1993):398–409. Social Networks in China: See Peter M. Blau, Canching Ruan, and Monika Ardelt, “Interpersonal Choice and Networks in China,” Social Forces, 69(June 1991):1037–1062. Women in Social Networks: See Gwen Moore, “Women in Elite Positions: Insiders or Outsiders,” Sociological Forum, 3(Fall 1988):566–585. AIDS and Structural Support: See Rowe, William and Bill Ryan. Eds. 1998. Social Work and HIV: the Canadian Experience. Don Mills, Ont. Oxford University Press. Joiners: Membership commitment to voluntary associations is considered in David Knoke, “Commitment and Detachment in Voluntary Associations,” American Sociological Review, 46(April 1981):141–158. Maternalist Organizations: See Linda M. Blum and Elizabeth A. Vandenvater, “Mother to Mother: A Maternalist Organization in Late Capitalist America,” Social Problems, 40(August 1993):185–300. Organizational Effectiveness: See Renee R. Anspach, “Everyday Methods for Assessing Organizational Effectiveness,” Social Problems (February 1991):1–19. Pink Punk Subculture: The Punk subculture has been around long enough to establish its value as a social phenomenon. See Canadian Woman Studies, December 2000 - February 2001 vol 21 no 1 p46-50. You can run but you can't hide: the incorporation of riot grrrl into mainstream culture. Alison Jacques. Canadian Woman Studies December 2000 - February 2001 vol 21 no 1 p46-50 Pretty in punk: girls' resistance in a boys' subculture. Lauraine Leblanc. Canadian Review of Sociology & Anthropology February 2000 vol 37 no 1 p113-14.Revolution, girl style: meet the Riot Grrrls — a sassy new breed of feminists for the MTV age. Farai Chideya. Newsweek November 23 1992 vol 120 no 21 p84-6 Gangs: Bloody biker war: an inside look at Quebec's battlefield. Daniel Wolf. Maclean's January 15 1996 vol 109 no 3 p10-11. Reference Group Theory: See John K. Cochran and Leonard Beeghley, “The Influence of Religion on Attitudes toward Nonmarital Sexuality: A Preliminary Assessment of Reference Group Theory,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 30(March 1991):45–62. Sexual Harassment in High Schools: See Valerie E. Lee, Robert G. Croninger, Eleanor Linn, and Xianglei Chen, “The Culture of Sexual Harassment in Secondary Schools,” American Educational Research Journal, 33(2)(1996):383–417. Additional audiovisual materials: AIDS at Issue: Coping with an Epidemic (1992, 22m). This program gives voice to the many moral, legal, ethical, and economic concerns that the epidemic raises. It presents a broad range of opinions on such issues as AIDS education in the schools, needle-exchange programs, mandatory testing, the rights of people with AIDS, condom advertising on television, and more. The magnitude of this epidemic is forcing people with deeply held beliefs on personal freedom to confront the conflict between their principles and their fear of AIDS. . Coming Out under Fire (1994, B&W, 71m). Explores through interviews the roots and impact of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Globalization and Maquiladoras ( 2006: 2012, 4;04m(YouTube), 2:58m (New York Times)). These two clips examine the growing phenomenon of low wage work in the global economy. .McDonald’s Culture Jam and the Sociology of Health (2007, YouTube, 1:13m). This jam culture montage helps to draw attention to social problems and health problems facing a “fast food nation.” Sexual Harassment: It’s Not Just Courtesy—It’s the Law (1990, 27m). Poignant vignettes illustrate the adverse impact of sexual harassment on individuals and organizations. Through the use of situational examples, this tape provides insights into how best to handle unwelcome sexual behaviour and demands for sexual favours in return for career advancement. It also covers the law regarding sexual harassment. What Happened to the American Dream? (2007, 24:15 m). This PBS production examines the disconnect between the national dream and the economic reality of many American workers. Additional readings: Altman, Dennis. 2002. Global Sex. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. A look at how mass media, transportation, new technologies, and multinational corporations are reshaping our sexual practices and views in an increasingly globalized world. Bakan, Joel. 2004. The Corporation: The Pathological pursuit of profit and power. Toronto: Viking Canada. In this book, Bakan examines the modern business corporation – its history, its power, and its relationships to government, society, and the environment – likening it to a psychopathic personality. Beebe, Stephen. Communicating in Small Groups. New York: Longman. A guide for successful interaction in small groups, especially in educational and business settings. Berger, Peter L., and Thomas Luckmann. The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 1966. An explanation of how reality is created and modified through social interaction. Blumberg, Rhoda Lois. Organizations in Contemporary Society. Englewood, Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1987. A good survey of recent research concerning formal organizations and bureaucracies. Deutsch, Morton, and Robert M. Krauss. Theories in Social Psychology. New York: Basic Books, 1965. This book offers a valuable summary of role and reference group theory, as well as profiles of such influential sociologists as George Herbert Mead, Robert Merton, and Erving Goffman. Epstein, Steven. Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and Politics of Knowledge. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. A sociologist looks at how people with AIDS and sympathetic supporters have created a social movement seeking to increase support for research into the disease. Ferguson, Kathy E. The Feminist Case against Bureaucracy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1984. Ferguson draws on a broad range of social science literature to document how women are at a comparative disadvantage in contemporary bureaucracies. Fisher, B. Aubrey, and Donald G. Ellis. Small Group Decision Making: Communication and the Group Process (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, 1990. Communication specialist Donald G. Ellis has revised the examination of group structure, decision-making, and conflict resolution by renowned authority B. Aubrey Fisher. Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York: Doubleday, 1959. One of Goffman's major works. A fascinating introduction to the dramaturgical approach that explains social interaction in everyday settings. Gahagan, Jacqueline (ed.). 2013. Women and HIV Prevention:Implications for Research, Policy and Practice. Toronto:Women’s Press. Hall, Richard. Organizations: Structure and Process (4th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 1987. A textbook used in many sociology of organizations courses that provides a broad survey of the internal workings of these groups and their relationship to one another. Homans, George C. The Human Group. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1950. This book provides a summary of major studies on small groups, including the Hawthorne studies and research on the Norton Street gang. Jackson, Andrew. 2010. Work and Labour in Canada: Critical Issues(2nd ed.). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc/WP. A comprehensive examination of work and labour in the Canadian context. Jacobs, Jerry. The Mall: An Attempted Escape from Everyday Life. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland. 1984. An analysis of social interaction in the omnipresent suburban mall. Kollock, Peter, and Jodi O'Brien (eds.). The Production of Reality. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1993. This anthology takes the interactionist approach to social structure and social reality. Levin, Jack. Sociological Snapshots. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1993. A series of vignettes that examine social structure and change in everyday life. Murphy, Julien S. The Constructed Body. AIDS, Reproductive Technology, and Ethics. Albany, NY: State of New York University Press, 1995. Looks at medical ethics confronted by new developments at the close of the 20th century, such as AIDS and new birth technologies. Perrow, Charles. Complex Organizations (3rd ed.). New York: Random House, 1986. An overview of organizational analysis with an emphasis on economic theories of complex organizations. Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of Society (rev. ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1996. A look at the changing nature of contemporary life, with its impact on social behaviour and institutions. Rowe, William and Ryan, Bill (eds.) Social Work and HIV: The Canadian Experience. Don Mills, ON: OUP, 1998. Salla, Vivian. 