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McDonaldization is defined on the basis that a society adopts the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant. George Ritzer developed this term in his 1993 book The McDonaldization of Society (Conely). The process of McDonaldization can be summarized as the way in which the principles of the fast-food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more areas of American society as well as the rest of the world (Wikipedia). McDonaldization is broken down into five areas, efficiency, predictability, calculability, substitution of nonhuman for human technology, and control of uncertainty. When it comes to efficiency, it is basically to minimize the amount of time that one spends on something, whether it be at a place, doing something, or the amount of money we spend. When Ritzer is explaining the predictability aspect, it is essentially that fact that we like to be able to know what is coming. We are creatures of habit, and we like to know what is going to happen before we do it. Calculability according to Ritzer is quality over quantity. In our society today, we are focusing more on how much we can get verses the quality of the item. For example, at a fast-food restaurant, you can purchase 10 burgers for a small amount of money, but have you ever really looked at the burger and the way it is slapped together? It is usually very little meat, greasy, and not very well put together, but it is cheap! The substitution of non-human technology. This is happening more and more as time moves forward. I have notice over the last few weeks, that the contact with another human in various settings is getting less and less. I had contacted PPL Electric last week to terminate service at one residence that I had moved from and I was able to go through the entire process with the automated system. Not once did I speak to a live person. And this isn’t the first time that I have noticed this issue. It happens at sit down restaurants more and more frequently. Automated machines leaving voicemails on your phone to remind you of an appointment, or even the self-check-out at a grocery store. The fifth element is control. As humans, and today, we want to be in control. Individuals do not like the unknown, the uncertainty, so by being in control, it helps to eliminate the uncertainty. Being in control is starting to affect areas of society that are typically caused by something far greater. While there are positive and negatives to every area that Ritzer designed, our society does not seem to stop and think about those aspects. Our society is very fast paced, and trying to fit as much into one day as human possible, that we forget about the things we are giving up when pressing forward.

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McDonaldization is defined on the basis that a society adopts the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant. George Ritzer developed this term in his 1993 book The McDonaldization of Society (Conely). The process of McDonaldization can be summarized as the way in which the principles of the fast-food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more areas of American society as well as the rest of the world (Wikipedia). McDonaldization is broken down into five areas, efficiency, predictability, calculability, substitution of nonhuman for human technology, and control of uncertainty. When it comes to efficiency, it is basically to minimize the amount of time that one spends on something, whether it be at a place, doing something, or the amount of money we spend. When Ritzer is explaining the predictability aspect, it is essentially that fact that we like to be able to know what is coming. We are creatures of habit, and we like to know what is going to happen before we do it. Calculability according to Ritzer is quality over quantity. In our society today, we are focusing more on how much we can get verses the quality of the item. For example, at a fast-food restaurant, you can purchase 10 burgers for a small amount of money, but have you ever really looked at the burger and the way it is slapped together? It is usually very little meat, greasy, and not very well put together, but it is cheap! The substitution of non-human technology. This is happening more and more as time moves forward. I have notice over the last few weeks, that the contact with another human in various settings is getting less and less. I had contacted PPL Electric last week to terminate service at one residence that I had moved from and I was able to go through the entire process with the automated system. Not once did I speak to a live person. And this isn’t the first time that I have noticed this issue. It happens at sit down restaurants more and more frequently. Automated machines leaving voicemails on your phone to remind you of an appointment, or even the self-check-out at a grocery store. The fifth element is control. As humans, and today, we want to be in control. Individuals do not like the unknown, the uncertainty, so by being in control, it helps to eliminate the uncertainty. Being in control is starting to affect areas of society that are typically caused by something far greater. While there are positive and negatives to every area that Ritzer designed, our society does not seem to stop and think about those aspects. Our society is very fast paced, and trying to fit as much into one day as human possible, that we forget about the things we are giving up when pressing forward.

Conley, Dalton. (2015). You May Ask Yourself Why. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Jacobson, Sarah. The McDonaldization of society [video lecture]. ehacc.hacc.edu/d2l/le/content/178916/fullscreen/3308301/view.

