1 Welcome To Rural Sociology 1000 Introduction to Rural Sociology Mary Grigsby Associate Professor of Rural Sociology Division of Applied Social Sciences

2 Topics of Discussion Class Business Community Responses

3 Case Study Approach- Garden City, Kansas; Lexington, Nebraska; Storm Lake and Perry, Iowa; and Rogers, Arkansas. (Henness 2002) Method –Themes from Case studies inventoried and organized into categories of local government, housing, education, health care, social services, law enforcement, and religious and civic life. Within each category, impacts and responses are arranged chronologically in order of occurrence. Personal interviews with “informants” from Missouri counties with high immigration and to compare their perceptions with the inventory.

4 Impacts Housing Lack of affordable housing Homelessness Overcrowding Hazardous, unsafe conditions Homeownership Responses Housing Temporary subsidized housing New rental arrangements (“by the head”) Area housing studies Homeless shelter startups Credit and mortgage education Starter home packages

5 Impacts Education Overall enrollment School meal costs Low English proficient students ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) program costs School dropout rates Responses Education Temporary classrooms ESOL program expansion Bilingual staff and paraprofessionals Multicultural teacher training Adult Learning Centers Bond issues to build/expand schools

6 Impacts Health Care Demand for health services Immunization (tuberculosis) Emergency room visits Uninsured and underinsured patients Responses Health Care Health worker hires Caregiver translators New medical clinics for the under/uninsured

7 Impacts Social Services Clients served Welfare and Medicaid cases Emergency food services Responses Social Services Subsidized transportation Furniture and clothing donations Pro bono accounting/legal counsel Worksite day care Interagency service coalitions

8 Impacts Religious and civic life Church attendance > Charitable giving > Racial strife and tension Food, arts, music, cultural events Responses Religious and civic life Summer literacy camps for children Financial literacy training Community multicultural forums Immigrant family sponsorships Anti-immigration activism

9 Impacts Law enforcement Immigration and legal documentation Traffic violations Violent and property crimes Substance abuse, spousal and child abuse Methamphetamine trafficking Responses Law enforcement Bilingual officer assignments Document translations Officer language training Additional hires Public education to dispel “myths”

10 Understanding Modern Social Organizations Positive Capable of efficiently managing people, information, goods, and services on a worldwide scale Positive Capable of efficiently managing people, information, goods, and services on a worldwide scale Negative Capable of promoting inefficient, irresponsible, and destructive actions that can affect the well- being of communities and even the entire planet Negative Capable of promoting inefficient, irresponsible, and destructive actions that can affect the well- being of communities and even the entire planet Two Faces of Organizations Modern Organizations Possess the Potential for Either Good or Harm Two Faces of Organizations Modern Organizations Possess the Potential for Either Good or Harm

11 McDonaldization of Society “The process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world” (Ritzer 1993, p. 1)

12 Traditional vs. Modern Societies Traditional World Emphasis Modern World Emphasis Community & KinshipIndividual & Immediate Family Rural and Village LifeUrban Life Work on Land or in Small Manufacture Factory and Large Scale Bureaucratic Organization Landed Interests Business and Industrial Interests MonarchyDemocracy ReligionReason Church-mediated social thought Science-based social thought

13 Rationalization Does “rationalization” assume better understanding or greater knowledge on the part of most people?

Rationalization No. People who live in rationalized environments typically know little detail about their surroundings (nature, technology, the economy) because they rely on expert knowledge to organize the conditions of life, technology and consumer goods. 14

15 Alienation A state in which human life is dominated by forces of its inventions.

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