Sociology: Brief Edition - 2012 Book Archive

738 Pages·2012·60.87 MB·English

Sociology
Brief Edition v. 1.0
This is the bookSociology: Brief Edition(v. 1.0).
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Table of Contents
About the Author.................................................................................................................. 1
Acknowledgments................................................................................................................. 2
Preface..................................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 1: Sociology and the Sociological Perspective ................................................ 6
The Sociological Perspective........................................................................................................................7
Sociology as a Social Science......................................................................................................................13
Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology.......................................................................................................25
Doing Sociological Research.......................................................................................................................37
End-of-Chapter Material.............................................................................................................................49
Chapter 2: Culture and Society........................................................................................ 51
Culture and the Sociological Perspective..................................................................................................53
The Elements of Culture..............................................................................................................................58
Cultural Diversity.........................................................................................................................................80
The Development of Modern Society.........................................................................................................85
End-of-Chapter Material.............................................................................................................................92
Chapter 3: Socialization and Social Interaction........................................................... 95
The Importance of Socialization................................................................................................................98
Explaining Socialization............................................................................................................................102
Agents of Socialization..............................................................................................................................110
Resocialization and Total Institutions.....................................................................................................123
Social Interaction.......................................................................................................................................126
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................136
Chapter 4: Groups and Organizations .......................................................................... 139
Social Groups..............................................................................................................................................140
Group Dynamics and Behavior.................................................................................................................148
Formal Organizations................................................................................................................................161
Groups, Organizations, and Social Change..............................................................................................174
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................177
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Chapter 5: Deviance, Crime, and Social Control ........................................................ 180
Social Control and the Relativity of Deviance.........................................................................................182
Explaining Deviance..................................................................................................................................186
Crime and Criminals..................................................................................................................................206
The Get-Tough Approach: Boon or Bust?................................................................................................222
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................228
Chapter 6: Social Stratification...................................................................................... 230
Systems of Stratification...........................................................................................................................233
Explaining Stratification...........................................................................................................................239
Social Class in the United States...............................................................................................................246
Economic Inequality and Poverty in the United States.........................................................................256
Global Stratification...................................................................................................................................270
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................280
Chapter 7: Race and Ethnicity........................................................................................ 283
Racial and Ethnic Relations: An American Dilemma..............................................................................285
The Meaning of Race and Ethnicity.........................................................................................................289
Prejudice.....................................................................................................................................................296
Discrimination............................................................................................................................................309
Racial and Ethnic Inequality in the United States..................................................................................319
Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century...................................................................................................325
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................339
Chapter 8: Gender and Gender Inequality................................................................... 342
Understanding Sex and Gender................................................................................................................344
Feminism and Sexism................................................................................................................................366
Gender Inequality......................................................................................................................................372
Violence Against Women: Rape and Pornography.................................................................................385
The Benefits and Costs of Being Male......................................................................................................392
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................397
Chapter 9: Aging and the Elderly .................................................................................. 400
Gerontology and the Concept of Aging....................................................................................................402
The Perception and Experience of Aging................................................................................................405
Sociological Perspectives on Aging..........................................................................................................409
Life Expectancy, Aging, and the Graying of Society...............................................................................412