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Today, the United States has less equality of opportunity than almost any other advanced industrial country (Stiglits). Numerous studies have shown that American is not the land of opportunity as we once thought it was. Equal opportunity has become more than a national myth, it’s become a reality. Equality of opportunity defined by the book You May Ask Yourself Why, states: the idea that everyone has an equal chance to achieve wealth, social prestige, and power because the rules of the game are the same for everyone (Conley).  The starting point for individuals varies greatly depending on abundant factors. The main one being money. Depending on the wealth of the family you are born into, your starting point varies greatly. If you are born into a family of wealth, you have opportunities knocking at your door before you are even ready to open it. But, if you are born into poverty, your starting point is a complete 180. A person born into poverty must not only work twice as hard as the person born into wealth, but they are continually having to prove themselves. There is no equal opportunity. While some might say that you must work hard for the things that you desire, and yes that may be true, but then you cannot base the outcomes the same and expect everyone to be at the same spot on their journey through life when everyone must start at a different beginning. While many believe that the rules of society are the same for everyone, that is not always the case. Have you ever read or heard about someone who violated a law, but was able to pay the most high-powered attorney to get out of it? Not everyone can do that. Have you ever heard of someone making a few phone calls for a favor to get their close friends child into a high-class college? Regardless of the rules being the same for everyone, the definition of equality of opportunity does not fit for every individual in America.

Conley, Dalton. (2015). You May Ask Yourself Why. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Lesley, Bruce. (2015 April, 21). Equal Opportunity and the Future of Our Nation. The Blog. huffingtonpost.come/bruce-lesley/equal-opportunity-and-the_b_6709814.html.

Stiglitz, Joseph. (2013 February, 16). Equal Opportunity, Our National Myth. The Opinion Pages. opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/16/equal-opportunity-our-national-myth.

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Resocialization programs operate on the assumption that values, attitudes, and ability can be permanently altered because of outside intervention. Individuals are socialized from infant on. We are taught how to behave, the norms of society, and beliefs of the culture you are born into.  When I review the information on resocialization, I immediately think of inmates, and the resocialization that they need to go through before they can enter society again. A clear majority of inmates are in for extended periods of time, thus operating by a different set of norms inside the walls of a prison. For a prison inmate, you operate under a completely different set of norms. You must display a more dominate role. There is constantly a power struggle within those walls. The everyday social norms of our society no longer exist to an inmate. They begin to lose touch with how the rest of the world operates. In return, when an inmate is due for release, they cannot go straight home, their first stop is a halfway house. A halfway house is an institution that allows individuals with mental, physical, or emotional disabilities, or those who have a criminal background, to learn (or to relearn) the necessary skills to re-enter society (Wikipedia). A halfway house also provides other necessary to ensure overall healthy. When an inmate is at a halfway house, it is to reengineer their thinking, reteach them what is socially acceptable. While an inmate will still have to follow certain rules, attend specific classes and meeting, and maintain a job, they are not sitting a in a cell. They are slowly being taught through the halfway house to be in society, thus being re-socialized. Resocialization is simple, everything that can be taught, can be untaught!

Conley, Dalton. (2015). You May Ask Yourself Why. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

O’Neil, Dennis. (2011 December, 8). Socialization. anthro.palomar.edu/social/soc_1.htm.

(2017 July, 27). Halfway House. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/halfway_house

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Extra extra, read all about it. When it comes to advice for this sociology class, there are many things that I think of. The first one being your time line of due dates. While this is usually not a major issue for me since my life is very organized and detailed for each day, I did struggle with one area in this course. I missed submitting a discussion and doing a quiz because I got held up on the fact that an assignment was inside a module that it wasn’t due to be completed until the next module. Although it was clearly stated that it was set up that way, I somehow managed to not retain that part of the information, and missed two pieces of one module. While I did reach out to explain the mishap, it was still on my shoulders to have retained that part of the information. What I have found to be helpful throughout my online work, is that a calendar with your due dates listed for each day, keeps you in line to submit the items accordingly. Due dates are critical. Another thing that comes to mind is this final project. I think it would be easier on students to open this project from the beginning of the course, and complete each area of the module on the Tumblr as you progress forward in the course. Not only will it keep you ahead of the game with this assignment, but it will also cut down on the amount of work you are doing at the end of the course, thus freeing up time to study for your final. This project is a lot of work to complete in a week when you have other obligations in your everyday life. As the old saying goes, work smarter, not harder.

