david marroquin south park social reality david marroquin california state university, los angeles this is an observational paper based on south park, a popular american television show. theory is centered on the realistic humor proffered by the creators of the show and how humorous scenes throughout a particular episode are in fact realistic to dayto-day culture and a massive problem in society. examples of particular characters created to represent various minorities in society are used in the article. it is believed that these characters act as reinforced stereotypical ideals of minorities and while exasperating these stereotypes creating a realm of humor set for questioning these stereotypes. 1 south park, an emmy award winning television show, on comedy central airs weekdays at ten o’clock, has been deemed with scabrous humor in the past; with episodes like “with apologies to jessie jackson”, “trap in the closet”, and “die hippie, die”. specifically on wednesday january the 16th there was an episode entitled “d-yikes”. in this episode south park writers depicted many different social and culture stereotypes that are controversial in american culture today. the writers made jokes about unemployed his-panics, butch (manly) lesbians, and the fashion style of prussians. in making jokes pertaining to these minorities we can see david marroquin is currently a graduate student at the department of sociology, california state university. his paper was initially submitted to soc. 301 writing for sociology, taught by susan friedman in winter 2008. how the american media and culture portrays minorities. the crude humor showed hispanics standing in front of hardware stores trying to receive employment; prussians decorating their homes with gold curtain rods, purple rugs, and depicting how they like to wear silk shirts and shop for sunglasses; and all lesbians as butch looking and man haters. south park shows us how american egocentric values and culture depicts minorities in america with the realistic view of american society. the viewpoint south park presents is that white american values are egocentric as no other principle or cultures are acceptable. this stance displays the hypocrisy of white american values and culture towards the treatment of minorities in society and on television. lesbians were portrayed in the episode as being manly and having an attitude. they were shown as always trying to persuade heterosexual women to become california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 44-45) south park social reality by david marroquin 45 lesbians. this is seen in the beginning of the episode as miss. garrison is upset with men because they keep asking her if she is a man. the episode continues with a lesbian inviting miss. garrison to a gay bar and trying to persuade her to become a lesbian. this depiction of lesbians is significant because it shows how white american culture view women who are gay. as the episode continues, another minority is portrayed as day laborers-hispanics. they depicted them as being able to be hired for any job because they are just day laborers and cannot say no. the portrayal of these two minority groups shows that america has minimal values because of the insults to lesbians and hispanics. this south park episode was intended to show how white america is biased towards minorities in american society. the entire episode was full of satirical context about minorities and their values, beliefs, and virtues. for example, the biased way the show portrayed the prussian community, as enjoying decorating their homes and businesses with hideous purple rugs and gold curtain rods. the episode perpetuated how biased white american society can be by portraying the prussian men shopping at malls for silk shirts and designer glasses, and applying large amounts of gel after getting their designer haircut. south park’s perspectives on minorities are a perfect example of american society’s views, culture and virtues. with south park’s slanted humor on minorities, one cannot help but focus on the characters. the characters were fully developed to offend and shock, but also to shine a light on the portrayal of minorities. it was also about how their values and culture are tolerated but not accepted in american society. a closer look at the day-laborer character is a perfect example of how american society endures these people but does fully not accept them. continuing to focus on american society, another outlook one notices is how lesbians are tolerated but, again, not completely accepted. given this, south park demonstrates the minimal values and virtues white american society has towards minorities and how they are endured. the impact of this south park episode displays how white american society perceives minorities. one can recognize that the values, virtues, and culture of american society are minimal when it comes to tolerating minorities in their country. south park, with its lewd humor, has depicted the views of american society, but has used this type of humor so white america can see how misconstrued and controversial their views on social and culture stereotypes are in american society. california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 44-45) residential patterns of chinese americans residential patterns of chinese and korean americans in greater los angeles kevin ok department of mathematics california state university, los angeles this article elaborates on why the residential patterns of korean americans and chinese americans vary. the affluent class of the chinese americans has developed a privileged version of an ethnic enclave within the san gabriel valley while the korean americans are dispersed within the greater los angeles area. the affluent chinese have moved from the mainland to the san gabriel valley because of a high concentration of already present chinese american inhabitants. on the other hand, korean americans have always been dispersed within the greater los angeles area and therefore do not have a specified area that is highly concentrated. historical sequences from these two ethnic groups also perpetuate these trends. 1the greater los angeles area is home to two very large ethnic groups; chinese americans and korean americans. it has been observed that korean-americans are very widely dispersed throughout the greater los angeles area with many small areas of concentration (li 2006:101), while chinese-americans have a clearly defined area of significantly high concentration in and around the san gabriel valley (allen 1997:122). the purpose of this paper is kevin ok is a sophomore student at the department of mathematics, california state university. his paper was submitted as a requirement for dr. ronald tsukashima’s soc 263 the asian-american experience during winter 2008. to determine why this residential pattern persists among korean-americans and chinese americans. it is the position of this paper that the korean-american community is more dispersed because of the absence of a single heavily concentrated suburban area of institutional completeness that would be attractive to affluent korean-americans outside of traditional koreatown, whereas the chinese do have such an area outside of traditional chinatown in the san gabriel valley. in order to elaborate further, the historical sequence for these residential patterns must first be understood. the traditional chinatown of los angeles was well established to the north of downtown los angeles in the 1860s (allen 1997:120). the chinese california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 18-21) residential patters by kevin ok 19 residents of this area were, and still are “poorer, less educated, less acculturated, and more recently arrived than the chinese who live elsewhere in southern california” (allen 1997:121). as an alternative, the san gabriel valley has become the most popular destination for “immigrants who could afford better housing than chinatown” (allen 1997:122). in the 1970s, an effort was made to develop a suburban chinese community in monterey park by advertising to the wealthy chinese living in hong kong and taiwan (allen 1997:122). international events in the 1970s and 1980s caused many residents of hong kong and taiwan to fear political uncertainty and come to the united states (li 2006:82). as a result, there was a significant influx of wealthy chinese people migrating to monterey park, as well as into other areas within the san gabriel valley (allen 1997:122). in addition to buying homes, many of these immigrants opened businesses “catering to the needs of the growing chinese population” (allen 1997:122). this phenomenon can be described as “rapid economic growth propelled by the influx of foreign capital and immigration” (zhou 2005:280). the ethnic chinese banking sector played a significant and crucial role in this development. it “financed the transformation of the entire san gabriel valley into an [area] where the chinese population and businesses are prominent” by tapping into “financial resources brought by the chinese immigrants and possessed by ethnic chinese across the pacific rim” (li 2006:86-87). many of the chinese in the area soon became, or already were, wealthier than the native whites and showed “little interest in acculturating to white america” (allen 1997:122). this was made further possible since the community had clearly developed into a region that corresponds with raymond breton’s description of “institutional completeness” (li 2006: 100). a region is said to be institutionally complete when a significant proportion of the members of an ethnic group have most of their personal relationships within that group as a result of the abundance of ethnic institutions, or “formal collective organizations,” such as “social aid agencies, business groups and media, and public institutions like schools” (bourgeois 2005:2). according to one source, by 2000, 41.23 percent of monterey park’s residents were chinese (kwong 2005: 358). the same source stated that the chinese population of nearby san marino was 41 percent, arcadia’s was 34 percent, and rosemead’s was 29 percent. from all of this it is clear that the san gabriel valley is the largest center of affluent chinese in southern california as well as the area’s most “intensively chinese settlement” (allen 1997:122). the development of the korean community in the greater los angeles area had a much different start. most koreans who came to the united states were highly educated, often as professionals, but were unable to use such education effectively because of language and cultural barriers, discrimination, and “lack of transferability of work experience, education, and skills acquired in korea” (allen 1997:149; song 2004:13-14). as a result, many california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 18-21) residential patters by kevin ok 20 had to open their own small businesses in koreatown (allen 1997:149). koreans are well known for being very entrepreneurial in comparison to other groups (waldinger 1996:329). however, unlike the chinese in the san gabriel valley who had a strong ethnic banking sector as well as an intense “flow of transnational capital,” koreans had to rely on rotating-credit associations and banks for financing (kwong 2005:358; allen 1997:149). despite their difficulties, they were able to establish an area of “institutional completeness” in koreatown (li 2006: 100). although it is the most important korean enclave in the greater los angeles area, koreans make up a very small proportion of the residents of koreatown (li 2006:103). not to mention, in 1990, 56.6 percent of korean households in koreatown had an income below $25,000 and they had a poverty rate of 25.3 percent (li 2006:109). koreatown is clearly not an area that is attractive to affluent koreans. many koreans were able to make significant economic success and move out of koreatown and into the suburbs, while some were already wealthy enough to go to the suburbs directly from korea (li 2006:105-112). these settled into enclaves in places like the san fernando valley, san gabriel valley, orange county and the south bay (li 2006:101; allen 1997:150-151). these suburban enclaves developed their own korean businesses and had sufficient korean institutions to be considered institutionally complete (allen 1997:150; li 2006:105). however, unlike monterey park and the san gabriel valley for the chinese, there was no one specific place or region that was heavily advertised for koreans and to which an intense amount of transnational capital flowed. therefore, there was no one suburb into which affluent koreans concentrated and developed intensively. the korean dispersion into the suburbs followed a pattern of “decentralized concentration” (li 2006:103). in support of this notion, population data shows that koreans do not make up more than 10 percent of the population of any one of 10 regions in southern california (li 2006:102). it is the position of this paper that this trend is being perpetuated by the already established residential patterns of the two ethnic groups. because korean americans outside of koreatown have already been dispersed to the point of having no one major area of significant suburban clustering, new immigrants from korea looking to move to the suburbs will continue to have several areas of institutional completeness to choose from and will not begin to intensively occupy any one region (li 2006:116). the chinese, on the other hand, already have a significantly large area of concentration in the san gabriel valley that was well established by intense investment from overseas as well as local economic activity. given this, new affluent immigrants from china will be more likely to choose the san gabriel valley area over another. it appears that this “cycle” will continue perpetually, and for this reason it can be said that the korean american community’s lack of a single heavily concentrated suburban area of institutional completeness is the reason for its apparently greater discalifornia sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 18-21) residential patters by kevin ok california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 18-21) 21 persion than the chinese american community. references allen, james p. and turner, eugene. 1997. the ethnic quilt:population diversity in southern california. northridge ca: california state university, north-ridge. bourgeois, daniel. 2005. “sub-state institutions and minority self determination.”montréal, québec: université du québec a montréal. retrieved may, 4, 2008 (http://www.umoncton.ca/icrml /document/qcgn-final.pdf). kwong, peter and dusanka miscevic. 2005. chinese america: the untold story of america’s oldest new community. new york:the new press. li, wei. 2006. from urban enclave to ethnic suburb. honolulu, hawaii: university of hawaii press. song, kui-hee. 2004. beyond multiculturalism in social work practice. lanham, maryland: university press of america, inc. waldinger, roger and bozorgmehr, mehdi. 1996. ethnic los angeles. newyork: russell sage foundation. zhou, min and lin, mingang. 2005. “community transformation and the formation of ethnic capital: immigrant chinese communities in the united states.” journal of chinese overseas. 1 (2): 260-284. retrieved february 18, 2008 (http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/zh ou/pubs/zhou_lin_ethnic_capital.pdf). http://www.umoncton.ca/icrml/ http://www.umoncton.ca/icrml/ http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/zhou/pubs/zhou_lin_ http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/zhou/pubs/zhou_lin_ book review | bates and glenn 1 california sociology forum vol. 5 book review: divide & conquer: race, gangs, identity, and conflict (studies in transgression) by robert d. weide taryn bates and lami j. glenn department of sociology california state university, los angeles when you hear the term “gangs” what is it that comes to mind? los angeles is notoriously known for its subculture of gangs and subsequent gang violence, from the likes of crips cofounder stanley “tookie” williams as well as sylvester scott, who is credited with the advent of the original blood gangs. popular media is obsessed with stories of these gangs and its members– whether in sensationalized reports on fox 11 news or fictionalized stories playing out in tv shows or box office movies, like boyz in the hood or colors. such portrayals become in fact dehumanizing by reinforcing a narrative of depravity instead of recognizing the reality that gang members are among “the most marginalized, demonized, and criminalized population in america and throughout much of the capitalist world” (weide 2022:7-8). this insider participant observation ethnographic case study serves as an in-depth look into the humanity and nuance of the lived experience for sureño-affiliated, crip and blood gang members in los angeles. robert d. weide, ph.d. is an associate professor of sociology at california state university, los angeles. weide teaches various courses on the history of anarchy, criminology, and critical theory on the intersectionality of class, race, and gender. he is also an expert witness on cases involving gangs in which he is summoned across the country to present his knowledge in numerous, and often high profile, cases. as uplifted from his biography in the introduction of the book, weide’s heritage includes that of his father being an ethnic kurd born in iran, as well as being of half-prussian and half-russian descent on his mother’s side. his birth name is actually an iranian surname with kurdish tribal affiliation, but during his youth, robert’s parents chose to legally change his last name to weide – in reflection of his maternal grandfather’s prussian roots – to protect him from the intended violence targeted at ethnic middle eastern and north african people at that time. coupled with growing up book review | bates and glenn 2 california sociology forum vol. 5 in the west los angeles area, as a teen he was a member of a street gang comprised of childhood friends and fellow ‘taggers.’ weide is passionate about looking past labels of identity based on race and the assumptions of how people should conduct themselves solely on physical appearance. though this book is an ethnographic research project about gangs, it also serves as a cohesive overview for the evolution of the race concept and its modern manifestation through identity politics and ethnonationalism ideology. as explained by weide, gangs are both the epitome and antithesis of the surplus labor population whose existence fuels the capitalist power play of “divide and conquer” to keep the working class stuck on in-fighting, to detract them from ‘rising up’ and overthrowing the ruling class. weide notes: it is no accident that the prior use of the word gang in the english language was in reference to a group of workers, whereas by the turn of the twentieth century the word has been transformed into a negativistic slur used to demonize and criminalize workers whose labor is no longer useful to capital. gang members represent not just the lower class, but, moreover, the permanent underclass of american society – what karl marx and friedrich engels called the lumpenproletariat, unable to identify the cause of their material deprivation and therefore unable to focus their rage against those whose unimaginable wealth is possible only at their expense. (2022:8) therefore, modern gangs often attract the surplus labor population that capitalism forcibly keeps unemployed to depreciate the value of the workers. however, this often leads to gang members becoming the antithesis of a surplus labor population because they have found a way outside of traditional employment constructs to make money and might not be willing to fall in line with the constricting atmosphere of brick-and-mortar capitalist businesses. one way the ruling class still contributes to gangs is through the perpetuation of the race concept and its self-fulfilling mechanism of creating division between in-group and out-groups by doubling book review | bates and glenn 3 california sociology forum vol. 5 down on ethnonationalism affiliation. these identity politics create an internal system of unconscious reinforcement through gang members fueling the myth of both threat and incompatibility divided along racial identities. divide & conquer is an engaging read that starts from the ground up. the introduction sets the tone for weide’s personal experience with gang-related killings and leads to his desire to conduct an ethnographic research study on gangs in los angeles. the first chapter chronologically explores the historical foundations of ethnonationalism and identity politics through what weide deems the three pillars: capitalism, the race concept, and nationalist ideology. the second chapter deconstructs identity through theoretical foundations, emphasizing anarchist theory to critique ethnonationalism and identity politics. after establishing this framework, the rest of the book details sureños, crip and blood affiliated gangs throughout los angeles county. the third chapter explores the invisible wall of division created between these gangs by their different cultures and identities. chapter four closely examines how gangs can be unintentional identity police by reinforcing racial bias and boundaries through their rivalries, primarily in jail facilities. this idea is explored even deeper in chapter five through the narrative the police and the media create about tensions amongst rival gangs being so-called race wars, with direct citations for case studies of racialized conflicts. chapter six focuses on transracial gang members who cross the boundaries of race identification and effectively proves that the concept of race does not necessarily hold up in actual practice. then chapter seven details the resilient progress that respected gang leaders acting as peacemakers made in 2019 to create a cease-fire between warring gangs while also detailing the resistance working to keep up the elite power to divide and conquer the marginalized people groups. finally, the conclusion wonders if the future will be one of reform or revolution. this book is solid from cover to cover. i (taryn) was first introduced to this book by taking weide’s class in the fall of 2022 at cal state la: soc 3480 sociology of class, race/ethnicity, and gender. his chapter laying out the interweaving history of capitalism, racism, and nationalism is an amazing and accessible book review | bates and glenn 4 california sociology forum vol. 5 collection all in one place. building on that strong foundation, weide uses his expertise to create rapport by tapping into different sides of his personal history and current interests when interviewing sureño-affiliated, crip and blood-affiliated gang members as well as a handful of law enforcement officers specifically overseeing gang enforcement. overall, weide personally conducted formal interviews with sixty-seven sureñoaffiliated gang members, thirty crip and blood gang members, and seven gang enforcement officers. it is impressive to see someone having such success spanning these three groups that are usually violently pitted against each other. divide & conquer is a revolutionary piece of research literature that should hopefully serve to open the mind of anyone willing to read it. this book is highly recommended for anyone curious about los angeles gang culture, even if they have not been to los angeles, to understand some of the dynamics of the subculture that exists. weide’s approach proves that holding space with empathy allows even the most stigmatized and marginalized to express themselves in ways that showcase their humanity. cultural understanding is the key to overcoming the systems in place that divide and conquer through defaulting to an “otherizing” mentality of those perceived as different. everyone has a reason for what they do; instead of immediately writing people off by their appearance, seek to hear one another out. if everybody did that, there might just be unification in making sure everyone is being supported and cared for day to day. references weide, robert d. 2022. divide & conquer: race, gangs, identity, and conflict (studies in transgression). philadelphia, pa: temple university press. poetry | bates 1 california sociology forum vol. 5 social constructs creatively deconstructed: a collection of six poems taryn bates department of sociology california state university, los angeles author’s acknowledgement: dr. lisa montagne galloway holds the honor of being the mentor who patiently encouraged taryn into pursuing and attending higher education, correctly guessing that taryn would thrive in academia. cost of living my currency is energy charged by the second my peace of mind a piece not mine claimed by every fear my balance is overdrawn ideals of saving-up forgone checks constantly voided my daily wage lump sum of living income comes in with no proper credit poetry | bates 2 california sociology forum vol. 5 the masquerade of the perfection parade paint up your faces and hide any traces of imperfection while you join in the races as we go through our paces this festival façade is our lifetime legacy where individuality is hidden creativity, forbidden and all manner of originality is driven to seclusion in the illusion that perfection is the only presentation acceptable to make a friendly connection mistakes will only lead others to say, "my goodness, what weakness they betray too risky and messy, too childish to relay any sense of dignity and propriety so we piously look down our nose at any who suppose their misdeeds are forgivable and not taken personal as we lead the masses to flawless performance to all who glance our way." so then fear keeps us in line, convincing others that we're fine behind our masks tired eyes the only sign of our weariness doing time in hopes this fulfills our deepest wishes and longing to one day be thrown a rope and be pulled into freedom safely away from this chaos and madness to throw off crippling sadness and be shown genuine kindness that will clear away blindness our masks have led us in but the only rope we've been given binds us together in this prison of going through the motion to deceive each other in the notion that we are spotless and therefore please love us. poetry | bates 3 california sociology forum vol. 5 pretty|ugly (the beast of beauty) we've been taught to value patterns over people the carefully fabricated versus the naturally featured smoothed out, glossed over, dolled up youthful faces prematurely aged and grayed by the heavy expectations applied around eyes, tweezed brows, hollowed cheeks died hair, plumped lips, turned up noses senses told to stop the function of design composed behind plastered smiles reflected in mirrors entreating to have a seamless surface of contoured features concealing a raging inner turmoil the fountain of youth proves a siren's song luring us to a superficial sound drowning us in deep dissonance evened out, painted over, propped up exclusive is just a term to sell more magazines not caring about the individual but the masses size is subject to scrutiny where anyone can weigh in but the one on the scale silence is fool's gold, glittering in hollow glory distracting from the internal distinction screaming for attention but fearing it as well wondering what will be the tipping point of authentic acceptance if everything is stripped away and all that remains is plain as day clearly seen will the blunt edges be received with the truest intentions? can vulnerability pull down walls of resistance built from every stone cast in fear from an endless war on genuine integrity because a whole and undivided force can't be reckoned with and control can't be cast out from the power hungry indulging on every defenseless innocent a famine of fresh focus perfection is the only permissible presentation poetry | bates 4 california sociology forum vol. 5 school of love social studies said we were the perfect match then things changed and we found ourselves detached math has never been my strong suit why can't we make the figures compute? they say relationships are a science though they never detail the alliance our chemistry devolved in volatility pressure, vaporizing equilibrium to futility we started to artfully combine palettes but somewhere along the lines, we no longer synced talents english was our main communication until we lost our common foundation a physical education filled in the gaps preventing us from realizing our lapse we sought solace in literature's plots avoiding all the second thoughts drama consumed our after hours where barbs were thrown instead of flowers the pathways we traveled drifted away geography now dictates our choices each day history is what the *texts* book us as those daily "hi"s, "goodbye"s, now stuck in the past so here i'm left, creatively writing out my soul an essay on the effect of the emotional toll invested taking stock of what i value energy spent as time went poetry | bates 5 california sociology forum vol. 5 bye the arrow up and down like a rollercoaster track cycling round and round there is nothing new under the sun but still it's how we keep count of our days averaging the data tallying the points finding purpose and meaning in the numbers suggestions of how the world really works how we echo each other looking to each other for directions reliving the past forgetting the present the future trapped in projections spending moments in hopes of a larger payout playing the market in turn for the chance to profit audit our intentions our perceptions my perspective what's worth it am i doing this right risky business more manageable when the odds are bet on myself poetry | bates 6 california sociology forum vol. 5 the great deception one imagines at some point the idea of putting a price on everything would make it all fair and lower the odds of deals going sideways making a marker of honesty to compare that everyone had equal opportunity to access labor and goods to share instead humans capitalized on value now being externally monetary instead of intrinsically held and yet what was lost was the care for each other in community and consideration only owing kindness & goodwill no debt being held over each other through greedy lusts of power and obsession with hoarding the net sum of all things desirable manufacturing scarcity of resources just to be in ultimate control bah humbug to the scrooges who haven't met the ghosts of those whose lives they've impacted for worse so smug in not having a bone of generosity to give, live and let live freely instead willfully indenturing and enslaving an amount so largely oppressed and mistreated by this perpetual patriarchy not a nurturing nature to be saved but held to account poetry | bates 7 california sociology forum vol. 5 sociological importance for chosen pieces: i have been writing poetry and prose for over 20 years. growing up, i was always on the outside looking in having been homeschooled through all of grade school which i have discovered works very well for the sociological imagination. as i came into adulthood and started branching out in the world, my writing reflected those changes and growth through more serious themes full of questioning. now that i have been studying sociology for several years, i see so many sociological observations and imagination interwoven throughout my pieces. these selected pieces span the last decade. cost of living explores working a minimum wage job under the burden of capitalism, while experiencing alienation from oneself due to division of labor. the masquerade of the perfection parade woke me up from a dead sleep, begging to be written. this piece investigates why humans conform to the same societal norms when they obscure individual authenticity. masquerade further investigates imposter syndrome, fear of being found out to not measure up through never ending performance, while people are often hiding behind masks to fit cultural expectations. pretty|ugly (the beast of beauty) covers a cross section of cultural norms and capitalistic messaging. marketing and social media present idealized images of the perfect, happy life to sell more products while typically leaving the buyer feeling empty and wanting more. school of love studies romantic interpersonal relationships within the framing of school subjects or academic fields as an attempt at a whimsical yet poignant look at how im/maturity and societal expectations impact intimate relationships. the great deception and invested were both written in 2020, the former around the beginning of the covid-19 lockdown and the latter at the end of that tumultuous year. invested was inspired by the thought "what if i was investing in myself?"; another exploration of alienation and trying to reconnect with one’s own authenticity. deception exposes a capitalistic mentality that over-values money instead of camaraderie. a dissection of grey’s anatomy a dissection of grey’s anatomy danielle barrios department of sociology california state university, los angeles this paper, qualitative study, used field observation to acquire data and published data to assert findings. the author watched a ubiquitously popular television show in the united states and compared results from a 2003 book entitled “women, men and society,” in which authors found a disproportionate amount of female television roles to be sexualized and only cast by good looks, to find a linkage between statistical facts of the turn of the century and current findings based on past data. this paper observed four episodes and analyzed all major stereotypical roles ascribed to each actor and later the author compared data in a 2003 book. television questionably ful-fills a niche in our everyday lives. renzetti and curran (2003) report that the average american spends more time watching television than any other leisure activitymore than socializing, reading, or participating in outdoor activities combined. in 2000, it was estimated that americans per capita watch 1591 hours of television (renzetti and curran 2003). while these statistics are quite alarming, perhaps the substantial amount of time we reserve for television viewing can be considered less of a surprise if we are to consider some of the special reasons for its appeal. 1television can be watched at little or no cost, as well as requiring no skills or expertise to watch, and is 1 danielle barrios is an undergraduate student at the department of sociology, california state university. her paper was initially submitted to soc. 341 the sociology of gender roles taught by professor janet lever in spring of 2008. readily accessible to watch without leaving the comfort of one’s own home (renzetti and curran 2003). television’s ubiquitous availability makes it an effective medium of socialization; it is accessible to everyone regardless of their age, sexual orientation, class, race, and geographic location, therefore every-one is exposed and susceptible to the same visual and verbal social messages. thus, the unsuspicious universality of television mediates its role as a pivotal agent of socialization as it exerts a powerful influence in shaping gender roles. television has long been accused of espousing negative social messages by reinforcing stereotypical gender traits and behaviors (renzetti and curran 2003). in order to further investigate this claim, it is important to evaluate the content and the messages television broadcasts to its viewers. i will use content analysis to evaluate “grey’s anatomy”. starting california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 58-63) grey’s anatomy by danielle barrios 59 with face value, the prestigious career statuses’ of the cast characters, which not only includes both men and women but also individuals of different ethnic backgrounds, makes a case for its progressiveness; this superficial observation will be put to the test. “grey’s anatomy” airs on abc thursdays nights at 9 pm and is currently in its 4th season. while i am an avid watcher of the show beginning in its 2nd season, i have chosen to evaluate four more recent episodes, starting with 4.9 “crash into me—part 1”, 4.10 “crash into me—part 2”, 4.12 “where the wild things are”, and 4.13 “piece of my heart”. “grey’s anatomy” chronicles the lives both personal and professional— of a group of surgical interns and their supervisors face as hospital staff on a daily basis. the show specifically focuses on a group of five interns: meredith grey, cristina yang, isobel “izzie” stevens, alex karev, and george o’malley, as they navigate their way through the residency program at the fictional seattle grace medical center. their supervisors include the chief of surgery, dr. richard webber, the various attending surgeons, dr. derek shepard, dr. erica hahn, and dr. mark sloan, as well as the senior residents; dr. miranda bailey and dr. callie torres. although the plot of the show is based truly on its collection of cast members, the show’s name and the fact that every show begins with a voice-over conducted by meredith grey seems to suggest she is the protagonist of the show. while the interns, with exception of george, have been promoted to second-year residents in the 4th season, lexie grey, meredith’s half-sister and a current first-year intern also has a recurring role this season; most likely due to her close relationship with meredith. such a large cast necessitates a few disparate plot lines; the current major plotlines include meredith and derek’s efforts to cope with the consequences of their break-up, callie’s newfound friendship with dr. hahn, alex’s convoluted romantic relationship with married former patient rebecca, and christina’s unappreciated endeavors to win dr. hahn’s good graces in her pursuit to practice cardiothoracic surgery. an examination of gender role messages presented in this show will be evinced including presence and appearance/age of the male and female characters and the gender stereotypes conveyed by the show’s authors. according to women, men, and society, women characters on primetime television account for 39% of all major characters (renzetti & curran 2003). in order to evaluate this finding for this particular show, i have defined all major characters as those characters that were present in least three out of the four episodes i analyzed. with this particular definition in mind, there are a total of 14 major characters: five are male and nine are female. thus, the books findings do not hold true for this particular show: women account for 64.3 % of all major characters. in keeping with the show’s medical theme, the hospital is the major hub of the action. as medical professionals, all of the major characters are shown at work and are shown to be equally competent in their roles—that is, each character is shown working, intercalifornia sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 58-63) grey’s anatomy by danielle barrios 60 acting with patients, and performing medical procedures. interestingly, while there are more female major characters, the positions of power and authority are disproportionately held by men. for example, three out of the four attending surgeons, including the chief of surgery, are men. however, while males occupy the top of the hierarchy, and are depicted as being incredibly skilled (as they should be for surgeons of their caliber), they resolve less of the surgical issues. indeed, problem solving is equally divided between men and women and for the most part, it is collaborative. for example, in episode 4.10, an important piece of neurosurgical navigational equipment has crashed. the nurse, rose, with her limited knowledge of computer science, identifies a problem involving the wires but cannot connect them together correctly due to what she claims are her “shaky hands”. dr. shepard, the neurosurgeon, then steps in to fix the problem as he has famously steady hands— with being a neurosurgeon and all—and, indeed, once the wires are mitigated, the machine comes back to life. another such example exists in episodes 4.12 and 4.13 when meredith diagnoses a patient with a currently untreatable brain tumor and formulates a radical treatment plan in the form of a clinical trial. however, being a less experienced resident, she needs the attending neurosurgeon to approve the plan and perform this new surgery, all of which dr. shepard executes. while it is not lost on me