Lecture Notes for 9/3/08-10/8/08

CREATEDATE 9/11/07 2:23 PM WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY? (9/3/08) Lecture # 1 A. What sociology is not: Social work or social reform, through it was once closely related to both from 1890-1905 a process of separation between the branches there was little difference between reform and applied sociology gender division of labor around turn of century- women doing quantitative work and men doing qualitative gender reverse happened around 1930 Richard Ellie Worked at UW-Madison- denounced him as being ?too radical?- however, was exonerated Berger ?sociological knowledge can be used by just about anyone, it?s available to be used in many ways? However, the ethical and political values of the sociologists will always be influential, even when trying to use objectivity Relativistic, in the sense that all beliefs are equally warranted It does involve breaking free from personal circumstances and seeing things from a wider perspective Evidence is important Simpler explanations There are important criteria to follow A reaffirmation of common sense, though sociology draws upon and informs common sense It may appear so, because the sociologist draws upon what is already known Because sociological knowledge is incorporated into society, and is available for the average person Good sociology gets us to break free and look at things in new ways Things that seem natural, normal, and inevitable are not always the case! B. So what is sociology? The scientific study of human social life, groups, and societies Sociological explanations are often relational rather than substantialist, meaning that they focus on how individuals are organized, not the properties of individuals themselves Peter Berger- disciplined way, patterns, systematically searches, how individuals are organized, thinking in terms of social relationships rather than individual people Durkheim: Found that suicide rates- higher when individuals were not as incorporated into the groups C. Theories Abstract, general interpretations the sociologist constructs to explain observed facts or patterns A tool for problem-solving Sociology involves both facts and theories D. Theoretical Approaches Broad, overall orientations that guide research, help us decide what is most important to focus on Multiple theoretical approaches on sociology, including: Symbolic interactionism- symbols and language Functionalism- functions, contributions, explain social constitutions and events Conflict theory ? connection between emancipation and knowledge Feminist theory- gender importance in family, education system, workplace, gender inequalities are socially constructed, also links knowledge and emancipation Why so many approaches? Different personal opinions Field drawn from other fields (different theories E. Is sociology a science? A) Sociological inquiry involves both explanation and interpretation B) Science is a method for producing knowledge Similar to ordinary procedures for fixing belief But tries to minimize false inferences by regulating the conditions under which we make and test inferences This regulation is what makes sociological inquiry scientific The sociologist relies on the scientific method because is works better than available alternatives Positivists Comte, Durkheim Social sciences should be like regular sciences, should look for general laws, under conditions A,B, and C, X causes Y, ?covering law? of the sciences Sociology could not model itself on the natural sciences, because human behavior is meaningful, which is very different from lightning, rainfall, etc. Aim of sociology should not be to discover general laws, but to interpret the meaning of people?s actions Debate misguided: Need to integrate- synthesize both approaches Both the positivists and critics shared a very narrow and outdated conception of science Pragmatic idea of science is better Not a body of accumulate knowledge( is the shared method of how this knowledge is produced Scientific thinking is a refinement of our ordinary procedures Sociologist relies on the scientific method because it works better than available alternatives Summary: 1. Sociology is the scientific study of social life, groups, and societies. What makes sociology scientific is the careful regulation of the conditions under which we make and test inferences 2. Sociology involves both fats and theories. Theories have to be tested and revised on the basis of factual research, but we need theories to explain facts. 3. Theories aim to explain particular social conditions or types of events. Theoretical approaches are broad overall orientations to the subject matter of sociology. Sociologists rely on a variety of theoretical approaches to guide their research, 4. Sociological explanations often lie not in the qualities or characteristics of individuals but in how individuals are organized. SOCIOLOGICAL METHODS: Lecture 2: (9/8/08) Step 1: Forming a Research Question A Research question More specific than research topic Clarifies what you will study Guides your selection of methods Helps specify what kind of data you need Ex: ?How is marijuana distributed on campus? Or, does marijuana have psychological effects?? Instead of, ?I will study marijuana on college campuses? * Necessary to familiarize yourself on the topic and the questions you have selected- see whether the question you have asked has already been proposed- or see how related research is to your question * Research is never done in isolation- a series of ongoing questions-always building on the work of others *Literature review II. Defining your object of study Operationalizing the things you want to study How will you define the things you want to study for the purposes of observation and measurement? *The merits and policy implications of any study area are closely related to how the researcher defines and measures her key concepts Ex: How does intelligence affect success in college? Must operationalize intelligence and success The Bell Curve- Hernstien and Murry, Stanford-Benet intelligence test-measures verbal, quantitative, and spatial reasoning tests- compared age based ( IQ Allows you to compare different groups Demonstrated that IQs are fairly strong indicators of success, and vary across different socioeconomic and ethnic group(some ethnic groups lack intelligence, so do worse, more crime, do economically worse, etc. Argument to eliminate college programs to help minority students? success- they see it as a waste of time because they have lower IQs Gardner method Multiple intelligences IQs don?t measure all types of intelligence, ex: musical intelligence, personal intelligence, body kinesthetic skills Many types of intelligence are glossed over in the intelligence curves Suggests we re-think the way we teach-people learn differently III. Step 3: Selecting a methodology Methods are tools in the sociological tool kit, each with its own particular advantages and disadvantages and limitations The question for the sociologist is, which methodology is the most appropriate tool for your research project? Many methods! Ethnography, surveys, experiments, comparative historical methods Not one best tool, each has advantages and limitations IV. Ethnography The study of people using participant observation, interviewing, or both Participant observation (also known as fieldwork) is a research method in which the sociologist takes part in the activities of the groups or community being studied Qualitative