CHAPTER OUTLINE Chapter 1 I. Introduction

A. Sociology is defined as the science dealing with the study of social forces. It is the science of society and social behavior. B. Social forces that shape our lives:

1. Ideologies 2. Social relationships 3. Groups such as race, sex, and class 4. Structured pressures coming from corporations or international politics

II. The Sociological Perspective (The sociological ways of perceiving and interpreting the social world)

A. 3 key assumptions of the sociological perspective: 1. Individuals are by their nature social beings.

a. Human infants are totally dependent on others for an extended period of time. b. Throughout history humans have demonstrated a capacity and need to cooperate with others in order to survive.

2. Individuals are largely socially determined a. Society (e.g., rules, values, goals) is transmitted to the child through the family. b. The individual's identity and perceptions are shaped by the social environment. c. One of the main tasks of sociology is to identify these social forces. d. However, this does not imply a total social determinism (the assumption that human behavior is explained exclusively by social forces).

3. Individuals create, sustain, and change the social forms within which they conduct their lives.

a. Assumptions 1. Social groups of all sizes and types (families, peer groups, work

groups, etc.) are made by people. 2. Interacting people create social structures that become sources of

control over them. 3. The continuous interaction of group members act to change the

group. b. Four important implications:

1. Social forms that are created have a certain momentum of their own that defies change.

2. Social organizations, because they are created and sustained by people, are imperfect.

3. Through collective action, individuals are capable of changing the structure of society and even the course of history.

4. Individuals are not passive; rather, through the process of human agency, they actively shape social life by adapting to, negotiating with, and changing social structures.

B. Problems with the Sociological Perspective 1. Sociology is not a comfortable discipline.

a. The sociological perspective challenges what is ordinarily taken for granted to the extent that sociologists:

1) Sociologists do not take everything at face value. 2) They ask questions about existing social arrangements.

b. The critical examination of society 1) Sociology perspective demystifies and demythologizes social life. 2) It sensitizes individuals to the inconsistencies present in society.

c. The sociological assumption is that the social world is human-made and therefore not sacred. d. An understanding of society's constraints is liberating.

e. However, sociology is difficult because the behavior of sociology's subjects is not always certain.

2. Sociology is extraordinary because it can be regarded as both trivial and threatening.

a. Some students may see sociology as trivial and boring. 1. May question the value of sociology and see Sociology as a

science of the obvious. 2. Most are unconscious of their social boundaries.

b. Sociology is subversive; it undermines our foundations by questing social arrangements.

III. The Historical Development of Sociology

A. Sociology emerged in Western Europe during the late eighteenth century, spurred by social changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution, urbanization, capitalism, and the intellectual ideals of the period (e.g., progress, democracy, freedom, individualism, and the scientific method). B. Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

1. The founder of sociology 2. Sought to establish sociology as a science free of religious arguments about

society and human nature. 3. Believed that positivism, which is the philosophy that knowledge should be based

on systematic principles, experiments, and comparisons, could solve social problems.

C. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) 1. Durkheirn

a. Provided the rationale for sociology by emphasizing social facts, which are human factors that explain human behavior. b. His classic study of suicide (1897) demonstrates how social factors explain individual behavior.

2. Durkheirn also pointed out the binding power of belief systems, how labeling some people as deviant reaffirms our conception of what is right, and. the impact of the division of labor on social solidarity. 3. Key concepts introduced by Durkheim: social roles, socialization, anomie, deviant behavior, social control, and the social bond.

D. Karl Marx (1818-1883) - The founding father of conflict theory 1. Devoted his life to analyzing and criticizing the society around him. 2. He reasoned that the economic system found in society provides the basic social structures, which are:

a. System of stratification b. Unequal distribution of resources c. The bias of the taw d. Prevailing ideology.

3. Interested in how the economic system, particularly capitalism, shaped society. a. Owners of capital:

1. Exploited their workers for maximum profit. 2. Used their economic power to keep the less powerful in their

place and to benefit unequally. 3. Determined the prevailing ideology created false

consciousness (believing in ideas that are not in their objective interests but rather in the best interests of the capitalist class) which contributed to the oppression of the working class.

4. Social change occurs when the contradictions inherent in capitalism cause the working class to:

a. Recognize their oppression b. Develop class consciousness by recognizing their class interests, common oppression, and an understanding of who their oppressors are c. Revolt against the system.

5. Marx made extraordinary contributions to core sociological concepts: systems of inequality, social class, power, alienation, and social movements.

E. Max Weber (1864-1920): A response to Marx

1. Much of Weber's thought was a reaction to the writings of Karl Marx (who Weber considered to narrowly deterministic. 2. Weber contended:

a. The basic structure of society comes from three sources: the political, economic, and cultural spheres. b. Weber argued that political power may have its source in the charisma, or expressive qualifies, of individual leaders or in organizations.

3. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904), which demonstrates how the Protestant belief system made capitalism possible, was Weber's most important work. 4. Weber added to the field of sociology such core concepts: power, ideology, charisma, bureaucracy, and social change.

IV. Sociological Methods: The Craft of Sociology

A. 4 types of sociological questions: 1. Factual questions try to identify "who," "what," "when," and "where." 2. Comparative questions allow us to compare one area or group to others. (See

Table 1.1) 3. Historical questions look for trends and changes over time. 4. Theoretical questions seek to identify causal relationships

a. Theoretical questions ask why?' b. A sociological theory is a set of ideas that explains a range of human behavior and a variety of social and societal events.

B. Problems in collecting data 1. Objectivity

a. Sociologists as social scientists are obligated to study society in a detached and dispassionate manner. b. However, sociologists are also members of society with beliefs, feelings, and biases.

2. Value neutrality (to be absolutely free of bias in research) can be attacked from three positions:

a. Scientists should not be morally indifferent to the implications of their research. b. Type of problems researched and strategies employed tend either to support the existing societal arrangements or to undermine them. In both cases, social research is political. c. Bias is inevitable in studying social problems. d. Sociologists must display scientific integrity and must recognize bias so that it does not and must recognize bias so that it does not invalidate their findings.

3. Minimizing bias (see Research Methods box) 4. Non-scientific analysis

a. People tend to generalize from personal experiences, which is a sampling problem. b. People may make assumptions from a single case. c. People tend to use some authority, such as the media or the Bible, instead of their senses.

5. Prevailing myths and stereotypes that are contradicted by scientific evidence. a. Six myths that are not supported by the facts:

1. Most homeless people are disabled by drugs, mental disease, or physical afflictions.

2. Adolescent Blacks are more likely than adolescent whites to use drugs.

3. Welfare makes people dependent, lazy, and unmotivated. 4. Welfare is given more generously to the- poor than to the non-

poor. 5. Blacks are similar in their behaviors (i.e. they are monolithic). 6. Unmarried women are having children to increase their

welfare payments.

b. Use of aphorisms, proverbs and conventional wisdom to describe events. C. Sources of data

1. Survey research-allows researcher to obtain information using standardized questionnaires and sophisticated statistical techniques.

a. Data may be gathered using: 2. Personal interviews (caption, p.21) 3. Written questionnaires

b. The researcher obtains information: 1. From a selected sample (a representative part

of a population). 2. Regarding a particular variable (an attitude,

behavior, or condition that vary in magnitude and significance from case to case).

2. Experiments are used to understand the cause and-effect relationship among a few variables.

a. Two groups are used: 1. The control group, which is a group of subjects not exposed to the independent variable. 2. The experimental group, which is made up of the subjects who are exposed to the independent variable.

b. Change is studied because the researcher. 1. Varies the subjects' exposure to the

independent variable, which is the condition that is believed to be responsible for the anticipated change.

2. The amount of change that happens to the dependent variable (the variable that is influenced the effect of another variable) is observed and measured.

3. Observations can be used to record or watch and study what occurs in a community, group, or social event.

4. Existing data, which has been collected by another researcher or agency, may be used as the source of data needed to describe.

CHAPTER OUTLINE Chapter 2

1. Introduction

A. The authors discuss the Sherifs' classic summer camp experiment to illustrate the dynamics of social organization. When the boys enrolled in the camp were divided into two groups, each group developed: 1 . Divisions of labor 2. Hierarchial structure of ranks 3. kules that governed behavior 4. Punishments for violations of the rules 5. Specialized languages (argots) with nicknames and group symbols 6. Member cooperation to achieve goals.

II. The Micro Level: The Process of Social Organization

A. The process of social organization 1 . Social organization refers to the ways in which human conduct is socially organized - that is there are observed regularities in the behavior of people 2. The social conditions that constrain human behavior can be divided into two groups: a. Social structure - the structure of behavior in groups and society; b. Culture - the shared beliefs of group behavior that: 1) Unites members, and 2) Guides their behavior B. Social Structure - patterns that emerge when people interact-through linkages and networks-over time 1. Aggregates - a collection of individuals who happen to be at the same place at the same time. 2. Groups - collections of people who, because of sustained interaction, have evolved a common structure and culture. a. Social interaction is the basic building block of groups. 1) Communication through speech, the written work, or a symbolic act such as a wink, facial expression, or gesture. 2) Social interaction may be either transitory or enduring. A case of enduring social interaction is a social relationship in which members are united at least in some minimal with the other members of the group. b. Members of a social relationship behave differently than they would as participants in a fleeting interaction. And once interaction takes place, the behavior of participants is profoundly altered. C. Culture - the shared beliefs of a group's members that serve to guide and constrain their conduct. 1. Norms are common expectations that emerge about how people should act. 2. Values are the criteria that emerge for judging what is appropriate, correct, moral, and important. 3. Social roles are the expectations that group members have of individuals occupying various positions Within the group. D. Norms are the behavioral expectations that members of a particular group collectively share. 1 . Folkways are the minor rules that vary from group to group. Folkways involve etiquette, customs, and minor regulations. 2. Mores are important norms, the violation of which results in severe punishment. Mores involve morality and can be thought of as "moral imperatives." E. Status and Role are the positions of social organization within the group. An understanding of what positions are present and how they are interrelated provides a "structural map" of the social group. 1. Status refers to the position one plays in an organization or group. 2. Hierarchy refers to the arrangement of people in order of importance and in terms of how they are rewarded and esteemed. 3. An individual's master status refers to a status that has exceptional significance for social identity; it "trumps" all other statuses when a situation or an individual is evaluated by others. 4. The behavior expected of a person occupying a status in a group is that person's role, which are behavioral expectations and requirements attached to a position in a social organization. 5. A-Jthough role performance by members may vary, the organization or group generally remains stable.

6. The role performance of the occupants of the various statuses in an organization or group can vary for three reasons: a. Personality variables can make obvious differences in the behavior of individuals even under identical groups statuses and situations. b. The status occupant 1) May not receive a clear, consistent message as to what behavior is expected in a given status. 2) May hold multiple group memberships and statuses with conflicting expectations. 3) May change statuses within the group or organization and thus be subject to changed expectations. c. Roles have the power to protect individuals and relieves the individual of the responsibility for action. 7. Social Control is achieved by the group by a. Demanding conformity on certain important norms, and b. Socializing members to internalize the group's norms and values, and c. Establishing sanctions or social rewards and punishments for approved and disapproved behavior. d. Society's sanctions (or the threat of sanctions) act to constrain the individual and maintain social control. 8. Primary and Secondary Groups a. A social group is: 1 ) An organization created through enduring and attemed interaction. 2) People who have a common identity, share a common culture, and define themselves as a distinct social unit. 3) Two types: a) Primary Groups are groups whose members are the most intimately involved with each other, small and face-to-face; informal in organization, and long-lasting. b) Secondary Groups are much larger and more impersonal; formally organized; task-oriented; and relatively non-permanent. 4) Primary groups within secondary groups are important in carrying out the goals of the secondary group because they create loyalty, discourage individualism, and generate shared goals and values, all of which are important to the long-term success of the larger group. b. Bureaucracy: The Ultimate Secondary Group 1 ) A bureaucracy is a hierarchical formal organization characterized by rationality and efficiency - that is, improved efficiency and more effective attainment of common goals. 2) Organization efficiency is maximized: a) The work is divided into small tasks and performed by specialists b) There is a hierarchy (chain of command), with each position having clearly defined duties and responsibilities c) Behaviors are governed by standardized, written, and explicit rules d) All decisions are made on the basis of technological knowledge (not personal considerations). e) Members are judged solely on the basis of proficiency and discipline is impartially enforced. 3) Bureaucracies - a "well-oiled machines"? a) Bureaucracies pervade all levels of government, the church, education, organized sports (e.g., the NCAA and athletic departments at "big-time" schools), and corporations. b) McDonaldization describes the increasing bureaucratization of social life (George

Ritzer). c) Benefits of bureaucracy include: i) Division of labor is efficient. ii) Specific expectations of members. iii) Rewards based on achievement rather than favoritism. iv) Expertise for specific tasks coordinated to accomplish complex goals. d) Criticisms of bureaucracy include: i) Excessive number of regulations. ii) Blind obedience to these rules and the unquestioned following of orders that prevents the efficient handling of unusual situations. iii) Where adherence to was once a means to and end becomes an end-, in-itself (Merton). iv) "Iron cage" of rationality - bureaucracies are cages in the sense that people are trapped in them, their basic humanity denied. • Causes dehumanization that is characteristic of bureaucracies. • Weber feared dehumanization would overtake modem society. 9. Power of the Social Group - Groups affect peoples lives in a number of ways: a. The group affects the probability of suicide -Durkheim 1) One's attachment to a group affects the probability of suicide. 2) Durkheim posited three types of suicide: a) Egoistic - when an individual has minimal ties to a social group. b) Altruistic - when an individual is totally group-oriented. c) Anomic - when an individual experiences conflicting group expectations. b. The group affects the individual's perceptions. 1) Asch's experiment examined the effect of group pressures. He asked subjects to compare the length of a line on a card; some participants were coached to give the wrong answer, when pressured, subjects often agreed with incorrect answers.

