Transcript Social (Structural) - sociology1-2

Society
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Any relatively self-contained and selfsufficient group united by social
relationships.
Two central components of society:
Social Structure and Culture
Social Structures
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Any characteristics of a group rather than of
individuals.
 % No Religion, Mobility, Population density, %
Female, Age composition are all
characteristics of the group
 E.g., Age composition a predictor of crime –
% teens and young adults a social structural
explanation of crime.
 Most common, most important is
stratification
Stratification: “To be layered”
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To say that all societies are stratified is to say
that people are ranked depending on which
categories they belong to
 Unequal distribution of rewards associated
with these ranks (power, status, $, etc.)
 Societies might be stratified along any of a
number of continuums (class, caste, gender,
religion)
 Some ranks assigned at birth (ascribed
status), some on merits/accomplishments
(achieved status)
Culture
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The pattern of living that directs human
social life.
Everything that humans learn and the
things they learn to use.
– language, religions, science, art, notions of
right and wrong, explanations of the
meaning of life
Cultural Concepts
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Values - standards for assessing good
and bad
Norms – behavioral expectations
Role – norms associated with a
particular position
Prejudice and Discrimination
Assimilation and Accommodation
Multicultural / subculture
Example: Immigration of Jews
and Italians
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Great way to illustrate the sociological
imagination
1880 to 1920 time of high immigration rates
% foreign born around 15% by 1920 (today it
is about 10%)
Fear of “inferior racial stock” led to laws in the
1920s
All but eliminate immigration from Southern
and Eastern Europe and Asia.
Fears not realized
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No doubt many of you had ancestors who
came during this time
Assimilation… Cultural differences subsided,
intermarriage rates high
declining prejudice
Cultural accommodation – mainstream
culture became more accepting
Jew and Italians eventually gained economic
equality - probably the key issue in the
decline in prejudice
But close look at the upward
mobility of Jews and Italians
tells us what????
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Both came poor
Both came to the cities of the northeast
Both came at about the same time
Both experienced prejudice and
discrimination
But Jews achieved economic success
much more rapidly
Why?
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Racial (racist) explanations common
But sociologists focus on two factors
– Cultural factors – values and norms explain
upward mobility
– Social structural – structure of
opportunities available
Cultural Theory
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Jewish culture
– values of learning and norms of educational
achievement
– seen link between education and success – seen
industrial revolution
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Italian culture
– valued family loyalty over learning
– Rural farmers – no examples of link between
education and success
– Came from more of a caste system
Famous Covello Quote
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If our children don’t go to school, no
harm will come. But if the sheep don’t
eat, they will die. The school can wait
but not our sheep
Social (Structural) Theory of
Ethnic Mobility
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Jews brought their experience, training,
technical skills with them to the US
 Jews a concentrated population in Russia
and Poland – factories, professionals, etc.
 A group’s average status in a new society will
reflect their average status in the old society.
 Cubans a contemporary example
One final factor….
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Italians slow to learn English – slow to
assimilate
Why? Because most planed to return to
Italy (and over 55% did return)
Jews, fleeing persecution, planed to
stay (only 8% returned)
Reference group for Italians was
relatives back home
Another example: Link
between parent education and
child education
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Link far from perfect but impossible to
question
 Cultural Theory
– Status aspirations of the poor
– Socialized leaves them ill equipped to compete in
middle-class schools
– M-C values education… e.g., M-C parents more
likely to read to kids
– Essentially lower level of educational attainment
explained by their values – a “culture of poverty”
Social Structural Theory
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Educational opportunities equally distributed?
– Malibu High raised about 1 million last year
 Parental resources provide opportunities?
Computers, tutors, …
 E.g., SAT scores important in college
entrance?
– But well-to-do can take classes
– Big issue right now is Learning Disabilities and
extra time on SAT (about 1 in 10 at elite private
schools, but in 10 inner-city schools 0 or 1,500 got
extra time)