Anabel
Sociology Villalobos, 1
Final
1. The methodological problem with this argument is that correlation does not imply causation.
The chart shows that as the number of pirates decreased, global temperatures increased. In fact,
the numbers are disordered on the x-axis. The argument is an example of logical fallacy when
assuming that correlation equals causation. The chart itself is not an argument; it is satire on
logical fallacy. Hence, the problem is accuracy as well.
2. Personal troubles occur within the character of the individual and the choice of the
individuals relations with others. Public Issues, on the other hand, go beyond local environment
of the individual and the range of the persons inner life. For example, in a large city if only one
man is unemployed, then that is his personal trouble. However, in a nation with thousands
unemployed, it becomes a public issue. Another example of a public trouble is a social security
benefit fraud because it becomes a loss of public revenues and support.
3. In the film Streetlife: The Invisible Family, shelters are highlighted as a solution to
homelessness in Utah. Institutionalized shelters align with the functionalist perspective. That is,
shelters are support systems that provide employment and job training. This is necessary and
efficient for the function of society because the homeless are exposed to volunteers or other
opportunities. Another solution is food banks. From the functionalist perspective, food banks
also provide jobs to people who work in them. Also, if people are healthy, then they are able to
get jobs and be efficient, which is functional for the economy, families and for society.
4. Hunter-gatherer societies tend to have non-hierarchical social structures. These societies have
no formal education system and children grow up with independence. Hence, we would not find
the same results as in Milgrams experiment. That is, there is no complex political systems and
there is little wealth or power to distribute among the members. Although a skilled hunter may
become a great man, there is no extensive power because these societies have collective
decision making, unlike Milgrams experiment, in which the doctor gave orders that were
obeyed.
5. From the functionalist perspective, it is necessary and efficient to have growing racial-ethnic
minority populations in the US. This generates diversity and less segregation in the US, to which
different cultures contribute to it. Although White Americans may soon be the minority group,
they will experience what it means to compete from the bottom position; functionalists believe it
is part of the process of social stratification.
6. Chambliss finds that in observing the two groups that The Saints were actually far more
deviant than The Roughnecks, but they got away with it because they were able to commit their
deviant acts outside of their home town and portray themselves as good citizens. Thus, public
portrayal of ones self may not represent ones private activities or values. The nature of
deviance is socially constructed. For example, the Roughnecks lacked mobility and thus,
committed deviant behaviors in public. Kohn explored differences in how parents raise their
children relative to their social class, finding that the lower class parents were most likely to
emphasize conformity whereas middle-class parents were more likely to emphasize creativity.
This demonstrates that values in children are socially constructed based on their parents own
values.
7. Institutional Discrimination refers to institutions of society that may function in such a way
that they produce unequal outcomes for different groups. It is a social process that intentionally
or not, protects the rights of the majority group. In the article Race and Class in the American
Criminal Justice System, David Cole argues that the criminal justice system, as an institution,
depends on inequality between race and class. Also, in Social Class and Parental Values, Melvin
Kohn discusses the institutional discrimination in family. He concludes that there is a difference
(disadvantage) between parents. For instance, middle-class parents value self-direction and
working-class parents value conformity to external authority. People of different classes are
raised differently and different opportunities.
8. According to Portes and Rumbaut in Immigrant America social class structure of the U.S
affects new immigrants and their chances of success through discrimination that they face and
also the view of a uniform assimilation process. From the article, The quality of the
newcomers and their chances for assimilation are sometimes portrayed as worse because of their
non-European past Also, immigrants experiences differ depending on where the immigrant
comes from and how society receives him or her, in which for some, the assimilation process is
smoother because society privileges some immigrants over others. Institutions central to shaping
their experiences are urban, socioeconomic, and education.
9. According to Cole, the US legal system relates to race and class inequalities in that poor and
minority citizens are disproportionately victimized by crime. Cole focused on respect or the
lack of respect. He believed that if the criminal justice system does not respect both the poor and
minorities by refusing to afford them equal justice then it would be illogical to expect these
underrepresented groups to show respect for the system in return. Cole mentions that our
criminal justice system affirmatively depends on inequality. Without race and class inequalities,
the privileged would not enjoy as much protection as they do. The evidence used is data, court
cases, infant mortality rates among whites (6.8 deaths per 1,000 live births) and the rate among
blacks (16.5 deaths per 1,000 births). The article also uses information from the U.S Dept. of
Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States.
