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2 CHAPTER 1 What Is Sociology? Each of us starts the study of society with the study of individuals. We wonder why Theresa keeps getting involved with men who trea...

2 CHAPTER 1 What Is Sociology? Each of us starts the study of society with the study of individuals. We wonder why Theresa keeps getting involved with men who treat her badly, why Mike never learns to stop drinking before he gets sick, why our aunt puts up with our uncle, or why any- body ever liked the Spice Girls. We wonder why people we’ve known for years seem to change drastically when they get married or change jobs. If Theresa were the only woman with bad taste in men or Mike the only man who drank too much, then we might try to understand their behavior by peering into their personalities. We know, however, that there are millions of men and women who have disappointing romances and who drink too much. We also know that women are more likely than men to sacrifice their needs to keep a romance alive, and that men are more likely than women to drown their troubles in drink. To understand Mike and Theresa, then, we must place them in a larger context and examine the forces that lead some groups of people to behave so differently from other groups. Sociology is the systematic study of human society, social groups, and social inter- actions. It emphasizes the larger context in which Mike, Theresa, and the rest of us live. Sociologists tend to view common human interactions as if they were plays. They might, for example, title a common human drama Boy Meets Girl. Just as Hamlet has been performed around the world for more than 400 years with different actors and different interpretations, Boy Meets Girl has also been performed countless times. Of course, people act out this drama a little differently each time, depending on the scen- ery, the people in the lead roles, and the century, but the essentials are the same. Thus, we can read nineteenth- or even sixteenth-century love stories and still understand why those people did what they did. They were playing roles in a play that is still performed daily. More formal definitions will be introduced later, but the metaphor of the the- ater can be used now to introduce two of the most basic concepts in sociology: role and social structure. By role, we mean the expected performance of someone who occupies a specific position. Mothers, teachers, students, and lovers all have roles. Each position has an established script that suggests appropriate gestures, things to say, and ways to interact with others. Discovering what each society offers as a stock set of roles is one of the major themes in sociology. Sociologists try to find the com- mon roles that appear in society and to determine why some people play one role rather than another. The second major sociological concept is social structure, the larger structure Sociology is the systematic study of of the play in which the roles appear. What is the whole set of roles that appears in human society, social groups, and this play? How are the roles interrelated? Do some actors and roles have more power social interactions. than others? And how does this affect the outcome of the play? Thus, we understand A role is a set of norms specifying the role of student in the context of the social structure we call education, a context in the rights and obligations associated which teachers have more power than students, and administrators more power than with a status. teachers. By examining roles and social structure, sociologists try to understand the human drama. A social structure is a recurrent pattern of relationships among groups. The Sociological Imagination The sociological imagination is the ability to recognize how apparently The sociological imagination refers to the ability to recognize how apparently personal issues at least partly reflect personal issues at least partly reflect broader social structures (Mills 1959, 15). Accord- broader social structures. ing to C. Wright Mills, the sociological imagination is what we use when we realize that  THE STUDY OF SOCIETY 3 MAP 1.1: States with Low, Medium, and High Percentages of Residents in Poverty Poverty is more common in rural areas, in the south and southwest, on isolated Native American reservations, and in states with many less-educated, Hispanic, and African American residents. SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census (2009b). L. Winnipeg Missouri NORTH Lake Superior WASHINGTON DAKOTA MONTANA MINNESOTA Lake MAINE Lake Michigan WISCONSIN IDAHO SOUTH Huron VERMONT DAKOTA OREGON NEW Lake Ontario HAMPSHIRE WYOMING MICHIGAN 5.8% NEW YORK rie MASSACHUSETTS eE IOWA Lak NEBRASKA PENNSYLVANIA RHODE ISLAND U. S. A. ILLINOIS INDIANA OHIO CONNECTICUT NEW JERSEY UTAH COLORADO WEST DELAWARE NEVADA KANSAS VIRGINIA VIRGINIA MARYLAND MISSOURI KENTUCKY D.C. TENNESSEE NORTH CAROLINA CALIFORNIA OKLAHOMA ARKANSAS Atlantic ARIZONA NEW MEXICO SOUTH Ocean MISSISSIPPI CAROLINA Pacific 22.6% ALABAMA GEORGIA Ocean LOUISIANA TEXAS 16.5% MEXICO Percentages of Residents ALASKA in Poverty 7.6% Gulf FLORIDA Low HAWAII of Medium Mexico High some personal troubles (such as poverty, divorce, or loss of faith) are actually common public issues that reflect a larger social context. Mills suggests that many of the things we experience as individuals are really beyond our control. Instead, they reflect the way society as a whole is organized. For example, Mills writes: When, in a city of 100,000, only one man is unemployed, that is his personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to the character of the man, his skills, and his immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50 million employees, 15 million men are unemployed, that is [a public] issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very structure of opportunities has collapsed. Both the correct statement of the problem and the range of possible solutions require us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals. (Mills 1959, 9) Map 1.1 illustrates this issue. As it shows, the percentage of people living in pov- erty varies from 6 percent in New Hampshire to 23 percent in Mississippi. These data suggest that poverty does not result simply from personal characteristics but instead reflects something about where we live—most likely, the number of jobs and the num- ber of people chasing those jobs. In everyday life, we rarely consider the impact of history, economic patterns, and social structures on our own experiences. If a child becomes a drug addict, par- ents tend to blame themselves; if spouses divorce, each tends to blame the other; if a 4 CHAPTER 1 Unemployment is so high in some areas that hundreds of people now show up at job fairs, such as at this one in San Mateo, California. AP Images student does poorly in school, most blame only the student. To develop the sociologi- cal imagination is to understand how outcomes such as these are, in part, a product of society and not fully within the control of the individual. Some people do poorly in school, for example, not because they are stupid or lazy but because they are faced with conflicting roles and role expectations. The “this is the best time of your life” play calls for very different roles and behaviors from the “education is the key to success” play. Those who adopt the student role in the “best time of your life” play will likely earn lower grades than those in the “education is the key to success” play. Other people may do poorly because they come from a fam- ily that does not give them the financial or psychological support they need. In fact, their family may need them to earn an income to help support their younger brothers and sisters. These students may be working 25 hours a week in addition to going to school; they may be going to school despite their family’s lack of understanding of why college is important, or why college students