that the above two examples could be construed to mean that, while a woman is more than capable of identifying a problem, a man is needed to “finish the job”. i have watched enough episodes of this show to know that such a claim is not representative of the show as a whole, and many examples exist where a woman is completely capable of “finishing the job”; this situation was just not evident in the four analyzed shows. invariably and realistically, most of the surgeries featured on the show are truly synergistic efforts on the part of the medical team, which consists of any proportion of attending surgeons, residents, interns, and nurses, both male and female. women, men, and society also report that female characters are more likely to be thin or physically attractive; specifically, 46% of women compared with just 16% of men are thin or very thin (renzetti &. curran 2003). this finding does not coincide with my findings for “grey’s anatomy”. of the 9 female characters, 6 are thin or very thin (67%). if we take this finding alone, it would seem that it parallels the book’s finding. however, of the 5 male characters, 3 are athletic /physically fit (60%). interestingly, the males’ physical appearances are emphasized by the charming monikers of dr. mc dreamy and dr. mc steamy, attributed to dr. shepard and dr. sloan, respectively. thus, for this show, while it is true that a large proportion of females are physically thin, it would seem that the standard of attractiveness in terms of physical body types is applied equally to members of both sexes. the book relates that the characters played by women are, on average, younger. two-thirds of female characters are in their twenties and thirties, while 12% are in their forties; 22% of male characters are in their forties for prime-time television california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 58-63) grey’s anatomy by danielle barrios 61 (renzetti & curran 2003). based on my observations primarily of the appearances of ‘grey’s anatomy” cast members my findings parallels the authors findings: 77% of major female characters are in their twenties and thirties whereas a substantially smaller proportion (22%) are in their forties. a greater proportion of males (60%) are in their forties or older. on the whole, the male cast of characters reflect a wider age range (i.e. the youngest men are in their late twenties and the oldest man is in his late fifties) with the proportion of males in each age category being fairly equal—that is, two men are in their twenties and thirties, two men are in their forties, and one man is in his fifties. for the female characters, the age range is narrower; no female character is shown older than her forties. a comparison of the number of women in each age category reveals a severe imbalance with a significantly greater number of women in their twenties or thirties. the book also reports that gender stereotypes are prevalent in television. according to this study’s analysis, “grey’s anatomy” is rather variable in propagating and dispelling these stereotypes. for example, males are stereotyped as being chauvinistic womanizers. the characters of alex karev and dr. sloan certainly live up to this reputation. alex sleeps around and, in episode 4.11, he juggles two girlfriends. dr. sloan is portrayed as promiscuous; indeed one character refers to him as a man-whore. however, this blatant reinforcement of gender stereotypical behavior is tempered by the presence of dr. shepard, a man who wants to settle down and get married, which challenges the stereotype. the show also opposes the stereotype’s applicability to men only by depicting the women as equally apt to sleep around. christina and meredith proclaim that they “screw boys like whores on tequila”. the show preserves the female “bossy boss” and male leader dichotomy. to get what they want, the women in positions of power are authoritarian. dr. erica hahn’s constant sarcasm and arrogance render her cold, imperious, and rude. knowing christina yang’s penchant for forging intimate relationships with her male supervisors/mentors, dr. hahn bluntly informs christina that she cannot be manipulated when christina attempts to get on her good side. dr. miranda bailey, the chief resident, is wellmeaning but most definitely bossy. she is collectively referred to as the “nazi”, probably a direct reference to her strict regime and unwavering demands and expectations. conversely, dr. webber, the chief of surgery, is portrayed as a true leader, benevolent and omniscient. his mentor-like qualities render him likeable and approachable to his colleagues and subordinates alike. thus, the negative portrayal of female bossiness shows that, while women can assert their power and gain respect, they are punished for their behavior. females are reputed to be more consumed with discussing romantic life and relationships, and for the most part, this stereotype is maintained. meredith and christina rarely often conduct “shrink sessions”—that is, christina plays the shrink while meredith talks out her problems—that revolve around meredith’s relationship or lack thereof california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 58-63) grey’s anatomy by danielle barrios 62 with dr. shepard. rebecca keeps returning to the hospital because she always “wants to talk” and sort out her relationship with alex, but is continually rebuffed. the show moves away from the stereotype in that it also shows men engaging in relationship discussions. just as meredith continuously talks about her relationship with derek to christina, derek also extensively discusses the details of his relationship with meredith, most notably with dr. sloan or george. interestingly, the show also presents a woman as the breadwinner in the family. miranda bailey is shown as a workaholic, so much so that her husband becomes a stay-at-home dad to raise their son. a recurring plotline delineates her husband’s mounting resentment of her career and her constant absence from the home and frustration with what he perceives to be his limited role, which severely strains their relationship and culminates in their estrangement. so, while the show presents the possibility of a wife in capacity of the primary money-maker, it certainly does not paint it as a positive experience. additionally, the races of the characters of the characters were evaluated in the context of the book finding that minorities are still underrepresented in television. women, men, and society noted over 80% of characters on prime-time television are white, 12% are black, 2% are asian and 1% are hispanic (renzetti & curran 2003). of the fourteen major characters, ten are caucasian (71%), two are african-american (14%), one is asian american (7%), and one is hispanic american (7%), which are greater than the book’s statistics. despite their under representation, these minority characters occupy positions of power—specifically, richard and miranda who are africanamerican and are chief of surgery and chief resident-respectively. callie torres is latina and is a senior resident, christina yang is asian and is the most skilled and technically competent 2nd year resident—and contributes significantly to the plot development of each episode. the findings derived from my analysis of “grey’s anatomy” do not reflect the findings found in women, men, and society. there are nearly twice as many major female characters than male characters. while a greater proportion of males are in positions of authority, problem solving is divided equitably between women and men. in general, male and female characters are held to similar standards of physical fitness, although men are given more leeway in terms of age. although the show does mediate the prominence of gender stereotypes in television, it does convey messages that resist these stereotypes. it perpetuates the stereotype of rampant male sexuality, and reinforces the “bossy boss-leader” binary. nonetheless, the show also presents promiscuous females, sensitive open to relationships problems males, and a woman as a primary bread winner. in addition, while minorities are still underrepresented, the ethnic characters’ on this particular show offer positions of power which maximize their contributions to each episode. “grey’s anatomy” conveys social gender messages: both men and women are competent and can solve problems; both men and women can california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 58-63) grey’s anatomy by danielle barrios california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 58-63) 63 attain power and authority, while men are reputed to be promiscuous women can also be promiscuous; while women are more concerned with relationships and do discuss them, men can also actively discuss relationships. in the end, the show does not dispel any gender stereotypical behaviors in that it does portray a particular gender as possessing its stereotypical trait; rather, the show conveys that the trait or behavior is not limited to only one sex. females and males are completely capable of doing what the other sex does, and by showing that women and men are not different at all, “grey’s anatomy” is progressive. references renzetti, claire and daniel curran. 1995. women, men, and society. 5th ed. boston: pearson education inc. religion generates individual & social control: religion generates individual and social control: focusing on values, beliefs, morals, sex, and marriage johanna orrante department of sociology california state university, los angeles in today’s society one must ask if religion is used for individual and social control. prevalent historical arguments include one can do no wrong if they follow god’s ideologies, god is persistent in the mind, and that religions form boundaries for those who abide by these guidelines. it is argued that religion is a basis of social control and factors that are affected include values, beliefs, morals, sex and marriage. 1religion embraces the holy, the good, and the truth in individuals; ultimately creating a set of beliefs, norms, and values for society to follow. it has been argued that one of the many reasons for religious existence is to provide an effective means for controlling individuals and society at whole. whether that is the reason why religion exists is debatable, but it is certainly true that control is one of the functions of religion. the idea that religion is used as a source of individual and social control increases as society, people, and ideas of religiosity progress with time. this paper examines a variety of factors that are controlled by religion: examining values, beliefs, morals, sex, and marriage. furthermore, it will become evident that religion generates individual and social control. johanna orrante is a graduate student at the department of sociology, california state university. her paper was initially submitted to soc. 445 sociology of religion, taught by dr. rick fraser in fall 2007. religion controls an individual’s actions by referring to god as the main controller of the self or the individual. anderson (2006) argues that something is good because god commands it and something is morally wrong because god forbids us to take part in it. this simply means that human and social agents do not always behave as they ought to behave, and think as they ought to think. humans are restrained from their true human nature when trying to follow the right and wrong of god’s commandssomeone who is physically non-existent. it is almost as though one can do no wrong when one believes in god because god always exists in your conscience and mind. religion ascends into the mind, takes over, and excludes the true essence of the individual. religion, in this circumstance alienates the individual from his or her own self. thus, religious affiliation eventually generates social and individual control. religion identifies and associates itself with the right, the wrong, the good, and the bad. as one furthers their relationship with or without religious california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 40-43) religion and social controlby johanna orrante 41 affiliation, it is evident that there are disciplines or categories that are set to be either religious (with values) or nonreligious (without values). roccas (2005: 749) uncovered the relationship between religiosity and values to provide a better understanding of what it means to be religious or non-religious: “values express what people believe to be good or bad, and what they think should or should not be done”. this is especially important because this implies that religion provides a basis for prevailing norms and social structure, therefore encouraging the acceptance of the social order and discouraging questioning and innovation. in addition to roccas’ convictions, those who are religious possess a set of good values, while those who are not religious carry bad values or no values at all. with that said, it becomes transparent that religion controls the individual’s values, morals, beliefs and meaning system. religion constructs the mind, directing the individual into thinking what is perceived as sacred or not sacred in society. religion dictates a meaning system for individuals. silberman (2005) stated religion can be described as a meaning system that is unique in centering on addressing the quest for meaning. this greatly impacts society and the individual by establishing a foundation for a belief system. the religious foundation that one acquires allows individuals to give meaning to life experiences, as well as to set goals, plan activities, and most importantly set order to their behavior. it can be said that religion sets social and individual margins that control individual and social behaviors, daily activities, and personal goals. religions form boundaries for those who abide by the guidelines. i would believe that these religious laws would make an individual’s well-being unsatisfying, but according to weigand (2006) this is untrue. life is not only satisfying to those who participate in religious activities, institutions, or roles. religion tends to persuade people into believing a certain way, therefore promoting individual and social control. weigand (2006) believed that religiosity and wellbeing have a causal effect. the more one participates in religious activities, the more they are satisfied as wellbeings. if religion did not come to exist people would find satisfaction and happiness amongst other activities and institutions. people would also find alternate ways to correspond themselves to groups in which they relate and identify with. one’s well being cannot simply rely on religion, however people’s minds tend to be persuaded into thinking that religion makes life more valuable, pleasant, and meaningful. on a more individual level, religion can make people more cooperative and friendly. religion produces social control by promoting the notion that religious affiliation and beliefs bring out the good in people. morgan (1983) examined the religion-morality link at the individual level in everyday life. his findings indicate that people who are more religious seem more friendly and cooperative than less religious people. this is a significant analysis because morgan’s findings agree with the notion that religion is a driving source that generates cooperation among individuals and society. religious institutions lure california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 40-43) religion and social controlby johanna orrante 42 people in by proclaiming that religion makes and creates the good in people and as well in society. this perception advertises that the more religious one is, the better he or she is as a human being. alternatively, there have been several cases where catholic priests have been involved with the molestation of young, innocent children. these priests are known to be god’s deliverers and are looked upon as god-like figures. with this example, it can be said that religion does not bring out the good in people. however, religion persuades individuals and society into believing that people are good or bad based on their interests, affiliations, actions, or decisions. religion plays a prevalent role in the controversial topic of abortion. o’conner and berkman (1995) examined the impact of the roman catholic church and conservative protestant churches on the state abortion policy. the authors concluded religion is a significant factor in abortion policy. abortion is a very personal matter that lies mainly in the emotional state of the individual. religion perceives abortion as sinful and links it to a murderous and inhuman act. the abortion policy that stemmed from religious belief tries to overlook the personal decisions of the individual as the true needs and feelings of the individual are being completely avoided. religion in this circumstance blinds the individual from making an important decision of their own that can possibly affect their life forever. people should trust within themselves and look past religious beliefs, values, and norms in order to make choices such as aborting a child. motherhood is an option and should remain a private choice just as one’s sex life should be. religion also possesses control over an individual’s sex life or sexual activity. examples of this include when you can have sex, how many partners you choose to have sexual encounters with, and who you are allowed to have sex with. in most religious cases, an individual is allowed to have sex after marriage, with the opposite sex, with a partner who is within your religion, and with the person you choose to marry. barkan (2006) examined the relationship between religiosity and the number of sexual partners among adults. the major findings indicated religiosity reduces the number of partners and does so partly because of moral disapproval and premarital sex. moreover, religion is used in a way to calm and limit people’s sexual desires or thoughts. sex is based on the ideas of morality and the values of people and society. people should have the free will to choose whom they want to have sexual relationships with and should also have the right to decide the number of people they choose to have sex with. along with sexual activity, religion impacts marriage as well. religion has a tremendous impact on laws of marriage. olsen, cadge and harrison (2006) analyzed the relationship between religion and public opinion regarding same sex marriage, civil unions, and the federal constitutional amendment that would prohibit gay marriage. denike (2007) is a researcher whose analysis questions the terms by which extending marriage to same sex couples has been posed, advanced, and resisted in canada and the united states in the past years. the religious standards of same-sex marriages that olsen et al. examined are difficult for individuals to abide by. a california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 40-43) religion and social controlby johanna orrante california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 40-43) 43 human is a human regardless of their sexual preference or their choice in life long partners. why should one’s selection in a mate become restricted by ones religious standards? a homogeneous couple should be able to further their relationship and be able to participate in a marital ceremony that officially unionizes their relationship as one. same-sex marriages should not be resisted but religion continues to override ones sexual preference and prohibit homosexual couples from wedding. if religion is associated with well-being and happiness, one would think religion would accept and ameliorate the idea of gay marriages. furthermore, a social group and its religion can tell individuals what they must believe, acknowledge, and do, but in the end the individual must act according to his or her own thoughts or actions. religion involves personal emotions, thoughts, and behaviors; therefore individuals are free to commit themselves to which ever religious or nonreligious system they prefer. religion, amongst other social agents, influences and modifies the nature of society and most importantly the individual by providing moral beliefs, and values that must be followed. these morals, values, and beliefs greatly impact and influence the believer; generating individual and social control over them. references anderson, pamela s. 2006. “can we love as god loves?” theology & sexuality 12:143-163. barkan, steven e. 2006. “religiosity and premarital sex in adult-hood.” journal for the scientific study of religion 45:407-417. brandt, sarah. 2004. “religious homogamy and marital satis-faction: couples that pray together, stay together.” sociological viewpoints 20:11-20. denike, margaret. 2007. “religion, rights, and relationships: the dream of relational equality.” hypatia 22:71-91. johnstone, ronald l. 2007. religion in society: a sociology of religion 8th edition. new jersey: prentice hall morgan, s. philip. (1983), “a research note on religion and morality: are religious people nice people?” social forces 61:683692. o’conner, robert e. and micael b. berkman. 1995. “religious determinants of state abortion policy.” social science quar-terly 76:447-459. olson, laura r., wendy cadge, and james t. harrison. 2006. “religion and public opinion about samesex marriage.” social science quarterly 87:340-360. roccas, sonia. 2005. “religion and value systems.” journal of social issues 61:747 -759. silberman, israela. 2005. “religion as a meaning system: implications for the new millenium.” jour-nal of social issues 61:641-663. weigand, katherine e. and howard m. weiss. 2006. “affective re-actions to the thought of god: moderating effects of image of god.” journal of happiness studies 7:23-40. the little blue pill and the rise in sti’s among the elderly the little blue pill and the rise in sti’s among the elderly todd a. cosper special education and counseling california state university, los angeles sti’s have been a serious issue for decades. countless efforts to improve sexual health have attempted to reach people all over the world. however, the one demographic that has yet to be bombarded with sexual heath campaigns is the elderly. generally, there is a widespread assumption that the elderly simply are not at risk for contracting sti’s. the elderly are left in the dark when it comes to understanding sexual health practices and the risks of being sexually active. in recent years, people are living longer and engaging in intimate relationships partly in thanks to the miracle pill viagra. this article looks at the facts regarding sti trends among the elderly. there is no refuting that efforts need to be aimed at curbing this unfortunate trend. this is a call to action for both research and awareness to help this population evade the harmful sti’s that have plagued our society for years. 1 sexually active senior citizens have been a topic that is rarely addressed in our social world. it is not a thought that one wants to mull over in any critical sort of way. it is just too far of a stretch for us to imagine, or even to want to imagine for that matter. we are comfortable believing the elderly are nonsexual beings who along with disengaging from society have also disengaged from intimate relationships. we as a society have come to embrace a more open attitude about sexuality in general, but when it comes to the elderly we choose to hold on to a todd cosper is a graduate student at the division of special education and counseling, college of education. victorianesque ideology that has contributed to a rise in sti’s and hiv among the elderly. this specific age group is looked upon as being out of the loop when it comes to safe sex practices. another major contribution to this situation is the growing popularity of the miracle pill viagra. both the high use of pills like viagra and the limited attention given to the sexual activity of the elderly has put the demographic at a high risk for contraction of an sti. the u.s center for disease control reports that individuals age fifty and older represent more than ten percent of total aids cases in the united states and that hiv cases are increasing among individuals in their sixties and seventies. during the last decade hiv california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 46-49) the little blue pill by todd a. cosper 47 cases have risen five hundred percent among senior citizens. currently, twenty seven percent of individuals living with aids are age fifty and older (cdc.gov). these numbers are in direct conflict with our naively held stereotypes of the elderly and sexual behavior. take the case of retirement community the villages in orlando florida. in 2006 news broke of a significant number of the elderly having contracted a sexually transmitted infection (local6.com). a gynecologist near the community reports that she has “treated more cases of herpes and hpv in the retirement community than she did in the city of miami” (local6.com). such cases are too significant for us to just ignore. action needs to be taken in order to control the spread of these diseases. researchers and health care professionals have attributed this rise of sti cases in this demographic to two main factors: rise in viagra use, and lack of education regarding safe sex issues. in an article in aarp magazine, susan jacoby expounds on the subject of viagra. jacoby points out that the baby boom generation is a product of “radically changing sexual mores” and that these changing norms have been perpetuated in older age by the use of viagra (2005). the once held notion of aging has been directly challenged via the use of this little blue pill. jacoby reports that the number of men who have tried or used viagra has doubled since 1999 (2005). it is now time for a cultural shift in our thinking and planning when it comes to this demographic. dunn and cutler refer to a study conducted by the ncoa (national council on the aging) that reports forty eight percent of older adults as being sexually active, with individuals in their sixties (71% of men and 51% women) being sexually active, individuals in their seventies (57% men and 30% women) being sexually active, and individuals in their eighties (25% men and 20% women) as being sexually active (2000). these statistics confirm that elderly couples are human beings with sexual needs. their behavior places them at a risk of contracting a life threatening disease. now that we have confirmed the fact that the elderly population is at risk of contracting sti’s, let us focus on the subject of sex education for older adult. dunn and cutler open dialogue pertaining to this subject. they point out that, “because many older adults are sexually active, and more will become sexually active, new treatment modalities, safe sex information and council will be essential” (dunn and cutler 2000). they also point out the importance of health care professionals being open and honest in screening procedures including asking questions about sexual history and current activity and being a direct resource for hiv and sti education for the elderly (dunn and cutler 2000). for many elderly individuals the idea of sex education is not something ingrained in their minds as it has been with subsequent generations. in addition, they have surpassed the child bearing years and feel no need to use condoms. widows are back in the dating scene and possibly having inter-course with a man, who may have engaged in risky sexual behavior. all of the risks surrounding sti’s and hiv in the younger generations are exactly the same in older generations. yes, this means we need to include the elderly in such risk factors as california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 46-49) the little blue pill by todd a. cosper 48 multiple sex part-ners, sex with high risk populations such as prostitutes. we cannot ignore this population because we want to hold back on our thoughts about sexually active elderly in order to avoid being uncomfortable. what we should be un-comfortable with is “an estimated 30,000 men and women were 45 or older at the time of their hiv diagnosis. americans 45 or older accounted for thirty percent of all those diagnosed with aids in 2002 who had been infected through heterosexual sex” (gottesman 2005). dr. adam zweig attributes the rise of hiv/aids in the older population using two explanations. “first, people are now living longer with hiv. second, there is an increase in risky sexual behavior (such as not using condoms). there’s been so much success treating the infection, the fear factor is gone” (gottesman 2005). such statements by noted professionals reiterate the importance of education in safer sex practices. these disparities could be attributed to a cohort effect. many now widowed or single older adults were monogamously married during the first aids crisis withholding the mentality that they were immune to this disease by being heterosexual and married. today, newly single or widowed men/women in their older years still carry the mentality that they are immune and untouchable when it comes to contracting sexually transmitted diseases. there is a greater health concern with the elderly and sti’s, but for hiv in particular. zelenetz and epstein draw attention to the fact that “the elderly are at risk for hiv infection and carry a high mortality if diagnosed… 37% of individuals 80 years and older have been reported to die within a month of diagnosis” (1998). they confirm that both normal aging aspects such as changes in the immune system functioning and poor nutrition among this population contribute to the progression of the disease. gottesman also directs attention to the fact that many hiv medications exacerbate other chronic ailments such as liver problems, diabetes, and high blood pressure (2005). this stresses the importance of health care professionals, social workers, and other professionals who work with the elderly to take seriously screening and education on hiv. research has shown that there is a significant increase in total knowledge scores after aids education sessions are held among elderly groups (rose 1996). rose conducted research on a total of 458 older people at 28 senior meal sights. a pre and post questionnaire judged on an eight point likert scale was administered before and after an aids awareness seminar (rose 1996). rose’s results also garnered data that points to a disparity between knowledge of contraction and knowledge of who is at risk; “the 458 older people surveyed were fairly knowledgeable about aids but generally did not believe themselves susceptible to the disease” (1996). findings such as this point to a gap in previous research most likely due to an age, period, cohort effect juxtaposed with the perpetuation of cultural stereotypical ideology. research in this area of gerontology must be taken seriously and further discussed in order to help those with advanced hiv, those susceptible to hiv, and subsequent generations. we must first and foremost remember we do not have a cure for hiv despite the fact california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 46-49) the little blue pill by todd a. cosper california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 46-49) 49 that medical advances have improved the quality of life for those infected. anybody is susceptible to this disease by practicing certain risky behaviors regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality. these risky behaviors must now be thought of in terms of a population that was self reported to have been under the impression that they were not at risk and also thought of in terms of society as a whole in the way of the elderly being nonsexual beings. all of the literature reviewed for this analysis seems to point to an obvious need for further research in this area of gerontology as well as a need for a shift in cultural perspectives when it comes to sexual activity in the later years. a revamped health behavior model and a harm reduction approach may prove beneficial in combating what could grow into a veritable scourge in our society. research shows improvement in the knowledge/behavior associated with risk taking after proper education by professionals (rose 1996). this serves as valid and reliable proof for the need for institutionalized educational campaigns. organizations such as aarp and dhhs could be an excellent catalyst for such a campaign in the form of psa’s and educational propaganda geared toward a growing demographic; the elderly. those in the field of gerontology research, on a theoretical level, could consider such risk taking and hiv prevalence in formation of theories that could then trickle down to those in the applied professions to center their training. hiv and sti’s are now relevant factors in society’s construction of the retirement years much in the same way they became constructions to younger generations as they pertain to a healthy sex life. references center for disease control. 2007. retrieved november 17, 2007. (http://www.cdc.gov). dunn, marian e. and cutler, neal. 2000. “sexual issues in older adults.” aids patient care and stds 14:67-69. gottesman, nancy. 2005. “hiv over 50.” aarp, retrieved nov. 19, 2007.(http://www.aarpmagazine. org). jacoby, susan. 2005. “sex in america.” aarp , retrieved november 19, 2007 (http://www.aarpmagazine.org). local6.com. 2006. “stds running rampant in retirement com munity.” orlando, fl, retrieved nov.15,2007 (http://www. local 6.com/). rose, molly a. 1996. “effect of an aids education program for older adults.” journal of community health nursing 13: 141-148. williams, edith and donelly, jerre. “older americans and aids: some guidelines for prevention.” socialwork 47: 105-111. zelenetz, paul d. 1998. “hiv in the elderly.” aids patient care and stds 12: 255-262. http://www.aarpmagazine.org/ http://www.aarpmagazine.org/ http://www/ microsoft word a10 ibale, annielyn.docx california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 91-95) the central issues of the women’s liberation movement annielynn ibale department of sociology california state university, los angeles this paper examines the women’s liberation movement, the generalized construct of women in society, and the underlying grievances of the women’s movement. feminist scholars divide the movement in three “waves” that categorize the different aspects and issues historically and currently. throughout most of history, male dominance has been the primary social order. as a result, women have been considered inferior and naturally incompetent, both physically and intellectually, compared to men. today, women are still being socialized through generations of traditional beliefs about gender. thus, feminism will still continue as long as we do not address this social issue. 