10. From the functionalist perspective, reactionary social movements contribute to the wellbeing
of society because it embraces the aim of the past and brings back old values to the social
structure. For example, in the article Jihad vs. McWorld Barber mentions that Japan, for
instance, is culturally insistent on its own traditions. That is, Jihad is a concept moving back
towards previous values. A contemporary example of a reactionary social movement is the
antiabortion movement. This movement arose after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized most
abortion in Roe v. Wade and it aims to limit or get rid of the legality of abortion. This is an
example of reactionary movements because it wants to block social change and keep values that
have already been achieve.
11. Material culture is a physical or technological aspect of our lives; it is tangible and more
important to culture. Physical aspects of a culture relate to social change because they help
define members behaviors and perceptions. For instance, technology is a vital aspect of material
culture in todays United States. Students must learn how to use computers to survive in college.
Non-material refers to intangible customs, beliefs, and nonphysical ideas that people have about
their culture. This type of culture relates to social change because beliefs determine how the
culture responds to issues and events. Material culture changes easier and quicker. For example,
non-material culture is referred as cultural lag because it happens slower than material culture
(idea of not having sex before marriage changed slowly; whereas fashion styles change faster).
12.
In the article Doing Research with Streetcorner Crack Dealers, Jacobs uses different
methods of investigation. His argument is that the most accurate self-report designs are those
that ask questions regarding serious criminality and those that involve face-to-face data
collection. First off, he does research through observations and interactions among dealers over
the 22 month research period (data collected from interviews). This type of method is known as
ethnography, person-to-person interviews/research. Hence, Jacobs research was qualitative
research relative to his question of whether drug dealers are good source of information. The data
here is in the form of answers from interviews.
On the other hand, in his article Would You Hire an Ex-Convict, Pager does research
through field experiments. His argument is that as more young men enter the labor force from
prison, it becomes increasingly important to consider the impact of incarceration on the job
prospects of those coming out. Pager does a study design. He has four male auditors (testers),
two blacks and two whites. He randomly assigns criminal records and job openings. Testers
filled out responses and applications. He finds that criminal record is 40% larger for blacks than
whites and affects them more. His research is thus quantitative research and his data is terms of
numbers and percentages, as well as graphs/charts.
By using the method of ethnography, the strength is that it detailed. is However, its
weakness is that it generalizes. For example, for Jacobss observation, his research was detailed
because he interviewed people and was able to ask them personal questions and so forth. It was
weak information because he only interviewed a certain amount and that does not cover for the
entire population or group of people involved in his argument. For Pagers research, an
experiment is strong because you get data out of it. Its strength is also that experiments give you
tremendous amount of data for analysis. However, in experiments, you only get back what you
put in the model. For Jacobss paper, ethnography works because the only way he was able to get
research was by joining in the group and observing the criminals. This information may not be as
accurate. For Pagers research, doing the experiment reflected data but it might not always be
valid or as meaningful.
13.
Social change is any modification to the structure of a society, whereas globalization is
an increase in connectedness between societies. There are two different types of sources of social
change. Those are internal sources and external sources. Globalization is an external source that
is beyond the society itself. For example, from the reading Jihad vs. McWorld, Barber mentions
that McWorld refers to emphasis on connectedness in which geographical distance is becoming
less relevant. As an example, McDonalds are all over the world, bringing along culture. Also,
through both there is interconnectedness between societies. For instance, movements of goods,
services, money, ideas and values, lead to social change across the world. In Smiths
Transnational Network for Democratic Globalization, networks promote democratization.
Furthermore, from the film The Globalisation Tapes, differences in classes are
highlighted from the conflict perspective. Also, the world systems theory emphasizes the
relationship between countries (developing and advanced). The film discusses that globalization
and social change exploits natural resources of underdeveloped countries. Workers wanted to
change what they have.
For example, Womans suffrage movement is an example of a global social change. That
is because it extended womens right as in to vote and property ownership. This movement was
global because it took place in many countries, ranging from Asia to Europe and even Africa.
This change was a modification to the system of families, as well as society in general. A more
recent example is The Venus Project. This is an organization that advocates visions of the future
to improve society by moving towards a global design known as resource-based economy.
This is a recent example of global social change because it is trying to incorporate sustainable
cities to focus on the benefits on humanity.
