Summary
Contents
Subject index
Introducing students to core sociological concepts by debunking popular misconceptions Is it true that “numbers don’t lie?” Is America “the land of equal opportunity?” Is marriage a “dying institution?” Oft-repeated adages like these shape our beliefs about the society we live in. Each essay in Second Thoughts reviews a conventional wisdom familiar to both instructors and students. The authors introduce relevant sociological concepts and theories in order to explain, qualify, and sometimes debunk that conventional wisdom. This unique text encourages students to step back and sharpen their analytic focus. 23 engaging essays reveal the complexity of social reality and demonstrate the role of sociology in everyday life.
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Front Matter
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Chapters
- Introduction: The Sociological Perspective
- In this introduction, we discuss the roots of conventional wisdom. We also contrast such knowledge with that acquired via the sociological perspective. In this way, we introduce students to a sociological mode of thinking.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Conventional wisdom; social patterns; social context; cultural value; obesity; poor; working poor; self-fulfilling prophecy; sociological imagination
- Methods
- • Numbers Don’t Lie
- Americans like to “run the numbers.” No matter what the realm—sports, business, politics, or entertainment—numbers often provide the bottom line. Why is our faith in numbers so strong? Conventional wisdom tells us that numbers don’t lie. Is such wisdom accurate? Can we be confident in the “realities” claimed by national polls, social scientific surveys, and other quantitative studies? In this essay, we note several important elements to consider in establishing the “truth” of numbers.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Population; sample; representative sample; survey research; priming; euthanasia; valid measure; reliable measure; operationalization; value-free researcher; dyad; ethnocentrism; Bradley Effect
- Culture
- • Winning Is Everything
- Conventional wisdom suggests that competition and achievement go hand in hand. In this essay, however, we highlight the many studies that show the benefits of cooperation over competition. In so doing, we review American cultural values, strategies of action, and the connection of these elements to both positive and negative outcomes.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Cultural value; strategies of action; dialectic; prejudice; culture against people
- • Children Are Our Most Precious Commodity
- We frequently hear it said: Children are our future. They are our most valuable resource. Here, we present research suggesting otherwise. Children may be the most overlooked, most neglected segment of the population despite current talk of family values and how the future belongs to our children.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Infant mortality rates; social indicators; poverty; extreme poverty; low-income families; binge drinking; status dropout rate; ideal culture; real culture; cultural inconsistency; conflict theorists; power; social policies; general fertility rate; total fertility rate; replacement-level fertility
- Social Structure
- • Love Knows No Reason
- In this essay, we explore various social statuses—age, education, gender, income, race, religion—noting the ways in which these factors can guide something as seemingly individualistic as Cupid’s arrow.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Social status; norms of homogamy; endogamy; socioeconomic status; self-esteem
- • Stress Is Bad for Your Well-Being
- Or is it? This essay reviews the conditions under which stress can prove beneficial in one’s everyday activities. In so doing, we highlight the importance of considering social context in assessing social behaviors.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Social structure; social location; social context; chronic stress; social support network; Gemeinschaft; Gesellschaft; gender minority; cisgender; task-oriented stress; role conflict; social strain
- • The “Golden Years” Are Tarnished Years
- Growing old—no one looks forward to it. Yet this essay illustrates that our worst fears about growing old may be largely unfounded, simply products of a “master status” for which we have been inadequately prepared.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Sandwich generation; dementia; Alzheimer’s disease; emotional regulation; curvilinear relationship; master status; anticipatory socialization; macro-level analysis; social context; age structure
- Socialization and Identity
- • What’s in a Name? That Which We Call a Rose by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet
- This essay explores the power of names, highlighting the central role of symbols and labels in the construction of identity.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Symbols; identity; impression management; norms; boundary construction; postmodern theory; transgender; cisgender; labeling theory; secondary deviance
- • Beauty Is Only Skin Deep