2011. Working in the Global Era: Canadian Perspectives ( 2nd ed.) Toronto: CSPI. This reader examines work from a critical, Canadian perspective. Shaw, Marvin E. Group Dynamics: The Psychology of Small Group Behaviour (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981. A psychologist offers an extensive overview of small group research, including studies on the formation of groups and the effects of physical environment. Ursel, Jane. Private Lives, Public Policy: 100 Years of State Intervention in the Family. Toronto: Women’s Press, 1992. Wright, Eric R., and Michael Polgar (eds.) Teaching the Sociology of HIV/AIDS: Syllabi, Lectures, and Other Resources for Instructors and Students. Washington, DC: The American Sociological Association Teaching Resource Center, 1997. A collection of syllabi and articles for explaining the sociological interest in this subject and for teaching courses and units on HIV/AIDS. Gesellschaft versus Gemeinschaft – Characteristics of our communities Class exercise for Chapter 5, Social Interaction and Social Structure Think about the community where you grew up, or perhaps the community you live in now, if they are different. Look at the two lists below, and for each characteristic, determine which column fits or describes your community the best. When you are done, share your answers with a partner, and explain how your community fits one side or the other better. What kind of community would you like to live in, and why? Describes my community (a lot, a little, not so much…) Gemeinschaft Describes my community (a lot, a little, not so much…) Gesellschaft People share a feeling of community – everyone comes from pretty much the same background, and has done similar things. People are all different, and they don’t seem to have much in common. Their differences appear more obvious than their similarities. Social interactions, including negotiations, are intimate and familiar. I know quite a few people in my community. Social interactions, including negotiations, are more likely to be task-specific. I know people in different realms – work, school, home – but they are kept quite separate. There is a spirit of cooperation and unity of will. When tough times strike, the community tries to pull together. Self-interests dominate – everyone seems to be “out for themselves.” Tasks and personal relationships cannot be separated. You are likely to know the people who do different things in your community, and there may be only one or two of them. When you go to a store, you might know the person working there quite well. The task being performed is paramount; relationships are subordinate. There are lots of people doing every “task” that your community needs – you are unlikely to know people personally when you go to the store, for example. There is little emphasis on individual privacy – everyone knows what is going on with everyone else. Privacy is valued. It is likely that you don’t even know the person or people that live next door to you. Informal social control predominates. Formal social control is evident. If anything happens, the police are called. There is little tolerance of deviance. People don’t like it when someone is “different,” and it shows in the way they act towards that person or persons. There is greater tolerance of deviance. There are many types of people where I live. People can act in a “different” way and nobody pays much attention. Emphasis is on ascribed statuses. Most people do what their parents did, or they have inherited a status from their parents or family. There is more emphasis on achieved statuses. It is unlikely that you will follow in your parents’ footsteps. Most people choose what they want to ‘be.’ Social change is relatively slow and limited. It seems like nothing ever changes in the place where I live/grew up. Social change is very rapid and evident, even within one generation. The place I live is always changing, whether it is buildings or the influx of new and different people. 5-17 © 2011 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited Thinking About Movies:________________________________________ Hairspray (Adam Shankman, 2007) This movie about a teen dancing show, “The Corny Collins Show,” illustrates the concepts of in-groups and out-groups on two levels. Racial conflict separates the high school students into an in-group of white cast members and an out-group of excluded blacks. And an overweight student, Tracy (Nikki Blonsky), puts her into the out-group until her dancing skill earns her a place in the in-group. For Your Consideration 1. How does this movie represent in-group virtues and out-group vices? 2. Who joins the coalition of youths who work to integrate “The Corny Collins Show”? How does their social network help them to achieve their goal? 5-18 © 2011 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited 6 STRATIFICATION IN CANADA • Contents: Learning Objectives Using Text Boxes to stimulate discussion Video suggestions Classroom activities Key points from the text Additional lecture ideas Classroom discussion topics Topics for students research Additional Audiovisual suggestions Additional Readings Exploring Your Beliefs about Equality in Society Exercise Thinking About Movies Learning Objectives: 6.1 Describe the various systems of stratification. Discuss the various sociological perspectives on stratification. Identify the methods used to measure stratification. 6.2 Discuss the distribution of wealth and income in Canada. Discuss the issues surrounding the study of poverty in Canada. Discuss the relationship between stratification and life chances. 6.3 Define social mobility and identify the various types of social mobility. Discuss the impact of various social factors on social mobility. Using Text Boxes to stimulate discussion: Sociology in the Global Community: Slavery in the Twenty-First Century. Around the world, at least 27 million people were still enslaved at the beginning of the twenty-first century. And yet the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is supposedly binding on all members of the United Nations, holds that “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms” (Masland 1992:30, 32). Applying Theory: 1) According to conflict theorists, why are many bonded labourers around the world in the position of slaves? 2) What explanations might some feminist sociologists have for the varying incidence rates of forced sex work from one country to another? Sociology in the Global Community: Poverty and Global Inequality. Make Poverty History, an alliance of charities, religious organizations, trade unions, anti-poverty groups, rock stars and celebrities, mobilized to promote global awareness (e.g. Live 8) and to apply pressure on the G8 leaders when they met in Scotland for the G8 Summit. Make Poverty History called for governments and international decision makers to change policies regarding three inextricably connected areas – trade, debt and aid – as they relate to the dealings between the world’s richest and poorest countries. The G8 Summit, held in Ontario in 2010, involved discussions between the G8 leaders and those of seven African country leaders on maternal and child health, poverty, pledged aid, and economic development. Applying theory: 1) Have you ever been involved in a fundraising or awareness-raising campaign in your community or university to fight poverty in Africa? 2) Do you think that Canada is doing enough in its efforts to close the gap between the rich and the poor countries of the world? Social Policy and Stratification – Rethinking Social Assistance in North America and Europe. By the 1990s, there was intense debate in Canada over the issue of welfare. Welfare programs were costly, and there was widespread concern (however unfounded) that welfare payments discouraged recipients from seeking jobs. A 2006 study released by the National Council of Welfare showed that the number of people receiving social assistance has decreased by more than one million between 1995 and 2005. A Statistics Canada study attributed the decline to new rules that make it tougher to qualify for social assistance and to improvements in the economies of various provinces. Many sociologists tend to view the debate over welfare throughout industrialized nations from a conflict perspective: the “haves” in positions of policy making listen to the interests of other “haves,” while the cries of the “have-nots” are drowned out. From a conflict perspective, the backlash against welfare recipients reflects deep fears and hostility toward the county’s poor and dispossessed. Those who take a conflict perspective also urge policy makers and the general public to look closely at corporate welfare, the tax breaks, direct payments, and grants that the government makes to corporations, rather than to focus on the relatively small allowances being given to mothers on social assistance and their children. Applying theory: 1) What might be the focus of some feminist sociologists as they studied the changes in welfare reform in Canada and elsewhere? 