Sociology: Social Life and Social Issues - Hardcover

Beach, Stephen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 013488793X ISBN 13: 9780134887937

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 1999

Synopsis

Understanding the relevance of sociology to our everyday lives is critical today as never before. This book demonstrates that relevance, encouraging readers to consider their perspectives -- and those of others -- in daily life and in dealing with the broader issues. A compelling writing style, unique chapter organization, and incorporation of leading technology work together to convey the excitement of this dynamic field.

Examines what has changed over the past, primarily in the U.S., and discusses what those changes say about us as a society. Features Media and Technology boxes that raise issues of how media and advanced technology affect what we do, and how we make judgments and decisions based on what we see on TV. Includes Internet Exercises that reference issues or topics covered, sending readers to Web sites where they can explore opposing views of the same topic. Devotes a full chapter to crime, exploring it in depth as an outcome of deviance and as an institution.

About this title

About the Author:

Professor Linda L. Lindsey received her B.A. from the University of Missouri, St. Louis and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University. She is the author of Gender Roles: Sociological Perspectives, Third Edition, (Prentice Hall) and has also written various articles and conference papers on women in development, health and healthcare issues, refugees, internationalizing the sociology curriculum, and minority women in Asia, especially in China. Her major interest, both personally and professionally, is the developing world. She has traveled extensively in pursuing her research and teaching interests, especially in conjunction with the Asian Studies Development Program, a joint program of the East-West Center and University of Hawaii. While home in St. Louis she enjoys swimming and hiking and is active in community service groups focusing on advocacy concerning women and children. Dr. Lindsey is currently Professor of Sociology at Maryville University of St. Louis.

Professor Stephen Beach received his A.B. in history from Stanford University, where he participated in a six-month overseas study program in Germany. He received his M.A. and his Ph.D. in sociology from Duke University, having spent a year researching social movement dynamics in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His primary sociological specialties include the sociology of religion and social movements. His personal interests include film, folk and rock music, and progressive politics. He shares his apartment with a large grey cat named Murgatroyd. Professor Beach is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Kentucky Wesleyan College.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Sociology is about connections. The groups in which we live—our families, our peer groups, or our societies—connect us to one another in profound ways. We are also connected by the explosion of information technology and the Internet, still in its infancy, that has transformed the globe. At the same time, our membership in these groups creates a diversity that helps us explore and celebrate how and why we are different from people in other groups. We are diverse because we are female or male, African American or Native American, rich or poor, young or old, gay or straight. We are also diverse because we are Catholic or Muslim, urban or rural, born in the developed or developing world. Diversity is what's happening globally as well as in the United States. Groups are more diverse yet more connected to one another than at any other time in human history. The second edition of Sociology emphasizes this reality and encourages students to grasp the three-dimensional nature of these connections. The fundamental goal of the text is to take students on a sociological journey through the United States and across the globe that clearly shows how social diversity and social connections profoundly influence their lives.

TEXT FEATURES

Students become excited about sociology through the introductory course. We have developed a text that forges a partnership between professors who teach the course and their students, who are its ultimate beneficiaries. Through its distinctive approach to the field, its readability and its relevance to students' lives, the second edition of Sociology assists professors in developing the sociological imagination in their students by encouraging them to see all dimensions of sociology. Material is presented in ways that allow students to become active learners and help professors translate the sociological perspective to the classroom.

In telling sociology's story to students, each author brings over 20 years of teaching the introductory sociology course to a variety of students, in large and small classes, and at a variety of institutions. The text, therefore, is grounded in teaching. The following text features demonstrate this foundation.

New Features. Sociology, Second Edition, updates data in all content areas and reflects the most important trends currently affecting society.

• This edition enlarges the scope of global diversity. Sociology's message about diversity is contained in every chapter and easily discovered through many highlighted sections. These include discussing minority relations in Northern Ireland and Germany (Chapter 12), which emphasizes connections among religion, race, and nationality; profiling America's major religious groups according to gender, class, and race (Chapter 17); demonstrating the intersection of class and race in suburbia (Chapter 18); and understanding why linking race, class, and gender is a better way to explain health and mental illness (Chapter 19).
• There has been an explosion of research showing that sexuality is interwoven into the social fabric and that people experience sexuality according to the diverse groups to which they belong. To reflect this new research, a new chapter on sexuality is included in this edition. This chapter emphasizes material that is relevant to college students, such as the exploration of sexuality, the sexual double standard, date rape, and sexual violence.
• To highlight the emergence of the Internet as a major tool for teaching sociology, all chapters have a new Internet feature, Internet Connections, that can accompany lectures and serve as springboards for discussion.
• To focus on the applied side of sociology, new boxes on "Practicing Sociology" are featured.