interviews- Robert Weiss (reading) V. Ethnography- Disadvantages and Advantages Disadvantages: Time consuming Often take years to collect data Limited to small samples More difficult to generalize Ex: study bankers- cant generalize to business executives Dangerous settings Ex: Chad?s study of work-fare workers in NYC Reluctance of groups to being studied Trust, cooperation issues Need to gain permission from ?gatekeepers? to engage in observations Ex: student who wanted to study academic conduct- would need to get permission of dean, etc. The ethnographer can become too much of an insider and loser her objectivity Advantages: can observer subjects? behavior in a natural setting provides thick descriptions of human conduct: detailed portraits of social encounters and what they mean to the participating individuals can help us understand social processes that transcend the situation or group being studied Ex: Howard Becker, Becoming a Marijuana User Ex: Irving Goffman Ex: Paul Willis, Learning to Labor, working class high school students in Britain VI. Surveys: Sense and Non-Sense about Surveys in reader Illustrates point, 1939 Literary Digest, voting Survey predicted that FDR would lose Survey was very wrong! Because Literary Digest was getting a biased sample, one from telephone lists and automobile lists, a more wealthy, upper class group that was more opposed to FDR( skewed sample In a survey, questionnaires are sent or given directly to people trough interviews Sample is the group being studied (smaller subset), larger overall group is population To make sure you can generalize sample, must be typical of whole population Every person in population has same probability of being included, typical, representative- random sampling Disadvantages: Non-response levels may be high Rely on honestly and accuracy of respondents Ex: In one study, 58 % of patients gave inaccurate responses about length of stay in hospital Surveys must be carefully phrased Ex: 75 % in 1940s said they would not allow public speeches against democracy, but only 54 % said they would forbid it Produce information that is less detailed than fieldwork Ex: Teacher Evaluations Not much room for own opinions when it is multiple choice Advantages Inexpensive, easily distributed, easily quantified Studies large numbers of people, so results more easily generalized Some survey data already collected by government and private organizations Ex: Bethany Bryson- use cultural tastes to create boundaries between themselves and others, Robert Putnam- to find out how many people volunteer and how that?s changed over time VII. Experiments An attempt to test a hypothesis under highly controlled conditions established by the investigator Advantages: Can more easily control the influence of specific variables Easy for researchers to repeat experiments and compare results Disadvantages: Time consuming May be hard to recruit willing subjects Can only study small groups Subjects studied in situations that only partly resemble real world encounters Need to be careful when generalizing results Hawthorne Effect: Subjects often behave differently when they know they are being experimented upon No matter what changes they made in factory, workers productivity increased Because they knew they were being observed Ex: Mock Prison IIX: Stanley Milgram?s Experiment: Teachers, Learners, fake shocks, authority figure in white lab coat, you can hear the learner?s screaming, Yale University 1961-1962 65 % of Teachers continued until maximum shock Trying to understand how/why Germans followed orders during WWII ?The social psychology of the century reveals a major lesson: often it is not so much the kind of person a man is as the kind of situation in which he finds himself that determines how he will act.? ?It may be that we are puppets- puppets controlled by the strings of society. But at least we are puppets with perception, with awareness. And perhaps our awareness is the first step to our liberation.? IX: Comparative and Historical Methods Comparison useful when one cannot randomly assign subjects to experimental conditions EX: 1996, proposition 209, outlawed look at race in admission, study affirmative action at California schools Compare minority enrollments before and after at California state law schools Black student admission dropped 63 %, Native Americans dropped 60 %, Hispanics dropped 34 % Admission of Asian students increased by 43%, whites by 20 % Historical Research 1. Focuses on past societies using historical sources 2. Emphasizes the importance of timing and sequence Limitations of historical research: Available data may be incomplete or inaccessible Researchers need to be wary of reliability and validity of archival data EX: Anthony Marks- Social Construction of Race in South Africa, US, and Brazil, traces construction over time, and see how past events sape what people do later on X: Summary: Sociological research involves several steps: forming research questions defining object of study selecting methodology sociologists rely on a variety of research methods, including ethnography, surveys, experiments, comparison, and historical methods there is no one ?best? method? appropriateness depends on the research problem these methods are not mutually exclusive and can be combined to complement each other The Civil Relevance of Sociology: Lecture # 3 (9/10/08) I. Assessing the Effects of Public Policies Sociology can help us to: Understand social problems Assess the effectiveness of already existing policies Ex: Urban Renewal had unexpected negative effects: increased rents, taxes, became too expensive and unaffordable Guide our efforts to develop policy solutions that foster democratic values Liberating people Study of Social Inequality: Fostering equal opportunity- need to understand arrival and reproduction of inequality Need to understand social change But, sociologists must pay close attention to who defines social problems, how and why Should not take social problems as a given Also ask, for whom is this a problem? Should be defined through social deliberation (group) II. Promoting Awareness of Cultural Differences Sociology encourages us to see the social world form different perspectives Sociology challenges the assumption that our own way of life is natural or inevitable by fostering awareness of other was of life (challenges ethnocentrism) Investigation, rather than bias and prejudice III. Fostering Self-Enlightenment Sociology may provide us with increased self-understanding Freud- ?where Id was, Ego will be?