2) How would you explain the trend of the decreasing number of Canadians receiving social assistance? 3) Have you or has anyone you know applied for social assistance? If so, what caused you or them to do so? Video suggestions: No Logo (42 min., 2003, Media Education Foundation). This film would work well with the opening vignette on Nike, as Naomi Klein explores the world of corporate branding, and the effects this has on the global economy. It can be used in sections. Using hundreds of media examples, No Logo shows how the commercial takeover of public space, destruction of consumer choice, and replacement of real jobs with temporary work (the dynamics of corporate globalization) impact everyone, everywhere. It also draws attention to the democratic resistance arising globally to challenge the hegemony of brands. No Place Called Home (57 min., 2004, National Film Board of Canada). Director Craig Chivers follows the day-to-day struggles encountered by Kay Rice, her partner Karl and six children, whose goal is to break the generational cycle of poverty. The film has almost no stereotypical portrayals of poverty, and it shows how difficult it is for a family without income to keep a roof over their heads. Life and Debt (86 min., 2005, Tuff Gong Pictures Production) Jamaica became an independent country from Great Britain in 1962. It is the land of sea, sand and sun, but it is also a prime example of the complexities of economic globalization on the world's developing countries. The film effectively portrays the relationship between Jamaican poverty and the practices of international lending agencies while driving home the devastating consequences of globalization. The Pursuit Of Happiness ( Director: Gabriele Muccino, 2006) Chris Gardner (Will Smith), recently separated from his wife and entrusted with his son's care, has landed an internship at a stockbrokerage firm. The only problem is that it is unpaid, and Chris is broke. Despite his limited life chances, Chris resolves to break into the relatively high-prestige stockbroker's world even as he struggles to provide for his son. From a sociological perspective, The Pursuit of Happiness is both realistic and unrealistic. The movie offers a compassionate, true-to-life portrait of the underclass, showing how Chris works tirelessly to acquire the resources many of us take for granted, including food and housing. Yet there is no explicit mention of the effect of race. The relative ease with which Chris is accepted in the overwhelmingly White brokerage ignores the rigidity of the social class system toward members of minority groups. Women’s Bank of Bangladesh (47 min., 1997, MovieTron/Wildshot Pictures). This film is good for showing an interactionist, micro approach to stratification. More than 100 million people live below poverty level in Bangladesh - many of them women. The film focuses on the work of the Grameen Bank and the phenomenon of “micro-financing” – which are very small loan made mostly to women only. The film shows how a very small amount of money, sometimes as little as $20, can help women in Bangladesh and their families begin to prosper. Classroom activities: Exploring Your Beliefs about Equality in Society. At the very back of this IM chapter is a class exercise, ready for copying, asking students to distribute money among a number of occupations and people. It works well in groups of four or five people. One of the keys to good participation is to have each group hand in a sheet giving their division of income among all the people on the list. It works well if each group reports to the class how and why they came up with the division that they did. You are likely to find that students fight hard to replicate the existing structure of inequality – they are often quite startled to find that while they are learning to think critically about society, and they think in principle that poverty is a “bad” thing – in this exercise they usually allocate income based on taken for granted societal prestige rankings, much like the one on page 172 (although this is an American prestige scale). If you have a class with many international students, sometimes you will get a different distribution of resources. It is very important to tell the students that people on the list get ONLY the money that they allot to them. Otherwise, they tend to think that special needs people will get welfare or some form of government assistance. This exercise is adapted from one by Judy Aulette, in Kathleen McKinney, Frank Beck and Barbara Heyl, Sociology Through Active Learning. (2000) Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press. Key points from the text: Stratification and Social Inequality: The term social inequality describes a condition in which members of a society have different amounts of wealth, prestige, or power. Some degree of social inequality characterizes every society. When a system of social inequality is based on a hierarchy of groups, sociologists refer to it as stratification: a structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society. The term income refers to salaries and wages. By contrast, wealth encompasses all of a person’s material assets, including land, stocks, and other types of property. Systems of Stratification: The most extreme form of legalized social inequality is slavery; enslaved individuals are owned by other people. Castes are hereditary systems of rank, usually religiously dictated, that tend to be fixed and immobile. A class system is a social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility. In contrast to slavery and caste systems, the boundaries between classes are imprecisely defined, and people can move from on strum, or level, of society to another. Even so, class systems maintain stable stratification hierarchies and patterns of class divisions, and they, too, are marked by unequal distribution of wealth and power. Statistics reflecting personal wealth or net worth (assets minus debts) demonstrate an enormous gap between the richest 20 percent and the poorest 20 percent of Canadian families. In 2005, for example, the poorest 20 percent of Canadian families had an average net worth of -$2400 (meaning that they owed more than they owned), while the richest 20 percent had an average net worth of $1264 200. What is most distressing about this disparity is that the poorest 20 percent control 0.1 percent of the total wealth of Canadian families, while the richest 20 percent control 69 percent of the total wealth. The Functionalist View of Stratification: In the view of Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, society must distribute its members among a variety of social positions. Davis and Moore argue that stratification is universal and that social inequality is necessary so that people will be motivated to fill functionally important positions. But, critics say, unequal rewards are not the only means of encouraging people to fill critical positions and occupations. Even if stratification is inevitable, the functionalist explanation for differential rewards does not explain the wide disparity between the rich and poor. Conflict View of Stratification: Karl Marx’s View: In Marx’s view, social relations during any period of history depend on who controls the primary mode of economic production., such as land or factories. Using this type of analysis, Marx examined social relations within capitalism – an economic system in which the means of production are largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits. Marx focused on the two classes that began to emerge as the estate system declined, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie, or capitalist class, owns the means of production, such as factories and machinery, while the proletariat is the working class. According to Marx, exploitation of the proletariat will inevitably lead to the destruction of the capitalist system. But first, the working class must develop class consciousness – a subjective awareness of common vested interests and the need for collective political action to bring about social change. Workers must overcome what