1 the women’s rights movement was a significant crusade for women’s equality that begun in the late nineteenth century to present-day. advocates for women’s rights initiated the insurgency as they yearned for equal participation and representation in society. throughout most of history, male dominance was of primary importance to social order. women in particular were considered inferior and naturally incompetent both physically and intellectually, and they were often stereotyped as less capable 1 annielynn ibale is an undergraduate student at the department of sociology. her paper was originally submitted to soc 418 crowd behavior and social movements, taught by professor hyojoung kim in summer 2009. than men. furthermore, women are robbed of their self-confidence and selfrespect, reinforcing their dependence on their husbands. research done by shulamith firestone (1970) constitutes the central grievances that the feminist movement sought to challenge, which vary on issues regarding employment and pay, equal opportunities in education, property and voting rights, reproductive issues such as abortion and contraceptives, improved facilities for childcare, tightening the legal sanctions of violence against women in both public and private spheres which includes sexual and domestic violence, and most pre-dominantly to put an end to discrimination on grounds of central issues of the wlm by anneilynn ibale 92 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 91-95) sexuality, race, religion, and ethnicity (ryan, 1992). as a significant account of women’s historical struggles, feminist scholars divided the movement in three “waves” that categorized the different aspects of the issues that were being called forth. the seven key arguments will be further discussed throughout the following divisions of feminist disparity. the first-wave which refers to the movement of the 18 th through the 20 th century was perhaps the first instigation of women’s liberation. it mainly dealt with issues underlying the suffrage movement, primarily concerning women’s rights to vote. there were many prominent leaders during this era including american civil rights leader, susan b. anthony who played an important role in the anti-slavery movements, and most notably, elizabeth cady stanton, who was also another leading advocate in early 19 th century repression. stanton wrote declaration of sentiments, which was presented at the first women’s rights convention in 1848 held at seneca falls, new york (salper, 1972). the words documented fought for women’s voice and mandated inequalities. women during this period begun to make their voices heard through organized marches and campaigning advocacy on equal suffrage. world war ii paved the way for expanding women’s roles in work places. however, higher education was off-limits, and wealthy women held no property rights or economic autonomy. it was not until the 19 th amendment was passed in 1920 that women were finally granted the right to vote, which also included reforms in the areas of education and partial healthcare. nonetheless, many women still experienced less control and liberation in the aspects of gender stratification. while subtle changes took place during world war ii, in that they were able to occupy military and industrial jobs, as well as there was a rise in female college graduates, women’s return to traditional domesticity increased yet again (wrigley, 1992) their career options were restricted to gender-based occupations as male workers still dominated the majority of high-end professions. this major up-rise in work discontentment and dissatisfaction with domestic restriction led to a new age of activism, which encompassed a broad spectrum of political beliefs and ideologies. the second-wave came about during the 1960’s to 1980’s. feminism took a continual turn towards particular issues concerning the inequality of laws, addressing official and unofficial legal discrimination on sexuality, family, and, most controversially, on reproductive rights (ryan, 1992) there were many groups and factions that contributed to the women’s liberation expansion. one of which was the national organization of women (now) that was first established in 1966, which sprang after the equal employment opportunity commission (eeoc) failed to eradicate sexism in the workplace, opting to take on racial discrimination instead. (salper, 1992) the organization focused on issues on rape, domestic violence, abortion, and access to childcare, some of which was established by the first wave. through constant and persistent campaign struggles, feminism grew into a mass movement, gaining support from other women of common discriminatory central issues of the wlm by anneilynn ibale 93 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 91-95) experiences. thus, the slogan “the personal is political” appositely summed up the goals of the second wave feminism. this period predominately marked many uphill challenges for women as they strove to address the issue and bring awareness to the public. (haussman, 1992) many other significant key contributions during the second wave took effect such as the written words of the feminine mystique, a book by betty friedan, which described the victimization of women to a false identity in that they lose their sense of fulfillment and freedom. the rise of radical feminism in the 1970’s was also notable during this period due to their fight against patriarchal roots of inequality. subsequently, legal victories included the equal pay act of 1963, which requires that both men and women be given equal pay for the equal amount of work under the same establishment, title vii of the civil rights act of 1964, prohibiting employers from discriminating against employees based on race and gender, title x of the public service act, opting to provide family planning services to those in need, as well as major court cases such as griswold v. connecticut and roe v. wade (ryan, 1992). these court rulings gave substantive rights to privacy in the use of contraception and cases regarding a women’s right to abortion. to put it simply, the second wave fought to educate women to see their personal lives as reflective of the patriarchal structure of power, domination and sexism, that these gender inequalities classified women within a false image, which socialized them to behave or act in a certain way because society expected that of them. but even with all this, there was still a feeling of failure during the second movement, which eventually led to a new phase in history that still exists today. the third-wave which begun in the early 1990’s to the present arose as a response to the hostile response and criticism against the movement brought on by the second wave. it also addressed much deeper issues of women’s perception in america in regards to the differences pertaining to the standpoint of “oppression” between race and class, as well as issues on the bounds of sexual harassment and the definition of “femininity” (rosen, 2000) in other words, third-world feminists basically tried to challenge the second-wave paradigm of what is good or what is not good for women, as they defined it by their own classification of its understanding. momentous authors during this time such as, jennifer baumgardner and amy richards, wrote manifesta, concluding that the word ‘feminism’ is never wholly consistent because its definition changes and evolves overtime with each new generation. the 1991 case (anita hill vs. clarence thomas) in regards to sexual harassment was perhaps the root subjectivity of the third-wave, which focused on the intersection between race and gender (adler, 1991) while the second-wave fought for the rights of women concerning reproductive rights, rape and domestic abuse, the women’s studies program and policies of sexual harassment within the work place became the third-waves prolongation. derogatory words that down-grade women are also fought by this present movement, including the most central issues of the wlm by anneilynn ibale 94 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 91-95) significant debate in regards to the “glass-ceiling” case in which women are discriminately unable to rise to higher positions within the corporate system due to gender barriers (cott, 1987). most of the third-wave feminists try to fight for women’s right as far as career inequality is concerned. for instance, women, who bear children, are opting for fair maternity leave, where in some cases women are trapped between their career and their children in which they are most likely compelled to leave their job to maintain the welfare of their family due to the social roles that constrain them. this period, hence, marked the existence of how women are portrayed in the post-modern world. as far as the media and the depiction of women in contemporary pop-culture, we are greatly sensitized to the unhealthy and derogatory representation of females in entertainment as sexualized objects solely for men’s pleasurable needs. in fact, most women of today are socialized to be finer and slimmer than the average mass; hence, this is why so many of these cases results in eating disorders and bad dieting consumption due to extreme weight lose problems. women of today experience constraints in what it means to be “feminine” in a masculine world. on the one hand, they feel compelled to be attractive and sexually appealing due to social coercion, yet they are restricted to becoming “too loose” or open to such advances because, in doing so, they run the risk of being constrained and mocked for being overtly sexual; this is apparent in cases between opposite-sex relationship in which a male significant other restricts his girlfriend for being voluptuously exposed, but, all the while, expects her to be sexually appetizing for his own personal pleasure. and, insofar as work occupations are concerned, i believe that women are not entirely as “free” as they assume they are in the current global economy. even though strong female leaders such as hilary clinton, nancy pelosi, and oprah winfrey have greatly contributed to rapture of the glassceiling, there is still a pattern of gender bias within the workforce. linda martinalcoff, a professor of philosophy and women’s studies in hunter college, states that while women are occupying approximately 49% of jobs today, it does not provide inclusive wages between men and women (salper, 1992) the fact is that elderly women in the united states are more likely than men in the later stages to be poor and on welfare; a pattern that is still consistent in our society over the years. thus, the women’s movement is still existent in that they are trying to reform the social order and the ways that they are perceived. conditions such as the choice of occupations and the majority of people occupying certain jobs are witnessed to be more gender-related than they are diversely structured. today, conscious-raising of feminism has increasingly appealed to young men, although nancy cott (1987) reported that there is still very little awareness on the side of the male population presently. i believe this is due, perhaps, to the underlying factor of socialization in that most men find it difficult to speak out among the ranks of feminism beliefs because it is contrary to the social ideals of masculinity. indeed, the historical women’s movement may have created a change for humanity, but central issues of the wlm by anneilynn ibale 95 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 91-95) did not inclusively revolutionize the way we ideologically perceive the meaning of “gender” in our society. from a personal observation, i have witnessed countless women who have successfully reached the corporate ranks of maledominated occupation, yet women still suffer as victims of sexual taunts and of unfair representation. examples include “supermoms,” who are able to juggle both career and family life but are not getting the same constructive feedback as men who occupy a comparable job and are not required to attend to family means, and women, who are also the victims of derogatory name-calling and are victimized in sexual harassment for wearing provocative clothing. to put simply, women are still being socialized through generations of traditional beliefs about gender. perhaps it may be because we are simply accustomed to the social ordering of individuals in our society that we do not question its existence. to most people, primarily young children, it becomes a normative way of understanding world. the main problem in the contemporary third-wave of feminism is that people see the feminist standpoint as antiquated in the sense that feminism is all about suffrage and the right to work (cott, 1987). the issue lies in the ways society masks that perception into our awareness. individuals believe that since women of today are essentially better off than they were in the past in regards to work that they should have no other reason to invoke further demands due to the foregoing success of the women’s movement. the fact is that patriarchy is still the dominant force that shapes our society and social order, even with the present success of women’s right to vote, higher education, and selfdetermination laws. by studying the earlier women’s movement, i have learned that mobilizing a unified ideology of goals is an important part in opting for social change. feminism will still continue as long as we do not address the issues and differences among women and their experiences. references adler, leonore (1991). women in cross-cultural perspective. new york: greenwood publishing group, inc. cott, nancy (1987). the grounding of modern feminism. new haven: yale university press. firestone, shulamith (1970). the dialectic of sex: the case for feminist revolution. new york: bantam. haussman, m.a (1992). the personal is constitutional: feminist struggles for equality rights in the united states and canada. indiana: university press. rosen, r. (2000). the world split open: how the modern women's movement changed america. new york: viking. ryan, barbara (1992). feminism and the women’s movement. new york: rutledge. salper, roberta (1972). female liberation: history and current politics. new york: alfred a. knopf. wrigley, julia (1992). education and gender equality. london: the falmer press. microsoft word 4reyes,_antonia.doc california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 37-42) change in progress antonia reyes department of sociology california state university, los angeles this paper explores the beginnings of the movement of the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual & transgendered community (glbt). by analyzing pioneers such as henry hey, dr. evelyn hooker and harvey milk, and also by revisiting events such as the stonewall riots, the paper illustrates the social stigma that the glbt community has been enduring. also, by exploring institutionalized discrimination, a better understanding of the adversity that some people face can be reached. 1 social change can be reflected by a change in values and an increase in tolerance. the changes in sentiments have made revolutions and a change in human rights possible. social changes have helped the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender movement’s progression (glbt). the glbt movement has been progressing slowly but surely the glbt community has been able to gain certain liberties that were not readily available before. the analysis of the glbt movement will be focusing on the progression of their framing strategies that were and are currently being used today. the paper will begin with the analysis of the use of the motivational frame work utilizing henry hey and the 1 antonia reyes is an undergraduate student at the department of sociology. her paper was originally submitted to soc 418 crowd behavior and social movements, taught by professor hyoujoung kim in summer 2009. stonewall riots to further emphasize its importance. the motivational frame work will then intertwine with the surge of diagnostic framing; consequently, this framing serves the purpose of diagnosing the problem and attributing the blame to particular sources. the progressions from motivational to diagnostic are both important for the emergence of the prognostic framing stage that evolved from being a personal problem to a social problem seeking a change in the political and social system. this is the particular sequence that is reflective of the glbt movement’s success. as opposed to the civil rights and women’s movements, the glbt required a higher degree of motivation in order to get the movement started. a hero is a martyr willing to come out and express his sentiments, and that individual was henry hey—an educated and political advocate who wrote about the “oppressed minority.” henry hey change in progress by antonia reyes 38 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 37-42) was one of the founders of the mattachine society, and he recommended gay and lesbian individuals to come out and fight against their oppression. the conception of an oppressed minority was important because it legitimized homosexual identity. not only was this conception important at the personal level, but it was vital for the uprising of glbt movements. the uprising of individuals and the collective community is an example of the motivational incentives that initiated from the conception of the “oppressed minority.” having legitimized their grievances, this idea of an “oppressed minority” was the threshold needed for gays to “come out.” this brought about the conception of “identity,” and this conception, consequently, allowed for glbt individuals to gain a sense of community, allowing individuals to share testimonies of their grievances and struggles, while bolstering their sense of identity, outrage and pride. in june of 1969, police raided the stonewall inn, a bar where gays socialized. this act of police violence was symbolic because the gay men fought back with frustration, which would later fuel and cause the emergence of the “gay liberation movement” as a result of the stonewall riot. this took place about sixteen years after henry hey professed the oppressive reality of the gay and lesbian community. the latent support was brought to the frontlines after the stonewall riot. the oppressive behavior of the state caused a heightened level of indignation within the glbt that has lasted and continues till this day. the stonewall riot was to the glbt community what rosa parks was to the civil rights movement, as both helped motivate group members to organize and resist (write1999). due to the glbt’s lack of identity and lacking sense of community, it was essential for organizers to appeal to people’s individual’s beliefs. in the beginning stages, the majority of the people, including gay and lesbian individuals, thought that being homosexual was not a social problem but a personal problem. since the individual was to blame, society was justified when they were mistreating and oppressing their behavior. during the motivational stage, leaders had to take extreme measures in order to appeal to the glbt individuals. by appealing to the individuals beliefs and emphasizing the importance of identity, henry hey was successful in embedding a sense of pride and outrage in the individuals. as a result, individuals began to assemble and began to build organization groups that will ultimately led to collective action. without pride, outrage and a possibility of success glbt, individuals would not have participated in any collective action because the consequences for doing so were great. reaching a communal state was a success for the glbt community because it allowed for people such as henry hey and other members of the mattachine society to be influential. although it is important to note that many gay individuals came out, the political system and religious groups were not willingly ready to acknowledge their new found identity. gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals were denied the right to initiate romantic involvement and forced to deny their sexual identity. glbt were imprisoned in a role that change in progress by antonia reyes 39 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 37-42) denounced their needs and denounced their civil liberties. the community needed to acknowledge who they were and demand that they be granted equal rights. without the obvious relation between identity and oppression, the resources needed to mobilize the movement would not have been possible. their new found pride and outrage was enough motivation to initiate the movement. henry hey was the leading advocate promoting gays to come out, and he also helped transform the concept of what it meant to be gay in america. without henry hey and his efforts the gay community would not have been motivated enough to rise up and mobilize. thus, henry hey was a symbolic figure that represented another perspective of the gay individual, one that is educated and successful. although this was not the overwhelming perspective, this triggered scientific research. one of the most important research studies was done by dr. evelyn hooker. her groundbreaking paper, presented in 1956, demonstrated that “gay men were as well adjusted as heterosexual men, often more so” (ritts2009). although gay and lesbians were not removed from the american psychiatric association until 1973, dr. hooker’s developments brought the symbolic justification that reinforced the reality of their discontent of their mistreatment and oppression. determining the point at issue is an extremely hard task to arrive at, but many groups have chosen to specialize in specific grievances, whereas others have focused on a large range of topics. more specifically, the social organizations being discussed are the mattachine society, glaad, and the gay and lesbian task force. these organizations diagnosed four problematic areas. they attributed blame to the religious organizations, to inaccurate accounts of glbt lifestyles, to the lack acknowledgement, and to the oppressive political system working in concert with the other three. since the concept of identity brought about enlightenment and awareness, both of which were necessary for the transition to a diagnostic frame work, the progression from motivational to diagnostic was necessary because mere motivation to act is not sufficient for successful collective action. this particular framework attributes blame for the injustices; for example, glaad is concerned with the media, and the effect it has on the portrayal of glbt character. they attribute the blame to the mass media; although mainstreaming has helped build awareness, it has also been used against the glbt organizations. the mattachine society and the n.g.l.t.f. (national gay and lesbian task force) both attributed the blame to the political system for legitimizing oppression. in the case of the ngltf and mattachine society, they oppose any unequal treatment to glbt community topics ranging from marriage to job opportunities. for example, these organizations wanted to alleviate the stress of both being gay and career consequences, such as “glb sociologist who participated in activism, according to a survey were more likely to encounter difficulties in obtaining academic positions than non-activists” (taylorraeburn262). many argue that focusing on specialization of issues within the glbt movement would be successful. with change in progress by antonia reyes 40 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 37-42) particular issues movement, organizations are less likely to lose focus of the main goal. what was most problematic for the glbt movement was the decision to bridge with other movements. the civil rights movement (crm) took full stage in the 1960’s, and many glbt organizations decided to support civil rights organizations. later, many lesbian organizations would dissolve to either join or counter the women’s movement. depending on what was of highest priority to the social organizations, many would dissolve and join other organizations or bridge with other movements to join forces. for this reason, the diagnostic frame adapted an extension alignment in order to increase movement participation. for instance, the alliance between gay and union activists, when voicing their concerns regarding job security, bridged their framework with unions to unite around a common agenda (sweeney35). support of other social movements increased the level of organizational support, as well as increased resource availability. in diagnosing the source of the problem, the political system has been overwhelmingly the problem (snow 1999). minority groups have been the overwhelming victims of political oppression; for example, the civil rights movement, the women’s movement and the glbt are all representative of minority groups being oppressed. the glbt differs because many viewed the glbt as deviants being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, as they were thought to be a matter of choice. there are currently eleven states that have legalized marriage between gay and lesbians, either through the use of civil unions or domestic partnership. california is currently in a battle regarding the legalization of gay and lesbian marriages. even though the california supreme court ruled that couples have the right to marry, proposition eight, which denied gays and lesbians from being legally married, was voted on and passed in november 2008 by californians taking their right to marry away. this proposition was timely for the countermovement because the 2009 elections had conditions that were not favorable to glbt members, as the first african american candidate was running for president. because a majority of african americans are christians and because the african american turnout was higher than prior years, i can be asserted that their ideals conflicted with the glbt ideals, and, as a result, most african americans voted in favor of proposition 8. admittedly, the glbt community was so reliant on california’s liberal majority that they failed to the predict african american christian turnout. this is an example of affluent religious groups using money to bring about success to counter glbt movement in the political system. the glbt movement was initiated through motivation then it began diagnosing the problems and determining who was responsible for the injustice (snow 1999). blame was attributed, which led to the transforming of diagnostic to prognostic framing, where solutions are proposed and tactic strategies are developed. the civil rights and the women’s movement have paved the way for collective action tactics. tactics most commonly used by the glbt were protest, pride parades, media, and lobbing power. the ngltf has been the leading organization change in progress by antonia reyes 41 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 37-42) composed of a large range of grievances, all of which are fought through lawsuits and proposed legislature. countering the countermovement and the proper use of resources has lead to the movement’s success. for instance, pride parades have been very successful countering the “choice” argument because pride parades are representative of individualism and sharing of life and knowledge. the counter for the deviant argument has been made successful by individuals of positive influence in the fields of academics, politicians harvy b. milk, entertainers and many more. as stated by a glbt member “our sexual behavior and how we define ourselves, is usually a choice. though some people claim their sexual orientation is a choice for the vast majority this doesn’t seem to be the case, in a world void of homophobia few people would construct their identity based on sexual orientation” (miceli 603). this article is important because it states that sexual orientation is biological, and that sexual identity is socially defined. countering the argument of “choice” was done by giving an example of social determinism that questions whether individuals living in a society actually have choices. resources available to the glbt community also varied from the amount of resources available to crm and wm, in that many glbt members were affluent facilitating the availability of resources that took time for crm and wm to raise. money facilitated the distribution of information through media, parades, and lobby groups. mainstreaming information and properly educating citizens about glbt struggles can be a result of using the media as a tactic. it can also facilitate parades because of the massive distribution of information, thereby increasing the amount of potential participants being exposed to the information, while affecting the influence money has on lobby groups. money as a resource has a major influence on the success or failure of a social movement. lobbing has become a very influential tool in politics. as seen by crm and wm, political know how is important for reform, since there has not been exponential national policy success; thus, the glbt have focused on state as opposed to national policy. the glbt struggles are not a modern phenomenon, and the increase of glbt individuals that are out and open about their identity has increased as a result of a new found perspective. incrementally, the movement has been able to gain momentum, regarding the fight for civil rights and their decriminalization, while also highlighting the debate of how much influence should religion have on political laws and the political process as a whole. taking away the religious and moral argument of right and wrong from the glbt debate, it forces us to see it as a matter of human liberties. although the glbt movement has gained certain acknowledgements, they are still denied the national acknowledgement needed for complete freedom and acceptance. unfortunately, this is still a working progress, but with perseverance and an increase in national understanding the movement can hopefully transcend boarders and ultimately reach national success. change in progress by antonia reyes 42 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 37-42) references gay & lesbian alliance against defamation (glaad) home. web. aug. 2009. <http://www .glaad.org>. miceli, melinda s. "morality politics vs. politics: framing process and competion among christian right and gay social movement organizations." jstor. dec. 2005. web. aug. 2009. <http:// www.jstor.org>. ritts, alli. "the howard thurman center." www.bv.edu/thurman /events/glbttimeline.html. web. aug. 2009. snow, david a., burk e. rochford, steven k. worden, and robert d. benfoord. "frame alignment processes, micromobilization and movement participation." american sociological review. web. aug. 2009. sweeney, john j. "the growing alliance between gay and union activist." social text (1999): 31-38. jstor. web. aug. 2009. <http://www.jstor.org>. taylor, verta, and nicole raeburn. "identity politics as high-risk activism: career consequences for lesbian, gay and bisexual sociologist." society for the study of social problem (1995): 252-73. jstor. web. aug. 2009. <http://www.jstor.org>. write, lionel. “the stonewall riots a turning point in a struggle for gay and lesbian liberation”. www.socialistalternative.org. web. aug. 2009 krystal leach de amante california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 169-175) american attitudes toward mexican immigration krystal leach de amante department of sociology california state university, los angeles in this article, the author recognizes the negative sentiments many americans have towards mexican immigrants, despite their historical roots in this nation and their economical contributions to american society. the questionable manner in which the acquisition of texas and other states through the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo are discussed. mexcian immigrants later played a pivotal role in sustaining economic activity as the u.s. focused on world war i & ii, but their labor was often exploited through low pay and long hours. even in modern times, american citizens have not developed an appreciation for the contributions of the mexican immigrant and are seeking ways to limit their migration into the united states. 1since the beginning of the mexicanamerican war, this county has had an interesting and conflicted relationship with mexico. this could be a direct result of the history behind how certain originally mexican territories became part of the united states or the fact that it borders so closely to mexico. either way, it is interesting that many american citizens have negativeattitudes toward mexican immigration, despite the fact that many states in the u.s. are actually former territories of mexico. knowing this, one may ask, “what gives these states and their citizens the right to exclude mexicans from entering the us in search of their krystal leach de amante is an undergraduate student in the department of sociology. her paper was originally submitted to soc. 348 class, race/ethnicity, and gender, taught by dr. hyojoung kim in winter 2011. own economic freedom or otherwise?” this question is especially pertinent given the fact that the foundation of america was built on the idea of providing the freedom to actualize one’s own idea of economic and political success. however, taking into consideration the current climate of protest towards mexican immigration, the ideology of freedom for all does not actually apply to everyone. an interesting method of assessing and evaluating such negative attitudes would be to take a step backwards in time and analyzing some defining moments of america’s involvement with its boarding neighbor. besides many american’s belief in having “devine right”, the god-given privilege to inhabit land and develop it according to one’s needs, regardless of the original inhabitants wishes, the mexican immigration by krystal leach de amante 170 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 169-175) mexican-american war actually found its roots in the texas war of independence. during the 1820s and 30s, a newly independent mexico sought out willing settlers to occupy and develop its northern territories. american settlers came by the thousands to take advantage of this opportunity. they moved into the mexican province of texas, took an oath to the country, and even converted to its religion, catholicism. however, soon after the newly converted “texicans” or “texians” moved onto the land, they became disgruntled with the way the mexican government ran the province, ultimately resulting in their revolt against the country. in 1836, only one year after the bloody revolt began, the mexican president, while in captivity by the “texicans," unwillingly signed the treaty of velasco, thus giving texas its independence. but neither the mexican citizens nor their government recognized this “treaty” because it was brought into fruition by force. the now republic of texas continued to engage in hostilities toward mexico. then on july 4, 1845, in an effort of retaliation, the republic officially became a part of the united states. as a result of this annexation, mexico brought troops to the “border” in an effort to reclaim the land that was originally part of its province in texas. on april 25, 1846, u.s. and mexican troops clashed with one another, officially leading the two nations into the mexican-american war. it is important to note that there are suspicions that the u.s. had backed the republic of texas’ revolt against mexico from the very beginning. a theory that some argue were typical of america’s thought of “devine right” to rule. regardless though, it is easy to recognize the unscrupulous manner in which mexico was forced to sign the treaty of valsco, thus having its land essentially usurped from them. over the course of a brutal twoyear military campaign, the americans seized various mexican territories to include texas, parts of california and at last mexico city. by this point the mexican army was tired, beaten, and ready to surrender in defeat to the might of the american military. on february 2, 1848, the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo was signed. this peace treaty in effect would be responsible for aiding american arrogance toward the achievement of its wayward prophecy of divine right, which is still a prevalent attitude today, as seen in the prevailing attitudes toward immigration. the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo resulted in mexico losing 55% of its prewar territory, including the republic of texas. the u.s. agreed to pay mexico 15 million dollars for all or parts of what are now known as california, nevada, arizona, utah, wyoming, colorado, new mexico, and kansas. in addition, the u.s. assumed over 3.5 million dollars of mexican debt. the treaty also had a clause protecting the sale or transfer of land deeds already owned by mexican citizens prior to the war, however, this agreement was later not honored by the u.s. government. an important note to make here is that the united states was allowed to dishonor this agreement with mexico regarding the land deeds, which then begs the question; “how many 'illegal' aliens’ might have actually been legal mexican immigration by krystal leach de amante 171 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 169-175) benefactors to these land deeds if america had lived up to its original agreement with mexico?” of course there is no logical way of determining this, but it is interesting to note that 20 percent of mexico’s population actually resided in the territories that were handed over to the u.s. via the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo. by the 1850s, the newly purchased “california” had increased fruit production and a source of labor was sought to harvest and work the crops, aiding in bolstering the u.s. economy. given the proximity of mexico to the “golden state”, it was easy to hire mexican migrate workers to carry out the grueling, backbreaking work. within a 30-year period, an estimated 80,000 mexicans immigrated to what was formerly their land to perform laborintensive work for meager wages. then again in 1890, mexican workers were brought on to work on the construction of the railroads. a whopping 60 percent of the total railroad workforce was comprised of mexicans. in the 1900s, during world war i, when many of the nations men were off to war, mexicans were hired on in large droves to work as machinist, mechanics, painters and plumbers; in effect, helping to sustain the u.s. economy during its overseas military campaigns. however, many of the mexican workers were subjected to abuse at the hands of their u.s. employers. so in 1920, their government drew up contracts that specified work hours, wages, designated place of employment and also permitted them to bring along their families. thereafter, no mexican worker was allowed to leave the u.s. without a contract. four years later, the u.s. border patrol was created, which inadvertently lead to a harsher life for mexicans migrating to america for work. the inception of the border patrol now made anyone without a contract “illegalaliens." it is important to note that during this same period of time, the u.s. was going through an economic depression. therefore, one could deduce that the invention of the u.s. border patrol was a mere tactic employed to downsize the amount of outside labor (mexicans) in order to make room for unemployed americans. or at the very least, it calmed dissenting americans from complaining that all the u.s. jobs were being taken by the foreigners(i.e. mexicans). but when the u.s. went to war again in 1942 (wwii), it conveniently relaxed its border laws, letting in mexican workers by the droves in order to support the war effort. “the bracero program” was enacted, which allowed more than 4 million legal mexican workers to enter the united states as farm hands. however, once again, many of the ranchers took advantage of the language barrier, allowing spanishspeaking workers to sign contracts written in english that stipulated unfair conditions. some of the conditions included only allowing workers to return home for emergencies and only after having received the expressed consent of their employers. but history would soon repeat itself as the war came to a close and returning service members sought employment. the u.s once again enacted legislation barring mexican mexican immigration by krystal leach de amante 172 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 169-175) labor with the “employment farm labor service.” it is interesting to note here that regardless of the historical fact that mexican workers helped sustain the u.s. economy during its time of need, many of the states who benefited most still feel no obligation toward these laborers. ironically, it appears that the vicious cycle is occurring once again as the american economy is undergoing a recession many of its citizens, especially those closest to the border, now feel that mexican labor is a threat to their own livelihood. and a result, these states who benefited most from “illegal” mexican labor during the economic boom now want to bar them from having access to u.s. jobs and citizenship. ironically, every time the mexican workers came to the u.s., they were not only paid unfairly low wages, but suffered other abuses as well. therefore, it would be fair to say that these workers were exploited by the american industry and then thrown out of its borders when they were no longer needed, only to return to poverty-like conditions in mexico. after taking a brief look at the u.s.’ relationship with its southern bordering neighbor, it is easy to conclude that the illegal acquisition of mexico’s land and the exploitation of its labor force was a major factor leading to america’s economic prosperity. it would be interesting to take an in depth look at how america and it's citizenry have expressed their appreciation to mexicans. according to the u.s. immigration and customs enforcement website, in 2008 congress provided the u.s. department of homeland security (dhs), immigration and customs enforcement (ice) with significant funding to carryout the mission of improving and modernizing efforts to identifying “aliens” convicted of a crime, sentenced to imprisonment, and who may be deportable, and removing them from the united states once they are judged deportable. this program is called “secured communities”, part of the government’s effort to ensure the safety of americans from the threat and violence of mexican criminals. some of the program’s advertised benefits include reducing the “opportunity” for allegations of racial and ethnic profiling, providing more accurate identification of criminals based on biometrics, improving officer safety, and making more information available for improved investigative purposes. in addition, the program allows fingerprints taken at county jails to be directly inputted to a federal immigration database. even though the program’s mission states that it targets what the government calls “criminal aliens” or those immigrants who can be deported because of crimes that they have committed, its opponents say otherwise. for example, new america media, a governmental watchdog in the interest of ethnic minorities, upon closer inspection of the secured community program believes it reveals otherwise. they make this complaint about the department of homeland security: dhs includes people simply “charged” with a crime in its definition of “criminal aliens.” people are labeled criminals before they are given a chance to defend themselves in court. a mexican immigration by krystal leach de amante 173 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 169-175) cornerstone of our criminal system is that a person is innocent until proven guilty. yet under secure communities, people are put into deportation proceedings even if they are innocent of criminal charges or if the arrest was simply a pretext to check a person’s immigration status. the organization also believes that the lack of due process will ultimately result in racial profiling and “abusive agents” will not suffer any consequences for their actions. dhs does not collect data that would reveal whether racial profiling is happening. the attempt to divorce police officers’ motivations for arresting individuals and dhs’ subsequent actions after the booking phase makes no sense. as the program is currently designed, a police officer can make a pre-textual arrest and later drop the charges, but an individual can still be placed into deportation proceedings. thus far, secured communities has been implemented in 27 states with an estimated 279,000 people deported and of those, 79,000 are from california alone. nearly half of california’s 58 counties have enacted the program, including all of the bay area except napa and marin. it would appear that once again mexicans are being singled out for deportation from the u.s. but this time with the aid of technology---a biometric database. but for some americans this system is not effective enough. on july 29, the state of arizona, which once belonged to mexico, took federal law into its own hands and enacted sb1070. this controversial law requires that the police, while enforcing other laws, check the legal status of individuals whom they suspect of being illegal. the new arizona law, similar to the dhs’ secured communities program, states that racial profiling will not be used during its enforcement. however, from the first day of the law’s inception people have touted it as being inherently racist. in fact, the department of justice filed suit against arizona, promising to keep a vigilant watch over the state to further ensure against racial profiling. all together though, the doj is not pleased with arizona’s new law, accusing the state of overstepping its boundaries. “there is big difference between a state or locality saying they are not going to use their resources to enforce a federal law…and a state passing its own immigration policy that actively interferes with federal law. that’s what arizona did in this case,” said tracy schmaler, a spokeswoman for attorney general. the mastermind behind sb1070, arizona senator russell pierce, is currently drafting up legislation that will require illegal immigrants to pay for their children’s schooling and deny birth certificates of infants born to illegal immigrant parents. and now there are at least 20 other states that are considering arizona-style immigration laws. ironically these same harsh, discriminatory and racist laws come from states that not only officially belonged to mexico prior to the illegal signing of the treaty of velasco, but from the very states that mainly mexican immigration by krystal leach de amante 174 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 169-175) benefited from the cheap labor providing by mexican immigrants during america’s turbulent times, i.e. world war’s i & ii. in fact, one could rightfully question where these states would be economically if it were not for the toil of the mexican worker. another disturbing phenomena in arizona, texas and california (states who have benefited the most from these workers) are the terrorist-like tactics of “minutemen”. these groups with their neo-nazis ideals consider themselves american patriots whose mission is to “protect” the nation’s borders by taking the law into their own hands. armed with semiautomatic rifles, leader jason “jt” ready and his band of fellow armed vigilantes patrol the arizona border in search of immigrants attempting to cross illegally. ready feels that arizona’s 1870 and the obama administration efforts to decrease illegal immigration is not enough, which is where paramilitary group fits into the picture. “the us border guard volunteer border rangers aka 'ready's rangers', will keep patrolling the sonoran desert for narco-terrorists and securing the border. that's what we do. the dangerous job nobody else is willing to do,” he told the associated press. again it is interesting to note that a ready and his “rangers” reside in a state that has historically benefited directly from the fruits of labor provided by the same mexican immigrants they now feel the need to block from coming into the country. unfortunately, it is this exact kind of attitude that is becoming more prevalent amongst american citizenry. it is as if the people of the united states to include the elected officials need a history lesson on not only how the bread basket of this country (california, arizona, nevada, etc) became part of america, but also on the important, undeniable role mexicans have played in building this nation from scratch. maybe then american attitudes toward mexican immigration will change for the better. http://gawker.com/tag/readysrangers/ mexican immigration by krystal leach de amante 175 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 169-175) references foner, eric. give me liberty!. new york: w.w norton & company, inc, 2009. ktu. 2010. 