need quiet and privacy for studying. In contrast, other students may find it difficult to fail: Their parents provide tuition, living expenses, and emotional support, as well as a laptop, iPhone, and new car. As we will discuss in more detail in Chapter 12, parents’ social class is one of the best predictors of who will fail and who will graduate. Success or failure depends to a large extent on social factors. The sociological imagination—the ability to see our own lives and those of oth- ers as part of a larger social structure—is central to sociology. Once we develop this imagination, we will be less likely to believe that individual behavior results solely from individual personalities. Instead, we will also consider how roles and social structures affect behavior. Similarly, we will recognize that to solve social problems, we will likely have to change social structures and roles, not just change individuals. Although poverty, divorce, and racism are experienced as intensely personal hard- ships, we can’t eliminate or alleviate them by giving everyone personal therapy. To solve these and many other social problems, we need to change social structures; we need to rewrite the play and rebuild the theater. The sociological imagination offers a new way to look at—and a new way to solve—common troubles and dilemmas that individuals face.  THE STUDY OF SOCIETY 5 The sociological imagination does not, however, imply that individuals have no sociology and you options or bear no responsibility for their choices. Even slaves can choose to work more slowly, to ridicule their owners in private, or to commit suicide. The sociologi- Given current economic conditions, cal imagination does, however, suggest the benefits of considering the impact both of it’s likely that you know one or more persons who have lost their homes social forces and of the personal choices that we more often notice. to foreclosure. It’s possible that they used poor judgment and took on more Sociology as a Social Science mortgage debt than they could reason- ably expect to pay. But if you use the Sociology focuses on how people (and groups) interact, as well as on the rules of sociological imagination, you might behavior that structure those interactions. Its emphasis is on patterns of interaction— also question whether other forces how these patterns develop, how they are maintained, and how they change. were at play: Did they lose their homes As one of the social sciences, sociology has much in common with political sci- because they worked in construction ence, economics, psychology, and anthropology. All these fields share an interest in or in another field that has crashed? human social behavior and, to some extent, an interest in society. In addition, they Did mortgage lenders pressure them all share an emphasis on the scientific method as the best approach to knowledge. to take on unreasonably high levels of debt? Did recent changes in lending This means that they rely on empirical research—research based on systematic laws allow lenders to charge them very examination of the evidence—before reaching any conclusions and expect research- high rates of interest? The sociologi- ers to evaluate that evidence in an unbiased, objective fashion. This empirical ap- cal imagination suggests that to truly proach is what distinguishes the social sciences from journalism and other fields that understand how the world works, we comment on the human condition. Sociology differs from the other social sciences in need to analyze the broader social its particular focus. Anthropologists are primarily interested in human (and nonhu- structure as well as individual behaviors man) culture. For example, anthropologists have studied why rape is more common and characteristics. in some cultures than in others and what purposes are served by cultural celebrations like bar mitzvahs, high school graduation parties, Mardi Gras, and quinceañeras. Psychologists focus on individual behavior and thought patterns, such as why some individuals experience more anxiety or gamble more than others. Political scientists study political systems and behaviors, such as how dictatorships rise and fall, and economists study how goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed, such as why cell phones with cameras are so popular. Although sociologists, too, study culture, individual behavior, politics, and the economy, their focus is always on how these and other issues affect and are affected by social groups and social interactions. The Emergence of Sociology Sociology emerged as a field of inquiry during the political, economic, and intellectual upheavals of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Rationalism and science re- placed tradition and belief as methods of understanding the world, leading to changes in government, education, economic production, and even religion and family life. The clearest symbol of this turmoil is the French Revolution (1789), with its bloody uprising and rejection of the past. Although less dramatic, the Industrial Revolution had an even greater impact. Within a few generations, traditional rural societies were replaced by industrialized urban societies. The rapidity and scope of the change resulted in substantial social disorganization. It was as if society had changed the play without bothering to tell the actors, who were still trying to read from old scripts. Although a few people prospered mightily, millions struggled desperately to make the adjustment from rural peasantry to urban working class. Empirical research is research This turmoil provided the inspiration for much of the intellectual effort of the based on systematic, unbiased nineteenth century, such as Charles Dickens’s novels and Karl Marx’s revolutionary examination of evidence. 6 CHAPTER 1 theories. It also inspired the empirical study of society. These were the years in which scientific research was a new enterprise and nothing seemed too much to hope for. After electricity, the telegraph, and the X-ray, who was to say that re- searchers could not discover how to eliminate crime, poverty, or war? Many hoped that the tools of empirical research could help in understanding and controlling a rapidly changing society. The Founders: Comte, Spencer, Marx, Durkheim, and Weber The upheavals in nineteenth-century Europe stimulated the development of sociology as a discipline. We will look at five theorists—Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber—who are often considered the founders of sociology. © Brown Brothers August Comte (1798–1857) The first major figure in the history of sociology was the French philosopher Auguste Comte. He coined the term sociology in 1839, and many regard him as the founder of Auguste Comte, 1798–1857 this field. Comte was among the first to suggest that the scientific method could be applied to social events (Konig 1968). The philosophy of positivism, which he developed, as- serts that the social world can be studied with the same scientific accuracy and assur- ance as the natural world. Once scientists figured out the laws of social behavior, he and other positivists believed, they would be able to predict and control it. Although thoughtful people wonder whether we will ever be able to predict human behavior as accurately as we can predict the behavior of molecules, the scientific method remains central to sociology. Another of Comte’s lasting contributions was his recognition that an understand- ing of society requires a concern for both the sources of order and continuity and the sources of change. These concerns remain central to sociological research, under the labels of social structure (order) and social process (change). Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) Another pioneer in sociology was the British philosopher-scientist Herbert Spencer. Spencer argued that evolution led to the development of social, as well as natural, life. He viewed society as similar to a giant organism: Just as the heart and lungs work together to sustain the life of the organism, so the parts of society work together to maintain society. These ideas led Spencer to two basic principles that still guide the study of so- ciology. First, he concluded that each society must be understood as an adaptation to its environment. This principle of adaptation implies that to understand society, we must focus on processes of growth and change. It also implies that there is no “right” way for a society to be organized. Instead, societies will change as circum- stances change. Spencer’s second major contribution was his concern with the scientific method. © Brown Brothers More than many scholars of his day, Spencer was aware of the importance of objectiv- ity and moral neutrality in investigation. In essays on the bias of class, the bias of pa- triotism, and the bias of theology, he warned sociologists that they must suspend their Herbert Spencer, 1820–1903 own opinions and wishes when studying society (Turner & Beeghley 1981).  THE STUDY OF SOCIETY 7 Karl Marx (1818–1883) Karl Marx was born in Germany in 1818. A philosopher, economist, and social activ- ist, he received his doctorate in philosophy at the age of 23. Because of his radical views, however, he never became a professor and spent most of his adult life in exile and poverty (McLellan 2006). Marx was repulsed by the poverty and inequality that characterized the nine- teenth century. Unlike other scholars of his day, he refused to see poverty as either a natural or a God-given condition of the human species. Instead, he viewed poverty and inequality as human-made conditions fostered by private property and capital- ism. As a result, he devoted his intellectual efforts to understanding—and eliminat- ing—capitalism. Many of Marx’s ideas are of more interest to political scientists and economists than to sociologists, but he left two enduring legacies to sociology: the theories of economic determinism and the dialectic. ECONOMIC DETERMINISM Marx began his analysis of society by assuming that © Brown Brothers the most basic task of any human society is to provide food and shelter to sustain itself. Marx argued that the ways in which society does this—its modes of production— provide the foundations on which all other social and political arrangements are built. Thus, he believed that economic relationships determine (that is, cause) the particu- Karl Marx, 1818–1883 lar form that family, law, religion, and other social structures take in a given society. Scholars call this idea economic determinism. FIGURE 1.1 The Dialectic A good illustration of economic determinism is the influence of economic con- The dialectic model of change ditions on marriage choices. In traditional agricultural societies where the older suggests that change occurs through generation owns the only economic resource—land—young people often remain conflict and resolution rather than economically dependent upon their parents until well into adulthood. To survive, through evolution. they must remain in their parents’ good graces; this means, among other things, that they cannot marry without their parents’ approval. In societies where young people can earn a living without their parents’ help, however, they can marry whenever and Thesis Antithesis whomever they please. Marx would argue that this shift in mate selection practices is the result of changing economic relationships. Because Marx saw all human relations as stemming ultimately from the economic systems, he suggested that the major goal of a social scientist is to understand eco- nomic relationships: Who owns what, and how does this pattern of ownership affect human relationships? Synthesis (new Antithesis thesis) THE DIALECTIC Marx’s other major contribution to sociology was a theory of so- cial change. Many nineteenth-century scholars applied Darwin’s theories of bio- logical evolution to society; they believed that social change was the result of a natural and more or less peaceful process of adaptation. Marx, however, argued that the basis of change was conflict between opposing economic interests, not Synthesis adaptation. (and Marx’s thinking on conflict was influenced by the German philosopher Georg so on) Hegel. Hegel argued that for every idea (thesis), a counter idea (antithesis) develops to challenge it. The conflict between thesis and antithesis then produces a new idea (synthesis). The process through which thesis and antithesis lead to synthesis is called Economic determinism means that the dialectic (Figure 1.1). economic relationships provide the Marx’s contribution was to apply this model of change to economic and social foundation on which all other social systems. Within capitalism, Marx suggested, the capitalist class was the thesis and and political arrangements are built. the working class was the antithesis. He predicted that conflicts between them would Dialectic philosophy views change lead to a new synthesis. That synthesis would be a communistic economic system. as a product of contradictions and Indeed, in his role as social activist, Marx hoped to encourage conflict and ignite the conflict between the parts of society. 8 CHAPTER 1 revolution that would bring about the desired change. The workers, he declared, “have nothing to lose but their chains” (Marx & Engels 1967, 258). Although few sociologists are revolutionaries, many accept Marx’s ideas on the importance of economic relationships and economic conflicts. Much more controver- sial is Marx’s argument that the social scientist should also be a social activist, a person who not only tries to understand social relationships but also works in the courts and the streets to change those relationships. Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) Emile Durkheim’s life overlapped with that of Marx. While Marx was starving as an exile in England, however, Durkheim spent most of his career as a professor at the Sorbonne, the most elite university in France. Far from rejecting society, Dur- kheim embraced it. His research focused on understanding how societies remain stable and how stable societies foster individual happiness. Whereas Marx’s legacy is a theory that highlights social conflict and social change, Durkheim’s legacy is a theory that highlights social stability. Together they allow us to understand both order and change. © Bettmann/Corbis Durkheim’s major works are still considered essential reading in sociology. These include his studies of suicide, education, divorce, crime, and social change. Two en- during contributions are his ideas about the balance between individual goals and social rules and about social science methods. Emile Durkheim, 1858–1917 One of Durkheim’s major concerns was the balance between social regulation and personal freedom. He argued that community standards of morality, which he called the collective conscience, not only confine our behavior but also give us a sense of belonging and integration. For example, many people complain about having to dress up; they complain about having to shave their faces or their legs or having to wear a tie or pantyhose. “What’s wrong with jeans?” they want to know. At the same time, most of us feel a sense of satisfaction when we appear in public in our best clothes. We know that we will be considered attractive and successful. Although we may complain about having to meet what appear to be arbitrary standards, we often feel a sense of satisfaction in being able to meet those standards successfully. In Durkheim’s words, “institutions may impose themselves upon us, but we cling to them; they compel us, and we love them” ( 1938, 3). This beneficial regulation, however, must not rob the individual of all freedom of choice. In his classic study Suicide, Durkheim identified two types of suicide that stem from an imbalance between social regulation and personal freedom. Fatal- istic suicide