Everyday Sociology Blog

Everyday Sociology Talk: Robert Sampson on the Importance of Neighborhoods

Karen Sternheimer recently interviewed Robert Sampson about his new book, Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect.

 

For more videos, visit www.youtube.com/nortonsoc

The Crime Fiction Sociologist

By Shawn Van Valkenburgh

Instructor, Allan Hancock College

Recently I have become obsessed with mystery novels—the kind I am slightly embarrassed to read in front of my more learned peers—and I have started to notice is that there are parallels between the work that a crime fiction detective will do and the work of sociologists.

Praxis

By Wayne Martin Mellinger

Instructor, Antioch University

Our society, our species and our planet face a number of severely grave problems that threaten our survival. Social injustice, including all forms of hatred and oppression, along with ecologically unsustainable practices, dominate our lives. The number of people living in poverty is increasing. The levels of racism, sexism and other forms of structural violence tend to intensify as the economy falters. Climate change, pollution, and the misuse of our natural resources have already devastated our planet’s ecology to such an extent that some scientists predict that we only have a few years to turn the situation around.

Marketing, Cancer and Health

By Janis Prince Inniss

What do the following items have in common?

Yogurt Mugs Caps and hats Blow dryers Curling irons Flat irons Cars

Bracelets Key chains Blenders Bags Sunglasses Men’s designer shirts Buckets of fried chicken

Give up? Actually, the list could be much longer. These are just some of the items available for purchase that are associated with breast cancer awareness as indicated by their pink colors. I guess the list would be much shorter if I thought about where I have not seen the ubiquitous pink ribbon or “pink washed” items.

Homeless Vets

By Karen Sternheimer

Homeless people tend to be among the most denigrated in American society. Many consider homelessness to be the result of personal failure, a refusal to work and be productive citizens.

By contrast, we tend to think highly of members of the armed forces, celebrate them on Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day, and see public service announcements on television thanking them for their service. Veterans are American heroes who risk their lives for our freedom and prosperity.

It Takes a Village—To Create Binge Drinkers

By Sally Raskoff

How much do you take for granted as common sense? Are there some things out there in the world that you know are true not because they have been studied scientifically but because something just seems logical and everyone knows it’s true?

Sociology teaches us to be cautious about such “truisms.” Some of the time, those common sense notions are wrong! But we won’t know unless someone studies them, and then someone else replicates that study, and someone else tests it yet again, and so on. We do this until we’re pretty clear that most of the time, we know what’s going on. And then, yes, we need to do another study to see if what we knew is still accurate.

Prohibition, Moral Panics, and Social Control

By Karen Sternheimer

Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns recently produced a documentary on Prohibition, an American law passed in the early twentieth century banning the sale of alcohol nationwide. Not only important in the study of history, Prohibition offers a fascinating sociological study in the concepts of moral panics and social control.

Victimization and Conformity: Just Following Orders?

By Janis Prince Inniss

A few years ago, an 18-year-old McDonald’s employee was working the late shift at the fast-food restaurant when her 51-year-old assistant manager received a telephone call from someone who identified himself as a police officer, “Officer Scott”. The police officer accused the 18-year-old of stealing and told the manager search the young woman; her pockets were emptied and her car keys and cell phone were confiscated and put into the manager’s car.

Everyday Sociology Talk: Nikki Jones and the Meaning of "Ghetto"

Karen Sternheimer interviews sociologist Nikki Jones about her book, Between Good and Ghetto: African American Girls and Inner-City Violence.

For more videos, go to www.youtube.com/nortonsoc

 

The Sociology of Work

By Matt Vidal

Kings College, London

Since his recent untimely death, Apple co-founder and design guru Steve Jobs has been exalted to the level of a cult hero by an outpouring of fans on social media and many commentators in the traditional news media. Under Jobs’ direction, Apple launched a series of hi-tech products that were not only trailblazing but also retained both a coolness factor and a user-friendliness that rival companies have yet to even mimic, let alone surpass.