In mead's theory of development, the "me" is the "object of action" or the "self as object."

SOCIOLOGY Core Concepts

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SOCIOLOGY A Down-to-Earth Approach Core Concepts Census Update

4Edition James M. Henslin

Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

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ISBN-10: 0-205-18214-3 www.pearsonhighered.com ISBN-13: 978-0-205-18214-5

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To my fellow sociologists, who do such creative research on

social life and who communicate the sociological imagination to

generations of students.

With my sincere admiration and appreciation,

What’s New? Because sociology is about social life and we live in a changing global society, an intro- ductory sociology text must reflect the national and global changes that engulf us, as well as new sociological research. In this revision of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, Core Concepts there are over 50 new suggested readings, 150 new references, 135 new instructional photos, and 50 updated illustrations. Here are some of the new topics, tables, illustrations, photo essays, and boxed features (page numbers in parentheses).

CHAPTER 1 Topics: Suicide patterns are so consistent that we can

predict the number of whites and African Americans who will commit suicide this year—and the ways they will do so (8)

Computer-assisted self-interviewing (24) Case studies added to research methods (26) Down-to-Earth Sociology box: Gang

Leader for a Day: Adventures of a Rogue Sociologist (27)

Illustration: A collage of The Forgotten Sociologists (includes photos of Frances Perkins, Alice Paul, and eight other early female sociologists) (10)

CHAPTER 3 Topic: A new stage in the life course: The

transitional older years (91) Cultural Diversity box: Women Becoming

Men: The Sworn Virgins (79)

CHAPTER 4 Down-to-Earth Sociology box: Looks: The

Last Frontier for Socially Acceptable Discrimination? (110)

CHAPTER 5 Topic: Replication of Milgram’s obedience to

authority experiments (148) Down-to-Earth Sociology box: The Power

of Cascades: When Errors Escalate (146) Sociology and the New Technology box:

Avatar Fantasy Life: The Blurring Lines of Reality (133)

CHAPTER 6 Topics: Citigroup as a career criminal (167) On death row, those most likely to be exe-

cuted are African Americans and Latinos who killed whites (177)

Down-to-Earth Sociology box: Shaming: Making a Comeback? (160)

Illustration: Figure 6.5: Who Gets Executed? Gender Bias in Capital Punishment (175)

CHAPTER 7 Topics: Wealth of the global superclass (190) Cracks in the global banking system (201) Status symbols of the rich, such as $35,000

bottles of champagne (206) Illustrations: Figure 7.1: The Distribution of

the Earth’s Wealth (190) Percentage of the poor made up of each racial–

ethnic group (added to Figure 7.8) (220)

CHAPTER 8 Topic: Rwanda, the first country in the

world to elect more women than men to its national legislature (237)

Mass Media in Social Life box: Women in Iran: The Times Are Changing, Ever So Slowly (235)

Down-to-Earth Sociology boxes: Women and Smoking: Let’s Count the

Reasons (242) Where Are the Cheerleaders? (Male, That Is)

(244) Affirmative Action for Men? (248)

CHAPTER 9 Photo essay: Ethnic Work: Explorations in

Cultural Identity (270) Topics: Institutional discrimination: How the sub-

prime debacle hit African Americans and Latinos (273)

Techno Patriots (283) Table: Table 9.1: Race–Ethnicity and

Mother/Child Deaths (273)

CHAPTER 10 Topics: The emerging equality in U.S. marriages (re-

search by Morin and Cohn) (306) Ideal family size since the 1930s (310) The “widowhood effect” (314) Proposition 8 in California (320) The chances of divorce increase if a couple’s

first-born child is a girl (326) Illustrations: Figure 10.1: Who Makes the Decisions at

Home? (306) Figure 10.4: The Number of Children

Americans Think Are Ideal (311) Sociology and the New Technology box:

Rent-a-Womb: “How Much for Your Uterus?” (319)

vi

Brief Contents PART 1 The Sociological Perspective

CHAPTER 1 The Sociological Perspective 2

CHAPTER 2 Culture 36

CHAPTER 3 Socialization 64

CHAPTER 4 Social Structure and Social Interaction 96

PART II Social Groups and Social Control CHAPTER 5 Societies to Social Networks 126

CHAPTER 6 Deviance and Social Control 152

PART III Social Inequality CHAPTER 7 Social Stratification 184

CHAPTER 8 Sex and Gender 226

CHAPTER 9 Race and Ethnicity 262

PART IV Social Institutions CHAPTER 10 Marriage and Family 300

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To the Student from the Author xix