occurs when society provides too little freedom and too much regu- lation: when we find our behavior so confined by social institutions that we feel trapped ( 1951, 276). One example would be the young mother with several children and a job who feels overburdened by the demands of work, household, and family. Anomic suicide, on the other hand, occurs when there is too much freedom and too little regulation: when society’s influence does not check indi- vidual passions ( 1951, 258). Durkheim believed that this kind of suicide was most likely to occur in times of rapid social change. When established ways of doing things have lost their meaning, but no clear alternatives have developed, individuals feel lost. For example, many scholars attribute high rates of alcohol abuse among contemporary Native Americans to the weakening of traditional social regulation. Durkheim was among the first to stress the importance of using reliable statistics to logically rule out incorrect theories of social life and to identify more promising theories. He strove to be an objective observer who only sought the facts. As sociology  THE STUDY OF SOCIETY 9 Some Christians baptize infants by sprinkling a few drops of holy water on their foreheads. Others baptize adults by fully immersing them in flowing water. To sociologists following in Weber’s footsteps, the fact that different Christians use different forms of baptism is less important than the meaning these practices have for them. © Ed Kashi became an established discipline, this ideal of objective observation replaced Marx’s social activism as the standard model for social science. Max Weber (1864–1920) Max Weber (vay-ber), a German economist, historian, and philosopher, provided the theoretical base for half a dozen areas of sociological inquiry. He wrote on religion, bu- reaucracy, method, and politics. In all these areas, his work is still valuable and insight- ful. Three of Weber’s more general contributions were an emphasis on the subjective meanings of social actions, on social as opposed to economic causes, and on the need for objectivity in studying social issues. Weber believed that knowing patterns of be- havior was less important than understanding the meanings people attach to behavior. For example, Weber would argue that it is relatively meaningless to compile statistics such as how many marriages end in divorce now compared with 100 years ago. More critical, he would argue, is understanding how the meaning of divorce has changed over that time period. Weber’s emphasis on the subjective meanings of human actions has © Brown Brothers been the foundation of scholarly work on topics as varied as religion and immigration. Weber trained as an economist, and much of his work concerned the interplay of things economic and things social. He rejected Marx’s idea that economic factors determine all social relationships. In a classic study, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism ([1904–05] 1958), Weber tried to show how social and religious values Max Weber, 1864–1920 can affect economic systems. This argument is explained more fully in Chapter 12, but its major thesis is that the religious values of early Protestantism (self-discipline, thrift, and individualism) were the foundation for capitalism. One of Weber’s more influential ideas was that sociology must be value-free. Weber argued that sociology should be concerned with establishing what is and not what ought to be. Weber’s dictum is at the heart of the standard scientific approach that is generally advocated by modern sociologists. Thus, although one may study poverty or racial inequality because of a sense of moral outrage, such feelings must Value-free sociology concerns itself be set aside to achieve an objective grasp of the facts. This position of neutrality is di- with establishing what is, not what rectly contradictory to the Marxist emphasis on social activism, and sociologists who ought to be. 10 CHAPTER 1 adhere to Marxist principles generally reject the notion of value-free sociology. Most modern sociologists, however, try to be value-free in their scholarly work. Sociology in the United States Although U.S. sociology has the same intellectual roots as European sociology, it has some distinctive characteristics. Most importantly, European sociologists are more likely to focus on constructing broad, philosophical theories of how society works, whereas U.S. sociologists more often focus on collecting systematic, empirical data. As this suggests, U.S. sociologists more often stress identifying, understanding, and solving social problems. One reason that U.S. sociology developed differently from European sociology is that our social problems differed. Between the 1860s and the 1920s, slavery, the Civil © Bettmann Archive/Corbis War, and high immigration rates made racism and ethnic discrimination much more salient issues in the United States than in Europe. One of the first sociologists to study these issues was W. E. B. DuBois, who received his doctorate in 1895 from Harvard University, devoted his career to developing empirical data about African Americans, and used those data to combat racism. W. E. B. DuBois, 1868–1963 The work of Jane Addams, another early sociologist and recipient of the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize, also illustrates the emphasis on social problems and social reform within early U.S. sociology. Addams was the founder of Hull House, a famous center for social services and community activism located in a Chicago slum. She and her colleagues used quantitative social science data to lobby successfully for legislation mandating safer working conditions, a better juvenile justice system, improved public sanitation, and services for the poor (Linn & Scott 2000). Today, many U.S. sociologists continue to focus on how race, class, and gender— both individually and jointly—affect all aspects of social life. More broadly, an interest in helping to solve crucial social problems is central to the work of most U.S. sociolo- gists. They hope to change the world for the better by systematically studying social life and making their research findings available to others. In addition, some sociolo- gists work in social movements or for social change organizations to try more directly to alleviate social problems. Finally, a small but growing number of U.S. sociologists take their research directly to the public and policy makers: appearing on Oprah and © Bettmann Archive/Corbis The Today Show, publishing in the New York Times and on Slate.com, and testifying in court and before Congress regarding the nature of social issues and how best to address them. As sociological research came of age, sociology also became a part of mainstream higher education. Almost all colleges and universities now offer an undergraduate de- gree in sociology. Most universities offer a master’s degree in the subject, and approxi- Jane Addams, 1860–1935 mately 125 offer doctoral degree programs. Graduate sociology programs are more popular in the United States than in any other country in the world. Current Perspectives in Sociology As this brief review of the history of sociology has demonstrated, there are many ways of approaching the study of human social interaction. The ideas of Marx, Weber, Durkheim, and others have given rise to dozens of theories about human behavior. In this section, we summarize the three dominant theoretical perspectives in sociology today: struc- tural-functional theory, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction theory. The Concept Summary on Major Theoretical Perspectives describes these three perspectives.  