28 aug. 2010 http://www.katu.com/news/natio nal/98667099.html. lee, roger a. the history guy. 2010. 28 aug. 2010 http://www.historyguy.com/mexi can-american_war.html. new america media. 2010. 28 aug. 2010 http://news.newamericamedia.or g/news/view_article.html. pbs. 2010. 28 aug. 2010 http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/thebord er/history/index.html. art | cunanan 1 california sociology forum vol. 5 “now what?”: drowning in the american dream mural darron cunanan department of sociology california state university, los angeles “drowning in the american dream” is a mural produced at cal state la, painted by claudio talavera-ballón, a peruvian artist based in the bay area, depicting the challenges of migrant border crossings. the project originated in a collaboration between faculty and students of the latin american studies student association (lass) and the artist, with the dreamer center and the cross-cultural center, and co-sponsored by the sociology department, the college of natural and social sciences (nss), the college of ethnic studies, the ethnic studies student group (essg) and the university library, hosted by the special collections and archives division. the mural project culminated in an inauguration event at the john f. kennedy memorial library at cal state la in the fall of 2022. the purpose of the project is to instill pride and raise awareness of migrant rights. dr. gabriela fried, the head of the talavera-ballón working on the mural. photo credit: dr. gabriela fried. art | cunanan 2 california sociology forum vol. 5 project and professor in the latin american studies program and the sociology department, plans to circulate the mural to different university locations. she also looks forward to having more collaborative efforts between students, faculty, university organizations, and the community. dr. fried also envisions future murals covering blank walls at the university bringing “more color to the campus” (ivie 2022). the mural belongs to the office of latin american studies and is currently on display in the jfk memorial library. many of talavera-ballón’s pieces capture the experiences of migrants (ivie 2022). “drowning in the american dream” brings to light important stories experienced by migrants crossing our border. it depicts migrant families crossing rivers and deserts to greener pastures. the artist illustrates border patrol on horseback, representing the hardships that migrants face against those in power. the mural also displays students in graduation attire, concluding a story of achievement for the children of immigrants. butterflies scatter the mural, a symbol reflecting migrants traveling to safer homes. the author hiroshi motomura (2007) argues in his book, americans in waiting, that immigrants wait in limbo for their opportunity to gain legal status while acting as full members of american society. motomura's ideas and talavera-ballón's work reflect the lives of dreamers and other immigrant students from different parts of the world here at cal state la. in the center of the mural, a student depicted in graduation attire holds a sign that asks, "now what?" cal state la, home to both this journal and the mural, serves many students who are immigrants themselves or belong to immigrant families. immigrant students here at cal state la enroll in the united states education system, where they experience the culture, learn the language, and achieve all that is expected of them. these students may consider themselves americans, but their legal status does not reflect that. after enduring migration, growing up in the united states education system, and living in the constant stalemate of migrant legality, it is understandable for this student to ask, "now what?" while there are many opportunities ahead of them, they may be limited due to their legal status. art | cunanan 3 california sociology forum vol. 5 if you find yourself asking the question "now what?", you are not alone. if you are a cal state la student seeking help, visit the dreamer’s resource center, where they can connect you with carecen for legal services. if you want to learn more about migrant issues and how to support the community, visit the coalition for humane immigrant services. references ivie, victoria. 2022. “live mural painting sparks community and culture on campus.” university times. retrieved march 16, 2023 (https://csulauniversitytimes.com/live-muralpainting-sparks-community-and-culture-on-campus/). motomura, hiroshi. 2007. americans in waiting: the lost story of immigration and citizenship in the united states. new york: oxford university press. “drowning in the american dream” as photographed in the jfk library at cal state la. photo credit: victor mojica. book review | cunanan 1 california sociology forum vol. 5 book review: politics is for power: how to move beyond political hobbyism, take action, and make real change by eitan hersh darron cunanan department of sociology california state university, los angeles what does politics mean to you? is it spending hours consuming news and arguing with people on the internet about social issues? or is it about gaining power, multiplying your vote, and making a real change in your community? to eitan hersh (2020:3), “participating in politics by obsessive news-following and online ‘slacktivism’” is not politics, but what he considers as political hobbyism. in his book politics is for power: how to move beyond political hobbyism, take action, and make real change, hersh argues that politics should be about seeking power and influence to make meaningful change, rather than for expressing one’s values and for one’s self-gratification. hersh shows an alternative way to do politics. eitan hersh is an associate professor in the department of political science at tufts university where he teaches on american politics. as a data analyst, he studies civic participation, voting rights, and u.s. elections. his take on our political climate is relevant to sociological research as it addresses sociological concerns on political participation, social movements, media, and privilege. hersh’s book is packed with historical context, statistical data, and real-life stories of volunteers engaging in politics, all of which highlight the impact of political hobbyism on american politics. the author contrasts between shallow, unproductive activities such as consuming news, participating in partisanship, using social media, making donations, and signing petitions, and more meaningful activities like deep canvasing and local organizing. hersh argues that most people engage in politics as a shallow hobby and for knowledge-seeking rather than as powerseeking activity. the author argues that treating politics as a hobby is counterproductive because political hobbyists practice the wrong skills, seek the wrong news, and pursue wrong goals. the book ends with hersh sharing his own journey of political book review | cunanan 2 california sociology forum vol. 5 participation and offering tips to readers on how they can start engaging in politics for power. he encourages readers to redirect their attention from social media and national news to learning about their local community and finding ways to support it. ultimately, hersh calls on the readers to take action and become more actively engaged in politics. the strength of hersh’s argument comes in the success stories of people in local politics. he writes about men and women who are 19 to 98 years old. he tells the stories of people like drew, a college student who establishes a precinct organization to get students involved in politics beyond the campus; lisa, a woman who travels from brooklyn to staten island to have deep, open conversations with complete strangers; and naakh, a man who commands a thousand votes amassed through his history of assisting retired immigrants in his neighborhood. the experiences in local politics hersh highlights in this book shows that anyone can make a difference. these accounts also strike at the heart of his argument: change starts with people talking to others within their community. this book is an inspiring read for anyone who is interested in learning what amassing real political power means which certainly includes professors and students wanting to increase their own knowledge, especially for sociological relevance. if you are spending hours of your day thinking about politics but find it purposeless and fruitless, politics is for power “is about you” (hersh 2020:5). references hersh, eitan. 2020. politics is for power: how to move beyond political hobbyism, take action, and make real change. new york, ny: scribner. glenn 1 california sociology forum vol. 5 introspection: an expository analysis of police brutality against unarmed black men lami j. glenn department of sociology california state university, los angeles introduction with this sociological analysis endeavor, i am fervently interested in the social phenomenon of police brutality against unarmed black men and the role that critical race theory (crt) factors into this conundrum. crt is defined by the naacp legal defense fund as an academic and legal framework that denotes that systemic racism is part of american society—from education and housing to employment and healthcare. crt also recognizes that racism is more than the result of individual biases, and is also used in sociology to explain social, political, and legal structures and power distribution through a “lens” focusing on the concept of race, and experiences of racism (naacp legal defense fund 2023). recently, in light of the coronavirus pandemic that has taken a stronghold of the world and has claimed the lives of over 1,121,512 americans to date according to official statistics by the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc), unarmed black americans continue to be beaten, shot, and/or killed by various law enforcement agencies across the country. in 2022, a total of 1,096 civilians had been fatally shot, 225 of whom were black. furthermore, the rate of fatal police shootings among black americans was significantly higher than that for any other ethnicity, standing at 37 fatal shootings per million of the population in 2022 (statista research department 2023). the videotaped events that evidenced the murder of george floyd led to nationwide riots, protests, and civil unrest that would become a central focus of media attention across the world. the black lives matter movement emerged as a vocal and demonstrative part of the movement against police brutality in the u.s. by organizing many of these marches, protests, and rallies in response to the killings of black men and women by police. while black lives matter has become a polarizing mantra and subsequent movement within the u.s., often being politicized glenn 2 california sociology forum vol. 5 inappropriately, it has brought considerable attention to the number and frequency of police shootings of black civilians. indeed, a cbs news publication identified that police have killed at least one black man or woman every week in 2020, as of august 31, 2020. many prominent black athletes, including the likes of la lakers star lebron james and nba legend and recent philanthropist michael jordan, have grown committed to bringing awareness to this social injustice and have been advocating for systematic changes that would save black lives. this stance for change was on display through basketball players’ camaraderie when the nba season came to an immediate halt in 2020. many nba players willing to forfeit their salaries in the name of social justice in the wake of the shooting of jacob blake, an unarmed black man who was shot (in front of his three children) and paralyzed on august 23, 2020, by law enforcement officers in kenosha, wisconsin. crt seeks to address the general and systemic features of the legal system that serves to perpetuate race-based oppression. this system that crt challenges permits law enforcement to continue to brutalize and kill black americans with no recourse and with longstanding impunity. in this way, we see the significance of sociology in contextualizing societal issues and the undue impact of crt, to the extent that it transcends itself in the domains of community, politics, and sports. this is the eminence of sociology, in that it provides a systematic approach to thinking about, examining, and comprehending society and its social problems, human social comportment, and social groups which athletes, politicians, and other societal leaders make up. being a black man who has experienced police brutality growing up in south los angeles, i have pondered some important questions relative to this experience and seemingly nationwide phenomenon: how do people feel about the particular issue of race and police brutality? i’ve also been intimately curious as to why black men specifically are targeted at such high rates for police-enacted violence. do people of different races, other than african americans, view police brutality differently? are non-black people more accepting of police brutality knowing that it is directed at african americans as glenn 3 california sociology forum vol. 5 opposed to their own people? do people, in all actuality, believe that black men deserve to be brutalized, even killed, if they resist arrest or refuse to comply with police directives in any encounters? these are some of the questions essential to this disquisition. prior research on this topic has contextualized the social construct of race and race relations here in the united states, examined marginalized communities and their lack of trust and collaboration with law enforcement (braga, brunson, and drakulich 2019), the history of this nation and subsequent colonization & enslavement of black people, cultural and familial influences including racism and anti-blackness and the effects of such (alexander 2010), as well as the ways in which popular media, including music, television, radio, or social media depictions and stereotypes have attributed to the negative portrayals of african american men in ways that impact people’s views on police brutality against unarmed black men (jeffries and jeffries 2017). this literature does not necessarily explain the reasons for people’s attitudes towards police brutality against unarmed black americans, but rather addresses the overall scope of how people view the treatment of black people in general. arguably this dearth of understanding is contributing to tolerance of abuse and police brutality against african americans. simply put, public structures, policies, and laws can disproportionately place african americans at a higher risk for “justifiable” violence (jeffries and jeffries, 2017). we must understand the factors contributing to the public’s opinion in order to save black lives. historical context another conception to be taken into consideration in relation to police brutality against unarmed black men is the historical context of the perception and treatment of black americans since the inception of this country. race theorists contend this is the belief that history has had an influence in the present trend of black men being killed, and legally justified, by law enforcement. it’s rooted in our country’s history and systemic anti-black structures. the treatment of african americans, and specifically black men in the united states, as foundational to what we see today in terms of classism, racism, mass glenn 4 california sociology forum vol. 5 incarceration, systemic oppression, and the common use of deadly police brutality. historically, african american men have been demonized in this country, and as such, the white establishment has created a practice of unlawful and heinous behavior that has been accepted by society under the shield of law and order (alexander 2020). authors anthony a. braga, rod k. brunson, and kevin m. drakulich (2019:539), speaks to this truth in their article when they state, policing, however, strike[s] an especially raucous chord with people of color, who possibly view contemporary policing strategies through historical lenses. for example, historians have uncovered that, in addition to functioning as slave patrols, surveilling and limiting blacks’ physical movement, early law enforcement officers were instrumental in a wide range of illegal activities: mob action, torture, and countless killings of freed blacks. furthermore, the authors also postulate that southern blacks’ experiences with lynching are well-documented in american history...the police—as well as the criminal justice system more broadly—have long participated in efforts to suppress and exploit black americans, including enforcement of the fugitive slave act, black codes, jim crow laws, and the convict leasing program, as well as enforcing the socalled tough on crime laws. (braga, brunson, & drakulich 2019:539) additionally, scholars devair and rhonda jeffries (2017) address the issue of police brutality in their analysis using “marxist materialism and critical race theory” frameworks to call codified culture into questioning the establishment of style as an act of assigning or opposing with regard to the proliferation of the dubious and reprehensible treatment of black males by law enforcement. jeffries and jeffries states that, materialists point out that conquering nations universally demonize their subjects to feel better glenn 5 california sociology forum vol. 5 about exploiting them...for materialists, understanding the ebb and flow of racial progress and retrenchment requires a critical look at conditions prevailing at different times in history. circumstances change so that one group finds it possible to seize advantage or exploit another. (jeffries and jeffries 2017:3) they also go on to propagate that racial categorization has and continues to permeate american culture, and black men are the targeted subjects. it is indeed factual that the united states has steadily harbored discrimination against people of color throughout its history. this is currently demonstrated through instances of injustice, especially with the disproportionate number of police brutality cases against black males in recent years. social scientist marcelo diversi (2016) also provides his perspective on this in relation to the historical connotations of the treatment of black americans in his research and critique of police brutality against unarmed black men. we are living more than 400 years since the first slave ship landed on our atlantic shores, more than 238 years since the declaration of independence proclaimed us free from the tyranny of a faraway king, more than 151 years since the emancipation proclamation, more than 149 years since the end of the american civil war and the passage of the thirteenth amendment (and that we had to pass two more amendments to spell out black people’s rights to citizenship and voting after that), more than 50 years since the passage of the civil rights act of 1964. yet, brutality against people of african ancestry continues to be justified by the american establishment. (diversi 2016:247) diversi also goes on to assert that, “this is the logic of a hatred that is older than the birth of this country, a hatred that continues to make black people fair game for police harassment, abuse of power, and perverse brutality. this is the logic of politically correct lynching” (diversi 2016:248). in this case, lynchings are glenn 6 california sociology forum vol. 5 what we see today in terms of black men being brutally killed by law enforcement with no consequence. police-minority community relationships previous studies highlight the relation of police brutality with the existence of strained relationships between law enforcement and the black communities in which they serve. according to an article written by anthony a. braga, rod k. brunson, and kevin m. drakulich (2019), in many destitute communities of color, deficient relationships between law enforcement and residents undermine effective policing. this, in turn, leads to inequitable practices and contemporary proactive policing strategies that are hostile and associated with racial disparities. this exemplification demonstrated the effect of ineffectual police-minority community relationships and the ways police-community members’ interactions may differ in black communities in contrast to non-black communities. there is also official data to validate claims such as, “african americans experience substantially more contact with police than do whites. african americans are significantly more likely to be stopped, searched, frisked, and arrested by police than similarly situated whites” (braga, et al. 2019:539). one can surmise that there are indeed poor relations with the community and law enforcement, in which black men have become targets of harassment and encounters with law enforcement without committing a crime. this was evident recently with derrick cooper, a resident and founder of the l.a. city wildcats youth academy in compton, who was wrongfully detained and humiliated in his home by la county sheriff’s deputies after responding to an alleged attempted burglary call (dubose, fenoglio, and wynter 2023) with poor community relations, there will also exist an erosion of trust and general disdain for police officers, thus, resulting in a higher propensity for overly aggressive police tactics being exerted by officers in everyday encounters with black residents. we find a variety of situations like this exemplified in everyday media in which use of deadly force is quickly utilized in confrontations with regular civilians, as opposed to a more rational, humanistic approach. in specifically marginalized communities where there exist poor or glenn 7 california sociology forum vol. 5 non-existent relationships between law enforcement and the community in which they are obliged to serve, we can expect high numbers of police brutality against black americans, as prior studies have suggested (braga et al. 2019). additionally, authors keon l. gilbert, rashawn ray, w. carson byrd, joseph richardson, and odis johnson, jr. (2019) affirm these notions when they assert in their article that, the world has received a front row seat to view the erosion of community trust in some police officers and their departments. this view has been provided by social media outlets and body cameras worn by police officers raising many questions about safety, police excessive use of force, crime in the us, and whose life matters more, blue, black, or all? (gilbert, ray, byrd, and johnson 2019:172) based on this knowledge, what seems plausible is that if law enforcement is stationed in cities where they are not liked or where they have no equity or community accord, they will have encounters with residents. we can expect hostile and confrontational behavior by the police which often leads to these community residents being brutalized or even killed. an exemplification of this is how the los angeles police department (lapd) operates and patrols in areas of south and east los angeles. they utilize overly aggressive tactics in routine encounters with residents, including traffic stops and house raids in which, under then police chief daryl f. gates, utilized armored trucks with battering rams to enter the homes of alleged minority offenders (lindsay and martin 2017). this is compared to law enforcement agencies in a city like manhattan beach, california that has an overwhelmingly white population and have no such practice within their city’s department. indeed, crt posits that, critical race theory not only dares to treat race as central to the law and policy of the united states, it dares to look beyond the popular belief that getting rid of racism means simply getting rid of ignorance, or encouraging everyone to get glenn 8 california sociology forum vol. 5 along...racism is part of the structure of legal institutions. (delgado and stefancic 2012:28). media influence the role of popular media through television, radio, social media platforms, and other outlets was most influential in my findings and provided the most relevant context to date in terms of people’s attitudes toward police brutality against black men. understanding the power of both media and cultural influences provided a more in-depth reasoning as to why people may arrive at some of their sentiments. scholars devair and rhonda jeffries divulges in their article the significance of this, stating that, “the basis on which technology acquires power over society is the power of those whose economic hold over society is greatest” (jeffries and jeffries 2017:4) in this way, people are presented ideals about influence and power on a regular basis through a number of forms. these types of technologies, including radio, television, and film, have seemingly diverse purposes. media and its various platforms have the ability to influence people, for better or for worse. this has always been the case for black americans. jeffries and jeffries (2017:5) states that, society constructs the social world through a series of tacit agreements mediated by images, pictures, tales, blog postings, and other scripts. much of what we believe is ridiculous, selfserving, or cruel but is not perceived to be so at the time. attacking embedded preconceptions that marginalize others or conceal their humanity is a legitimate function of all fiction.” with this being the case, media technologies heavily influence the subjects that people should be concerned about, the ways in which they should be concerned about them and validate the everyday existence and continuation of the seemingly crazed status quo of the demonization of black americans. these scholars urge people to challenge the images and representations they are fed on a regular basis in which black people are viewed negatively through various means and to not merely just accept them. glenn 9 california sociology forum vol. 5 in consilience with the media influences of hip-hop, the point can be made that indeed hip-hop manifests itself in various media forms that contribute to the very stereotypes and negative attitudes creating the ideal atmosphere for police brutality, commencing with the “blaxploitation” movies of the 1970s, which employed the aggressive black buck stereotype -a figure regarded as “a brutal, animalistic, hypermasculine and threatening african american man” (jeffries and jeffries 2017:9). note the keyword mentioned being threatening in the description of this prototypical black man. this characterization brings the media’s influence that the authors speak of; stereotypes as such that were fashioned in the early nineteenth century as a means to dissuade and overtly prevent miscegenation and were also used as a mechanism to make the black man in this country a feared individual. with this presumption of fear, one could be justifiably lynched by the white man well into the twentieth century if he transgressed any laws or appeared to pose any threat, real or perceived. this is a practice that continues and permeates our society today and confirms, in part, why police brutality against black americans persists. without question, the media also plays its role in maintaining this propriety. there are not many days that will pass without local news or talk radio shows reporting of at least one black male who has allegedly robbed, raped, or otherwise threatened the presumed purity of american society (unnever 2014). though, it should be acknowledged that we do now have heterogeneous examples of positive portrayals of african americans in various media platforms, such as in the syndicated broadcasts of the cosby show, a different world, family matters, and the parent ‘hood, to name a few. discussion and conclusion for this analysis, i interrogated the question of intuition and included, what factors contribute to negative attitudes towards police brutality against unarmed black men? the purpose of this thought has been to ascertain a general understanding of how many people feel when they hear of the many exemplifications of unarmed black men being brutalized or executed by law enforcement officers across the country by use of state-sanctioned violence. i am also interested in the ways in glenn 10 california sociology forum vol. 5 which race and how the application of crt may further expound on this. if those aware of these senseless murders of black men are not black, how will this impact their attitudes on this delicate topic? previous analysis and research on this topic focused on the underlying reasons for police brutality itself, and the way in which we have become desensitized to these occurrences. police brutality has been justified many times over time, despite repeated evidence showing it unjustifiable. in instances in which media depictions of african americans are negative, degrading, and portray black men in a violent, threatening manner, people generally will be more prone to accept the practice of police brutality, especially if the narrative has been manipulated by popular media and the message has been conveyed that the victim or perpetrator exhibited threatening behavior. imagine one contemplating, “maybe he deserved it.” or “the news said that he was a convicted felon…so he had it coming.” this was the case with police brutality victims rodney king (linder 2015) and most recently with jacob blake (o’donnell 2020) in which their prior criminal convictions were used by various media outlets to demonize them, thus, giving a sense of consent for the enormities that they would suffer. prior research and scholarship contend that, indeed, there exists a relationship between people’s attitude towards police brutality against unarmed black men and a multiplicity of factors including racism, and media influences. with my thorough examination of police brutality against unarmed black men, while also applying the crt to this discourse of reviewed articles, literature, and information that was probed, it was fair to deduce that this inquiry has more complexity than one would originally contemplate. there is no straightforward or ‘one size fits all’ methodology to this issue. the historical, cultural, and social experiences of black americans in this nation are all of relevance when contextualizing this scholarship with its subsequent findings. in consonance with this, people’s sentiments on this polarizing topic have variances, and as highlighted in earlier sections of this analysis, these variances can be wideranging and racially motivated. in this research, we first have the issue of police brutality in itself; and then come to an understanding of why people may feel about it in ways that glenn 11 california sociology forum vol. 5 reinforce the status quo. some individuals may or may not know someone that has been the victim of police brutality, may have friends or family members that are in law enforcement or could be the victim of police brutality themselves, which is the case with me. then we couple that with the current trend of victimization of unarmed black men, which introduces the role of race into this study. it is reasonable to assume that indeed white people, black people, and other people of color view police brutality from different perspectives. previous research on this topic speaks to how and why police brutality occurs, specifically to african american males. there are even explanations presented as to why american society has grown to accept this. most, if not all, of the available research on this topic alluded to the ills of racism, media influences, and the historical implications of what is taking place today. since the formation of the race concept, african americans have been and continue to be the victims of violence, in which this has evolved over time to what we witness presently with police brutality, in addition to the tragic and senseless killings of unarmed black men. not only does the prior research highlight the actuality of this, but it further brings due awareness to the countless number of black men that have been executed by law enforcement across the nation. in this way, we can discern for ourselves the proper application of crt to this phenomenon and the horrors of police brutality, in addition to the dangers presented by simply being a black man in america. the killings that we see daily in news reports or read about in the daily newspaper of unarmed black men by law enforcement are no different than the lynchings of years past; and the justifications of these murders with officers constantly being absolved of accountability continue to validate the claim that some lives mean less than others. it is through research like this that i hope to continue to bring awareness to this injustice and also challenge society to look at their own implicit biases in how their own personal attitudes may be impacted in relation to police brutality against unarmed black men. future research would continue to bring awareness to the issue of police brutality against unarmed black men and would be potentially the most relevant, amongst many other developing social issues, contribution to the field of sociology. additionally, glenn 12 california sociology forum vol. 5 further research could be modified to include other sociological theories and develop ways to measure people’s attitudes according to age groups, political parties, geographical locations, and so on. other individuals interested in expanding this research could perform field studies that examine people’s attitudes towards brutality by modifying the category of victims to being unarmed immigrants, homeless veterans, women, latinx men, or gang members as examples. furthermore, this information gathered through data collection and statistical analysis could be used to bring awareness to various diverse communities in los angeles in hopes of providing informed education and creating dialogue about ways in which we can build better working relationships and support our collective calls for social justice and racial equality. in this way, we can demystify the “divide and conquer” mentality that has permeated many of the formidable communities here in los angeles and alternatively stand in solidarity. references alexander, michelle. 2010. the new jim crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. new edition ed. new york: the new press braga, anthony a., rod k. brunson, and kevin m. drakulich. 2019. “race, place, and effective policing.” annual review of sociology (45):535-555. chaney, cassandra and ray v. robertson. 2015. “armed and dangerous? an examination of fatal shootings of unarmed black people by police.” the journal of pan african studies 8(4):45-64. cohen, li. 2020. cbs news. retrieved december 3, 2020 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-floyd-killingpolice-black-people-killed-164/. delgado, richard and jean stefancic. 2012. critical race theory: an introduction. new york university press, new york. diversi, marcelo. 2016. “the ever-shifting excuses for demonizing black people in america.” cultural studies → critical methodologies 16(3): 245-252. dubose, josh, john fenoglio, and kareen wynter. 2023. “compton community leader mistakenly detained by glenn 13 california sociology forum vol. 5 l.a. county sheriff's deputies.” ktla. retrieved april 23, 2023 https://ktla.com/news/local-news/comptoncommunity-leader-mistakenly-detained-by-l-a-countysheriffs-deputies/. gilbert, keon l., rashawn ray, w. carson byrd, and odis johnson, jr. 2019. “the matter of lives underneath black male skin: using theory and media to explore the case of ‘justifiable homicides’ for black males.” inequality, crime, and health among african american males: research in race and ethnic relations (20):171183. jeffries, devair and rhonda jeffries. 2017. “marxist materialism and critical race theory: a comparative analysis of media and cultural influence on the formation of stereotypes and proliferation of police brutality against black men.” spectrum: a journal on black men 5(2):122. linder, douglas o. 2015. famous trials. retrieved december 4, 2020 https://famous-trials.com/lapd/576-kingarrest. lindsay, daniel and t. j. martin. 2017. la 92. washington d.c.: national geographic partners, llc. naacp legal defense fund. 2023. “critical race theory faq.” legal defense fund. retrieved april 25, 2023 https://www.naacpldf.org/critical-race-theory-faq/. o'donnell, dan. 2020. retrieved december 4, 2020 https://www.maciverinstitute.com/2020/09/why-is-themedia-making-a-martyr-of-jacob-blake/. statista research department. 2023. “number of people killed by police by ethnicity u.s. 2022.” statista. retrieved april 24, 2023 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1124036/numberpeople-killed-police-ethnicity-us/. unnever, james d. 2014. “a theory of african american offending: a test of core propositions.” race and justice 4(2):98-123. microsoft word 8sinsofsocietyedited.docx california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 77-81) the sins of society linda rasmussen department of sociology california state university, los angeles moral judgments are examined though social moral standards and judgments based on social structures according to religion. this study addresses the social structures and religious base of “the seven deadly sins” in the attempt to understand how society accepts and rejects the seven deadly sins in terms of social structures and behaviors. 