Gang Leader For A Day is a book written for popular consumption by Sudhir Venkatesh. Venkatesh went to the U of Chicago to study sociology. In his quest to conduct research that would help him make a name for himself, he naively put himself into harm’s way. The excerpt below is from the book's introduction. As you read, look for the different ways that Venkatesh tries to gather data for his research. Also, think about what data he gathers is reliable or useful and in what ways.
NOTE: Venkatesh's original publication contained words, including racial epithets, that may be considered offensive by some today. These words were not included in a way meant to be offensive or inflammatory, but instead, the author, Venkatesh was trying to relay his conversations as accurately as possible to the reader. Nevertheless, I have tried to redact the most offensive words in this excerpt.
As students arrive, please look over the reading for today, Stephanie Coontz's "Putting Teen-Parent Conflicts in Perspective".
Syllabus questions?
Fired Up?
Listen for the Silence
Answer questions 1-5 on the Google Form for this lesson.
1. Be honest - did you read the whole article?
2. What reading strategies did you use? (mark all that apply)
PRO TIP: The best reading strategies are:
Look for claim/thesis and evidence
Annotate - forces active reading, marks info for finding quickly
Have a "conversation" with the author/reading
3. What do you think Coontz’s claim/thesis is? Find a passage from the text that summarizes her claim or write your own thesis that summarizes her claim.
4. What is some evidence she provides that supports her claim?
5. How confident are you that you understood Coontz's claim and evidence?
6. After we discuss the reading, was your evaluation in number 5 accurate?
7. What do you think worked/didn't work for number 6? What should you continue to do or improve on?
The idea of a teenager has only been around since the 1940s. Before that, individuals went more from childhood to adulthood very quickly and distinctly. Now, the process of childhood has a long, drawn-out middle period. This encompasses the "teenage years" but it also includes what sociologists call "young adulthood." Sociologists estimate the average age of independence in the United States to be 27. That is when (on average) individuals can be self-sustaining financially and emotionally and socially enough to have a family and residence of their own. So this leaves a long middle period between the age of puberty (10) and independence (27). And throughout that time, there are many mixed messages being given to young adults. This results in "rolelessness," or a feeling of not knowing what is expected of you during those years. One example was the lack of meaningful work. Teens generally have jobs that society deems as unworthy or meaningless. This can leave teens feeling like they don't matter. Can you see how Coontz makes that point? Do you see how that can be true?
Large Group: Make a timeline of the milestones throughout an average American's life - What are the milestones?
A new paper by Scott Eliason, Jeylan Mortimer, and Mike Vuolo in Social Psychology Quarterly that seeks to better understand individuals’ perceptions of having finally become grownups.
Small group discussion: Think about the timeline of events as Americans grow up. What are the ways that Americans are viewed opposite from childhood to adulthood?
Another way to look at the conflicts sociologically is what Ruth Benedict called continuous and discontinuous societies in her seminal work, Patterns of Culture. Benedict said that some societies are continuous citing her own studies of indigenous cultures and Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa. (The relationship and research of Mead and Benedict are detailed in this 2019 article in the Atlantic.)
However, Benedict argued, culture in the U.S. is discontinuous because culturally, children have such different/opposing expectations from adults, especially:
irresponsible - responsible
asexual - sexual
submissive - dominant
dependent - independent
Kids Up Parents Down is a funny take from Jerry Seinfeld on the discontinuous nature of childhood and adulthood in the U.S.:
Hine's 13
Not the ketchup - that's Heinz 57. This is Thomas Hine's examination of age 13 and the difficulties that come with being a teenager.
Our beliefs, about teenagers are deeply contradictory: They should be free to become themselves. They need many years of training and study. They know more about the future than adults do. They know hardly anything at all. They ought to know the value of a dollar. They should be protected from the world of work. They are frail, vulnerable creatures. They are children. They are sex fiends. They are the death of culture. They are the hope of us all.
Do you see these contradictions in your own life or in the teens around you?
As students enter, please follow the instructions below:
1. iPad and Blog
Take out your iPad, open http://sociologysal.blogspot.com/ and bookmark it. I will post lessons on the blog each day. If you miss a class or, if you are simply not sure what the lesson was about, go to my blog page to review the lesson from that day.
HW: There are three items for homework posted at the bottom of this page. The Teen-Parent conflict article is an important touchstone that we will use throughout this unit. Please read it carefully!
2. Student Demographics Survey
I want to get to know each of you better as an individual, so please answer this demographic survey. It is only for me. Please share as much info as you are comfortable sharing.
3. Syllabus
If you finished 1 and 2 above, please begin reading the syllabus which is one of your homework assignments.
----------PAUSE----------
Fired Up?
Bell
I had you fill out the survey above because I wanted to get to know you as an individual. My question now is, are you, in fact, an individual? What makes you an individual? Please answer individually for all of the numbered boldface questions below. I will do this for each lesson of ours. Click on the link below and open the Google Form in a new window. Then read along with the blog and answer questions in the order that they come up.
Here is the Google Form for today's lesson. Please open it in a new window. Answer numbers 1 and 2 and then return to this blog page.
1. Do you think you are an individual? Why or why not?
2. What do you think it means to be an individual?
Sociology
Background: The Creation of Sociology as an Academic Discipline
Sociology was created as a reaction to the profound changes during the late 16th and 17th centuries, especially: The Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution.
The Scientific Revolution established the scientific method as a standard for understanding the world.
The Enlightenment put forth the concept of individuality and the nature of human beings.
And, The Industrial Revolution brought about changes from:
group identity (tribe, religion, nation, family) to a belief in individualism
The conglomeration of these changes took hold during the 1800s in Europe. Three important scholars used the scientific method to study the changes of the industrial revolution and challenge the assumptions about individuality and the Enlightenment. This inspired the beginning of sociology as a social science discipline. Each of the three scholars' theories led to the foundational structure that sociology still uses today.
The Western world in general, particularly Americans, like to believe that they are individual and unique. This idea stemmed from the Enlightenment. Many scholars at the time doted on the idea that each person is unique and each person is free to choose whoever they want to be.
However, shortly after the Enlightenment, the industrial revolution changed the way people lived and it showed that individuals are shaped a great deal by their social circumstances and not just by their own free choice. We will learn more about this in the lessons to come, but for today, see this idea exemplified in the student demographic sheet you filled out.
People are shaped by structures of society and their place within the structure. The place you were born and the culture you were born into will shape how you think, talk, and what opportunities you have. Families, schools, jobs, politics and media all influence how you see the world and what you value and how you think. Additionally, your race, gender, social class all shape how you see yourself and how others see you. Sometimes that can result in others treating you differently based on those identities. All of this is sociological. Sociology is scientifically studying how these groups in society affect the individuals within them and the obstacles and opportunities they will face because of their group identities.
This is an important reading for this first unit. Please be sure to read and understand it thoroughly. It will help make the rest of the lessons this unit easier.
Before you read, think about your answer to number 5 above. As you read, think about what Coontz attributes the conflicts to. What is her overall thesis? Can you apply Coontz's theory to your own parent conflicts?
PRO TIP: ALWAYS read your syllabus for college. When asking your professors a question about the class, be sure to mention (and demonstrate) that you read the syllabus before asking them.
HW3: Name Survey
For homework, please survey your family aboutwhy you were named the legal name that you have. If you have a nickname, please ask about that as well. How and why did you get these names? Is there a symbolic meaning to your name or why you were named that?
