0005 SOC - Week 6
Turner Chapters 8, 9
Salvatore J. Babones Department of Sociology University of Pittsburgh Copyright 2007
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SOCIAL INTEGRATION IN THE UNITED STATES IS VERY POOR COMPARED TO OTHER COUNTRIES (United Nations data - per 100,000 population - 2005)
Country Swaziland Colombia South Africa Jamaica Guatemala Estonia Latvia Lithuania New Guinea Ukraine Thailand Kyrgyzstan Moldova United States Zambia Philippines Barbados Seychelles Zimbabwe Argentina Poland Georgia Uruguay Cte d'Ivoire Bulgaria Yemen Armenia Finland Azerbaijan Dominica Homicide Rate 88.6 62.7 51.4 33.7 25.5 10.4 10.0 10.0 9.1 8.9 8.5 8.4 8.1 8.1 7.9 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.2 7.2 5.6 4.8 4.6 4.1 4.1 4.0 3.3 2.9 2.8 2.7 Country Slovakia Romania Portugal Malaysia Macedonia Mauritius Hungary Korea, Republic Slovenia France Iceland Czech Republic England & Wales Canada Australia Chile Italy Spain Tunisia New Zealand Germany Netherlands Norway Denmark Indonesia Switzerland Singapore Greece Hong Kong Japan Homicide Rate 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.0 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.8 0.6 0.5
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THE TWO MAIN PROCESSES OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION ARE SOCIALIZATION AND SOCIAL CONTROL
SOCIALIZATION (Chapter 8) instills in individuals the basic components of personality that encourage them to voluntarily participate in society
"Everything I needed to know in life I learned in kindergarten" People are emotionally programmed from an early age to be pro-social
SOCIAL CONTROL (Chapter 9) mechanisms are involuntary incentives for individuals to participate in society whether they want to or not
Social control consists of both carrot and stick approaches
People are continually sanctioned for anti-social behavior
Both socialization and social control contribute to social integration
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Turner Chapter 8 - Socialization
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THE FORCES OF SOCIALIZATION MOVE FROM BIOLOGICAL TO SOCIAL PROCESSES OVER THE LIFE COURSE
Infants have "hard-wired" biological needs for human contact
Infants and young children are socialized mainly within the family
Children and adults are most strongly socialized by interactions with "significant others"
Interaction in primary groups exerts more influence on personality than interaction in secondary groups
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TURNER IDENTIFIES SIX MAIN PERSONALITY COMPONENTS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIALIZATION
BIOLOGICAL HERITAGE
ROLE-PLAYING SKILLS
SELF-CONCEPTION
MOTIVE-STATES
EMOTIONAL RESPONSES
CULTURAL DIRECTIVES - the socialization of individuals into the collective consciences of the societies in which they live
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Turner Chapter 9 - Social Control
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WHERE SOCIALIZATION FAILS, SOCIAL CONTROL STEPS IN
Forces of disorder in society include population size, social differentiation, and social inequality
High POPULATION societies may develop subcultures with conflicting cultural directives simply because members of society have little contact with each other
Highly DIFFERENTIATED societies are also likely to have many conflicting cultural directives among groups in society
High INEQUALITY societies create material incentives for anti-social behavior
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POPULATION SIZE IS NOT A VERY IMPORTANT FORCE OF SOCIAL DISORDER ONCE POPULATIONS REACH A MILLION OR MORE
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SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION IS ACTUALLY MORE A FORCE FOR SOCIAL INTEGRATION (SPENCER) THAN A FORCE OF DISORDER (TURNER)
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INEQUALITY, HOWEVER, IS DEFINITELY A FORCE THAT UNDERMINES SOCIAL INTEGRATION - IT IS THE MAIN CAUSE OF SOCIAL DISORDER
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THE EFFECT OF INEQUALITY IS EVEN STRONGER WHEN WE CONTROL FOR POPULATION SIZE AND SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION
In a statistical model controlling for population size, national income, and inequality all at the same time, the resulting correlations with murder are:
Population size: -.033 (murders go DOWN with larger population) National income: -.429 (murders go DOWN with increasing differentiation) Inequality: +.459 (murders go UP with rising inequality)
This suggests that inequality is the most important force for social disorder
Countries that have lower inequality levels have higher levels of social integration
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AMERICA, WITH HIGH INCOME BUT ALSO HIGH INEQUALITY, IS NOT A VERY TRUSTING COUNTRY
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WE'RE ALSO LIKELY TO BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF US - BUT NOT SO MUCH AS MIDDLE EASTERNERS
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CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL THEORISTS WERE MAINLY CONCERNED WITH MACRO LEVEL FORCES OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION
Spencer: individuals are integrated ECONOMICALLY into an organic society
Marx: the GOVERNMENT monopoly of power maintains the existing social order
Durkheim: the CULTURAL directive of the collective conscience holds society together
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MICRO LEVEL FORCES, HOWEVER, MAY BE MORE IMPORTANT
SOCIALIZATION reduces the need for social control
Micro-level forces of social control then continually reinforce pro-social behavior
SANCTIONING is the continual punishment of anti-social activities in all realms of life
RITUALS (religious and secular) are stereotyped behaviors that are constantly repeated that reinforce social order
SEGREGATION OF ACTIVITIES separates potentially incompatible activities in space and time to reduce conflict in society
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THERE ARE ALSO INTERMEDIARY, OR MESO LEVEL, AGENTS OF SOCIAL CONTROL