2) Sherif, in a series of experiments, tried to determine the extent of conformity of subjects. He had subjects placed alone in a dark room and asked to describe when a light moved. When placed in a group, individuals frequently modified their observations to make them consistent With those of others in the group.

c. The group affects the individual's convictions. 1 ) Provides effective social support for members even in the face of contradictory evidence. 2) Festinger conducted an experiment to see how a group would handle a prophecy and a disconfirmation of it. The leader of a group, whose members believed there would be a devastating flood, was instructed to assemble the group and wait for a flying saucer to arrive and save them. When the spacecraft did not appear, another communication was made to the leader they the area was being spared. The group was not disillusioned, but instead reaffirmed their beliefs and doubled their efforts to win converts. d. The group affects the individual's health and life. 1) Because a child is destined to occupy the social stratum (caste, cJass, etc.) into which he or she is bom, other members of that stratum (usually the family) will prepare the child for his/her role in society. 2) Examples: a) The family of a child in Indian's lower classes will prepare the child to become a beggar by intentionally deforming the child (deformed beggars are seen as more successful at the task).

b) Many Appalachian families practice serpent handling and expose themselves and their children to injury or death c) Members of certain religious sects refuse medical treatment for themselves and their children (e.g., the Church of the First Bom). e. Group affects the individual's behavior 1) Although human beings are biologically programmed to eat, drink, sleep, and engage in sexual activity, human groups significantly shape how these drives are met. 2) Our everyday activities, our perceptions and interpretations, and our attitudes are the productions of our group memberships. f. Social groups undergo a "universal process" - the process of social organization. 1) Interaction among the social actors in a social organization is constant and continuous, reinforcing stability 2) However, group interactions also brings about change III. The Macro Level: The Social Structure of Society

A. Societies

1. Are the largest social organizations to which people owe their allegiance. 2. A society is a. An aggregate of people who are united by a common culture. b. An aggregate of people who are relatively autonomous and self-sufficient. c. An aggregate of people who live in a definite geographical location B. A society is a social system, composed of interdependent parts that are linked together into a boundary-maintaining whole. 1. A system has a. Order and predictability within the system b. Clear boundaries in terms of membership and terTitory c. The parts are interdependent 2. The authors use the U.S. economy as an example of interdependence. C. Culture of society 1. Culture explains the persistence of most aspects of social life. 2. Culture explains much of individual and group behavior. D. Social classes 1. Social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of people in terms of power, prestige, and resources 2. At the individual level, placement in the hierarchy directly affects self-perception, motivation, political attitudes, and the degree of advantage or disadvantage in school, the economy, courts, and life itself 3. At the society level, the extent of inequality affects the types and magnitude of social problems, societal stability, and economic growth D. Social institutions 1. Institutions are social arrangements that channel behavior in prescribed ways in important areas of social life. 2. Institutions are interrelated sets of norms, values, and role expectations. 3. Social institutions are the product of cultural evolution that tend to be conservative, but are subject to deliberate efforts toward constructive changes. CHAPTER 3 OUTLINE I. Introduction A. How can one explain violence?

1. One's answer depends on one's vantage point in the power structure, because violence is defined as such if the act threatens the power structure. 2. Violence always refers to a disruption of some condition or order. However, order, like violence, is also politically defined 3. Order itself can be very destructive to some categories of persons (e.g., caste and class systems)

a. For instance the normal way society is organized does harm to some people (e.g. minorities in some society's receive poor health care, low wages, segregated facilities, unfair systems of justice, inferior education.) b. Sometimes the term "violence" is not applied to high mortality rates and rates of preventable disease that prevail among the poor and powerless in every society. c. The term "institutional violence" is used to imply that the system itself injures and destroys. 4. Violence is defined politically through the selection process; some acts of violence are not forbidden or condemned.

a. For instance, property damaged during celebrations like the Mardi Gras or destruction by students on spring break in Florida. b. The same destruction in a demonstration intended to change the system would be defined as violent. c. Thus, violence is condoned or condemned through political pressures and decisions.

5. Understanding the relationship between the power structure and violence and how violence is defined helps us to understand the role of conflict and order in society. II. Social Systems: Order and Conflict

A. The analysis of society begins with a mental image or model of its structure. 1. The analytical model (or mental picture one has of the structure of society) influences what sociologists:

a. Look for. b. What they see. c. How they explain the phenomena that occur within society.

2. One characteristic of society is the existence of segmentation: a. Segmentation is the basis for the two prevailing models of society. b. May result from differences in age, race, sex, physical prowess, wisdom, or any other characteristic considered important by its members. c. The important question is "What is the basic relationship among the parts of society?" d. The contradictory. answers to that question protide the rational for two models of society - conflict and order.

B. The order model, which is sometimes referred to as functionalism 1. The order model attributes to society:

a. The essential characteristics of cohesion, consensus, cooperation, reciprocity, stability, and persistence. b. The various parts of the system are basically in harmony with each other. c. A high degree of cooperation (and societal integration) arises because there is a high degree of consensus on societal goals and cultural values.

2. Central questions for order theorists a. What is the nature of the social bond? b. What produces social cohesion?

3. Emile Durkheim provided the classic discussion of the order model in the early 1900S

a. For Durkheim, there were two types of societies: 1) Smaller, less complex societies

a) Solidarity among members occur through the collective holding of beliefs. b) Social integration occurs because the members are alike.

2) Modern, complex societies a) Social integration is achieved through differentiation. b) Society is based on a division of labor in which members involved in specialized tasks are united by their dependence on each other.

b. Durkheim focused on integration by determining the manifest and latent consequences of social structures.

1 ) Manifest consequence refers to the intended consequence of a particular function in society (for instance, the manifest consequence of the punishment of crime is punishing and deterring the criminal). 2) Latent consequence refers to the unintended consequence of a societal function. For instance, the latent consequence of the punishment of crime is the societal reaffirmation of what is to be considered moral.

c. By focusing on the consequences of social structures and activities-intended and unintended, and negative, malintegrative functions (dysfunctions) we can better understand social arrangements and activities. C. The conflict model

1. Offers a different view of society which posits that: a. Conflict is a normal feature of social life. b. Conflict influences the distribution of power. c. Conflict influences the direction and magnitude of social change. d. Because the individuals and groups of society compete for advantage, the degree of social integration is minimal and tenuods. e. Social change results from the conflict among competing groups; therefore change tends to be drastic and revolutionary. f. Conflict results from the dissimilar goals and interests of social groups g. Conflict is the result of social organization itself.

2. Historically, the most important conflict theorist has been Karl Marx. a. Marx believed that there exists in every society a dynamic tension between two groups who were the sources of division and exploitation. The two groups are:

1) Owners of the means of production. 2) Workers, who work for them.

b. Marx focused on inequality-between the oppressors and the oppressed, the dominant and the dominated, the powerful and the powerless.

1) The powerful protect their privileges by supporting the status quo. 2) The powerful abuse the powerless, thereby sowing the seeds of their own destruction. 3) The destruction of the elite is accomplished when the dominated people unite and overthrow the dominants.

3. Contemporary conflict theorist, Ralf Dahrendorf argued that: a. Although conflict is a universal condition, aspects of social organization other than economic factors generate it. b. Conflict is inherent in social organization because organization means that power is distributed unequally between "haves" and "have-nots."

4. Conflict theorists emphasize that any unity present in society results from coercion, not from consensus.

D. The duality of social life 1. An overview or order and conflict theories (see Table 3.1) reveals that:

a. Each focuses on reality, but only part of that social reality. b. Scientists have tended to accept one or the other of these models, thereby focusing on only part of the social reality for two reasons:

1) One model or the other was in vogue at the time. 2) One model or the other made more sense for the analysis of the particular problems of interest.

2. The analysis of sport illustrates the difference in how sociologists are influenced by the order and the conflict models.

a. From the order perspective, it is argued that sport contributes to the stability of society; it preserves the existing order by:

1) Symbolizing the American way of life (e.g., competition, individualism, achievement, fair play). 2) Socializing youth to adopt desirable character traits, to accept authority, and to strive for excellence.

3) Promoting the unity of society's members through patriotism. 4) Inspiring feelings of unity of purpose and loyalty by the fans.

b. From the conflict perspective, it's argued that sport: 1) Reflects the interests of the powerful. 2) Is organized to exploit athletes. 3) Inhibits the potential for revolution by society's have-nots by:

a. Validating the prevailing myths of capitalism-e.g. that anyone can succeed if he or she works hard; if one fails, it's his or her fault, etc. b. Serving as an "opiate of the masses" by diverting attention away from harsh realities. c. Giving false hope of upward mobility to minorities and other oppressed members of society. 3. Social problems from the order and conflict perspectives a. Social problems are societal induced conditions that harm any segment of the population or violations of normative expectations and values of society. b. Order theorists

1) From the order perspective, deviants are: a) People who somehow do not conform to the standards of the dominant group. b) People who are assumed to be out of phase with conventional behavior; the focus is on the deviants themselves. c) People who have not internalized the norms and values of society either because of the environment in Which they were brought up or the influence of a deviant subculture.

2) See the remedy to deviance is to rehabilitate the deviants so that they conform to societal norms. c. Conflict theorists

1) Criticize order theorists for blaming the victim. 2) Argues that to focus on the individual deviant locates the symptom, not the disease. 3) Believe that deviants represent society's failure to meet the needs of its individual members. 4) Because the system is the primary cause of the problem, the system and not the individual must be changed.

d. The authors favor the conflict model while trying to strike a balance between the order and conflict perspectives. III. Synthesis of the Order and Conflict Models

A. Five assumptions of a synthesis approach: 1. The first assumption is that the processes of stability and change are properties of all societies.

a. There is an essential paradox to all human-t;ocieties: they are always ordered, yet they are always changing.

1) There are forces within society acting as the impetus for change. 2) There are forces insisting on rooted permanence.

b. Two contrary tendencies have been labeled by Allen Wheelis: 1) The instrumental process is the desire for technological change-to find new and more efficient techniques to achieve goals. 2) The institutional process designates all those activities that are dominated by the quest for certainty.

c. The dialectic, or opposing forces, of society results from the opposing forces-the instrumental and institutional-which generate tension because the instrumental forces are always pressing society's institutions to change when it is not their nature to do so.

2. The second assumption of the synthesis approach is that societies are organized, but the very process of organization generates conflict.

a. Organization implies the differential allocation of power. b. Inequalities are manifested in 2 ways: 1) Differentials in decision making. 2) Inequalities in the system of social stratification. 3. The third assumption is that society-is a social system. a. There are 3 important implications of system-ness:

1) There is not chaos but some semblance of order. 2) Boundaries exist that may be in terms of geographical space or membership. 3) There are parts that are inter-dependent-thus concurrently conveying the reality of differentiation and unity. b. A society is comprised of subsystems (e.g. groups, organizations, and communities).

1 ) Some subsystems are strongly linked, but others have only a remote linkage. 2) Events and decisions in one sector influence the entire system. 3) There is generally a degree of cooperation and harmony because of consensus over common goals and similar interests. 4) CompetiFion and dissent are also present because of incompatible interests, scarcity of resources, and unequal rewards. 5) Therefore, societies are imperfect social systems.

4. The fourth assumption of the synthesis approach is that societies are held together by complementary interests, by consensus on cultural values, and also by coercion. a. There are forces that bind diverse groups into a single entity. b. The emphasis of both order and conflict models provide twin bases for the integration of consensus and coercion. 5. The fifth and final assumption is that social change is a ubiquitous phenomenon is in all societies. ft may be gradual or abrupt, reforming or revolutionary. a. Order theorists tend to view change as gradual, occurring either because of innovation or because of differentiation. b. Change can be abrupt, because of internal violence, or can resulting from forces outside the society (conflict view). B. A synthesis of the order and conflict models views society as having "two faces of equal reality-one is stability, harmony, and consensus; the other is change, conflict, and, constraint." C. Division and Violence 1 . Factors that promote disunity and conflict in the United States cited are:

a. Size - the U.S. is large, both in numbers of people and size. 1) Because of the large population in the U.S. and a high level of technology, there is a refined division of labor. As a result, people probably interact more often with and cooperate with people like themselves; it is likely that they also compete with other groups for advantage. 2) Because of the size of the U.S. is a wide range of climates and topography; some areas are sparsely settled, others densely populated. There have been pronounced regional differences, and sometimes rivalries. b. Social class - Economic differences create economic inequality - the gap between the rich and poor-- create important sources of division in U.S. society. 1) In sharp contrast to the 189 billionaires in the U.S. in 1998, there were 38 million people living below the poverty line. 2) Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft, has a net worth roughly equal to the combined net worth of the least wealthy 40% of American households. c. Race - the primary differentiating factor in the U.S. 1) As a result of the system of discrimination, African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and others are disadvantaged and treated as second-class citizens. 2) Racial violence brings repression by the powerful, which further angers and frustrates minorities. This creates a treadmill of violence and division. d. Ethnicity - is a factor because immigrant groups have distinctive lifestyles; and customs. Because of the structure of U.S. society - the persistence of subordination, discriminatory housing and work patterns, and other forms of structured inequality - encourages solidarity between the disadvantaged and increasing racial tensions. e. Sexual orientation - the small minority of gay or lesbian Americans is the object of considerable hostility from the dominant heterosexual- population. f. Religion and religious differences are polarizing since they often are used in selecting (and rejecting) mates, friends, neighbors, schools, and employees. 2. These segmenting factors create some groups that the disadvantaged and others that are disadvantaged. 3. Eitzen and Baca Zinn, in a closer look at India, identify 6 kinds of violence: a. Religious violence b. Case violence

c. Partisan violence d. Linguistic violence e. Ethnic violence f. Economic violence 4. 2 beliefs combine to create the myth of peaceful progress, which is the incorrect belief that throughout U.S. history disadvantaged groups have gained their share of, power, prosperity, and respectability without violence.

a. Myth #1: The U.S. is made up of diverse groups that have learned to compromise differences in a peaceful manner. b. Myth #2: Any group in the United States can gain its share of power, prosperity, and respectability merely by playing the game according to the rules.