- This essay documents the social advantages enjoyed by physically attractive individuals—tall, slim, and beautiful or handsome women and men. We also discuss the powerful role physical attractiveness can play in the construction of self-identity.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Cultural inconsistency; halo effect; self-fulfilling prophecy; cultural capital; social status; identity; socialization; appearance norms; primary socialization; rituals; looking-glass self
- Stratification
- • The More We Pay, the More It’s Worth
- If so, our garbage collectors are worth more than our teachers, and baseball players are worth more than those searching for a cure for AIDS or the Ebola virus. This essay addresses the inconsistencies often found between what we pay for work and the value we place on it.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Income; Davis–Moore thesis; functional analysis; conflict theorists; wealth; power; occupational prestige; occupational prestige scale; stratification system
- • Money Is the Root of All Evil
- This essay documents the impact of income on issues of mortality and life chances. Money, with all its alleged downfalls, can still mean the difference between life and death.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Mortality rates; socioeconomic status; infant mortality rates; life expectancy; negative life events; life chances; functional analysis
- • You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby
- In the past 60 years, women have made great strides toward equality with men. But have they journeyed far enough? Here, we focus on gender relations in the home, the schools, and the workplace, illustrating the gains and losses faced by women and men in the current era.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Gender socialization; gender typing; gender scripts; stereotypes; self-fulfilling prophecy; longitudinal research; sex segregation; nontraditional female occupation; pay gap
- • America Is the Land of Equal Opportunity
- Is the United States a level playing field for all Americans? In this essay, we review the many arenas of continued segregation and racism in the United States. Furthermore, we explore the basis for determining one’s race, noting that with all the implications the classification holds, categorizing race is, at best, a tenuous process.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Race; racism; prejudice; discrimination; social status; status set; master status; racial steering; paired-testing; concentrated-poverty neighborhoods; high-poverty neighborhoods; unitary schools; charter schools; high-poverty schools; low-poverty schools; status dropout rate; income; wealth; social construction of reality; reification; social context; achieved status; ascribed status; identity; life chances; social minority
- Deviance, Crime, and Social Control
- • Violence Is on the Rise in the United States—No One Is Safe
- In recent decades, Americans have wrestled with a growing fear of violence. Is that fear justified? Here, we review the state of violence in the United States, and we explore those instances in which the public’s fears of violence are justified and those in which they are exaggerated. As such, the essay explores the many problems surrounding the detection and perception of danger and crime.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Uniform Crime Reports; victimization studies; social construction of reality; meta-analysis; cultural value; fear of strangers
- • There’s Nothing We Can Do About the Weather
- Mother Nature may call lots of the shots when it comes to weather and climate. But the elements have a social and cultural side as well. In this essay, we focus the sociological eye on weather and climate, exploring the ways in which factors such as modernization, profit motives, and our entrepreneurial values can both create climate problems … and perhaps solve them.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Weather; climate; climate change; greenhouse effect; global warming; ecology; culture; manifest functions; latent functions; manifest dysfunctions; latent dysfunctions; cap-and-trade system; biofuels; carbon footprint
- • There Ought to Be a Law
- The rule of law—it’s a core American value. There’s no social ill that the law can’t fix…or at least that is what many Americans believe. In this essay, we review various social functions of the law. We also consider whether we are overly dependent on this tool of formal social control.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Social control; informal social control; formal social control; norms; social engineering; moral entrepreneurs; writ of certiorari; expert advocate; civil lawsuits; class action suits; compensatory damages; punitive damages; tolerance; social context
- • Honesty Is the Best Policy
- … except, of course, when reporting your income, revealing your age, sparing the feelings of another—the list can go on and on. In this essay, we explore the conditions under which lying is viewed as normal. In so doing, we use lying as a case study that aptly demonstrates both the pervasiveness and the relative nature of deviance.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Norms; cultural value; deviance; deviant lies; normal lies; social context; techniques of neutralization; social scripts; primary deviance; secondary deviance
- Social Institutions: Marriage and Family
