Movie: Quiet StudyIndividual, social structural and cultural explanationsThe Sociological ImaginationAbu Ghraib Abuse PhotosThe Code of the StreetRatesDurkheim on SuicideSOC 100 1st Edition Exam # 1 Study GuideMovie: Quiet StudyThe Purpose: to study behavioral/psychological effects of a prison environment on guards and prisoners.The Experiment: - Control group: healthy male college students- Guards were given complete control of prisoners; Goal was to create a sense ofpowerlessness for the prisoners.- Was supposed to last 2 weeks; actually lasted 6 days.Key Points: - Prisoners coped with surroundings by fighting against authority, acting crazy or ill, orcompletely complying with guards’ demands.- This experiment gives us the conclusion that we act according to our surroundingsituation.Individual, social structural and cultural explanationsIndividual explanations focus on individual traits to explain behavior like personality, skills and abilities, preferences, and choices.Ex.) Many Americans are obese because they choose to eat poorly and not exercise enough.Social Structural explanations involve the way society is organized in terms of its social institutions, roles and their interrelationships.Ex.) Many Americans are obese because their desk jobs prohibit them from burning calories through physical labor; Fast food is readily available in this economy.Cultural explanations focus on group norms, values or beliefs to explain behaviorEx.) Many Americans are obese because, generally speaking, bigger is better, and so is getting more for your money.The Sociological ImaginationWhat is it? (1) The ability to see how the structure of one’s society constrains, directs or limits behavior, (2) seeing beyond individual causes of behavior, and (3) understanding differences between personal troubles and public issuesPersonal troubles vs. public issuesPersonal troubles are within oneselfPublic issues are society based problemsAbu Ghraib Abuse PhotosThe Gist: American soldiers in an Iraq prison tortured prisoners.The Photos: http://www.antiwar.com/news/?articleid=8560How we can explain their behavior:Situation Personal Trouble(Forces one can control)Public Issue(Forces out of one’s control)Unemployment (1 in 100,000 areunemployed) Someonehas no skills, character orimmediate opportunities(15 million in 50 millionare unemployed) Thestructure of opportunitieshas collapsed, so we can’tlook at the individual foranswersMarriage Feeling as though you’renot satisfied in yourmarriageMarriage fails 250 out of1000 attempts; structuralinstitution of marriage orfamily to blame- The soldiers were “doing their jobs”- The soldiers felt hatred toward the enemy- The two different cultures, American and Iraqi, did not understand each other- The prison was an extremely stressful environment- Given their military background, the soldiers were more likely to follow orders and goalong with a groupHow C. Wright Mills would explain their behavior:- We can’t blame the individual soldiers for their actions- It’s a social issue, not a personal trouble- We should consider a larger context and how it related to what they were doingThe Code of the StreetWhat it is: A set of social norms based on respect in low income areas Some key points:- It’s informal social control- Replaces civil law- Basic code is “eye for an eye” mentality- The conditions of the situation are objective.o Povertyo Lack of educationo Lack of law enforcemento Geographic isolationo Lack of basic social serviceso Lack of social capital (anything that can help make someone successful)RatesRates are better than raw numbers because rates control for differences in population size Ex.) Claim in media: “More than 1,800 college students die from alcohol related causes, and this number has been growing over time.”A rate would be better representative of this phenomenon because this figure doesn’t give us a sense of the total population.Durkheim on SuicideWhat he found: Protestant areas had higher suicide rates than catholic areas; Jewish areas had lowest rates of allProtestantism is less strongly integrated than Catholicism because Protestantism allowsfor more free inquiry and individual interpretation of religious writingsJews are more integrated than either of the groups because historically, they have beenprosecuted and rejected, turning to each other for support.Study QuestionsWhat was the main conclusion of the Stamford Prison Study?What is the Sociological Imagination?How might we explain drunk-driving related incidents on an individual level? Social Structural? Cultural?What is the code of the street? How can you explain it? Individually, social structurally, or culturally?Cyclists in the Tour de France using performance enhancing drugs because “it’s impossible towin without them” is what kind of explanation? Individual, social structural or cultural?Does something have to be societal-wide to have a social structural explanation?How would C. Wright Mills explain the Code of the Street?Why are rates better than plain numbers?What is social