5. Dissent by minorities a. Is not understood by most people in the U.S. because they believe the myth of peaceful progress. b People locate the blame outside the system itself - that dissent is communist-inspired, or that such groups are exceptions. 6. History shows that groups have consistently used violent means to secure rights and privileges. Examples cited are: a. Revolutionary colonists b. Native Americans c. Exploited farmers d. Slaveholders e. WASP supremacists f. Ethnic minorities g. Labor disputants D. Order theorists focus on the integrative forces in society 1. Although they recognize that conflict, disharmony, and division occur within societies, order theorists stress cooperation, harmony, and solidarity. 2. Order theorists focus on 8 factors that hold society together: a. Functional integration - the unity among divergent elements of society resulting from a specialized divisions of labor - is effected through the regular interaction and interdependence among different groups.

1) Consensus on basic fundamental societal values like "democracy being the best possible government," "patriotism," "the revered heritage of the U.S.," etc. 2) The unifying effect of symbols such as the flag, patriotic and religious holidays, etc.

b. The social order - the similar influences and rules to which all people, at least minimally, are subjected. These include: 1) The same body of laws and government. 2) The same language. 3) The same monetary exchange, standards of measurement, etc. c. Group memberships are a source of unity as well as cleavage:

1 ) Heterogeneous organizations like political parties, religious denominations, and veterans' organizations allow members the change to interact with others like themselves and to join in a common cause. 2) Exclusive organizations generate feelings of superiority among their members but create tension for the people who are excluded.

d. International competition and conflict unifies diverse groups within the U.S. e. The mass media, in the midst of a communication revolution, encompasses virtually everyone in the U.S. and is used by government to shape public action and reinforces the values and norms of society. f. Planned integration happens when: 1) Charismatic leaders unite segmented parts of the system. 2) Public officials at various levels in the government use their power to integrate the parts of society in 3 ways: a) By passing laws that eliminate barriers between groups. b) By working to solve the problems

that segment society. c) By providing mediators to help negotiate settlements between feuding groups. 3) High officials use various means to accomplish the task:

a) Co-optation - appointing a member of a dissident group to a policy-making body to appease the dissenting group. b) Use of executive powers to enforce and interpret the laws in such as way as to unite society. c) Use of the media to persuade diverse groups to unite.

g. False consciousness - the beliefs held by oppressed people that are damaging to their own interests - is created by most Americans believing that they either are part of the haves or that they or their children have the potential to be. IV. The Use of the Order and the Conflict Models In This Book

A. The authors promise to use a realistic analysis that includes both perspectives. B. As they examine the major institutions of society, one task is to determine how each institution aids in social integration. C. A major consideraion centers of the question of who benefits by the way the U.S. is structured and who does not. D. The legitimacy of the system is always to be doubted.

CHAPTER 4 OUTLINE

1. Introduction to Culture

A. The authors examine the meaning given to the new millennium 1. Some cults believed it would bring the apocalypse. 2. In fact, the calendar we use if off by as much as six years in its calculation of the birth of Jesus. 3. When the west marked the millennium, a. The Chinese were celebrating the year 4698. b. The year was 2390 for followers of 2oroastrianism in Iran. c. Jews marked the year 5760. 4. The starting date for calendars is an arbitrary decision about which societies differ. 5. The way to delineate time is one of the devices humans use to impose order upon a complicated world. 6. Such cultural beliefs as the beginning of the new millennium are social constructions; the meanings people attach to such constructions are powerful determinants of human behavior. B. Culture is the knowledge that members of a social organization share. Includes: a. Ideas about what is right. b. Ideas of how one is to behave in various situations. c. Religious beliefs. d. Communication. C. Culture constrains not only behavior but also how people think about and interpret their world. II. Culture: The Knowledge that People Share A. Characteristics of Culture. 1 . Culture is an emergent process. a. As individuals interact they exchange ideas that develop into common beliefs and common ways of doing things. b. Interacting individuals thus create culture. c. Culture, once it emerges, is always undergoing change. 2. Culture is learned behavior. a. It is not instinctive or innate in the human species. b. Humans are symbol-making creatures capable of attaching meaning to particular objects and actions and communicating those meanings. c. Culture is acquired through socialization, which is the process of learning culture. 3. Culture channels human behavior. a. Culture is essential to the maintenance of any social system because it provides two critical functions - predictability of action and

stability. b. To provide predictability and stability, culture must constrain individuals by restricting their freedom. c. Through cultural patterns, the individual is expected to conform to the expectations of the group-culture is not freedom but rather constraint. d. Culture operates not only outside humans but also inside them; through internalization, which is the process of society's demands becoming part of the individual and acting to control his or her behavior. Internalization happens in 3 ways: 1 ) Culture becomes part of the human makeup through the social organization's belief system. 2) Culture is internalized through members' psychological identification with the group to which people belong or reference groups, which is a group to which they want to belong. 3) Culture is internalized by providing the individual with an identity, which is socially bestowed, socially sustained, and socially transformed. e. The paradox of culture, as Peter Berger points out, is that while society is like a prison to the people trapped in its cultural demands and expectations, it is not perceived as limiting to individual freedom. 4. Culture maintains boundaries by: 1) Limiting the range of acceptable behavior and attitudes. 2) Instilling a sense of naturalness about the alternatives peculiar to a given society. 3) Establishing a universal tendency for people to think other societies are wrong, inefficient, or immoral, and to think of one's own group as superior-as the only right way, which iscalled ethnocentrism. B. Types of shared knowledge - culture combines 6 types of shared knowledge: 1. Symbols a. Language takes many forms: written, spoken, non-verbal signs and gestures. b. Each form carries a socially constructed meaning; for instance, the "W (for victory) sign (when it exposes the back of the hand to the viewer) is the equivalent in Australia of flashing the middle finger in the U.S. 2. Technology refers to the information, techniques, and tools used by people to satisfy their needs and desires. a. Material technology is the knowledge of how to make and use things. b. Social technology is the knowledge that enables individuals to establish, maintain, and operate the technical aspects of a social organization. 3. Ideologies are shared beliefs about the physical, social and metaphysical worlds. a. They help individuals interpret events. b. They provide a rationale for action. 4. Societal norms are rules that specify appropriate and inappropriate behavior. a. Ethnomethodology is the scientific study of the commonplace activities of daily life. 1) Its goal is to discover and understand the underpinnings of relationships, which is the shared meanings that implicitly guide social behavior. 2) The assumption is that much of social life is scripted; players act according to society's rules (the script). b. Societal norms vary in importance: 1) Folkways are relatively unimportant norms and are not severely punished if violated. 2) Mores are highly salient norms whose violation is considered important enough by society to merit severe punishment. c. The criteria used to delineate types of norms--degree of importance and severity of punishments-are determined by the people in power. d. Norms are situational and vary between and within cultures.

5. Values are the bases for norms. They are the criteria used in evaluating objects, acts, feelings, or events as to their relative desirability, merit, or correctness.

6. Roles are the behavioral expectations for the people who occupy particular social positions (statuses).

C . The social construction of reality refers to the process whereby people learn how to define reality from other people in interaction and by learning the culture. 1. Culture provides us with a framework for interpreting the social and physical world, particularly through language. a. Language, in particular, influences how the members of society perceive reality. b. Language helps us to make order out of what we experience. 2. Two contrasting views of reality: a. Ontology accepts the reality of things because their nature cannot be denied - a chair, a tree, the wind, a society. b. Epistemology (opposite of ontology) argues that all reality is socially constructed. 3. Cultural relativity is the argument that customs should not be evaluation by our standards but theirs. a. Customs should be evaluated in light of society's own culture and the customs serve for that society. b. Customs should not be evaluated by an "absolute" standard. c. The cultural relativity perspective is that meaning is socially bestowed. d. The major barrier to cultural relativity is ethnocentrism, which makes it difficult for individuals to view other societies/groups in perspective. D. Values 1. Humans are valuing beings - they are continually evaluating themselves and others. 2. The quickest way to understand a culture is to examine its values. 3. There are a number of ways of determining a society's values: a. What preoccupies people in their conversations and actions. b. What choices do people make consistently. c. What do people say is good, bad, moral, immoral, desirable, or undesirable. 1) What people do and what they say are not always the same. 2) People will generally respond in ways they feel are appropriate and this will indicate the values of the society d. Observe the reward-punishment system of the society. e. What causes guilt, shame, or ego enhancement. f. Examine the principles that are held as part of the so-called American way of life by inspecting historical documents or political speeches. E. Values are sources of societal integration and social problems 1. The value system in the United States is unique. a. Geographically, the United States has been relatively isolated for most of its history 1) It has had an abundance of natural resources 2) Because of this abundance, conservation seemed unnecessary and resources were wasted b. Historically, the U.S. has been unique: 1) It began through revolution. 2) Its populace originally consisted mostly of immigrants. c. Religiously, the U.S. has a unique heritage: 1) The Judeo-Christian ethic has prevailed throughout U.S. history. 2) The emphasis on the following has 6d a significant effect on how Americans evaluate each other.

a) Humanitarianism. b) The inherent worth of all individuals. c) Morality based on the Ten Commandments. d) The biblical injunction to "have dominion over all living things." 3) The Protestant ethic a. The religious belief emphasizing hard work and continual striving o prove that one is saved. b. It has been an important determinant of the values believed to typify most people in the U.S. 2. Three caveats are cited as regards values: 1) The diversity of the U.S. precludes any universal values. 2) Values are not always consistent with behavior. 3) Values are not always consistent. F. The authors examine the most dominant American values: 1. Success (individual achievement). a. The self-made person is highly valued in American society. b. Economic success is the most commonly used measurement of success. c. There is evidence that today's parents are puffing more and more pressure on their children to succeed. d. Parents are pushed toward structured activities for their children. 1) This is in part because both parents are in the work force and adult supervision of children is important. 2) Parents want their children to find their niche and specialize early so they can get college scholarships and get on the road to success in an increasinglycompetitive society. 2. Competition is highly valued because it is believed that: a. It motivates individuals and groups to be discontented with second best. b. It fosters a belief in the survival of the fittest. c. It can encourage illegal activities so people can "get ahead." 3. There are 3 highly valued means to achieve success in U.S. society: a. People who are industrious are valued, and people who are not are denigrated; most Reople believe this explains the condition of poor people. b. Continual striving - a person should never be content with what he or she has; there is always new land to own, new money to make, more books to write. c. Deferred gratification - the willingness to deny immediate pleasure for later reward, is the hallmark of the successful person in the U.S.; This has been used as the point that distinguishes the poor from the nonpoor. 4. Progress-a brighter tomorrow, a better job, a bigger home, etc.-4s always good. a. Americans are not satisfied with the status quo and thus are prone to emphasize the future. b. Progress also involves a faith in technology: 1) Scientific knowledge will solve problems. 2) However, technology creates unanticipated problems. 5. Material progress creates a belief among people that "work pays off"; in addition, "having things" has become a way of life.

6. Individual freedom is highly valued by Americans.

a. Americans value individualism and believe in individual responsibility for success or failure. b. Individual freedom is related to capitalism and private property and is not to be restricted; this line of thinking has led to: 1) Unfair competition. 2) A caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) philosophy. 3) The ecology crisis results from our neglect conservation of natural resources.

G. Values and behavior - The discrepancy between values and behavior has always existed in the U.S. Some examples include: 1 . Although behavior may differ from expressed values, values still provide the standards by which we are evaluated. 2. Americans glorify individualism and self-reliance;_Oowever, individualism is not rewarded in bureaucracies where one has to go along and be a "team player" 3. Americans proclaim that they place a high value on equality but do not practice it. 4. Americans value "law and order" but when the laws are inconvenient, they are ignored 5. Americans display pride in solving difficult technical problems, yet avoid confronting chronic social problems H. Cultural diversity 1 . While certain values are generally held by the U.S. population, there is never total agreement on any of them. 2. U.S. cultural diversity is due to differences in sex, age, race, region, class, ethnicity, religion, rural/urban residence, etc. 3. A subculture is a relatively cohesive cultural system that vary in form and substance from the dominant culture. a. Some subcultures exists because they has not been fully assimilated. b. Under the rubric of subculture are ethnic groups, delinquent gangs, and religious sects 4. A counterculture is a culturally homogeneous group that has developed values and norms that substantially differ from the larger society (Yinger). a. The counterculture opposes the dominant culture. b. The counterculture is in conflict with the dominant culture. c. The particular values and norms can be understood only by reference to the dominant groups I. Values from the order and conflict perspective 1 . Order theorists assume that values promote-societal integration, unity, and consensus 2. Conflict theorists contend that the mass acceptance of values is a form of cultural tyranny that promotes political conservatism, inhibits creativity, and gets people to accept their lot rather than joining others to try to change it. CHAPTER 5 OUTLINE I. Introduction

A. Socialization is: 1. The process of learning the culture. 2. The process by which individuals develop through interaction with other people. 3. Socialization is a lifelong process occurring with each social group within the society.

B. It is through socialization that: 1. We learn the ways of thinking, feeling, and acting that are essential for effective participation in society. 2. We develop a sense of our self.

C. Although we are biologically human beings at birth, it is only through interaction with other humans that we fulfill our potential of becoming human ourselves. As an example:

1. Feral children are children alleged to have been raised by animals. 2. When found, feral children look human but act like the animals with whom they have had contact.

D. Language is an essential part of socialization.

1. Language is the vehicle by which socialization occurs. 2. Learning languages affects how individuals think and perceive. 3. Language gives meaning to symbols, Words and objects like the cross, the flag, and traffic lights.

II. The Personality as a Social Product A. Theories of socialization:

1. Charles H. Cooley (1864-1929) saw the personality as the looking-glass self.

a. Children's conceptions of themselves arise from interaction with others. b. Each of us imagines how we look to others and what their judgement is of us. c. In turn, we feel some emotion in response to this imagined evaluation by others. d. The feedback the individual receives from others is the critical process in the development of Personality.

