What is it in human nature that leads us to label some as insiders and stigmatize others as outsiders?Sociologist Gerhard Falk examines the social psychology that motivates this process of exclusion, focusing on the outcasts in contemporary American society and comparing current experience with examples from the past. Referring to the work of Emile Durkheim and Erving Goffman, Falk reviews the whole range of stigmatized people from the mentally ill to ordinary people with unpopular occupations, like undertakers and trash collectors. Amid the wide diversity of stigmatized persons, he finds two basic types of outsiders: the "existential" and the "achieved." The first group comprises those who are stigmatized because of their very existence, regardless of their specific actions: the mentally handicapped, for example. The second group describes those whose actions or life conditions have resulted in stigma: from high achievers (often subject to resentment) to criminals. Falk also looks at the ways in which writers past and present have dramatized stigmatized characters in literature.This fascinating overview of a long-standing and widespread social problem will be of interest to all those concerned about creating a more fair-minded society.
Learn the value of football to American society No sport reflects the American value system like football. Visitors to the United States need only watch a game or two to learn all they need to know about the American way of life and the beliefs, attitudes, and concerns of American society. Football and American Identity examines the social conditions and cultural implications found in the football subculture, represented by core values such as competition, conflict, diversity, power, economic success, fair play, liberty, and patriotism. This unique book goes beyond the standard fare on football strategy and history, or the biographies of famous players and coaches, to analyze the reasons why the game is the essence of the American spirit. Author Gerhard Falk, Professor of Sociology at the State University College of New York at Buffalo, examines football as a game, as a business, and as a reflection of the diversity in American life. Football and American Identity also addresses the relationship between football and the media, with much of the game’s income generated by advertising and endorsements, and examines the presence of crime in football culture. The book discusses the development of the game—and those involved in it—at the Pop Warner, college, and professional levels, examining the social origin of players, coaches, cheerleaders, and owners. In addition, Football and American Identity analyzes the game’s fans and their devotion to “their” teams, examines why Pennsylvania is considered the “mother” of American football, and looks at the National Football League and its commissioners. Football and American Identity examines: how individualism and achievement can lead to mythological status why a person’s occupation is the most important indicator of prestige in the United States what the consequences are of earning more in a year than most Americans make in a lifetime why equality is vital to the ethnic make-up of American football teams why teamwork is important-in football and in industry how freedom is essential for taking the risks necessary for success and much more! Football and American Identity is an inside look at football as an American cultural phenomenon. Devoted and casual fans of the game, as well as academics working in sociology, will find this unique book interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking.
This book describes the assimilation and acculturation of a small minority who immigrated to the United States in the nineteenth century and again in the twentieth century. Gerhard Falk focuses on refugees who fled from Nazi tyranny in the 1930s, immigrated to America, and succeeded despite immense obstacles. This book includes a review of the most prominent academics that made major contributions to science, medicine, art, and literature in America. The German Jews in America demonstrates that America is still the land of opportunity for everyone who makes an effort, no matter what their religion, ethnicity, or race. In addition, this book is a key to understanding immigration and the role of community in providing the support needed in becoming an American.
This book reviews the achievements of American women in the American economy; in education; in government; in religion; in the military; in law enforcement and in communications. The author predicts the feminization of American life with particular reference to changes in the American family and the ever increasing dominance of women in all American institutions.
This book describes twelve inventions that transformed the United States from a rural and small-town community to an industrial country of unprecedented power. These inventions demonstrate that no one person is ever responsible for technological advances and that the culture produces a number of people who work together to create each new invention. The book also shows the influences of technology on society and examines the beliefs and attitudes of those who partake in technological advances. The book is both a sociological analysis and a history of technology in the United States in the past two hundred years.
KEY FEATURES: Two opening chapters introduce readers to the theories and perspectives used by social scientists to study drugs and alcohol, and to the larger trends in legal and illegal use of controlled substances. Six chapters on alcohol provide comprehensive coverage of the most widely used and abused drug in America. Lively discussions of alcohol and drugs in American popular culture brings the topic to life and relatable. Two appendices contain case histories from the authors' field research of individuals with alcohol and substance use disorders.
This critical yet honest appraisal of our criminal justice system addresses its strengths and its flaws—and makes recommendations for improvement. The American Criminal Justice System: How It Works, How It Doesn't, and How to Fix It calls attention to a criminal justice system that needs improvement. Author Gerhard Falk shows that the police themselves often violate the law; that prosecutors send innocent citizens to prison and even to death row; that defense attorneys take on cases they are not prepared to handle; that juries vote guilt or innocence on the basis of emotion, not facts; that judges are often failed attorneys or unscrupulous politicians; and that jails and prisons are too frequently warehouses of the poor. As background for his analysis, Falk discusses the history of the police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges, as well as the history of prisons and "the prison industrial complex." He also offers a devastating analysis of the death penalty and its practitioners. The book ends with recommendations for the improvement of our criminal justice system so that America can truly be, as our Supreme Court proclaims, a land of "Equal Justice under Law.