- psychoanalysis helps one understand one?s self Joel Trone: Increases critical thinking- think for yourself Emanuel Kant: ?dare to be wise, have the courage to use your own mind, think for yourself? This self-understanding can be liberating: In order to free ourselves of social influences, we must first understand them IV. The Sociological Imagination According to C. Wright Mills, people experience many personal troubles, but without a sociological imagination, they are unlikely to fully understand the causes of those troubles Individual lives, limited areas of social life- directly and personally aware The sociological imagination is the ability to transcend you personal situation and understand the broader social and historical influences that shape your life and those of others Enables us to understand self/world See the relationship between the two Can turn our personal troubles with public issues Public Issues: unemployment, marriage, war, urban living All of seemingly personal troubles are really large scale issues Ex: if you fail the final, you can blame yourself or your teacher. Or, you can reflect on this experience by seeing the circumstances that bring you together with your teacher Ex: Another problem, the assigned readings will not all be covered in class. If people are sociologically informed in this way, they are in a stronger position to change society in ways that have a lasting impact Less attention on individuals, more on relationships between people and history Ex: rather than blaming problems on political leaders, blame system of campaign management, etc. Ex: rather than blaming TAs, blame fact that they are overworked and underpaid Ex: Time is important: now we have time regulated labor George Ritzer, The McDonaldization of Society( stress speed and quantifiable results Learning is limited by time students Max Weber, E.P Thomas- new regulating factor of the clock Farms-labored until the specific work was done-task-oriented labor Monks first to regulated their lives with the use of a clock Industrialized society needed to us this new system to regulate labor ( bosses restructured labor in terms of how much could get done in a certain amount of time (ex: paying workers by the hour) Educators in America then used this example of time-oriented labor Ray Marshall and Mark Tucker Thinking for a Living Ex: Increase of College Students? Need for educated workforce, expansion of availability of education through student loans, and appeal of discriminatory action More class diversity Get skills needed to compete in a competitive job market? Don?t get jobs( make it a personal trouble, BUT it was a public issue: As higher education expanded after WWII, French universities increased the number of graduating students, devaluing the degrees V. The Double Hermeneutic Sociology stands in a reflexive relation to the people whose behavior we study British sociologist Anthony Giddens describes this reflexive relationship between social science and society as a double hermeneutic On the one hand, sociologists draw upon what is already known to members of the societies they investigate On the other hand, sociological knowledge is disseminated throughout society, absorbed, and incorporated by ordinary people in their social practices As sociological knowledge ?filters down? into society, it influences and alters the thinking and behavior of the very people whom the sociologist studies In this way, the social sciences differ from the natural sciences Sociology continually influences our ?common sense? Examples: 1. Peter Berger: Brown vs. Board of Education: The Supreme Court used Sociological studies- the effect of segregation-to draw conclusions, and end school segregation 2. Social Movements: large and growing information on social movements, when how, and why read by organizers and by the police 1960s, during student protests, at Berkley, Neil Smelzer, a Sociologist, was called in to the dean?s office to see how the university should respond to student sit-ins, protests, knowledge abut social movements from sociologists- used by people who were intent upon limiting social movements? ability to disrupt routines VI. Summary: Sociology has at least four important practical implications for peoples? lives: 1. Sociology can help us to better understand social problems and guide our efforts to develop and implement policy solutions that foster democratic values 2. Sociology can challenge the assumption that our own way of life is natural or inevitable by fostering awareness of other ways of life and the difference in social experience among different group[s of people 3. Sociology can foster self-understanding and self-liberation by facilitating critical thinking and by fostering the sociological imagination 4. Sociology frequently influences society in unintended ways as the members of society absorb and use sociological knowledge for their own purposes II. THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY A. CULTURE & SOCIETY (9/15/08) Lecture # 4 I. Defining culture: A. What is culture? Values Abstract ideas about what is desirable, proper, good, bad Ex: ?equal opportunity? Norms Rules of conduct which people are expected to observe that specify behavior in a given social situation Rules that try to apply values to given situations Translate abstract values into concrete rules Ex: disagreement about how to implement value of equal opportunity color/gender blind activities, or make programs to help these people? Material goods The physical objects a society creates that influences the way they live Often reflect beliefs, values, and norms *Don?t confuse culture with society (a group of people and the relationships among them) Cannot have high (elite- ex: art, classical music, opera, etc.) culture without low (mass, popular- ex: ?American Idol?) culture B. Nature vs. Nurture Is our behavior a product of the culture we learn or biological factors (genetics, instinct) we inherit? Biology influences behavior, but are mediated, shaped, channeled, and transformed by culture and society Freud: Biological instincts do not have fixed social goals or objects Instincts do not generate specific behaviors Marx: Human needs are social and change over time Specific objects must be consumed in specific matters We measure what we have by society- not by how much they actually serve us II. Approaches to Studying Culture: A. The Consensus Approach Emphasizes the role of culture in Socializing individuals Creating solidarity Reinforcing norms Culture helps people to coordinate their actions and holds groups together Becker: People act more together when they have the same character, potential, and are capable of the same things Ex: Jazz Musicians Shared culture allows them to jam well together Whether we draw on cultural understandings or create new ones, we need them to maintain social order Develop ourselves when we can see ourselves from the perspective of someone else- child integrates perspectives of the ?generalized other? Norms are internalized become self-imposed/psychological shape the goals we pursue *we cannot exaggerate the consensus approach however, or we end up processing people like a computer B. The Conflict Approach Emphasizes how people use culture to create social distinctions, exclude others, and establish hierarchies Culture may reflect, reinforce, and legitimize social inequalities Different groups may have different cultural understandings and tastes depending on the social position of their members Bryson, ?Anything But Heavy Metal? Musical exclusivenss is associate with political intolerance Whites with racist views are more likely to reject musical genres that are disproportionately liked by Hispanic or black survey respondents (regge, blues, rap, gospel, etc.) More educated people tend to be less exclusive in their musical tastes even after controlling for other variables that might influence musical preferences Shows how people use cultural taste to reinforce boundaries between themselves and people they don?t like The greater musical tolerance of educated people serves as a mark of distinction in two ways: More educated people tend to be familiar with a wider range of musical genres, which sets them apart from less educated people While educated people are tolerant of a greater range of music genres, they most often dislike the genres whose audiences are least educated Conclusion Consensus and conflict approaches to