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The area that I live in seems to be very rich in consumerism. Consumerism is the belief that material possession and the accumulation of such, will give you a sense of fulfillment and happiness. It is almost as if everyone is competition to see who can have the newest car, the newest iPhone, the nicest and most expensive house. Consumerism and the competition people are in when it comes to possessions, makes me think of the term from 1925 “keeping up with the joneses.” Everyone wants to be at the top of everything and have the newest of everything. Let’s think of the iPhone for this concept. Most individuals I know, or that live in my neighborhood, have the latest iPhone, the seven. Every time Apple comes out with a new iPhone, increasing amounts of individuals flock to preorder the new phone, even though their phone is in working and almost brand-new condition. Without critically thinking about the action of purchasing a new phone while your phone is still working, you are purchasing that item because you believe that having it will give you a sense of happiness. It will fulfill some sort of hole within yourself and give you the happiness you desire. While the phone you currently hold in your hand is perfectly fine and operates how it should for what you need, you begin to allow the questions of why have the old model when the new one is more efficient. Why settle for less than you deserve. This philosophy soon morphed into people buying newer models based on appearance rather than function, and consumption continued to grow. Consumerism has grown so rapidly over the last few decades that we are throwing away items that are not broken because we feel the need to pursue happiness through a new item.

American Consumerism and The Global Environment. mtholyoke.edu/~kelle20m/classweb/wp/index.html

Conley, Dalton. (2015). You May Ask Yourself Why. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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Social norms in our society are a set of rules that we as individuals feel we must follow. Although we will not be punished if we do not follow them, we somehow feel that it is wrong to go against them. Social deviance is a transgression of socially established norms. Recently, I was given a list that I was to pick from to perform. It was a list of social norms that were against the grain of our society. While I think of myself as someone who does not care what others think of me, what I do, or how I go about things in everyday life, this task made me think critically, made me step out of my comfort zone and do something that I would not normally do. Being a mother of three children and a wife, I frequent the grocery store on a regular basis. Some of the cashiers know me when I step into their line. While I have this unspoken of repertoire with the cashier, the task I had to perform, was not socially normal. Instead of just purchasing my usual groceries and going on about my business, I was to purchase items in a single manner, one stalk of broccoli, one stem of asparagus, one grape and so forth. While I felt this task would be nothing I was incapable of, and I would not mind the looks and the questions, if any, I found it to be very different that I expected. I did not set myself up to handle someone laughing at the items going down the conveyer belt. I found myself beginning to feel insecure about my purchase. I found myself almost afraid to out my items up and have them scan them for me. I began to wonder what each person was thinking of me and my items. I wondered if they thought I was poor and could not afford to purchase an entire bag of grapes for my children. While purchasing the single items is not wrong, and I cannot be punished for doing so, I felt incredibly wrong of taking one item out of a bundle and buying it. I was not stealing, I was not trying to give off the notion that I was poor, I was simply following a task that I was given. To think of how far we have come as a society, how many march for the chance to be different, our society does not completely embrace everyone’s difference. You are still looked at as just that, different. You may be verbally judged, silently judged, and even judge yourself, although you are not doing anything to harm another individual. While I do not purchase items in this manner anymore, I have discovered that I was guilty of looking at someone’s items and wondering about them, the person, and how they items put them into a category.