To the Instructor from the Author xx

Contents

CHAPTER 1 The Sociological Perspective 2

The Sociological Perspective 4 Seeing the Broader Social Context 4 The Global Context—and the Local 5

Origins of Sociology 5 Tradition Versus Science 5 Auguste Comte and Positivism 6 Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinism 6 Karl Marx and Class Conflict 7 Emile Durkheim and Social Integration 7 Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic 8

Sociology in North America 9 Sexism and Early Female Sociologists 9 Harriet Martineau and Research on the United States 9

Racism at the Time: W. E. B. Du Bois 9 Down-to-Earth Sociology: W. E. B. Du Bois: The Souls of Black Folk 11

Talcott Parsons and C. Wright Mills: Theory Versus Reform 12

The Continuing Tension and Applied Sociology 12 Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology 13

Symbolic Interactionism 13 Functional Analysis 15 Conflict Theory 17 Putting the Theoretical Perspectives Together 18 Levels of Analysis: Macro and Micro 18 How Theory and Research Work Together 19

Doing Sociological Research 19 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Enjoying a Sociology Quiz—Sociological Findings Versus Common Sense 19

A Research Model 20 Research Methods 21 Surveys 21 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Loading the Dice: How Not to Do Research 25

Participant Observation (Fieldwork) 26 Case Studies 26 Secondary Analysis 26 Documents 26 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Gang Leader for a Day: Adventures of a Rogue Sociologist 27

Experiments 28 Unobtrusive Measures 28 Gender in Sociological Research 30

Ethics and Values in Sociological Research 30 Protecting the Subjects: The Brajuha Research 30 Misleading the Subjects: The Humphreys Research 31

Values in Research 32 Trends Shaping the Future of Sociology 32

Sociology’s Tension: Research Versus Reform 32 Cultural Diversity in the United States: Unanticipated Public Sociology: Studying Job Discrimination 33

Globalization 34 Summary and Review 34

CHAPTER 2 Culture 36

What Is Culture? 38 Culture and Taken-for-Granted Orientations to Life 38

Cultural Diversity in the United States: Culture Shock: The Arrival of the Hmong 40

Practicing Cultural Relativism 41 Cultural Diversity around the World: You Are What You Eat? An Exploration in Cultural Relativity 42

ix

PART I The Sociological Perspective

Components of Symbolic Culture 44 Gestures 44 Language 45 Cultural Diversity in the United States: Miami— Continuing Controversy over Language 47

Values, Norms, and Sanctions 48 Cultural Diversity in the United States: Race and Language: Searching for Self-Labels 49

Folkways and Mores 50 Many Cultural Worlds 51

Subcultures 51 Countercultures 51

Values in U.S. Society 54 An Overview of U.S. Values 54 Mass Media in Social Life: Why Do Native Americans Like Westerns? 55

Value Clusters 56 Value Contradictions 56 Emerging Values 56 Culture Wars: When Values Clash 58 Values as Distorting Lenses 58 “Ideal” Versus “Real” Culture 58

Cultural Universals 58 Thinking Critically: Are We Prisoners of Our Genes? Sociobiology and Human Behavior 59

Technology in the Global Village 60 The New Technology 60 Cultural Lag and Cultural Change 61 Technology and Cultural Leveling 61

Summary and Review 62

x Contents

CHAPTER 3 Socialization 64

Society Makes Us Human 66 Feral Children 66 Isolated Children 66 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Heredity or Environment? The Case of Jack and Oskar, Identical Twins 67

Institutionalized Children 68 Deprived Animals 69

Socialization into the Self and Mind 70 Cooley and the Looking-Glass Self 70 Mead and Role Taking 71 Piaget and the Development of Reasoning 72 Global Aspects of the Self and Reasoning 73

Learning Personality, Morality, and Emotions 73 Freud and the Development of Personality 73 Kohlberg, Gilligan, and the Development of Morality 74

Socialization into Emotions 75 Society Within Us: The Self and Emotions as Social Control 76

Socialization into Gender 77 Learning the Gender Map 77 Gender Messages in the Family 77 Gender Messages from Peers 78 Cultural Diversity around the World: Women Becoming Men: The Sworn Virgins 79

Gender Messages in the Mass Media 80

Mass Media in Social Life: Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: Changing Images of Women in the Mass Media 82