understanding culture are not mutually exclusive By setting ourselves apart from outsiders and categories of people we don?t like, we may create solidarity and facilitate collective action within our group For this reason, most sociologists don?t work purely within conflict or consensus perspectives Few if any social situations are either pure consensus or pure conflict SOCIALIZATION: 9/17/08: Lecture 5 Socialization is: Process through which culture is internalized Process through which individuals get a sense of self and awareness Infants- primary socialization Un-socialized children- critical period where a child must learn language Agents through which socialization occurs Accomplished through work, school, mass media and contemporary societies Lecture outline I. Theories of personality development II. Relationship between Socialization and Individual Freedom We don?t have to give up notion of free choice, but there are limitations A) Internal Conflicts B)Application C) Individual capacity for thought and action I. Theories of Personality Development A) George Herbert Mead The self is a social product that emerges from interaction with others Formation of self occurs in three stages: Imitation stage: Children copy adult behavior without understanding it Play stage: Children understand roles and ?take the role of the other? Ex: play role of doctor Only at this stage a child becomes self-conscious and aware Game stage: Children learn what is expected not just by one other person, but by a whole group or community Children learn to synthesize into the generalized other We internalize the values and norms of the social group to which we belong Ex: a child learning how to play a baseball game American Sociologist, U of Chicago, Pragmaticism, most well known Mind, Self, and Society (based on student?s lecture notes), symbolic interactionist (emphasizes how symbols show interactions) B) Sigmund Freud Austrian psychologist, founder of psychoanalysis (investigation of unconscious mental processes) Personality is formed into four stages, each linked to a specific area of the body (erogenous zone) During each stage, the desire for gratification comes into conflict with limits set by parents or the superego At the oral stage, the mouth is the principal erogenous zone The anal stage, is marked by children?s struggle for independence as parents try to toilet-train them At the phallic stage, boys and girls begin to develop in different directions (gender socialization) In the genital stage, the primary source of pleasure is genital intercourse with a member of the opposite sex Biological drives are contested with social norms The id- the passions, instincts, unorganized parts The ego- reason, common sense The super-ego- self-criticism First your parents tell you what to do, then you internalize it Controversial theory Freud defines femininity by a loss C. Nancy Chodorow Interested in how children learn, teaches at Berkley, The Reproduction of Mothering The child?s emotional attachment to the mother must be broken in order for the child to develop a separate sense of self This separation occurs different for boys and girls Girls experience a break with their mother that is less sharp Develop a sense of self that is more continuous with others More likely to exhibit sensitivity and emotional compassion Boys experience a sharper break with their mother Learn to understand masculinity as negation of the feminine More active, analytical orientation to world More difficulty relating to others and understanding feelings *masculinity defined by a loss- fundamentally different than Freud D) Jean Piaget Swiss psychologist, taught at the University of Geneva, one of the most important in developmental psychology Distinguished our stages of cognitive development (not psycho-sexual like Freud) At the sensorimotor stage, children develop the ability to hold an image in their minds permanently If they don?t see it, they don?t think it exists Birth to 2 At the pre-operational stage, children learn to tell the difference between symbols and the meanings or objects they represent Ages 2-7 At the concrete operational stage, children master abstract, logical notions Ages 7-11 At the formal operational stage, children develop the ability to grasp abstract mathematical, logical, and moral ideas and to reason hypothetically about the future *not all adults reach this stage The first three areas are universal but not all adults reach the formal operational stage E) Lawrence Kohlberg strongly influenced by Piaget, but whereas he studied cognitive development, Kohlberg was more interested in moral development identified six stages of moral development that unfold in a fixed sequence, like Piaget?s cognitive stages initially, children act so as to avoid punishment (stage 1) or receive rewards (stage 2) in stage 3, people become highly aware of the opinions of others and act in ways that will gain their approval in stage 4, people become aware of the larger community and of social rules in stage 5, people recognize potential conflicts between different moral beliefs people who reach stage 6 have developed their own sense of ethics, principles that are universal and consistent ex: MLK Jr., Ghandi most people remain morally immature throughout life F) Carol Gilligan Student in Kohlberg, also interested in moral development, but disagreed with Kohlberg In Kohlberg?s research, women scored lower than men, suggesting that they were less morally developed Gilligan argued that women were not inferior in their personal or moral development, but that their development is simply different The moral reasoning of girls tends to be oriented toward care and responsibility, while the moral reasoning of boys tends to be oriented to the question of justice II. Socialization and Individual Freedom A) The limits of socialization 1. The ?oversocialized conception of man? ignores the internal psychological conflicts within individuals that socialization inevitably generates 2. While we may internalize norms, deciding how to apply them in a specific situation requires creative interpretation 3. Individuality is a product of socialization. Through socialization, we develop a distinct sense of self and the capacity for independent thought and action 9/22/08: SOCIAL INTERACTION AND EVERYDAY LIFE (Lecture 6) I. Pledging as a rite of passage: Arnold van Gennep: Initiation rites occur in three phases 1. Separation Select Members ex: ?Rush? ex: like courtship- scope out the scene, keep options open values shaped 2. Transition ex: ?Pledging?, get a pledge pin (symbol) status shift- quasi members ex: ike a ?fiancé?, get a ring period of ongoing tests hazing usually occurs during this time remolded 3. Incorporation ex: Initiation ex: Wedding able to shape new members Groups use initiation rights to cultivate commitment and loyalty Initiation rites alter the candidate?s relations to others and sense of self Hazing does not equal sadism ( not a result of stupidity/ foolishness, not because brothers dislike pledges Hazing- not a problem of individuals, problem of interactions Symbolic interactionism- all actions are symbolic and meaningful Ex: Greek life: Organizational problem- members only stay 4 years, need to get more Training for Professions Doctors are usually ?hazed? during residency- work very long shifts Military- must make recruits disciplined This happens by design ?social reproduction? of the organization Moral Career Composed of the progressive changes in