a can help determine what works and what doesn’t, but there’s no clear answer to the question of what any given social institution (government, education, the family) “should” or “shouldn’t” do. When you hear statements like these, think about what kind of information would help to answer the question. Is there an objective way to answer the question with evidence? If not, then it’s something that simply must be taken (or not) as a matter of faith. Sometimes “a matter of faith” is actually a theological question regarding God or the supernatural world, but “having faith” can also mean simply trusting someone or holding on to a hope. In this sense, everyone has faith in some- thing: You may have faith in your friends, or have faith that things will work out in your romantic relationship. Having faith is important, but it’s also important to understand the difference between a matter of faith and a matter of fact. Understand Barriers to Effective Communication You may have heard it said that everyone’s human, and that deep down inside people are the same. It certainly is true that there’s common ground to be found even among people from very different walks of life, but it’s also true that there are very different languages and customs on Earth, and you can’t take for granted that a word or gesture that means something to you will mean the same thing to the next person. This doesn’t just apply to the kind of intercultural differences you’d find between, say, someone from downtown London and someone from the Australian outback. Every household has its own little culture, and it can be frus- trating trying to communicate with someone who lives just down the street. 27_572368-ch18.indd 325 27_572368-ch18.indd 325 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 326 Part VI: The Part of Tens How can you transcend these barriers? Sociology doesn’t have any easy answers, but at least it can help you be aware of the barriers. The more you learn about societies and traditions other than your own, the more respect you have for those differences, and the more you appreciate that as difficult as it is to achieve understanding among people from very different social situations, it’s critically important. Chapters 5 and 6 have a lot more information about culture and interpersonal communication. Know the Difference Between the Identity You Choose and the Identities Others Choose For You Sociologists draw a clear distinction between race , which is something other people look at you and decide to associate with you, and ethnicity , which is something that you choose for yourself. The same principle applies to all aspects of identity: People will look at you, or will learn things about you, and will make assumptions — some reasonable, some unreasonable — about who you are. (See Chapter 6 to read about Erving Goffman and his theory that you’re an “actor” on a social “stage.”) Sociologists emphasize that “who you are” is shaped by your society and by your place in it, so it’s not that you can or should try to ignore your social context. The way you dress, what you say, where you live, who you associ- ate with — those things do affect the way other people think about you, and in turn do affect the way you think about yourself. Further, the meanings of those things change from place to place and from time to time. Wearing sneakers to a baseball game and wearing sneakers to a wedding are very dif- ferent things, and as much as you might prefer not to be judged by what you wear, clothes — along with other lifestyle choices — are symbols, and people will think differently about you depending on how you look. But that’s not to say that you don’t have any choices in society! You can, and do every day, shape your own identity by the messages you send and the actions you take. Many sociologists believe that there is no “you” in any meaningful sense out- side of your social context — that is, that you and everyone around you think about you in terms of your society — so it’s not necessarily selling out to take social expectations into account when making choices about your life. That doesn’t mean, though, that you always have to meet those expectations! You didn’t get to choose the society you were born into, but you do get to choose how you navigate through it. 27_572368-ch18.indd 326 27_572368-ch18.indd 326 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 327 Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Use Sociological Insight in Everyday Life Understanding Art: If It Seems Confusing, That’s Exactly the Point People have strong feelings about painting, music, theater — about all the arts. Everybody knows what they like and, in general, what they don’t, but they don’t always think very hard about why . Sociology probably won’t be very helpful in explaining precisely why one song makes you cry and another makes you cringe, but sociologists of culture have spent a lot of time study- ing how different kinds of art have been used in different ways at different times. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but art is a social institution — and like all social institutions, it makes a lot more sense when you consider it in its social context. Have you ever looked at a painting or a sculpture that the “experts” say is amazing, but that you can’t understand in the slightest and don’t even like? Maybe there are works of art, or songs, that even offend you — and probably, you’re not alone in being offended by those things. What you may not realize is that the artist probably knows it will offend or confuse you and people like you, and that may be part of why the artist is doing it. If you look at a paint- ing and feel angry or confused, it may not be because you don’t understand it or you’re not smart enough or well-educated enough: making you angry or confused while making other people swoon with delight may be precisely what the artist was trying to accomplish. That doesn’t mean you’re wrong to feel the way you do. Art always belongs to its place and its time. Some works of art may be reso- nant to people for hundreds or even thousands of years, whereas others may seem dated within a few months. If a critic likes something — well, they come from a particular social context, and if that’s not a social context you share, it only makes sense that you won’t be interested in the same things for the same reasons. It doesn’t mean you’re “wrong” when you say you don’t like a piece of art or a certain song. Art doesn’t have to match your couch — it’s more important that it matches your own sense of what is beautiful and interesting. Be Smart About Relationship-Building “It’s all about who you know” sounds like one of those unprovable assertions, but sociologists are appreciating its wisdom more and more every year. If this book were written 20 or 30 years earlier, it might not have had an entire chapter on social networks; but today, sociologists understand that net- works are at the heart of almost every social process. If you live in the United States, then yes, in a sense the United States is “your society.” But on a 27_572368-ch18.indd 327 27_572368-ch18.indd 327 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 328 Part VI: The Part of Tens concrete, day-to-day basis, it’s the actual people who you know and interact with who are truly “your society.” I barely know the woman who lives across the hall from me, but I call or e-mail my friend Whitney across the country in Virginia multiple times a week. My social tie to Whitney makes her much more influential in my life than most people in my home city of Minneapolis. (See Chapter 7 for more on social networks.) What