THE STUDY OF SOCIETY 11 concept summary Major Theoretical Perspectives Structural Symbolic Conflict Theory Functionalism Interactionism Nature of Interrelated social Competing interests, Interacting individuals society structures that fit each seeking to and groups together to form an secure its own ends integrated whole Basis of Consensus and shared Constraint, power, Shared symbolic interaction values and competition meanings Major What are social Who benefits? How How do social questions structures? Do they are these benefits structures relate to contribute to social maintained? individual subjective stability? experiences? Level of Social structure Social structure Interpersonal analysis interaction Structural-Functional Theory Structural-functional theory (or structural functionalism) addresses the question of how social organization is maintained. This theoretical perspective has its roots in natural science and in the analogy between society and an organism. In the same way that a biologist may try to identify the parts (structures) of a cell and determine how they work (function), a sociologist who uses structural-functional theory will try to identify the structures of society and how they function. The Assumptions behind Structural-Functional Theory All sociologists are interested in researching how societies work. Those who use the Structural-functional theory structural-functionalist perspective, however, bring three major assumptions to their addresses the question of social research: organization (structure) and how it is maintained (function). 1. Stability. The chief evaluative criterion for any social pattern is whether it contrib- Functions are consequences of utes to the maintenance of society. social structures that have positive 2. Harmony. Like the parts of an organism, the parts of society typically work to- effects on the stability of society. gether harmoniously for the good of the whole. 3. Evolution. Change occurs through evolution—the mostly peaceful adaptation of Dysfunctions are consequences of social structures to new needs and demands and the elimination of unnecessary or social structures that have negative outmoded structures. effects on the stability of society. Manifest functions or dysfunctions Using Structural-Functional Theory are consequences of social structures Sociologists who use structural-functional theory focus on studying the nature and that are intended or recognized. consequences of social structures. Structural-functional sociologists refer to the Latent functions or dysfunctions positive (beneficial) consequences of social structures as functions and to the nega- are consequences of social tive (harmful) consequences of social structures as dysfunctions. They also draw a structures that are neither intended distinction between manifest (recognized and intended) consequences and latent nor recognized. 12 CHAPTER 1 Team sports offer a graphic metaphor of social structure. Each person on the team occupies a different status, and each plays a relatively unique role. Structural functionalists focus on the benefits that these statuses and roles and the institution of sports itself provide to society. © Bettmann Archive/Corbis (unrecognized and unintended) consequences. Because these concepts are very use- ful, they are also used by other sociologists who do not share the underlying assump- tions behind structural-functional theory. Consider, for example, the concept of the “battered-woman syndrome.” This is a medical diagnosis that suggests a woman who is repeatedly battered will become men- tally ill. This diagnosis has been used in courts as a legal defense by battered women who assault or kill their abusers, allowing them to plead not guilty by reason of tem- porary insanity. What are the consequences of this new social structure (that is, this new diag- nosis)? Its manifest function (intended positive outcome) is, of course, to give legal recognition to the devastating psychological consequences of domestic violence. The manifest dysfunction is that some women might use the diagnosis as an excuse for a malicious, premeditated assault. A latent dysfunction is that women who are acquitted of legal charges on the basis of a temporary insanity plea could lose custody of their children, given the stigma attached to mental illness. Another latent outcome may be the perpetuation of the view that women are irra- tional—that they stay with men who beat them because they are incapable of logically thinking through their options, and that they only leave when they “snap” mentally. But is this a function or a dysfunction? Remember that structural-functional analysis typically starts from the assumption that any social action or structure that contrib- utes to the maintenance of society and preserves the status quo is functional and that any action or structure that challenges the status quo is dysfunctional. Because per- petuating the view that women are irrational would reinforce existing gender roles, this would be judged a latent function, not a dysfunction (Table 1.1). As this example suggests, a social pattern that contributes to the maintenance of society may benefit some groups more than others. A pattern may be functional—that is, it may help maintain the status quo—without being either desirable or equitable. In general, however, structural-functionalists emphasize how social structures work together to create a society that runs smoothly.  THE STUDY OF SOCIETY 13 TABLE 1.1 A Structural-Functional Analysis of the Battered-Woman Syndrome sociology and you Structural-functional analysis examines the intended and unintended consequences of social structures. It also assesses whether the consequences are positive (functional) or negative Whether or not you attended a senior (dysfunctional). There is no moral dimension to the assessment that an outcome is positive; prom in high school, you probably it merely means that the outcome contributes to the stability of society. recognize some of the functions they serve. If you attended, you may have Manifest Latent felt that your prom memories would help preserve your bonds with your Function Gives legal recognition to the Encourages the view that women high school friends. You also may have psychological consequences of are irrational. felt that the prom was a rite of passage, domestic violence. signaling that you were becoming an adult. Similarly, your parents’ deci- Dysfunction May serve as an excuse for Makes it more difficult for victims sions regarding whether or not to let violence against abusers. of domestic violence to retain you attend unsupervised after-prom custody of children. events functioned as a signal of their faith—or lack of faith—in your ability to behave responsibly. If you did not attend, on the other hand, you might Conflict Theory have concluded that proms serve primarily to highlight who is most Whereas structural-functional theory sees the world in terms of consensus and stabil- popular and who can afford the most ity, conflict theory sees the world in terms of conflict and change. Conflict theorists expensive clothes and cars. contend that a full understanding of society requires a critical examination of compe- tition and conflict in society, especially of the processes by which some people become winners and others become losers. As a result, conflict theory addresses the points of stress and conflict in society and the ways in which they contribute to social change. Assumptions behind Conflict Theory Conflict theory is derived from Marx’s ideas. The following are three primary assump- tions of modern conflict theory: 1. Competition. Competition over scarce resources (money, leisure, sexual partners, and so on) is at the heart of all social relationships. Competition rather than con- sensus is characteristic of human relationships. 2. Structural inequality. Inequalities in power and reward are built into all social structures. Individuals and groups that benefit from any particular structure strive to see it maintained. 