Biological and Psychological Aspects of Aging.......................................................................................419
The U.S. Elderly..........................................................................................................................................426
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................442
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Chapter 10: Politics and the Economy.......................................................................... 445
Politics and Government...........................................................................................................................447
Politics in the United States......................................................................................................................458
The Economy..............................................................................................................................................468
Work and Labor in the United States.......................................................................................................479
Militarism and the Military......................................................................................................................489
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................496
Chapter 11: The Family.................................................................................................... 499
The Family in Cross-Cultural and Historical Perspectives....................................................................501
Sociological Perspectives on the Family..................................................................................................510
Family Patterns in the United States Today............................................................................................515
Changes and Issues Affecting American Families...................................................................................522
Children and Parental Discipline.............................................................................................................541
Family Violence..........................................................................................................................................545
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................552
Chapter 12: Education and Religion.............................................................................. 555
Education....................................................................................................................................................557
Education in the United States.................................................................................................................565
Issues and Problems in Education............................................................................................................573
Religion.......................................................................................................................................................586
Religion in the United States....................................................................................................................599
Trends in Religious Belief and Activity...................................................................................................605
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................613
Chapter 13: Health and Medicine.................................................................................. 617
Understanding Health, Medicine, and Society.......................................................................................618
Health and Medicine in International Perspective................................................................................627
Health and Illness in the United States...................................................................................................635
Medicine and Health Care in the United States......................................................................................652
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................667
Chapter 14: Social Change: Population, Urbanization, and Social Movements ..670
Understanding Social Change...................................................................................................................672
Population...................................................................................................................................................681
Urbanization...............................................................................................................................................697
Social Movements......................................................................................................................................708
End-of-Chapter Material...........................................................................................................................720
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Chapter 15: Conclusion: Understanding and Changing the Social World ............ 723
What Have You Learned From This Book?..............................................................................................724
Public Sociology and Improving Society.................................................................................................727
A Final Word...............................................................................................................................................732
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About the Author
Steven E. Barkan
Steven E. Barkan is a professor of sociology at the
University of Maine. He is the author of several other
textbooks: (1)Discovering Sociology: An Introduction Using
MicroCase ExplorIt, second edition (Wadsworth); (2)
Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, fifth edition
(Prentice Hall); (3)Law and Society: An Introduction
(Prentice Hall); (4)Collective Violence, second edition
(with Lynne Snowden; Sloan Publishing); and (5)
Fundamentals of Criminal Justice, second edition (with
George Bryjak; Jones and Bartlett). He has also authored
more than 30 journal articles and book chapters in
sources such as theAmerican Sociological Review;Journal
for the Scientific Study of Religion;Journal of Research in
Crime and Delinquency;Justice Quarterly;Mobilization;Review of Religious Research;Social
Forces;Social Problems;Social Science Quarterly; andSociological Forum.
Professor Barkan is past president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems
and is currently in his 17th year (fortunately, not all consecutive) as chair of his
department. He has received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the College of
Liberal Arts and Sciences at UMaine. A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
Professor Barkan has lived in Maine for the past 32 years. He received his PhD in
sociology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and his BA in
sociology from Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut), where he began to learn
how to think like a sociologist and also to appreciate the value of a sociological
perspective for understanding and changing society. He sincerely hopes that
instructors and students enjoy reading this book in the format of their choice and
welcomes their comments [email protected].
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Acknowledgments
As always in my books, I express my personal and professional debt to two
sociologists, Norman Miller and Forrest Dill. Norman Miller was my first sociology
professor in college and led me in his special way into a discipline and profession
that became my life’s calling. Forrest Dill was my adviser in graduate school and
helped me in ways too numerous to mention. His untimely death shortly after I
began my career robbed the discipline of a fine sociologist and took away a good
friend.
My professional life since graduate school has been at the University of Maine,
where my colleagues over the years have nurtured my career and provided a
wonderful working environment. I trust they will see their vision of sociology
reflected in the pages that follow. Thanks to them all for being who they are.