does this mean for you? It means that it’s a good idea to be deliberate about making and maintaining social connections. Think about what social networks you want to be a part of, and work your way in to them through both professional and personal connections. The more people you know, the better your information is and the more powerful you are in those people’s social context. This doesn’t mean you ought to spend all your time trying to make friends with people you wouldn’t otherwise associate with — but it does mean that if you want to achieve a certain goal in society, it pays to make connections with people who are connected to that job you want or that place you want to be. Be sincere about relationship-building, but also be assertive about making and keeping valuable social ties. It’s highly likely to pay off. Network sociologists agree that it’s good to exert some effort to meet people and maintain social connections that you’ve made, but it’s not necessarily beneficial to seem like an over-aggressive “networker.” No one likes to feel like they’re being used by someone else who only wants information or influence from them. Your most useful social ties are those with people you genuinely have something in common with. Changing Society: Be Optimistic, But Keep Your Expectations Reasonable So you have some issues with the world? Yeah, who doesn’t? Want to change the world? Go for it! You can do it; at least, you can change something . Still, appreciate that your society is the way it is for a lot of complex reasons. From the things you hate most about your society to the things you love dearly, it’s been a long road that’s led to your time and place. When dramatic social change happens quickly, it’s typically because of very unusual (and possibly quite painful) circumstances. Historical sociologists have spent decades and decades trying to understand the fascinating and mysterious course of social history. 27_572368-ch18.indd 328 27_572368-ch18.indd 328 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 329 Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Use Sociological Insight in Everyday Life How does A lead to B lead to C? It’s not always obvious, but sociologists do believe that somehow it all makes sense . . . and if it does make sense, that means you can figure out how to change it. (See the next section for more on social movements.) A common phrase suggests that you “think globally, act locally.” That may sound a little hokey, but it makes good sociological sense — you can have the greatest impact on the people and places closest to you. Making changes in your everyday life can have a big impact over time, on you and on the people around you. Learn How to Mobilize a Social Movement Sociologists studying social movements have story after story about indi- viduals and small groups who successfully brought about enormously conse- quential changes in laws, policies, and customs. The Civil Rights Movement, the movement to end child labor, the pro-recycling movement — all of those had uphill battles to start with, but eventually they turned into spectacular successes. Of course, they also have story after story about social movements that didn’t work so well. In the middle of the 20th century, there was a big move- ment to get the United States to convert to the metric system (kilometers instead of miles, Celsius instead of Fahrenheit) — that one didn’t turn out so well, despite the fact that millions of schoolkids were made to memorize the metric system and learn how to convert “standard” units to metric units. Once they finished the fourth grade, the kids all tended to decide that was enough of that. In social movements as in poker, it’s good to remember Kenny Rogers’s advice: “You gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em; know when to walk away, know when to run.” If you’re interested in making social change happen, read Chapter 13 of this book (if you haven’t already) and then consider reading more about the sociology of social movements. You’ll learn something about what strategies might work and what strategies won’t. It pays to try to convince people that you’re right, but appealing only to their heads probably won’t work: You also have to appeal to their hearts and their bodies. Consider all the different ways you can connect with them and interest them in your cause. With per- sistence and a little luck, you just might change the world . . . but be patient. It’s not apt to happen overnight. 27_572368-ch18.indd 329 27_572368-ch18.indd 329 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 330 Part VI: The Part of Tens Run Your Company Effectively In Chapter 12, I explain sociologist Richard Scott’s argument that organi- zations behave as “rational systems,” as “natural systems,” and as “open systems.” If Scott is correct — and most organizational sociologists believe that, at least in general terms, he is — your company is a machine, yes, but a machine made up of human beings and a machine that does its work by interacting with other machines. To run your company effectively, you need to understand: ✓ Your corporate organization. Is your company designed to do its job as efficiently as possible? Does information travel accurately and quickly from one part of the company to another? Is there any obvious waste? Does everyone know what their job is? ✓ Your corporate culture. How do people feel about working at your company? Do they like their coworkers? Do they feel like their jobs are healthy, satisfying parts of their lives generally — or are they just punch- ing the clock? ✓ Your corporate environment. What’s going on among the companies you deal with as suppliers, customers, and competitors? What are the laws and policies that affect your business, and how are they changing? Understanding just one — or even two — of these aspects of corporate life won’t do it: You have to appreciate all these dimensions of corporate life. In many ways, sociological insight can help you understand how your company works, and (even if you don’t own the place) how to be most effective in your job. Understand How We Can All Be Different, Yet All Be the Same This is one of the many paradoxes of sociology. On the one hand, sociologists study human societies in all their wild diversity, so sociologists appreciate how very different societies can be. Sociologists love to question assump- tions that are taken for granted in their societies: Some of your very deepest values, beliefs, and customs are probably unique to your particular society. Even if it seems like it’s “common sense” or “human nature” for norms and values (see Chapter 2) to be the way they are in your society, that’s typically not the case. 27_572368-ch18.indd 330 27_572368-ch18.indd 330 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 331 Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Use Sociological Insight in Everyday Life And still, sociologists know that there are commonalities among all people, in all places, at all times. That’s why sociologists interested in corporate life in New York City in the 21st century might read books or articles about social networks in Paris in the 18th century or about the spread of a fad across southeast Asia in the 19th century. In the generals — if not the particulars — people are people, and sociology demonstrates the similarities as well as the differences among people in different societies. Sociology can surprise you by demonstrating just how very different people are in some ways, but it can also — and just as interestingly — surprise you by revealing unexpected connections between people living in very different places at very different times. 