About the Book
Table of Contents:
1. The Essence of Sociology.
Invitation to Sociology, by Peter L. Berger.
You may think that you know what goes on everyday in the world around you, but sociology can help you see that world in an excitingly new light and discover things about yourself and others that may surprise you.
2. Society and Culture.
Barbie Doll Culture and the American Waistland, by Kamy Cunningham.
Every society has its own idea of what kind of woman is supposed to be beautiful. Barbie Doll represents the ideal of feminine beauty in U.S. society, and this has become a part of the American culture that strongly influences the lives of numerous American women and men.
3. Socialization.
Television Violence: The Power and Peril, by George Gerbner.
Many people, especially parents, have long been concerned about the harmful influences of TV violence on children. Research has produced answers to such questions as what exactly is the nature of that violence, how it affects children, and why the TV industry continues to portray violence on its shows.
4. Social Interaction in Everyday Life.
“Cooling Out” Men in Singles Bars and Nightclubs: Observations on the Interpersonal Survival Strategies of Women in Public Places, by David A. Snow, Cherylon Robinson, and Patricia L. McCall.
If a woman is not interested in a man who comes on to her, what will she do to put him off politely? Research has shown various strategies women use to extricate themselves from the sticky situation.
5. Groups and Organizations.
Bureaucracy in Process, by Peter M. Blau and Marshall W. Meyer.
Bureaucracies are well known for being impersonal, treating people as if they were objects. But bureaucracies can also be friendly and helpful to people they are supposed to serve.
6. Deviance and Control.
Topless Dancers: Managing Stigma in a Deviant Occupation, by William E. Thompson and Jackie L. Harred.
A great deal of social stigma is attached to topless dancing. Can those who make a living from it overcome the stigma? Yes, they can. In fact, as research has shown, they have developed certain techniques to achieve that objective.
7. U.S. and Global Stratification.
Why the Rich Are Getting Richer and the Poor Poorer, by Robert Reich.
The widened disparity between rich and poor can be attributed to such changes in society as the decline of manufacturing jobs that used to benefit the working class and the rise of computer technology that now benefits the higher social class. But increased competition with other countries in the global economy has also greatly contributed to the problem.
8. Race and Ethnicity.
Cyberghetto: Blacks Are Falling Through the Internet, by Fredrick L. McKissack, Jr.
In this new information age, African Americans are significantly less likely to own a computer when compared to white Americans. This problem can reinforce and perpetuate the general racial inequality in society and some ideas have thus been proposed to redress the problem.
9. Gender and Age.
If Men Could Menstruate, by Gloria Steinem.
Men have long kept their dominance over women by creating a culture that defines what men do as superior to what women do. To see how this cultural definition is arbitrary and illogical, just assume that men could menstruate, and you?ll see how men would define menstruation as a superior characteristic and brag of having it.
10. Families.
Mate Selection and Marriage Around the World, by Bron B. Ingoldsby.
In the United States and other Western societies, men and women have the freedom to marry anyone they have fallen in love with. But in some other societies, marriage takes place either by arrangement (in which parents choose the spouse for their children) or by capture (in which a woman is captured to become a bride).
11. Education and Religion.
In Search of the Sacred, by Barbara Kantrowitz.
As sociologist Alan Wolfe suggests in his 2001 book, Moral Freedom, a new culture has emerged in the United States in which individuals are expected to decide for themselves, rather than let social institutions and authorities dictate to them, what is right or wrong. Here you will see an illustration of this new culture in how Americans today tend to pick and choose elements of various religions to cobble together a “personal spirituality.”
12. The Economy and Politics.
The Big Tilt: Participatory Inequality in America, by Sidney Verba, Kay Lehman Schlozman, and Henry E. Brady.
The United States is widely known to be a democracy that serves the interests of various groups of citizens equally. Compared with the poor, however, the wealthy are much more likely to vote and engage in other political activities, so that they reap more benefits from the government.
13. Health and Population.
Cadaver Stories and the Emotional Socialization of Medical Students, by Frederic W. Hafferty.
To become a competent doctor, medical students do not simply attend lectures and hit the books to pick up as much medical knowledge as possible. They should also learn to control and manage their feelings in ways that assure success as a physician, such as being calm and objective in dealing with diseases no matter how horrifying they are. This kind of learning, called emotional socialization, often involves the telling and hearing of stories and jokes about cadavers.
14. Environment and Urbanization.
The Tragedy of the Commons, by Garrett Hardin.
Fresh air, clean rivers, and other environmental resources are public rather than private goods. But unfortunately many people tend to treat the environment as if it belonged to them alone. Thus, in abusing the environment to serve their self-interests, they produce environmental problems that hurt everybody, including themselves.
15. Collective Behavior, Social Movements, and Social Change.
How Will the Internet Change Society?, by Conrad L. Kanagy.
When we go online, we can communicate with others, get any information we want, and do many other things, all in ways different from the more traditional activities of writing and mailing letters, talking on the phone, or looking up information from books. Our online experiences may change society, culture, and social relationships in certain ways.