Agents of Socialization 82 The Family 83 The Neighborhood 84 Religion 84 Day Care 84 The School 85 Peer Groups 85 Cultural Diversity in the United States: Immigrants and Their Children: Caught Between Two Worlds 86

The Workplace 87 Resocialization 88

Total Institutions 88 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Boot Camp as a Total Institution 89

Socialization Through the Life Course 89 Childhood 90 Adolescence 91 Transitional Adulthood 91 The Middle Years 92 The Older Years 92 The Sociological Significance of the Life Course 93

Are We Prisoners of Socialization? 93 Summary and Review 94

CHAPTER 4 Social Structure and Social Interaction 96

Levels of Sociological Analysis 98 Macrosociology and Microsociology 98

The Macrosociological Perspective: Social Structure 99 The Sociological Significance of Social Structure 99 Culture 100 Social Class 100 Social Status 100 Down-to-Earth Sociology: College Football as Social Structure 101

Roles 103 Groups 103

Social Institutions 104 The Sociological Significance of Social Institutions 104

Comparing Functionalist and Conflict Perspectives 106

Changes in Social Structure 107 What Holds Society Together? 107

Cultural Diversity in the United States: The Amish: Gemeinschaft Community in a Gesellschaft Society 109

The Microsociological Perspective: Social Interaction in Everyday Life 110 Symbolic Interaction 110 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Looks: The Last Fron- tier for Socially Acceptable Discrimination? 110

Down-to-Earth Sociology: Beauty May Be Only Skin Deep, But Its Effects Go On Forever: Stereotypes in Everyday Life 112

Dramaturgy: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life 113

Mass Media in Social Life: You Can’t Be Thin Enough: Body Images and the Mass Media 117

Ethnomethodology: Uncovering Background Assumptions 118

The Social Construction of Reality 119 The Need for Both Macrosociology

and Microsociology 121 Summary and Review 124

Contents xi

Through the Author’s Lens When a Tornado Strikes Social Organization Following a Natural Disaster

As I was watching television, I heard a report that a tornado had hit Camilla, Georgia.“Like a big lawn mower,” the report said, it had cut a path of destruction through this little town. In its fury, the tornado had left behind six dead and about 200 injured. (pages 122–123)

CHAPTER 5 Societies to Social Networks 126

Societies and Their Transformation 128 Hunting and Gathering Societies 128 Pastoral and Horticultural Societies 129 Agricultural Societies 130 Industrial Societies 131

Postindustrial (Information) Societies 131 Biotech Societies: Is a New Type of Society Emerging? 132

Sociology and the New Technology: Avatar Fantasy Life: The Blurring Lines of Reality 133

Sociology and the New Technology: “So, You Want to Be Yourself?” Cloning and the Future of Society 134

PART II Social Groups and Social Control

CHAPTER 6 Deviance and Social Control 152

What Is Deviance? 154 How Norms Make Social Life Possible 154 Cultural Diversity around the World: Human Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective 155

Sanctions 156 Competing Explanations of Deviance: Sociobiology, Psychology, and Sociology 156

The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective 157 Differential Association Theory 157 Control Theory 159 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Shaming: Making a Comeback? 160

Labeling Theory 161 The Functionalist Perspective 163

Can Deviance Really Be Functional for Society? 163

Mass Media in Social Life: Pornography and the Mainstream: Freedom Versus Censorship 164

Strain Theory: How Social Values Produce Deviance 165

Illegitimate Opportunity Structures: Social Class and Crime 166

Down-to-Earth Sociology: Islands in the Street: Urban Gangs in the United States 167

The Conflict Perspective 169 Class, Crime, and the Criminal Justice System 169 The Law as an Instrument of Oppression 169

Reactions to Deviance 170 Street Crime and Prisons 170 Thinking Critically: “Three Strikes and You’re Out!” Unintended Consequences of Well-Intended Laws 172

Cultural Diversity around the World: “What Kind of Prison Is This? 173

The Decline in Violent Crime 174 Recidivism 174 The Death Penalty and Bias 174 Down-to-Earth Sociology: The Killer Next Door: Serial Murderers in Our Midst 176

Legal Change 177 Thinking Critically: Changing Views: Making Hate a Crime 177

The Trouble with Official Statistics 178 The Medicalization of Deviance: Mental Illness 179 The Need for a More Humane Approach 181

