The Meaning of Sociology A Reader

by Charon, Joel M.; Vigilant, Lee Ga

• ISBN13: 9780135157862
• ISBN10: 0135157862
• Edition: 9th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-03-11
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This classic reader captures the excitement inherent in the field of sociology with 56 classic and contemporary selections from a wide variety of authors and sources. The reader is organized around basic sociological concepts and connects these concepts to the study of Sociology or our world.

Author Biography

Joel M. Charon, Professor Emeritus, Minnesota State University Moorhead Lee Garth Vigilant, Associate Professor, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
The Discipline of Sociology	p. 1
Sociology as a Passion to Understand	p. 2
The Sociological Imagination	p. 8
Critical Thinking About Statistics	p. 13
Generalizing, Stereotyping, and Social Science	p. 17
Religious Fundamentalism: A Sociological Study	p. 24
The Perspective of Sociology: Humans as Social Beings	p. 29
Social Identity	p. 30
The Importance of Primary Groups	p. 33
Presentation of Self in Everyday Life	p. 38
Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple	p. 43
Collective Trauma at Buffalo Creek	p. 49
The Meaning and the Importance of the City	p. 56
Society, Social Control, and the Individual	p. 61
Social Structure	p. 67
Pathology of Imprisonment	p. 68
If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? Probably	p. 71
The Mai Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience	p. 76
Gender as Structure	p. 88
Four Modes of Inequality	p. 94
Social Structure: Class	p. 107
The New American Class Structure	p. 108
The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All	p. 117
Class in Everyday Life	p. 121
Inequality in Europe and the United States	p. 126
The Polarization of Class in the World	p. 134
Social Structure: Race and Ethnicity	p. 139
Race, Wealth, and Equality	p. 140
Occupational Opportunities and Race	p. 148
Punishment and Inequality in America	p. 156
Yellow Face: Asian Americans in Popular Culture	p. 160
Children of Immigrants: Adaptation and Identity	p. 168
Social Structure: Gender	p. 179
The Meaning of Gender	p. 180
The Working Wife as an Urbanized Peasant	p. 190
What Marriage Means	p. 200
The Betrayal of the American Man	p. 210
Culture	p. 219
Culture: A Sociological View	p. 220
The Code of the Street	p. 225
American Culture: Individualism and Community	p. 227
The American Dream	p. 236
Social Institutions: Economic and Political	p. 247
The Meaning and Origin of Social Institutions	p. 248
The Institution of Capitalism	p. 251
The Rise of Big Business in the United States	p. 258
The Dominance of the Corporation	p. 262
Government Programs and Social Cohesion	p. 269
Liberal Democracy and Democratic Culture	p. 277
Social Institutions: Familial, Religious, Educational	p. 285
Family in Transition, 2007	p. 286
Family Life and Economic Success	p. 294
Unequal Childhoods	p. 301
The Meaning of Religion	p. 311
Religious Diversity in America	p. 313
The Shame of the Nation	p. 321
The Culture of the School	p. 329
Social Change	p. 339
Class, Social Conflict, and Social Change	p. 340
Society and Change	p. 345
Social Movements and Social Change	p. 347
American Social Trends	p. 353
Globalization	p. 364
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.