Society  Any relatively self-contained and self- sufficient group united by social relationships.  Two central components of society: Social Structure and Culture

Social Structures  Any characteristics of a group rather than of individuals.  % No Religion, Mobility, Population density, % Female, Age composition are all characteristics of the group  E.g., Age composition a predictor of crime – % teens and young adults a social structural explanation of crime.  Most common, most important is stratification

Stratification: “To be layered”  To say that all societies are stratified is to say that people are ranked depending on which categories they belong to  Unequal distribution of rewards associated with these ranks (power, status, $, etc.)  Societies might be stratified along any of a number of continuums (class, caste, gender, religion)  Some ranks assigned at birth (ascribed status), some on merits/accomplishments (achieved status)

Culture  The pattern of living that directs human social life.  Everything that humans learn and the things they learn to use. –language, religions, science, art, notions of right and wrong, explanations of the meaning of life

Cultural Concepts  Values - standards for assessing good and bad  Norms – behavioral expectations  Role – norms associated with a particular position  Prejudice and Discrimination  Assimilation and Accommodation  Multicultural / subculture

Example: Immigration of Jews and Italians  Great way to illustrate the sociological imagination  1880 to 1920 time of high immigration rates  % foreign born around 15% by 1920 (today it is about 10%)  Fear of “inferior racial stock” led to laws in the 1920s  All but eliminate immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe and Asia.

Fears not realized  No doubt many of you had ancestors who came during this time  Assimilation… Cultural differences subsided, intermarriage rates high  declining prejudice  Cultural accommodation – mainstream culture became more accepting  Jew and Italians eventually gained economic equality - probably the key issue in the decline in prejudice

But close look at the upward mobility of Jews and Italians tells us what????  Both came poor  Both came to the cities of the northeast  Both came at about the same time  Both experienced prejudice and discrimination  But Jews achieved economic success much more rapidly

Why?  Racial (racist) explanations common  But sociologists focus on two factors –Cultural factors – values and norms explain upward mobility –Social structural – structure of opportunities available

Cultural Theory  Jewish culture –values of learning and norms of educational achievement –seen link between education and success – seen industrial revolution  Italian culture –valued family loyalty over learning –Rural farmers – no examples of link between education and success –Came from more of a caste system

Famous Covello Quote  If our children don’t go to school, no harm will come. But if the sheep don’t eat, they will die. The school can wait but not our sheep

Social (Structural) Theory of Ethnic Mobility  Jews brought their experience, training, technical skills with them to the US  Jews a concentrated population in Russia and Poland – factories, professionals, etc.  A group’s average status in a new society will reflect their average status in the old society.  Cubans a contemporary example

One final factor….  Italians slow to learn English – slow to assimilate  Why? Because most planed to return to Italy (and over 55% did return)  Jews, fleeing persecution, planed to stay (only 8% returned)  Reference group for Italians was relatives back home

Another example: Link between parent education and child education  Link far from perfect but impossible to question  Cultural Theory –Status aspirations of the poor –Socialized leaves them ill equipped to compete in middle-class schools –M-C values education… e.g., M-C parents more likely to read to kids –Essentially lower level of educational attainment explained by their values – a “culture of poverty”

Social Structural Theory  Educational opportunities equally distributed? – Malibu High raised about 1 million last year  Parental resources provide opportunities? Computers, tutors, …  E.g., SAT scores important in college entrance? –But well-to-do can take classes –Big issue right now is Learning Disabilities and extra time on SAT (about 1 in 10 at elite private schools, but in 10 inner-city schools 0 or 1,500 got extra time)