- • The Nuclear Family Is the Backbone of American Society
- Mom, dad, and the kids—the key unit of American social life. Or is it? This essay documents the history of family in the United States, showing that the nuclear family is a relatively recent phenomenon and one that soon may be replaced by other forms of family. In addition, the stability of the nuclear family is explored in light of idyllic stereotypes.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Social institution; nuclear family; household; family household; nonfamily household; family; macro-level analysis; extended family; blended families
- • Marriage Is a Failing Institution
- High divorce rates, couples living together without being married, the need for “space,” fear of commitment, living solo, adult children living at home with their parents—have such trends doomed the institution of marriage? Here, we discuss research suggesting that the practice of marriage is alive and well despite conventional wisdom to the contrary. We also note the historical “popularity” of divorce in America and speculate on why such a trend marks our culture.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Marriage; social institution; happiness gap; monogamy; serial monogamy; latent functions; meta-analysis; manifest dysfunctions; families of orientation; families of procreation; gray divorce
- Social Institutions: The Economy
- • Welfare Is Ruining This Country
- A frequently expressed opinion when talk turns to welfare reform is that too many people are on the dole and too many recipients have other options. In this essay, we review some of the least understood dimensions of welfare and explore exactly where welfare monies are going.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Stereotype; Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC); Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF); poverty threshold; living wage; deep poverty; extreme poverty; TANF-to-poverty ratio; working poor; low-income families; poverty; public assistance programs; social insurance programs; intergenerational upward mobility; out-group; in-group; social reproduction theory; structural functionalism; social functions
- • Immigrants Are Ruining This Nation
- For most of the 20th century there was a steady and significant decline in the percentage of immigrants making up the U.S. population. But now, immigration is once again on the rise, and many Americans find this unsettling. Is immigration ruining this nation? This essay reviews the historical impact and future trends of immigration in the United States.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Immigrants; prejudice; naturalized citizens; “green card holders”; aliens; DACA Program and recipients; foreign-born population; illegal aliens; immigrant; legal immigrants; naturalized citizens; refugees and asylees; temporary legal migrants; unauthorized migrants; cultural value; in-group; out-group; assimilation; inverse relationship; multiculturalism; cultural capital
- Social Institutions: Media and Technology
- • Technology Is Taking Over Our Lives
- This essay examines new communication technologies and explores their role in contemporary social life. We begin by considering the ways in which technology impacts social inequality. We move on to examine technology’s influence on the development of community and intimacy and we explore technology’s role in redefining social relations, social relations, social actors, and the public and private spheres. We conclude by examining issues surrounding technology and surveillance.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- New communication technologies; digital divide; e-philanthropy; direct communication; mediated communication; social relations; cyberbullying
- Social Institutions: Education
- • Education Is the Great Equalizer
- Conventional wisdom tells us that educating the masses will bring equal opportunities to people of all races, ethnicities, and genders. In this essay, we explore the truth of this claim and review the progress we have made in bringing high-quality education to all.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Intergenerational upward mobility; structural functionalism; positive association; negative association; working poor; grant aid; “legacy” admission; status dropout rate; conflict theorists; socialization; tracking; de facto segregation; de jure segregation; self-fulfilling prophecy; experimental design; random assignment; longitudinal designs; high-poverty schools
- Social Institutions: Religion
- • We Are One Nation Under God
- God bless America … it’s an invocation frequently heard across the United States. Yet, in light of our country’s long-standing commitment to the separation of church and state, “God bless America” is also a prayer that can make some uncomfortable. Are we united or divided with regard to the place of God in our nation? This essay explores the issue.
- Concepts Defined and Applied
- Religiosity; religious affiliation; social desirability bias; atheists; agnostics; church; denominations; sects; cults; bureaucracies; Pentecostals; evangelicals; fundamentalists; ecclesias; switchers; megachurches
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Back Matter
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