ORGANIZATIONS are the primary meso-level agents of social control
TOTAL INSTITUTIONS are used to segregate who those behave anti-socially
REINTEGRATION STRUCTURES are used to "correct" anti-social behavior
SAFETY-VALVE ORGANIZATIONS provide a semi-legitimate outlet for some anti-social behavior
COMMUNITIES also act as agents of social control
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SOCIALIZATION AND SANCTIONING OCCUR AT ALL THREE LEVELS OF SOCIETY TO PROMOTE SOCIAL INTEGRATION
Micro-level forces of social control promote pro-social values, beliefs, and norms
Families SOCIALIZE children into pro-social values like respect for others Friends and acquaintances SANCTION individuals for holding deviant values
Meso-level forces of social control continually reinforce beliefs and norms
Organizations SOCIALIZE their members into conforming practices Communities SANCTION individuals who do not conform to community standards
Macro-level forces of social control resort to force to enforce behavioral norms
Markets SOCIALIZE participants by rewarding compliance with behavioral norms
Governments SANCTION citizens by punishing them for not following behavioral norms
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ON THE OTHER HAND, POLICE FORCE IS NOT VERY EFFECTIVE AS A MEANS OF SOCIAL CONTROL
Homicides as a Measure of Social Cohesion
100
90
Swaziland
80
Homicides per 100,000 population
70
60
Columbia South Africa
50
40
Jamaica
30
UNITED STATES: 8 PITTSBURGH: 23 AFRICAN-AMERICAN: 31
Guatemala
20
10
0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 Police per 100,000 population
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SOCIAL DEVIANCE IS BEHAVIOR THAT VIOLATES THE WIDELY ACCEPTED NORMS THAT UNDERLIE A SOCIETY'S CULTURAL DIRECTIVE
Note that DEVIANCE is defined behaviorally (with regard to norms)
Contravening society's value and belief systems is usually not defined as deviance Acting on uncommon values or beliefs is what defines deviance
Just what is deviant behavior depends on the setting
Remember that norms are situational (and role) specific Shouting "Here we go" on Forbes Ave after a playoff victory is normative for students Shouting "Here we go" in the middle of Societies class is deviant
Deviance is also culture-specific
What is deviant in one society is normative in another (for example, dreadlocks) What is deviant in one subculture is normative in another (for example, tattoos)
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DEVIANT OR NOT DEVIANT?
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DEVIANT OR NOT DEVIANT?
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DEVIANT OR NOT DEVIANT?
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DEVIANT OR NOT DEVIANT?
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DEVIANT OR NOT DEVIANT?
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WHO'S DEVIANT HERE?
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AMERICAN SOCIOLOGIST ROBERT K. MERTON FORMALIZED DURKHEIM'S CONCEPT OF ANOMIE INTO A FUNCTIONALIST THEORY OF DEVIANCE
Deviant behavior is most common when people do not have the means to achieve the goals they believe in - which results in STRUCTURAL STRAIN
Cultural goals accept accept reject reject create Institutionalized means accept reject accept reject create Mode of adaptation Conformity Innovation Ritualism Retreatism Rebellion Examples "normal" people criminals, scammers "defeated" people addicts, dropouts, slackers protesters, exteme hobbyists
Goals may be based on either cultural (conformist, innovator) or counter-cultural (ritualist, retreatist) beliefs
Merton places special emphasis on rebels, who he thought were responsible for moving societies forward
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OTHER THEORIES OF DEVIANCE PUT LESS EMPHASIS ON INDIVIDUAL CHOICE AND EMPHASIZE INSTEAD SOCIETY'S ROLE
LABELING and CONFLICT theories suggest that societies create deviance
People at the bottom of the social hierarchy are LABELED deviant The behaviors they engage in are thus defined as deviant behaviors
There is good empirical support for this approach: behaviors associated with almost every low-SES group in society are labeled deviant
African-American culture
Mexican-American culture Youth culture
The existence of high-SES deviance though suggests that both functionalist (Merton) and conflict/labeling approaches are partially true
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WHAT WE DEFINE AS DEVIANT BEHAVIOR IS CERTAINLY MOST COMMON IN LOW-SES GROUPS
Smoking during pregnancy, by highest level of education completed:
3% of college graduate women 12% of high school graduate women 48% of high school dropout women
Source: National Center for Health Statistics
Percent of children living in various family arrangements, by race:
% of Children Living With: Two parents One parent No parent
Source: Census Bureau
NH White 78% 19% 3%
NH Black 39% 51% 10%
Hispanic 69% 26% 4%
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BUT MANY MILDLY DEVIANT BEHAVIORS BUCK THIS TREND
Regular smoking (adjusted for age and sex):
14% of Hispanics 23% of non-Hispanic whites 23% of non-Hispanic blacks
Source: National Health Interview Survey
Binge drinking (adjusted for age and sex):
17% of Hispanics 23% of non-Hispanic whites
13% of non-Hispanic blacks
Source: National Health Interview Survey
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STUDY QUESTIONS FOR RECITATION . . .
1. Find three photos that capture socialization in action. They can be personal photos or photos from the Internet. Print these and bring them to recitation.
2. Find three photos that capture social control in action. They can be personal photos or photos from the Internet. Print these and bring them to recitation.
3. What about these photos captures the concepts they depict?
4. Are there any common threads running through the socialization photos? The social control photos?
5. Are there any underlying traits that the socialization and social control photos all capture in common?
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