Table of Contents

THE SOCIOLOGICAL EYE
Just How Powerful Is a Role?
Better Late Than Never
Heartburn and Modern Times
FOCUS: Suggestions for Further Reading
DEVELOPING IDEAS: About Social Structure
PART I. Culture
INTRODUCTION
The Immaculate Americans
Baby Boomers
The Demise of Bystander Apathy
Elevator Culture
Making Monsters into Celebrities (with James Alan Fox)
FOCUS: Suggestions for Further Reading
DEVELOPING IDEAS: About Culture
PART II. Socialization
INTRODUCTION
Can Hate Be Healed? (with Arnold Arluke)
Teaching Students They Are Not at the Center
Confessions of a Soap Opera Addict
Violence in City Schools (with Heather Beth Johnson)
Sticks and Stones May Break . . .
Adult Socialization Can Be Murder
FOCUS: Suggestions for Further Reading
DEVELOPING IDEAS: About Socialization
PART III. The Group Experience
INTRODUCTION
College Fraternities: A Counteracting Force on Campus
The Appeal of Cults
Reunion, American Style
The Consequences of Coalitions
Children of the Organization Men
Thwarting the Bullies
FOCUS: Suggestions for Further Reading
DEVELOPING IDEAS: About the Group Experience
PART IV. Institutions
INTRODUCTION
Who’s Minding the Kids?
Let the System Do It!
Americans Are Moving to the Margins of Society
Dirty Work
FOCUS: Suggestions for Further Reading
DEVELOPING IDEAS: About Institutions
PART V. Deviance
INTRODUCTION
Fat Chance in a Slim World
You Must Get Ill First; Then You Recover
Is the Death Penalty Only a Vehicle for Revenge?
Animal Cruelty and Human Violence (with Arnold Arluke)
America’s Youngsters Are Responsible for Church Burnings
Keeping Children Safe from Sex Crimes
FOCUS: Suggestions for Further Reading
DEVELOPING IDEAS: About Deviance
PART VI. Social Inequality
INTRODUCTION
The Economic Escalator
An Apple Pie and an Open Mind
Profiling Terrorists (with Deborah Ramirez)
Gender Inequality Across Cultures
Give Us Still Your Masses
The Stigma of Aging
FOCUS: Suggestions for Further Reading
DEVELOPING IDEAS: About Social Inequality
PART VII. Social Change
INTRODUCTION
The Boomerang Effect in Planning Social Change
Fads
Keeping an Eye and a Camera on College Students
Riding the Rumor Mill
Highway to Hell?
Enquiring Times
Terror American Style
FOCUS: Suggestions for Further Reading
DEVELOPING IDEAS: About Social Change
INTO THE FUTURE
References
Index

About the Author

Jack Levin is the Brudnick Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at Northeastern University, where he codirects its Center on Violence and Conflict. He has authored or coauthored more than 30 books, most recently The Violence of Hate: Understanding Harmful Forms of Bias and Bigotry and The Allure of Premeditated Murder: Why Some People Plan to Kill. Levin has also published more than 250 articles and columns in professional journals, books, magazines, and newspapers, such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Christian Science Monitor, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and USA Today.  Levin was honored by the Massachusetts Council for Advancement and Support of Education as its “Professor of the Year” and by the American Sociological Association for his contributions to the public understanding of sociology. He has also received awards from the Eastern Sociological Society, New England Sociological Association, Association of Clinical and Applied Sociology, and Society for the Study of Social Problems. Moreover, he has spoken to a wide variety of community, academic, and professional groups, including the White House Conference on Hate Crimes, the Department of Justice, OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (a membership of 59 countries), and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.