Race and Ethnicity II (PDF)

**[RACE AND ETHNICITY II\ \ ]**Objectives\ - outline primordialism as per van den Berghe.\ - Explain frustration-aggression theory \- Outline the normative approach and Merton's revisions. \- Define the Vertical Mosaic.\ - Explicate split-labour market theory as per Bonacich. **[Why do racial Cri...

**[RACE AND ETHNICITY II\ \ ]**Objectives\ - outline primordialism as per van den Berghe.\ - Explain frustration-aggression theory \- Outline the normative approach and Merton's revisions. \- Define the Vertical Mosaic.\ - Explicate split-labour market theory as per Bonacich. **[Why do racial Crimes Occur?\ ]**1) Biological:\ Ethnic grouping is "natural"/encoded in our genes. - this is what Van den Berghe believed. That ethnic grouping is "natural"\ Discrimination, prejudice and ethnocentrism are natural and inevitable behaviours.\ These features of society will likely continue because we cannot eradicate our nature.\ **Problems:** People will often hurt members of their own racial/ethnic group.\ People of different groups will often work together in anti-racist campaigns.\ \ **"Race" and [Eugenics\ ]**The career of "race" lived on in the Eugenics campaign in Nazi Germany, but also in Canada. In the 1920's and 1930's, Canadian doctors were concerned about the impact of immigrants upon the Canadian population. They suspected that physical and mental defects were spreading as immigrants reproduced and mixed with the Anglo-Saxon population. In Alberta and BC sterilization campaigns took place in which visible minorities were targeted.\ \ Sterilization required parental consent. This consent proved to be a barrier for doctors, so in 1937, the consent provisions was removed. In the final years of the Act, First Nations people and Metis accounted for 25% of the total population. This Act was removed in 1971 but the fear of being flooded by genetic defects continued though it was never realized.\ \ **["Race" continues\ ]**(University of Western Ontario psychologist) Rushton and race science.\ \ According to Rushton, there are three races: Negroids, Caucasoids and Mongoloids. The latter have lower rates of crime, are less aggressive and are more intelligent than the others. Negroids have a biological disposition towards crime and they are less intelligent. Rushton's research is flawed because he uses the concept of race and treats it as unproblematic. He also does not account for differences in the ways that crime is measured in various nations. These methodological errors were the focus of intense criticism and many questioned the motives for his research. **[Racial crimes II\ ]**\ 2) Psychological:\ \ Frustration with your life leads to aggression. For example, Hitler blames Jews, Marc Lepine blames women.\ \ Some people have authoritarian personalities.\ \ **[Racial crimes III\ ]**3) Normative explanation:\ \ Prejudice and discrimination are passed down from generation to generation.\ Prejudice and discrimination are socialized into children.\ \ **[Normative Theory I\ ]**Origination in **functionalism,** normative theory suggests that people are exposed to group norms. Prejudice is thought of as the result of group socialization. Consequently, those exposed to prejudice will exhibit discriminatory behaviour. Prejudice and discrimination can be explained by a) a person's definition of situations and b) reference group norms. **[Normative Theory II\ ]**\ **Robert Merton,** however, questioned why some people failed to think and act in racist fashion when exposed to racist sentiment and why some do behave in such fashion when group norms dictate fairness. He argued that discrimination towards certain groups occurs before prejudice or stereotypes are created. He suspected that most people are inculcated with "success norms" but do not have the means to attain success. Thus, they resort to blaming others - discrimination and then prejudice and stereotyping to rationalize their actions.\ \ **Consequences:\ **Merton's ideas were given more attention by **John Porter** in his famous text, the Vertical Mosaic. Porter examined the class structure of Canadian society. He believed that there are charter groups and entrance groups. Charter groups colonized the country and set up the rules for others to follow should they attempt to enter Canada. He believed that state policies had created a vertical mosaic; ethnic groups were layered vertically with charter groups at the top and entrance groups below them.\ \ **[Merton and Conflict\ ]**As mentioned earlier, Merton was a functionalist. He examined the norms of society. But his causal analysis proved to be most powerful for conflict theorists. Conflict theorists, such as Satzewich, believe that the struggle to accumulate wealth in capitalist societies is to blame for prejudice and discrimination. Immigrants are blamed for the poor economic situation experienced by members of the proletariat. The result was:\ a) Chinese head taxes.\ b)Exclusionary rules(Continuous voyage Clause)\ c) Systemic discrimination: visible minority wages.\ \ **[Racial Crimes IV\ \ ]**4) Split market theory(Edna Bonacich)\ She said that there were three groups in society:\ \ A. Business/capitalists\ B.Highly paid(white) labour\ C. Lower paid(non-white) labour.