Theoretical Applications. Theory is the core of sociology. The major sociological perspectives are introduced in Chapter 1 and are applied throughout the text. This edition reflects an expanded discussion of the feminist theoretical perspective and includes it throughout the text to extend coverage and explanations of diversity. Most chapters feature separate theory sections integrated with many research examples. Theoretical perspectives are applied repeatedly throughout the text. This approach helps students make connections between theory and their own lives, as reflected in the text's discussion of human sexuality (Chapter 7) and deviant behavior (Chapter 8). This text is thus both student friendly and sociologically rigorous.

Life Connections. Focusing on diversity, all chapters have a "Life Connections" section highlighting recent research on multicultural life in the United States. This material was carefully chosen to reflect the latest trends in the various social institutions that are especially relevant for college students. Topics include American socialization through family, peers, and media; how gender, race, and class affect socialization (Chapters 5, 11, and 12); college life as an exploration of sexuality (Chapter 7); why crime rates are dropping (Chapter 9); how schools are preparing to educate America's new majority, students of color (Chapter 16); and how social movement activists are trained (Chapter 23).

Society Connections. Students are also shown the relevance of the sociological perspective by connecting broader social issues to their personal lives, as found in the "Society Connections" sections in all chapters. Many of these sections also highlight the global context of personal lives, regardless of where we call home. Issues such as sexual harassment (Chapter 6), welfare reform (Chapter 10), the crisis in health care (Chapter 19), and population control (Chapter 21) are discussed. These sections remind students that they are connected to one another through social groups—whether members of the groups or not—and that groups often clash when they have different visions of diversity and social change.

Emerging Institutions. Social change is transforming the globe. Sociology, Second Edition, highlights important trends that are engines for change through the creation of new social institutions. Chapter 18 shows government and the economy converging into a new and powerful social institution, the political economy. In Chapter 20, we witness the evolution of new institutions based on sports and media that serve leisure needs. Social change is also occurring on a social psychological level; examples include how girls and boys are socialized differently (Chapter 5) and how children interact with peers from the other gender (Chapter 6).

Focus on the Developing World. The spotlight of global interdependence is now on the developing world. This text offers current information on social change and development derived from a variety of sources, including the World Bank, the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations throughout the world. This material provides insights into a host of issues, such as why crime rates vary cross-culturally (Chapter 9), how women are affected by economic development programs (Chapter 13), how population growth and urbanization affect the environment (Chapter 21), and why some nations choose to actively resist modernization (Chapter 24).

TEACHING TOOLS

Sociology, Second Edition, offers a variety of innovative teaching tools located throughout the text to help students see the relevance of course material to their own lives.

Boxed Features. Every chapter includes features that provide in-depth views of relevant topics based on recent research. These features end with critical thinking questions that serve as springboards for class discussion. There are five types of features in this edition.

• U.S. in Focus features present data and issues relevant to the United States, many with a focus on diversity. Examples include: "The Sexualization of America," "Informal Social Control: Shunned at Berkeley," "African Americans Move Back South," "America's Violent Schools," and "Up in Smoke: The Cigar Craze."
• Practicing Sociology features show how sociological knowledge can be applied to a variety of settings, including the workplace. Examples include: "What Can I Do with a Degree in Sociology?"; schools, "Pygmalion in the Classroom"; and corporations, "The Business of Consumer Research."
• Then & Now features highlight historical facts to show students connections between social change and modern life. For example, the effect of diversity on contemporary sociology is discussed in "Rediscovering Sociology's Diverse Roots," "The Tuskegee Experiment" views changing research ethics, and "Childhood Innocence or a World of Little Adults?" discusses how the meaning of childhood has been transformed. Other features that college students will find especially interesting are "Changing Styles of Campus Deviance," "Women's Basketball: Before & After Title IX," and "Careers in the 21st Century."
• Media Connections features highlight the growing influence of the information age on our attitudes and behavior. Examples include how a traditional culture made use of the media to save itself from extinction, "The Kayapo Meet the Press"; the influence of media on our self-image and our views of others, "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"; controversies about popular music, "Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll"; and the increasing use of the Internet by the elderly in "Senior citizen.com."
• Global Connections features offer comparative perspectives on important issues that may affect us differently depending on our culture, such as euthanasia, "Planning for Death in the Netherlands"; the pressure to achieve, "Examination Hell in Japan"; and the difference that social class makes, "Upper-Middle Class Culture in the U.S. and France." Global Connections boxes also allow students to use other cultures as mirrors to discover what they. take for granted in their own cultures. Examples include women and religion, "Rediscovering the Feminine Face of God"; women as a commodity, "Dowry and the Worth of a New Bride"; and how religion impacts all parts of life, "Religious Law in Iran."