Conley, Dalton. (2015). You May Ask Yourself Why. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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During my course in Sociology this semester, one of chapters were about social movements. We were instructed to watch a video about the civil rights movement of 1963. While many have learned about this movement in a history book, watching a detailed video of individuals who lived it, felt it, and helped create a new future for the world around them, is quite exhilarating. The Children Crusade was a historical social movement in 1963. In happened in Birmingham Alabama, right on the main streets. Dr. King believed that if the children of the black community could fill up the streets and thus fill up the jails, it would force the city into terminating segregation. Even though many parents did not want their children to participate in such an event, did not stop the children from doing so. Many young children felt the power of this movement and wanted to be involved in something powerful. The Children Crusade begin on March 2, 1963. A local DJ spoke in code over the radio to inform the young children of the community of the date, times, and when this event was going to take place. Children fled from their classrooms, homes, school yards, and even from other cities to come and be a part of such a historical event. While at the time, no one understood the level of empowerment this event would have, that did not stop the children from involving themselves. Bull Connor, the Mayor of Birmingham believed in segregation, believed in discrimination, and believed in racism. He wanted these children stopped, taken down, and to not be heard. The children were happy to get in line to be taken away to jail. Even after an agreement was made between city officials and civil rights leaders, there was a bombing at the Baptist Church, where the children had met prior to the historic movement, and claimed the lives of four little girls. Social movements have not stopped since this one ended. What we now call riots, is what is happening today. People are gathering to make a stand, to make a change, and to call for action. While some “riots” may not be as successful as The Children Crusade, they are never ending.

Conley, Dalton, (2015). You May Ask Yourself Why. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Gilmore, Kim. (2014 February, 14). The Children’s Crusade of 1963. orinalpeople.org/childrens-crusade-birmingham

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Gender inequality is a topic that has been either on the front lines of discussion or not far, behind for decades. Women has always seemed to be able to make progress and push forward, voting rights, entering the work force, and many other accomplishments, women never seem to be quite equal to a man. While recent figures in Time Magazine would display and have you believed that women are making great strides in gender inequality, with almost forty percent of wives making more than their husbands, and sixty percent make up the college students, but that does not mean the gender inequality gap has been bridged between men and women. Other countries are far more advanced on this topic, and typically when you google gender inequality, you get hits for global gender inequality because there really is not a considerable amount of progress that has been made in many years, even though the numbers demonstrate great success for women in employment and education. But even with great strides in education and employment, the wage gap between men and women is still very hefty. In the last twenty years, the number of women managers has only risen by two percent (Laura). Even though employers state that they treat men and women fairly, the case is seen differently. Recently, a study was conducted found that due to women staying home after childbirth for an extended period, is why employers claim women are not making it up the chain of command. Which always makes me think of a song by Beyoncé. A line in that song says something along the lines that women are strong enough to bare the children, and smart enough to get back to business!

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Racism and discrimination go hand in hand in my sociological stand point. Racism is believing that someone of a different race is not equal to your own. While discrimination is the negative act against someone of a different race than your own. You must have one with the other. Racism and discrimination are still very large today. By why? Why does one person of one race believe that they are higher on the social ladder of society? Is this concept of thinking based on fear from the days of segregation? Are you still that afraid of someone from another race? Is there a way to step back and view another’s culture and race in a new light? That’s what sociological thinking is, to question what is happening around us, to step back from our everyday thinking. Robert Merton developed four categories for prejudice and discrimination, active bigot (prejudiced-discriminates), timid bigot (prejudiced). Fair-weathered liberal (discriminates), and all-weather liberal. Robert Merton believed that most people fell into the two categories, a timid bigot or fair-weather liberal. A timid bigot is someone who might be a closet racist, who thinks racial thoughts and thinks about being discriminate towards another based on race, but does not stand up with that notion and act on it. A fair-weather liberal is someone who displays discrimination, but doesn’t not believe or even see what they are doing, but perhaps makes excuses for their actions based on another reasoning. Our book, You May Ask Yourself Why, gave the example that when black people start moving into your neighborhood, and you decided to sell your home because of it, but do not want to admit that reason, you decide to say you’re selling your home for another reason, a difference in school selection, a change in a district, out grown the current residence and need something bigger. The levels of discrimination that Robert Merton designed, are still just that, discrimination. It is still happening in the world around us, it is still affecting numerous individuals daily. Sadly, I don’t believe that discrimination, or racism will ever be truly something of the past.