2. George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) described socialization as taking the role of the other.

a. Children learn who they are by stages: 1) Infants learn to distinguish between themselves and others from the actions of their parents. 2) By about age two, children have become self-conscious and have internalized the feelings of others. 3) In the play stage (ages 4-7), children play a variety of social roles. By "taking the role of the other," they develop basic understandings of adult roles, and why people in those roles act the way they do. 4) In the game stage (about age 8), children are involved in activities that are structured by formal rules and roles. Participants must know the rol es of all players and adjust their behavior to others. The assessment of the entire situation is what Mead called the discovery of the "generalized other."

3. Sigmund Freud (1865-1939) -offered the psychoanalytic view. a. Freud emphasized biological as well as social factors in personality development. b. Freud saw the personality as being comprised of three parts:

1) The id - the pleasure seeking, primitive biological force which dominates the infant. 2) The ego - the rational part of the personality that controls the id's basic urges and finds realistic ways to satisfy biological cravings. Socialization entails learning to control the id. 3) The superego - internalization of the parents' morals. A strong superego represses the id and channels behavior in socially acceptable ways.

c. In Freud's view, the process of socialization is a matter of society controlling the id.

4. Key differences between Mead and Cooley and Sigmund Freud:

a. Whereas Mead and Cooley saw the socialization process as a complete and conflictual one. b. Freud, on the other hand saw socialization as a process that was incomplete and accomplished by force.

B. Society's socialization agents 1. The family:

a. The primary and first agent of socialization. b. Provides for children's basic needs and indoctrinates them in the ways of society. c. Indoctrination is a somewhat subjective process.

2. The schools- a. Uniformly indoctrinates youth. b. Prepares youths for adult roles. c. Transmits the attitudes, values, and skills necessary for the maintenance of society. d. Focuses on order and control. e. Proves impersonal and regimented socialization. f. Prepares the child for the larger society by teaching society's formal prescriptions.

3. The media: a. Consists of newspapers, magazines, movies, radio and television. b. Plays a vital role in promoting the existing values and practices of society. c. Preserves the status quo via stereotypical portrayals masked as entertainment. d. Often treats the poor, racial minorities, and women unfairly in media depictions. e. Exposes children to more TV time than classroom time. f. Overwhelmingly supports the dominant system. g. Exposes youths to violence and violent images.

III. Similarities and Differences Among the Members of Society A. Modal personality type:

1. Each society tends to produce a certain type of individual, called a modal personality type.

a. Small, homogeneous societies provide members with consistent messages. b. Heterogeneous societies (e.g., the United States) present a number of themes, variations, and counter themes.

2. Comparison between the Pueblo of the southwest and Native Americans of the northern plains. 3. The power of socialization can vary by the type of society. 4. It is not clear if the socialization process is completely deterministic.

B. Why we are not all alike: 1. Families differ in what and how they teach their children and in what values they feel are more important.

a. The influence of parents on their children may be neutralized by contrary values held by friends. (Note that this neutralization process is facilitated by the decreasing amount of time that parents spend with children compared with time spent in previous generations.)

b. Peers, baby-sifters, schools, and television have become more important as agents of socialization as parental interaction with children decreases.

2. Schools are conservative. Some schools have rigid curriculum, schedules, and philosophy whereas others are more flexible. The products of these two types of schools differ substantially. 3. Organized religion generally supports the status quo but differences exist among and within religions. 4. Those who see themselves as having a superior social location to others in the society are more likely to support the status quo whereas those who are less advantaged are more likely to be antagonistic to the existing state of affairs and support changes beneficial to them. 5. Our age cohort greatly affects our life experiences. 6. There are contradictory influences in society.

a. Peer pressure vs. parental influences. b. Media violence vs. family, church, and school normative guidelines.

7. Conflicts in role definitions occur because there is little consensus in American society today on the correct definition of each of our roles.

a. The authors point specifically to the lack of consensus in role expectations of adolescents and the elderly. b. There is a great deal of variation in role expectations for gender appropriate behavior for men and women.

CHAPTER 6 OUTLINE I. Introduction to Social Control

A. Social control is a central fact of social organization. 1. Control is essential for social order. 2. All social groups have mechanisms of social, control -

mechanisms to ensure conformity. 3. External social control mechanisms are necessary because

socialization is not perfect; people deviate. B. The methods of social control vary by type of society:

1. In small, homogeneous societies, which are less diverse and more dominated by tradition, informal controls are typical and usually effective. 2. In large, modern societies, which are less affected by the forces of tradition and are more diverse, social control tends to be more formal and repressive.

II. Agents of Ideological Social Control A. Peter Berger has identified 8 sources of social control, which Eitzen and Baca Zinn present as sources of social control used by society to ensure conformity:

1. Force - the use of violence or fear of violence. 2. Economic rewards or punishment - the promise or denial of material rewards. 3. Ridicule and gossip - fear of being belittled for being outside group expectations. 4. Ostracism - the threat or actual removal from the group. 5. Fraud and deception - actions to manipulate others to conform. 6. Belief systems - the use of ideology to induce individuals to conform. 7. The sphere of intimates - pressures from close friends, peers, and relatives to conform. 8. The contract - actions controlled by the stipulations of a formal agreement.

B. Ideological social control

1. Ideological social control is defined as the attempt to manipulate the consciousness of citizens so that they:

a. Accept the ruling ideology and refuse to be moved by competing ideologies. b. Comply willingly with laws. c. Don't question the existing distribution of societal power and rewards.

2. Ideological social control is attained by: a. Socializing the young - at home, in school, in sport organizations, the scouts, and through the media. b. Directing frontal attacks on competing ideologies - by politicians, pastors, teachers, and others in authority. c. Propaganda issued by authorities.

3. The agents of social control are: a. The family

1) Teaches the child the attitudes, values, and behaviors considered by society

2) Prepares the child to "fit" into society b. The formal system of education

1) Insures the behavioral standards of speech, dress, etc. of the community. 2) Indoctrinates students in the correct attitudes about work, authority, and patriotism. 3) Biases history in the direction authorities prefer and to legitimize the role of the U.S. in world affairs. 4)Tends to produce conformists rather than critical thinkers.

c. Religion 1) Provides the guidelines for the behavior of members and punishments for disobedience. 2) Supports the status quo in U.S. society. 3) Teaches acceptance of an imperfect world (because people are born sinners) and promises reward in the "next' life. 4) Advises people that there is no need to change the system from below.

d. Sport 1) It reinforces conforming attitudes and behaviors 2) Competition promotes national pride and unity:

a) International competition invokes national pride. b) The militaristic pageantry surrounding support invokes patriotism.

3) Team accomplishments are viewed as collective achievements. 4) Sport serves as an opiate of the masses

a) Produces, through vicarious participation, a safety valve for aggression and competition. b) Attention is deflected away from hunger and misery of the masses. c) Perpetuates the myth that upward social mobility can be achieved. d) Reinforces basic American values among the participants (e.g., competition, perseverance, discipline, and order).

i. Supports the notion that hard work leads to success.

ii.Schools insist athletes behave in a certain way during practice and games, but they also strictly monitor behavior of athletes in other situations

e. The media 1) There is a conservative bias in the mainstream media.

a) The financial success of advertisers depends on the public buying the products. b) The financial success of media corporations depends on advertisers buying their vehicles (air time, print space, etc.)

2) Images and ideologies promoted in the media support imperialism, capitalism, racism, sexism, militarism, authoritarian violence, vigilantism, and anti-working class attitudes (see pp. 143 for a list from Michael Parent's Make-Believe Media: The Politics of Entertainment. 3) The media has tremendous power to influence us to accept or questions the system. 4) Although the media do investigative reporting and occasionally question the system, the overall impact of the media is supportive of it.

f. Government 1) The government (and schools) works to convince the public that socialism is bad and capitalism is good. 2) Government ideological control.

a. Occurs in political speeches, books (sometimes the ideological content of schoolbooks), and legislation. b. Can be seen in the public relations programs of government agencies (e.g., the Defense Department).

3) Speeches (particularly those of the president and using free television time) promote solidarity against political, military, and ideological enemies and for and against particularly issues.

III. Agents of Direct Social Control A. Direct social control is the attempt to punish or neutralize (i.e., render powerless) organizations or individuals who deviate from society's norms.

1. The deviant targets are the poor, the mentally ill, criminals, and political dissidents. 2. Three agents of social control are directed at those targets:

a. Welfare 1) Public assistance programs defuse social unrest, particularly in times of high unemployment. 2) When stability is restored, public assistance programs are reduced. 3) Welfare keeps the poor relatively satisfied with their low wages. 4) The creation of an "outcast" class whose members are treated with such contempt that their degradation serves to celebrate the virtue of all work and deter potential workers from seeing aid.

b. Science and medicine

1) Practitioners and theoreticians have developed many devices (drugs, electroshock, and psychosurgery) that are aimed at controlling the behavior of some members of society. 2) Mental health practitioners validate, enforce, and reinforce the established ways of society; people who are considered abnormal are treated -sometimes with brain surgery - to correct the problem. 3) The labeling of mental illness works as a system of social control (Scarpetti and Anderson). 4) Eugenics is the improvement of the human race through the control of hereditary factors; this is the ultimate form of social control.

c. Government 1. A major goal of government is to apprehend and punish

criminals - in 1998 the various levels of the government in the U.S. put 1.8 million people in jail or prison.

2. The U.S. is second only to Russia in the industrialized world in incarcerating people in prison.

3. A less clear role of the government is to stifle dissent, which is done in the interest of "preserving order." a) American tradition and values affirm the right of people to dissent. b) Two facts of political life work against that principle:

1. For social order to prevail and to avoid anarchy, society needs to ensure that existing power-relationships are maintained over time. 2. The well-off in society benefit from the existing power arrangements, so they use their influence to encourage the repression of challenges to the government. 3. Various levels of the government work together to establish and preserve social control.

a) Some levels of government determine what the law will be. b) Another level apprehends and punishes violators. c) Laws and the enforcement of laws promote certain points of view at the expense of others.

4. Two views of the legal system: a) Order theorists believe that:

i. The law exists to maintain order and stability, which is the dominant American view.

ii. The state and law are considered essentially neutral.

iii. The political system is pluralistic (i.e., made up of the existence of a number of interest groups of more-or-less equal power).

b) Conflict theorists assume that: i. The state exists to serve the ruling

class. ii. The law and the legal system reflect

and serve the needs of the ruling class.

iii. When domestic order prevails and challenges to the economic and political system are successfully

thwarted the interests of the ruling class are served.

5. The FBI and other federal investigative agencies collect various forms of information about U.S. citizens and others. These activities include:

a) Installation of hidden cameras and other recording devices. b) Tapping telephones and installing listening devices. c) Recording all numbers dialed from and to particular telephones. d) Subpoenaing telephone records, credit card records, utility records, etc.

a. Requiring telephone companies to install "eavesdropping-friendly" technology.

b. Maintaining elaborate databases on millions of people, including information from telephone companies, motor vehicle registration, voter registration, etc.

1. The National Security Agency, using spy satellites and listening stations and crossing national boundaries conducts the snooping operation, called "Echelon," which intercepts and subjects various forms of communication to supercomputing power to screen for various forms of illegal activity and political unrest.) Pages 153-154 list various actions taken against U.S. citizens by the IRS, CIA, FBI, etc.

2. Thomas Jefferson believed that "protest is the hallmark of a democracy." However, 'the government squelches dissent and

IV. implications for Contemporary Life A.George Orwell, in his novel 1984, predicted that the government would monitor every word, every thought, and every facial expression of citizens using sophisticated electronic devices. B. The computer age means that the government and businesses have the technology to know much about our private lives-our purchasing habits, for instance.

1. The privacy of citizens and workers are in question. 2. The authors pose the question, "at what point does the government go too far in its control of nonconformity?"

C. The government can use the information gained from its surveillance activities to control not only political dissidents but ordinary people as well. D. With the technology available to government, absolute control is a real threat.

CHAPTER 7 OUTLINE 1. What is Deviance?

A. Two definitions 1. Deviance is behavior that violates the rules of a group. 2. Deviance is behavior that does not conform to social expectations.

a. Deviance is socially constituted since social organizations create right and wrong by originating norms, the infraction of which constitutes deviance.

b. Rules vary from group to group; therefore, deviance is relative and not absolute.

1. There are inconsistencies among societies as to what is deviance.

2. There are inconsistencies in the labeling of behavior as deviant within a single society.

B. Deviance, in a heterogeneous society. 1. There is differential treatment for similar behaviors by different categories of people within society. 2. There is widespread disagreement on what the rules are and, therefore, what constitutes deviance. 3. The majority determines who is a deviant.

C. Order theorists (e.g., Durkheim) contend that: 1. Deviance is an integral part of a healthy society and has positive consequences. a. It gives the non-deviants a sense of solidarity by reasserting the importance of the rule being violated. b. By punishing deviants, the group expresses collective indignation and reaffirms it commitments to the rules. 2. The true function of punishment is not the prevention of future crimes, but to reassert the importance of the rule being violated. 3. Defining certain acts as crimes creates the boundaries for what is socially acceptable behavior. 4. Deviance is not only a consequence of social order but is also necessary for social order.

D. Conflict theorists point out that: 1. All views of rule violations have political implications. 2. Punishment of rule breakers says that the norms are legitimate. 3. The bias of the dominant norms serves to preserve the status quo and the current distribution of power. 4. Opposition views - that the norms of society are wrong - is also political. 5. When people break laws and customs, they are not only rejecting the status quo but are also questioning the legitimacy of those in power.

2. Traditional Theories for the Causes of Deviance A. The individual as the source of deviance is the central thesis of biological, psychological, and some sociological theories.

1. Biological explanations for deviance focus on physical features, genetic anomalies, and brain malfunctions (e.g., Lombroso's atavism theory). 2. Psychological theories consider the source of deviance to be conditions of the individual's mind or personality.- 3. The sociological approach.

a. Crime and mental illness rates vary by social class, ethnicity, race, place of residence and sex. b. Three theories are examined:

1) Cultural transmission: a) Edwin Sutherland proposes a theory of

differential association. b) Asserts that through interaction and close association with deviants, one learns to be a criminal.

2) Societal goals and differential opportunities: a) Robert Merton dominates this theory. b) Argues that lack of access to legitimate means of achieving appropriate goals (particularly the poor) leads people to resort to deviant behavior to achieve success.