Marx termed false consciousness, or an attitude held by members of a class that does not accurately reflect its objective position. Conflict View of Stratification:Ralf Dahrendorf’s View: Contemporary conflict theorists believe that human beings are prone to conflict over such scarce resources as wealth, status, and power. However, where Marx focused primarily on class conflict, more recent theorists have extended this analysis to include conflicts based on gender, race, age, and other dimensions. British sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf modified Marx’s analysis of capitalist society to apply to modern capitalist societies. Conflict View of Stratification:Max Weber’s View: Unlike Karl Marx, Max Weber insisted that no single characteristic (such as class) totally defines a person’s position within the stratification system. He identified three analytically distinct components of stratification: class, status, and power. Class refers to people who have a similar level of wealth and income. Status group refers to people who rank the same in prestige or lifestyle, while power is the ability to exercise will over others. A person’s position in a stratification system reflects some combination of his or her class, status, and power. At the same time, these three dimensions of stratification may operate somewhat independently in determining a person’s position. Feminist Views of Stratification: While diverse, feminist theories believe that gender inequality is pervasive and women are the subordinated and dominated sex. Feminist thinkers, however, differ greatly in their views on the root causes of gender inequality; on how gender inequality manifests itself in homes, workplaces, and political arenas; and on how to address this inequality. Interactionist Views of Stratification: Interactionist thinkers are micro in their orientation, focusing on the “person-to-person” ways in which stratification is maintained, perhaps in the forms of interpersonal and non-verbal communication. Goffman theorized on the activity of deference, a symbolic act that conveys appreciation from one person to another. Anti-Colonial Views: Anti-colonial views of stratification reject the notion that social inequality can be reduced to one element, such as class. Class reductionism – attributing all forms of oppression and inequality to class, while ignoring or minimizing factors such as race, colonialism, gender, and sexuality – is rejected by ant-colonial thinkers. Aboriginal people of Canada, for example, continue to experience powerlessness and poverty as a result of the legacy of colonialism. Lenski’s View of Stratification: Gerhard Lenski, Jr., described how economic systems change as their level of technology becomes more complex, beginning with hunting and gathering and culminating eventually with industrial society. As a society advances in technology, it becomes capable of producing a considerable surplus of goods. The emergence of surplus resources greatly expands the possibilities for inequality in status, influence, and power and allows a well-defined, rigid class system to develop. Measuring Social Class: The objective method of measuring social class views class largely as a statistical category. Researchers assign individuals to social classes on the basis of criteria such as occupation, education, income, and residence. The term prestige refers to the respect and admiration that an occupation holds in a society. Esteem refers to the reputation that a specific person has earned within an occupation. Poverty: Approximately one out of every six children in this country lives below the low-income cutoff established by the federal government. The 2004 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada reported that just over one million children are living in low-income households and that one-third of all Canadian children have experienced poverty for at least one year since 1996. Although Canada’s federal government does not have an official poverty line, it does have what is called an LICO (Low Income Cutoff ), which is calculated for families of different sizes, and for individuals, living in different communities of varying size, from rural to urban. If a family spends more than 20 percent more than the average family does on the essentials (e.g. food, shelter, and clothing), it falls below the LICO. Canada’s poverty rate, although higher than those in Norway, Finland, and Sweden, is significantly lower than that of the United States. Absolute poverty refers to a minimum level of subsistence that no family should be expected to live below. Relative poverty is a floating standard of deprivation by which people at the bottom of a society, whatever their lifestyles, are judged to be disadvantaged in comparison with the nation as a whole. The underclass is a term used to describe the long-term poor who lack training and skills. In Canada, this class is often associated with such factors as race, ethnicity, age, disability, and geographic region. An increasing proportion of the low-income people in Canada are women, many of whom are single parents. Approximately 46 percent of Canadians with low incomes in 2000 were in lone-parent families that had at least one child under age 18; the vast majority of these families were headed by women. Canadian women’s wages remain unequal to those of Canadian men, and many women in Canadian workplaces still hold jobs in female-dominated job ghettos. This alarming reality, known as the feminization of poverty, is evident not just in Canada but also around the world. Life Chances: Max Weber saw class as closely related to people’s life chances – that is, their opportunities to provide themselves with material goods, positive living conditions, and favourable life experiences. Life chances are reflected in such measures as housing, education, and health. In times of danger, the affluent and powerful have a better chance of surviving than people of ordinary means. People in low-income families are more likely to be affected by crime, and negatively evaluated by the criminal justice system. Yet another aspect of social inequality has emerged – the digital divide. People who are poor, who have less education, who are members of minority groups, or who live in rural communities are not getting connected to the Internet. Open versus Closed Stratification Systems: The term social mobility refers to movement of individuals or groups from one position of a society’s stratification system to another. An open system implies that the position of each individual is influenced by the person’s achieved status. At the other extreme of social mobility is the closed system, which allows little or no possibility of moving up. Types of Social Mobility: Horizontal mobility is moving to another position of the same rank. Vertical mobility is movement from one social position, upwards or downwards, to another of a different rank. Occupational mobility such as intergenerational mobility involves changes in the social position of children relative to their parents. Intragenerational mobility involves changes in social position within a person’s adult life. Social Mobility in Canada: In Canada, there is limited upward mobility in the middle ranges of the Canadian occupational hierarchy, the richest and poorest individuals tend to reproduce the income level of their fathers. In Canada, achievement is not simply based on hard work and merit; ascribed characteristics, such as race, gender, and ethnicity are significant in their influence on a person’s chances for both intergenerational and intragenerational occupational mobility. Additional lecture ideas: 1: Class and Power in Canada Leo Panitch is one of Canada’s leading social critics, focusing on the shifting role of organized labour in the power hierarchy of this country. Panitch sees the Canadian class structure as unique at all levels, presenting a model of class formation and organization that is in contrast to both the traditional American and European forms. Rather than being a homogeneous group with shared history and common economic and political interests, both the elite and the working class of Canada are comprised of distinct subgroups. For example, unlike the American industrial class the members of which came to be the dominant economic force in U.S. social development, the monied elite in Canada derived from three wealth-creating sectors. In the beginning, it was the individuals and groups associated with the resource industries—initially the fur trade—that accumulated vast fortunes. These barons of fur and wood and minerals were followed by the