Summary and Review 182

xii Contents

CHAPTER 7 Social Stratification 184

An Overview of Social Stratification 186 Slavery 186 Caste 188

Social Class 189 Global Stratification and the Status of Females 189 The New Global Superclass 190

Global Stratification: Three Worlds 190 The Most Industrialized Nations 190

Groups Within Society 135 Primary Groups 135 Secondary Groups 135

Categories, Aggregates, Primary and Secondary Groups 136 In-Groups and Out-Groups 137 Reference Groups 138 Social Networks 139 A New Group: Electronic Communities 140

Group Dynamics 141 Effects of Group Size on Stability and Intimacy 141

Effects of Group Size on Attitudes and Behavior 142 Leadership 143 The Power of Peer Pressure: The Asch Experiment 145 Down-to-Earth Society: The Power of Cascades: When Error Escalates 146

The Power of Authority: The Milgram Experiment 147 Thinking Critically: If Hitler Asked You to Execute a Stranger, Would You? The Milgram Experiment 147

Global Consequences of Group Dynamics: Groupthink 148

Summary and Review 150

PART III Social Inequality

The Industrializing Nations 190 Thinking Critically: Open Season: Children as Prey 191

The Least Industrialized Nations 194 How Did the World’s Nations Become Stratified? 194

Colonialism 194 World System Theory 194 Thinking Critically: When Globalization Comes Home: Maquiladoras South of the Border 195

Culture of Poverty 198 Evaluating the Theories 198

Why Is Social Stratification Universal? 199 The Functionalist View: Motivating Qualified People 199

The Conflict Perspective: Class Conflict and Scarce Resources 200

Strains in the Global System 200 What Determines Social Class? 201

Karl Marx: The Means of Production 201 Max Weber: Property, Power, and Prestige 202

Social Class in the United States 203 Property 203 Down-to-Earth Sociology: How the Super-Rich Live 206

Power 207 Prestige 207 Status Inconsistency 208

A Model of Social Class 209 The Capitalist Class 209 Down-to-Earth Sociology: The Big Win: Life After the Lottery 210

The Upper Middle Class 211 The Lower Middle Class 212 The Working Class 212 The Working Poor 212 The Underclass 212

Consequences of Social Class 213 Physical Health 213 Mental Health 214 Thinking Critically: Mental Illness and Inequality in Health Care 214

Family Life 215 Education 215 Religion 216 Politics 216 Crime and Criminal Justice 216

Social Mobility 216 Three Types of Social Mobility 217 Women in Studies of Social Mobility 217 Cultural Diversity in the United States: Social Class and the Upward Social Mobility of African Americans 218

Poverty 219 Drawing the Poverty Line 219 Children of Poverty 219 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Taking Another Fun Quiz: Exploring Stereotypes About the Poor 220

Thinking Critically: The Nation’s Shame: Children in Poverty 221

Where Is Horatio Alger? The Social Functions of a Myth 222

Summary and Review 223

Contents xiii

Through the Author’s Lens The Dump People Working and Living and Playing in the City Dump of Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I went to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, to inspect orphanages, to see how well the children were being cared for. While there, I was told about people who live in the city dump. Live there? I could hardly believe my ears. I knew that people made their living by picking scraps from the city dump, but I didn’t know they actually lived among the garbage.This I had to see for myself. (pages 196–197)

xiv Contents

CHAPTER 9 Race and Ethnicity 262

Laying the Sociological Foundation 264 Race: Myth and Reality 264 Cultural Diversity in the United States: Tiger Woods: Mapping the Changing Ethnic Terrain 265

Ethnic Groups 266 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Can a Plane Ride Change Your Race? 267

Minority Groups and Dominant Groups 268 How People Construct Their Racial–Ethnic Identity 269

Prejudice and Discrimination 269 Learning Prejudice 269

Ethnic Work: Explorations in Cultural Identity 270 Individual and Institutional Discrimination 271 Down-to-Earth Sociology: The Racist Mind 272

CHAPTER 8 Sex and Gender 226

Issues of Sex and Gender 228 Gender Differences in Behavior: Biology or Culture? 228

Thinking Critically: Biology Versus Culture—Culture Is the Answer 230

Thinking Critically: Biology Versus Culture—Biology Is the Answer 231

The Dominant Position in Sociology 232 Opening the Door to Biology 232

Gender Inequality in Global Perspective 234 How Females Became a Minority Group 234 The Origins of Patriarchy 234 Mass Media in Social Life: Women in Iran: The Times Are Changing, Ever So Slowly 235

