New York City College of Technology SOC1101 D580 – Elements of Sociology Fall 2017 Concept Review for Exam II Chapter 5: Building Identity: Socialization Identity – consists of our sense of self, personality traits, gender, and group membership (race, ethnicity, religion). Nature vs Nurture debate - to what degree are we products of our genes or of our environment. • Early 20th century: more stress on nature. Our genes determine who we are. • Post-World War II: more emphasis on nurture. ◦ Today: advances in genetics have re-raised issue of nature (genetic predisposition to obesity or alcoholism). • Sociology stresses the nurture side of the nature/nurture debate. Socialization – the process through which one learns how to act according to the rules and expectations of a particular society. • Anticipatory socialization – occurs when individuals are preparing for statuses they will occupy in later life. It can occur at any age but it is the primary task of childhood. Self – the unique set of traits, behaviors, and attitudes that distinguish one person from the next. Reflexive behavior – behavior in which the audience for one's behavior is oneself. An essential self-regulating activity. The internalization of society. Looking glass self (Charles Horton Cooley) - The sense of who we are that we acquire in early childhood based upon the reactions of others. Negative reactions can lead to a lasting negative self image. Role taking – the ability to use other people's perspectives and expectations in forming one's own behavior. • Play stage – occurs when children are beginning to hone language skills. Involves taking up one “other” at a time (ex. playing dress up). • Game stage – involves being able to take on the group's perspective and being able to attend to multiple perspectives at once. (ex. Being on a team) • Generalized Other (George Herbert Mead) – taking the perspective of society or of subcultures within it. Resocialization – the process of learning new values, norms, and expectations when leaving an old role and entering a new one. Total institutions – places where individuals are cut off from the wider society to undergo forced or intense resocialization. (ex. Military, prison, mental hospital) Socialization and social class (Annette Lareau) • Lareau found black and white middle class parents are more likely than black and white working class parents to foster their children's talents through organized leisure activities and experiences that require logical reasoning. Socialization: Race and Ethnicity (Michael Thornton) • The socialization process for minority children is more complex than for dominant groups. • They must be socialized to function in the dominant culture as well as in their own culture. • They must be socialized to be part of dominant society (self confidence, self esteem, defend against insults and barriers). • They must be socialized to be part of a particular subculture (history, cultural heritage, racial pride). • They must be socialized to be a member of a minority in society (significance of race / barriers). • Minority parents may feel obligated to teach their children how to deal with racism or discrimination. Chapter 9: Organizations, Institutions and Globalization social structure – framework of society – social institutions, organizations, groups, statuses, and roles, cultural beliefs and institutionalized norms – that adds order and predictability to our private lives. social dilemma – potential for society's long-term ruin because of individuals' tendency to pursue their own short-term self interests. • Free-rider problem – tendency for people to refrain from contributing to the common good when a resource is available without any personal cost or contribution. • Tragedy of the commons – situation in which people acting individually and in their own self-interest use up commonly available (but limited) resources, creating disaster for the entire community. bureaucracy – large hierarchical organization governed by formal rules and regulations and having clearly specified work tasks. Foundational thinker for the study of bureaucratic organizations: Max Weber. Characteristics of bureaucracy • Shaped like a pyramid with few positions at the top and many at the bottom. • Hierarchy of authority: people at lower levels of the organization report to those above them and they in turn report to others further up in the organization. • Power resides at the top of the organization. • Division of labor: each position has a job description and a specification of tasks. • Impersonality – bureaucrats follow procedure and apply the same rules to everyone, Hierarchical Make-Up of Organizations: • The Upper Echelons – people at the top of large organizations have come the furthest within the bureaucracy, are the fewest in number, and get the most out of their position. The upper echelons still tend to be homogenous in racial and gender terms. • The Middle Ground – the mid-level of large organization, the morale of this strata is often maintained by the hope (and often it is only a hope) that they may ascend to the upper echelons. • The Lower Echelons – the lowest level of the bureaucracy, those who work at the bottom of the organization hold the least power and have the least control over their work. Jobs at this level are also subject to deskilling, automation, or offshoring. ◦ de-skilling – subdivision of low-level jobs into small, highly specific tasks requiring less skilled employees (who can then be paid less for the work they perform). McDonaldization (of society) – Sociologist George Ritzer draws upon Max Weber's analysis of bureaucracy to argue that society is undergoing a