the beliefs in which a person considers themselves in relation to others Self-stability is not inherent, it?s an example of maintaining stable interactions Malleability of self II. Material Self and Social-Self William James: The self includes material and social components The Material Self: Is constituted by tangible things that represent who we are as individuals Represent who we think we are Grooming, fashions, cars, etc. ?Mock Jail? experiment Students changed sense of self from students to real prisoners or real guards Ex: wear pledge pins, rings, paddles, letters, frat/sorority colors- served symbolic purposes( increases feeling of belonging The Social Self: Comprises the relations we have with other people Ex: Pledging encourages pledges to replace old friends with pledge brothers (lack of time, energy for other friends, etc). The self is a product of the social world If the social world changes, the self will change Lewis Coser: ?Greedy Institutions? set up strong boundaries between members and non-members and place strong demands on members? time and loyalty There is a high exit cost, because if you stop pledging, you will lose your new friends, and have already lost your old friends. III. The looking-glass self: Charles Cooley, expands upon James? ?Social Self? theory Self and the external world are bound together and mutually constitutive Individual selves can be brought up or down depending upon symbols they get from others (if they feel liked/disliked, etc.) A metaphor describing why people would submit to hazing(largely isolated with others outside group, so members in group and their opinions seem much more important than they normally would IV. Role-Taking & Impression Management: George Herbert Mead: By taking the role of the other, a person is able to anticipate the actions of others and produce the reaction she desires Erving Goffman: Impression Management (read in text) People shape social situations to convey social situations to work towards their advantage ?Dramaturgical Approach?- People act/use scenery to get certain reactions from others people strive to manage the impressions they convey to others Reference Groups: Groups that an individual identifies with and whose approval she desires Ex: college women- at first, buy a lot of sorority clothes, but as they get older, buy less because they are shifting reference groups V. Summary Symbolic interaction challenges the idea that people have a fixed and enduring self; it suggests that the self arises out of social interaction and changes as social relationships change People behave in accordance to the meaning what they interpret This insight deepens our understanding of fraternity hazing Seen as necessary, lose perspective as to what is ?reasonable and acceptable?, redefine situations Alternative approach: get national Greek chapters to offer respected advice, rather than college officials Social Nature of the Self: Hard to think outside their reference group as a pledge Construct new identities- have greater difficulty seeing themselves outside of those roles(increases likelihood that pledges will allow themselves to be hazed Key concepts: Rites of Passage: (separation, transition, incorporation) Material Self and Social Self Greedy Institutions Looking-Glass Self: The social self arises reflectively as the outcome of the reaction to the opinion of others Impression Management: People shape situations so as to convey symbolic meanings that will work to their advantage Reference Group 9/24/08 Two Soures of Goffman?s dramaturgical approach: 7 1) Symbolic Interactionism 2) Durkheim?s sociology of religion The Elementary Reforms of Religious Life The sacred: things set apart and forbidden inspire sense of moral danger must be dealt with extreme caution and ritually prescribed rules The profane: Everything not set apart and forbidden The mundane, unremarkable, humdrum, routine Rites: Rules of conduct that prescribe how people must conduct themselves with sacred things Negative Rites: Taboos Prevent mixture between sacred and profane in space, time, or both A means of purification and sanctification Positive Rites: Bring profane beings (once purified) into communion with the sacred Modernization: The individual becomes sacred Total Institution: A place of residence and work where inmates, cut off from the wider society, lead an enclosed, formally administered life All aspects of life are conducted in the same place and under the same authority Inmates daily activity carried on in the company of others, all treated alike and required to do the same things together All phases of the day?s activities tightly scheduled by a system of rules and a body of officials Enforced activities brought together into a single rational plan designed to fulfill the aims of institution Examples: a prison, the military, a mental institution, boarding school, Prisoner of War Camp Assumption: By studying the abnormal, we get a better understanding of the normal Freud, Harold Garfunkle thought this too All human behavior based on communication Ceremonial rule: conveys your character or appreciation of others Deference & Demeanor Deference: you convey appreciation to another person 1. Avoidance Rituals: proscribe conduct Deferential Restraint: Avoiding someone or something so as not to pollute it ex: nurses didn?t call doctors by their first name a lot like Durkheim?s negative rights Self-Protection: Avoiding someone or something as not to be polluted Ex: a patient wouldn?t accept a match from a Black hospital attendant Presentational Rituals: Prescribe conduct Salutations, invitations, minor services 2. Demeanor: expresses to others what kind of person one is how you want to portray yourself What happens when ceremonial rules are inverted? If the purpose of deference and demeanor is to consecrate the self, we desecrate the self by inverting ceremonial rules Total institutions subject inmates to ceremonial profanation so severe that it destroys that it uproots and destroys their initial sense of self Goffman calls this mortification of the self, because the old self is ?killed off,? and the new self is created Total Institutions ?Mortify? the Self Through Six Processes: Separation from the wider world Physical barriers Often no contact with anyone from the outside world Admission procedures Strip inmate of past forms of identification Ex: stripped of clothing, watch, wedding ring( often given uniform Forced deference Disidentification Ex: Verbal humiliation, self-censorship, Contaminative exposure Ex: physical, forced inter-personal relationships (ex: rape), forced feeding, frequent forced personal searched ?Looping? defensive response becomes object of institution?s next attack Regimentation and tyrannization Reorganizing Processes in Total Institutions After the inmate?s old serf has been ?killed off,? the self is reorganized in a new way The privilege system provides the framework for personal reorganization ?House Rules? (requirements of inmate conduct) Rewards for obedience Punishments for disobedience Aim: To get confessions, publicly denounce abuse, friends, and to reconstruct self Charonsky Exception that proves the rule Able to avoid social isolation by holding on to personal items, etc. What do we learn from Goffman?s work? Tell us about how groups are held together Ceremonial rules link people together Deference: must seek it from other people Helps bind people together Tell us about the role of religion in the modern world Suggest there is