1 sociology does not determine moral judgments, society pronounces moral judgments. these moral judgments are based on social structures such as religion and families base moralities, while sociology is neither a religion nor a family. in this manner, sociologists claim to eliminate the pressures to determine morality; they are neutral in the manner of sin. sin and evil are exempt from sociological text, which is intriguing to read a book that defines the “seven deadly sins.” the seven deadly sins: society and evil by stanford m. lyman revolves around the seven deadly sins in the context of sociological researchers. historically, the seven deadly sins were first listed in early christian teachings. the lists of sins are sloth, lust, anger, pride, envy, gluttony and greed. these sins were devised as paramount to abstain from these actions. 1 linda rasmussen is a graduate student at the department of sociology. this paper was originally submitted soc 514, taught by professor terry kendal. christian philosophers would write and preach of the importance of abstaining from these sins. “in this manner, rules were created in which to abstain from these seven sins (lyman).” the seven deadly sins is a creative manner in order to describe sociological concepts. the description of sin is provided with many descriptive manners of the seven deadly sins and created on a religious base. while religious values tend to deviate from sociological research, religious values were included in this book in seemingly non-religious writing. auguste comte, one of the early nineteenth century sociologists, claimed that societies were evolving to a society of finding faith in science rather than religion (lyman 1). science of sociology would solve society’s tribulations. according to lyman, comte was incorrect in his analysis that religion would have been eliminated in importance. religion is intertwined in society, thus society has not eliminated religion. while one may not be religious, the sins of society by linda rasmussen 78 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 77-81) this does not preclude that these religious beliefs will be eliminated. the “protestant ethic" is an example where one could not be religious, but practice protestant beliefs. the one who saves the penny in order to gain capital is an example of practicing religious beliefs in a secular manner. according to max weber, these beliefs are rooted in protestant religious ideology. this type of protestant belief could be interwoven in the evil of greed, since one is acquiring capital for himself. evil is described in the terms of anomie. it is in this manner in which people have escaped the ties from society. these ties constrain people to behave in a manner that is considered socially acceptable. when someone has anomie, there must be punishment affixed in order for the act to be considered evil (lyman 4). it is fascinating that the word “acedia” is utilized frequently in the book in reference to the sin of sloth. acedia is a greek word that means “withdrawal of one’s self (lyman 8).” in this manner one is taught religious and colloquial manners in which to follow society’s rules. religions preach to obey religious teachings, while sociological researchers persuade people to obey their own teachings. the sociological and religious teachings can be similar in that people are taught similar behavioral methods. people are taught not to personify “sloth” as one of the deadly sins, while sociological teachings utilize different terminology. marx describes how in a communist society, members of the society would be industrious and not idle. marx does not utilize the word “sloth,” (lyman 15) but he does indicate that industrious behavior is the goal in a communist society. this perspective perpetuates the idea that there is a sense of morality in society. while researchers may never indicate that there is a definite right and wrong, there is the subtle right and wrong in research methods. researchers such as marx have their own perspective of morality, which can seep into research. researchers are in society that binds them to follow societal rules. the sense of having a neutral perspective on morality can be difficult to accomplish. therefore, free will versus societal influences is not always delineated. he describes these influences in the relationship to the sin: “sloth.” “sloth” is akin to boredom in routines and in creating nothing different in life. the description is provided in the way “the individual has become in a mere cog in an enormous organization of things and power which tear from his hands all progress (lyman 19).” it may be difficult to escape these ties that closely bind the self. these ties are in the colloquial and religious realms of society providing stability in society where the goal is for societal members to not acquire anomie. these influences created future themes about the societal influences on people. lyman writes how most “mankind the tides flow toward the farther shore of unfreedom (lyman 120).” in “unfreedom,” it is infinitely reasonable to assume that humans are not responsible for the self, rather the society is responsible for the self (lyman 119). people full of anger are created by societal forces, rather than individual attributes. some people are the sins of society by linda rasmussen 79 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 77-81) “fated” to belong to these angry masses (lyman 120). while these societal influences are strong, it may appear difficult to understand the reasons for evil. it could be that society changes views of evil. lyman writes that aristotle had the perspective that “ambitious” was when “men desire both more and less than they deserve (lyman 139).” while the sin of pride was viewed of the great evil of being ambitious, society has had a slightly different view of pride. in today’s society, it is necessary to have a certain amount of pride in order to attain a profession. a perspective employer needs to be guaranteed that the perspective employee has above average skills in order to succeed in the profession. in the quandary of the prospective employee, the employee must be humble as to not create an arrogant persona. therefore, the sin of pride is viewed as a confusing attribute in the example of the perspective employee. in another example, society has created a different perspective of “sloth”. it has decreased the enormity of the sin to a mere emotion (lyman 24). the emotion of boredom, which is not considered one of the sins that are constantly taught in religious sermons in modern society. lyman writes how students in classrooms are bored, but that is acceptable. the sin of the slothful person begins with the evil of being a sloth. the definition of the word is now akin to lazy. it is not a paramount evil to be lazy, it is thought of as an irksome trait. it is the example of the student who always attends class late, but the student is not thought of as an evil person rather thought of as acquiring an irksome trait. the student will not be severely punished or ostracized by society. the seven deadly sins: society and evil provides definition of mores. would one’s own mores be different, if one lived in a different society? the book explains the different historical meanings of the seven deadly sins. lust is described historically how lust is evil. a virgin is considered on a higher hierarchy than the married woman, presumably having sexual intercourse with her husband (lyman 85). the allowances for sexual intercourse are given in only the opportunity to produce children, thus allowing for lust. the history of lustful acts begins with the virgin and as time goes on; there are more allowances for sexual intercourse. if one lived in the life of the esteemed virgins, then would one desire to always remain celibate? would there be fewer men and women desiring to acquire romantic relationships? while celibacy was esteemed, the lust is allowable in order to procreate. these allowances are providing the parameters of categorizing people who can produce children. “sons and daughters are encouraged in countless ways to seek romantic love and erotic satisfactions among the strangers whom they encounter in school (lyman 79).” therefore, brothers and sisters do not have romantic encounters among each other. in this respect, this sin is lust. lust is only allowable among strangers in specific parameters and is necessary in order to produce children, making this sin contradictory. african-americans and their relation to discrimination is an example of this, which creates difficulties for the sins of society by linda rasmussen 80 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 77-81) african-americans to acquiring social mobility (lyman 122). lyman provides the example of the research conducted by dollard. in dollard’s research, anger is a response due to the condition of frustration (lyman 122). frustration could arise in such experiences as discrimination. some africanamericans have become angry due to discrimination. therefore, the evil of anger is not necessarily an individual choice; rather, it is an outcome due to societal influences. lyman writes that these deviant terms are not considered sins; rather, they are given a different wording in the social sciences. lyman writes, “greed reforms itself as ‘the spirit of capitalism’: gluttony fades into addiction” (lyman 119). the social sciences do not refer to deadly sins such as gluttony in research; rather, it is termed as addiction. this evil is only considered evil when there are sanctions in society. therefore, the sociologist is neutral to sin because they do not determine sin; rather society determines sin in sanctions. the author presumes that the deep voices, strong chin, and a beard tend to express anger. the author is describing the male gender, which receives more authority than females. it is not necessarily how the males look; rather, it is the fact that they are males that causes the greater threat of aggression (lyman 132). this only describes the power elite, who can exercise more power thus allowing for expression of anger. anger is a social creation that allows for anger among males, since men are only a product of the society that creates them. it appears in this context that females are considered the greater evil when they experience anger since they do not have the same allowances for anger as men. another form of anger is the sin of envy. one of the examples of envy is ethnic groups not assimilating and not becoming part of the “melting pot (lyman 201).” an example is provided where rose hum lee noticed that chinese people were not assimilating while the japanese people “achieved much greater integration into white society (lyman 201).” in a capitalist society such as america, it is helpful to the bourgeoisie to have a working class. therefore, it is helpful to have ethnic groups blaming other ethnic groups for not assimilating, rather than blaming the bourgeoisie who make it difficult to succeed in this country. the sin of envy is advantageous for the bourgeoisie to encourage this sin. it is difficult in the book to discern opinion versus researched analysis of concepts. lyman references from the book native son where the opinion according to lyman is that of an african-american man who “unintentionally” kills a caucasian woman (lyman 117). in the book, another perspective reveals the african american man using a pillow to cover the woman’s face until she stopped moving. doing so would logically kill the victim. the author of native son writes, “frantically, he caught a corner of the pillow and brought it to her lips (wright 97),” thus allowing for her to suffocate and die. the woman did not indicate that she wanted to have her head covered; rather, the character was attempting to make the woman quiet. in the book, the author richard wright writes from the perspective that it is the sins of society by linda rasmussen 81 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 77-81) from the unintentional killer. it is an interesting perspective that lyman does not mention that the character also “unintentionally” killed another woman, an african-american woman. although at the finality of the book, it does appear that the man did commit a sin. the man received the death penalty for the killing of the caucasian woman. perhaps this is an example of lyman’s own sense of morality seeping into his book. as he has provided examples of sociologists with their own viewpoints of morality seeping into research, he has created similar research in his book. parsons would assert that it is functional to have a high degree of control over the society’s members (lyman 289). functionalism is what parsons referred to as parts of society working together in a cohesive manner. this is the similar manner in which body parts work in a cohesive manner in order for the body to function. deviant behavior in functionalism maintains that for social order, there must be positive and negative rewards, which would then discern what is required in society (lyman 78). lyman writes how this control is woven in the sin of lust according to parsons. “parsons points to the necessity for a mother ‘to control her own regressive needs (lyman 79).” while parsons asserted that society must work in parts to maintain the function of societies, there is the difficulty of determining how to behave in these parts. in american society, there has never been a shared religion making it difficult to have a conclusiveness of morals in religious context (lyman 292). the conclusiveness of morals is to the extent of when legal matters can be imposed on society members. for example, lust is illegal in rape. it is legal for people to engage in extramarital affairs, but it may not be acceptable for some people. extramarital affairs cannot be enforced in legalities, which can become complicated if one spouse finds this form of lust acceptable while the other spouse does not. this may be an enforcement of exclusion from the marriage to the degree of divorce. in conclusion, the seven deadly sins are widely used in society. while the seven deadly sins are not given the same importance in the nineteenth century, these deadly sins are still utilized. lustful acts are still reprimanded in the extent of penitentiary punishment and other lustful acts can receive punishment in the extent of group exclusion. morality is woven into research in the example of karl marx. we have our morality, which is impossible to escape these societal pressures to follow the definition of right and wrong. it is not only an individual decision to decide what is right and wrong; rather it is formed on socialization of the self. it makes the self wonder how society might change morality in the future. references lyman, stanford m. the seven deadly sins: society and evil. new york: general hall inc., 1989. wright, richard. native son. new york: harper colins, 1993. a review and analysis of eviatar zerubavel’s book: a review and analysis of eviatar zerubavel’s social mindscapes: an invitation to cognitive sociology gerardo inzunza department of sociology california state university, los angeles psychologists believe the human experience is the same throughout all cultures and societies. however, where psychology ends, zerubavel's cognitive sociology steps in and further explains the actual disparity between all societies that psychology has failed to elaborate on. as there is a functionalist approach to division of labor, so is there a division of thought in modern society. these divisions are separated by perceiving (social optics), attending (the social gates of consciousness), classifying (the social division of the world), assigning meaning (social meanings), remembering (social memories), and reckoning time (standard time). in essence, according to zurabavel, we are socialized into deterministic thinkers with no free will to think. we are left to only think what is socialized to be normal. psychology poses that there is a universal human experience such as fear, happiness, or grief that is consistent throughout all societies. involved, it seems, are human psychological and physical mechanisms that indeed do seem quite homogenous whether experienced in greece in 2000 ad or in tokyo, japan last night. what becomes blurred is what influences reactions of1 fear or happiness, indicating that it is not a universal human affair. for example, 1 gerardo inzunza is a graduate student at the department of sociology, california state university. his paper was initially submitted to soc. 514 contemporary theory, taught by professor terry kandal in fall 2007. happiness in mexico may be experienced differently than in serbia; or perhaps fear for a tibetan buddhist may be experienced differently from a wall street economist. it indicates that at work are elements beyond the limits of psychology and the assumed independent mind. the mind in effect, is a temporal space that appears as a human characteristic that functions as a lens to view reality. it is this supposed reality that reveals the variations of cognition. zerubavel’s work attempts to penetrate this aspect in asserting that human thought is not a consistently individual subjective act, nor is it a consistently objective human one either. instead, he argues that there is a middle ground which he classifies as the intercalifornia sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 27-33) review of eviatar zerbavel by gerardo inzunza 28 subjective aspect of human cognition, suggesting that thought is in effect influenced by a membership to thought communities. to set up his theory, he delineates three classifications of cognition: individualistic, sociological and universal. by doing so, zerbavel rejects individualistic and universal forms of cognition, suggesting that they engage in assumptions of conventionalism and reductionism. what he finds is that sociological cognition actually fuses the two polar assumptions of cognition and serves as a middle ground; thus calling for sociological thinking, or cognitive sociology. as zerubavel (1997) indicates: cognitive sociology reminds us that we think not only as individuals and human beings, but also as social beings, products of particular social environments that affect as well as constrain the way we cognitively interact with the world. (p. 6). in this regard, zerubavel recognizes a cognitive diversity indicating that “it is society, after all, that determines what we come to regard as ‘reasonable’ or nonsensical’, and it usually does so by exerting tacit pressure which we rarely even notice unless we try to resist it” (zerubavel 1997: 13). more to the point, he finds that a comparative study is in place in order to reveal the normative nature of thinking, implying that thought is molded by socialization. this explains cognitive subcultures such as southern californians, students, mechanics, or poets; cognitive deviants such as atheists in christian communities, and cognitive norms such as the normalcy of eating beef over dog meat in america. cognitive socialization is zerubavel’s (1997) theoretical premise: as we become socialized and learn to see the world through mental lenses of particular thought communities, we come to assign to objects the same meaning that they have for others around us, to both ignore and remember the same things that they do, and to laugh at the same things that they find funny. only then do we actually ‘enter’ the social world. (p. 15) cognitive diversity signifies that individuals engage in multiple thought communities, and like the engineer or mystic, indicates that in modern society there is a cognitive division of thought as promulgated by the division of labor. modernity and society impose a multiplicity of thought communities: the church, the office, the street, the club, the school, the market, etc. to illustrate the scope and agenda of cognitive sociology, zerubavel discusses six particular cognitive elements to reveal the relevance of inter-subjective and normative thinking which are: social optics, social consciousness, the social division of the world, social meanings, social memory, and standard time. zerubavel formats his work as an illustrative outline to demonstrate the insight and depth in his proposition for cognitive sociology. the following is a review and interpretation of these cognitive elements. social optics by establishing the criteria for cognitive sociology, zerubavel exposes that california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 27-33) review of eviatar zerbavel by gerardo inzunza 29 individuals do not engage the world with a “tabula rasa”, but rather with cognitive commitments, or perceptions. he suggests that we view and identify the world or social structures not objectively, but in a consistent tunneling of the world through our socialized minds, rather than exposing the mind to the world. in this regard, the mind coerces reality. to illustrate, zerubavel evokes columbus’ “discovery” of america and his insist-ence upon his reaching of the indies, in spite of the cuban natives informing him of his error. further, scientists who advocate objective facts in essence observe through the lens of their field; thus this observation is subjective. these examples, according to zerubavel, express a mental gaze that makes reality pluralistic. an economist gazes and assesses the market through statistics, surplus, investments, stocks and de-mand, while an immigrant farm worker gazes at the economy by job stability, affordability of milk and gas, and an assessment of his sore back, or arthritic knee. zerubavel asserts that mental gazing is inter-subjective, indicating that columbus, like the economist or farm worker, took “cognitive stances as members of a particular social environment” (zerubavel 1997:32)– the catholic spanish crown, wall street or the united farm workers. these communities create optical norms. the social gates of consciousness zerubavel then transitions to the act of cognitive attention asserting that individuals develop mental horizons, in effect categorizing reality by attention and inattention, or by foreground and background. as an example that we propose, a democratic party activist may hold barack obama or hillary clinton as pivotal candidates of historical change, while another individual may find that obama and clinton simply represent a branch of the power structure that actually limits change. as a result, “change” is interpreted at various levels of attention or inattention, and it expresses the aspect of mental horizons. zerubavel finds that these horizons “…basically protect us from cognitive predicament of being constantly bombarded by an undifferentiated stream of stimuli” (zerubavel 1997:36). in the same manner, zerubavel finds that mental horizons bring forth moral focusing. as he illustrates, a prolife individual will morally focus on saving the unborn life while denying the same right to the convicted murderer. ex-pressing itself in these examples of thought communities are mental horizons that influence what will be perceived as foreground or background. thus, “society…defines what we consider relevant (42)” and therefore opens and closes the social gates of consciousness. the social division of the world zerubavel suggests that society also has influence upon how the individual categorizes and classifies the world. he also observes that each society draws different meanings of the same reality. a cow may be classified as “edible” in the united states, while in india it is classified as “sacred.” these classifications apply to all facets of reality drawn from the community’s interpretations that then mold and influence california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 27-33) review of eviatar zerbavel by gerardo inzunza 30 the individual. as a result, members of the thought community formulate quite homogenous classifications amongst them-selves. further, zerubavel discovers insightful nuances in these cognitive classifications or categorizations: rigidity, fuzziness, and flexibility. rigid classifications are found in the sacred and profane as observed by durkheim in the manner that religion classifies the world through sin and evil. as he wrote: “the fundamental categories of thought…have religious origins” (fields 1995:421). this may also be evident in bureaucratic definitions of official versus unofficial; public versus private; coworker versus; friend. there are clear distinctions in classifications. zerubavel indicates that fuzzy classifications involve “mental promiscuity” as found in the thought community of artists who fuse the sacred and profane by wearing or creating fantastic attire or provocative images and lyrics that sustain their expected fuzziness, that upon exiting the artistic lair, become rigid classifications that adhere to the norms of a new thought community. zerubavel also finds this fuzziness in intimacy, humor or comedy. lastly, flexible classifications are in play in its fluidity of identity since playing involves the recalibration of roles and expectations as dictated by the game. the key argument in this analysis for zerubavel is that the classification of sacredness or profane varies between groups as well as over time. the element of social meanings further highlights this aspect. social meanings zerubavel considers symbols as being of high significance. as he indicates: “using symbols presupposes a mental association of two elements one of which (the ‘signifier’) is regarded as representing, or ‘standing for’, the other (the ‘signified’). the meaning of a present, thus, is the personal affection it is supposed to represent” (zerubavel 1997:68). what he finds is that signifiers typify a particular element such as illness or the color blue, but are provided two distinct associations of either natural or artificial association. “illness” (the signified) is typified by a natural association of indicators such as a “symptom” (the signifier) that evokes images of bleeding, sickness, death. in the case of the color “blue”, it obtains artificial associations via symbols such as masculinity, a newborn boy, etc. hence, the latter is driven by social convention signifying that social meanings vary from society to society or from thought community to thought community as in the case of the cross in christianity having a different meaning in mayan culture, or a gun for a hunter as opposed to a suicidal individual. meanings, according to zerubavel, are packaged within a thought community whereby the star spangled banner, as he suggests, may evoke a different meaning for an american than for a bulgarian. he indicates that involved are different mental associations to the symbols; therefore provoking different meanings. since individuals overlook the conventional associations they make, zerubavel indicates that the symbols are therefore susceptible to reification; thus we confuse the inter-subjective with the objective. for example, the manner in which functionalists reify crime or california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 27-33) review of eviatar zerbavel by gerardo inzunza 31 deviance as concrete and as “fact” is to engage in artificial association. social memories zerubavel (1997) proposes that the past and what we remember, is also affected by the social environment. in this vein, he finds cognitive psychology’s deficiency in recognizing this phenomenon. he states: the notion that there are certain things that one should forget also underscores the normative dimension of memory, which is typically ignored by cognitive psychology. like the curricular institutionalization of required history classes in school, it reminds us that remembering is more than just a spontaneous act ,as it also happens to be regulated by unmistakably social rules of remembrance that tell us quite specifically what we should remember and what we must forget. (p. 84). the framing of the past, in effect, also frames the boundaries of the individual’s memory. thus; for example, we interpret that for the history teacher to glorify the revolutionary genius of the founding fathers in america, while omitting the revolutionary genius of other foreign movements, is to engage in the social framing of memory. it implies that the concept of revolution and our memory to it as americans, is only legitimate in history and not in contemporary life both domestically or abroad. forgetting, it seems, is a social process of memory regulation. zerubavel illustrates that the classification of “history” and “pre history”, or “pre-columbian” in essence regulates the memory of history students in silencing and forgetting pre-1492 in the same manner the sociology student is socialized into commencing studies of the field with comte and not with aristotle or plato. he finds that this “is neither logical nor natural. it is unmistakably social, normative convention (86)”. he asserts that at play is a process of mnemonic socialization or a learned tradition of remembering. mnemonic socialization is particularly biased and is a type of memory that is communal more so than personal such as the jews memory of the holocaust or dodger fan’s memory of kirk gibson’s 1988 world series home run. standard time lastly, zerubavel proposes that the mental “placement” of time is dependent on social environment. in other words, individuals create inter-subjective time frames: start date at work, the day i ran the los angeles marathon, the whittier earthquake of 1987, etc. involved is what zerubavel finds as the formulation of chronological eras and socio-temporal landmarks which serve as “temporal anchors”. he indicates that these anchors not only organize and shape the past, they also shape present and future time whereby the essence of a common time arrangement between individual and the society is to allow for participation in the world. according to zerubavel, “standard time is one of the pillars of the inter–subjective social world” (1997: 103). without this mental placement then, is to engage in what he defines as california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 27-33) review of eviatar zerbavel by gerardo inzunza 32 “mental exile”. he illustrates how castaway sailors or prisoners in solitary confinement gravitate towards keeping track of the days in spite of no contact or pragmatic need for time to avoid “sociotemporal disorientation.” he indicates that adhering to this universal system of time is not natural, but as he suggests, normative. the transition from solar time, to mathematical time via the clock illustrates this socio-temporal arrangement. to not subscribe to such a universal and almost reified view of time is to be susceptible to becoming cognitively deviant. assessment the essence of zerubavel’s work is to demonstrate and assert that we are not romantically original and spontaneous thinkers, that as social beings, we are instead normative thinkers, or socialized thinkers whereby we limit the scope and range of our thought as illustrated and brought forth by zerubavel. in effect, the environment and social structure that is a force upon our actions is more specifically a force upon our cognition; thereby, being a phenomenon that can be investigated by a sociology of the mind. this reviewer interprets this as an extension of durkheim’s analysis of norms, whereby zerubavel intelligently takes this element of social life, transcending the social sphere and finds the relationship to the mental sphere hence; a “social mindscape”. in so doing, he seems to take aim at psychology’s juggernaut over its understanding and analysis of cognition by indicating that psychology fails to observe the social influence upon the mind. in sum, it falls short in understanding the full cognitive processes since the mind is not in a vacuum, independent of external influences, but rather in communion with social life. as a criticism, zerubavel’s analysis lacks an assessment of the hierarchical nature of modern societies and their influence upon cognition. in other words, he does not address the structures of ideology, coercion, and propaganda, or how artificial associations can become manipulated and exploited on behalf of the social regulators of thought. for example, “immigrant” can have various associations such as “problematic”, “newcomer” or “alien”, while “homosexual” may be associated with “sinner” rather than “same-sex orienttation.” zerubavel does not address the dialectical nature between cultures and subcultures and what this writer would assess as the dynamics of thought politics. in this sense, he approaches his subject in an almost functionalist perspective, not entirely delineating the power structure and its exploitative nature. in reading his piece, this reviewer is reminded of george orwell’s 1984 and the looming thought police. as orwell wrote: “thoughtcrime they called it. thoughtcrime as not a thing that could be concealed forever. you might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you” (1983:16). fiction came to life under mccarthyism as it did in chile under the pinochet run d.i.n.a. forces. likewise we find a government who advocates to the citizenry that they are “either with us or against us.” this has all the characteristics of thought politics that makes california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 27-33) review of eviatar zerbavel by gerardo inzunza california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 27-33) 33 thinking a deviant act. orwell seemed to have recognized this aspect of reification on behalf of the power structure in the name of sustaining cognitive control by blurring contradictions in his now famous phrase: “war is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength.” what zerubavel brings forth is a fantastic realm of social life from the micro and macro perspective, revealing the mind’s dependence on the environment and the processes of cognitive inheritance. in effect, we think with bequeathed ideas and parameters that society and the environment have provided; hence, we are conditioned thinkers. the danger is in the capacity of powerful interests in manipulating such cognitive mechanisms. marx understood this quite well in indicating that, “…the reform of consciousness consists only in enabling the world to clarify its consciousness, in waking it from its dream about itself, in explaining to it the meaning of its own actions” (15). he would go on to call for this “clarity” of mind against ruling class ideology. we consider, then, that zerubavel’s work is significant and relevant in bringing forth a particularly keen sociological imagination, requiring a further step by assessing power interests and their molding of what this writer considers “popular” or “appropriate” consciousness to then address the politics of thought through cognitive sociology. references durkheim, emile. 1995. the elementary forms of religious life. translated by karen e. field. new york: the free press. orwell, george. 1983. 1984. new york: penguin group. tucker, robert. ed. 1978. the marx-engels reader. new york: norton. zerubavel, eviatar. 1997. social mindscapes an invitation to cognitive sociology. massachusetts: harvard university press. microsoft word 5ivetamartiryan_literature review gender and household labor.docx california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 43-52) gender and division of household labor iveta martiryan department of sociology california state university, los angeles this paper discusses numerous variables that impact the division of household labor between men and women— income, race, education, gender ideologies, age, marital status, employment status, and presence of children in the home—and sheds light on the unequal distribution of household labor between men and women, which impacts the overall well being and advancement of the female gender. 1 housework involving cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, washing dishes, and shopping devours three to four thousand hours for the average housewife each year (davis 1981). since a lot of women work full time in the labor market and spend an equal amount of time performing household chores, female housework performance has been labeled the “second-shift.” researchers have become more and more interested in studying household labor division especially because female work participation reduces the amount of time women have to perform housework, placing more demands on men to pick up the slack (batalova & cohen 2002). however, despite working full time in the labor market, women spend more time performing household chores compared to their male counterparts. 