27_572368-ch18.indd 331 27_572368-ch18.indd 331 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 332 Part VI: The Part of Tens 27_572368-ch18.indd 332 27_572368-ch18.indd 332 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM Chapter 19 Ten My ths About Society Busted by Sociology In This Chapter ▶ Discovering the truth behind common myths about society ▶ Using sociology to question erroneous assumptions Y ou may have seen the TV program Mythbusters , where scientists and engineers test myths about the world to see if there’s any possibility these claims could actually be true. Can you actually survive a fall from a great height into a full dumpster? Can you make a bullet curve by flicking your wrist while you shoot a gun? It’s very interesting — and social scientists can do that, too! Just as many people are convinced, despite all evidence, that tapping on the top of a soda can will make it less likely to fizz over when it’s opened, many people are absolutely convinced of the truth of some things about society that are actually not entirely true. In this chapter, I run down a list of ten myths about society that sociologists have shown to be at least partially untrue; in some cases, however, they’re complete whoppers. These myths range across the entire discipline of sociology — so if you’ve been reading this book from the beginning, you’ll recognize some of them as myths right away. There is some truth to some of them, but none of them are as completely, unambiguously true as many people are convinced they are. Two centuries of sociological research have shown that long-held assump- tions about the social world can actually crumble quite quickly when held up to the light of scientific research. And these are just a few examples. I hope this book inspires you to question whether all the things you believe about society are actually true, or whether they’re just faulty assumptions that you haven’t bothered to test or research. They may well be true . . . but sociology can help you to think about how they can be put to the test. Here are a few that don’t pass. 28_572368-ch19.indd 333 28_572368-ch19.indd 333 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 334 Part VI: The Part of Tens With Hard Work and Determination, Anyone Can Get What They Deserve This may be the myth that most aggravates sociologists. Especially in estab- lished capitalist societies like the United States and Europe, there’s a wide- spread belief that by and large, people get what they “deserve” — that is, that in general, wealth, income, and personal freedom correspond to how hard a person has tried to get ahead in life. It would be nice if it were true because that would mean if you needed a little more money, all you’d have to do would be to try a little bit harder; and if you tried as hard as you possibly could, you’d be fabulously wealthy. It is true that, in most cases, some effort and dedication and sacrifice are nec- essary to achieve material comfort. There’s no question that most people of comfortable (or more than comfortable) means have worked very, very hard to get where they are. Saying that “anyone can get ahead” is a myth is not to diminish the achievements of people who do work hard every day for the money they earn, however much it is. What makes this a myth is that there is not a level playing field . For any number of reasons, some people face challenges that others don’t. There is racism, and there are health problems, and there are friends and family mem- bers who need to be cared for, and there’s just plain bad luck. It happens. Further, what can be hard to appreciate — because few people have been on both ends of the wealth spectrum — is that the disadvantages of poverty are multiplicative, and the advantages of wealth are multiplicative. The more poor you are, the harder it is to climb out of poverty no matter how hard you work; and the more wealthy you are, the harder it is to fall out of that situa- tion no matter how lazy you are. It is important to make smart, prudent decisions no matter what your financial situation; and to get ahead, you do typically need to work hard. Nonetheless, the idea that people with more money must be somehow work- ing harder or be more deserving than people with less money is a complete and utter myth. Our Actions Reflect Our Values I would like to believe that I know who I am and what I value, that there is something consistent and steadfast at my core and that all my actions flow naturally from that. Unfortunately, that’s not entirely true. Not just sociologists, but everyone who closely and systematically examines human behavior — psychologists, economists, political scientists — have found that this is at least partially a myth. It would be very convenient for the 28_572368-ch19.indd 334 28_572368-ch19.indd 334 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 335 Chapter 19: Ten Myths About Society Busted by Sociology social scientists if it weren’t a myth because that would mean you could poll someone on their attitudes and beliefs and then safely assume that you know what they’re going to do. In fact, again and again and again social scientists have seen that someone can, apparently in all honesty, tell you one thing, and then turn around and do something completely different. Further, people forget what they’ve done in the past, changing their past actions to be consis- tent with their present values — which are likely to change in the future. This certainly makes life interesting for novelists and poets, but it’s a complete nightmare for social science. Why don’t people act on what they seem to believe? Well, sometimes they do; in fact, usually they do. But there are many influences on people’s actions, and their core beliefs are only one of those influences. There’s peer pressure, there’s convenience, there’s habit . . . and let’s face it, you’re a complicated human being. You didn’t come with a user’s manual; you’re writing it every day. The bottom line is that you can’t look at someone’s actions and assume you know “who they are”; and vice-versa, knowing all about someone’s beliefs and values tells you only so much about what actions they’re going to take in the future. We’re Being Brainwashed by the Media The ubiquity of the mass media in contemporary society can be frightening. With tens or even hundreds of millions of viewers or listeners, it can seem like TV hosts and radio personalities and pop stars have a huge amount of influence. Those people often get pretty extreme, and it can seem like they’re leading the charge in fashion, politics, attitudes, and behaviors. In fact, many people believe that those charismatic figures are so influential that everyone is essentially being brainwashed by them, that they can make people do just about anything they want. That is a myth. Certainly, mass-media celebrities have great influence in cer- tain respects: They can jumpstart trends and influence social attitudes. But there is little sociological evidence to suggest that TV programs, radio shows, or Web sites can influence people in significant numbers to behave entirely uncharacteristically. Sociologist Stanley Lieberson has found that first names for babies often become popular due to the rising fame of celebrities with those names. And The Cosby Show is widely credited with helping to erode widespread stereo- types about African-American families. Particularly in the present day, when people have an unprecedented number of options, they typically choose to watch, listen to, or read media that are consistent with their preexisting beliefs; if anything, media reinforce the beliefs