something eternal about modern religion This secular world is not as irreligious as we think Tells us how the self is established and confirmed GROUPS, NETWORKS, & ORGANIZATIONS: Lecture 8, 9/29/08 The University as an Organization College life = bureaucracies Cradle to grave Rarely fun, but usually work to a greater or lesser degree Liberate and constrain us High levels of productivity but dehumanized interaction I. College life before bureaucratization A. Coercion B. Authority II. Bureaucracies as rational organizations III. Mass production and scientific management IV. Conclusion College life before bureaucratization Early colleges and universities relied on coercion and authority to maintain order Ex: Harvard- small college started in 1600s- was NOT a bureaucracy Emerged at a time when knowledge, research was limited Wasn?t necessary for student to be taught by specialized professors, instead they were taught by tutors of different disciplines Charged with socializing its students into ?respectable young men,? and tutors placed more emphasis on discipline than knowledge (read many memorized texts) Much smaller than today?s complex universities (124 students) Result: limited wealth Allowed president to intrude: (examples: knew students personally, taught when they wanted to) Harvard had no fixed and definite name Protested A. Coercion involves the use of force to gain obedience 1. Examples: in 1818, Harvard ?flogged (beat) ? 4 students who were disobedient, fined parents if student wasn?t prepared for class, expelled many students 2. Organizational Drawbacks: Builds up hostility between controller and controlled Need to also build loyalty and commitment based on authority B. Authority established the legitimacy of the persons in power (much more stable than coercion) 1. Traditional Authority is based on time-honored practices passed from one generation to another ?we do things this way because we?ve always done them this way? ex: 1692, Harvard President came up with plan to raise his social status, he wrote a charter that stipulated that Harvard Corporation could grant degrees like universities in England, granted himself a doctorate 2. Charismatic Authority operates through a leader who is believed to have extraordinary personal qualities does not rely on technical qualifications for the job (degree, experience, or tradition) ex: selection of President at Harvard, President Kirkland, ?sensible, cheerful, humane, devoted?- he was very loved, but was not a very good President 3. Legal-rational Authority rests on a belief in the legality of enacted rules and the right of those authority under such rules to issue commands different from other two; obedience is owed to an impersonal set of rules, not the people who excess authority under those rules organizational rules divides up power, obligations, and roles- sub-units: departments * complex, inter-connected tasks, can handle larger groups of people Bureaucracies as Rational Organizations Max Weber identified six characteristics of bureaucracy: 1. Efficiency Numerous, complicated tasks can be completed more easily 2. Division of Labor Specialization increases efficiency Ex: Harvard in the beginning did not have specialization 3. Hierarchy of Positions clearly defined power structure, minimizes miscommunication of priorities creates accountability of office holders 4. Governance by Rules Regulate people: rules, procedures, etc. 5. Employment based on Technical Qualifications opposite of the ?spoils system, nepotism (employment of family members), cronyism (employment of friends)? makes people responsible for actions need to do well at their job 6. Impersonal Treatments fair, impartial treatment can always find deviations, they do occur, but widely perceived as violations of the norms III. Mass Production and Scientific Management Bureaucratic rationality made possible new methods of mass production Scientific Management Used experimentation and measurement to make production more efficient-manager might manipulate things to figure out how workers can work better, could fire workers if they didn?t follow with what everyone else was doing, had to train workers that way they are replaceable Reorganized work so that companies did not need to rely on an individual worker?s skills or talent Separated conception from execution-thinking separated from doing, managers and the labor, schools separate as well Educators incorporated similar principles into primary and secondary schooling IV. Summary and Conclusion We are now living in a world dominated by bureaucracies Hospitals, schools, governments, etc. Make it possible to live in an efficient society Also have darker and more dehumanizing effects Hierarchies, divisions of labor, impersonal rules Early colleges and universities relied on coercion, tradition, and charismatic authority to maintain social order Today universities are organized according to bureaucratic principles This change is a part of a more general trend: we now live in a society dominated by bureaucracy and legal;-rational authority Bureaucratic principles made possible new methods of mass production and scientific management, which educators also used to reorganize schools Bureaucracy allows for greater efficient and coordination, but it may also have negative, dehumanizing effects Lecure 9: Groups and Organizations (continued) 10/1/08 Robert Putnam: America?s declining social capital Political science professor at Harvard A voluntary association is a type of organization with three main features: 1. Formed to promote the common interests of its members similar, overlapping issues 2. Membership is voluntary, not required or ascribed not compulsorily, not through birth structures relations between members and leaders 3. Non-governmental organizations America has long been called a nation of joiners: ?In no other country of the world has the principle of association been more successfully used or applied to a greater number of objects Lower crime rates, more effective government, faster economic development Declining Social Capital in America? Social capital refers to social networks, cultural norms, and trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit 1. Encourages people to help and trust each other 2. Networks of civil engagement make it easier for people to work collectively to solve problems 3. Broadens a person?s sense of self, developing the ?I? into the ?we? Putnam finds that social capital has been declining in the US as Americans participate less and less in voluntary associations Ex: between 1980-1993 the increase in people bowling has increased, but the number of participation in bowling leagues has decreased Counter-trends? Putnam identifies three counter-trends that appear to challenge his thesis that social capital is declining: 1. Traditional forms of civic organization replaced by new organizations Ex: New clubs( feminist clubs, environmental clubs (Sierra Club), AARP (retired person club- the largest ?club? after the Church) Paying dues, occasional news letters, but do not participate very much( less social connectedness 2. Growing prominence of non-profit organizations especially service agencies (ex: Metropolitan Museum of Art) but, most of these are big, buracratic organizations (less social connectedness 3. Rapid expansion in ?support groups? AA, book discussion groups, hobby clubs Weak form of social capital Does not offer as much social connectedness Despite these apparent countertrends, Putnam argues that the