\ In a nutshell, she said that the business class benefits from working class fighting. They perpetuate this conflict via discriminatory employment practices.\ \ **[Conclusion\ ]**'Race' is a social construct\ Racisms exists, in part, because of the belief in 'race'\ Racisms comes in many forms and must be explained by various approaches.\ \ \ **[Sex, Gender, and Stratification\ \ Objectives\ \ ]**- Define sex and gender \- Define and explain the significance of the sexual continuum.\ Define essentialism and outline the main criticisms of essentialism.\ - Identify how sex inequality manifests itself.\ - Outlines the finding s of "The Body Beautiful"\ \ **[Sex and Gender\ ]**Sex- Biological traits of men and women.\ - Chromosomal,gonadal,hormonal,sex organs.\ Gender - Social, cultural and psychological traits linked to males and females.\ \ Does society allow for much deviation?\ - Transgendered, transsexual, compulsory, heterosexuality. **Sexual Orientation\ - Heterosexual\ - Homosexual\ - Bisexual\ - The sexual continuum\ \ [The Sexual Continuum\ \ ]**The sexual continuum is a model that represents sexual orientation as a range of possibilities, rather than a set of discrete categories: Kinsey scale: **Dr. Alfred Kinsey\'s scale** is a well-known example of a sexual continuum, with ratings ranging from 0 (exclusively heterosexual) to 6 (exclusively homosexual)\ \ \ **\ [The Sexual Continuum II\ ]**Males do not represent two discrete populations, heterosexual and homosexual. The world is not to be divided into sheep and goats. It is a fundamental of taxonomy that nature rarely deals with discrete categories... The living world is a continuum in each and everyone one of its aspects.\ Kinsey also found: **Sexual Behaviour** **Men** **Women** ---------------------- --------- ----------- Premarital Sex 85% 50% Extramarital Sex 30-45% 26% Sex with prostitutes 70% N/A **[The Sexual Continuum III\ ]** Sexual behaviour Male Female ------------------------ ------- ---------------------------------- Homosexual Experience 37% 13% Rating of 3 11.6% 7% single, 4% previously married Exclusively homosexual 10% 1-3% **[David Reimer\ \ ]**Sexual reassignment.\ \ **[Sex differences\ \ Essentialism] [\ ]Brain Studies -** Left hemisphere associated with language, the\ Right associated with visual and spatial skills.\ **\ Sociobiology -** Those who resolve\ Problems pass on their genes\ Resulting in gender differences\ \ **Freud -** Oedipus and Electra complexes\ \ **[Social Constructionism\ ]**- Warfare and conquest\ -Plow agriculture \- separation of public and private spheres.\ \ **[Critique of Essentialism]** Essentialists ignore the historical and cultural variability of gender and sexuality.\ There are variations in gender across cultures,\ Margaret Mead and Arapesh in New Guinea.\ Rape rates vary without any corresponding genetic change.\ \ \ \ \ \ **[Critique of Essentialism II\ ]** Essentialists ignore the fact that gender differences are declining rapidly and in some cases have already disappeared.\ A review of 165 studies of verbal ability representing 1.4 million people found no difference in verbal abilities.\ A review of 100 studies in mathematics represent 4 million students showed a slight difference favouring females.\ Spatial differences were minor. **[Critique of Essentialism III\ ]**The research evidence employed by essentialists is often deeply flawed. Essentialists tend to generalize from the average, ignoring variations within gender groups.\  **[Critique of Essentialism IV\ ]**Essentialists exaggerate the degree to which gender differences are unchangeable.\ More egalitarian societies reduce the age gap in female-male relationships.\ Essentialists offer explanations for gender differences that ignore the role of power. **[Economic Inequality\ ]**Double work day - the unpaid domestic labor that people perform after their paid work. Like, Women responsible for their work shift(wage) and work at home.\ Sex segregation - the unequal distribution of men and women across different jobs, or occupations. Males and females expected to be in certain work sectors based on sex typing\ Sex typing - the process by which a society translates a person\'s biological sex into masculine and feminine attributes\ Glass-ceiling - a metaphor for the invisible barriers that prevent women and minorities from advancing in the workplace.\ Nonstandard work. - Nonstandard work is a term that describes employment arrangements that differ from standard employment, such as part-time, temporary, or on-call work.\ \ **[Social Inequality\ \ ]**Gender stratification is a system in which men, in general, hold greater power, prestige and wealth than women.\ \ **Power:** The ability to impose one's will on others.\ **Prestige:** Social ranking and respect\ **Wealth:** economic resource to pay for the necessities in life.\ \ **[Women in the labour Force\ ]**Why have women become so involved in the labour force especially since 1961?\ 1) An increase in the demand for service sector workers.\ 2) A decrease in the number of children born\ 3) Family finances.\ \ **[Income\ ]**Four reasons that explain why women earn less than men.\ 1) Gender differences in the characteristics that influence pay rates(education, experience, seniority.)