and habits people had in the first place. Most importantly, though, people — even young children — are active and inquisitive consumers of the 28_572368-ch19.indd 335 28_572368-ch19.indd 335 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 336 Part VI: The Part of Tens media. Do you believe everything you hear someone say on TV? Of course not . . . and neither do your neighbors. Rather than getting caught up in debates over whether some media outlet or another has a political bias, remember that there is no such thing as a purely “objective” source. That’s not to say there’s no such thing as “the truth” — it’s just that there are different ways of telling the truth. With media from around the world available at a click of your computer mouse, you’ll do yourself a favor by looking at multiple different news sources, not just relying on any one source. Understanding Society is Just a Matter of “Common Sense” Among all these myths, the falsehood of this one should seem most obvious to those of you who have read any or all of this book. It’s worth repeating, though — not only because if it were true, every sociologist would be out of a job, but also because it’s potentially the most dangerous of all these myths. There was once a time when it was “common sense” that certain races should be subjugated to others. It was also once “common sense” that women were not suited to vote, and in some societies it’s still widely regarded as “common sense” that women are unsuited to choose their own husbands or even their own sexual partners. Should people with mental dis- abilities be locked away in institutions, or maybe even killed? That, too, was once “common sense.” Those beliefs probably — hopefully! — all seem ludicrous to you now, but it’s not enough to dismiss long-refuted beliefs. Sociology challenges you to question the beliefs you take to be common sense today . That’s a lot harder, but to really understand how society works, and how it might be made better for everyone, you have to be willing to question even your most dearly held beliefs. That’s not to say you have to discard them, but you have to keep an open mind. If you don’t, not only will you be closed to interesting new ideas, you risk falling victim to destructive myths. They’re still out there — for examples, see every other section in this chapter! For lots of good reasons, it’s easy to get caught up in the assumptions and biases of your own society — but it’s a certainty that some of those are regarded as nonsense in other societies, and some of the beliefs that people around you take for granted today will seem ridiculous 500 years from now. You don’t have to be a relativist — that is, someone who thinks there’s no such thing as truth — to appreciate the importance of questioning even assump- tions that seem perfectly obvious and normal in your particular society. 28_572368-ch19.indd 336 28_572368-ch19.indd 336 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 337 Chapter 19: Ten Myths About Society Busted by Sociology Race Doesn’t Matter Any More Just a few decades ago, African-Americans couldn’t sit in certain places on public buses or in restaurants. In 2008, an African-American was elected President of the United States. Does that mean race doesn’t matter any more? Has Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream come true: that people may be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin? It doesn’t diminish the amazing achievements of civil rights activists, and the almost unbelievable progress that’s been made in social tolerance, but to say that the idea that race “doesn’t matter any more” is a myth. Many more options are today available to people around the world regardless of their race, but race remains very much a factor in how people are seen, how they are judged, and how they are treated. What does this mean for social policy? It’s not obvious, except that “race blind” policies, whatever their virtues in particular situations, are not nec- essarily consistent with the way people see the world. What it means for sociology is that race remains, and will remain for the foreseeable future, something that must continue to be studied. In Time, Immigrant Families Will Assimilate and Adopt a New Culture If the falseness of this myth doesn’t seem obvious to you, that’s okay; for a long time, it didn’t seem obvious to sociologists either! For much of the 20th century, sociological studies of immigration were dominated by the theory that one way or another, over time immigrant families would melt into the “melting pot,” that they would leave their culture behind and join the culture of their new society. Today, though, sociologists understand that there are many problems with this theory. The biggest problem is its assumption that there’s some kind of path from “less assimilated” to “more assimilated,” a path along which all immigrant families can all be located. It’s true that immigrant families some- how adapt to their new circumstances, but that adaptation isn’t necessarily linear; they may completely change their behavior in some respects while remaining exactly the same in others. Further, it’s problematic to assume that there is a single “receiving” culture into which families can assimilate — any culture is really many different cultures, and it’s a mistake to think that becoming “American” or “English” or “Japanese” means one thing in particu- lar, one lifestyle or set of values or even one language to which newcomers need to assimilate. 28_572368-ch19.indd 337 28_572368-ch19.indd 337 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 338 Part VI: The Part of Tens Further, though, the entire concept of “assimilation” suggests a kind of absorption that erases the experiences and values families bring with them. In truth, what happens is that those families’ experiences and values are added to the culture of their new home. Presuming otherwise can justify a scientifically inaccurate and personally hurtful disregard for those families’ contributions. Cultural integration doesn’t have to be a win-lose process of “assimilation”; it can be a win-win process of addition and enrichment. Bureaucracy is Dehumanizing This myth is touched on in Chapter 12. Like you (I’m guessing), some of the most brilliant sociologists in history have had concerns about the effect of bureaucracy on society. Max Weber called it an “iron cage” that locks people in its cold grip. But those same sociologists also appreciated its virtues. Most obviously, there’s the fact that bureaucracy allows people to do more, more efficiently; Marx, Durkheim, and Weber all understood this and alluded to it in one way or another. By raising productivity, the widespread adoption of bureaucracy has meant a higher standard of living for people around the world. If busi- ness was still done through informal understandings and personal contact, it would take much more time and be much more expensive to get anything done, and accordingly, prices of goods and services would skyrocket. It’s also true, though, that sometimes a little dehumanizing can be a good thing. It may seem infuriating when you can’t get a human being on the phone, or can’t convince anyone to bend a policy when you accidentally miss a credit card payment — but that “dehumanizing” property of corporate bureaucracy also makes it much harder for those companies to discriminate or mistreat people for arbitrary reasons. Bureaucracy can sometimes feel cold and impersonal, but it also gives you a tremendous amount of freedom to be who you want and do what you want, to be treated simply as a number rather than as a person about whom others have expectations