particular kind of bureaucratization called McDonaldization. Here the characteristics and principles of the fast food restaurant come to dominate other areas of economic and social life. Those organizations that are best able to fulfill the various aspects of bureaucratic logic (see below) will be the most successful, and their business model will be copied by others. • efficiency – Example: McDonald's processes orders very quickly so that consumers can spend little time ingesting food. • predictability – Example: for consumers McDonald's offers the reassurance of a predictable eating experience (from menu, to ordering, to seating, to clearing your own table). • calculability – Example: McDonald's is able to calculate both the quantities of food that are going to be sold on any given day as well as the rate of sales during business hours. This allows them to adjust numbers of workers accordingly. • control of humans by nonhuman technologies – Example: the fry cooker is designed to de-skill the act of cooking fries, with the machine indicating when cooking has finished. • irrationality of rationality – while all of the above may make for a successful business organization, the outcome is a more homogenous, less interesting eating experience. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank – international financial institutions set up by (and headquartered in) Washington. These institutions were given the task of managing the Third World debt crisis in the 1980s. They imposed policies on indebted countries that used the debt crisis to dismantle protected economies and integrate countries into an expanding global free market. • Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) – Conditionalities that came attached to loans from the IMF and the World Bank. In exchange for money countries had to open their economies to goods and investment coming in from the global market. ◦ SAPs left countries economically weakened and with higher levels of debt. They then had to return to the IMF or World Bank for new loans and go through a new round of structural adjustment. Chapter 10 Social Class Stratification System • Social class – a group of people who share a similar economic position in society based upon wealth and income. • Social mobility – social class systems allow for mobility (up or down) between classes. Social mobility legitimates existing economic inequality. ◦ Social mobility has declined in the United States in recent decades as economic inequality had increased. Declining social mobility has made economic inequality a contested political issue. Sociological Perspectives on Social Stratification: 1. Structural Functionalism – Inequality is inevitable. Inequality must exist for societies to function smoothly. • Key question: How does society ensure that the most qualified individuals will fill the most important jobs? According to structural functionalism it achieves this through a system of rewards. Important jobs are more highly rewarded – better pay, greater prestige, more privileges. For example, doctors. Long difficult training. High cost of education, but handsome payoff. ◦ Questions that Structural Functionalism cannot explain: ◦ Pay scales of actual occupations do not match the explanation of the most important positions being rewarded the most. Celebrities may make tens of millions of dollars a year while the President of the United States is paid $400,000. ◦ Many people have the talent to become doctors but they lack access to training. ◦ Why are some people – women and racial and ethnic minorities – paid less for, or excluded entirely from, certain jobs? ◦ Structural functionalists say that stratification serves the needs of society. But whose needs are met? 2. Conflict Perspective - Inequality is neither necessary nor a source of social order. Social inequality produces conflict. • Social resources are unequally distributed. Those at the top can control these resources because they write the rules. • Highlights the interconnected roles between economic and political institutions. Conflict Perspective: Marxian Class Model (Karl Marx) • Marx argued that there are two key classes whose presence defines a capitalist society ◦ Bourgeoisie (capitalist) – ownership class. ◦ Proletariat (blue collar industrial workers) – sell their capacity to labor to the capitalist in return for an hourly wage. ▪ Other classes are also present but they do not give capitalism it's particular dynamic. • Petite bourgeoisie - small business owner (mom & pop store). • Means of production – land commercial enterprises, factories and wealth that form the basis for wealth in a capitalist society. For example the bourgeoisie is defined by its ownership of the means of production. socioeconomic status (Max Weber) • Weber builds on Marx's analysis of class and adds two additional considerations: ◦ Prestige – respect and honor given to some people in society. ◦ Power – ability to affect decisions in ways that benefit a person or protect his or her interests. • Class + prestige + power = socioeconomic status. There are four social classes in the United States. 1. The Upper-Class 5% of the population) • Few people acknowledge being in this class (most Americans identify themselves as being in the middle class). Families headed by high-level executives, highly compensated doctors, lawyers, scientists, celebrities, athletes, etc. • Education system plays an important role in perpetuating the U.S. class structure. ◦ For example elite schools such as Princeton University set aside spots for “legacy” students whose parents went to Princeton and who continue to give money to the school. 