1 iveta martiryan is a graduate student at the department of sociology. her paper was originally submitted to soc 497 introduction to graduate studies, taught by professor gretchen peterson in fall 2009. therefore, this paper will discuss numerous variables that impact division of household labor between men and women that include: income, race, education, gender ideologies, age, marital status, employment status, and presence of children in the home. it will also compare different living arrangements between men and women to analyze how time spent performing housework changes or remains the same for both genders as they move through different stages in their lives. the types of household chores are also unevenly distributed between the sexes. a further investigation into male and female type housework will also be discussed. all of these factors combined appear to have a negative impact on females, who continue to perform most of the household labor. therefore, this topic is essential and significant because it sheds light on the unequal distribution of household labor between men and women, which impacts the overall well being and advancement of the female gender. moreover, researchers have tried gender and division of household labor by iveta martiryan 44 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 43-52) to use different perspectives in their discussion regarding division of household labor in order to help explain the unequal distribution of household chores between the genders. among these perspectives are the timeavailability argument, the resourcepower perspective, and socialization and gender role attitudes. this paper will discuss and analyze each of these perspectives in greater detail. current division of household labor between men and women is neither fair, nor rational. it has been reported that in all living situations, women spend more time performing housework compared to men, while the gender gap is the greatest among married couples (south & spitze 1994). this gender gap between men and women regarding division of household labor was very slim and perhaps nonexistent before ownership of private property came into existence. in “the origin of the family, private property, and the state,” engels argued due to ownership of private property, sexual inequality became reality (collins & makowsky 2005). before private property, the entire family worked and shared in housework duties. they also shared food and collaborated in the labor to create it. men may have been held accountable for hunting animals, while women gathered fruits and vegetables. overall, both sexes carried out economic tasks that were uniformly vital to not only their family’s survival, but the community overall. during these eras, community was fundamentally an extended family in which women’s domestic role was prized and valued (davis 1981). however, ownership of private property brought changes in the family system in which women became dominated. as society transitioned from matriarchal to patriarchal, women were expelled from the public economic sphere and confined to household labor (collins & makowsky 2005). moreover, the term “housewife” had come to represent women as the custodians of an undervalued domestic life. however, this definition did not hold true for the flood of immigrant women who joined the ranks of the working class in the northeast, nor the black women who were separated from their home to contribute to the slave economy in the south (davis 1981). as a result, nineteenth century u.s. society contained both white women who worked tirelessly in factories for meager wages, and black women who worked incessantly under the oppression of slavery. therefore, although the term “housewife” was only representative of the social conditions of the bourgeoisie and middle-class, nineteenth century thought created the term housewife as a universal symbol for womanhood (davis 1981). the effects of diverse living arrangements and marital status on the division of household labor between men and women today women have made great strides in the economic sector and education, but continue to perform a majority of the housework. in the past fifteen years, increasing number of scholars have conducted research on division of household labor. throughout this time women have made significant changes in employment and income. today more women are taking on the role of sole gender and division of household labor by iveta martiryan 45 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 43-52) breadwinner. however, in light of these changes, household work is still dominated by women (greenstein 2000). women spend 33 hours per week on household tasks, while men perform 18 hours (south & spitze 1994). it has also been indicated that women who earn more money than their male counterparts perform a disproportionate share of the housework (south & spitze 1994; greenstein 2000). the reason for this may stem from female guilt, because as more wives are taking on the breadwinner role in the family, men may start to feel resentment. therefore, in order to avoid inflicting any harm to the husband’s self esteem and supremacy, women may feel obliged to perform more housework. in households where females are the top earners, husband and wives possess a “concealing” process indicated by goffman, to diminish the stigma of their “deviant” roles. husbands in turn reduce their social interactions with others and remain quiet about their wives’ careers (greenstein 2000). moreover, the gender gap remains the largest among married couples regarding household labor division (south and spitze 1994). perhaps the reason why a significant number of researchers solely focus on housework in married family circles. however, the discussion of labor division between men and women would not be complete unless all living arrangements are assessed, since different stages in people’s lives can help researchers compare the changing trends in the amount spent in household labor from one stage of an individual’s life to another, notably going from singlehood to joining the ranks of couple hood. therefore, diverse living arrangements that include: living alone, cohabiting, living with a spouse, living with friends or roommates, or living with relatives are important factors in discussing division of household labor, since people alter their living arrangements as they move through different stages in their lives. as divorce rates have increased, there are an increasing number of individuals living independently. for instance, today one in two marriages end in divorce, altering the couples living arrangements (yodanis 2005). moreover, more and more couples are deciding to cohabitate. therefore, many argue it is important to also study cohabitating couples’ division of household labor because of the increasing number of individuals becoming cohabiters, implying marriage is not the only acceptable form of union between men and women (batalova & cohen 2002). studies indicate that cohabitating women do more housework than nevermarried women. it is also highest in marriages and lowest among widows and divorcees. meanwhile, men’s housework remains consistent for both cohabiters and married individuals (south & spitze 1994). it only increases significantly for widowed men by 6.0 hours (gupta 1999). moreover, cohabiting women do less housework than married women, while men reduce their housework performance significantly upon entrance into marriage or cohabitation (batalova & cohen 2002). therefore, men decrease their housework performance as they enter into couple households, but increase it when they leave couple households. the opposite holds true for women, who increase their housework upon entrance gender and division of household labor by iveta martiryan 46 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 43-52) into couple households by more than 7 hours, but decrease their housework when they leave couple households (gupta 1999). therefore, this indicates that a couple household regarding division of household labor significantly benefits men. the impact of education, presence of children, age, liberal ideology, and race on division of household labor between men and women additional variables have been tested in numerous studies to indicate whether they have an impact on the division of household labor between men and women. one of these variables is education. among women, education is inversely related to housework, while for men the connection tends to be positive and significant (south and spitze 1994). education is considered an important factor in the discussion of housework because it has been argued that educated men and women possess a more egalitarian attitude, which can help create an equal division of household labor (south & spitze 1994). for instance, studies indicate that for each additional year of schooling, housework time is reduced by an hour for women. entering school also has an impact on housework time by 2.0 hours (gupta 1999). another variable tested is the presence of children in the home. the addition of children ages 0-4 years old increases female housework by 3.3 hours. however, as children grow to ages 5-11, it remains significant. for teen years, it is only the male teens who add to the women’s housework time (gupta 1999). therefore, the presence of children at home increases the amount of time spent on house-chores predominately for women, in which pre-teenagers produce somewhat more work than older children (south & spitze 1994). other variables that include younger age and liberal ideology are thought to have a positive impact on the attainment of equality between men and women regarding division of household labor. additionally, married couples in which the wife earns more money, works fulltime, or in which the husband is not employed full time, possess a more egalitarian division of housework (batalova and cohen 2002). moreover, there is a big variation in gender division of household labor across different races. it has been reported that white men perform a small share of housework compared to black or hispanic meneven as white women continue to perform less housework than black or hispanic women. the reason for this is accredited to whites having greater economic resources that enable them to make use of more housework services (cohen 1998). the effect of income on division of household labor between men and women another variable that impacts women due to performing a majority of the household tasks is income. previous research has overwhelmingly shown a negative correlation between household responsibilities and wages in the workplace. it has been argued that women’s unequal responsibility for household work may be an important factor in explaining the earning gap between men and women (noonan 2001). the discrepancy in gender wages gender and division of household labor by iveta martiryan 47 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 43-52) can be attributed to individual characteristics that include work experience and tenure. this discrepancy is tied to gender differences in home production time (hersch & stratton 2002). the effort and energy spent performing household chores have an enormous impact on the amount of energy accessible for market work. it has been argued if effort placed in household work and wages are positively associated, the wages of workers who hold the most responsibilities in performing household chores will decrease compared to the wages of their less overwhelmed counterparts, regard-less if their human capital characteristics and experience in the labor market are the same (hersch & stratton 1997). the amount of time and energy spent on housework also has an impact on decision making factors regarding looking for jobs that have flexible work hours, a workplace closer to home, and less out of town travel requirements to help incorporate housework responsibilities with work requirements. this in turn suggests that these compensating disparities anticipate that jobs with these characteristics will pay far less (noonan 2001). moreover, it has been indicated that housework has the same impact on wages for single men, but has a negative impact on married women compared with married men. it has been suggested that gender divided house chores performed by married persons may be the prominent reason (hersch & stratton 2002). therefore, housework has two distinct factors that include number of hours and type of tasks (noonan 2002). male and female type tasks regarding household chores women not only perform more household chores, but the household chores performed by both sexes also differ. thus, household labor is separated by sex (greenstein 2000). it has been argued that female housework is more repetitive and continuous which include: cooking, cleaning, shopping, washing dishes, doing laundry, and making beds. therefore, since female tasks require daily performance, it could have an impact on the number of hours left to work in the labor market. these female tasks may also have to be performed during specific times throughout the day, which can hamper a woman’s ability to stay at work for longer hours to attend work related activities. these responsibilities can prevent women from gaining more experience and seniority at work (noonan 2001). moreover, male housework involving outdoor maintenance, yard work, and automobile repair, is more flexible in time and frequency (gupta 1999). men usually perform chores outside the home, which may not revolve around daily child care. it has been implied that male tasks are usually performed during the weekends, away from market work time. therefore, due to the flexible and infrequent nature of male tasks, men are better able to acquire adaptable scheduling around paid work (noonan 2001). furthermore, female type tasks devour more time for married women than for any other group. while regarding men, cohabitating males spend 2.5 hours more per week performing traditionally female chores compared to married men, while gender and division of household labor by iveta martiryan 48 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 43-52) married men spend more time on outdoor maintenance, generally known as male type chores (south & spitze 1994). divorced and widowed men spend 6 to 8 hours more per week performing female-type tasks compared to married men. overall, married and cohabiting men spend less time on female chores and more on male type tasks than men in other marital statuses (south & spitze 1994). it has been reported that men perform 70% of the “male” tasks, where as women perform 75% of the “female” tasks (greenstein 2000). moreover, it has been suggested than an equal division in the amount and type of housework performed by men and women in the home is necessary to help narrow the gender gap in wages (noonan 2001). perspectives on gender division of household chores there are numerous perspectives formed by scholars who study division of household labor between men and women. the first is the resource-power perspective, which implies that work’s focal point resides in economic and social contexts, in which the husband and wife take into account their individual resources as bargaining tools over who will perform which household chore. however, it is suggested that a wife’s resources may be disregarded by male dominance at the societal level (south & spitze 1994). moreover, the reason why married men spend a certain amount of time performing household chores stems from their desires and ideology, rather than in relation to the resources of their wives (milkie & robinson 1998). another perspective is the time-availability perspective, which stems from human capital theory. this perspective takes into account how much time a wife works outside the home and how much time she spends performing house chores. the time availability model however does not provide a complete explanation since most studies indicate that although employed women perform less hours of housework, the differences are too small (greenstein 2000). an additional perspective is the socialization and gender role attitude, which implies that male and female behavior regarding housework stems from how men and women have been socialized to believe is appropriate male and female behavior (batalova & cohen 2002). moreover, it is suggested that although women’s ideologies are continuously being altered, men’s are not. the attainment of equal household labor division between both sexes relies heavily upon the employment of nontraditional (egalitarian) gender ideologies (greenstein 2000). distinction between male and female satisfaction and ideologies regarding division of household labor research regarding household labor division has not only taken into account numerous factors, which include: income, race, and education; but also feelings, beliefs, gender ideologies, and marital conflict. for instance, inequality regarding division of house-hold labor is often connected with a woman’s sense of unfairness, depression, and marital dissatisfaction, where as men’s contribution in routine recurring chores is the primary reason for marital satisfaction (lavee & katz 2002). a gender and division of household labor by iveta martiryan 49 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 43-52) wife’s dissatisfaction regarding household labor division plays a vital role in the emergence of conflict between spouses. for instance, dissatisfaction and conflict regarding household labor division may be a crucial component in explaining decreased marital satisfaction among wives after the birth of their first born (kluwer, heesink and vliert 1996). moreover, female perception regarding household labor division may vary according to what women were socialized to value in a relationship as it relates to their social and standardized principles of what is reasonable and rightful (lavee & katz 2002). females who feel their husbands should take equal part in performing household tasks, and in turn pressure their husbands to take part in housework, create homes in which husbands perform more housework (kluwer, heesink, and vliert 1996). therefore, gender ideology, how a person perceives himself or herself regarding market and family rules traditionally associated with gender, is a significant factor studied by researchers in determining equality between genders regarding division of household labor (greenstein 1996). for instance, lower marital quality is linked to a more segregated division of labor for egalitarian women (lavee & kutz 2002). meanwhile, a husband’s gender ideology is not linked to household labor division for men married to traditional wives compared to men with egalitarian wives. in actuality, a husband’s household labor performance decreases as gender ideology becomes more traditional. therefore, men who are married to traditional women, have very little correlation regarding their gender ideology and share of domestic labor (greenstein 1996). division of household labor is a constant and vital process, which results from an interactive compromise between couples. therefore, it requires researchers to not only look at the different characteristics of males and females as individuals, but to also take into consideration the interactions between them (greenstein 1996). husbands’ and wives’ dissatisfaction is often approached from an individual perspective (kluwer, heesink, and vliert 1996). however, studying the interactions between husbands’ and wives’ gender ideologies has allowed researchers to suggest that a major reason why women’s employment increase has not been followed by equivalent changes in husbands’ contributions regarding domestic work is because the husbands’ gender ideology has not kept up with those of their wives in the transition from traditional “separate spheres” ideologies to more egalitarian beliefs (greenstein 1996). gender production in everyday housework it has been argued by many scholars that marital household is perceived as a “gender factory,” in which gender is produced though everyday housework performance (batalova & cohen 2002). therefore, housework creates gender in the course of everyday performance of supremacy, compliance, and other behaviors symbolically tied to gender. moreover, people’s perceptions of gender are usually crippled and lacking cohesion. their implications of what they believe and how they feel gender and division of household labor by iveta martiryan 50 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 43-52) translating into household behavior are contradictory (south & spitze 1994). for instance, men have argued that both sexes should be equal, but fail to contribute to the development of equality when it comes to performing their share of the housework. therefore, women continue to take on more than their share of the housework, since men continue to shy away from performing their half. conclusion and hypotheses studies on housework have been twofold: one, researchers have focused on the number of hours spent performing specific household chores by both genders (south & spitze 1994); while other researchers have focused on analyzing the impact of the division of household labor on gender ideologies and satisfaction among men and women (lavee & katz 2002). this paper analyzes both types of studies by numerous researchers to help provide a complete analysis regarding gender and division of household labor. numerous variables were discussed in relation to their impact on the division of household labor between men and women. among these variables were income, race, education, gender ideologies, age, marital status, employment status, and diverse living arrangements. all of these factors have an effect on the division of household labor between men and women. h1: educated men and women will contribute to greater equality in the sharing of housework. it has been argued that men and women, who have obtained an education, tend to possess a more egalitarian attitude, which can help create a more equal division of household labor (south & spitze 1994). another factor is the marital status of men and women. h2: women who are single, divorced, or widowed will spend less time performing household chores compared to married women. the reason for this lies in the absence of a husband to clean after, thus leading to less housework performance. meanwhile, the opposite holds true for men, since single, divorced, or widowed men perform more housework compared to married men. the reason is accredited to the absence of a wife, who can help clean, thus leading to more housework performance for men (south & spitze 1994). a third variable that impacts the division of household labor is earning status. h3: husbands married to women with almost equal earnings will perform the most housework. it has been suggested that although dependent wives perform the largest share of housework at 68%, housework performed by wives tend to reduce as their economic dependence decreases (greenstein 2000). it has also been argued that wives with no earnings perform forty five hours of housework per week, whereas wives who are the sole earners perform 30 hours (greenstein 2000). moreover, a fourth variable that impacts the division of household labor includes diverse living arrangements. h4: couples who cohabitate before marriage will perform an equal share of housework. it has been implied that couples who cohabitate tend to possess a more egalitarian view regarding division of household labor (batalova & cohen 2002). h5: paid employment is another variable that has an impact, since women who are employed will reduce their housework performance. it has been argued that gender and division of household labor by iveta martiryan 51 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 43-52) every additional hour of paid employment decreases women’s housework by seven minutes (gupta 1999). h6: age also has an impact on the division of household labor since it has been argued that younger people possess a more egalitarian belief regarding housework. gender ideologies are a significant factor in discussing the division of household labor. h7: individuals who possess a more nontraditional (egalitarian) belief regarding division of household labor will contribute to greater equality in the sharing of housework. it has been argued that couples who hold traditional views regarding gender and marital roles will live in traditional households, where the wife will perform most of the housework. meanwhile, couples with less traditional views will possess a more egalitarian belief regarding housework performance, which will lead to greater female satisfaction and less marital conflict (greenstein 2000). references batalova, jeanne a., cohen, phillip n. 2002. “premarital cohabitation and housework: couples in crossnational perspective.” journal of marriage and family 64(3): 743755. cohen, phillip n. 1998. “replacing housework in the service economy: gender, class, and race-ethnicity in service spending.” gender and society 12(2): 121-248. collins, randall, makowsky, michael. 2005. the discovery of society. new york: mcgraw-hill, davis, angela. women race & class. 1981. united states: random house, inc. greenstein, theodore n. 1996. “husbands’ participation in domestic labor: interactive effects of wives’ and husbands’ gender ideologies.” journal of marriage and family 58(3): 585-595. greenstein, theodore n. 2000. “economic dependence, gender, and the division of labor in the home: a replication and extension.” journal of marriage and family 62(2): 322-335. gupta, sanjiv. 1999. “the effects of transitions in marital status on men’s performance of housework.”journal of marriage and family 61(3): 700-711. heesink, jose a.m., kluwer, esther s., vliert, evert van de. 1996. “marital conflict about the division of household labor and paid work.” journal of marriage and family 58(4): 958-969. hersch, joni, stratton, leslie s. 1997. “housework, fixed effects, and wages of married workers.” the journal of human resources 32(2): 285-307. hersch, joni, stratton, leslie s. 2002. “housework and wages.” the journal of human resources 37(1): 217-229. lavee, yoav, katz, ruth. 2002. “division of labor, perceived fairness, and marital quality: the effect of gender ideology.” journal of marriage and family 64(1): 2739. milkie, melissa a., robinson, john p. 1998. “back to the basics: trends in and role determinants of women’s attitudes toward gender and division of household labor by iveta martiryan 52 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 43-52) housework.” journal of marriage and family 60(1): 205-218. noonan, mary c. 2001. “the impact of domestic work on men’s and women’s wages.” journal of marriage and family 63(4): 11341145. south, scott j., spitze, glenna. 1994. “housework in marital and nonmarital households.” american sociological review 59(3): 327-347. yodanis, carrie. 2005. “divorce culture and marital gender equality: a cross-national study.” gender and society 19(5): 644-659. the freedom to breathe: california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 133-152) the freedom to breathe: african americans and political participation leticia m. gutierrez department of sociology california state university, los angeles objective: this research assesses political efficacy, religion, affluence, educational attainment, network social ties, extended work hours, and number of children to determine political participation in the freedom to breathe campaign. the author seeks to establish the distinctness between residents of oakland, ca who participated in a “freedom to breathe” campaign, organized by environmental justice group communities for a better environment (cbe) advocating against excessive air pollution, and the remaining residents who did not participate in the campaign. methods: a survey was mailed to oakland residents who did not participate in the campaign by means of random cluster sampling. a total of 10 blocks was randomly selected from the area map and five households were surveyed from each block. for each selected block, about 5-7 households were contacted for participation in the survey. residents of the city of oakland who had participated in the campaign were given a survey to complete at the headquarters of cbe during a weekly meeting. results: we find that several contextual factors and social ties play a major role in mobilization of african americans in this specific campaign. avenues for future research are also discussed. introduction 1environmental equity affirms that all people have the right to breathe clean air, drink clean water and not be exposed to environmental hazards that can affect their well being in anyway. understandably, one can presume that people who are in the confines of environmental exposures would adamantly speak against such inequities. leticia m. gutierrez is a graduate student in the department of sociology. her paper was originally submitted to soc. 590 sociologic research seminar, taught by dr. gretchen peterson in winter 2011. however, this is not always the case. most probably, those who do participate politically are people who become involved for several reasons such as feeling strongly about a particular idea, seeking to promote issues and causes that personally profit themselves, or selfsatisfaction. conversely, people may choose not to participate because they feel happy or satisfied by the status quo, are uninterested or do not know much about politics, or believe that no one in power takes note of their views and that the government is indifferent to them. this research is a continuation of my past research (gutierrez 2008) that the freedom to breathe by leticia m. gutierrez 134 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 133-152) assessed latino political participation and found that several sociodemographic factors as well as cultural inhibitors resulted in participation and non-participation in a candlelight vigil. this research, on the other hand, did not look at socio-demographic factors that influenced participation such as sex and age, but proffered that income does contribute to participation; other factors such as political efficacy and educational level were also assessed. reasons for non-participation included variables such as respondents who work several hours in a workday and those that must care for children. these variables were assessed in an attempt at future research comparing latino participation with that of african american. for this study, i attempted to understand some of the factors that influenced african american participation, specifically in an effort called the “freedom to breathe” campaign hosted by an environmental justice organization called communities for a better environment, better referred to as cbe. the campaign took place in the summer of 2009 and involved people of the community willing to stand in a high traffic area of east oakland’s hegenburger corridor for two weeks, about four hours a day, to calculate the number of commercial and noncommercial vehicles that dispensed toxic ambient pollutants as they went by; organizers, members, and volunteers took to the streets in an effort to combat air pollution in their community. the majority of the participants were african americans with very little exceptions; oakland residents were 36% african americans at the time and were the only ethnic group evaluated in this research. 100 respondents were evaluated, all african american; half of respondents (n=50) did not participate in the campaign. all respondents were given a survey with a series of questions about variables such as political efficacy, income educational attainment, and social ties, all of which were hypothesized to prompt participation. conversely, variables that pinpoint number of hours worked per day and number of children per family were hypothesized to be indicators for lack of participation in the campaign. i conceptualized political efficacy as the amount of political effectiveness or influence a respondent believed to have over political matters and outcomes. affluence was categorized as personal abundance of money, property or material goods and was operationalized using a survey question assessing personal income. for the purpose of this study, $50,000 or more a year was categorized as “affluent” not because i believe it is an adequate income to live in affluence, but because of the fact that african americans constitute the largest ethnic population living in poverty. educational attainment was conceptualized as the level of schooling a respondent received. being acquainted with an organizer or member of cbe was conceptualized to mean that the respondent was acquainted with a community organizer or member of cbe in any way (friend, acquaintance, removed acquaintance, etc.). finally, working more than eight hour workdays meant that respondents had a full time job, continually worked over time, or had a second shift. having more than two children meant that the respondents primarily cared for more than two jonathan can i delete this? the freedom to breathe by leticia m. gutierrez 135 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 133-152) children whether they were their own or products of mixed families such as a stepchild or half-son or daughter. literature review environmental equity for all is a fundamental right; no person should be exposed to health hazards regardless of his or her ethnicity or social class. this fundamental right is especially relevant to people who reside in the united states because under the law no one can be discriminated against. the importance of studying the rationale that produces the participation of people to struggle for environmental justice is an important assessment for community organizers, politicians and academics; environmental protections have been taken for granted by the unexposed and amply suffered by the overexposed. studying these reasons for participation have helped organizers and state officials become knowledgeable of the limitations that force marginalized groups not to participate for the sake of their livelihood. past research about environmental participation is rare and when it does apply, it seems to lack insight about the reasons people do or do not participate toward the betterment of their communities. most key research found laid the groundwork for environmental inequities and were attentive to matters that pertain to groups who are affected, how they are affected, and what health concerns have been relevant to exposure--all literature that is necessary to piece together the linkages between environmental justice and inequity. minorities, specifically latinos and african americans, are among the most affected group, and have been consistently shifting into first place as most affected (pollock and vittas 1995; grineski, bolin and boone 2007). those with lower incomes have also been disproportionately affected. these impoverished minority groups have been exposed to many different types of hazards, including toxic exposure through source emissions like factories and industrial districts (morello, pastor and sadd 2001; schweiter and valenzuela 2004; pastor, morello-f. and sadd 2005), residential proximity to roads that causes higher levels of air pollution (schweiter et al. 2004; gelobter 1993), water contamination (novotny 1995), and proximity to toxic waste production or disposal sites (futrell 2000). the high exposures of these ambient toxins were observed to cause asthma, bronchitis, birth defects, learning disabilities, respiratory problems and even different cancers such as lung and brain cancer (schweitzer et al. 2004; pastor et al. 2005; morello-frosch 2001). all aforementioned research necessarily helped approximate who has been disproportionately affected, how they have been affected, and what types of health risks result from such exposure. previous research is necessary to be conscious of the basic information of environmental injustices in an effort to empower those affected. more recent research based on environmental justice illustrates the importance of conceptualizing what environmental justice has come to mean and how a generalizable definition for all disciplines is necessary to address the unequal distributions of harms (sze and london 2008). sze et al. (2008) assert the freedom to breathe by leticia m. gutierrez 136 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 133-152) that a “critical analysis of power” need to be explored to uncover why the distribution of harms and opportunities related to environmental inequity have often been dispersed among minorities and the poor. few examinations of how small sites and zoned areas of environmental inequity have been established (boone and modarres 1999) look at their historical nature, mainly in the case of los angeles, before minorities moved in. the work of boone et al. (1999) was concerned with the surrounding cities of los angeles for their examination, and they found that industrial zones were already allocated in the early 1920 and 30s. cities surrounding vernon were established as predominantly wealthy and mostly anglos–a population that then started moving toward the westside once they discovered industrial zones were beginning to be created. boone et al. (1999) claim that these blueprints were already established, making the neighboring city of commerce predominantly industrial as well. coincidentally, the authors minutely address the fact that at the time on the other side of vernon, the city of east los angeles consisted of residents who were predominantly working class first generation italians and mexicans. although this research did point out that industrial zones were already established prior to latinos moving in, they state that no evidence showed that the decisions made by the zoning committees of that time had been based on the location of minority communities surrounding industrial zones. although the literature did provide a useful assessment of the history of aforementioned industrial zones; this research does nothing more than to assert that minorities chose to live around these toxic facilities. the topic of this research is appreciated but does not cover the equal distribution of waste sites and other environmental exposures; it merely proclaims that environmental inequity is somehow predestined. other relevant research about environmental exposures included the need for focus on sustainable energy decisions (rich, edelstein, hallman and wandersman 1995). this research did not assess that minorities should become empowered to change their communities, even though health threats were prevalent, but sought to find that sustainable energy was more suitable for their focus. other research focused on the need for multicultural organizations (chambers 2007) and believed that members should be offered workshops on policy, leadership and technology, and building coalitions. it is my experience in cbe that community organizers have tried these strategies but the underlying issue is that many factors play in to why latinos and african americans do not have the opportunity to take part in these skill building workshops. landmark research (nelson 1979) addressed the idea that researchers believed that ethnic participation in the movement was withering away. my present study will assess if, in fact, this is decidedly so. significant literature conducted in canada assessed social networking ties and political participation in the environmental justice movement, but specifically dealt with problems projected onto the wilderness (tindall 2002). an established gap in research persists that does not adequately cover many factors that the freedom to breathe by leticia m. gutierrez 137 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 133-152) affect (social networking ties, political efficacy) and lessen (long work hours, caring for children) the level of participation of minorities in the environmental justice movement. my past research, the only of its kind because it intertwined several theories of participation into one study, focused on latino participation, and assessed various reasons people did and did not participate politically, but those factors had been limited to the latino culture. the purpose of this research is to understand the reasons for african american participation or nonparticipation in matters of environmental inequities, specifically among american americans in oakland, california who constitute 36% of the city’s population. the “freedom to breathe” campaign took place in east oakland, california in the summer of 2009. this paper hypothesized the following: (1) respondents with a high sense of political efficacy are more likely to participate in the campaign. (2) respondents who earn over $50,000 annually or more will be more likely to participate in the campaign. (3) respondents who have had earned a four year degree (ba, bs) will be more likely to participate in the campaign. (4) respondents who are acquitted with organizers or members of cbe are more likely to participate in the campaign. (5) respondents who work more than eight hours per workday are less likely to participate in the campaign. (6) respondents who have more than two children are less likely to participate in the campaign. first, i hypothesized that those respondents with a high sense of political efficacy were more likely to become involved in the campaign because they were capable of being motivated enough to endorse their issue. i believed that if this issue has been widely known in the community, then people with the belief that they can make change in their community were more likely to participate. second, i believed that african americans who earned $50,000 or more annually were more likely to participate because of their presumed extra time for other activities, like making use of a gym membership or becoming active members of community groups, compared to those living in poverty. next, i believed that those respondents who had earned a higher education degree, such as a ba or a bs, would be more likely to participate in the campaign because of the supposition that they would be more aware of the injustices of their city. professionals would have more means of receiving information (television, internet, etc.) i predicted that the respondents who were acquainted in any way with community organizers or members of cbe would be more likely to participate in the campaign because of their background knowledge about the subject and the campaign from the organizers or members. in addition, i expected to find that respondents who worked more than eight hour workdays would not have the the freedom to breathe by leticia m. gutierrez 138 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 133-152) time to participate in the campaign either because they did not know about it or because they could not attend due to extended work hours. similarly, i hypothesized that those respondents who had more than two children were less likely to participate because of lack of time (time after the workday would be dedicated to helping children with homework, preparing their dinner, driving them to extracurricular activities, etc) or lack of help to care for the children (babysitter, spouse, relative, etc). methods respondents the 100 african american respondents in this study were all residents of oakland, ca. for the purpose of this research, campaign participants were those respondents that took part in the “freedom to breathe” campaign in oakland. those respondents referred to as non-participants were residents of oakland but did take part in the “freedom to breathe” campaign. the survey was distributed in two ways. because of my affiliation with cbe (an environmental justice organization based in huntington park and oakland), i had access to the campaign participants. over the course of three weeks, i distributed the surveys at the organizations’ weekly meetings. a total of 50 surveys were obtained from campaign participants. as for the nonparticipants, those who were also residents of oakland but did not participate in the campaign had been surveyed by method of random cluster sampling. a site map of oakland had been sectioned off into areas of 3-4 blocks. a total of 10 blocks had been randomly selected from the area map and 5-7 households would be given a survey from each selected block. the survey was distributed to each block to ensure that our goal of 50 respondents purely of african american