industrialists who brought Canada into the machine age in the early decades of the twentieth century. Overlapping these two within the capitalist class were the financiers. Men of wealth who established the Big Five of Canadian financial institutions: the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Bank, the Toronto Dominion, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and the Bank of Nova Scotia. Canada’s working class reflected this same diversity of origins and priorities. Unlike other jurisdictions where the emergence of the industrial workplace saw a decline in the numbers and importance of the rural population, in Canada, farmers and wage earners evolved simultaneously to form the proletariat. The result was that the working class found itself embroiled, in Panitch’s words, in “…a cacophony of interlocking but distinct struggles in the economy, polity, and culture What this has meant for both the elite and the working class in Canada is that their interests have remained less than cohesive. See “Class and power in Canada.” Leo Panitch. Monthly Review April 1985 v36 p1 (13) 2: Comparison of Perspectives on Stratification QUESTION FUNCTIONALIST VIEW CONFLICT VIEW LENSKI’S VIEW Is stratification universal? Yes Yes Yes Is stratification necessary? Some level of stratification is necessary to ensure that key social positions are filled. But slavery and caste systems are unnecessary. Stratification is not necessary. In fact, it is a major source of societal tension and conflict. Although stratification has been present in all societies, its nature and extent vary enormously depending on level of economic development. What is the basis for stratification? Societal-held values. Ruling-class values Both-ruling class and societal-held values. Will there be changes over time in a society’s level of stratification? The degree of stratification may change gradually. The degree of stratification must be reduced so that society will become more equitable. There will be evolutionary changes in the degree of stratification. 3: Measuring Social Class: Subjective and Reputational Methods In addition to the objective method of measuring social class, sociologists use two other techniques: the subjective method and the reputational method. The subjective method of measuring social class permits individuals to locate themselves within a system of social ranking. Class is viewed as a social rather than a statistical category. The subjective method assumes that people can identify their membership in a social class just as they would their race, gender or age--other types of social differentiation. In a sense, this method measures the class consciousness discussed by Karl Marx. Although it is easy to use, the subjective method has several shortcomings. In defining their own social class, people may reveal their aspirations rather than their actual positions; that is, they may respond with a type of false consciousness. For example, many people say they are “middle-class” when in fact their earnings and savings are too low for this classification. In addition, there is a general tendency for Canadians to call themselves “middle-class” or “working-class,” perhaps reflecting the importance of equality as a value in our society, and to avoid identifying with the elitist upper class or the disadvantaged lower class. National surveys show that an overwhelming majority of Americans define themselves as middle- or working-class. Thus, the subjective method may convey a false impression that there is little class differentiation in Canada. With the reputational method of measuring social class, class membership depends on the evaluation of selected observers. That is, you will be considered a member of a given social class if others see you that way. Like the subjective method, the reputational method views class as a social category. Sociologists using the reputational method call on a group of “judges,” who are familiar with a community and all its members, to rate the positions of various individual within the stratification system. W. Lloyd Warner determined a person’s social class by asking others how the person ranked within the community. See Toby Young, “Humbler Hacks,” Spectator, March 31, 2001 v286 i9008 p62 and Warner and Paul S. Lunt. The Status System of a Modern Community. New Haven, CT.: Yale University Press, 1942. 4: Understanding Income and Wealth Inequality: A Classroom Exercise Generally we all recognize that there are very wealthy people and there are very poor people, but how does this recognition translate into everyday life and everyday decision-making? The following exercise seems to help us appreciate the level of inequality in our society. Split the class into small groups of five to seven students each and ask them to arrive at a common answer to the question: “How much would you and a date or any couple spend on a nice date?” Usually someone will ask “How ‘nice’?” and the instructor may respond to this query with something like “a nice date means an event for which you have done some planning, not just spur-of-the-moment but not a once-a-year occasion like a formal dance involving new clothes.” Dividing the class seems to work effectively with even a hundred students. Expect to see figures in the $50 to $100 range. With the groups reporting back I sum the responses to get a class average and use this in exploring the levels of income inequality in Canada. Since the 1941 census, research on income distribution in Canada has consistently reported that the top quintile of Canadians wage earners takes home 40% of the total income, and the bottom quintile takes home 4% of the total. This is familiar as the ‘4/40 Rule’. You can use the class average for the cost of a date to demonstrate the disparity of income in Canada. You begin by multiplying the class average by 5 to represent the total available to the five income quintiles in Canada. If the class average is $60, then there would be $300 available for distribution. Using the 4/40 distribution, means that those in the top quintile would have $120 each ($60 X 40%) for their date, and those in the bottom quintile would have $12 for their date. I then ask half the student groups to consider themselves to be part of the top quintile and the other half to represent the bottom twenty percent. Both groups are asked to describe what would their date be like. The contrasts are immediate: some are going out to dinner and a movie with refreshments afterward while others will rent a video and pop popcorn. We can take this exercise one step further by asking the members of the two groups to imagine living for a week on the amount they’ve been allocated. Rather than having to endure the trivial ‘hardship’ of the date, the bottom quintile group will now be confronting the realities of trying to survive on a fraction of the income that those in the top group enjoy. Use the exercise to explore the specifics of the kinds of discrepancies that would result between the standards of living of the two groups, After, ask the students to talk about perceptions of their own and the other group. Sources for data: The Daily, Family Income. Tuesday, November 6, 2001. Cat. No. 75-202-XPE The Daily Wealth Inequality, Friday, February 22, 2002. Cat. No. 11F0019MIE. 5: College as a Neutralizing Influence in Canadian Society. A study released by Statistics Canada in late 2001 concludes that while family income status can have a significant effect on the probability that someone will attend university, it has little if any impact on their chances of going to a college or CEGEP. By contrast, someone whose family income put them in the top group was 2.5 times more likely to have attended university than someone from a family in the lowest income category. Source: Statistics Canada, The Daily. Participation in Postsecondary Education and Family Income. 