\ 2) Women are involved in sex-segregated, non-standard work. 3\) Simple discrimination- even in the same jobs women are often paid less than men.\ 4) A general devaluation of the kind of work performed by women.\ \ **[Political power\ ]**There has been one Canadian female Prime Minister ( Kim Campbell). She "inherited" the position after the former male leader (Brian Mulroney) stepped down. She held the position for 4 months. PC party status was lost. In 2013, there are 308 federal politicians. 64 are female.\ In 2013, there are 734 provincial politicians. 156 are female.\ Only 2/4 current female premiers were elected. **[Socialist feminism\ ]**Two sources of women's oppression:\ \ 1) Capitalism - an economic system where private individuals or businesses own the means of production and use them to create a profit\ 2) Patriarchy - a system of social relationships, values, norms and behaviour patterns that are predominantly shaped by men and which encourage a privileged position for men while oppressing women.\ \ **[Socialist Feminism II\ ]**\ Both capitalism and patriarchy must be substantially altered or eliminated to free women.\ \ Capitalists benefit greatly from women's work, including raising children, but do not pay for all of this work. State intervened with social programs (raising the federal debt.) Current developments.\ \ Socialist feminists believe that the laws of the state can be changed for positive social change in society.\ \ **[Radical Feminism\ ]**Capitalism has little to do with female oppression.\ \ Women are oppressed because they are women.\ \ The state is the male state.\ \ Men, by nature, are aggressive and need to dominate women.\ \ The state is the enemy, not an ally.\ \ **[Intersectionist]** - - - **[Religion\ ]** **Objectives** -define religion and humanist perspectives.\ -explain how theorists such as Marx, Durkheim, and Weber perceived religion. -Operationalize religiosity -Outline levels of personal religiosity in Canada. -Identify and explain the sources of religion. **[What is Religion?\ ]**A religion is a system of meaning for interpreting the world. It is a unified system of beliefs with a supernatural referent. **[Human Perspectives\ \ ]**By contrast, humanist perspectives such as communism are human centered. Often they are science-based. Religion suggests that "our existence has meaning" whereas humanists maintain that "life has no meaning, we have to give it meaning. When we study religion from a sociological standpoint, we do so scientifically. We develop theories and hypotheses and test them with rigorous scientific methods.\ \ **[Whither Religion?\ \ ]**According to University of Lethbridge professor Reginald Bibby, Alberta is not the bible belt of Canada.It has the second highest rate of response of "no religion" or "no religious affiliation". Nevertheless, he argues that Albertans and Canadians in general, are still trying to figure life out. "They still pursue efforts to deal with mystery and meaning... but relatively few appear to be turning to traditional religion." He adds that traditional religion does not seem to connect some people with spirituality they need.\ \ **[Marx and Opium\ \ ]**1) religion/god is a human creation 2\) Religion is the "opium of people"\ 3) Religion maintains an unequal, exploitive society. 4\) It delays the inevitable transition to communism 5)Religion will eventually fade away.. **[Durkhein and "Holey" Answers]** 1. 2. 3. 4. **[Durkhein II\ \ ]Functions of religion** - - - - - - **[Weber and "Spirit"\ \ ]**1) Weber wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. 2\) We should examine religion in terms of how it affects the way in which we behave. 3\) Religion has been instrumental in shaping modern day capitalism. ( opposite belief than Marx) 4\) Religion creates power for some leaders. **[Personal Religiosity (important)]** Bibby argues that we should consider the following dimensions of religion to assess its impact upon us:\ \ 1) Belief (in god) 2\) Practice (i.e. prayer) 3\) Experience ( see or speak directly to god) 4\) Knowledge (knowledge of the Bible etc.) **[Findings]** 1. 2. 3. 4. **[Collective Religiosity]** Durkhein said we need to know how people feel individually, but we also need to know how people behave collectively. We can interpret religions as splintering from other churches ( church-sect typology) or by taking an *organizational approach.* **[The Organizational approach]** According to Bibby, we might want to consider an "organizational approach" which includes assessing religion in terms of: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. **[Conflicting findings]** How are we to interpret this odd situation? That is, on personal dimensions, religion apprears to be doing quite well but collectively it seems to be in jeopardy. **[Sources of Religiosity (important)]** What causes people to become religious? 1. 2. 3. **[Religion in Canada]** 1. 2. 3. **[Fragmenting Gods?\ \ ]**Bibby claims that the fate of religion depends upon the ability of religious groups to meet the needs and interests of Canadians. Canadians are not leaving traditional organizations in favour of alternatives.They are also not following the "electronic church" on television. Canadians are turning to "fragments" of traditional religions. Hence the name of one of the best selling books, [Fragmented gods.] **[Conclusion]** Marx,Durkheim, and Weber held very different views on religion and religiosity. Marx was very critical of religion, Durkheim believed it was quite functional, whereas Weber was simply interested in its effects on society.