I also thank everyone atUnnamed Publisherfor helping bring this text to fruition
and for helping today’s students afford high-quality textbooks at a time when
college costs keep rising while the economy keeps faltering. Special thanks go to
Michael Boezi, Vanessa Gennarelli, and Gina Huck Siegert, who all worked tirelessly
to make this book the best it could be. My efforts also benefited greatly from the
many sociologists who reviewed some or all of the text. These reviewers were tough
but fair, and I hope they are pleased with the result. They include the following:
• Marcia Andrejevich, Purdue University North Central Campus
• Melissa Bonstead-Bruns, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
• Clifford Broman, Michigan State University
• Benjamin Brown, University of New Hampshire
• Jennifer Brougham, Arizona State University
• Thomas Busnarda, Niagara College, Welland, Ontario
• Derral Cheatwood, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Alan Dahl, University of Kentucky
• Wenqian Dai, University of South Dakota
• Keri Diggins, Scottsdale Community College
• Scott Dolan, University at Albany–SUNY
• Charles Faupel, Auburn University
• Fang Gong, Ball State University
• Gayle Gordon Bouzard, Texas State University–San Marcos
• Mark Gottdiener, University at Buffalo–SUNY
• Gaetano Guzzo, Wright State University
• Kellie Hagewen, University of Nebraska
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Acknowledgments
• Rahime-Malik Howard, Collin College/El Centro College
• Jay Irwin, University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Kristin Joos, University of Florida
• Yoshinori Kamo, Louisiana State University
• Todd Krohn, University of Georgia
• Linda Kaye Larrabee, Texas Tech University
• Jason Leiker, Utah State University
• Royal Loresco, South Texas College
• Suzanne Macaluso, Purdue University
• Donald Mack, Tarrant County College
• Stephanie Malin, Utah State University
• William Martin, Binghamton University
• Richard McMillan, University at Albany–SUNY
• Joan Morris, University of Central Florida
• Timothy O'Boyle, Kutztown University
• Takamitsu Ono, University of Illinois
• Antonia Randolph, University of Delaware
• Fernando Rivera, University of Central Florida
• Joseph Scimecca, George Mason University
• Glenn Sims, Glendale Community College
• Irena Stepanikova, University of South Carolina
• Eric Strayer, Hartnell College
• Chris Sutcliff, Lewis and Clark Community College
• Ronald Thrasher, Oklahoma State University
• William Tinney, University of South Carolina
• Susan Wortmann, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
• Jun Xu, Ball State University
• Yih-Jin Young, Nassau Community College
Authors usually save the best for last in their acknowledgments, and that is the
family members to whom they owe so much. Barbara Tennent and our sons David
and Joel have once again shared with me the joy and exhaustion of writing a
textbook, and their patience has certainly been a virtue. I know they will share the
gratitude I will feel when students read this text for free or at relatively low cost.
I have saved two family members for the very last, and they are my late parents,
Morry and Sylvia Barkan. They have been gone many years, but whatever I have
achieved in my personal and professional life, I owe to them.
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Preface
Welcome to this new introduction to sociology text! According to recent news
stories, thousands of college students are applying for jobs in AmeriCorps, Teach for
America, the Peace Corps, and other national, local, and international service
programs. Reports on college students find growing interest in voluntarism. Like
generations before them, today’s students want to make a difference in their
society.
The founders of sociology in the United States also wanted to make a difference. A
central aim of sociologists in the early 20th century at the University of Chicago and
elsewhere was to use sociological knowledge to benefit society. A related aim of
sociologists like Jane Addams, W. E. B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and others since
was to use sociological knowledge to understand and alleviate gender, racial, and
class inequality.
It is no accident that many sociology instructors and students are first drawn to
sociology because they want to learn a body of knowledge that can help them make
a difference in the world at large. This new text is designed for this audience. As its
subtitle implies, it aims to present not only a sociological understanding of society
but also a sociological perspective on how to improve society. In this regard, the
text responds to the enthusiasm that “public sociology” has generated after serving
as the theme of the 2004 annual meeting of the American Sociological Association,
and it demonstrates sociology’s relevance for today’s students who want to make a
difference in the world beyond them.
Several pedagogical features of the book convey this theme:
• Most chapters begin with a “Social Issues in the News” story taken
from recent media coverage that recounts an event related to the
chapter’s topic and uses it as a starting point for the chapter’s
discussion. Additional material at the end of the chapter discusses
promising strategies for addressing the social issues presented in the
news story and in the chapter as a whole. The inclusion and discussion
of “Social Issues in the News” will help students appreciate the
relevance of sociology for newsworthy events and issues.
• Three types of boxes in almost every chapter reflect the U.S. founders’
emphasis on sociology and social justice. The first box,Sociology
Making a Difference, discusses a social issue related to the chapter’s
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