Sex Typing of Work 236 Gender and the Prestige of Work 237 Other Areas of Global Discrimination 237 Cultural Diversity around the World: Female Circumcision 240

Gender Inequality in the United States 241 Fighting Back: The Rise of Feminism 241

Down-to-Earth Sociology: Women and Smoking: Let’s Count the Reasons 242

Gender Inequality in Everyday Life 243 Gender Inequality in Health Care 244 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Where Are the Cheerleaders? (Male, That Is) 244

Gender Inequality in Education 245 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Cold-Hearted Surgeons and Their Women Victims 246

Down-to-Earth Sociology: Affirmative Action for Men? 248

Gender Inequality in the Workplace 250 The Pay Gap 250 The Cracking Glass Ceiling 253 Sexual Harassment—and Worse 254 Thinking Critically: Sexual Harassment and Rape of Women in the Military 254

Gender and Violence 256 Violence Against Women 256

The Changing Face of Politics 258 Glimpsing the Future—with Hope 259 Summary and Review 259

Through the Author’s Lens Work and Gender Women at Work in India

Traveling through India was both a pleasure and an eye-opening experience.The country is incredibly diverse, the people friendly, and the land culturally rich. For this photo essay, wherever I went—whether city, village, or countryside—I took photos of women at work. (pages 238–239)

Contents xv

CHAPTER 10 Marriage and Family 300

Marriage and Family in Global Perspective 302 What Is a Family? 302 What Is Marriage? 302 Common Cultural Themes 303

Marriage and Family in Theoretical Perspective 304 The Functionalist Perspective: Functions and Dysfunctions 304

Sociology and the New Technology: Finding a Mate: Not the Same as It Used to Be 305

The Conflict Perspective: Struggles Between Husbands and Wives 306

The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective: Gender, Housework, and Child Care 306

The Family Life Cycle 308 Love and Courtship in Global Perspective 308 Cultural Diversity around the World: East Is East and West Is West: Love and Arranged Marriage in India 309

Marriage 310 Childbirth 310 Child Rearing 312 Family Transitions 313

Diversity in U.S. Families 314 African American Families 314 Latino Families 316

Asian American Families 316 Native American Families 317 One-Parent Families 318 Families Without Children 318 Sociology and the New Technology: Rent-a-Womb: “How Much for Your Uterus?” 319

Blended Families 320 Gay and Lesbian Families 320

Trends in U.S. Families 321 Postponing Marriage and Childbirth 321 Cohabitation 321

Grandparents as Parents 322 Down-to-Earth Sociology: “You Want Us to Live Together? What Do You Mean By That?” 323

The “Sandwich Generation” and Elder Care 324 Divorce and Remarriage 324

Ways of Measuring Divorce 324 Down-to-Earth Sociology: “What Are Your Chances of Getting a Divorce?” 326

Children of Divorce 326 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Caught Between Two Worlds: The Children of Divorce 327

Grandchildren of Divorce 328 The Absent Father and Serial Fatherhood 329 The Ex-Spouses 329 Remarriage 329

Theories of Prejudice 274 Psychological Perspectives 274 Sociological Perspectives 274

Global Patterns of Intergroup Relations 276 Down-to-Earth Sociology: The Man in the Zoo 277

Genocide 278 Population Transfer 278 Internal Colonialism 279 Segregation 279 Assimilation 279 Multiculturalism (Pluralism) 279

Racial–Ethnic Relations in the United States 280 European Americans 281 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack: Exploring Cultural Privilege 282

Latinos (Hispanics) 283 Cultural Diversity in the United States: The Illegal Travel Guide 284

African Americans 285 Down-to-Earth Sociology: Stealth Racism in the Rental Market: What You Reveal by Your Voice 290

Asian Americans 291 Native Americans 292

Looking Toward the Future 294 The Immigration Debate 295 Affirmative Action 295 Cultural Diversity in the United States: Glimpsing the Future: The Shifting U.S. Racial–Ethnic Mix 296

Summary and Review 298

PART IV Social Institutions

xvi Contents

Two Sides of Family Life 330 The Dark Side of Family Life: Battering, Child Abuse, Marital Rape, and Incest 330

Down-to-Earth Sociology: “Why Doesn’t She Just Leave?” The Dilemma of Abused Women 331

