Welcome To
Rural Sociology 1000
Introduction to Rural Sociology
Mary Grigsby
Associate Professor of Rural Sociology
Division of Applied Social Sciences
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Topics of Discussion
Class Business
 Community Responses
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Case Study Approach
Garden City, Kansas; Lexington, Nebraska; Storm
Lake and Perry, Iowa; and Rogers, Arkansas.
(Henness 2002)
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Method –Themes from Case studies inventoried and
organized into categories of local government, housing,
education, health care, social services, law
enforcement, and religious and civic life.
Within each category, impacts and responses are
arranged chronologically in order of occurrence.
Personal interviews with “informants” from Missouri
counties with high immigration and to compare their
perceptions with the inventory.
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Impacts
Housing
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Lack of affordable
housing
Homelessness
Overcrowding
Hazardous, unsafe
conditions
Homeownership
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Responses
Housing
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Temporary subsidized
housing
New rental
arrangements (“by the
head”)
Area housing studies
Homeless shelter
startups
Credit and mortgage
education
Starter home packages4
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Impacts
Education
 Overall enrollment
 School meal costs
 Low English proficient
students
 ESOL (English for
Speakers of Other
Languages) program
costs
 School dropout rates
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Responses
Education
Temporary classrooms
ESOL program expansion
Bilingual staff and
paraprofessionals
Multicultural teacher
training
Adult Learning Centers
Bond issues to build/expand
schools
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Impacts

Health Care
 Demand for health
services
 Immunization
(tuberculosis)
 Emergency room visits
 Uninsured and
underinsured patients
Responses

Health Care
 Health worker hires
 Caregiver translators
 New medical clinics for
the under/uninsured
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Impacts

Social Services
 Clients served
 Welfare and Medicaid
cases
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Emergency food
services
Responses

Social Services
 Subsidized
transportation
 Furniture and clothing
donations
 Pro bono
accounting/legal
counsel
 Worksite day care
 Interagency service
coalitions
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Impacts

Religious and civic life
 Church attendance >
 Charitable giving >
 Racial strife and tension
 Food, arts, music,
cultural events
Responses

Religious and civic life
 Summer literacy
camps for children
 Financial literacy
training
 Community
multicultural forums
 Immigrant family
sponsorships
 Anti-immigration
activism
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Impacts

Law enforcement
 Immigration and legal
documentation
 Traffic violations
 Violent and property
crimes
 Substance abuse,
spousal and child abuse
 Methamphetamine
trafficking
Responses

Law enforcement
 Bilingual officer
assignments
 Document translations
 Officer language
training
 Additional hires
 Public education to
dispel “myths”
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Understanding Modern Social
Organizations
Two Faces of Organizations
Modern Organizations Possess the
Potential for Either Good or Harm
Negative
Positive
Capable of efficiently
managing people,
information, goods, and
services on a worldwide
scale
Capable of promoting
inefficient,
irresponsible, and
destructive actions that
can affect the wellbeing of communities
and even the entire
planet
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McDonaldization of Society
“The process by which the principles of the
fast-food restaurant are coming to
dominate more and more sectors of
American society as well as the rest of
the world” (Ritzer 1993, p. 1)
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Traditional vs. Modern Societies
Traditional World
Emphasis
Modern World Emphasis
Community & Kinship
Individual & Immediate Family
Rural and Village Life
Urban Life
Work on Land or in Small
Manufacture
Factory and Large Scale
Bureaucratic Organization
Landed
Interests
Business and Industrial
Interests
Monarchy
Democracy
Religion
Reason
Church-mediated social
thought
Science-based
social thought
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Rationalization
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Does “rationalization” assume better
understanding or greater knowledge on the
part of most people?
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Rationalization
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No. People who live in rationalized
environments typically know little detail
about their surroundings (nature,
technology, the economy) because they
rely on expert knowledge to organize the
conditions of life, technology and consumer
goods.
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Alienation
A state in which human life is dominated by
forces of its inventions.
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TYPE OF NEED
Social
Security
Physiological
•Encouragement of complete employee
commitment
Self-Actualizing
•Job a major expressive dimension of
employee’s life
•Creation of jobs with scope for achievement,
autonomy, responsibility, and personal control.
•Work enhancing personal identity
Ego
•Feedback and recognition for good performance
(e.g., promotions, “employee of the month” awards)
•Work organization that permits interaction with colleagues
•Social and sports facilities
•Office and factory parties and outings
•Pension and health care plans
•Job tenure
•Emphasis on career paths within the organization
•Salaries and wages
•Safe and pleasant working conditions
Exhibit 3.1. Examples of how organizations can satisfy needs at different levels of Maslow’s hierarchy
Morgan, G. (1997). Images of organizations (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
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