and to whom they will extend only certain privileges. In that way, bureaucracy can actually allow you to be more human. People Who Make Bad Choices Are Just Getting the Wrong Messages There’s a persistent belief that people who make “bad choices” — whether they’re choices you simply disagree with, or choices that seem to actively contradict their values or goals — are “getting the wrong messages,” that they’re somehow under the influence of people or publications that are 28_572368-ch19.indd 338 28_572368-ch19.indd 338 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 339 Chapter 19: Ten Myths About Society Busted by Sociology persistently misleading them about what the “right choices” are. And some- times they are. Most people, however, in most societies, are getting a lot of messages from a lot of sources. Those sources may include: ✓ Friends ✓ Family members ✓ Teachers ✓ Coworkers ✓ Spiritual leaders ✓ Physicians or counselors ✓ The media Among those messages, the ones they pay attention to may vary from situa- tion to situation, and from day to day. Sociologist David Harding’s study, mentioned in Chapter 7, shows that people who get conflicting messages are often more confused and may have less pre- dictable behavior than people who are hearing consistent messages; but every- one has a number of different sources of information to inform their decisions. If you make poor decisions, it probably does mean that you’re getting “the wrong messages” . . . but you’re probably getting “the right messages” as well. Which messages you choose to act on is up to you. Society Prevents Us From Being Our “True Selves” Some psychologists believe that the process of growing up is, at least in con- temporary society, almost universally traumatic — that as people learn to adapt to social expectations, they are forced to betray their “true selves.” It certainly feels like that sometimes, but most sociologists believe that it doesn’t even make sense to think about a “true self” that stands outside of society. Who you are and what you do is fundamentally social, from the moment you are born. It’s your society that gives meaning to your life, that gives you a language, history, friends, and family. For your entire life, even your most intimate, personal thoughts are deeply wrapped in your social life. Your “true self” cannot be separated from your society: Even if you leave your society, your experiences there will continue to give shape and meaning to your experience for the rest of your life. 28_572368-ch19.indd 339 28_572368-ch19.indd 339 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM 340 Part VI: The Part of Tens This may be the very best reason to study sociology because unless you understand your society, you cannot really understand yourself. And if you don’t understand yourself, how can you understand anything else? There Is Such a Thing as a Perfect Society Auguste Comte, the man who coined the term “sociology,” thought that one day we’d get it all figured out, that with enough effort and study we’d achieve the perfect society and that would be that. Needless to say, sociologists would be the ones in charge. (See Chapter 3 for more on Comte.) Comte’s intellectual descendents, those being sociologists today, don’t believe that any more. Never in the history of the world has there been a society without inequality, conflict, crime, and unhappiness. Whatever you might consider to be a “perfect” society, we haven’t figured it out yet and we almost certainly never will. Why? Because we’re not perfect people. People are selfish, foolish, and incon- sistent, and they make mistakes. Building a perfect society out of human beings is like trying to build a cathedral out of Gummi Bears. It’s just not going to happen. But that doesn’t mean you should give up hope! With the help of sociology and the other social sciences, we’ve come a long way since Comte’s time, and you and I have every reason to think that social conditions will get better yet. People aren’t perfect, but nor is there reason to think they’re fundamentally wicked or destructive. By working together, and by asking tough questions and demanding the best answers we can get, we can make the world a better place to live. It will never be perfect , but you know what? I’m okay with that. 28_572368-ch19.indd 340 28_572368-ch19.indd 340 2/23/10 6:09 PM 2/23/10 6:09 PM Index • A • Abagnale, Frank, 116 abortion, 249–250 achieved status about, 141 ethnicity as, 160 acquaintances, value of, 124–127 activation of networks, 126 ADHD (attention de cit hyperactivity disorder), 284 adolescence, 276, 291 af rmative-action policies, 149, 165 African-Americans achievements of, 143, 165 holidays, 250 incarceration rates, 209 middle-class, 266 voting rights, 246, 250 age discrimination, 153–154, 277. See also inequality; specifi c civil rights movements agenda-driven research, 29–30 agents of socialization, 97 aggregate facts, 102–103 “aggregators,” 303 All in the Family (TV sitcom), 90 altruism, 112–113 altruistic suicides, 51 American Journal of Sociology (journal), 61 American men, 280–281 American Psychological Association, 284 American Revolution, 46 American Sociological Association, 309 American Sociological Review (journal), 61 analysis tools, 58, 70–73 Anderson, Elijah (sociologist) Streetwise, 266, 320 Angels in America (Kushner), 174 Animal Farm (Orwell), 139 answers, generalizing, 28 anthropology, 88–89 Ariés, Phillippe (historian), 274 aristocracy, 163 Around the World in 80 Days (Verne), 303 art changes in, 86–87 retailing, 109 ascribed status about, 141 race/sex/caste/age as, 153, 158–159, 160, 163 Asian-Americans, achievements of, 165–166 Asimov, Isaac, 111 assets, 154 assimilation, 167–169 associations in purchasing decisions, 111 assumptions, 71 attention de cit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 284 Austen, Jane (author) Pride and Prejudice, 276 automobiles, retailing, 109, 206 • B • Baby Boomers, 169–170, 277 Bacon, Francis (philosopher), 151 Bacon, Kevin (actor), 121 Balch, Robert W. (sociologist), 201–202 The Bell Curve (Herrnstein and Murray), 78 bias, 158 bias-free outlook, 34, 72, 177 The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart (Bishop), 261 birth control pills, 288 birth rates, 275 bisexuality attitudes, evolution of, 172–173, 288 civil rights, 172–173 cohabitation, 282, 292 discrimination, 153, 159 gay pride festivals, 251 identity with, 173–174 29_572368-bindex.indd 341 29_572368-bindex.indd 341 2/23/10 6:10 PM 2/23/10 6:10 PM 342 Sociology For Dummies Bishop, Bill (sociologist) The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart, 261 Black, Duncan (economist), 243 books (literature searches), 61 “Boston Miracle,” 184, 204 bottom-up analysis, 130 bounded rationality, 110, 125, 221 Bourdieu, Pierre (sociologist), 100, 152 bourgeois, 49 “breaching experiments,” 95 Brokeback Mountain (Lee), 174 bureaucracies corporate culture as, 218–222 shortcomings of, 217–218 Weber on, 215–216 Burt, Ronald (sociologist), 127 business network gap lling, 127 product evolution, 231 business uses, 32 • C • Calvin, John (Protestant clergy), 52, 180 Calvinist Protestant values, 52 campaign nance, 240 capital punishment, 198 capitalism industrial, 155 “iron cage” of, 53, 218, 300, 301, 321, 338 Marx on, 49 religion as jump starter, 180, 188 Weber on, 52, 53, 146, 218, 300–301, 321, 338 careers with ambiguities, 220–222 candidate referrals, 126 corporate culture about, 18 as bureaucracies, 218–222 for-pro t, 214–215 human elements in, 222–224 open systems, 227–232 perks of, 224–226 Weber as applicable to, 215–218 dual-career families, 287, 288, 290 routine, 219–220 social