ethnic background would be collected. the survey questions were regressed using pearson’s correlation coefficient and multivariate regression analysis, specifically logic regression because our dependent variable, political participation is dichotomous. measures to measure if respondents participated in the campaign, they were asked, “most recently, there was a “freedom to breathe” campaign in the city of oakland that took place in the summer of 2009, did you participate in the event?” the variable name [var: polrally] and response categories included 0, which represented no and 1, which represented yes. respondent’s political efficacy was categorized by the variable [var:poleffc] and was measured with the question, “how much impact do you think your participation in the “freedom to breathe” campaign will make?” will make much difference was coded as 3, will make little difference was coded as 2, will make no difference was coded as 1 and i don’t know was coded as 0. to measure respondent’s income [var:rincome] the following question was asked: “what is your own personal income last year?” categories included: 1 signifying under $1,000, 2 signifying $ 1,000 to 2,999, 3 signifying $3,000 to 3,999, 4 signifying $4,000 to the freedom to breathe by leticia m. gutierrez 139 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 133-152) 4,999, 5 signifying $5,000 to 5,999, 6 signifying $6,000 to 6,999, 7 signifying $ 7,000 to 7,999, 8 signifying $8,000 to 9,999, 9 signifying $1 0,000 to 12,499, 10 signifying $1 2,500 to 14,999, 11 signifying $1 5,000 to 17,499, 12 signifying $1 7,500 to 19,999, 13 signifying $20,000 to 22,499, 14 signifying $22,500 to 24,999, 15 signifying $25,000 to 29,999, 16 signifying $30,000 to 34,999, 17 signifying $35,000 to 39,999, 18 signifying $40,000 to 49,999, and 19 signifying $50,000 or more (categories were taken from gss data year 2000, for income). respondents were asked, “what is the highest level of education you have completed?” to address the respondents level of education. the response categories had been coded as follows: did not complete high school was coded as 0, high school graduation/ged was coded as 1, some college/2-year college degree was coded as 2, 4-year college degree (ba, bs), was coded as 3, some graduate school or higher was coded as 4. to determine if a respondent was acquainted to any member or community organizer of cbe [var: cbeacq] they were asked, “how did you hear about the vigil?” i read a flier was coded 0, i read advertisements was coded 1, word of mouth (but not from members of cbe organizations) was coded 2, i have a friend in cbe (member or organizer) was coded 3. respondents were asked, “how many average hours do you work a day?” to assesses how long their average workday was [var:workday]. responses were coded as follows: 1-4 hours was categorized as 1, 5-6 hours was categorized as 2, 7-8 hours was categorized as 3, eight hours or more was categorized as 4. finally, to verify how many children respondents had, [var:childs], they were told, “please indicate how many children live with you?” i have no children living with me was coded 1, 1-2 children was coded 2, and 3 children or more was coded 3. findings results of this study will be analyzed using bivariate and multivariate levels of analysis; in particular, pearson’s correlation coefficient and logistic regression for dichotomous variables. logistic regression will be used instead of ols regression because ols regression assumptions would have been violated with a dichotomous dependent variable. bivariate respondents with a high sense of political efficacy are more likely to participate in the campaign. i believe that political participation will be positive and significantly correlated with political efficacy largely because of the fact that people who believe they can create change would actively participate to create it. i also believe that respondents who earn over $50,000 annually (affluent for the purpose of this study) will have a positive and statistically significant correlation with participating in the campaign. as for respondents that have some graduate education, i believe findings will show a positive and significant association with participating in the campaign. graduate the freedom to breathe by leticia m. gutierrez 140 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 133-152) students are more likely to inform themselves about the problems in their community. i seek to find that respondents who were acquainted with organizers or members of cbe will be positively and statistically significant when correlated with political participation. respondents who work more than eight hours per workday will also have a positive and significant association with political participation; as a result, those parents with two or more children will be less likely to participate in the campaign. finally, respondents who have more than two children will also have a negative and significant correlation with political participation and therefore, will be less likely to participate because of the number of hours they must care for their children. multivariate i will find that political efficacy will be statistically significant at the 0.05 level. i also believe that it will have a positive effect on the dependent variable, political participation, and net all the other variables in the model. i believe i will also find that the respondents’ income, specifically if it is $50,000 or more annually, will have a positive and significant effect on political participation. respondents who make more than $50,000 will have more time and resources to participate in the campaign. as for having some graduate education, i also think that it will have a positive and statistically significant effect on the dependent variable, net all other variables in the model. being acquainted or friends with a member of cbe will have a positive effect on political participation and will be statistically significant at the 0.05 level. having social networking ties with members of cbe will be an avenue to gaining knowledge and interest in the environmental movement. working more than eight hours will have a positive and statistically significant effect on the dependent variable. respondents working more than eight hours will not have the energy to participate in activities in the evening nor will they be able to participate in hours of high traffic because they will be in that traffic or will be working a second shift. respondents with more than two children will have a positive and statistically significant effect on political participation. those respondents who must care for several children may not have the means to leave their children with a sitter or choose to spend more time away from them. discussion in this study, i focused on the participation factors that influenced african americans to take part in the “freedom to breathe” campaign in oakland, ca. this study is the only of its kind particularly because it seeks to underpin the reasons people participate politically in the field of environmental justice as well as account for some reasons people do not. other research about political participation in environmental justice concentrated generally on empowerment and active communities in decision-making processes (rich et al. 1995). the downfall of this research was that it placed more importance on the “capacity to resolve” environmental practices by the freedom to breathe by leticia m. gutierrez 141 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 133-152) being friendly with large corporations before the importance of political action. although this may have worked for affluent communities that perchance learned about environmental exposures beforehand, this case has not been exemplar to that of minority communities (boone et al. 1999). other research focused on minority participation but addressed the need for sustainable energy instead of immediate action for those at risk of lifetime health defects and illness (rich, edelstein, hallman and wandersman 1995). others focused on the need for multicultural organizations (chambers 2007) and the mistake that other literature asserted about ethnic participation in the movement withering away (nelson 1979). my study showed that minorities that did have means (education, income) and desire (political efficacy, social ties) to participate would participate, while their struggling counterparts that indicated their need to work long hours and care for children were less prevalent in the campaign. this offers an important avenue for future research noting that unable participants may feel inclined to participate but due to several constraints have been unable to. political action is one of the most important forms of expression because it has been proven to create policy reform like in the time of the civil rights movement and the chicano walkouts of east los angeles that inspired change that in turn benefited future generations. some researchers assert that minorities moved into these industrial zones in early 20th century (boone, et al. 1999) but even if that is the case, environmental inequity should not persist. although this research is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, in assessing factors that influence minority participation in the environmental justice movement, it is unique in that it sought to understand why some people participate and others do not. future research should develop a large-scale study that includes more factors and have respondents from several minority communities. another interesting idea for future research would be to set up a qualitative study to better understand what factors influence participation and hinder any form of participation before creating a large scale quantitative study. limitations of this study include a minute number of variables correlated with our dependent variable, political participation. political efficacy, affluence, educational attainment and social networking ties were offered as reasons for participation. reasons for non-participation were only based on amount of work hours per workday and number of children. this study was limited only because of the fact that it sought to compare findings to those of previous research. limitations aside, this research can give us a clear indication that minorities that have high levels of political efficacy, affluence, education, and social networking ties will participate politically, at least in this campaign. more research should try to recognize the reasons minorities do not participate in a problem that involves their health and well being, as well as the health and well being of their families. the freedom to breathe by leticia m. gutierrez 142 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 133-152) references boone, christopher and ali modarres. 1999. “creating a toxic neighborhood in los angeles county: a historical examination of environmental inequity.” urban affairs review. 2(35): 163187. chambers, stephanie. 2007. “minority empowerment and environmental justice.” urban affairs review. 28(43). futrell, robert. 2000. “politics of space and the political economy of toxic waste.” international journal of politics, culture and society. 3(13). gelobter, m.1993. “race, class, and outdoor air pollution: the dynamics of environmental discrimination.” ph.d.dissertation. grineski, sara, bob bollin and christopher boone. 2007. “criteria air pollution and marginalized populations: environmental inequity in metropolitan phoenix, arizona.” social science 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being traced to ones socioeconomic status, race, and gender. other theoretical frameworks also mention the distribution of wealth and resources as factors inherently linked to the motivation of criminal behavior. however, most of these theories fail to describe the role of authoritative figures in affecting people’s behavior. this paper will discuss how individuals are influenced by authoritative figures and their own rational choice to commit acts of deviance. questions included in this research assess whether or not people would execute orders at the behest of their superiors. overall, this research proposal looks to examine the role of authoritative figures in influencing people’s ability to make decisions and behave in a certain way. introduction 1there are numerous social forces that are responsible for cultivating deviance in society, such as psychological, economic, and structural changes. therefore, for every behavior type, there are many explanations providing insight as to why deviance occurs and why it is apparent in many societies. for instance, functionalists examine the role of criminal behavior as being necessary for society to function as a whole. in nestor parada is a graduate student in the department of sociology. his paper was originally submitted to soc. 580 criminology seminar, taught by dr. sharon oselin in winter 2011. other words, the sanctioning of behavior considered detrimental to the larger society is able to self-regulate and deter deviance. as a result, society normalizes criminal behavior because it is functional for the preservation of the status quo (durkheim in traub & little eds. 1999). this perspective offers the explanation that criminal behavior evolves with society, and the meaning of these behaviors is to redefine themselves with the changes in time. to some extent, the functionalist perspective does provide some motivational factors regarding why people continuously defy social norms. another theory that tries to explain the emergence of crime and deviance in society is the social disorganization theory, which links authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 118 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) social environments as being responsible for generating criminal behavior. for instance, these communities are characterized as a “crude rural-urban comparison of rates of dependency, crime, divorce, and deviance, suicide, and vice have shown these problems to be more severe in the cities, especially the largely rapidly expanding industrial cities” (faris and dunham in traub & little eds:74). consequently, the lack of control in these environments and the lack of solidarity among the community leads to the breakdown of norms. one of the many limitations of this theory is that it neglects to take into consideration rational choices that are responsible for motivating people’s actions. an important idea to explore is examining the ability of people to make decisions and how the rewards justify their deviation from social norms, as the inner motivations of people can propel them to perform deviant acts, which they define desirable. in fact, none of these strategies provide any explanations as to the effects of conformity and whether or not conforming to social norms leads to deviance. for instance, merton (1934) believed conformity is not regarded as deviance because people who adhere with both the institutional means and the culturally prescribed goals have no desire to deviate. however, there are other motivational aspects where criminal behavior is learned and, eventually, becomes rationalized. criminal behavior is not biologically transmitted, but rather it is learned, rationalized, and committed by people who have learned to rationalize the behavior based on personal and social experiences. the role of authoritative figures is either to deter people from engaging in criminal behavior by instilling the notion of consequence for belligerent behavior or to legitimize criminal behavior because it provides rewards. as an example, some findings suggest that family discipline facilitates conformity (eckhardt 1974). however, in some cases authoritative people promote criminal behaviors in others. with that being said, the same rules, morals, and ethics which govern society are not applicable to all its members. for instance, sykes and matza believed that individuals learn to neutralize the meaning of rules, and certain behaviors considered deviant by some might not be defined as deviant in the legal system (sykes and matza in traub & little eds. 1999). one could debate that criminal behavior is a reflection of the structural dynamics, where criminal behavior is correlated to socioeconomic status. in a sense, authoritative figures are responsible for instilling conformity among people in hierarchical structures as being the norm. by acknowledging authoritative figures, people rely on receiving instructions from people of higher status. by examining conformity as one of the essential factors why uncontested authority exists, one can better understand why people learn to accept criminal behavior because of the normalization of the acts. social conditioning from parents and educational institutions ultimately prepare people to obey authority because they have been prepared to comply. symbolic interactions with others are vital in the learning process where people assume roles and, eventually, perform and replicate the activities they had previously learned, thus reinforcing authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 119 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) the behavior. in other words, the meaning of the interaction and the understanding of the behavior becomes a legitimized form of human action (sandstrom et al. 2006). the power dynamics in the relationship between people of higher status and those of lower status has an effect in instilling conformity or deviation on to others. in many cases, the exercise of power is used as a coercive tactic to gain compliance and, more importantly, the application of “threats” or possibly a “reward” makes people perform tasks (willer et al. 1997). therefore, people, who obtain power over those in lower status positions, can coerce others to perform activities for the approval and rewards they would gain from those authority figures. the exchange of rewards themselves could vary based on the given situation. the exchange itself is motivated by the possibility of gaining acknowledgment or positive reinforcement, which subordinates gain from their interaction with superiors. another explanation why subordinates adhere to authority is because of fear of retribution from their superiors. for instance, authority figures such as parents and other influential adults establish “values and roles” for youth to follow (sandstrom et al. 2006). authoritative figures can maintain their control of subordinates by exerting punitive behavior not in accordance with their valued norms.. authoritative figures can either deter or promote criminal behavior. in a sense, authoritative figures instill inner constraint mechanisms that deter people from committing deviant acts. however, those authoritative figures also have the ability to control and shape people’s behavior. in some cases, the “attachment” to others demonstrates that relationships are control mechanisms directing people’s behavior. for instance, “attachment to parents is the most obvious source of social control, particularly among youth” (kubrin et al. 2009:170). the strength of authoritative figures in life is influential enough to exert power over others. perceptions about fear and punishment when social norms are violated can deter people from engaging in behavior that will bring upon them negative sanctions, however, on the other hand, influential authority figures have the capability to alter people’s behavior and force them to conform. this paper will describe the theoretical effectiveness of the social learning, rational choice, and control theories in explaining the role of authoritative figures, as they influence action that lead to deviance. the main implications behind this research is to demonstrate that predispositions of fear drive people’s desire to conform to authority, and that people’s inability to challenge authority reinforces the strength of authoritative figures. thus, the purpose of this research is to provide an analysis of a psychological problem and how it is examined sociopsychologically. social learning in many ways, authoritative figures influence people’s behavior, while having the ability to have others execute orders for them. the exercise of power is defined as the act of achieving and accomplishing ones subjective goals (kelman 1958). people are conditioned authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 120 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) to adhere to hierarchy and comply with people of higher status. the social learning theory is applicable to explain how people learn deviance from interaction with others. this framework illustrates deviance as being reflective of the authoritative structure and people then abandon their principles to satisfy the interests of their superiors. the strength of authority is sociologically relevant because the exercise of power between superior and subordinate is applicable in many settings such as work, school, and almost every other aspect of social life. the dynamics of the relationship between people is brought about by mutual interests and exchanges. whether or not authority is taken by force or gained by charisma, it remains an influential force in the development of social learning, and replication of the behavior is a product of the multiple interactions with the people of authority. as a result, the behavior is a product of social interactions. in a sense, influential authoritative figures have the ability to govern others to legitimize their principles and convince people that their actions are correct. another definition of power is having the ability to modify people’s beliefs and attitudes (willer et al. 1997). as zimbardo asserted, “the power of authorities is demonstrated not only in the extent to which they can command obedience from followers, but also in the extent to which they can define reality and alter habitual ways of thinking and actions”(2007:283). this demonstrates that people of higher authoritative status can validate their actions because of their ability to create their own perception of reality, which in return validates and reinforces their power. the same figures of authority can either sanction crime or legitimize the criminal behavior. for instance, those authoritative figures that exert power use intimidating tactics to restore their role. intimidating tactics are often applicable in controlling people and, by generating fear; people eventually comply with the orders of the superiors. as athens cited, “brutalization is a composite experience consisting of three more elemental experiences: violent subjugation, personal horrification and violent coaching” (1992:27). essentially, authoritative figures have the means to instill fear in and also instill conformity upon their perceived subordinates. once again as athens discussed: when a subordinate is perceived as being disobedient or disrespectful, any authority figure may exert or threaten to exert extreme physical force in a brutal attempt to make the subordinate obedient and respectful….because authority figures use extreme physical force for the purpose of bringing the conduct of a perceived subordinate under their control, their use of violence has a strong utilitarian flavor to it. (1992:289) subsequently, these authoritative figures apply multiple methods to legitimize their actions and to neutralize previously learned norms. for instance, these forms of conditioning give rise to unquestioned authority. zimbardo claimed, “we can see that this program authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 121 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) utilizes a variety of social psychological and motivational principles to assist in turning collective hatred and general frenzy into a dedicated, seriously calculated program of indoctrination and training for individuals to become youthful living martyrs” (2007:292). by subscribing to this idea, they are privileged to be under the leadership of these authoritative figures, while subordinates assimilate to the ideals around them. this demonstrates that people are capable of performing tasks that they perceive as beneficial in bringing out certain social rewards for conforming. rational choice additionally, people are subject to many experiences that teach them the motives and the rationalization of their authoritative figures. individuals are conditioned to obey or conform without yielding any dismay or disobedience. once people are integrated into a group, eventually they learn to “calculate the cost and benefits associated with their efforts to improve their financial wellbeing” (janowski in rubington & weinberg eds. 2008:296). the rewards for performing activities make the behavior justifiable, as part of the “cognitive mechanisms” and the ability to control behavior leads to choices people make (clarke & cornish 1985). in a sense, criminal behavior is “learned” with what actions are favorable or unfavorable” for the individual to pursue (sutherland & cressey in traub & little eds.1999). this reinforces the idea that people who find themselves in bureaucratic situations are conditioned to refer back to the way they rationalize things. by acknowledging the belief in others, individuals further disassociate from the norms they were taught as being traditional. by disassociating themselves from systems of beliefs that govern the larger social whole, people become detached and further create their own ideals of what is favorable or not favorable. the rational choice theory places an emphasis on demonstrating that people are responsible for their actions because of their ability able to calculate the rewards before performing activities. as homans (1964) cited, people routinely perform activities because of how valuable and how feasible the activity is in attaining the rewards. furthermore, individuals rationalize their behavior, which drives their desire to attain social rewards. the legitimization of routine activities or the performance of activities is taught by interaction with people of higher status. individuals learn to personify the behavior of others, and in return people engage in deviant behavior because it is successful for them. in addition, “performance of observationally learned behavior is influenced by three major types of incentive motivators – direct, vicarious, and self-produced. people are more likely to adopt modeled strategies produced valued outcomes, rather than unrewarding or punishing effects” (wood & bandura. 1989:363). once people take on criminal roles, they learn the “technical, cost-benefit-ration aspect of crime: the opportunities for crime available in the environment and the risk attached to the criminal activity” (downes & rock eds. 2007: 209). authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 122 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) therefore, people engage in deviance because of the success achieved from performing such activities. not only does performing criminal behavior reinforce the idea that crime is learned, but it also validates the notion that crime is not reduced to being a psychological abnormality if many people in society do so. authority/ conformity authoritative figures are those people of higher social status who have the ability to define morality within a given context. as an example, parents assume the role of being authoritative figures to their children. to elaborate, “primary socialization refers to the process by which children learn to become mature, responsible members of society….secondary socialization, by contrast, refers to more a specific formal training that individuals experience throughout their lives, such as learning how to drive, learning how to parent, or learning an occupation” (sandstrom et al. 2006:58). in many ways, the social conditioning of people has an effect towards how they perform routine activities. the consequences for performing the activities are essentially the same in both the home and the workplace setting. both situations consist of people having to adhere to the rules of people of higher status because of fear of punishment for not performing activities that represent their rule. in a work setting, authoritative figures are bosses and the subordinates are their employees. in both situations, those in subordinate positions are coerced into complying with those people of higher status. conformity is a product of the fear and authoritative pressure being placed on the individual to follow social norms. fedlman (2003) argued that people who assume authority roles for the most part “redirect” their hostility towards others they characterize as being “weak” or “inferior.” in a sense, domination is taken by force. the process in which authority takes control of others is often by force. the exercise of power in praxis is operationalized as the “ability to mobilize resources for the achievement of individual or collective goods” (feldman. 1973: 640). their rationale motivates their necessity for controlling others, which in return ranks authoritative figures as instructors and entrepreneurs of the people they perceive as subordinates. the differences in socialization, education, and social experiences have an effect on how authoritative figures perceive those people they dominate (feldman 2003). in addition, the conflict emerges when force is tactically used to diminish the role of the person. not only is the person dehumanized, but the dominant party is able to pressure or coerce the person into conforming to expectations. the initial response to authority is fear, which usually is a reaction to threats brought forth by the pressure of conformity or severe consequences (feldman 2003). kelman (1958) described three processes in which individuals learn how to obey from figures of authority. first, he elaborated that “compliance” is when a person adopts the learned behavior because he or she gains rewards and avoids punishment from the people of the group. second, the person “identifies” himself as being a member of that group authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 123 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) and learns to conform to the expectations of the group. third, individuals “internalize” and learn to modify their value system after the group. not only do people learn to imitate behavior, but they also assume the same attitudes of the people around them (sutherland & cressey in traub & little eds 1999). this exemplifies that people are learning and are instrumental in pleasing authoritative figures and others they perceive as being in a higher status. forced compliance gives authoritative figures the reasoning to legitimize their rules, regulations, and systematic beliefs. by incorporating beliefs, individuals ultimately comply because conforming to the idea is in their best self-interests. however, if people inherently defy these rules, they would be subjected to antagonism by authority. in other words, “they do things that give them satisfaction and a sense of self-worth, and refrain from behaving in ways that violate their moral standards. moral agency is thus exercised through the constraint of negative self-sanctions for conduct that violates one’s moral standards, combined with the support of positive self-sanctions for conduct to personal moral standards” (osofsky et al. 2005). these forms of psychological conditioning are not just restricted to individuals, but are applicable to observing bureaucratic organizations which have their own set of beliefs. the application of power being used as a mechanism of status and authority has the ability to alter people’s ability to make wise decisions. subsequently, by conforming to the influence of authority, people are made to feel that complying is the norm. whether the behavior is criminal or not, people eventually comply with their superiors. on an individual level, people comply with authority because they are convinced that not complying is a deviant act. in some cases, the “power relations” determine the kind of interaction between those considered subordinates and superiors (gariner 1973). despite the power relations between the authority and subordinate, individuals gradually rationalize the rewards from performing deviant behavior. conformity is validated by the “obedience” of the orders transmitted from a superior to a subordinate (eckhardt 1974). however, in a hierarchical structure/system people are coerced into complying with authority because the bureaucracy exerts pressure on its subordinates to be part of the collective norm where complying is considered good for the organization as a whole. for example, people are expected to situate their behavior for the greater good of the group or organization because of the pressure of having to satisfy those in hierarchical status (campbell & mc cormack 1957). moreover, the pressures of conformity undermine the person’s ability to rebel or even question authority because of simultaneous consequences that could either place the person in eminent danger or bring forth sanctions which brand the person as being detrimental to the organization. in many ways, authority reinforces its superiority through “legislative decisions” or through the “law” as an instrument to assure obedience (campbell & mc cormack 1957). therefore, deviance is thus a byproduct of the interaction between those who learn deviant behavior from authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 124 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) authoritative figures because they either punish the behavior or reward the behavior. either people conform to social norms because they benefit from conforming to authority or they deviate because the authority that they interacted with has conditioned them to rationalize the rewards of performing the activity. both conformity and deviance are interrelated in the sense that both behaviors bring forth social rewards. another similarity between conformity and deviation is that both are taught behaviors. control theory control theory offers the best explanation as to why the pressure of conformity makes people adhere to the rules of society. this perspective looks at how people have the ability to “control impulses and desires” (kubrin et al. 2009: 167). the strength of punishment and retribution of deviant acts is what forces people to comply in society. in a sense, compliance is brought about by the potential sanctions against one’s behavior and, as a result, individuals are constrained by the strength of the social bonds. in many cases, having attachment to others can serve as a deterrent limiting the desire to engage in deviance. thus, the levels of interaction with authoritative figures are also responsible for enabling the desire to commit deviant acts. social learning, rational choice, and control theories all intersect with the strength of authority figures. people learn to conform to the rules from their parents. people rationalize the rules, motives, and rewards from performing activities. the response from society to deviant behavior is what people have learned even before they commit the acts themselves. in many ways, deviance occurs when there is an “absence” of governing social rules and the lack of enforcements of social rules that give rise to the opportunity to perform deviance (kubrin et al. 2009). authority serves as an aspect of social control that deters people from deviating from social norms regardless of their commonality and dominance. the pressure of conforming convinces people that acknowledging people of authoritative status such as parents, employers, or even people with higher status automatically gains compliance from subordinates. in many cases, social control is systematic on a micro and macro level. the pressure placed on the individual to comply is brought about by the punishments associated with deviance. people outweigh the cost and benefits before performing activities and, at the same time, rationalize deviance, but the social controls greatly influence people’s behavior more than the rewards themselves. in fact, one could argue that automatic compliance with authority is rationalized to be more beneficial for the individual. gottfredson and hirshi mentioned that “the impulsive or short sighted person fails to consider the negative or painful consequences of his acts; the insensitive person has fewer negative consequences to consider; the less intelligent person has fewer negative consequences to consider (has less to lose)” (gottfredson and hirshi in traub & little: 339). people rationalize the performance and the punishment for potential acts that in return reaffirm the control that society has over the authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 125 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) individual. given the context of the behavior, the constraints adequately govern and deter people’s impulses to engage in the behavior that would bring them success. the idea that authority is a beneficial control mechanism ideally makes people more conscious of their actions. in many ways, people of higher status are primarily responsible for the regulation of deviance, but they can create their own forms of deviance. by status being used to deter belligerent behavior, they can control those subordinates to perform their activities. research hypothesis the proposed research hypothesis will examine the role of authoritative figures as being responsible for forcing people to comply and not disobey people of authoritative status. the social learning theory illustrates that people are receptive to knowledge, attitudes, and, more importantly, beliefs of those people from whom they learn. people also learn to assume the role of the person that they interact with and, at the same time, model their behavior after them. people rationalize the activities they were conditioned to perform. in a sense, people learn to perceive that activities they are doing as legitimate because they have learned to calculate the costs and the benefits of performing such activities. in addition, people conform to authority because of psychological/sociological conditioning from people of higher status (parents, educators, and employers) and, as a result, fail to challenge them. the control theory emphasizes how people conform to those of higher status in society. the punishment for disobedience can vary by any given context, but individuals internalize the consequences of their actions. the emphasis on adhering to authoritative figures obliges people to comply because they either gain some benefits for complying with those of higher status or are fearful of retribution from these people. in a sense, people have been conditioned throughout their lifetime to acknowledge the status of parents, teachers, and seniors, but are never taught to question them. this research will look at people in the work setting. it will examine whether or not people will commit deviance under the leadership of someone of higher status in a work setting. in addition, this research will also evaluate whether people commit acts of deviance because they gain rewards for performing deviant acts. not only will this research look at the benefits of complying with those of higher status, but it will also examine if people are fearful of retribution from those people they perceive as having more status. hypothesis 1: the benefits of complying with authority will cause people in a workplace setting to perform illegal activities. hypothesis 2: people comply with authoritative figures because they are fearful of sanction for not obeying instruction. methods data collection: in order to test the hypotheses, a survey will be administered at public gatherings such as conventions, athletic, and cultural events to gain a larger authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 126 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) variety of responses. the respondents are going to be asked questions regarding deviant behavior that they would be likely to commit in a work setting. furthermore, the research will point out that people have the potential to commit deviance under leadership. respondents are not asked their name in order to ensure their confidentiality. by distributing this survey to the public, there is a larger possibility of gaining an equal representation of responses. in addition, this research will demonstrate that women are more likely into conform and seek the