Conley, Dalton. (2015). You May Ask Yourself Why. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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Since the 1970s qualitative methods have obviously become more and more important not only in social research but also in criminology. Within criminology, the usage of qualitative methods has increased over the years. Societal and political discussions concerning crime demand first "brute facts" and statistics that show how specific types of crime are distributed among the different segments of the population. In the field of criminal justice, many questions can be answered quantitatively.  Qualitative methods are effective at providing a nuanced and in- depth picture of a phenomenon, being able to understand how perceptions and meanings influence human behavior, and/or developing a theory for unexplained social phenomena. In a study conducted by Karen Romanoff, her study was based on a case study and grounded theory research and helped establish a research agenda known as environmental criminology. She made two very important observations at the beginning of their research Frist, she noticed that most of the attention on criminal behavior was devoted to explaining individual motivations to commit crime. Second, she observed that crime prevention strategies that focused on making changes to physical spaces had a very long tradition. Research questions that get at subjective meaning, individual perception, and cultural context are best suited for qualitative research. She set out to understand how crime is related to physical space. Karen drew on three areas of her research, the complex causes of origins of crime, individual crime patterns and how the physical environment influences these patterns, and aggregated crime patterns and how the physical environment influence these patterns. Since her approach was more inductive, she did not formulate an initial hypothesis, but instead proposed that a relationship existed between the individual crime patterns, aggregated crime patterns, and the physical environment.

Conley, Dalton. (2015). You May Ask Yourself Why New York: NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Romanoff, Karen. (2012). Interpretive and Critical Phenomenological Crime Studies: A Model Design. The Qualitative Report, Volume 17(54), 1-32.

#research #HACCSOCI201 #Crime #Criminology #CaseStudies

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64529rM_3uI)

The term sociological imagination was developed in 1959 by sociologist C. Wright Mills. Milled claimed that in order people to view the world around them and can critically contemplate it, we must change the lens in which we are looking through. Basically, Mills wanted individuals to step back and view the world around them in a different perspective. Sociological imagination is not necessarily a theory but an outlook on society. It drives you to start thinking deeply about the world around you and question it. The Thought Company states that while Mills’ work was not well received at the time because of his professional and personal reputation, The Sociological Imagination is today one of the most widely read sociology books and is a staple of undergraduate courses across the U.S. according to Ashley Crossman. We can apply the concept of the sociological imagination to any behavior. It is important to point out that the idea of the sociological imagination should not be used as an excuse for an individual not to try harder to achieve success in life. One way to begin to understand Mill’s concept is to think about coffee. In this culture, coffee can be viewed in multiple dimensions. Some individuals maybe believe that drinking coffee every day is a habit or ritual. While another dimension could be that coffee as a drug. In some cultures, coffee may be frowned upon. Coffee can also be tangle with social relationships. Through the sociological imagination, we can see not only what is real, but also what could become real should we desire to make it that way.

Conley, Dalton. (2015). You May Ask Yourself Why. New York, NY: W.W. Norton &Company, Inc.

Crossman, Ashley. (2017, March 2). Biography of C. Wright Mills-His Life and Contributions to Sociology. https://www.thoughtco.com/c-wright-mills-3026486.

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Hello hello! My name is Lacey. I am a full time mother and student. I am presently a student at Hacc. I am studying criminal justice. The original plan was to become a Probation officer, but that has now changed. Once I receive my associate degree at Hacc, I will be pursuing my Bach degree, followed by attending Law School. While I know it may be difficult while raising children, I have the amazing support of my husband. I am beyond blessed to have him by my side while on this crazy journey. Aside from that, I do not have much free time, however I do enjoy photography. I purchased an expensive camera a few years ago, and have only been taking pictures of my children, friends children, and others that I know and are close with. Playing around with the lighting, different back drops, and overlays is incredible. I love the different memories that I can capture for myself and others!