The Bright Side of Family Life: Successful Marriages 332

Symbolic Interactionism and the Misuse of Statistics 333

The Future of Marriage and Family 333 Summary and Review 334

Epilogue:Why Major in Sociology? 336 Glossary G Suggested Readings SR1 References R Name Index N Subject Index S-1 Photo Credits PC

Special Features

W.E.B. Du Bois: The Souls of Black Folk 11 Enjoying A Sociology Quiz—Sociological Findings Versus

Common Sense 19 Loading the Dice: How Not to Do Research 25 Gang Leader for a Day: Adventures of a Rogue Sociologist 27 Heredity or Environment? The Case of Oskar and Jack,

Identical Twins 67 Boot Camp as a Total Institution 89 College Football as Social Structure 101 Looks: The Last Frontier for Socially Acceptable

Discrimination? 110 Beauty May Be Only Skin Deep, But Its Effects Go On

Forever: Stereotypes in Everyday Life 112 The Power of Cascades: When Error Escalates 146 Shaming: Making a Comeback? 160 Islands in the Street: Urban Gangs in the United States 167 The Killer Next Door: Serial Murderers in Our Midst 176 How the Super-Rich Live 206 The Big Win: Life After the Lottery 210 Taking Another Fun Quiz: Exploring Stereotypes About

the Poor 220 Women and Smoking: Let’s Count the Reasons 242 Where Are the Cheerleaders? (Male, That Is) 244 Cold-Hearted Surgeons and Their Women Victims 246 Affirmative Action for Men? 248 Can a Plane Ride Change Your Race? 267 The Racist Mind 272 The Man in the Zoo 277 Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack: Exploring Cultural

Privilege 282 Stealth Racism in the Rental Market: What You Reveal by

Your Voice 290 “You Want Us to Live Together? What Do You Mean By

That?” 323 “What Are Your Chances of Getting Divorced?” 326 Caught Between Two Worlds: The Children of Divorce 327 “Why Doesn’t She Just Leave?” The Dilemma of Abused

Women 331

You Are What You Eat?: An Exploration in Cultural Relativity 42

Women Becoming Men: The Sworn Virgins 79 What Kind of Prison Is This? 173 Female Circumcision 240 East Is East and West Is West: Love and Arranged Marriage

in India 309

xvii

Unanticipated Public Sociology: Studying Job Discrimination 33

Culture Shock: The Arrival of the Hmong 40 Miami—Continuing Controversy Over Language 47 Race and Language: Searching for Self-Labels 49 Immigrants and Their Children: Caught Between

Two Worlds 86 The Amish: Gemeinschaft Community in a Gesellschaft

Society 109 Social Class and the Upward Mobility of African

Americans 218 Tiger Woods: Mapping the Changing Ethnic Terrain 265 The Illegal Travel Guide 284 Glimpsing the Future: The Shifting U.S. Racial–Ethnic

Mix 296

xviii Special Features

ThinkingCRITICALLY Are We Prisoners of Our Genes? Sociobiology and Human

Behavior 59 If Hitler Asked You to Execute a Stranger, Would You? The

Milgram Experiment 147 “Three Strikes and You’re Out!” Unintended Consequences

of Well-Intended Laws 172 Changing Views: Making Hate a Crime 177 Open Season: Children As Prey 191 When Globalization Comes Home: Maquiladoras South of

the Border 195 Mental Illness and Inequality in Health Care 214 The Nation’s Shame: Children in Poverty 221 Biology Versus Culture—Culture Is the Answer 230 Biology Versus Culture—Biology Is the Answer 231 Sexual Harassment and Rape of Women in the Military 254

Avatar Fantasy Life: The Fading Line of Reality 133 “So, You Want to Be Yourself?” Cloning in the Coming

Bioetech Society 134 Finding a Mate: Not the Same as It Used to Be 305 Rent-a-Womb: “How Much for Your Uterus?” 319

Guide to Social Maps

Women in the Work Force 251 The Distribution of Dominant and Minority Groups 281 Which Political Party Dominates? 440 The “Where” of U.S. Divorce 325

Some States Are Safer: Violent Crime in the United States 168

Executions in the United States 175 Global Stratification: Income of the World’s Nations 192

Why Do Native Americans Like Westerns? 55 Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: Changing Images of Women in the