3) Subcultural differences or "culture of poverty"

hypothesis. a) Edward Banfield is leading theorist.

b) Because of their class position, the poor are qualitatively different in values and lifestyles. c) A unique (and deviant) morality and set of norms make a person achieve success in criminal activities.

4) See "Other Societies, Other Ways" - "Capitalism and Crime in the Former Soviet Bloc Countries."

B. The "blaming the victim" critique of the individual-oriented explanations for deviance.

1. Although socialization theories focus on forces external to individuals, they, like biological and psychological theories, find the fault within the individual. 2. William Ryan argues that, as a result, such theories "blame the victim." 3. Society demands that the victim change rather than trying to change the social conditions, which actually led the victim to his/her deviant state. 4. Is the victim or society to blame?

a. Victim-blame approach 1) Who are the victims?

a) Victim blamers point to children's cultural deprivation, which implies that the culture of the group is not only deficient but also inferior.

i) They argue that slum children fail in school because they have not been exposed to all of the educational experiences of middle class children. ii) But, are the children and their families to blame, or is the education system to blame?

b) Victim blamers contend that characteristics of criminals account for the high rate of recidivism or reinvolvement in crime.

i) They claim that ex-criminal's return to crime is because they are greedy, aggressive, have weak impulse control, etc. ii) Is the criminal to blame or does the penal and education systems fail them?

c) Victim blamers assert that the characteristics of racial minorities account for their deviant behavior.

i) They claim that they are culturally deprived, have high rates of illegitimacy and a high proportion of transient males, and their families have matriarchal structures. ii) But are individuals to blame for their own circumstances or are they victims of racism?

2) Why do people tend to blame individuals for deviance rather than the social system?

a) First, people define deviance as behavior that deviates from the norms and standards of society. b) Second, people do not ordinarily question the norms or the way things are

done, but rather see the people who do not conform as the trouble.

3) Consequences of blaming the victim. a. it frees the government, the economy, the system of

stratification, the system of justice, and the educational system from blame or the need to change

b. The established order is protected from criticism. c. Authorities can control troublesome individuals and

groups under the guise of being helpful. 1) Authorities can control troublesome individuals and groups in a publicly acceptable manner and thus, in a sense, eliminate the problem.

d. The approach legitimates the right to initiate person-change treatment rather than system-change approaches.

e. Reinforces social myths about the degree of control we have over our fate and provides justification for a form of Social Darwinism, a perspective that a person's placement in the stratification system is a function of ability and effort.

1) Dangers of the system-blame approach a. The approach offers only part of the truth; social problems are highly complex phenomena that have both individual and systemic origins.

f. A dogmatic system-blame orientation offers a rigidly deterministic explanation for social problems.

g. An excessive system-blame approach absolves individuals from the responsibility for their behavior. d. Eitzen and Baca Zinn propose a balanced view, which acknowledges that human beings have autonomy most of the time but that the system is largely to blame. a. This approach is contrary to the prevailing view in American society. b. It suggests that the subject matter of sociology is not the individual but society.

III. Society as the Source of Deviance A. Labeling theory

1. The results of studies do not mesh with our perceptions and the apparent facts.

a. Most people break the rules of society at one time or another. b. Members of all social classes commit deviant acts, but crime statistics show that the lower classes are more likely to be criminals.

2. Society creates deviance by creating rules, the violation of which constitutes deviance.

a. Labeling theory stresses the importance of society in defining what is illegal and in assigning deviant status to particular individuals, and this in turn dominates their identifies and behaviors. b. Lower class persons are (according to William Chambliss):

1) More likely to be scrutinized and observed in any violation of the law. 2) More likely to be arrested if discovered under suspicious circumstances. 3) More likely to spend the time between arrest and trial in jail. 4) More likely to come to trial. 5) More likely to be found guilty. 6) If found guilty, more likely to receive harsh punishment.

c. The well-to-do are much more likely to avoid the label of "criminal."

3. Who gets labeled as deviant is the result of a systematic societal bias against the powerless. The bias can be found by examining:

a. What types of person actually receive the death penalty and those who are executed by the state?

b. Who gets paroled? c. Who is represented in the prison population (See the

"Diversity" box - "Is the Drug War Racist?")? 4. Four factors relative to the prison experience for the poor and racial minorities:

a. The underdogs view the criminal justice system as unjust and, consequently, feel biftemess_and anger. b. Prison is a brutal, degrading, and dehumanizing experience and creates within many ex-cons the desire for revenge. c. Prisons. provide a learning experience for prisoners in the art of crime. d. Ex-cons have difficulties outside of prison (e.g., adjusting to life without regulation, finding a job, and being accepted into society) and frequently return to crime.

5. The consequences of labeling a. The stigma of the label leads to further deviance or secondary deviance.

1) Primary deviance is the rule breaking prior to labeling. 2) Secondary deviance is the behavior resulting from the labeling process.

a. Eitzen and Baca Zinn suggest that the labeling perspective is especially helpful in understanding the bias of the criminal justice system.

1) When society's underdogs are disproportionately singled out for the criminal label, the subsequent problems of stigmatization and segregation they face result in a tendency toward further deviance.

1. The tendency for secondary deviance is especially strong when the imposition of the label is accompanied by a sense of injustice.

2. Lemert argued that a stronger commitment to deviant identity is greatest when the negative label (stigma) is believed by the individual to be inconsistently applied by society.

a. Situations showing that society's underdogs engage in more deviance than their middle and upper class counterparts are invalid because the differential response of society to deviance at every phase of the criminal justice system.

b. See Hartzen's summarization of the labeling process.

7. Radical nonintervention, which is the strategy of leaving juvenile delinquents alone as much as possible rather than giving them a negative label) is one solution for deviant behavior from the labeling perspective (see Schur's statement on this subject. 8. Strengths of labeling theory

a. Concentrates on the role of societal reactions in the creation of deviance (see Human Agency box for a

discussion of the problems associated with the labeling of the gay population.) b. The realization that the label is applied disproportionately to the powerless. c. It explains how deviant careers are established and perpetuated.

9. Criticisms of labeling theory: a. It avoids the question of causation (primary deviance). b. It assumes that deviants are really normal because we all break rules. c. It relieves the individual from blame.

d. It ignores deviance by the powerful. B. Conflict theory

1. The conflict approach is critical of explanations that focus on "kinds-of-people and labeling because both explanations center on individual deviants and their crimes. 2. Conflict theorists propose that powerful economic interest groups are able to get laws passed and enforced that protect their interests. 3. They assert that the administration of the law has a political character.

a. The powerful attempt to coerce other people to adopt their view of morality. b. The powerful may exert pressure on the authorities to crack down on certain kinds of violators. c. There may be political pressure exerted to keep certain crimes from public view. d. There may pressure to protect the party and officials in power. e. Any effort to protect and preserve the status quo is a political act.

4. Conflict theorists focus on corporate and political crimes, which cause many times for economic damage and harm to people than do street crimes.

a. Corporate crime is the illegal and/or socially harmful behaviors that result from deliberate decision making by corporate executives in accordance with the operative goals of their organizations.

1) Deviance is not limited to troubled individuals; organizations are also deviant. 2) Socially harmful behaviors", whether criminal or not, can be very damaging to the general "well being" of society. See "A Closer Look: Corporate Perjury and Obstruction of Justice."

b. Polit1call crime separates order and conflict theorists:

1) Order theorists see political crimes as activities against the government, such as acts of dissent and violence whose purpose is to challenge and change the existing political order. 2) Conflict theorists assume that the law and the state are often tools of the powerful used to keep them in power; the political order itself may be criminal because it can be unjust.

c. Strengths of the conflict perspective on deviance are:

1) It emphasizes the relationship between political order and nonconformity.

2) It rests on the understanding that powerful groups use the political order to protect their own interests. 3) It emphasizes that the system of justice is unjust, and that the distribution of rewards in the society is skewed. 4) It assumes that the institutional framework of society is the source of many social problems.

d. Weaknesses of the conflict perspective on deviance: 1) There is a tendency to assume a conspiracy by the well-to-do. 2) The answer of the conflict theorists is too utopian.

IV. Deviance from the Order and Conflict Perspectives A. The order perspective.

1. Focuses on deviants themselves. 2. Deviants have had inadequate socialization. 3. Deviants should be rehabilitated so they conform. B. The

conflict approach to social problems. 4. Focuses on laws and customs of society. 5. Society constructs laws to serve the powerful. 6. Society should be restructured. 7. This text emphasizes the conflict approach.

CHAPTER 8 OUTLINE 1. The Structural Transformation of the Economy A. Two fundamental turning points in human history

1. Neolithic Revolution - the transitions from nomadic pastoral life to life in settlements based on agriculture. 2. Industrial Revolution - the transition from Neolithic agriculture which involve 3 phases:

a. 1st - the application of steam power to textiles, mining, manufacturing, and transportation. b. 2nd - the use of oil and electricity as energy sources for inventions and discoveries. c. We are still in the midst of the 3rd - the major technological breakthroughs of atomic fission and fusion, supersonic aircraft and missiles, television, biotechnology, and computers. d. The third phase of the Industrial Revolution has resulted in a major structural transformation of the economy in which employment has shifted toward service occupations and the collection, storage, and dissemination of information.

1) Combines the shift from manufacturing to a service/information economy with microchip technology, the global economy, and the rapid movement of capital 2) Employment has shifted toward service occupations and the collection, storage, and dissemination of information.

B. Interrelated and powerful forces are transforming the U.S. economy. 1. These forces are:

a. Technological breakthroughs in microelectronics 1) Microelectronic-based systems allow for the storage, manipulation and retrieval of data with incredible speed and accuracy. 2) The computer chip has transformed the .S. into a service/information economy.

b. Globalization of the economy 1) Many of the goods now used in the U.S. are produced in low-wage societies. 2) Has been accelerated by moving tariff barriers - NAFTA, GATT, etc.

c. Capital flight 1) Capital flight refers to the investment choices that involve the movement of corporate monies from one investment to another.

2. Overseas investment by U.S. firms

a. U.S. multinational corporations have invested heavily in foreign countries because production is profitable there, mainly because of cheap, non-unionized labor and the relative lack of regulations. b. While corporations profit greatly from such arrangements, U.S. workers do not.

1) Relocation of business a. Plant migrations or "runaway shops" involves corporate

administrators deciding to move their businesses to another locality.

b. Involve moving U.S. factories to places where wages are lower, unions are weaker or nonexistent, and the business climate is more receptive.

2) Mergers a. Involves corporations using their capital to purchase other

companies in related and unrelated enterprises. b. Instead of expanding and modernizing their existing plants.

c. From manufacturing to service 1) Such manufacturing enterprises have been replaced at the top of the American corporate pyramid with companies like Microsoft, Intel, etc.

a. U.S. Steel, the largest U.S. corporations in 1917 with 268 workers and 3 times the assets of its closest competitor, is now worth 1/5 its 1917 value and employs only 20,800 people.

b. Wal-Mart is now America's largest employer with 675,000 workers in 1996.

1. Instead of producing goods, US workers now work in offices, banking, insurance, health care, custodial work, restaurant work, etc

a) Sunset industries-industries in sectors of the economy characterized by declining productivity include steel, tires, shoes, and various defense industries. b) Sunrise industries-industries that are characterized by increased output and employment-include the production of high-tech products.

o These industries are creating new and exciting products.

o Employees are typically highly skilled, but most jobs are routine with labor-saving technologies.

o Jobs tend to be non-unionized With relatively low wages and benefits. c) There has been a proliferation of contingent employment, a term that refers to employees who work for an employer as temporaries or as independent contractors.

o 34% of females workers and 25% or male workers are contingent workers.

o New jobs are low-quality and pay less than regular full-time jobs.

o Contingent employment shifts the burden of fringe benefits to individual workers and their families.

2. The economic transformation of jobs a. This new era poses new problems of adjustment that differs from the agricultural and industrial eras and results in considerable discontinuity and disequilibrium.

1) The rate of change is phenomenal 2) The types of work and characteristics of the workforce are changing.

b. Technology and jobs.

1) One factor that makes this era unique is new technologies:

a) Has potential to be positive or negative, but the effect can not be foreseen. b) Generate considerable investment, render other technologies obsolete, generate new jobs, and destroy others. c) Directly affect work and workers of primary importance is the fact that the shift has been toward technology and machines designed to reduce and even eliminate human labor. d) People are being replaced with robots. e) Workspaces are increasingly electronic - voice mail, laser printers, word processors, electronic mail, etc.

2) The global economy and domestic jobs. a) Two important ramifications of the dramatic advances in communication and transportation: b) New technological advances diffuse rapidly from nation to nation. c) Advances have enhanced mobility of capital.

i. Corporations of all sizes now make plans regarding production, workers, and markets across national boundaries. ii. People in U.S. now buy more foreign goods than foreigners buy ours, driving down the number of jobs and wages.

d) Capital flight and jobs i. Plant closures are devastating, affecting both workers and entire community ii. Local governments can no longer provide the same level of services because of eroded tax base and often cannot meet the greater demands for infrastructure and services.

3) The consequences of the economic transformation

a) The social and personal costs of downsizing -- the magnitude of the current economic transformation is unique from earlier times.

i. The number of workers affected by or fearful of downsizing is much greater than before; About 3,000,000 workers and their families are affected by layoffs each year.

ii. Where unskilled and semiskilled workers have always had the most insecure jobs, now the pool of victims has widened to include middleclass worker.

iii. Laid-off workers lose self-esteem, withdraw from social relationships and community life; divorce rates

increase (by as much as 50%); increased likelihood of alcohol abuses and of spouse and child abuse; failed health is more common; increased psychological disturbances.

b) The jobs/skills mismatch i. As population growth slows, the supply of workers for good jobs will soon not meet the demand. ii. One of three new entrants to the labor force by 2000 will be nonwhite. iii. About two-thirds of the new workers will be women. iv. Consequently, there will a mismatch between the number of people wanting jobs and the skills required for the new jobs, particularly the good ones. • This will open opportunities for people without privilege for upward mobility-if they have skills. • Businesses will have to provide more benefits to workers with families. v. Authors warn that these changes have negative potential.

