Stark Sociology 1301 Chapter 2

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Stark Sociology 1301 Chapter 2

• Concepts of Social and Cultural Theories
• The concept of Society
• Society refers to any relative self-contained and
  self-sufficient group of human beings united by
  social relationships.

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Society

• A distinct social boundary, often geographic
• members know to which society they belong
• not all societies are nations, many small
  preliterate groups are societies but not nations.
  Some nations include several societies

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Social Structural Concepts

• Social Structure a characteristic of a group
  rather than an individual. p. 36-37
• population density
• age composition
• stratification-unequal distribution of value
  property, power and prestige
• Classes
• Upward mobility-factory worker becomes a banker
• Downward mobility-engineers son becomes a shift
  worker

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Status

• Status is the position or rank of a person or
  group in the stratification structure
• Achieved status person placed within the
  stratification structure based on individual
  merit or achievement
• Ascribed status position is derived primarily
  through inheritance/fixed on the basis of family
  background or genetic inheritance racial,
  ethnic, religious differences and gender.

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Networks the strength of weak ties Mark
Granovetter, 1973

• Tie link or relationship for the purposes of
  spreading information
• Weak ties are stronger or more effective
• A redundant tie is one that duplicates links
  among members
• Structural holes are unlike pairs that show up on
  the network as blank space.
• Bridge ties links across network holes.
• Bridge position a person who has bridge ties

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Local and Cosmopolitan Networks

• Local networks are dense with strong redundant
  ties. Members engage in direct, person-to-person
  interaction. Members tend to be clustered
  geographically.
• Cosmopolitan networks, relatively full of holes,
  weaker nonredundant ties. Members seldom engage
  in face-to-face interaction, scattered
  geographically

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Would you buy a car from this man?

• Paul DiMaggio and Hugh Lough 1998 found that
  buyers of houses and cars wanted to buy from a
  friend/relative, to get a good deal while sellers
  preferred not to sell to friends/relatives.

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Culture

• Culture is the sum of human creations
  -intellectual, technical, artistic, physical,
  moral. Culture is the complex pattern of living
  that directs human social life, the things each
  new generation must learn and to which they
  eventually add.
• Societies consist of structures and cultures
  consist of the content
• Culture directs human social life, the things
  that each generation learns, the code or
  blueprint of society Daniel Chirot 1994

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Cultural Concepts

• Values Ideals or ultimate aims general
  evaluative standards about what is desirable
• Norms Rules that define the behavior that is
  expected, required or acceptable in particular
  circumstances
• Role a set of expectations governing the behavior
  of persons holding a particular position in
  society a set of norms that defines how persons
  in particular position should behave

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Multiculturalism and Subcultures

• Multiculturalism one society may include several
  quiet distinct cultures immigrants have created a
  cultural mosaic, retaining elements of their
  native cultures Subculture-a culture within a
  culture, retaining a distinctive set of beliefs,
  morals, customs

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Prejudice, Assimilation and Accommodation

• Prejudice -negative or hostile beliefs or
  attitudes about socially identified set of
  persons
• Discrimination- actions taken against a socially
  defined set of people to deny members
  collectively of rights and privileges
• Assimilation- adjustment by adopting the
  prevailing culture to fit in/ disappear
• Accommodation-two groups are able to ignore
  important cultural differences and emphasize
  common interests instead

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Modernization and Globalization

• Modernization refers to the process of
  industrialization, economic development,
  technological innovation-through which a culture
  sustains a high standard of living and maximizes
  control over the physical environment
• Globalization as societies modernize,and develop
  global communications and a global economy a
  global culture is theorized

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Jews and Italians in North America Prejudice and
Discrimination

• Immigration commission-"Keep the "racial inferior
  stock out 1870's 55,00 Italian immigrants to US
  1880's 300,000 Italian immigrants 1890's 650,000
  Italian immigrants Both settled in the urban East
  Henry Gannett, The Building of a Nation,
  1895"Objectionable elementsflocked to our
  largest cities . . .in a position to do the most
  harm by corruption and violence" Anti-Semitism
  -prejudice and discrimination against Jews.

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Prejudice and Discrimination cont.

• Giovanni Caboto, the first emigrant in
  Canada/John Cabot, an Italian in English Crown
  Service
• Dagos, wops, guineas-Madison Grant, 1916
• The Passing of the Great Race
• 1921 immigration quotas remained till 1965- Great
  Britain, 65, 621 Germany 25, 927, Italy at 5,
  802, No Africans could enter and most Asians were
  excluded

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Assimilation and Accommodation of Jews and
Italians

• Intermarriage
• lt50 US with Italian ancestry married someone of
  another ethnic background
• Jewish intermarriage rates are lower in both
  Canada and US, as all tend to marry within their
  religion
• Accommodation-large subcultures exist, neither
  have changed their religion however there is more
  religious tolerance

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Theorizing about ethnic mobility

• Cultural theory Humans are shaped by their
  cultures, following cultural norms. Ex. Italian
  men will remove their hats when they enter a
  church, Jewish men will cover their heads.
• Sociologists propose that Jewish values of
  learning, their norms of educational achievement
  and immense respect given to the role of scholar
  led to success
• Italians valued family loyalty, norms led them to
  drop out of school, the importance of the father
  made their culture slow to change

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Social Theory Stephen Steinberg, 1970's
questioned whether Jews and Italians had starts

• Among first-generation immigrants, status in
  their new society will be determined in large
  measure by their status in their former society
  ...their average status in the old society will
  reflect their average status in the old society.
• Jews -highly skilled occupational backgrounds, as
  printers, jewelers, tailors, watchmakers, cigar
  makers
• Although they arrived poor they came with
  marketable skills. They were literate
• Similar to the Cuban refugees who came to escape
  Castro in the 50's and the professional
  Vietnamese in the 70's

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Reference Groups and Italian Traditionalism

• 1981 Steinberg's The Ethic Myth Race, Ethnicity
  and Class in America. Among first generation
  immigrants, status in their new society will be
  determined in large measure by their status in
  their former society.2/3 of Jewish immigrants
  worked in skilled crafts contrasted to 15
  southern Italians.
• Joel Penman 1988-even if statistical techniques
  give Jewish and Italian children an even start
  the Jewish children were still much more likely
  to enter high school, graduate, and take good
  jobs
• Most Italian immigrants came due to high wages
  for unskilled labor.Planned to return to Italy
  with Money. Most were young males, only 21 were
  female, only 12 were under the age of 14.

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Immigrants continue to view Italy as home and as
their reference group

• Andrew Greeley, 1991
• 1) Italian Americans differ in terms of living
  arrangements, amount of interaction among family
  members and reliance on family members for help
  and financial aid.
• 2) Italians living in Italy will differ from
  other European in the same way
• 3) Italians will closely resemble people in Italy
  in terms of family culture
• He found the unique Italian family style does not
  seem to have changed