Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 328
•
Trim: 7 x 9
978-1-5381-2788-9 • Paperback • September 2019 • $80.00 • (£62.00)
978-1-5381-2789-6 • eBook • September 2019 • $76.00 • (£58.00)
William E. Thompson, Texas A&M University - Commerce
William E. Thompson was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and was the first member of his family to receive a high school diploma. He received his bachelor’s degree from Northeastern State University, a master’s degree from Missouri State University, and a Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University. Professor Thompson has authored and coauthored more than 40 articles in professional journals, including several reprinted in sociology textbooks and readers. He has coauthored a textbook on juvenile delinquency that is in its ninth edition, and has coedited an anthology on juvenile delinquency. Thompson also is the author of The Glass House, a nonfiction account of his mother’s two year battle with cancer and the lessons about life and living learned from her death and dying, and in 2012 authored Hogs, Blogs, Leathers, and Lattes: The Sociology of Modern American Motorcycling. For fun and relaxation Thompson plays the drums and rides motorcycles.
Mica L. Thompson, Texas A&M University-Commerce
Mica L. Thompson, born in Kansas and raised in Texas, earned her bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University and her master’s degree in sociology from Texas A & M University-Commerce. She has over twelve years of public school teaching experience and teaches introduction to sociology at the university level. Her research interests include qualitative methods, feminist theory, education, and popular culture. In addition to having collaborated on articles published in professional journals, Mica has helped proofread and made significant contributions to previous editions of Society in Focus. In her spare time, Mica teaches arts and crafts as a volunteer at a center for HIV patients, and enjoys art, fitness classes, and spending time with her “best friend,” her nephew.
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
1 #ThingsAreNotWhatTheySeem
Discovering Sociology
Sociological Wisdom
The Sociological Imagination
Life in a Global Society
Common Sense Versus Common Nonsense
The Importance of Science
The Structural Functionalist Perspective
The Conflict Perspective
The Feminist Perspective
The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Sociological Wisdom: Taking an Integrated Approach
2 #AnalyzeWithYourBrainNotWithYourHeart
Doing Sociology
How Do We Know Things Are Not What They Seem?
Sociology and Scientific Knowledge
Theory-Building Process
Scientific Method
Ethical Issues in Sociological Research
Types of Research
Quantifying Social Life
Qualitative Studies
Keeping It Scientific
3 #There'sNoSuchThingAsAnUnculturedPerson
Understanding Society and Culture
Types of Societies
Components of Culture
Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism
Ideal Versus Real Culture
Subcultures and Countercultures
Popular Culture
4 #WhenYouWereBornYouWereNotYetYou
Becoming a Social Being
Nature and Nurture
Developing A Social Self
Agents of Socialization
Socialization over the Life Course
Desocialization and Resocialization
5 #TheWorldRevolvesARoundTheSunAndNotYou
Interacting in Everyday Life
Personal Space and Nonverbal Communication
Statuses and Roles
Social Networks
Patterns of Social Interaction
Media and Technology: Redefining Social Interaction
6 #TheWorldIsAMessyPlace
Organizing Our Social World
Social Groups
Leaders and Leadership Styles
Formal Organizations
Bureaucracies and Us
Social Institutions
7 #SomeRulesAreMadeToBeBrokenButSomeAren't
Controlling Social Behavior
Range of Tolerance
Relativity of Deviance
Deviance and Stigma
The Power of the Media
Cyberporn, Cybersex, and Internet Addiction
Popular Explanations of Deviance
Sociological Theories of Deviance and Conformity
Social Control
8 #TheOnlyDifferenceThatMattersIsTheDifferenceThatMatters
Emphasizing Differences
Importance of Social Class
Socioeconomic Status
Race, Ethnicity, and Minority Groups
Sex and Gender
Age and Ageism
Intersectionality
9 #NothingEnduresButChange
Creating Social Change
Social Change
Sources of Social Change
Collective Behavior
Social Movements
Resistance To Change
10 #NothingLastsForever
Sustaining the Planet
Forces of Nature
Demography
Population Growth
Urbanization and Suburbanization
Ecology and the Environment
Where Do We Go From Here?
11 #SociologicalWisdomOnlyHasValueIfItIsApplied
References
Further Readings
Credits
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