• There will continue to be an unequal distribution of education opportunities for the disadvantaged. • Many of the poor will continue to see no hope in the mainstream of schools and jobs because the rewards are not there.

vi. The authors argue that this is not a problem with lack of education among workers but a lack of jobs.

c) The shrinking middle class. i. Well-education, highly skilled workers are in their "glory days." ii. Relatively few good jobs, jobs that pay well and have good benefits are being created. iii. Even for those in the middle-class, they are working for less. iv. Workers at the bottom of the economic hierarchy face a bleak future.

d) The increase in the working poor. i. Greatest increase in the number

of poor since 1979 is among the working poor.

ii. Results from declining wages, rise in number of working women who head households, and a minimum wage that has not kept pace with the needs of the family.

iii. Authors argue that low wages are the source of the problem-the poverty rate for young families headed by a full-time worker tripled between 1973 and 1994.

e) The New Poor i. Displaced workers, even if they

find new jobs, face lower-paying opportunities.

ii. Many of those over 40 find reemployment difficult because businesses consider them too old to retrain.

iii. The new poor are different from the "old poor." They are trapped in poverty and because of inadequate skills and education are unable to find work in the "new economy."

iv. Of those who find employment, slightly less than half make less money than before. About 15% do not find employment and constitute the Agnew poor."

4) Human Agency: Coping Strategies. a) Lifestyle changes - many are downsizing their lifestyles and their expectations. Others live in denial 1984 to 1996. As credit card debt has quadrupled from b) Behavioral changes - younger families may delay having children; others choose to limit the number of children; families may be forced to live with other family members. c) Dual-earner families - making a living has become a family enterprise.

i. Two incomes are now necessary to maintain an adequate lifestyle. Women's work tends to be poorly paid (women early 78 cents for every dollar a man makes). iii. The amount of money left after expenses is lowered by the additional costs of transportation, child care, etc. iv. The burden on women is increased because she has to work and still does most of the domestic chores. v. Two worker families have less time for wife-husband interactions and parent child interaction as well as for household chores and leisure.

d) Increased workload - The proportion of the population that works over 50 hours each week has increased since 1970 (from 20 to 25% of men and from 5 to l0 % of women).

i. Many people choose to work overtime or a second job to maintain or increase their slumping living standard. ii. Because many companies have reduce their labor force to limit costs, the permanent workers are overworked.

e) Home-based work i. New emphasis on contingency

work and home-based work, held disproportionately by women.

ii. Jobs include word processing, data entry, telemarketing, etc.

iii. Gives women flexibility to combine work and family obligations.

iv. Jobs save money for employers because employees work for less money, are generally not unionized, do not receive benefits, etc.

II. The New Immigration and the Changing Racial Landscape A. The new patterns of immigration are a change in demographics that:

1. Challenges the cultural hegemony of the white European tradition. 2. Creates incredible diversity in race, ethnicity, language, religion, and culture. 3. Alters the racial landscape; 4. Leads to division and hostility.

B. The "new immigration" that is transforming U.S. society differs from past immigration patterns.

1. The volume of immigration is large - 9 million from 1982 and 1992, compared to 3.5 million between 1963 and 1972 and fewer than 5 million between 1873 and 1982 2. The racial landscape and rate of population growth are greatly affected as approximately 1 million immigrants annually set up permanent residence in the U.S. The new residents are primarily Latino and Asians, not Europeans as was the case in the past.

C. Immigration patterns 1. Immigration Act amendments of 1965, which removed quota system that preserved European character of the U.S. has led to a new wave of immigrants.

a. 9.7% of the 1997 population was foreign-born, as compared to 8% in 1990.

b. In addition to legal migrants, an estimate 300,000 unauthorized aliens enter the U.S. and stay.

c. Settlement-patterns of this new immigration are much more geographically dispersed than previous flows into the U.S., which tended to concentrate in the industrial Northeast and Middle Atlantic regions.

d. California has been uniquely affected with 25% of its population foreign-born in 1997 and the non-white public school population is now a majority.

2. Consequences of the new immigration a. Increasing diversity

1) 1/4 of the people in the U.S. are African American, Latino, Asian, or Native American - minorities make up the majority in six of the eight largest U.S. cities. 2) Racial minorities are increasing faster than the majority population - in 25 years, one in three Americans will be non-whites. 3) African Americans are losing their position as the mot numerous racial minority - Latinos will outnumber African Americans by 2010. 4) Immigration now accounts for a large share of the nation's population growth -about 1 in 10 U.S. residents are foreign-born.

5) New patterns of immigration are changing the racial composition of society -more first-generation Americans are Asian-born than European-born.

b. Reaction of the hosts to the new immigrants 1) Anti-immigrant backlash in a historical context that includes the restructuring of the U.S. economy and an increasingly conservative political climate

3. Three questions are raised by the new immigration: a) Do immigrants take jobs from U.S. citizens?

1) Immigrants do not have negative effects on the wages of most Americans, but they do the low-wage/poorly skilled segment of the work force. 2) This problem will increase as welfare recipients are required to leave welfare and find work, thus competing for the relatively few jobs at the low end of the occupational scale. 3) Immigrants are more likely than the rest of the population to be self-employed, which creates jobs and strengthens local economies. 4) Immigrants invest locally and hire locals who spend much of their wages locally. 5) Immigrants do society's "dirty work" that many poor U.S. citizens are willing to do.

b) Are immigrants a drain on society's resources? 1) Immigrants are found at the top and bottom educational levels

a. About 30% of those over 24 had undergraduate, graduate, or professional degrees. b. At the other end, about 34% of immigrants do not finish high school and many also have difficulty with English.

2) Immigrants' employment leads to good jobs for some and marginal jobs with marginal pay and benefits for others. 3) The latter group requires more resources from the state than nonimmigrant families because:

a. These immigrants have relatively large families and their children go to public schools. b. They pay less in taxes because they tend to earn low wages and have relatively little discretionary income.

4) Immigration laws are federal, but social services required by immigrants are provided by states; therefore, there is an unfair burden placed on states like California, Texas, New York, and Florida all of which have large immigrant populations. 5) In the long run, immigrants are a good investment for society

a. By the time a typical immigrant with a families dies, the immigrant and his/her family will have paid $80,000 more in taxes than they received in benefits. b. Immigrants are a fiscal burden for the first 22 years, after which society benefits monetarily.

6) California's Proposition 187 to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving benefits. Four facts are important: 7) Note demographer William Frey views the current "white flight" from high immigrant areas as the possible prelude to a "Balkanization of America." 8) The effects of migration of immigrants.

a) Assimilation is the process in which individuals or groups adopt the culture of another group.

i. A principal indicator of assimilation is language. ii. In 1990, about 80% of newcomers spoke a

language other than English at home, compared to 8% of the native-born.

iii. If the past is a guide, the new immigrants will assimilate.

iv. When the middle class is shrinking and the working class faces difficult economic hurdles, there is the danger that new immigrants will become the scapegoats.

v. New immigrants will have more difficulty assimilating than previous generations because they are racial/ethnics, not whites.

vi. With the current political mood to eliminate affirmative action, new immigrants will have a more difficult time than their predecessors. And there will almost certainly be fewer social benefits available to them.

vii. New immigrants have 4 options: • Try to blend in as quickly as possible • Resist new ways and develop an adversarial

stance toward the dominant society • Focus more on social networks created through

ethnic ties. • Move toward a bicultural pattern.

viii) The new immigration has 3 pronounced effects that will accelerate in the foreseeable future:

• An increased bifurcation between the haves and the have-nots.

• Increased racial diversity. • Heightened tension among the races.

III. The Aging Society A. The demographics of an aging society

1. There are now more than 35 million Americans age 65 or older. 2. With a falling birth rate and advances in medicine there has been a tenfold

increase in that segment of the population since 1900. 3. The old in America 4. The elderly population is disproportionately composed of women because women

enjoy greater longevity and the social norm for men to marry younger women. 5. Because of pensions through work and the traditional social security bias against

women who have not worked outside the home, elderly women are much more likely than elderly men to be poor

6. Because racial minorities have a lower life expectance than do white, they form a smaller proportion of the aged population.

7. The elderly who are members of a racial or ethnic minority are disproportionately poor and have a relatively low status.

8. Since social security benefits are related to income, this means that minority group members will tend to receive lower benefits than whites.

B. Problems of an aging society. 1. Inadequate income from pension or social security. a. Social security is the only source of income for about half of retired people. b. The social security program has several serious problems that place a disproportionate burden on the elderly and on some portions of the workers paying into the program.

1) Not all workers are covered; particularly some state workers and agricultural workers. 2) There is a wide disparity in the benefits received.

a) Benefits depend of the length of time workers have paid into the program and the amount of wages they earned. b) 30% of the elderly who depend almost exclusively on social security benefits are below the poverty line.

3) Three demographic factors make financing the social security program problematic:

a) More people are living to age 65.

b) After reaching 65, people live much longer than in earlier generations -average life spans are now 14 years longer than when social security was created in 1935.

CHAPTER 9 OUTLINE I. Introduction

A. All known societies have some system of ranking individuals and groups along a continuum of superiority/inferiority. It is important to understand that rewards in society are not distributed equally or randomly. How rewards are distributed is determined by the three major social hierarchies -class, race, and gender. B. The chapter discusses three critical aspects of the study and understanding of social stratification: 1) important concepts; 2) major hierarchies: class, race, and gender; and 3) theories.

II. Major Concepts A. The authors identify two ways of categorizing people:

1. Social differentiation is the process of categorizing persons based on personal attributes (e.g., age height, or occupation) 2. Social stratification refers to ranking people in a vertical hierarchy that differentiates them as superior or inferior

a. The process or ranking or elevation occurs in social stratification but not in social differentiation. b. Social stratification, therefore, refers to structured social inequality, a term used to refer to stratification being socially patterned.

1) Inequality is socially structured. a) Inequalities are not caused by biological difference. b) Biological traits do not become relevant in patterns of social superiority or inferiority until they are socially recognized and given importance. c) Biological traits take on social meaning, then become

incorporated into the beliefs, values, and attitudes of the people of society.

2) Patterning of inequality refers to uneven distribution of society's rewards.

a) Patterns of inequality are based on societal norms. b) Patterns of inequality are achieved through the socialization process. c) Patterning of stratification is connected with other aspects of society: politics, marriage, economics, education, and religion.

3) Patterning of inequality means there is a system of social relationships that determines who gets what and why.

c. Sociologist Harold Kerbo contends that when patterns of inequality become institutionalized a system of layered hierarchy is established throughout society.

1) The institutionalized hierarchy creates unequal distribution of rewards and resources: wealth, power, and privilege. 2) The unequal distribution of rewards directly affect people's life

chances. d. Class, race, and gender

1) Class, race, and gender are structures of inequality within the stratification system.

a) These structures organize society as a whole. b) They create varied environments for people through their unequal distribution of social opportunities.

2) A social class is a number of persons who occupy the same relative economic rank in the stratification system.

a) Persons are socially located in a class position on the basis of income, occupation, and education, either alone or in combination.

b) Class position generates different combinations of social privilege, which refers to the distribution of goods and services, situations, and experiences that are highly valued and beneficial.

3) Racial and ethnic stratification refers to systems of inequality in which some fix group membership or social category, such as race, religion, or national origin, is a major criterion for ranking members' social positions and their differential access to rewards.

a) Race is socially defined on the basis of a presumed common genetic heritage resulting in distinguishing physical characteristics. b) Ethnicity refers to the condition of being culturally rather than physically distinctive. c) Racial stratification is the exclusion of people of color from equal access to society's valued resources.

4) A sex-gender system is a form of stratification system that assigns women's and men's roles unequally.

a) Gender is the social patterning of difference and domination through distinctions between women and men. b) The sex-gender system consists of two complementary yet mutually exclusive categories into which all human beings are placed.

• Sex roles refer to behavior determined by an individual's biological sex. • Gender roles are social constructions; they contain self-concepts, psychological traits, as well as family, occupational, and political roles assigned differentially to each sex.

c) Patriarchy is the form of social organization, infused throughout American society, which places men in a dominant position over women. d) Systems of sex stratification cut across class and racial divisions to distribute resources differently to men and women

5) Class, race, and gender are interrelated systems of stratification.

a) The intersection of class, race, and gender create what Patricia Hill Collins calls a matrix of domination in which every member of society exists.

People experience race, class, gender, and sexuality differently depending upon their social location in these structures of inequality.

Class, race, and gender are components of both social structure and social interaction.

The inequality matrix has to do with the relational nature of dominance and subordination.

III. Theories of Stratification A. Order theory

1. Two points are key to order theory: a. That social inequality is apparently unavoidable. b. Inequality serves a useful function for society.

2. Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore contend that: a. A division of labor is necessary for the smooth functioning of society. b. The most talented must do the most important jobs. c. Differential rewards (money, prestige, power) must be used to motivate individuals to do jobs according to their functional importance to society. d. The socialization process teaches individuals to accept a hierarchy of rewards.

B. Conflict theory 1. Conflict theorists view stratification in a totally different manner from order theorists

a. Conflict theorists do not accept stratification as a source of societal integration b. They contend that stratification reflects the unequal distribution of power in society and not the basic survival needs of society, as the order theorists contend.

2. According to conflict theory, the "ruling class" uses ideology to keep their value system paramount.

a. The media, schools, religion, and other institutions are manipulated to legitimate systems of inequality and the status quo. b. A powerful socialization process causes the oppressed to develop a false consciousness so that they accept their oppression.

3. Marx argued that the oppressed would become aware of their common oppression and develop class consciousness and would unify to advance their class interests.

IV. Deficiency theories suggest that the poor are in their condition because of some deficiency. Two competing views suggest different deficiencies: Biological inferiority and cultural inferiority.

A. Biological inferiority focuses on genetic differences that lead naturally to social differences (228-235).

1. Social Darwinism a. Proposed by Herbert Spencer. b. Used to argue that poverty was nature's way of "excreting" the unfit members of society to make room for the "fit." c. Although this theory has generally lacked support in the scientific community, it has continued to provide a rational for the thinking of many individuals.