3. Social change. Change occurs as a result of conflict between competing interests rather than through adaptation. It is often abrupt and revolutionary rather than evolutionary and is often helpful rather than harmful. Using Conflict Theory Like structural functionalists, conflict theorists are interested in social structures. However, conflict theorists focus on studying which groups benefit most from exist- ing social structures and how these groups maintain their privileged positions. A conflict analysis of domestic violence, for example, would begin by noting that women are battered far more often and far more severely than are men, and that the popular term domestic violence hides this reality. Conflict theorists’ answer to the question “Who benefits?” is that battering helps men to retain their dominance over women. These theorists go on to ask how this situation developed and how it is main- tained. Their answers would focus on issues such as how some religions traditionally Conflict theory addresses the points have taught women to submit to their husbands’ wishes and to accept violence within of stress and conflict in society and marriage, how until recently the law did not regard woman battering as a crime, and the ways in which they contribute to how some police officers still consider battering merely an unimportant family matter. social change. 14 CHAPTER 1 Symbolic Interaction Theory Both structural-functional and conflict theories focus on social structures and the re- lationships among them. But what does this tell us about the relationship between individuals and social structures? Sociologists who focus on the ways that individuals relate to and are affected by social structures often use symbolic interaction theory. Symbolic interaction theory (or symbolic interactionism) addresses the subjective meanings of human acts and the processes through which we come to develop and share these subjective meanings. The theory is so named because it studies the sym- bolic (or subjective) meaning of human interaction. Symbolic interaction theory is the newest of the three theoretical traditions described in this chapter. Assumptions behind Symbolic Interaction Theory © Jeff Greenberg/ PhotoEdit. When symbolic interactionists study human behavior, they begin with three major premises (Charon 2006): 1. Meanings are important. Any behavior, gesture, or word can have multiple inter- pretations (can symbolize many things). To understand human behavior, we must Conflict theorists point out that learn what it means to the participants. unions exist because labor and 2. Meanings grow out of relationships. When relationships change, so do meanings. management have different, 3. Meanings are negotiated between people. We do not accept others’ meanings competing interests. Workers want uncritically. Each of us plays an active role in negotiating the meanings that things better pay and secure jobs; have for us and others. management wants to keep costs down. Using Symbolic Interaction Theory These three premises direct symbolic interactionists to study how relationships and social structures shape individuals. For example, symbolic interactionists interested in violence against women have researched how boys learn to consider aggression a nat- ural part of being male when they are cheered for hitting others during hockey games, when dads tell them to fight anyone who makes fun of them, when older brothers physically push them around, and the like. Symbolic interactionists also have explored how teachers unintentionally reinforce the idea that girls are inferior by allowing boys to take over schoolyards and to make fun of girls in the classroom. All these experi- ences, some researchers believe, set the stage for later violence against women. Symbolic interactionists are also interested in how individuals actively modify and ne- gotiate relationships. Why do two children raised in the same family turn out differently? In part, because each child experiences subtly different relationships and situations even within the same family, and each may derive different meanings from those experiences. Most generally, symbolic interactionists often focus on how relationships shape individuals, from childhood through old age. The strength of symbolic interactionism is that it focuses attention on how larger social structures affect our everyday lives, sense of self, and interpersonal relationships and encounters. Interchangeable Lenses Neither symbolic interaction theory, conflict theory, nor structural-functional theory Symbolic interaction theory addresses the subjective meanings is complete in itself. Together, however, they provide a valuable set of tools for under- of human acts and the processes standing the relationship between the individual and society. These three theories can through which people come to be regarded as interchangeable lenses through which society may be viewed. Just as a develop and communicate shared telephoto lens is not always superior to a wide-angle lens, one sociological theory will meanings. not always be superior to another.  THE STUDY OF SOCIETY 15 Conflict theorists typically view prostitution as an outgrowth of poverty and sexism; structural functionalists consider it functional for society. Symbolic interactionists ask questions such as how do prostitutes (such as these young women at a legal brothel in Nevada) maintain a positive identity in a stigmatized occupation? © John Van Hasselt/Corbis Occasionally, the same subject can be viewed through any of these perspectives. We will generally get better pictures, however, by selecting the theoretical perspective that is best suited to the particular subject. In general, structural functionalism and conflict theory are well suited to the study of social structures, or macrosociology. Symbolic interactionism is well suited to the study of the relationship between in- dividual meanings and social structures, or microsociology. The following sections provide three “snapshots” of female prostitution taken through the theoretical lens of structural-functional, conflict, and symbolic interaction theory. Structural-Functional Theory: The Functions of Prostitution Structural-functionalists who study female prostitution often begin by examining its social structure and identifying patterns of relationships among pimps, prostitutes, and customers. Then they focus on identifying the consequences of this social struc- ture. In a still-famous article published in 1961, Kingsley Davis listed the following functions of prostitution: It provides a sexual outlet for poor and disabled men who cannot compete in the marriage market. It provides a sexual outlet for businessmen, sailors, and others when away from home. It provides a sexual outlet for those with unusual sexual tastes. Provision of these services is the manifest or intended function of prostitution. Davis goes on to note that, by providing these services, prostitution has the latent function of protecting the institution of marriage from malcontents who, for one rea- son or another, do not receive adequate sexual service through marriage. Prostitution is the safety valve that makes it possible to restrict respectable sexual relationships (and hence childbearing and child rearing) to marital relationships, while still allowing for the variability of human sexual appetites. Macrosociology focuses on social structures and organizations and the Conflict Theory: Unequal Resources and Becoming a Prostitute relationships between them. Conflict theorists analyze prostitution as part of the larger problem of unequal access Microsociology focuses on to resources. Women, they argue, have not had equal access to economic opportunity. interactions among individuals. 