Diversity Data. All chapters include graphs illustrating current data from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) General Social Survey. These graphs are strategically placed to complement and extend chapter material. Each graph is summarized and includes critical thinking questions allowing students to explore various sociological interpretations of the data. The diversity data feature emphasizes the ways in which race, class, and gender affect a person's attitudes. Graphs also show the interactive effects of multiple types of diversity. Examples include level of support for busing by race; the influence of age and gender on health; how age and race influence attitudes about urban spending; and whether belief in God varies by gender and race.

Internet Connections. In every chapter, placed to coincide with chapter content, students are offered creative Internet-based exercises. The Internet offers an amazing array of sociological material that both student and professor will find exciting, such as Web sites devoted to the exotic Nacireman culture, to the surprising habits of the baby boom generation, and to how colleges are ranked by quality.

Key Terms. Key terms are highlighted in each chapter, reviewed in other chapters, and defined in a glossary at the end of the book. The book also introduces a number of newer concepts and theories that are emerging in the sociological literature, such as end-point fallacy, classism, non-governmental organizations, gender schema theory, and rational choice theory.

Critical Thinking Questions. Found at the end of each chapter and in all boxes, Internet, and Diversity Data features, these thought-provoking questions move beyond description and allow students to apply their sociological imaginations in a variety of ways. For example, students may be asked to demonstrate how the same research can be explained by different theories. These questions can be easily adapted as the basis for class discussion and debating points for an entire chapter.

Sociology, Second Edition, interweaves a distinctive approach to sociology focusing on social connections and diversity with learning tools explicitly designed to engage students and make sociology relevant to their lives. As symbolized by the interwoven multicolored ribbons used as a design element, the text emphasizes sociology's central lesson: we are irrevocably connected to one another.

The ancillary materials that accompany Sociology, Second Edition, have been carefully created to enhance the topics being discussed. Please contact your school's Prentice Hall representative for more information or to order copies for your classroom use upon adoption.

FOR THE INSTRUCTOR

Instructor's Resource Manual. For each chapter in the text, this resource provides a detailed outline, list of objectives, discussion questions, and additional activities.

Test Item File. This carefully prepared resource, available in both print and computerized form, includes 2,400 questions—100 per chapter—in multiple choice, true/false, and essay formats. The answers to all questions are page-referenced to the text. Prentice Hall Custom Test is a computerized test generator designed to allow the creation of personalized exams. It is available in Windows and Macintosh formats. Prentice Hall also provides a test preparation service to users of this text that is as easy as one call to our toll-free 800 number.

Film/Video Guide, 6/E. This helpful guide describes films and videos appropriate for classroom viewing for each of the chapters in the text (more than 200 suggestions in all). The Guide also provides summaries, discussion questions, and rental sources for each film and video.

Prentice Hall Color Transparencies: Sociology Series VI. Full color illustrations, charts, other visual materials, including all of the Diversity Data graphs, from the text as well as outside sources have been selected to make up this useful in-class tool.

Prentice Hall Instructor's Guide to Transparencies, Series VI. This guide offers suggestions for using each transparency effectively in the classroom.

Prentice Hall Introductory Sociology Power Point Slides. Created by Roger J. Eich of Hawkeye Community College, this PowerPoint slide set combines graphics and text in a colorful format to help convey sociological principles in a new and exciting way. Created in PowerPoint, an easy-to-use widely available software program, this set contains over 300 content slides keyed to each chapter in the text.

ABC News/Prentice Hall Video Library for Sociology. Prentice Hall and ABC News are working together to bring you the best and most comprehensive video ancillaries available for your introductory course. Selected video segments from award-winning ABC News programs such as Nightline, ABC World News Tonight, and 20/20 accompany topics featured in each chapter. In addition, an instructor's guide to the vi...

About this edition

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 013488793X
• ISBN 13: 9780134887937
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 733