6: Is There a “Culture of Poverty?” Anthropologist Oscar Lewis, in several publications based on research conducted among Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, identified what he called the “culture of poverty.” Lewis believes that poverty has a strong effect on family life and leaves a negative mark that upward mobility may not erase. In other words, the implication of Lewis’s “culture of poverty” is that the poor will continue to exhibit their deviant lifestyle—“living for today,” not planning for the future, having no enduring commitment to marriage, lacking a work ethic, and so forth—even when they move out of the slums. Lewis stresses the inevitability of living out the culture of poverty regardless of later events. See Oscar Lewis. Five Families. New York: Basic Books, 1959. Lewis. La Vida. New York: Random House, 1965; Lewis, “The Culture of Poverty,” Scientific American, 215(October 1966): 1925. This argument has been widely employed to justify antipoverty programs designed to bring “middle-class virtues” to the children of the poor. It is also used to discourage giving poor people control over programs aimed at assisting them. To say that Lewis and similar thinkers have touched off a controversy is an understatement. Critics argue that Lewis sought out exotic, pathological behaviour. He ignored behaviour indicating that even among the poor, most people live fairly conventionally and strive to achieve goals similar to those of the middle class. For example, other researchers have found that low-income households go further than middle-class households in choosing less-expensive items and waste even less. William Ryan contends that lack of money is the cause of poor people’s problems and of any discrepancies in behaviour—not inherent disabilities or aftereffects of child-rearing practices. It is unfair, according to Ryan, to blame the poor for their lack of money, low educational levels, poor health, and low-paying jobs. See Ryan. Blaming the Victim (rev. ed.). New York: Random House, 1976. Ask your students to consider whether Lewis’ conclusions are applicable to Canada. Have them try to think of examples that might qualify as indicators that the poor in this country live within a class culture that reflects their poverty of both condition and opportunity. Then, have them attempt to do the same thing by considering the wealthy members of Canadian society. Do they have a culture that is distinct to their socioeconomic group? 7: Political Coalitions and the Poor in Developing Countries Bringing about reforms that are intended to reduce poverty is not necessarily a matter of simply pitting the poor against the nonpoor. Although many economic policies benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, certain approaches, according to the World Bank, can draw support from coalitions that cut across the poor-nonpoor divide. An example of a poor-nonpoor coalition can be found in food pricing policies. In many African and Latin American countries, the agricultural sector has long suffered from policies that favour industry and cities. For example, food prices are frequently kept low, which benefits the urban poor, industrial workers, and business owners; but this policy functions at the expense of the entire rural sector, including the poor. In Argentina, Chile, and Peru, the success of tax reforms and other reforms designed to benefit the poor has generally turned on the stance of white-collar workers, professionals, bureaucrats, and small- and medium-size business interests. Redistributive policies have been more likely to succeed when these sectors share in transfers directed primarily to the poor. The same is no doubt true in many other countries. The Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Scheme in India transfers income from the urban nonpoor to the rural poor, but it nevertheless enjoys wide political support because the urban nonpoor see the reduction of migration to Bombay as a benefit, and landowners may look favourably on the scheme because it helps to stabilize the rural labour force and because it creates infrastructure in the countryside. See World Development Report 1990. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1990, p. 52. 8: Self-Sufficiency Project The Self-Sufficiency Project is a social experiment established in New Brunswick and British Columbia as a mechanism to evaluate the value of offering income supplements to assist long-term welfare recipients in returning to the fulltime workforce. The project provided an earnings supplement to randomly selected single parents who had had left income assistance after being on it for more than 12 months and who were employed at least 30 hours per week. This was the Program Group. A control group, comprised of individuals who did not have access to the supplement, was used for comparison. Members of the Program Group were eligible to receive a supplement which brought their incomes up to a provincial maximum--$30 000 in New Brunswick and $37 000 in British Columbia. This supplement was reduced by forty cents for every additional dollar earned. The impact of the project is analyzed in a study done by the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation entitled The Self-Sufficiency Project After 54 Months. The results of the research indicate that the project’s impact has been substantial both in the short and long term. In the short term, the group eligible for the supplement made a dramatic leap in fulltime employment. In just over a year, the Program Group had a fulltime employment rate almost 15% higher than those in the Control Group. The advantage persisted over the five years of the study, with the Program Group less likely to be dependant on income assistance. Incomes in the program group also outperformed those in the Control Group. By the second year, the average benefit was over $1 200, despite the fact that only 30% of those eligible, took advantage of the income supplement opportunity. In the long term, the most encouraging benefits from participation in the program were found outside of the immediate economic impact, in effects on families and children. Children of Program Group members were reported to be doing better in school than the children of the Control Group. Preschoolers also demonstrated gain, scoring higher on standardized math tests. Four and a half year after the project began, children of participants were still achieving better grades on average. The study also concluded that, beyond the significant benefits to families and individuals, there was a measurable fiscal return for government. At the end of five years, members of the Program Group had cost the public purse over $2 500 less than those in the Control Group. See “The Self-Sufficiency Project After 54 Months.” Learning What Works: Evidence for SRDC’s Social Experiments and Research. Ottawa. Spring 2002. 9: Young Women and Homelessness in Canada Homelessness, as a social issue, struggles to public empathy for two reasons. First, the stereotype of harboured by the average Canadian, is a reflection of her or his personal observation that homeless people are male, middle age or older, and frighteningly dirty to the point of being a threat to the health of others. While the perception of the predominance of maleness, age and lack of personal hygiene may be archtypical, the face of homeless Canadians has changed, particularly during the last decade. The second reason that the plight of the homeless seems to elicit scant public attention—outside of complaints about loitering or panhandling—is that the mobility and extreme marginalization that characterize this population makes gathering information about it a challenging task. In a study sponsored by the Status of Women, Canada’s Policy Research Fund, gender and age-specific data was collected from eight cities about demographic patterns and the needs of young women, aged 12 –24. The report, On Her Own: Young Women and Homelessness in Canada., points to the phenomenon of extended adolescence as a key factor in explaining the increased presence of young women on living on the streets of Canada’s largest cities. Stating “The transition to adulthood has become a more prolonged and complex process for young women, with fewer employment opportunities.” the authors suggest that young women are more dependant now than in the past, on family support. This may be attributed to the post modern requirement for more academic credentials which results in youth remaining in the family home and relying on family support longer than their predecessors have historically. This expectation perhaps explains the paucity of resources available to young women who, being unfortunate enough to come from a dysfunctional or abusive home environment has been forced to find their own way. The study found that both Montreal and Vancouver had few services targeting young women, resulting in a vulnerability to recruitment to the sex trade. This phenomenon appears to be particularly “pervasive, organized, and violent in Vancouver”, the report concludes. Exacerbating the obstacles confronting young women on the streets is the eligibility gap between the age at which they are disqualified for child welfare services and that at which they can apply for adult support programs. As might be predicted, the composition of the female street youth population is not reflective of the larger community. Those who have been under the care of social services at some time in their lives, and lesbian, and First Nations youth are over represented among the homeless. To these groups, the children of recent immigrants or refugees are a significant part of the street youth numbers in Toronto. See Novac, Sylvia Serge, Luba Eberle, Margaret and Brown, Joyce. March 2002. On Her Own: Young Women and Homelessness in Canada. Ottawa. Research Directorate, Status of Women Canada. Class discussion topics: 1 Stimulating Classroom Discussions about Street Youth: There is a category of street kids called Curb Youth. The label is applied by homeless youth to those who play at being part of their population. The Curb kids usually come from middle to upper middle class homes in the suburbs. They live at home, often attending school and/or working. These wannabes gravitate to the inner city streets on the weekends or when school closes for the summer, and live a deprived existence until they get too hungry or frightened or, Sunday night comes along. Ask your students if they know of someone who does this. You may be surprised at the pervasiveness of the practice. Stimulate a discussion by exploring possible rationalizations for this behaviour. 