2. Arthur Jensen argued that Blacks are less well endowed mentally than whites. a. From his review of IQ research, he concluded that 80% of I.Q. is inherited and 20% is due to environment. b. Because blacks differ significantly from whites on IQ tests and school, Jensen claimed that its reasonable to assume that these differences are genetic as well as environmental.

3. Richard Hermstein argued that social stratification by inborn differences occurs. He contended that:

a. Mental ability is inherited. b. Success depends on mental ability; thus, a meritocracy develops through the sorting process. c. A meritocracy (social stratification based on ability) develops through an automatic sorting process.

4. Implications of biological determinism for dealing with the problem of poverty: a. It blames the victim. b. It suggests that poverty is unavoidable, therefore acceptable. c. It appeals to bigots. d. It legitimizes segregation and inequality. e. Too much trust is placed in standardized I.Q. tests, overlooking the

contribution of social class to achievement on such tests, which may discriminate.

f. It justifies unequal schooling and justifies the notion that spending money on disadvantaged children is a waste.

g. It encourages policyrnakers to ignore poverty or to attack its effects rather than its causes.

B. Cultural inferiority places the blame for poverty on the failure of some groups' culture. 1. The 'culture of poverty' hypothesis:

a. Contends that the poor are qualitatively different in values and lifestyles from the rest of society and that this explains poverty. b. The deviant cultural pattern is transmitted from generation to generation. c. Political scientist Edward Banfield argued that:

1) The poor have a subculture with values that differ radically from the other social classes. 2) The poor have a 'present-time' orientation while the nonpoor have a 'future-time' orientation.

a) If the structure of the "hedonistic!' culture-of-poverty were changed so that the poor could see that hard work and deferred gratification really paid off, they could adopt a future time orientation.

b) Criticisms of the culture-of-poverty hypothesis: • The poor do not abandon the dominant values

of the society. • They simultaneously hold the dominant values

while adopting an alternative set of values so that they may adapt to the conditions of poverty.

2. Most Americans believe the poor have a deviant system of values that encourages behaviors leading to poverty.

a. The facts are contrary to these beliefs (See p.235 for a demographic breakdown of who is poor.)

1. Only 2.6% fit the stereotype of permanent poverty. 2. Most poor people are only poor temporarily; their financial fortunes

rise and fall with widowhood, divorce, remarriage, acquiring a job with decent pay or losing one, or other changes affecting economic status.

V. Structural Theories present the view that how society is organized creates poverty and makes certain groups of people vulnerable to being poor.

A. Institutional discrimination is the form inequality takes when the customary ways of doing things, prevailing attitudes and expectations, and accepted structural arrangements work to the disadvantage of the poor. 1. Education

a. Good jobs require a college degree. b. The poor cannot afford to send their children to college. c. Scholarships go to the best-performing students. d. Because of low expectations from teachers, poor children do not perform well. e. Lower amounts of money to schools in poor neighborhoods sustain these inequities. f. Self-fulfilling prophecy - the poor are not expected to do well in school and they do not.

2. Health a. Poor get sick more often because they cannot afford preventative health care. b. High rate of sickness means they miss more work than would be the case otherwise. c. May lose their jobs and no income means they cannot afford healthcare.

3. The cycle of poverty means that the poor will tend to remain poor, and their children tend to perpetuate the cycle.

B. The political economy of society 1. In capitalism who gets what is determined by private profit rather than collective need 2. The profit motive promotes poverty

a. Low wages for workers. b. A supply of undereducated and desperate people and high unemployment keeps

wages low. c. Investment decisions disregard employees.

1) Political decisions to fight inflation with high interest rates hurt key industries, thus causing high unemployment.

2) The affluent (i.e., the powerful) resist efforts to redistribute their wealth to the disadvantaged.

3) See "Diversity: Who Benefits from Poverly" for a summation of Herbert Gans' insights about the benefits of poverty.

CHAPTER 10 OUTLINE I. Introduction

A. The dominant democratic ideology that "all men are created equal" does not mesh with the reality of American society.

1. Slavery was once legal and racial discrimination against African Americans was legal until the 1960s.

2. Women were not permitted to vote until early 1900s. 3. At a time when 189 people in the U.S. were billionaires, 37 million people were

living below the poverty line. II. Dimensions of Inequality A. Wealth

1. Wealth is unquestionably maldistributed in the U.S. a. 10 of the billionaires in the U.S. are worth more than $10 billion each. b. Bill Gates (worth $100 billion in 1999) owns more wealth than the bottom 45 percent of U.S. households combined.

2. The concentration of wealth is greatly skewed. a. Since the 1970s, the top 1% of households have doubled their share of the

nation's wealth. b. The richest 1/2% of households own 42 percent of the total wealth in the U.S. c. During the time (15 years) when $1 million invested in stock grew to $14

million, the median household net worth dropped 11 percent. 1) Less than 1/3 of households own stock worth more than $5000 in 1995. 2) Almost 90% of the value of all stocks and mutual funds are owned by the top 10% of household.

d. Nearly 1 in 5 households has 0 or negative net worth. e. Personal wealth is skewed by race - the median white household had a net worth of about 10 times that of Latino and African-American households. f. Wealth is maldistributed by household type - the net worth of married couple households in 5 times that of households headed by women without spouses.

B. Income is not as concentrated as wealth, but still dramatic. 1. Distribution is very unequal and is widening.

a. The median wages for a full-time female worker in 1997 was 74% of that for her male counterpart. b. The median household income for households headed by women with no spouse present was $17,613, compared to $27,592 for households headed by men with no wife present. c. The average CEO earned 325 times the pay of factory workers in 1997, compared to 1980 when CEOs made 42 times as much. d. The average after-tax income of the wealthiest 21 % of Americans increased 72% (adjusted for inflation) compared to the poorest one-fifth whose average income shrank by 16%. e. While benefits (pensions, insurance, etc.) for top executives have increased substantially, most workers' benefits have been shrinking, and some 43.4 million Americans in 1997 (many of who worked full-time) are not covered by any medical insurance. f. The median household income by race/ethnicity for 1997 was $40,577 for non-Hispanic whites, $25,628 for Latinos, and $25,050 for African Americans.

2. The relative gain in income by the upper 20% of Americans can be explained by several factors, including:

a. Increased tax benefits received by the affluent. b. The concurrent lowering of tax benefits to the middle class. c. The decrease in welfare programs for the poor. d. The changing job structure caused by:

1) The economy shifting from manufacturing to service. 2) The export of U.S. jobs.

3. While the highest quintile of American households have an ever-greater share of the aggregate household income, the other 4 quintiles have lost income share.

C. Education 1. Formal education is a major determinant of occupation, income, and prestige. 2. Inequality in educational opportunities is an intergenerational phenomena creating a cycle of inequality.

a. 25 million American adults cannot read. b. 35 million read only at a level, which is less than equal to the survival needs of

society. c. These two groups comprise 1/3 of the entire adult population.

d. The largest number of illiterate adults are white, native-born Americans. e. However, as a proportion of the population, the figures are higher for blacks and

Hispanics than white. f. 15'0~6 of recent graduates of urban high schools read at less than a 6th

grade level. g. Half the heads of households classified below the poverty line cannot read an 8th

grade book. h. Over 1/3 of welfare mothers are functionally illiterate.

3. In 1997, the average annual earning for those 18 years and older who only completed high school were $22,895 compared to the average earnings of $40,478 for those with a college degree.

D. Occupation 1. Occupations vary systematically in prestige in terms of

a. The importance of the task. b. The degree of authority and responsibility held. c. The intelligence required. d. The knowledge and skills required. e. The dignity of the job. f. The financial rewards.

2. Occupation sorts people into hierarchically arranged categories. 3. Prestige of occupations is highly correlated with income level. 4. Regardless of the occupational category, women earn less than men.

E. Consequences of Increasing Inequality for society 1. The inequality divide is great and growing in the U.S.-the rich are richer while the non-

affluent stay the same or decline in resources. 2. The inequality gap in the U.S. is the highest in the industrialized world. 3. The divide between the wealth and the nonaffluent is manifested in several important

ways: a. The rich and the less-than-rich but affluent attempt to segregate themselves into exclusive neighborhoods. b. The affluent send their children to private schools. c. The affluent associate only with the affluent.

4. The greater the wealth and income inequality, the greater the economic and social fragmentation-it erodes the social contract.

5. Leading economist John Kenneth Galbraith argues that "inequality is now so wide it threatens, as it did in the Great Depression, the social stability of the country

6. The U.S., compared to other advanced industrial societies, has the highest proportion of its population living below the poverty line.

7. Democracy is on the wane in the U.S. as more and more people opt out of the electoral process-while the rich vote, the poor, near poor, and working classes tend not to.

III. Social Class A. The concept of social class centers on the distribution of economic resources.

I. A social class is formed when a number of individuals occupy the same relative economic rank in the stratification system. 2. The dominant view is that there are no clear class boundaries, except perhaps those delineating the highest and lowest classes.

a. A class, given the diversity within it, is not a homogeneous group. b. There is a sense of who is superior, equal, and inferior to whom. c. There tends to be commonalities in lifestyles and tastes among people in similar economic positions.

3. Sociologists agree that there are social classes and that money is a central criterion for classification but they disagree on the meaning of class for people.

B. Order model's conception of social class: 1. Income, occupation, and education are fundamental indicators of social class. 2. Occupation is central because occupational placement determines income, interaction patterns, opportunity, and lifestyle. 3. Lifestyle is the key dependent variable.

a. Each social class has its distinct culture. b. There are class-specific values, attitudes, and motives. c. These orientations stem from income level and occupational experiences.

1) How people get their money and what they do with it is as important as how much they have.

4. From the order perspective, the class system includes: a. Upper-upper class - the "old rich"; they belong to exclusive clubs and attend exclusive schools; their children intermarry, etc. b. Lower-upper class - the "new rich" who are not accepted into the circle of the old rich because their wealth is self-made, some from business ventures and special talent (sports, music, and other forms of entertainment), some as professionals, and some who have worked their way us as executives in corporations. c. Upper-middle class - high-prestige jobs; largely professional people, executives, and business people. d. Lower-middle class - white-collar workers; minor bureaucrats. e. Upper-lower class - blue-collar workers; blue-collar workers. f. Lower-lower class - unskilled workers with less than a high school education; they have low wages, no fringe benefits, and no security.

C. The conflict model's conception of social class: 1. Conflict theorists argue that order theorists understate the importance of money in

determining social class-instead, money is central in determining where people fall in the class system.

2. Conflict theorists focus on power and money, rather than on lifestyle. 3. To conflict theorists, a social class is not a cluster of similar occupations but rather a

number of individuals who occupy similar position within the social relations of economic production.

a. The key is not occupation but how much control one has over their own work, the work of others, decision-making, and investments. b. People who own, manage, oppress, and control must be distinguished from those who are managed, oppressed, and controlled.

4. Conflict theorists see five classes in the stratification system: a. Ruling class - which holds most of the wealth and power; they own, control, govern,' and rule society. b. Professional-managerial class -managers, supervisors, professionals in business firms, and professionals outside business but whose mental work aids business and the ruling class. c. Small business owners - Entrepreneurs who own businesses and employ few or no workers. d. Working class - includes both white collar and blue-collar workers who lack control over their own workers or even their own lives. e. Poor - those who work for minimum wages and/or who are unemployed.

5. Erik Olin Wright and his colleagues argue that: a. It is incorrect to rank occupations as order theorists do. b. Social class is closely related to gender and race.

D. Summary - Class from the order and conflict perspectives . 1. Both provide insights into social class. 2. Occupation is critical to both, but for different reasons:

a. Order - theory focuses on prestige. b. Conflict - theory emphasizes power.

3. Both agree that lifestyles are different, but it is not as central to social class as giving or taking orders are.

a. Both disagree on where to place white-collar workers. IV. The Consequences of Social Class Position A. Both theoretical perspectives agree on the fact that one's wealth is important in determining one's life chances. B. Life chances refer to the chances throughout one's life cycle to live and to experience the good things in life.

1. Physical health a. Even in a disaster, the wealthy are more likely to survive, e.g., sinking of the

Titanic (3% of first class female passengers died, compared to 16% of second-class female passengers, and 45 % of third-class female passengers.

b. The wealthy are more likely to survive serious illnesses, like certain forms of cancer, hypertension, infant mortality, disabilities, and infectious diseases.

c. The affluent have access to health-promoting and health-protecting resources, access to medical services, and health insurance.

d. Privilege in the social stratification system translates directly and indirectly into better health in a number of ways: 1) The privileged live in home, neighborhood, and work environments that are less stressful. 2) The children of privilege have healthier environments in the crucial first five years of life. 3) The privileged have better access to and make better use of the health care system. 4) The privileged have health insurance to pay for a major portion of their health care.

e. Education is one of the most powerful predictors of health-more powerful than genetics, exposure to carcinogens, even smoking.

2. Family instability a. The lower the statuses, the greater the proportion of divorce or desertion. b. Given the tremendous emphasis in the U.S. on success and achievement, lower

class people (particularly men) tend to define themselves and be perceived by others in the society as a failure.

3. Military draft a. In 1969, only 10 percent of the men drafted were college men, but 40 percent of college-age men go to college. b. Conscientious objectors are more likely to come from the more educated classes. c. When they served, educated service men were more likely to serve in non-combat supply and administrative jobs than were the less well-educated.

4. Justice a. Low-income persons are more likely to be arrested, to be found guilty, and to serve longer sentences for a given violation than are persons in the middle and upper classes. b. The affluent can afford lawyers, and can appeal court decisions. c. There is a typical belief that the affluent or children of the affluent are basically good people, but that law breaking by the poor is more troublesome and should be punished harshly because they are basically bad people. It's also believed that their deviance will persist if tolerated or mildly punished by the authorities.

5. Education a. Wealthy people can buy good education. b. Inequality exists at all educational levels in many forms:

1. In the quality of education when schools are compared by district; districts with a higher tax base have more money to spend on their schools.