facts, 102–103 timing, 170 Carneal, Michael (teenager involved in school shootings), 203–205 cars, retailing, 109, 206 Carter, Prudence, 105 caste. See also inequality; specifi c civil rights movements about, 163 discrimination, 153 Castro, Fidel (politician), 57 Catholicism, 190 Celebration (Disney-sponsored city), 269 central city, 267 centrist candidates, 243 change, social about, 20 breakdown, 41 diversity, 305–306 Durkheim on, 298–300 globalization, 302–304 lessons from the past, 310–312 Marx on, 296–298 middle class, 308–310 religious changes with, 177–178, 179, 180, 181–182, 183–185 strategies for, 38 technology, 307–308 Weber on, 300–301 charismatic leaders, 232, 251 charities altruism, 112–113 religious, 183 Chicago School of Sociology about, 54 ethnography studies, 257 immigration studies, 167 in uence of, 13, 56, 58, 260, 269 members of, 96, 115, 149 child labor laws, 291 children born out of wedlock, 287, 292 childbearing, 170, 277, 288 childhood, 274–275 29_572368-bindex.indd 342 29_572368-bindex.indd 342 2/23/10 6:10 PM 2/23/10 6:10 PM 343343 Index cost of, 291 rights of, 275 Chomsky, Noam (linguist), 298 Christakis, Nicholas (sociologist), 130 Christianity about, 190 Catholicism, 190 conservative, 186 products for, 186 Protestant ethics/values, 52, 53, 180, 182 Puritans, 197–198 views of, 179 churches. See also religion about, 183–185 partnership with police, 184 role in government, 179 socialization role, 97 Cisneros, Sandra (author) The House on Mango Street, 174 civil disobedience, 245 civil rights and inequality bias and discrimination, 158–159 cross-cultural, 154–156 ethnic, 160, 161–162 racial, 160–161, 162–166 sex and gender, 153, 169–173 trends, 173–174 as movement, 37, 183, 250 class con ict, 49 creative, 267 de nition, 141–142 “higher class,” 16 inequality, 16 lower class, 141–142, 265 middle class, 142, 155, 266, 308–310 systems, 16 types of, 154 upper class, 141–142, 264–265, 266 clothing styles, ethnic, 161 code switching, 105 coercive isomorphism, 230, 231 cohabitation, 282, 292 Cohen, Michael D. (sociologist), 232 Cold War, 57 colleges and universities academic departments, 47–48, 50, 53–54 curricula, 29, 231 Collins, Randall (sociologist) about, 33 Four Sociological Traditions, 317–318 Sociological Insight, 193, 317–318 communication changes in, 303 during the Industrial Revolution, 44 Communism, 48–49, 57, 142 Communist Manifesto (Marx and Engels), 48 community bonds, 254–256 comparable worth (income), 170 Comte, Auguste (sociologist), 44–45, 46–47 Condorcet, Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas Caridal de (sociologist) A Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Human Mind, 46 con dence in results, 71 con ict, cultural, 99 con ict models, 239–241, 298 Congressional hearings on Taylorism, 220 conscious discrimination, 163–164 conservative Christians, 186 Constitution, U.S. Nineteenth Amendment, 246 Thirteenth Amendment, 87 consulting uses, 32 context, criminal, 204 contraceptive technology, 288 controversy, sociological, 3 Cooley, Charles (sociologist), 96 Coontz, Stephanie (historian) The Way We Never Were, 288–289 co-optation, 251 coordinated demands, 245 cop-church partnership, 184, 204 copyright laws, 201 corporate culture about, 18 as bureaucracies, 218–222 for-pro t, 214–215 human elements in, 222–224 29_572368-bindex.indd 343 29_572368-bindex.indd 343 2/23/10 6:10 PM 2/23/10 6:10 PM 344 Sociology For Dummies corporate culture (continued) open systems institutional isomorphism with, 229–231 mission drift in, 231–232 networks within, 228–229 organizational boundaries, 227–228 perks of, 224–226 Weber as applicable to, 215–218 counseling, 174, 204 countercultures, 92 Creating Country Music (Peterson), 321–322 creative class, 267 credentials, 150–151 credit card companies, 111 crime about, 17–18, 192–193 churches’ role in ghting, 184, 204 criminals, 193–197 deviancy labeling, 201–202 ghting, 203–206 incarceration rates, 165, 206–209 law enforcement, 31, 197, 199–200, 234 research on, 31 social construction of, 197–201 cross-sectional studies, 68–69 crowds, loneliness of, 254–256 cultural capital, 152 cultural power, 242 cultural studies, 89 cultural toolkits, 104–106 culture about, 14 corporate about, 18 as bureaucracies, 218–222 for-pro t, 214–215 human elements in, 222–224 open systems, 227–232 perks of, 224–226 Weber as applicable to, 215–218 culture-structure continuum, 85–87 de nition, 82–83 ethnic customs, 161 mainstream, 91–92 microcultures, 173 norms, 104 paradoxes, 94–98 socialization, 94–98 structure, 83–85 study of about, 87–88 anthropology, 88–89 cultural studies, 89 liberal arts, 89 production of culture, 89–90 reception of culture, 90 values, 104 culture-structure continuum, 85–87 • D • Dahl, Robert (political scientist) Who Governs?, 244 data age of, 66 cross-sectional/longitudinal, 68–69 gathering/analysis, 63–64 theory mismatch, 73, 75 dating adolescence, 276 senior years, 277 Davis, Kingsley (sociologist), 143–144 de facto, 200 de jure, 200 de Rouvroy, Claude Henri (sociologist), 46 death rates, 275 decision-making, 15, 221 demographic transitions, 275 demographics, 278–279 deterrence, crime, 207 Detert, Jim (sociologist), 226 deviance, crime as, 17–18 dialectical materialism, 48 Dick and Jane reading primers, 287 differentiation, Durkheim on, 51 DiMaggio, Paul (sociologist), 230, 231 discrimination about, 158 age, 277 incarceration as, 209 institutionalized, 17 in law enforcement, 200 physical appearance, 160 race, 162–166 sex, 169–171, 288 29_572368-bindex.indd 344 29_572368-bindex.indd 344 2/23/10 6:10 PM 2/23/10 6:10 PM 345345 Index distribution of health care, 285–287 of material goods, 49 diversi cation, product lines, 228 diversity about, 17 changes in, 298–300, 305–306 Chicago School of Sociology, 54 during the Industrial Revolution, 43–44 intolerance of, 188 neighborhoods, 262 of social ties, 134–135 training, 94 urban, 19 divorce acceptance of, 288 rates of, 287, 288, 292 social facts, 103 Dobbin, Frank (sociologist), 36 Dobson, James (religious leader), 186 dot-com boom, 224–225 Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick), 57 drug use network in uence, 131 “victimless crimes,” 194 war on, 207, 208 dual-career families, 287, 288, 290 Dunkin’ Donuts, 231 Durkheim, Emile (sociologist) about, 13, 47–48, 50–51 on crime, 17 in uence of, 40, 56 on religion, 177–180, 182, 188 The Rules of Sociological Method, 50 on social change/social facts, 20, 102, 298–300 on society, 25, 99, 113 Suicide, 51 • E • ecological fallacies, 132 economics about, 45, 47 crime in, 195 global competitiveness, 309 power in, 242 rational choice theory in, 107, 110 risky lifestyle, 131 economy change in, 86–87 globalization in, 304 senior years, impact on, 277 in social structure, 84 turbulence of, 288 education religious, 183 research for, 31 school shootings, 203–205 in social strati cation, 151 socialization role, 97 universities academic departments, 47–48, 50, 53–54 curricula, 29, 231 of women, 171 ef ciency, workplace, 219–220 egocentric networks, 120–122 egoistic suicides, 51 Elwert, Felix (sociologist), 75 Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, 87 emotion in decision-making, 112 empirical questions, 26–27 employment. See jobs and employment enforcement, 234. See also crime Engels, Frederich (philosopher) Communist Manifesto, 48 equality. See inequality; specifi c civil rights movements Erikson, Kai (sociologist) Wayward Puritans: A Study in the Sociology of Deviance, 198 errors, research, 77–78 Ethnic Options (Waters), 162 ethnicity. See also inequality; specifi c civil rights movements about, 16–17, 161–162 de nition, 160 identity with, 173–174 indigenous, 167 ethnography, 