2 Inequality in Taking Quizzes: For a technique that dramatizes barriers to desire and ability, see Laura Workman Ells, “So Inequality Is Fair? Demonstrating Structured Inequality in the Classroom,” Teaching Sociology, 15(January 1987): 73–75. 3 Using Card Games to Explain Stratification: See Mark Abrahamson, “Stratification, Mobility, and Playing Cards Metaphor,” Teaching Sociology, 22(April 1994): 183–188. 4 Stratification and Inequality: This activity was developed by James W. Thompson at Tennessee Wesleyan College as a means of stimulating social class divisions in a post secondary classroom. See Technique No. 63 in Reed Geersten (ed.). Eighty-One Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, DC: ASA Projects on Teaching Undergraduate Sociology, 1982. 5 Income Levels: Obtain current data from Statistics Canada on the following: median family income and the cost of living for an urban family of four. If possible, compare these with the median income of the parents of all the students in your class. 6 Introducing Social Class: The use of family (ethnic) names to show social class is useful. See Robert Thompson, “Introducing Social Class: An Update on a Teaching Technique,” Teaching Sociology, 15(January 1987): 76–79. 7 Parental Education and Post Secondary Attendance: Studies indicate that children whose parent(s) have a degree are significantly more likely to attend university. Do an informal demographic profile of the education profile of your students, and discuss the correlation. 8 Cost of Living: Edward F. Vacha provides an exercise in having students estimate just how much it costs to live. See the description on pp. 272–277 in Teodora O. Amoloza and James Sikora (eds.). Introductory Sociology Resource Manual (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 1996. 9 Estimating the Poverty Level for a Single Parent Family: Have your students estimate the amount of income a single parent with one child would need to be above the poverty line in your community. Have the Consumer Price Index figures for your community, and the welfare rates from your province handy to stimulate a comparative discussion. 10 Poverty and Wealth: William C. Martin at Rice University developed a clever demonstration: simultaneously showing two films, one about life in a Chicago tenement and the other about life in a middle-class suburb of St. Louis. See Technique No. 67 in Reed Geersten (ed.). Eighty-One Techniques for Teaching Sociological Concepts. Washington, DC: ASA Projects on Teaching Undergraduate Sociology, 1982. 11 Social Stratification: An Active Learning Technique: This is an active, collaborative, field-based learning experience for teaching basic social stratification concepts. See Lucy McCammon, "Introducing Social Stratification and Inequality: An Active Learning Technique. Teaching Sociology, 27(January 1999): 44–54. 12 Homeless Women: For a series of first-person accounts by homeless women that will provoke thought and discussion, see Elliot Liebow. Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women. New York: Penguin, 1993. 13 Life Chances Simulation: See Margaret A. Miller, “Life Chances Exercises,” Teaching Sociology, 20 (October 1992); 316–320. 14 Baby Formula and Developing Countries: Perhaps one of the more emotional debates relating to the issue of neocolonialism has been the introduction of formula feeding in the developing countries. Does this represent modernization, or is it draining the income of impoverished Third World families? See Carolyn E. Campbell, “Nestlé and Breast versus Bottle Feeding: Mainstream and Marxist Perspectives,” International Journal of Health Services, 14(4)(1984): 547–567. 15 Anti-Globalism: Solidarity Village is a self-described community of resistance whose purpose is to challenge the mainstream agenda for globalization, through protest. Discuss the anti-globalization protests that have taken place in Seattle and in 2002 in Calgary/Kananaskis, and try to develop an explanation for the change in tactics of the dissenters. 16 Using Humour: David S. Adams has produced a monograph that includes funny examples that could be incorporated in lectures associated with this chapter. See Adams, “Status and Stratification,” in Using Humor in Teaching Sociology: A Handbook. Washington, DC: ASA Teaching Resources Center, 1982. See also Joseph E. Faulkner, "Social Stratification." in Sociology through Humor. New York: West, 1987. Topics for student research: 1. Class Gap: See Yalnizan, A 1998 The Growing Cap: A Report of the Growing Gap Between the Rich and the Poor in Canada. Toronto. Centre for Social Justice. 2. Elite Influence in Canadian Society: See Ornstein, Michael D. Politics and Ideology in Canada: elite and public opinion in the transformation of a welfare state. 1999. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. 3. Working Class: James Rinehart explores the alienation and exploitation of the working class in Canada. See Rinehart, James W., The tyranny of work: alienation and the labour process 3rd ed. Toronto: Harcourt Brace, 1995. For an explanation of the useful term ethclass, see Milton M. Gordon. Assimilation in American Life: The Role of Race, Religion, and National Origins. New York: Oxford University Press, 1964. 4. Illustrating Stratification: Some excellent graphic materials have been developed to illustrate social stratification. Contact Social Graphics Company, 1120 Riverside Ave., Baltimore, MD 21230. 5. Lorenz Curve: The Lorenz curve is a means of depicting income or wealth inequality, often used by economists. Proposed by a statistician, M. O. Lorenz, the graph and the formula on which the curve is based compare and analyze inequalities between different nations. Consult any basic economics textbook for references and pictorial representations, such as Paul A. Samuelson and William D. Nordhaus. Economics (14th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992. 6. Divorce and Social Mobility: Does family disruption during childhood affect men’s odds of moving up or down the social ladder? See Timothy J. Biblary and Adrian E. Raftery, “The Effects of Family Disruption on Social Mobility,” American Sociological Review, 58(February 1993): 97–109. 7. Wealth Inequality: See Morissette, R. (René), 1959-The evolution of wealth inequality in Canada, 1984-1999. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, [2002] 8. Human Capital: Courchene, Thomas J., 1940-A state of minds: toward a human capital future for Canadians Montreal: IRPP, c2001. 9. Low-Wage Workers: An examination of the scope of the problems associated with inadequate minimum wage policies. See Schenk, Christopher. November 2001. From Poverty Wages to a Living Wage. Toronto Ontario Federation of Labour 10. Rating Crimes: Occupations have prestige, but what about crimes? See Francis T. Cullen and Bruce G. Link, “Crime as an Occupation,” Criminology, 18(November 1980): 399–410. See also Mark Warr, “What Is the Perceived Seriousness of Crimes?” Criminology, 27(November 1989). 11. Rent: Typically, rent is not considered in models of social inequality. For consideration of this important factor, see Aage B. Sorenson, “The Structural Basis of Social Inequality,” American Journal of Sociology, 101(March 1996): 1333–1365. 12. Role of Class: Terry R. Kandal, “Gender, Race and Ethnicity: Let’s Not Forget Class,” Race, Gender and Class. 