\ Canadians appear to be a highly religious group, but the future of religion is unclear. **[Diversion and Crime]** Reiman and Leighton (2013) argue that crime is best understood as a "carnival mirror". This is because the reality of crime differs greatly from how it is presented in the media. While the typical criminal is characterized as a young, poor, black, urbanized, male, the reality is that more pervasive and costly crime is perpetrated by those who engage in fraud, cheating on taxes, consumer deception, medical malpractice, and property crime. Crime is an illusion in our society. **Objectives** -differentiate crime from deviance. \- Explain the significance of the crime funnel. \- Identify and explain the key components of a moral panic. \- Outline perspectives on crime including pluralism, conflict theory, learning theory, control theory, and labelling theory. **[Norms, deviance, and crime]** Norms refer to expectations of human behaviour.\ \ Deviance refers to non-normative behaviour. That is, when we violate a norm. Crime involves breaking a law.\ \ A given act may be a crime, but not necessarily deviant. For instance, many people exceed the speed limit somewhat. A given act may be deviant, but not a crime.For instance, people who tattoo their entire bodies may be deemed deviant, but not criminal.\ \ **[Crime\ \ ]**Hagan refers to consensus crimes and conflict crimes. The former are considered very harmful (mala in se) and carry the harshest sanctions. By contrast, there is less agreement when it comes to conflict crimes (mala prohibita) **[Diviance]** Social deviation refers to legal, but stigmatized behaviour (mental illness, ex-convicts) Lastly, social diversion refers to how people appear to others. A person with many piercings for example. **[Formal and informal controls]** Formal control is that type of control by the state and its institutions. Informal controls are those exerted by friends, families and peers. This can include teasing by friends or spanking from your mother. According to deviance researchers, the most successful form of control is internalized self-control.\ \ **[Crime Rates]** Crime is a dark figure. There are about 1.8 million crimes reported to police each year(2013). Of reported crime, about 48% is property crime while 20% is considered violent crime. The rest is deemed "other" offences such as mischief and bail violations etc. **[Crusaders and Panics]** Becker argued that there are "moral crusaders" in society that try to change the behaviour of others. That is, they believe that serious evil exists that must be eliminated. At times, this results in moral panics. **[Moral Panics]** Concern. - Hostility - Consensus - Disproportionality - Volatility - **[Explanations of law]** **Pluralists:** argue that laws reflect what society deems important. Everyone has a say in the construction of laws. **Conflict theorists:** argue that the bourgeoisie largely constructs the laws. The lower classes are criminalized. **Postmodernists:** maintain that society socially constructs crime. Those who generate and disseminate crime news control the law. **[Strain]** Strain theory grew out of functionalism. It suggests that people behave deviantly when they are strained. Strain theorists such as RObert Merton claimed that crime and deviance are results of "rising expectations and falling realizations".  **[Learning Theory]** People simply learn crime and deviance just like any other kind of behaviour. People learn by interacting with other deviants; by "differential association." People learn how to common crimes and attitudes to accomplish it(i.e. People learn "techniques of neutralization"). **[Control theory]** People are deviant because being deviant is really enjoyable The real question is why do people conform? People conform because they have been taught self-control by their parents, teachers, friends, and relatives. Girls are more controlled than boys. This has implications later in life. **[Labeling]** People behave deviantly when they are defined by society as such. For instance, if you are known by your high school teachers as a poor student, it is difficult to change their impressions of you later in life. **[Labeling II]** The main point being made is that labeling has a measure of power over people that may lead to further deviance. Remember when we first said that internalized self-control is the most successful form of control. **[Conclusion]** Crime rates have decreased in Canada since 1991, although they are higher since the 1960s. There is more crime in Western Canada than Eastern Canada. Canada has a higher incarceration rate than India, Japan, and Western European nations, but much lower than Russia and The US. **[Conclusions II]** The correlates of crimes include age(20y/o), sex (male), social class(middle), and visible minority status. Because the propensity to engage in crime varies by group membership, it is ripe for sociological examination.