2. The Middle-Class (45% of the population) • The Middle Class has been important in defining U.S. culture. Often other classes are measured against the values and norms of the middle class. • Middle-class worries: Job security, taxes, unemployment, cost of living, health care. • Insecurity: the Middle Class is the only class that cannot easily transmit its class location from one generation to the next. 3. The Working-Class (35% of the population) • More susceptible to downturns in the economy and job loss through downsizing. Lower levels of education. Hourly wage jobs. May begin to define their jobs as irrelevant to their core identity (For example, viewing their job as a sacrifice for the family). 4. The Poor (15% of the population) • People whose income falls below a set minimum. May be employed or unemployed. Poverty pervades all aspects of life among the poor. Uncertainty of shelter, food, and employment. • Most visible consequence of poverty is homelessness. Between 2.5 million and 3.5 million people experience some type of homelessness over the course of a year. The Near Poor - individuals or families whose income is between 100% and 125% of the poverty line. Absolute poverty - Inability to afford the minimal requirements for sustaining a reasonably healthy existence. Relative poverty - Individual's economic position compared to the living standards of the majority in the society. Calculating the Poverty Line • Government calculation of the amount of yearly income a family requires to meet its basic needs. Those below the poverty line are considered officially poor. • Calculation based upon the Thrifty Food Plan (Dept. of Agriculture): Estimate: food costs one third of an average family's budget. Poverty line: cost of a subsistence diet times three. • There are multiple poverty lines calculated based upon family size and composition (number of adults, children, or seniors). • The poverty threshold is recalculated annually to account for inflation. ▪ 2017: The official poverty line for a family of four (two adults, two children): $ 24,339 Poverty rate – percentage of population whose income falls below the poverty line. Deep poverty – individuals or families whose income is half the official poverty line or less. About 40% of the poor live in deep poverty. U.S. poverty : by race/ethnicity • National rate: 14.5% (2013) ◦ Non-Hispanic Whites: 9.6% African Americans: 27.2% ◦ Asian Americans: 10.5% Latino/as: 23.5% U.S. poverty: Geographic distribution (2013) • National rate: 14.5% (2013) • South: 16.1% Midwest: 12.9% • West: 14.7% Northeast: 12.7% U.S. poverty: Family Structure / Child poverty • Family structure: ◦ Families headed by single mother: 30.6% ◦ Families headed by single father: 15.9% ◦ Married couples: 5.8% • Child poverty: 20% of children under 18 live in poor households. Four explanations about why poverty persists 1. A growing income gap: • From 1979-2006 most gains have gone to top income earners . • Advantageous tax laws allow top earners to keep more of their income. • Wealth (income + assets) – wealth is distributed more unequally than income. 2. Herbert Gans – The Social Benefits of Poverty • Gans starts with a structural-functionalist assumption: social conditions exist and persist only if they are functional to society in some way. If that is true, then for whom is poverty functional? • Gans identifies several ways that poverty benefits the non-poor: 1. Poverty provides a ready pool of low wage laborers available to do society's “dirty work.” 1. Poverty ensures there will be enough individuals to populate an all-volunteer military. 2. Poverty supports occupations that either serve the poor or protect the rest of society from them: police officers, penologists, welfare workers, social workers, lawyers, landlords, pawnshop owners. 3. Poverty is a visible reminder to the rest of society of the 'legitimacy' of the conventional values of hard work, thrift, and honesty. If poor people are thought to be lazy, their presence reinforce the ethic of hard work; if the single mother is condemned the two-parent family is idealized. 4. Poverty provides scapegoats for society's institutional problems. Anger at the homeless or viewing the poor as lazy distracts from the failure of the economic system to provide adequate employment. The shortcoming of slum-dwellers distracts from the failures of the housing industry. • Because the existence of a poor population benefits the non-poor Gans concludes that poverty elimination will never be seriously pursued by the non-poor. The poor must organize and make themselves a problem for the non-poor. Only then will poverty be eliminated. 3. The Ideology of competitive individualism - Those who succeed in society are those who work the hardest and have the best abilities. Those who suffer don't work hard enough or lack the ability to succeed. The poor are responsible for their own plight. They are underserving of sympathy. • Political leanings: A majority of conservatives identify with this view. • Socioeconomic class: Upper class more likely to subscribe to this view (people like themselves are wealthy because they're smarter and work harder) than lower class (tend to attribute wealth to “knowing the right people” or “coming from a wealthy family”). 4. The culture of poverty thesis - The Poor have a culture that produces and reproduces poverty. ◦ Fatalism: The poor believe they cannot change their lives. They no longer hope for middle-class success. They lack a work ethic and work discipline. ◦ Present-Orientation: Living only for today. Unwilling to defer gratification. Seek pleasure when and where they can. ◦ The persistently poor that are said to form an urban underclass.