54, 257 European revolutions, 236 executive suites, women’s underrepresentation in, 170 exploitation by the bourgeois, 49 extended families, 292–293 exurbs, 19, 264, 268 29_572368-bindex.indd 345 29_572368-bindex.indd 345 2/23/10 6:10 PM 2/23/10 6:10 PM 346 Sociology For Dummies • F • Facebook about, 119, 135, 136, 314 identity on, 134 in networks, 129, 133 social movements on, 247 families historically, 287–290 today, 290–293 family leave policies, 170 The Family That Preys (Perry), 174 family values, 287–288 Faneuil Hall Marketplace, 263 Farberman, Harvey A. (sociologist), 206 Feagin, Joe (President, American Sociological Association), 313 feminism evolution of, 169–170 women’s suffrage, 159, 169, 246 Fences (Wilson), 174 fertility (birth rates), 275 eld-speci c journals, 61 nancial incentives (with Taylorism), 219 Fitzgerald, F. Scott (author) The Great Gatsby, 89 Flash, Grandmaster (musician), 89 exibility, ethnic, 162 Florida, Richard (urban life scholar), 267 force. See enforcement formal norms, 192–193 fossil fuels, 307 Four Sociological Traditions (Collins), 317–318 Fowler, James (sociologist), 130 frames, 117–118, 248–249 Frank, David John, 173 French Revolution, 43, 46 Friedan, Betty (feminist), 170 functional differentiation, 300 functionalism, 55, 56 functionalists, on health care, 285 funding, research for, 30 • G • gambling, 110–111 Gamson, William (sociologist), 250 gangs, involvement in, 194, 195 Gans, Herbert J. (sociologist), 264 The Levittowners, 263 “Garbage Can Model” of organization, 232 Gar nkel, Harold (sociologist), 95, 98 Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. (Harvard University faculty), 143 gay pride festivals, 251 gay rights attitudes, evolution of, 172–173, 288 civil rights, 172–173 cohabitation, 282, 292 discrimination, 153, 159 gay pride festivals, 251 identity with, 173–174 GBLTQ rights. See gay rights Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (Tönnies), 254–256 gender. See also inequality; specifi c civil rights movements about, 16–17 American men, 280–281 discrimination, 153, 169–173 identity with, 173–174 women feminism, evolution of, 169–170 women’s suffrage, 159 gender roles, 169–170, 171 gentri cation, 264, 266–267 The Geography of Nowhere (Kunstler), 268 Gibson, David (sociologist), 122 gifts to of ceholders, 240 Giuliani, Rudy (New York City mayor), 36 Gladwell, Malcolm (author) The Tipping Point, 133 glass ceiling, 288 GLBT rights. See gay rights globalization, 155, 302–304 GodTube (Christian video site), 186 Goffman, Erving (sociologist) about, 15 The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, 117, 319 Google corporate campus, 225 government. See also politics about, 18–19, 234–235 church role in, 179, 183–185, 186, 189 con ict models, 239–241 pluralist models, 241–244 political revolutions, 236–238 29_572368-bindex.indd 346 29_572368-bindex.indd 346 2/23/10 6:10 PM 2/23/10 6:10 PM 347347 Index research for, 30–31 in social structure, 85 Government Center, 263 Grandmaster Flash (musician), 89 grandparents as childcare providers, 277, 293 Granovetter, Mark (sociologist), 124, 135 The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald), 89 groups networks of, 122 within social movements, 245 Grusky, David B. (sociologist), 154–156 Guggenheim Foundation, 232 • H • Haitian voudou, 190 Harding, David (sociologist), 131 Harvard University Department of Social Relations, 55–56 Hawthorne Effect, 222–223 health care, 282–287 Hebdige, Dick (sociologist), 92 Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (philosopher), 49 Herrnstein, Richard J. (sociologist) The Bell Curve, 78 high school counselors, 128 “higher class,” 16 higher education academic departments, 47–48, 50, 53–54 curricula, 29, 231 high-status culture, 152 highway system, suburbs as products of, 262 Hill-Popper, Marya (sociologist), 109 historians, 42, 45 history about, 12–13, 39–40 current developments, 58 1800s, 44–47 Marx on, 53 Marx/Durkheim/Weber, 47–53 1900s, 53–58 pre-1800, 40–44 Weber on, 53 Hochschild, Arlie (sociologist) The Second Shift, 290–291, 320 holidays, 250 Holocaust, 159 homosexuality attitudes, evolution of, 172–173, 288 cohabitation, 282, 292 discrimination, 153, 159 gay pride festivals, 251 gay rights, 172–173 identity with, 173–174 T he House on Mango Street (Cisneros), 174 human capital, 152, 242 Human Relations Movement, 223–224 hypotheses, 61 • I • ideal culture, 83 ideas, 82 ImClone, 128 immigrants about, 167–169 dark-skinned, 160–161 health care attitudes, 284–285 illegal, 195 waves of, 155, 305 Impressionism in French painting (study), 90 In An Inconvenient Squirrel (Scrimshaw), 96 incarceration rates, 165, 206–209 income discrimination in, 170 as status symbol, 145 indigenous ethnic groups, 167 Industrial Revolution, 43–44 inequality bias and discrimination, 158–159 cross-cultural, 154–156 ethnic, 160, 161–162 racial, 160–161, 162–166 sex and gender, 153, 169–173 trends, 173–174 in uence over government, 240–241 network, 127, 130, 131 of religion, 179, 182 of workers, 224 informal norms, 192–193 information spread, through networks, 136 inherited inequality, 141, 145 29_572368-bindex.indd 347 29_572368-bindex.indd 347 2/23/10 6:10 PM 2/23/10 6:10 PM 348 Sociology For Dummies initiative, 149 innate ability, 147–148 inner-ring suburbs, 262, 268 “insider trading,” 127, 128 insights, sociological art, understanding, 327 assertions, evaluating, 324–325 claims, critical thinking about, 324 communication barriers, 325–326 diversity understanding, 330–331 organizational management, 330 relationship-building, 327–328 self-identity, 326 social changes, 328–329 social movements, mobilizing, 329 institutional isomorphism, 229–231 institutionalized discrimination, 17 interaction, human. See specifi c aspects of sociology international development, 155 Internet distribution, 133 matchmaking, 109 in social movements, 247 social networking about, 133–136 Christian, 186 Facebook, 119, 129, 133, 134, 135, 136, 247, 314 MySpace, 119, 129, 133 Twitter, 133, 314 as technology advancement, 303 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (movie), 89 invasion-succession model, 260–261 “iron cage” (capitalism), 53, 218, 300, 321, 338 irrational choices, 110–111, 112 irregular reward patterns, 111 Islam, 190 isomorphism, 229–231 “it’s a crime to be black in America” (Spearhead), 200 • J • jails cost of, 208 incarceration rates, 165, 206–209 Jim Crow laws, 246 jobs. See jobs and employment jobs and employment with ambiguities, 220–222 candidate referrals, 126 corporate culture about, 18 as bureaucracies, 218–222 for-pro t, 214–215 human elements in, 222–224 open systems, 227–232 perks of, 224–226 Weber as applicable to, 215–218 dual-career families, 287, 288, 290 routine, 219–220 social facts, 102–103 timing careers, 170 journalism, 31–32 journals (literature searches), 61 Judaism, 190 jury system, 198 • K • Kalev, Alexandra (sociologist), 36 Kaufman, Jason (sociologist), 36, 93 Kelly, Erin (sociologist), 36 King, Martin Luther, Jr. (civil rights leader), 37, 183, 250 Krens, Thomas (museum director), 232 Kubrick, Stanley ( lm maker) Dr. Strangelove, 57 Kunstler, James Howard (social critic) The Geography of Nowhere, 268 Kushner, Tony (author) Angels in America, 174 • L • labor, division of, 290–291, 298–300 labor market, 291 labor-management tensions, 219 language changes in, 86 of former slaves, 87 Latinos, 168 29_572368-bindex.indd 348 29_572368-bindex.indd 348 2/23/10 6:10 PM 2/23/10 6:10 PM 349349 Index laws about, 103–104 ambiguity of, 198–199 changes in, 86–87 copyright, 201 de nition, 193 enforcement of, 31, 197, 199–200, 234 legal constraints discrimination, 162 religious practices, 179 role