16 CHAPTER 1 In some societies, they cannot legally own property; in others, they suffer substantial discrimination in opportunities to work and earn. Because of this inability to sup- port themselves, women have had to rely on economic support from men. They get this support by exchanging the one scarce resource they have to offer: sexual avail- ability. To a conflict theorist, it makes little difference whether a woman barters her sexual availability through prostitution or through marriage. The underlying cause is the same. Conflict theory is particularly useful for explaining why so many runaway boys and girls work as prostitutes. These young people have few realistic opportunities to support themselves by regular jobs: Many are not old enough to work legally and, in any case, would be unable to support themselves adequately on the minimum wage. Their young bodies are their most marketable resource. Symbolic Interaction Theory: How Prostitutes Maintain Their Self-Concepts Symbolic interactionists who examine prostitution take an entirely different per- spective. They want to know, for example, how prostitutes learn the trade and how they manage their self-concept so that they continue to think positively of them- selves despite their work. For one such study, sociologist Wendy Chapkis (1997) interviewed more than fifty women “sex workers”—prostitutes, call girls, actresses in “adult” films, and others. Many of the women she interviewed felt proud of their work. They felt that the services they offered were not substantially different from those offered by day-care workers or psychotherapists, who are also expected to provide services while acting as if they like and care for their clients. Chapkis found that as long as prostitutes are able to keep a healthy distance between their emo- tions and their work, they can maintain their self-esteem and mental health. As one woman described it: “Sex work hasn’t all been a bed of roses and I’ve learned some painful things. But I also feel strong in what I do. I’m good at it and I know how to maintain my emotional distance. Just like if you are a fire fighter or a brain surgeon or a psychiatrist, you have to deal with some heavy stuff and that means divorcing yourself from your feelings on a certain level. You just have to be able to do that to do your job” (Chapkis, 79). As these examples illustrate, many topics can be studied fruitfully with any of the three theoretical perspectives. Each sociologist must decide which perspective will work best for a given research project. Researching Society The things that sociologists study—for example, drug use, marital happiness, and pov- erty—have probably interested you for a long time. You may have developed your own opinions about why some people have good marriages and some have bad marriages or why some people break the law and others do not. Sociology is an academic disci- pline that critically examines commonsense explanations of human social behavior. It aims to improve our understanding of the social world by observing and measuring what actually happens. Obviously sociological research is not the only means of ac- quiring knowledge. Some people learn what they need to know from the Bible or the Koran or the Book of Mormon. Others get their answers from their parents, televi- sion, or the Internet. When you ask such people, “But how do you know that that is true?” their answer is simple: “My mother told me,” “I heard it on The Daily Show,” or “I read it on Wikipedia.”  THE STUDY OF SOCIETY 17 Sociology differs from these other ways of knowing in that it requires empirical evi- dence that can be confirmed by the normal human senses. We must be able to see, hear, smell, or feel it. Before social scientists would agree that they “knew” religious intermar- riage increased the likelihood of divorce, for example, they would want to see evidence. All research has two major goals: accurate description and accurate explanation. In sociology, we first seek accurate descriptions of human interactions (How many people marry and whom do they marry? Which people are mostly likely to abuse their children or to flunk out of school?). Then we try to explain those patterns (Why do people marry, abuse their children, or flunk out?). The Research Process At each stage of the research process, scholars use certain conventional procedures to ensure that their findings will be accepted as scientific knowledge. The procedures used in sociological research are covered in depth in classes on research methods, sta- tistics, and theory construction. At this point, we merely want to introduce a few ideas that you must understand if you are to be an educated consumer of research results. We look at the five steps of the general research process, and in doing so review three concepts central to research: variables, operational definitions, and sampling. Step One: Stating the Problem The first step in the research process is carefully stating the issue to be investigated. We may select a topic because of a personal experience or out of commonsense ob- servation. For example, we may have observed that African Americans appear more likely to experience unemployment and poverty than do white Americans. Alterna- tively, we might begin with a theory that predicts, for instance, that African Americans will have higher unemployment and poverty rates than white Americans because they experienced discrimination in schools and in workplaces. In either case, we begin by reviewing the research of other scholars to help us specify exactly what it is that we want to know. If a good deal of research has already been conducted on the issue and good theoretical explanations have been advanced for some of the patterns, then a problem may be stated in the form of a hypothesis—a statement about relationships that we expect to observe if our theory is correct. A hypothesis must be testable; that is, there must be some way in which data can help weed out a wrong conclusion and identify a correct one. For example, the belief that whites deserve better jobs than African Americans cannot be tested, but the hypothesis that whites receive better job offers than African Americans can be tested. Step Two: Setting the Stage Before we can begin to gather data, we first have to set the stage by selecting variables, defining our terms, and deciding exactly which people (or objects) we will study. Understanding Variables A hypothesis is a statement about To narrow the scope of a problem to manageable size, researchers focus on variables relationships that we expect to find rather than on people. Variables are measured characteristics that vary from one if our theory is correct. individual, situation, or group to the next (Babbie 2010). If we wish to analyze differ- Variables are measured ences in rates of African American/white unemployment, we need information on characteristics that vary from one two variables: race and unemployment. The individuals included in our study would individual or group to the next. 18 CHAPTER 1 be complex and interesting human beings, but for our purposes, we would be inter- ested only in these two aspects of each person’s life. When we hypothesize a cause-and-effect relationship between two variables, the cause is called the independent variable, and the effect is called the dependent vari- able. In our example, race is the independent variable, and unemployment is the de- pendent variable; that is, we hypothesize that unemployment depends on one’s race. Defining Variables In order to describe a pattern or test a hypothesis, each variable must be precisely de- fined. Before we can describe racial differences in unemployment rates, for instance, we need to be able to decide whether an individual is unemployed. The process of deciding exactly how to measure a given variable is called operationalizing, and the exact defini- tion we use to operationalize a variable is its operational definition. Reaching general agreement about these definitions may pose a problem. For instance, the U.S. govern- ment labels people as unemployed if they are actively seeking work but cannot find it. This definition ignores all the people who became so discouraged in their search for work that they simply gave up. Obviously, including discouraged workers in our definition of the unemployed