Mass Media 82 You Can’t Be Thin Enough: Body Images and

the Mass Media 117 Pornography and the Mainstream: Freedom Versus

Censorship 164 Women in Iran: The Times Are Changing,

Ever So Slowly 235

To the Student… from the Author

WELCOME TO SOCIOLOGY! I’ve loved sociology since I was in my teens, and I hope you enjoy it,too. Sociology is fascinating because it is about human behavior, and many of us find that it holdsthe key to understanding social life. If you like to watch people and try to figure out why they do what they do, you will like sociology. Sociol-

ogy pries open the doors of society so you can see what goes on behind them. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, Core Concepts, stresses how profoundly our society and the groups to which we belong influence us. Social class, for example, sets us on a particular path in life. For some, the path leads to more education, more interesting jobs, higher income, and better health, but for others it leads to dropping out of school, dead-end jobs, poverty, and a higher risk of illness and disease. These paths are so significant that they affect all aspects of our lives, like our chances of making it to our first birthday or getting in trouble with the police. They even influ- ence our satisfaction in marriage, the number of children we will have—and whether or not we will read this book in the first place.

When I took my first course in sociology, I was “hooked.” Seeing how marvelously my life had been affected by these larger social influences opened my eyes to a new world, one that has been fascinating to explore. I hope that you will have this experience, too.

From how people become homeless to how they become presidents, from why people commit suicide to why women are discriminated against in every society around the world—all are part of sociology. This breadth, in fact, is what makes sociology so intriguing. We can place the sociological lens on broad features of society, such as social class, gender, and race–ethnicity, and then immediately turn our focus on the smaller, more intimate level. If we look at two people interacting—whether quarreling or kissing—we see how these broad features of society are being played out in their lives.

We aren’t born with instincts. Nor do we come into this world with preconceived notions of what life should be like. At birth, we have no concepts of race-ethnicity, gender, age, or social class. We have no idea, for exam- ple, that people “ought” to act in certain ways because they are male or female. Yet we all learn such things as we grow up in our society. Uncovering the “hows” and the “whys” of this process is part of what makes sociology so fascinating.

One of sociology’s many pleasures is that as we study life in groups (which can be taken as a definition of sociology), whether those groups are in some far-off part of the world or in some nearby corner of our own so- ciety, we gain new insights into who we are and how we got that way. As we see how their customs affect them, the effects of our own society on us become more visible.

This book, then, can be part of an intellectual adventure, for it can lead you to a new way of looking at your social world—and in the process, help you to better understand both society and yourself.

I wish you the very best in college—and in your career afterward. It is my sincere desire that Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, Core Concepts will contribute to that success.

James M. Henslin Department of Sociology Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

P.S. I enjoy communicating with students, so feel free to comment on your experiences with this text. Because I travel a lot, it is best to reach me by e-mail: henslin@aol.com

xix

To the Instructor… from the Author

REMEMBER WHEN YOU FIIRST GOT “HOOKED” on sociology, how thewindows of perception opened as you began to see life-in-society through thesociological perspective? For most of us, this was an eye-opening experience. This text is designed to open those windows onto social life, so students can see clearly the vital effects of group membership on their lives. Although few students will get into what Peter Berger calls “the passion of sociology,” we at least can provide them the opportunity.

Society is like a huge jigsaw puzzle. Only gradually do we see how the intri- cate pieces fit together. As we begin to see these interconnections, our perspective changes as we shift our eyes from the many small, disjointed pieces to the whole that is being formed. Of all the endeavors we could have entered, we chose soci- ology because of the ways in which it joins the “pieces” of society together and the challenges it poses to “ordinary” thinking. To share with students this process of awareness and discovery called the sociological perspective is our privilege.

As instructors of sociology, we have set ambitious goals for ourselves: to teach both social structure and social interaction and to introduce students to the sociological literature—including the classic theorists and contemporary research. As we accomplish this, we would also like to enliven the classroom, encourage crit- ical thinking, and stimulate our students’ sociological imagination. Although formidable, these goals are attainable, and this book is designed to help you reach them. Based on many years of frontline (classroom) experience, its subtitle, A Down-to-Earth Approach, was not proposed lightly. My goal is to share the fasci- nation of sociology with students and thereby make your teaching more rewarding.

Over the years, I have found the introductory course especially enjoyable. It is singularly satisfying to see students’ faces light up as they begin to see how sep- arate pieces of their world fit together. It is a pleasure to watch them gain insight into how their social experiences give shape to even their innermost desires. This is precisely what this text is designed to do—to stimulate your students’ sociological imagination so they can better perceive how the “pieces” of society fit together—and what this means for their own lives.