Sociology 101
Introduction to Sociology
Fall 2003
Dr Scott SchafferJournal Article Critique Paper - due F Oct 31/2003
Articles that are fair game for the paper include the following...
Please note: All of the articles (unless otherwise listed) are in PDF (Adobe Acrobat Reader) format. To save them, right-click on the link, then select "Save Link As..." or "Download Link to Disk." The HTML article can be saved in the same way. Most of the files are approximately 2MB to 3MB in size, so download them from a high-speed connection if you can.
Abstract: Over the last half century, social life throughout much of the world has been reconstituted around individualized
persons, conceived to embody ultimate authority over their own lives. As individuals have become more central to
society, and as models of individuated personhood have been claimed by women as well as by men, many changes have
ensued, including a dramatic transformation of sex. Sex has ceased to be dominantly associated with the family and
procreation and has come to be associated with the individual and pleasure. One expression of this shift is
the recent rise and public legitimation of same-sex sexual relations. Gay and lesbian social movements have appeared
worldwide, and many nation-states have liberalized their policies on homosexual relations. Using regression models
on cross-national data, we show that (1) high levels of individualization and gender equality provide a
"cultural opportunity structure" that gives rise to active lesbian and gay social movements and liberalized
state policies on same-sex relations and that (2) active lesbian and gay social movements and liberal state
policies each facilitate the other. Competing explanations for the changes, such as economic development and
democratization, receive little support.Abstract: Recent theories addressing the impact of neighborhood socioeconomic status on family formation are integrated
with a broader theoretical literature specifying the conditions under which local neighborhood conditions influence social behavior in order to develop hypotheses relating neighborhood disadvantage to the timing of first marriage. Event-history analyses of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for 1969-93 show that, among whites, residing in a disadvantaged neighborhood hastens the entry into first marriage, while among blacks, neighborhood disadvantage delays marital entry. Among whites, the positive impact of neighborhood disadvantage on marriage probabilities declines with age. Among blacks, the inverse effect of neighborhood disadvantage on marital timing declines with length of residence in the neighborhood. Only among white males does the impact of neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage decline significantly between 1969 and 1993. Moreover, for white males, the effect of neighborhood SES is weaker for metropolitan than for nonmetropolitan residents and is stronger for long-term than for short-term neighborhood residents.Abstract: In this analysis we examine how women's family and employment choices are linked to differences in financial
security as they age. Previous research has tested theories of growing inequality, decreasing inequality, or maintained inequality as cohorts transition into old age. We assess these hypotheses for older women and emphasize the heterogeneity in women's experiences, particularly differences in income security among women by race. Our findings indicate that, although marriage offers women considerable financial protection, their own employment was also a key to their security and reduced the rate at which income security decayed as they entered old age. This increased the variation in outcomes relative to
initial positions. Whereas marriage provided more security for white women, employment gave a greater boost to black
women.Krysan, Maria and Reynolds Farley. 2002. "The Residential Preferences of Blacks: Do They Explain Persistent Segregation?" Social Forces, vol. 80, no. 3 (Mar 2002), pp. 937-980. (Note: This article can only be accessed from campus computers, and is in HTML format.)
Abstract: For many decades, it has been argued that the U.S. remains racially segregated because of discrimination in the
real-estate market reflecting whites' desire to isolate themselves from African Americans. The only modest declines in black-white segregation since the prohibition of such discrimination in 1968 have provoked a competing hypothesis: residential segregation persists because blacks prefer to live in racially isolated neighborhoods and are reluctant to live in largely white areas. These ideas have not been subject to empirical scrutiny. We use open- and closed-ended survey data from more than 2,000 African Americans in the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality to examine blacks' preferences and the
important related issue of what drives those preferences. We find that African Americans overwhelmingly prefer 50-50
areas, a density far too high for most whites -- but their preferences are driven not by solidarity or neutral ethnocentrism but by fears of white hostility. Moreover, almost all blacks are willing to move into largely white areas if there is a visible black presence. White preferences also play a key role, since whites are reluctant to move into neighborhoods with more than a few
African Americans.Abstract: The study of inequality has been largely defined as the study of its measurable extent, degree, and consequences.