might lead to a different description of patterns of unemployment. Sampling It would be time consuming, expensive, and probably impossible to get information on race and employment status for all adults. It is also unnecessary. The process of sampling—taking a systematic selection of representative cases from a larger popula- tion—allows us to get accurate empirical data at a fraction of the cost that examining The independent variable is all possible cases would involve. the cause in cause-and-effect Sampling involves two processes: (1) obtaining a list of the population you want relationships. to study and (2) selecting a representative subset or sample from the list. The best The dependent variable is the effect samples are random samples. In a random sample, cases are chosen through a ran- in cause-and-effect relationships. It dom procedure, such as tossing a coin, ensuring that every individual within a given is dependent on the actions of the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample. independent variable. Once we have a list of the population, randomly selecting a sample is fairly easy. Operationalizing refers to the But getting such a list can be difficult or even impossible. A central principle of sam- process of deciding exactly how to pling is that a sample is only representative of the list from which it is drawn. If we measure a given variable. draw a list of people from the telephone directory, then our sample can only be said to describe households listed in the directory; it will omit those with unlisted numbers, An operational definition describes those with no telephones, those who use only cell phones, and those who have moved the exact procedure by which a variable is measured. since the directory was issued. The best surveys begin with a list of all the households, individuals, or telephone numbers in a target region or group. Sampling is the process of systematically selecting representative cases from the larger Step Three: Gathering Data population. There are many ways of gathering sociological data, including running experiments, Random samples are samples conducting surveys, and observing groups in action. Because this is a complex subject, chosen through a random we explore it in more detail later in this chapter. procedure, so that each individual in a given population has an equal chance of being selected. Step Four: Finding Patterns Correlation exists when there is The fourth step in the research process is to look for patterns in the data. If we study un- an empirical relationship between employment, for example, we will find that African Americans are twice as likely as white two variables (for example, income Americans to be unemployed (U.S. Bureau of the Census 2009a). This finding is a correla- increases when education increases). tion: an empirical relationship between two variables—in this case, race and employment.  THE STUDY OF SOCIETY 19 Step Five: Generating Theories After a pattern is found, the next step in the research process is to explain it. As we will discuss in the next section, finding a correlation between two variables does not necessarily mean that one variable causes the other. For example, even though there is a correlation between race and unemployment, many whites are unemployed and many African Americans are not. Nevertheless, if we have good empirical evidence that being black increases the probability of unemployment, the next task is to explain why that should be so. Explanations are usually embodied in a theory, an interrelated set of assumptions that explains observed patterns. Theory always goes beyond the facts at hand; it includes untested assumptions that explain the empirical evidence. In our unemployment example, we might theorize that the reason African Americans face more unemployment than whites is because many of today’s African American adults grew up in a time when the racial difference in educational opportunity was much greater than it is now. This simple explanation goes beyond the facts at hand to include some as- sumptions about how education is related to race and unemployment. Although theory rests on an empirical generalization, the theory itself is not empirical; it is, well, theoretical. It should be noted that many different theories can be compatible with a given empirical generalization. We have proposed that educational differences explain the correlation between race and unemployment. Others might argue that the correlation arises because of discrimination. Because there are often many plausible explanations for any correlation, theory development is not the end of the research process. We must go on to test the theory by gathering new data. The scientific process can be viewed as a wheel that continuously moves us from theory to data and back again (Figure 1.2). Two examples illustrate how theory leads to the need for new data and how data can lead to the development of new theory. As we have noted, data show that unemployment rates are higher among African Americans than among white Americans. One theoretical explanation for this pat- tern links higher African American unemployment to educational deficits. From this theory, we can deduce the hypothesis that African Americans and whites of equal education will experience equal unemployment. To test this hypothesis, we need more data, this time about education and its relationship to race and unemployment. A study by Lori Reid (2002) tests this hypothesis for black women. Reid asked whether educational deficits explained why African American women are more likely to lose their Induction: FIGURE 1.2 The Wheel of Science Devising theory Deduction: The process of science can be viewed to account for Devising hypotheses as a continuously turning wheel that empirically observed Theory to test theory patterns moves us from data to theory and back again. Generalization Hypothesis A theory is an interrelated set of Data assumptions that explains observed patterns. 20 CHAPTER 1 jobs than are whites. She found that education does play a small role. However, other factors—including black women’s segregation in vulnerable occupations and residence in areas where unemployment was rising—were far better predictors of unemployment. Reid’s findings could be the basis for revised theories. These new theories would again be subject to empirical testing, and the process would begin anew. In the lan- guage of science, the process of moving from data to theory is called induction, and the process of moving from theory to data is called deduction. Figure 1.2 illustrates these two processes. Research Methods The theories and findings reported in this book stem from a variety of research meth- ods. This section reviews the most common methods (summarized in the Concept Summary on Comparing Research Methods) and illustrates their advantages and dis- advantages, using research on alcohol use as an example. concept summary Comparing Research Methods Method Advantages Disadvantages Experiments Excellent for studying cause- Based on small, nonrepre- and-effect relationships. sentative samples examined under highly artificial circum- stances. Many subjects cannot be ethically studied through experiments. Surveys Very versatile—can study any- Subject to social-desirability bias. thing that we can ask about; Better for studying individuals can be done with large, random than for studying social contexts, samples so that results rep- processes, or meaning. resent many people; good for studying incidence, trends, and differentials. Participant Places behaviors and attitudes Limited to small, nonrepresenta- Observation in context. Shows what people tive samples. Relies on interpre- do rather than what they say tation by single researcher. they do. Content Inexpensive. Useful for historical Only useful with recorded com- Analysis research. Researcher does not munications. Relies on research- affect data. ers’ interpretations, but m