available evidence supports his thesis: ?American Social capital in the form of civic associations has significantly eroded over the last generation? General Social Survey Random sample of American public every 2 years Shows that at all educational levels of society, the average number of associational relationships has dropped by ¼ over the last 25 years Why is America?s Social Capital Declining? Several reasons, including increased participation of women in the labor force and demographic changes A) More women in the work place But, it is declining for both women and men B) Changes in family structure Married, middle class families have been the most involved in these activities *People are waiting longer to get married, the divorce rate has gone up, and there are more single households However, the most important cause may be technological trends that are ?radically ?privatizing? or ?individualizing? our use of leisure time? Putnam singles out television as an important expression of this trend Socially isolating leisure time Randall Collins: The Non-Rational Foundations of Rationality: * Key sociological question: How do groups form and what holds them together? Rational pursuit of individual self-interest? Ex: Social contract- Locke, Hobbes- society was formed this way Collins argues no: Rationality is limited and appears only under certain conditions Groups and even society itself are based upon a non-rational foundation Policies often have unintended, bad consequences, it inadvertently makes the problem worse- a social movement may use violent means and that results in greater governmental oppression Functional ?most efficient means Substantive-considers rationality of the ends themselves Capitalism is a conflict Durkheim also did not agree that rationality was the answer The Non-Contractual Basis of Contracts Emile-Durkheim argued that social order cannot be created by voluntary contractual exchanges between individuals In modern world, contracts exist, because something exists underneath or prior to them to make that contract possible Based upon something that is non-rational Society is based on trust Pre-contractual solidarity Example: Weber noticed that businessmen in the United States would wear a certain badge, indicating the Protestant sect they belonged to. Important in business transactions because if you wore the badge, it showed that you had gone through a private screening process, and that you were trustworthy/moral, etc. Church-open to everyone Sect- need to meet certain moral/religious criteria The Free-Rider Problem Mancur Olson?s starting point is the notion of public (or collective) goods, such as public parks or clean air In large groups, a rational person will not contribute to a public good because she can benefit from it without bearing any of the costs of providing it ?free ride? at expense of others How then are public goods created? 1. Coercion: People may be forced to contribute to a public good 2. Selective Incentives: something that contributors get, that non-contributors (free-riders) don?t get Doesn?t show lack of altruism- just think that someone else will contribute Public goods cannot be created and sustained simply by relying on rational individual self-interest Ex: Kitty Genovese Murder witnessed by dozens of people, but no one called the police Summary: *Social Captial refers to social networks, norms, and trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit participation in voluntary associations may strengthen democracy however, Putnam finds that social capital is declining in the US as Americans participate less and less in voluntary associations this decline may be due, among other reasons, to technological changes like television that privatize or individualize leisure time Collins asks how groups form and what holds them together. He concludes that ?group organization does not depend on rational calculation?It depends on something deeper: on morals feelings [of trust and solidarity] that binds people together DEVIANCE : Lecture 10: 10/6/08 Deviance- ways of acting that do not conform to the norms or values held by most members of a particular society No action is inherently deviant Always a relational/relevant concept Need norms and expectations Social norms may differ across societies( things that are highly esteemed in one society may be condemned in others Ex: in some societies, it is normal for women to cover themselves with a vail, while in France, there have been political debates about women wearing vails in public schools (violation of secular, Republican norms) Social norms may be ambiguous or unclear There may be considerable disagreement about norms, even within same society Ex: debates in US over abortion Social norms may change over time Universal feature of social life(all societies have deviants Includes three components: The person who engages in deviant behavior The expectation or norm that is used to judge the behavior as deviant Some other person, group, or agency that is reacting to the behavior of the first person BIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF DEVIANCE Early attempts to explain deviance traced it to biological factors Examples: Italian said that by studying the shapes of people?s skulls, you could examine predisposition to ?criminal type,? which related back to people who were not as advanced along the evolutionary path. 1940s, William H. Shelden stressed the importance of body type, said that endomorphs (round, soft body shape) kind (?), mesomorphs (hard and angular) reckless, energetic, ectomorphs (lean, fragile) introspective, sensitive, and nervous. Blamed on Nazi Germany More recent have stressed the importance of genetics, but this evidence remains far from decisive. These theories focus on the person who engages in deviant behavior, not the norm used to judge the behavior or the group that reacts to the behavior After WWII, biological explanations lost their appeal, because f the association with Nazism and their questionable scientific foundation PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF DEVIANCE Psychological theories trace deviance to abnormal mental states or mental problems These theories focus on the person who engages in deviant behavior, not the norm used to judge the behavior, or the group that reacts to the behavior Weaknesses of person-based theories: Most deviants do not possess personality characteristics distinct from the rest of the population Ex: marijuana use Difficult to explain variation over time in deviant behavior Even if consistent personality differences could be linked to deviance, unclear which is cause and which is effect Deviant behavior in time produces deviant motivation (Howard Becker, writes about marijuana use) SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF DEVIANCE Relate deviance to social context, including the norm used to judge behavior and the group that reacts to the behavior Tend to see deviance as a form of collective action. (Howard Becker) Explain deviance not as a result of individual characteristics, but in terms of how individuals are organized and interact Sociological theories include Anomie theories Cultural theories Labeling theories Conflict or ?radical theories? Rational-choice and situational theories The ?broken windows theory ANOMIE THEORIES Anomie- a condition where moral regulation is weak or absent all together, fits into liberal category Durkheim: Deviance results from a mismatch between normative expectations