It is no less important, however, to understand the interactive processes through which inequalities are
created and reproduced in concrete settings. The qualitative research that bears on understanding these
processes has not yet been consolidated, and thus its theoretical value remains unrealized. In this article we
inductively derive from the literature a sensitizing theory of the generic processes through which inequality
is reproduced. The major processes that we identify are othering, subordinate adaptation, boundary maintenance,
and emotion management. We argue that conceiving the reproduction of inequality in terms of these generic
processes can resolve theoretical problems concerning the connection between local action and extralocal
inequalities, and concerning the nature of inequality itself.Abstract: Much research has examined the impact of occupational segregation on the gender gap in wages. This research
clearly implies that men and women are sorted into dissimilar career tracks. Unfortunately, the few studies
on the career impacts of occupational segregation are inconclusive because of reliance on anecdotal evidence,
research done in a single firm or in the public sector, and problems in measuring career mobility. Using the Panel
Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), two employment transitions of primeage white workers were examined:
upward wage mobility and transitions into joblessness. Information on the percentage of males working in the
respondent's occupation was merged into the PSID. In the presence of controls, percentage of males in the
occupation was positively related to men's chances of receiving a wage promotion. For women, occupational
segregation positively influenced movement to joblessness. The results support the notion that women in
male-dominated occupations do not move up the career ladder, but rather are pressured to move out of these
positions. The article concludes with a call for additional research on the relationship between gender dynamics in the work setting and individual career paths.Abstract: This article traces the development of student activists among members of the high school class of 1965. We explore
how political and religious socialization, social psychological orientations, and class origins affect the likelihood that an individual will become involved in the antiwar, student, and civil rights protests of the 1960s. We also systematically examine the interrelationships between social class, gender, social psychological orientations, and political and religious socialization to
discern their effects on social movement participation. Using data from the Youth-Parent Socialization Panel
Study, 1965-73, we find that socialization processes and social psychological dispositions are strongly linked to
participation in the protests and that social class spurs protest both directly and through its effects on these
factors. We also find that gender differences in social movement participation are largely a function of
socialization, social psychological differences, and women's lower rates of college attendance.Note: If you choose one of the articles listed below, you must read all four in the set and comment on the debate between them.Maguire, Edward R. and Jeffrey B. Snipes. 1994. "Reassessing the Linkg between Country Music and Suicide." Social Forces, vol. 72, no. 4 (Jun 1994), pp. 1239-1243.
Stack, Steven and James Gundlach. 1994. "Country Music and Suicide: A Reply to Maguire and Snipes." Social Forces, vol. 72, no. 4 (Jun 1994), pp. 1245-1248.
Snipes, Jeffrey B. and Edward R. Maguire. 1995. "Country Music, Suicide, and Spuriousness." Social Forces, vol 74, no. 1 (Sep 1995), pp. 327-329.
Stack, Steven and James Gundlach. 1995. "Country Music and Suicide - Individual, Indirect, and Interaction Effects: A Reply to Snipes and Maguire." Social Forces, vol. 74, no. 1 (Sep 1995), pp. 331-335.Abstract (for the original article): In their article assessing the link between country music airtime and metropolitan suicide rates, Stack and Gundlach (1992) found that the greater the airtime devoted to country music, the greater the white suicide rate.
Employing ordinary least squares regression, they controlled for the effects of divorce, southernness, poverty, and gun availability. Their model accounts for 51% of the variance in urban white suicide rates. The authors interpret their findings as evidence that country music may "nurture a suicidal mood" (215), though they acknowledge that their model does not explain
black suicide rates. In an attempt to replicate their suicide model for whites, we used the same data and methods. Our results indicate that country music - both bivariately and multivariately - has a negative, though insignificant effect on white urban suicide rates.