The American Jewish community is in transition. This book describes in detail how American Jews changed from living in a religion-oriented community to living a secular life. Falk discusses how Jewish Americans were greatly influenced by the secularization of Western civilization in general and by the Christian community in Europe and America specifically. The secularization of American Jewish institutions is analyzed by discussing changes in the Jewish religion, Jewish education and Jewish organizations during this century. Special consideration is given to the issue of Jewish survival in America with specific emphasis on the Jewish-Christian intermarriage rate. Contents: Part One: The Present Condition of Judaism in America; The American Jewish at the End of the 20th Century; Part Two: The Development of Secularization in the Western World; The Influence of Jewish Philosophers on the Secularization of Judaism; The Influence of Christians and Other Philosophers on the Secularization of the Western World; The Secularization of the U.S. before 1900; The Influence of Scientific Thinking on the Secularization Process; The Influence of Some European and American Writers on the Secularization Process; The Secularization of the United States in the 20th Century; Part Three: American Jewish Institutions at the End of the Century; The Secularization of the Jewish Religion in America; The Secularization of the American Jewish Family; The Secularization of American Jewish Education; Organized American Jewishness at the End of the 20th Century; Part Four: Jewish Continuity in a Secular Society; The Secular Life in America; Jewish Survival in America.
The restoration of Israel to the Holy Land was originally an English, Protestant idea. Jewish Zionism came later and succeeded only because of the Holocaust. The principal impetus for the promotion of a Jewish return to Zion was religious and began with the translation of the Bible from the Hebrew to English by Tindale. Because literature in the English language depicted Jews almost always in an unfavorable light, both British and American religious and political leaders were ambivalent about Jews. Nevertheless, the religious impulse to restore Israel became political in the twentieth century and succeeded with the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.
While fraud is generally associated with the business world, this book demonstrates that there is also a good deal of fraud and deception among scientists, writers and philanthropists. Scientists will sometimes announce fraudulent findings in order to raise money for additional research projects. Since many scientists live by this "soft" money and have no other income, the temptation to claim results that never occurred is great. Likewise, authors and journalists may commit fraud by claiming that they saw some thing that they did not see or that an event occurred which never happened. There are also writers who steal the work of others and publish such material under their own name. There are executives of charitable organizations who steal the money donated to a charitable cause and there are clergy who steal from the members of their own parish, or sell objects that do not belong to them. Some members of the clergy use their trusted office to gain sexual favors from congregants while others entertain their friends at the expense of their congregations. This work is well documented and demonstrates that the notion of the aloof scientists or holy clergy may be no more than a myth, and that even in these professions all things are not what they seem. Book jacket.
Risk-taking, school, sex, church, entertainment, language, and class are among the factors that Gerhard (sociology, State U. College, Buffalo, New York) and psychotherapist Ursula consider as they explore how American youth culture has changed and stayed the same since the 16th-century Puritan colonies. They discuss the life of children and adolesc
A unique study providing evidence that murder is predictable and the exceptionally high murder rate in the United States is reduceable. Part I examines 50 case histories and an analysis of 912 homicides from an original study made in Erie County (Buffalo), New York. Part II discusses multicide, serial killers, and mass murderers. Part III covers assassinations and executions and a final part presents conclusions.
Learn the value of football to American society No sport reflects the American value system like football. Visitors to the United States need only watch a game or two to learn all they need to know about the American way of life and the beliefs, attitudes, and concerns of American society. Football and American Identity examines the social conditions and cultural implications found in the football subculture, represented by core values such as competition, conflict, diversity, power, economic success, fair play, liberty, and patriotism. This unique book goes beyond the standard fare on football strategy and history, or the biographies of famous players and coaches, to analyze the reasons why the game is the essence of the American spirit. Author Gerhard Falk, Professor of Sociology at the State University College of New York at Buffalo, examines football as a game, as a business, and as a reflection of the diversity in American life. Football and American Identity also addresses the relationship between football and the media, with much of the game's income generated by advertising and endorsements, and examines the presence of crime in football culture. The book discusses the development of the game--and those involved in it--at the Pop Warner, college, and professional levels, examining the social origin of players, coaches, cheerleaders, and owners. In addition, Football and American Identity analyzes the game's fans and their devotion to "their" teams, examines why Pennsylvania is considered the "mother" of American football, and looks at the National Football League and its commissioners. Football and American Identity examines: how individualism and achievement can lead to mythological status why a person's occupation is the most important indicator of prestige in the United States what the consequences are of earning more in a year than most Americans make in a lifetime why equality is vital to the ethnic make-up of American football teams why teamwork is important-in football and in industry how freedom is essential for taking the risks necessary for success and much more! Football and American Identity is an inside look at football as an American cultural phenomenon. Devoted and casual fans of the game, as well as academics working in sociology, will find this unique book interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking.
Als Ergänzung zum Kompendium der Psychiatrischen Pharmakotherapie werden im „Taschenformat“ rund 125 Psychopharmaka kompakt und klar strukturiert vorgestellt. Der Band enthält Informationen zu allen zugelassenen Wirkstoffen für eine psychiatrische Indikation bei Erwachsenen und eine Bewertung jedes Psychopharmakons: nach Vorteilen, Nachteilen und Risiken. Dabei werden alle (sehr) häufigen Nebenwirkungen sowie zusätzlich wichtige seltene Nebenwirkungen erwähnt. Die Neuauflage berücksichtigt die 5-stellige Klassifikation des Interaktions-Risikos.
KEY FEATURES: Two opening chapters introduce readers to the theories and perspectives used by social scientists to study drugs and alcohol, and to the larger trends in legal and illegal use of controlled substances. Six chapters on alcohol provide comprehensive coverage of the most widely used and abused drug in America. Lively discussions of alcohol and drugs in American popular culture brings the topic to life and relatable. Two appendices contain case histories from the authors' field research of individuals with alcohol and substance use disorders.
This text features a study of the social background of some American scholars engaged in higher education in the US during the first half of the 20th century. This data augments a detailed description of the academic profession as it is experienced by the American professorate.
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