Lastly, factors that are important in creating changes are class, income, inequalities,
GDP, and other factors that determine what level countries are in. For instance, the
modernization theory says that all countries are going on the same developmental stages and will
end up in postindustrial stage (the U.S. has reached that stage). This is thus a factor applied to
global social change.
14.
Institutions of government and economy interact to affect human population for growth
or decline. For instance, in the debt crisis and economic recession of the 1980squality of life
of the urban poor deteriorated. This is part of the governments failure to institute reforms. This
leads to high unemployment, which means that poor people do not have enough money to
support a large family. As a result of bad economic conditions, birth rates decline. However,
government social security and insurance plans are reasons to have many children. In Third
World countries, children care for the parents once they get old. High infant mortality rates are
major causes of high birth rates. This is because in developing countries, parents keep having
children because they cannot be sure that their children will survive to contribute to the family
economy. As a result of poverty, families tend to have more children, adding to the growth of
human population.
Moreover, through the interaction of government and the economy, there are regulations
set by the government, determining the distribution of goods and money. For instance, Malthus
argued that eventually, there will not be enough food for the growing population. However, the
problem is not the amount of food there is, but its distribution. Also, as you move from one type
of economy to the next, population changes (demographic transition). For instance, from
agriculture to industrial society, there is a trend of high birth rates and low death rates. This is
because the government established healthcare, better working conditions and because of a better
economy, had improving technology.
Overpopulation is a symptom of poverty. For example, because third world countries lack
institutions of support like social security, they rely on family for support. However, in the first
world, overpopulation causes poverty because you have to stretch your resources. As a result of
both casual logics, in the Hartman reading, there are solutions for overpopulation. For example,
neomalthusians are contemporary people going along with Malthusian logic and there solution is
to reduce population. For instance, reducing poverty reduces birth rates and so does reducing
patriarchy. This will help control population growth because women will have greater control
over their economic and social lives, sharing power equally with men. Thus, the solution to
overpopulation lies in the expansion of rights. That is, too many people have too little access to
resources. Too many women have too little control over their own reproduction. Thus, the
article points out two rights: to enjoy access to a decent standard of living and for women to
control their own reproduction.
Hartman offers these solutions because for instance, if women have control over how
many children they will have, then they may have access and time for an education. Hence, they
can get better jobs and tend to want fewer children. This will reduce population growth. Also, if
there is a more equal distribution of goods, peoples physical survival is ensured and children are
no longer their only source for security. As a result, it will help control overpopulation.
15.
According to Fosters The Ecological Crisis, institutions of government and economy
interact to affect the natural environment in terms of the effect on population, energy,
industrialization and urbanization. The causes of the environmental destruction are social and
historical based on demographic trends and technology. For example, because of advanced
economic development, birth rates eventually fell, producing growth rates close to replacement
level known as a demographic transition. However, in rich countries, environmental problems
are attributed to overpopulation. On average, usage of energy and other resources has been the
cause of industrialization.
Foster claims that Behind these changes in population and energy use lay the
fundamental changes in production that associated with industrialization and the development of
capitalism. The rapid growth of capitalism has had negative results in the environment, leading
to transformations in the division of labor. Hence, world manufacturing output has had effects of
on the destruction of third world production. That is, exponential growth has been accompanied
by growing problems of distribution. For example, because of government regulations or
interference, 75% of world production is absorbed by 25% of the worlds population living in the
industrial countries.
Moreover, economists believe that the worst effects of pollution are experienced in third
world cities because of unevenness or inequality between regions. That is, capitalism today is
driven by individual pursuing their own interests. Indeed, it is not overpopulation as much as
the development of an economic system that places economic growth and profits before all else
that hasbrought the world to the brink of ecological disaster.
Finally, the theoretical perspective that he emphasizes is more of the conflict view. That
is, he discusses inequalities of power and environmental problems. Problems mentioned are
degradation, pollution and global waste trade. From the conflict perspective, global stratification
occurs when differences in resources are apparent across the world. Also, production must
continue in order to keep profits coming; thus, must extract and more, which leads to pollution.
This differs from the other main macro-sociological perspectives in that the conflict view looks
at the imperfections and inequalities. The functionalist would argue that such interactions are
necessary because although we want to take less stuff out of the environment, we need them and
dump them back in. The interaction perspective would say that the government and the economy
interact by regulation vs. profit.