and suddenly changed circumstances Norms let people know what to expect from others, and what they should expect from you They allow us some security During social crises, peoples life experiences no longer match expectations ( people experience anxiety, disorientation During sudden economic changes disturb collective order, social norms break down, people become disoriented, and deviant behavior is observed However, when people come together in solidarity, less deviance Ex: after 9/11 there was a temporary drop in suicide rates in the UK, because people were coming together Ex: crime rates dropped after Israeli leader falls into coma (social crises can have positive effect if brings people together) Merton: Deviance results from a gap between cultural goals and the approved means of reaching them-focused on blocked off opportunities Ex: Drug dealing, not an approved means, but approved American goal (wealth) Conformity Means accepting society?s goals and legitimate way of achieving them Only non-deviant way of achieving goal Ex: woman gets education, good job, wealth Innovation Involves accepting the goals but rejecting the means Ex: Drug dealer Ritualism Involves rejecting the goals while accepting the means Ex: works a boring job, that doesn?t make a lot of money, but respects idea of work Retreatism Rejecting both goals and means Rebellionism Rejects goals and means, but substitutes new goals and means for the old ones CULTURAL THEORIES Other theories concentrate on deviant subcultures: subcultures whose members who values whose members hold values that differ from those of the majority Both Sellin and Miller concluded that deviance results when a person identifies with a subculture whose norms conflict with those of the dominant culture Sellin stressed that deviance arises over conflicts of social norms, because it is not in the group?s interested to oblige to norms. Ex: street gangs Miller- said there is a distinct, lower class culture, which placed great values on being tough, getting into trouble, feeling excitement, and getting lucky Sutherland tried to explain this identification as a result of differential association. People absorb deviant values by associating with people who already hold those values Read optional article on ?Fraternities and Rape? Fraternity subculture: Narrow conception of masculinity, that stresses competition, athleticism, material possessions, wealth, sexual proweless, and wealth. These processes are learned, reproduced, and create a rape-prone social context because of the kinds of members, virtual lack of communal/university oversight, narrow base of ideas. Kind of like gangs in this regard. SUMMARY Biological and psychological explanations focus on the deviant person, not the norm used to judge her behavior or the group that reacts to the behavior Sociological theories explain deviance in terms of how individuals are organized and interact, not the deviant?s individual characteristics alone According to anomie theories, deviance results from a gap between cultural goals, and approved means of achieving them According to cultural theories, deviance results from conflicts between subcultural norms and the mainstream culture Lecture 9: Crime, Deviance (10/8/08) Rational-choice Theories: Assume that deviance is deliberate, purposeful, calculated behavior in which people engage to obtain definite benefits. Deviance is RATIONAL?and goes beyond studying person by himself. Instead, studies how people interact with people and places. A. Situational Analysis: Crime is a rational response to a specific social situation in which an opportunity presents itself that seems too good to pass up B. The ?Broken Windows? Theory: Any sign of social disorder in a community, even a minor sign like a broken window, encourages more serious crime can lead to a spiral of crime perceptions affect reality( Ex: Guiliani believed in broken window theory, ?Zero Tolerance? for any crime, even petty crimes (J-walking, squeegee-men, graffiti, having an open bottle of alcohol on the sidewalk, etc.). Within two years of this, major crime cut by 30 %, murder cut in ½. NYC got 44 % got in overall crime. Challenges Do these factors have an effect on the decrease in crime? Legalization of abortion, crack epidemic Perceptions are influenced by race, not neighborhood Deviance is RATIONAL II. Radical Theories of Deviance A. Labeling Theory: Deviance is caused by the ability of powerful groups to impose standards of behavior on others and label them as deviant Labeling has psychological and organizational effects Psychological: Reinforces sense that she has become different from others and the norm, and through labeling, a person can acquire a deviant personality that she didn?t have before Organizational: ?Ex-convicts are trapped in a machine? Labeling theorists examine deviance as a career( i.e. two process by which people become deviants Becker: 1. You need to learn how to smoke weed, someone needs to teach you 2. You need to learn to perceive and recognize the effects of being high (assign meaning to stimulus) 3. ? B. Conflict (Marxist) Theories: Laws and law enforcement are instruments that powerful groups use to dominate those who lack power The law itself creates crime and criminals Claim law-making are part of the conflict among groups that are inescapable in society Laws: made to protect property owners, and put down those who don?t Outlawing of drugs( giving control to Doctors Prohibition: Anglo, rural Protestants to put down ?alcoholic, Catholic immigrants? Criticisms: 1. Crime as class war-fare is not well supported by evidence mainly poor robbing the poor( not really a class struggle 2. If crime is caused by the capitalistic system, then it shouldn?t exist in socialist societies this is not historically true, Ex: Soviet Union 3. Eliminating police force does not gext rid of crime Ex: Denmark during WWII (had no police force) Robberies rose rapidly Crime as a Social Necessity: Following Durkeim, Collins suggests that societies need deviance: Punishment of deviance reinforces solidarity, cohesion, and social integration among non-deviants Punishment reaffirms belief in the norms Ties us together Crime is self-limiting 1. The success of crime tends to make it more-law abiding and less criminal it?s own hierarchy, rules, norms 2. Crime tends to drive out crime competition among criminals drives out the ?weak? criminals Crimes of Obedience? Underlying most theories is the assumption that deviance consists of rule breaking Yet, a whole category of deviance consists of following rules in a blind and unquestioning way, regardless of consequences: Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann Hannah Erent, thought he would be some type of ?moral monster? who was disturbed Problem was he obeyed rules when he shouldn?t of- mass murder of 6 million human beings The My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War V. Summary Rational-Choice Theories: understand deviance as a rational response to perceived costs and opportunities Radical Theories: suggest that deviance is caused by the ability of powerful groups to impose standards of behavior on others and label them deviant According to some sociologists, deviance exists because it is socially necessary: Punishment of deviants reinforces solidarity,, cohesion, and social integration among non-deviants Crimes of obedience consist of not breaking rules, but following rules in a blind and unquestioning way, regardless of consequences