2. Within each school, children are given standardized texts that have a middleclass; educators use results to track children according to ability.

3. "Tracking" is harmful to lower classes in that tracks often structure the expectations of teachers. V. Social Mobility

c. The degree of social mobility in society examines the order model's proposition that there is a high degree of social mobility in American society.

1. That status (as opposed to class) differences are gradations, corresponding with occupation. 2. That a high degree of social mobility exists in the U.S. 3. Societies vary in degree to which individuals may move up in status:

a. The caste system is a closed system of mobility. In a caste system: 1) Status is determined by heredity. 2) Marriage must be within one's status group. 3) Occupation is determined by heredity.

4. Interaction between status groups is restricted. a. In contrast U.S. has a totally open system; however children have the social rank of their parents while they are young, which in turn has a tremendous influence over whether the child will be mobile.

b. Social mobility refers to an individual's movement within the class structure of society; takes four forms:

1) Vertical mobility refers to either upward or downward movement. 2) Horizontal mobility refers to change from one position to another of about equal prestige. 3) Intergenerational mobility involves vertical movement comparisons between parents and their children. 4) Intergenerational mobility involves vertical movement of the individual through his or her adult life.

c. Societal factors affect vertical social mobility. 1)During the century, there was cheap, fertile land with abundant resources.

2) The arrival of new immigrants provided a status boost to those already here., 3) Economic booms and depressions have obvious effects. 4) Technological changes can provide increased chances for success for some and diminished opportunities for others. 5) The size of one's age cohort can limit or expand opportunities for success

d. Sociologists Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan concluded that:

1) Few children of white-collar workers become blue-collar workers. 2) Most mobility moves are short in distance. 3) Occupational inheritance is highest for children of professionals (physicians, lawyers, and professors). 4) Opportunities for the children of nonprofessionals to become professionals are very small.

e. Equality of opportunity does not exist because: 1) Employers may discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or ethnicity of their employees and prospective employees.

1. Educational and job training opportunities are unequal. 2. The family has great power to enhance or retard a child's aspirations, motivation,

and cognitive skills. B. Education and social mobility

1. Schools perpetuate the meritocratic myth and legitimize it by giving and denying educational credentials on the basis of open and objective mechanisms that sift and sort on merit.

2. Educational attainment, especially receiving the college degree, is the most important predictor of success in the United States.

3. Socioeconomic background determines how much education one receives. 4. Jencks' study on educational attainment (1979).

a. Family background is the most important factor. b. Educational attainment is very important to later success. c. Scores from intelligence tests are by themselves poor predictors of economic success. d. Personality traits of high school students, more than grades and IQ, have an impact on economic success. 5. The assets of one's social environment are important to success.

C. The new downward mobility and the shrinking middle class: 1. Throughout most of America's history, every generation has expected to do better than their parents - and many did. 2. In 1973, the trend shifted, and the American dream ended. 3. Between the 1970s and 1980s, a longitudinal study showed that:

a. Downward mobility was more evident in the 1980s-in the 1970s, 21 % of adults had lower incomes at the end of the decade, compared to 33% in the 1980s.

b. In the 1980s, the chances for upward mobility was greater for those who started the decade with more education and high incomes than those with less. c. In the 1980s, downward mobility was most likely in the bottom quintile of the population, where 53% lost ground, compared to 18% in the top quintile.

4. The median income for men has suffered a "wage cut" of 4.6 percent between the 1970s and 1995, and unemployment and underemployment have become a greater threat. 5. The gap between rich and poor is wider than any time since World War 11. 6. Two fundamental reasons explain why the current period is the first in U.S. history in which downward mobility exceed the rate of upward mobility.

a. The changing demographics as the baby-boom generation and influx of women into the labor market have crowded the labor market.

b. The structural transformation of the economy has replaced and displaced workers. 1) There was a shift away from traditional manufacturing and toward high technology and service industries has eliminated many high-wage jobs and replaced them with low-wage jobs 2) The moving of plants to low-wage regions of the country and other countries has further depressed wages. 3) Unions have acquiesced to pressures from foreign labor competition by lowering their demands, making concessions, and accepting a two-tiered wage scale (newly hired are paid considerably lower wages and those hired earlier).

VI. Poverty in the United States A. Official poverty line:

1. Is set by the Social Security Administration. 2. Is based on the minimal amount required for a subsistence level of life. (This figure is

based on the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet and multiplied by three.) 3. In 1997, the poverty line was $16,400 for a nonfarm family of 4. 4. 13.3% of the population (35.6 million people) live in poverty. 5. Problems with the "poverty line":

a. If the government applied the formula to measure the cost of necessities medical, utilities, and housing) and not food, the poverty line would be 50% higher. b. The percentage of the poor in this country is underestimated, largely because the poor are invisible, even to the government. c. Figure 10.3 (p. 281) shows trends in poverty levels between 1959 and 1997.

d. See "Human Agency: Coping Strategies Among the Poor" (p.282) B. Racial minorities

1. Income is maldistributed by race. 2. 27.1 % of Latinos were poor in 1997; 26.5% of African Americans, 14% of all Asian Americans, compared to 11.0% of whites. 3. The gap between Latinos and white non-Hispanic Americans will likely increase because:

a. Latinos are younger and newer to the work force. b. They are concentrated in low paying jobs. c. They live in high unemployment areas. d. Latinos are lagging behind other groups in education-in 1995, only 57% of Latinos had completed high school, compared to 87% of young black adults.

4. Native Americans a. Poverty rate similar to African-Americans. b. On reservations, poverty and unemployment rates are high, health problems rampant, and educational attainment low. c. As an example, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, the poverty rate is 63.1 % in 1991.

C. Women 1. Institutional sexism leads to poverty among women. 2. Marital disruption and unwed mothers have resulted in the "feminization of poverty."

a. The gender disparity has resulted in the high probability of women who head families being poor - in 1996, 32.6% of such families were poor, compared to 5.6% for two-parent families. b. The rate of white women in poverty increased dramatically due largely to divorce.

3. The "feminization of poverty"

a. Refers to the trend for a disproportionate share of the impoverished adult population to be women.

b. Obscures the face that women have always been more economically vulnerable tan men, especially older women and women of culture.

c. However, the probability of economic deprivation is greater for specific categories of women. Race and gender independently contribute to poverty; the black woman, with 2 strikes against her, is almost 3 times more likely to be poor as is a white woman.

d. The issue of poverty is not gender, but class, race, and gender. D. Children

1. While the nation's poverty rate was 13.3 percent in 1997, the rate for children was 19.9 percent for those under 18 and 24 percent for those under six years of age. 2. Approximately 4 out of 10 African American and Latino children under 18 were poor in 1997. 3. Of related children living in families with a female head of household, almost half were poor. 4. The United States has the highest youth poverty of any in the Western, world.

E. Elderly 1. The elderly as a category have a lower poverty rate (10.5 percent in 1997) than the

general population (13.3 percent). 2. There are four times as many children as elderly people living in poverty in the U.S. 3. A higher proportion of the elderly (7.5%) compared to non-elderly (4.5%) hover just

above the poverty line. 4. Elderly women are much more likely than elderly men to live in poverty, a trend that

increases with age--one in five women age 75 or older are poor, compared to 1 in 10 men.

5. Gender and race combine to make African American and Latino women especially vulnerable to poverty.

F. Geography of Poverty 1. The West has replaced the South since 1996 as the region having the highest poverty rate.

This is due to: a. Large Latino population. b. A relatively large number of recent immigrants.

1. New Mexico (24 percent) had the highest poverty rates; New Hampshire (6.9 percent) had the lowest.

2. Poverty is widespread in rural areas. a. East Carroll County, Louisiana had the highest poverty rate (52%) in 1993. b. There are 625 counties that rank in the highest 1/5 of both poverty and wealth.

3. In metropolitan areas, the poverty rate is higher in central cities (20.6 percent) than suburban areas (9.1 percent).

a. The proportion of the poor is increasing in the central cities. b. The poverty is more and more concentrated, meaning that the poor are more

and more likely to be living in already poor neighborhoods. 4. Differences exist between the rural and the urban poor.

a. The rural poor have some advantages (low-cost housing, raising their own food) and many disadvantages (low-paid work, higher prices for many products, fewer social services, fewer welfare benefits).

b. The rural poor are more likely to be long-term poor than the urban poor. 5. Poverty is greatest among those who lack an established residence. 6. Compared to other major industrialized democracies, the U.S. has more poverty, more

severe poverty, and supports its poor the least. G. The poor-poor

1. 5 percent of people in the United States live below Y2 the poverty line-these are the poor-poor.

2. The poor-poor must use 50% or more of their meager income for housing. 3. The number of poor-poor has increased by almost 50 percent since 1979. Reasons

include: a. Many of the poor-poor live in rural areas that haven't prospered as much as other

regions. b. A decline in marriage (and a rise in divorce) resulted in a significant increase in

single mothers and unattached men. c. A steady decline in public assistance benefits since 1980, especially in the South.

VI. Myths About Poverty A. Much of the debate about this important issue is based on 4 erroneous assumptions and

misperceptions. B. The refusal to work

1. There are about 30 million Americans who are poor or near-poor who work. a. They are in menial, dead-end jobs with no befits and pay the minimum wage or less. b. The poverty rate for young families headed by a full-time worker tripled between 1973 and 1994. c. Low wages are the problem. 1) Today, about 3.7 million workers make the minimum wage. 2) A full-time minimum-wage worker earns only 82% of the poverty level for a family of 3.

2. Half of the poor are too young or too old to work. About 40 percent are under age 18 and another 10 percent are 65 or over. 3. The main increase in the number of poor since 1979 has been among the working poor. They are poor because of:

a. Declining wages. b. An increase in working women who head households. c. Very low minimum wage. d. Jobs with low pay and no benefits-they remain poor even if they worked 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. e. Ineligibility for many government supports such as subsidized housing, medical care, and food stamps.

C. Welfare dependency 1. The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Responsibility Act:

a. Reformed the welfare system. b. Shifted the Aid to Families with Dependent Children welfare program from the federal government to the states. c. Mandated that welfare recipients find work within 2 years. d. Cut (by $54.5 billion over 6 years) various federal assistance programs target for the poor.

2. Assumption was that welfare was too generous, making it easier to stay on welfare than leave for work, and that welfare encouraged unmarried women to have children. 3. Government welfare before the 1996 welfare reform:

a. Welfare accounted for about % of the income of poor adults; nearly half their income came from some form of work. b. About3/4of the poor received some type of non-cash benefit (Medicaid, food stamps, or housing assistance) but only about 40% received cash benefits. c. the poverty population changes-people move in an out of poverty every year.

1) The average welfare recipient stayed on welfare less than 2 years. 2) Only 12% of the poor remain poor for 5 or more consecutive years.

d. Although the pre-reform benefits were more generous than now, on average, welfare mothers who did not receiving housing subsidies (and more than 2/3 did not) fell $519 short of meeting their monthly expenses with just the welfare benefits. e. Contrary to the common assertion that welfare mothers keep having babies to get more welfare benefits and escape work, research shows that that most welfare recipients earn extra money from various work like house cleaning, laundry, child care, and selling items they have. f. See "A Closer Look: The New Welfare Policy: A Critique" on page 288.

4. There is a fundamental misunderstanding about where most governmental benefits are directed.

a. We tend to assume that government monies and services to mostly to the poor 47 the form of welfare (the receipt of financial aid and/or services from the government) for the poor. b. Most (about3/4) governmental benefits go to the non-poor in the form of wealthfare, which is the receipt by the non-poor of financial aid and/or services from the government. Wealthfare includes:

1) Aid to all children in the form of education programs. 2) Assistance to the elderly through Social Security benefits and Medicare. 3) Benefits to the two hidden welfare systems;

a) Through tax loopholes, called tax expenditures, the government permits certain individuals and corporations to pay lower or no taxes.

5. A major tax expenditure programs is the money that homeowners deduct from taxes for real estate taxes and mortgage interest.

6. Governmental tax breaks to homeowners ($53.7 billion in 1998) are $23 billion more than the budget for low-income housing-as a result: a) The second hidden welfare system to the non-poor is the direct subsidies to corporations, banks, and agribusiness. i) The savings and loan bailout ($37 billion every year for 30 years). ii) Agribusiness subsidies ($18 billion a year). iii) Media subsidies ($8 billion a year).

b. When Congress passed welfare reform in 1996, they did not consider cutting or eliminating welfare programs for the non-poor.

D. The poor get special advantages 1. The common belief is that the poor get handouts for commodities for which other

Americans have to work-food stamps, Medicaid, housing subsidies, etc. 2. Subsidies to the poor amount to much less than the benefits the more affluent receive, and

recent legislation has reduced them more and more. 3. Two facts help explain why some poor people have difficulty getting out of poverty

a. The poor pay more than the non-poor for many services. 1) Food and commodities cost more in the inner city because storeowners have monopoly power. 2) The poor often lack transportation to go to supermarkets and warehouse stores where prices are lower. 3) Because inner cities lack banks and other financial service providers, the poor must depend on rent-to-own companies, pawnbrokers, loan companies, etc., some of which charge 230-240% interest. 4) Poor people and minorities have a harder time obtaining insurance and pay higher premiums than other customers.

a. Because of low wages, the poor pay a large proportion of their income for housing.

b. When the poor pay sales tax on the items they purchase, the tax take a larger share of their resources than it does from the non-poor, making sales tax a regressive tax.

c. As a result of these conditions, efforts to move federal programs to the states (called devolution) will cost the poor more since state taxes tend to be regressive while federal taxes (income tax, for instance) tend to be progressive.

E. Welfare is a Black and Latino program. 1. While poverty rates are higher for Blacks and Hispanics than for other racial/ethnic groups, they don't make up the majority of the poor. a. Non-Hispanic Whites make up 46 percent of the poor, compared to 26 percent for

African Americans and 22 percent Latinos. b. Whites take a majority of the welfare budget and when you consider Social Security

and other benefits, whites receive almost twice as much per capita than African Americans.