of, 196 Lee, Ang (author) Brokeback Mountain, 174 Left Behind novels, 186 legal constraints discrimination, 162 religious practices, 179 legislators, research for, 30 Lenin, Vladimir (politician), 57 Lenski, Gerhard (sociologist), 143 lesbian relationships attitudes toward, 172–173, 288 civil rights, 172–173 cohabitation, 282, 292 discrimination, 153, 159 gay pride festivals, 251 identity with, 173–174 The Levittowners (Gans), 263 liberal arts, 89 life course adolescence, 276 childhood, 274–275 differences in, 280–282 health care, 282–287 senior years, 276–278 transitions, 278–279 life cycle theory, 261–263 life insurance for children, 275 literature searches, 61–62 lobbying, 240 loneliness of crowds, 254–256 The Lonely Crowd (Riesman), 55, 57, 263 longitudinal studies, 68–69 long-term rewards, 111 “looking-glass self,” 96 lower class, 141–142, 265 low-income communities, policing of, 204 Luther, Martin (Protestant reformer), 180 • M • macrosociological analysis, 129 mainstream as reference point, 91–92 male-dominated elds, income levels in, 170 management consultants, 32, 221 management-labor tensions, 219 March, James G. (sociologist), 232 marches, 245 Marin, Alexandra (sociologist), 126 marketing strategies, 132–133 marriage about, 291–292 cohabitation compared to, 282, 292 divorce acceptance of, 288 rates of, 287, 288, 292 social facts, 103 social facts, 102–103 unmarried partnership, 288 Marx, Karl (sociologist) about, 13, 47–49 Communist Manifesto, 48 as con ict theorist, 240 on government autonomy, 241 in uence of, 40, 56, 57 on religion, 99, 176–177, 180, 182, 188 on social change, 20, 296–298 on society, 50, 99, 142 Weber compared with, 52–53 Marxism on health care, 285 on the middle class, 309 on social movements, 247 materialism, 48 Mayo, Elton (business professor), 222–224 McAdam, Douglas (sociologist), 247 McLuhan, Marshall (media theorist), 303 Mead, George Herbert (philosopher), 115 mechanical solidarity, 178, 300 media, socialization role of, 97 median voter theory, 243 medical professions, 286–287 megachurches, 184 “melting pot,” 167 29_572368-bindex.indd 349 29_572368-bindex.indd 349 2/23/10 6:10 PM 2/23/10 6:10 PM 350 Sociology For Dummies men, American, 280–281 mental health, 112, 284 Merton, Robert K. (sociologist), 58 “The Message” (Grandmaster Flash), 89 Meyer, John (sociologist), 230 microcultures, 173 microsociology about, 15 choices, 106–114 cultural toolkits, 104–106 de nition, 101 network analysis, 130 in school shootings, 204 social facts, 102–104 symbolic interactionism, 114–118 middle class about, 142, 155 African-Americans, 266 changes in, 308–310 military in social structure, 85 Mills, C. Wright (sociologist) about, 12 on government, 241–242 in uence of, 57 The Power Elite, 56, 241 mimetic isomorphism, 230, 231 minority overrepresentation in prison, 209 missing data, 75–76 mission drift, 231–232 mixed messages, 131 mode of production, 49, 176–177, 296–297 “model minority” myth, 165–166 monarchy, 163 money Marx on, 240 in social strati cation, 145–146 Moore, Wilbert E. (sociologist), 143–144 moral questions, 26 mortality (death rates), 275 motivation, 148 movie producers, 128 Moynihan, Daniel Patrick (politician) The Negro Family: The Case for National Action, 37 multi-degree social connections, 121 Munson, Ziad (sociologist), 249 Murray, Charles (sociologist) The Bell Curve, 78 music, social facts, 102–103 MySpace about, 119 in networks, 129, 133 myths actions as values re ection, 334–335 bad choices, reasons for, 338–339 bureaucracy as dehumanizing element, 338 immigration, 337–338 media brainwashing, 335–336 on “model minorities,” 336 race, 337 rewards from work/determination, 334 on society, 336, 339–340 • N • Nader, Ralph (attorney, activist), 298 nation building, 237 natural systems, 18 nature versus nurture, 95–96 near-term rewards, 111 The Negro Family: The Case for National Action (Moynihan), 37 neighborhoods, evolution of, 258–262 networks about, 15 analysis insights, 129–136, 204 within corporate culture, 228–229 egocentric, 120–122 power players in, 242 of relationships, 122–124 weak ties, strength of, 124–129 New Media and Society (journal), 61 New Urbanism, 268–269 Newman, Katherine (sociologist) about, 203–204 No Shame in My Game, 322 Rampage, 204 Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, 246 No Shame in My Game (Newman), 321–322 non nancial decisions, 108–109 nonpro t organizations, 30 normative isomorphism, 230, 231 norms about, 103–104 bias-free outlook, 25 breaking from, 95 de nition, 82 29_572368-bindex.indd 350 29_572368-bindex.indd 350 2/23/10 6:10 PM 2/23/10 6:10 PM 351351 Index formal/informal, 192–193 learning, 96 nostalgia trap, 288 nuclear families, 292 nurture, nature vs., 95–96 • O • Obama, Barack (President of the United States), 207 obesity, 130 occupational prestige about, 146–147 women with, 170 Olsen, Johan P. (sociologist), 232 “omniethnic” identity, 173 “omniracial” identity, 173 “omnisexual” identity, 173 online distribution, 133 matchmaking, 109 in social movements, 247 social networking about, 133–136 Christian, 186 Facebook, 119, 129, 133, 134, 135, 136, 247, 314 MySpace, 119, 129, 133 Twitter, 133, 314 as technology advancement, 303 open systems/workplaces, 18, 224–226 “opiate of the people,” 99, 176, 177 organic solidarity, 178–179, 300 The Organization Man (White), 56, 57, 256, 263, 264, 319 organizations about, 41 analysis, 204 behavior, 221 boundaries, 227–228 health care, 285–287 networks of, 122 religious, 183–185 Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems (Scott), 218 Orwell, George (author) Animal Farm, 139 out-of-wedlock children, 287, 292 outsourcing, 155, 228 overgeneralization, 73–74 Ozzie and Harriet era, 55 • P • parades, 245 paradoxes, cultural, 94–98 parental in uence on motivation, 148 parental leave, 170 Park, Robert (sociologist), 260 Parsons, Talcott (sociologist) about, 40 fate of, 56 on government, 241–242 on illness, 285 in uence of, 57, 58 Toward a General Theory of Action, 55 participant observation, 54, 257–258 “partners invited” invitations, 282 pay-for-referral process, 126–127 peer socialization, 97 peer-reviewed literature, 61 people skills, 225 people watching, 256 Perry, Tyler (author) The Family That Preys, 174 Peterson, Richard (sociologist) Creating Country Music, 321–322 Pew survey (2009), 186 philosophers, 42, 45 physical appearance, discrimination, 160 physician fatigue, 286 pitfalls, research methods, 73–78 place of origin, 161 pluralist models, 241–244 Podolny, Joel (sociologist), 109 police church partnership with, 184, 204 selective enforcement, 199–200 policy shaping, 30 social, 37–38 political sociology about, 18–19 government, 234–238 power sharing, 238–244 social movements, 244–251 29_572368-bindex.indd 351 29_572368-bindex.indd 351 2/23/10 6:10 PM 2/23/10 6:10 PM 352 Sociology For Dummies politics. See also government change in, 86–87 lobbyists, 128 political parties, 231 power in, 242 religious involvement in, 183 revolutions, 42–43 Portnoy’s Complaint (Roth), 174 positivism, 44–45 post-World War II social policy, 289 Powell, Walter W. (sociologist), 230, 231 The Power Elite (Mills), 56, 241 power structure castes in, 163 power sharing in, 238–244 religion as tool in, 188 predictable irrationality, 111 preemption, 250–251 The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Goffman), 117, 319 prevention, crime, 207 pricing out of communities, 267 Pricing the Priceless Child (Zelizer), 320–321 Pride and Prejudice (Austen), 276 Priestley, J. B. (playwright), 273 priestly castes, 163 primary deviance, 208 primary group, role of, 81, 96–97 prisons cost of, 208 incarceration rates, 165, 206–209 privacy concerns, 3