4(1)(1996): 143–165. Additional Audiovisual materials: Animal Farm (1954, colour, 72m). “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others” is the theme of George Orwell’s famous fable. The story deals with the revolt of Farmer Jones’s domesticated animals. After they have seized power, they are taken over by the pigs, which are the shrewdest of the group. Caste at Birth (1991, 52m). Few Westerners realize the grave situation of India’s “untouchables.” There are 150 million of them who live a segregated life. They cannot own land or get an education and are condemned to the most menial jobs, such as sweeping streets, cleaning toilets, or butchering animals. In the villages they are subject to abuse and sometimes even killed for minor slights to the landowners. Mortgaged Generations: Women, Children and the Housing Crisis (1995, colour, 22m). This program explores how homelessness, especially among women and children, affects not just the quality of life, but also the values and attitudes of future generations. Poor Us: An Animated History of Poverty (2013, YouTube, 58:05m). A documentary on the social history of world poverty. Relationship between Class Inequality and Health (2011, YouTube, 10:29m). This PBS video explores the complex relationship between social inequality and negative social factors including health, violence, drug problems, mental illness and child well-being. The Actual Distribution of Wealth in the United States ( 2012, YouTube, 6;24). Based on a 2011 study by Dan Ariely and Michael Norton, Americans are questioned about how wealth in their country is distributed. Additional Readings Fleras, Augie . 2011. Unequal Relations: An Introduction to Race, Ethnic, and Aboriginal Dynamics in Canada, 7th ed. Don Mills, ON: Prentice-Hall. An examination of the paradoxes and contradictions of Canadian society as they relate to diversity and difference. Galabuzi, Grace-Edward. 2006. Canada’s Economic Apartheid. Toronto: CSPI/WP. This book draws attention to the growing racialization of the gap between rich and poor in Canada, and also challenges some of the myths about the economic performances of Canada’s racialized minorities. Glasser, Irene. Homelessness in global perspective New York: G.K. Hall; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York: Maxwell Macmillan International, c1994. Grabb, Edward G. 2006. Theories of Social Inequality. 5th ed. Toronto: Harcourt. This book provides a comprehensive overview and analysis of both classical and contemporary theories of social inequality. Grabb, Edward and Neil Guppy, eds. 2008. Social Inequality in Canada, 5th ed. Don Mills, ON: Prentice Hall. A collection of 31 readings, focusing on Canada, that address all the major aspects or dimensions of social inequality. Harman, Lesley D. When a Hostel Becomes a Home. Toronto: Garamond Press, 1989. Lamont, Michélem, and Marcel Fournier. Cultivating Differences: Symbolic Boundaries and the Making of Inequality. Oxford, England: Basil Blackwell, 1991. An archaeologist draws on primary sources to examine racial, gender, and class-based inequality both among and within Native American, African-American, and European people living on the North American continent. McGuire, Randall M., and Robert Paynter (eds.). The Archaeology of Inequality. Oxford, England: Basil Blackwell, 1991 Piven, Frances Fox, and Richard A. Cloward. Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare. New York: Pantheon, 1993. A critical look at how the welfare policies of the United States fail to seriously address the problems of the poor, but merely keep the underclass and others quiet. Raphel, Dennis. Poverty in Canada: Implications for Health and Quality of Life (2nd ed.). Toronto: CPSI, 2011. This book examines poverty in Canada from an interdisciplinary perspective with focus on the health, community and societal implications. __________________.Tackling Health Inequalities: Lessons from International Experiences (ed.). Toronto:CSPI, 2012. A useful text for a comparative study of health systems focusing on the experiences of seven wealthy countries, including Canada. Sidel, Ruth. Keeping Women and Children Last. New York: Penguin, 1996. A sociologist provides a provocative analysis of statistical trends concerning women and children living in poverty in the United States, as well as an indictment of political maneuvering by politicians. Turner, Joanne C. and Francis J. Turner. Canadian Social Welfare ( 6th ed.).Toronto: Pearson Education Canada. Food Banks Canada. Hunger Count 2012: A Comprehensive Report on Hunger and Food Bank Use in Canada, and Recommendations for Change. Toronto. Food Banks Canada, 2012. Exploring Your Beliefs about Equality in Society THE TASK: On the next page, you will find a list of occupations, as well as some people that may fall “outside” the occupational ranking. Your job is to determine what you think would be appropriate income levels for each of the people listed – the total for all the occupations and people on the list cannot exceed $500,000. The only money that people will get is the money you allocate to them – there is no “welfare,” no other source of income. When the exercise is finished, each group must be able to tell the class the following things: What is their rationale for allocating resources as they did. Each group must hand in a written list of the decisions they have made, signed by each group member. Your task, as a group, is to determine how much income a person in each of the following occupations or social positions should receive. You will want to consider what is fair as you distribute your limited resources. You have $500,000 to distribute among the occupations/social positions listed below. There are no government subsidies or “extra” money – what you allot to people is all they will get. Note: You are free to come up with your own system of distributing income, and I’d like to hear what you come up with! However, there are several different “models” you can use based on the theoretical perspectives we have been studying: The functionalist model distributes income based on merit, the functional necessity of the position, and the ease with which the position can be filled. The critical conflict model (Marx) distributes income based on the motto: “from each according to their ability, to each according to their need.” Another version of conflict theory (Weber) says that income is partly according to the prestige, the power, and the market position of the occupation/person. Make sure each group member can articulate the rules your group used for distributing the pool of money to these members of a society. Feel FREE to think outside the box!! This is a hypothetical world – you could change “the rules” if you want to. 1. _________________________ Musician 2. _________________________ Computer technician 3. _________________________ Funeral director 4. _________________________ Garbage Collector 5. _________________________ Supreme court judge 6. _________________________ Police officer 7. _________________________ Farmer 8. _________________________ Librarian 9. _________________________ Medical doctor 10. _________________________ Paraplegic, requires 24/7 care 11. _________________________ Child care worker 12. _________________________ Truck driver 13. _________________________ Special needs person – able to do simple, limited work with supervision 14. _________________________ High school teacher 15. _________________________ Janitor 16. _________________________ “Stay at home” parent of 4 children Group signatures (print name also!): Thinking About Movies____________________________________ Titanic ( James Cameron, 1997) This fictionalized version of the famous ocean liner offers a glimpse of the British social structure in the early twentieth century. The cruise ship is partitioned along class lines—divisions become clear when Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a third class steerage passenger, falls in love with the wealthy socialite Rose Bukater (Kate Winslet). When the ship sinks, many wealthy passengers are rescued as poorer passengers drown. This film illustrates Weber’s concept of life chances. Notice how the ship’s closed stratification system inhibits Jack’s upward mobility. Watch for the scenes in which Jack and Rose take turns in each other’s social worlds. For Your Consideration 1. How do Jack and Rose’s life chances differ? Relate their unequal social positions to social stratification in Canada today. 2. What are some of the constraints of social mobility shown in the film? Instructor Manual for Sociology: A Brief Introduction, Richard T. Schaefer, Jana Grekul 9781260065800