rewards of performing illegal activities than men. for the most part, most studies examining authority have used controlled settings in order to see the causal effects of authority. this research will look at the effects of authority on a larger scale to see if people are capable of carrying out the orders of those people in higher status. previous research has looked at the role of unquestioned authority in a controlled setting. this research will attempt to look at the role of authority in a work setting. in addition, this research will examine unquestioned authority, conformity, and deviance on a larger scale. benefits of compliance: key independent variable the central research hypothesis is to demonstrate that criminal behavior stems from benefits acquired through authoritative figures. the question to be asked to respondents is “do you feel it is beneficial to comply with authority in a work setting?” the response categories were “yes, no.” this is a dichotomous variable. (see attached research survey question 9) authority is defined as being people that you perceive of higher status or those who have the ability to command orders and have you carry out the orders. performed deviance: dependent variable the dependent variable explores the benefits of performing deviant acts. this question asks respondents, “would you perform an illegal activity at work if you gained a reward for it?” the response categories are, “strongly agree, agree, disagree, & strongly disagree.” this is an ordinal variable. (see attached research survey question 13) fear & punishment: dependent variable the dependent variable examines the relationship between benefits of compliance and fear/punishment. this question asks respondents, “would you perform illegal activities under the supervision of one of your supervisors in fear of punishment?” the response categories were, “strongly agree, agree, disagree, & strongly disagree.” this is an ordinal variable. (see attached survey question 11) control variables: age is a variable that will be examined because the possibility of the change over time could affect people’s opinions towards authority. this is an ordinal variable. the reason why age is relevant is because of the potential effect of producing different results. younger respondents may have different opinions than those older respondents. race is a variable that will be examined because the possibility of authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 127 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) ethnic identification could have an effect on people’s opinions towards authority. this is a multinomial variable. this variable will be transformed into dichotomous variables. the differences in race can produce different responses. for instance, one group might be more inclined to perform deviant acts under conditions where it is in their best interests to adhere to authority. gender is a variable that will be examined because different genders could have differences in opinions relating to authority. this is a dichotomous variable. the differences in genders could produce differences in income. one gender could be more inclined to commit acts of deviance under pressure because of their role. monthly income is a variable that will be examined because the differences in finances could produce differences in opinions to authority. this is an ordinal variable. the reason why monthly income is being examined is because the differences in finances could produce different responses. people with fewer resources could feel more inclined to conform in a work setting. in a sense, people with higher resources might not feel obliged to conform or engage in illegal activities because it is not in their best interests to do so. religion is a control variable that will be examined because of the differences in religious backgrounds. due to religion being a multinomial variable, the variables must be transformed into dichotomous variables to eliminate bias and not rank religious beliefs as being superior or inferior to one another. the differences in religious beliefs can have an effect towards how they perceive committing deviant acts. in some cases, the pressure of conformity and having to adhere to people of higher status obliges people to comply. analysis the research methods that will be used for this research is univariate analysis and logistic regression. univariate analysis will look at the mean and the standard deviation of the variables. the logistic will analyze the regression coefficients and the p-level. regression provides how the independent variable affects the dependent variable. this method would limit spurious findings and it proves to be more accurate in demonstrating the relationship between the variables. univariate statistics the univariate statistics of the key independent variable involves the benefits of compliance and the dependent variable perform illegal activities, are going to be examined. the benefits of conforming to authority can stem from the acknowledgment that people gain from complying with authority. whether activities being performed are legal or illegal, people can gain rewards from them. the reward itself from performing activities can either be tangible or intangible, but people are driven to perform them. also, the univariate statistics will look at the frequency distribution of the independent variable (benefits of compliance) and dependent variable (performing illegal activities out of fear or punishment). authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 128 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) the univariate analysis will also examine the control variables of, age, race, gender, religion and monthly income. logistic regression the logistic regression analysis will be provided for the ordinal dependent variable, which is performing activities. the reason why it is a suitable analysis is because of the more distinct connection between the key independent (benefits of compliance) and dependent variable (performing activities). the regression will demonstrate whether the independent variable has a significant effect on the dependent variable. in addition, the regression will examine the relationship between the key independent variable (benefits of compliance) and the dependent variable (performing illegal activities out of fear or punishment). the regression will also demonstrate whether the key independent variable has a significant effect on the dependent variable. the logistic regression will also analyze the control variables such as age, race, gender, religion, and monthly income. the reason the regression is a suitable method is to see if the control variables in conjunction with the key independent variable have an effect on the dependent variable. in short, this research will point out the role of authority being responsible for cultivating deviance. people are intent on satisfying those people of higher status even if the activities are criminal because of the fear of retribution/ punishment for not complying. this research will demonstrate that people who comply with those of higher status are willing to perform illegal activities because it would be in their best interest to do so. authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 129 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) references athens, lonnie. 1992. the creation of dangerous violent criminals. chicago, il: university of illinois press. campbell, donald t. & thelma h. mc cormack. 1957. “military experience and attitudes towards authority.” the american journal of sociology. 62 (5): 482-490. clarke, ronald v. & derek b. cornish. 1985. “offenders decisions: a framework for research and policy.” crime & justice. 6: 147-185. downes, david & paul rock eds. 2007. understanding deviance 5th edition. new york, ny: oxford university press. eckhardt, 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house. authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 131 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) appendix 1: authority survey 1. respondents age: 10-19__ 20-29__ 30-39__ 40-49__ 50-59__ 60-69__ 70-79__ 80& over__ 2. respondent’s gender? female__ male__ 3. what race do you consider yourself? white__ black__ other___ 4. please specify which monthly income from the following category: under $1,000__ $1,000 to 2,999__ $3,000 to 3,999__ $4,000to 4,999__ $5,000 to 5,999__ $6,000to 6,999__ $7,000to7,999__ $8,000to 8,999__ $9,000 to 9,999__ $10,00 to 10,999 __ $11,000 to 11,999__ $12,000 to 12,999__ 5. please identify your religious affiliation: protestant__ catholic__ jewish__ other__ given the definition of authority are those people you perceive as having higher status and those people who have the ability to administer orders and persuade you perform actions. 6. where you always taught to comply with people of authoritative status? yes__ no__ 7. have you ever been intimidated by a person of authority? yes__ no__ 8. in a work setting, would you ever question your supervisor(s)? yes__ no__ 9. do you believe it is beneficial to comply with authority in a work setting? authority and conformity in a work setting by nestor parada 132 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 117-132) yes__ no__ 10. do you feel that it is beneficial to follow the orders of your supervisor at work? strongly agree__ agree__ disagree__ strongly disagree__ 11. would you perform illegal activities under the supervision of your supervisors in fear or punishment? strongly agree__ agree__ disagree__ strongly disagree__ 12. would you perform an activity if you gained the rewards for it? strongly agree__ agree__ disagree__ strongly disagree__ 13. would you perform an illegal activity at work if you gained a reward for it? strongly agree__ agree__ disagree__ strongly disagree__ 14. have you ever performed task(s) that you did not agree with under the orders of a supervisor(s)? yes__ no__ prison size and inmate rule violation prison size and inmate rule violation alex martinez department of sociology california state university, los angeles in recent decades the prison industry has grown at an unprecedented rate. prisons have become overcrowded and underfunded. because of the demographics of those housed in prisons, it is important to understand how increased overcrowding has affected their behavior and tendency to break prison rules. in this study we look at a data set collected by the ohio department of rehabilitation to analyze any possible connections between prison size and inmate rule violation. three distinct sizes were examined while also taking into consideration other factors such as age, ethnicity and education level. for our analysis we used a negative binomial regression model. findings showed a relationship between ethnicity/age and prison size at smaller prisons. no significant relationships were found within medium and large prisons. nevertheless, a more comprehensive study of prison size affects is needed to address the potentially disastrous effects of overcrowded prisons. introduction1 today the prison industrial complex is a huge and profitable industry in the united states. the industry provides many jobs not only in the area where a particular prison is located, but alex martinez is a graduate student at the department of sociology, california state university. he is currently working on his master’s thesis under the supervision of professors hyojoung kim (chair), cristina bodinger-deuriarte, and gretchen peterson. the current paper was initially submitted to soc. 410 (advanced statistics), taught by professor hyojoung kim in fall 2007. nationally as well. the prisons themselves provide jobs for prison guards however the entire industry provides jobs in construction, uniforms, security, and other industries. the prison industrial complex also has a very powerful lobby machine in washington d.c that requests funding from the federal government which ensures its continued growth and survival. with the recent media coverage on the overcrowding of prisons and prison riots, the question arises: is there a relationship between prison size and rate of inmate rule violation? the purpose of this paper is to find out if the size of the prison (based on number of prisoners) california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 22-26) inmate rule violations by alex martinez 23 affects the rate of inmate rule violations inside prisons. this topic is important because if research indicates that prisoners at larger prisons violate rules at a higher rate could eventually lead to policy change. if findings can exhibit that prison size is correlated or has a causal relationship between prison size and the rate of inmate rule violation, it could lead to a change in how prisons are built and how they are occupied. research hypothesis based on the inmate data set the following hypothesis can be formed: prisoners in medium sized prisons (those having 1000 to 1999 prisoners) receive a greater number of class iii tickets, than those inside smaller prisons (those having one thousand or less). data and variables this paper will make use of the “inmates dataset” that was collected by the ohio department of rehabilitation. the dataset consists of information on 1,485 male inmates admitted to the ohio department of rehabilitation and correction during september and october 1985. the “variables reflect demographic and criminal history information for each inmate as well as individual lifestyle data and correctionalinstitution information regarding rule infractions during incarceration” (demaris, 2004:16). our dependent variable in this analysis is the number of class three tickets that prisoners receive. num3tix, number of class three tickets, is a measure of inmate rule-violation behavior while incarcerated. the num3tix variable has a range of 0 to 28. a greater number of tickets reflect more rule-breaking. our independent variables in the analysis are prison size, either small or medium sized prisons. the variable for small prisons (small) is a dummy variable in which 1 = prison has 1000 inmates or less and 0=other. the variable for medium sized prisons (medium) is also a dummy variable in which 1 = prison has 1000 – 1999 inmates and o=other. prison size and rate of inmate rule violation will be analyzed and checked for a possible relationship. a number of variables will be controlled for beginning with the amount of time a prisoner has served in jail. we will code time served the following way: time will range from 2.3 to 4.1 months. ethnicity will also be controlled as a dummy variable in which 1=black and 0=white. years of formal schooling will range from 2 to 22 years. age at first arrest will range from 6 to 71 years of age. centered age at admission, and the square of centered age at admission will also be coded. statistical models the best model of analysis to use is the poisson or negative binomial regression model which makes use of a count dependent variable. if an ordinary least squares (ols) model was to be used, the assumption of homoscedasticity is inherently violated. also, the assumption of zero covariance between residual and covariates would be violated making the ols estimates biased. because the outcome would provide non-normal distribution of california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 22-26) inmate rule violation by alex martinez 24 table 1. ols regression analysis of the number of class iii tickets variable coef. (s.e.) variance inflation factor (vif) intercept small size prison medium size prison time served ethnicity education age at first arrest centered age at admission centered age at admission squared 1.10 0.68 -0.01 0.04 0.27 -0.03 -0.01 -0.07 0.002 (0.35)* * (0.17)* * (0.13) (0.02) (0.11)* * (0.02) (0.01) (0.01)* * (0.001)* * 0.00 1.19 1.31 1.06 1.05 1.08 1.42 2.64 2.33 n f statistic adjusted r-squared breusch-pagan test 1,485 18.60 * * 0.08 42.62 * * *p<0.05; **p<0.01 residuals, the f-test and t-test could not be used. however, if robust conditions are present, the ols model may be used. robust conditions are met if the count variable has big enough counts or heteroscedasticity of error terms does not cause serious trouble and the number of observations (n) is large. this paper will make use of ols model for its analysis. findings table 1 reports the ols regression coefficients for each of the independent variables. the f-test evaluates the overall fit of the model on the data. the f-test is statistically significant at least at the 0.01 level showing that at least one ofthe independent variables has statistical significant effect on the number of class three tickets that the inmates receive. furthermore, the adjusted r-squared is 0.08, indicating that a total of 8 percent of the variance in the dependent variable is successfully explained by the model. table 1 shows the regression coefficient for small sized prisons is positive and statistically significant at least at the 0.01 level. for small sized prisons, the number of class three tickets is larger by 0.68, in comparison to prisons with 2000 or more inmates, net of all other independent variables in the model. because both dummy variables were used in the ols model, the contrast group is prisons with 2000 or more inmates. the regression coefficient for medium sized prisons is negative and statistically insignificant at the 0.05 level. in other words, medium sized prisons have no significant effect on the number of class three tickets that an inmate receives. california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 22-26) inmate rule violation by alex martinez 25 the time served variable has a positive regression coefficient which is statistically insignificant at the 0.05 level. the amount of time served has no significant effect on the number of class three tickets that an inmate receives. table 1 shows that ethnicity has a positive regression coefficient which is statistically significant at least at the 0.01 level. in other words, for blacks the number of class three tickets is larger by 0.27, in comparison to whites, net of all other independent variables in the model. education has a negative regression coefficient and it is statistically insignificant at the 0.05 level. in other words, the amount of education that an inmate acquires has no significant effect on the number of class three tickets he receives. the age at first arrest variable has a negative regression coefficient which is statistically insignificant at the 0.05 level. the age at which the prisoner was arrested has no significant effect on the number of class three tickets that he receives. the centered age at admission variable has been de-meaned, meaning that the mean has been subtracted from the variable itself. table 1 shows that the centered age variable has a negative regression coefficient and it is statistically significant at least at the 0.01 level. to compensate for this issue the variable has been squared (see table 1). the squared centered age at admission has a positive regression coefficient and it is statistically significant at least at the 0.01 level. in other words, for one unit increase in centered age at admission squared, the number of class three tickets is expected to increase by 0.002, net of all independent variables in the model. diagnosis of ols regression assumptions although ols estimates are blue (best, linear, and unbiased estimates), the properties only hold true when ols assumptions are satisfied. the ols assumptions are assessed by examining the partial regression residual plots and by examining the variance inflation factors (vif) (see table 1). the variance inflation factors are close to 1, indicating that the independent variables are not collinear with each other and much less perfect multicollinearity. the breusch-pagan test checks for homoscedasticity. the test assumes a null hypothesis of homoscedasticity, and since the outcome for this analysis shows statistical significance (see table 1), this indicates that the residuals are heteroscedastistic. in other words the assumption of homoscedasticity is violated thus making the ols regression coefficients still unbiased but no longer best or efficient. the assumption violation of homoscedasticity can be resolved by testing the statistical significance of heteroscedasticity while using robust standard errors that take into consideration heteroscedastistic disturbances. we can also use a weighted least square estimator and regress this estimator on the variables associated with heteroscedasticity. no test was conducted to check for the assumption of zero covariance with regressors, but the partial regression residual plots seem to indicate linear relationships for the independent variables. california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 22-26) inmate rule violation by alex martinez 26 california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 22-26) if variables are omitted the assumption of zero conditional mean is most likely violated. since other ethnicities have been omitted, we concluded that the assumption of zero conditional mean has been violated. no test was conducted for the assumption of no autocorrelation. however since our data is not time series, we conclude that the assumption of no autocorrelation has not been violated. ols estimates are also sensitive to the influence of outliers. to check for influential outliers the partial regression residual plots are examined. the partial regression residual plots for all the independent variables show that there is a possible influential outlier. however when the observation is omitted and the ols model is run again, the outcome shows that the original findings hold true. all the independent variables have the same statistically significant coefficients. interestingly, the direction of the medium sized prison variable changes from negative to positive. however, the statistical significance shows no change. also, the magnitude for ethnicity changes but not the significance. conclusion the ols regression analysis shows that the number of class three tickets that an inmate receives in not affected by; medium sized prisons, amount of time served, education, and the age at first arrest. the analysis does show that small sized prisons, ethnicity, and centered age at admission do have a significant effect on the number of class three tickets that an inmate receives. while we have learned much from our analysis, further research is needed. to have solid conclusions on whether there is a relationship between the size of prisons and the rate of inmate rule violations, more research needs to be conducted that includes prisons of different sizes. there also needs to be an analysis that includes other race/ethnicities and female inmates. also, there needs to be a comparison done between prisons in different states. about the california sociology forum the history csf was initially published in 2007-2008 by professor hyojoung kim. it was re-launched in 2022-2023 by a group of faculty members in the department of sociology. csf expresses its immense appreciation to all editors—both faculty and student — who served as the re-launching editorial board. the mission the california sociology forum (csf) is a student-run online journal that publishes scholarly and creative works of students enrolled in the sociology program or taking sociology classes at cal state la at both the undergraduate and graduate level. it is committed to cultivating student research, supporting intellectual exchange, and featuring diverse perspectives on various issues of our society and world. students are strongly encouraged to submit not only original research papers, but creative works such as poems, cartoons, music, pictorial essays, personal essays, and fieldwork notes that use the sociological imagination, as well as sociologically relevant book and film reviews. as we continue to grow, we welcome new additions to our editorial board. please feel free to reach out to us! contact us website: https://journals.calstate.edu/csf/ email: csf.csula@gmail.com © 2023 by california sociology forum (csf) all rights reserved. no part of this journal may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review study, without prior permission from the publishers and the student author. copyright reverts to each author upon further publication of his or her article. department of sociology, california state university, los angeles 5151 state university drive, los angeles, ca 90032-82 csf 2022-2023 editorial board volume 5 was edited and published by the following editorial board. their innovations have left indelible marks on the publication. not only were creative works, book review, and film review sections added, but the board created a brand-new open journal website in addition to the first print volume. this scope of work far exceeds what will be expected of future editorial boards. csf is indebted to them for these re-launch efforts. managing editors sarra benghorbal | marie rivera brittany kalaj margulieux managing copy editor taryn bates book and film review editor darron cunanan modernization leaders sarra benghorbal | brittany kalaj margulieux madeline bourdeau public relations leaders darron cunanan | andrea dominguez | lami j. glenn board members victor amador | taryn bates | sarra benghorbal madeline bourdeau | darron cunanan | andrea dominguez john eleby | sammy garcia iii | lami j. glenn brittany kalaj margulieux | angela norman jennifer c. perez | marie rivera faculty editors-in-chief dr. luoman bao (fall 2022) | dr. katie dingeman (spring 2023) faculty editors prof. gilbert garcia (it liaison) dr. roseann giarrusso (faculty editor-advisor) dr. hyojoung kim (founder) this paper is going to go over (take all journal articles and make a thesis statement off of each of them, then group together the statements… factors influencing changing religions for marriage and the impact of such a change. charity perry department of sociology california state university, los angeles this article highlights the notion that religiosity is based on marital relationships and also examines factors influencing changing religions for marriage and the impact of such a change. findings based on previous submitted research premise this argument on religion and its affects on factors such as family, marital partners, and children. it is believed that religion has a major impact on many factors of family life and delves into the idea that religion is changed along with marital partners or with the affects of family life. it is also believed that many social problems could be attributed to choice of religion and or religious affiliation of marital partner. this paper also details the adverse affect on children’s perception of religion. the purpose of this paper examined the factors that influence switching religions for marital reasons and the impact of such a change. in particular i examined birth cohort, religious practice, the economic concepts of household production and human capital, religious diversity within families, children born into interfaith marriages, and whether or not it is necessary to change religions for marital happiness. 1through this study it is expected that issues of religion and 1 charity perry is a graduate student at the department of sociology, california state university. she is currently working on her master’s thesis. her paper was initially submitted to soc. 445 sociology of religion, taught by dr. rick fraser in winter 2007. culture contribute to critical issues of our time; one is increasingly likely to find young people marrying across the old religious line which entailed people of the same faith entering into marriage; children are being educated along with others from different religious backgrounds; and we live in a society where people are willing to harmonize their marriages by changing religions. americans switch religions to harmonize their marriage according to musick and wilson (1995). in a study conducted by the aforementioned authors, respondents were asked whether or not they switched religion in connection to their marriage. the respondents were asked to describe the processes of religious mobility that occur in general and were then asked to compare those reasons with their own california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 34-39) changing religions for marriage by chairty perry 35 religious mobility. switching religion for marital purposes is a distinct kind of religious mobility that has been hidden by previous studies (musick and wilson 1995). this study was significant because there had been no research of its kind. this particular study found that switching for marital reasons increases the impact of religious variables. thus, conversion between religious groups is much greater than similar religious groups (iannaccone 1990). iannacone defined the groups as two or more people interacting with each other who share common goals that stem from common problems with a desire to resolve them; agree upon a set of norms they hope will help them achieve their common goals; combine certain norms into roles that expect persons within the group to fill and carry out in the interests of the group. through musik and wilson’s (1995) research we find that switching religions occurs when people are married to partners of other religious denominations .the analysis of religious mobility, which is defined as the movement out of a religious affiliation and movement into another religion, is only one way to analyze the overall impact of switching religions due to marital relationships where partners are affiliated with different religions. it is important to married individuals to do their best to harmonize their marriages by changing religions especially if one was not religious upon marrying the other religious individual. in harmonizing one’s marriage, the obvious assumption would be that one partner would want to make their marriage stronger by toying with the idea of switching to their partner’s religion. sherkat (2004) states spousal influences are significant factors that motivate religious switching. religious intermarriage has also been shown to influence a host of other outcomes: spousal conflict, domestic violence, divorce, and fertility. the reciprocal connection between religion and family life makes the topic of religious intermarriage of particular importance in the sociology of religion. in sherkat’s article, cohort differences were measured in pattern of interfaith marriages; the author found that by determining the impact of birth cohorts, educational attainment, educational factors, geographic mobility, and religion of origin on the probability of religious intermarriage and the distance of intermarriage: the data would lead to answer why specific patterns of interfaith marriages are followed. the birth cohorts were found to be too broad in showing patterns of interfaith marriage for people born before 1933. these figures are compared to individuals born in 1933 and later. using the data to compare educational attainment, the comparison category was equal educational attainment. for this study, a set of regional and residential classifications were used to analyze migration. the key in this classification system is the understanding that in the united states the religious market is quite distinctive in the south, and that opportunities for religious intermarriage are limited both in the homogeneous south and in rural communities. stable residents of rural areas are hypothesized to be the least likely to intermarry and any intermarriage would likely be between members of similar religious groups. religious diversity within families has been shown to create a number california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 34-39) changing religions for marriage by chairty perry 36 of difficulties for marriages such as leading to decreased rate of marital satisfaction, increased spousal conflict, higher rates of divorce, and increases in domestic violence. this research is important because it found that there are many different reasons for wanting or accepting religious switching in marriage (sherkat 2004). a study regarding religious practice, the economic concepts of household production, and human capital was used to develop a new model of religious participation. in this study, the model explains observed patterns in denominational mobility, religious intermarriage, conversion ages, the relationship between church attendance and contributions, and the influence interfaith marriage has within the levels of religious participation. iannaccone (1990) suggested that empirical studies have found patterns in religious intermarriage very similar to those of intergenerational religious mobility. one of the patterns examined in this study was the tendency to marry within one’s denomination where predispositions were high. intermarriage rates are higher in denominations with farfetched substitutes, and finally the intermarriage that does occur is usually between people from similar religions. researchers concluded from these studies that the economic concepts of household production and human capital generate a powerful model of religious participation. in each case of the model, the predictions received strong empirical support. conversions are concentrated in the early stages of the life cycle, as people search for the best match between their religious skills and the context in which they produce commodities of religion, therefore, religious upbringing is looked upon as being the most prevalent source of religious human capital, and is a major determinant of religious belief and behavior; people tend to seek out partners whose religious human capital complements their own, and the productive efficiency inherent in shared faith marriages leads to higher levels of church attendance. it is important to include a study concerning children of interfaith marriages. when children are born into an interfaith family, religious differences can become even more overwhelming. couples must now decide whose religion is going to be best for the child. will the child have a bar/bat mitzvah? will she have a christian confirmation? will he be baptized? how will he be baptized? if adults feel torn by religion, it is easy to imagine how much more children can feel between two religions dividing them. there are three studies that provide valuable insight into religious identification on the part of offsprings of interfaith marriages, but we for the sake of this paper we will only examine one of these studies. salisbury (1990:129) notes that “children tend to follow the religion of the mother if she is catholic, but not if she is a protestant.” thus, as suggested by the data, the mother’s influence was greater if she was a catholic. it was shown that all in all, from salisbury’s (1990) study, there exists considerable continuity across generations relative to religious identification. switching religion occurs, but it is part of the familial processes, therefore children born into an interfaith marriage tend to follow the religious practices of their mother if she is catholic, and when children are old enough to decide what religion they are california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 34-39) changing religions for marriage by chairty perry 37 more open to, it will be a familial process that helps these children decide what is best for them at that particular point in their lives. for society as a whole, the importance of the familial process can be noted by helping children of interfaith marriage decide, as they age, what is best for them. it is a difficult process, as the child may worry about offending one or both parents when choosing the faith they will represent. how does marriage survival play out among interfaith marriage? a report was presented to discuss the results of carefully refined tests of the religious homogamy and marital stability generalization. burchinal and chancellor (2004) studied comparisons first of marital survival rates among homogamous catholic, homogamous protestant, and catholic-protestant marriages. second, refinements in classifications were made among the protestant marriages to permit comparisons of marital survival rates among selected types of denominationally homogamous protestant and mixed marriages. third, comparisons were presented for marital survival rates between homogamous catholic marriages and selected types of denominationally homogamous protestant marriages. fourth, marital survival rate differences were determined for selected types of marriages involving catholics and persons who claim affiliation with certain protestant denominations. this study displayed that marital survival rates were considerably greater among the mixed unspecified protestant marriages than among the homogamous unspecified protestant marriages. throughout comparisons in variations of marriage the clash of religious values and beliefs less frequently led to divorce in the interreligious marriages than did circumstances associated with the lack of affiliation with a church. relatively few studies focus on the process of relationships among married interfaith couples; although the number is increasing. the trend in interfaith marriages may likely continue, as a nationwide study reported: less than half of the young adults surveyed “believed that it is not important to find a spouse who shares their own religion” (whitehead and popenoe 2001: 6). drawing on the research that interfaith marriages may be at a higher than average risk for divorce than samefaith couples, we may draw the inference that conflict is present in these marriages and that couples’ communication processes may also be strained. religious orientation (intrinsic vs. extrinsic) may influence the extent to which interfaith partners form social networks and, report satisfaction with support provided from these networks. extrinsics, who need to practice their faith in public or as part of a group may have a greater need for a religious social network as well as be more dependent on the communication from this particular network. in contrast, intrinsics prefer to practice their faith individually and may not be strongly dependent on a religious social network or social support from a religious social network. according to hughes and dickson (2005), extrinsic religious orientation is inversely related to reported marital satisfaction while intrinsic religious orientation is directly related to marital satisfaction. therefore, interfaith marriage partners need not share the same religious denomination; they may only need common religious orientation to be happy. moreover, spouses communicate with each other california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 34-39) changing religions for marriage by chairty perry 38 during times of relational conflict, and in other intervals of the marriage, which is likely the cause for marital happiness opposed to religious orientation. having the same religious and spiritual beliefs are criteria for many people when they are seeking a marriage partner. many people feel strongly that the person they are going to marry should be of the same religion, have the same traditions and customs, and intensity of belief as they do. for these people, this is an integral part of their idea of marriage. on the other hand there are those who marry someone who is “outside” their religion. many times they must overcome family opposition to be with the one they love. sometimes if one partner feels so deeply about his or her religion, their future spouse will convert. this converting only works if the partner is not coerced into changing their religion or is not strongly held by the tenets of his or her own faith. changing religion for a partner, against one’s will, especially if one’s religion has always been a very important factor in life, never works. there are many aspects to a marriage. religion is only one of them, but a very important one at that. a person’s re-ligious or spiritual beliefs make one part of your lover’s persona. does religion matter in today’s marriages? is it necessary for one to convert for the viability of one’s marriage? researchers booth, johnson, branaman, and sica (1995) studied changes in religiosity and marital quality. an assessment from a national sample of married persons studied the extent to which changes in religious involvement influence marital quality and the extent to which changes in marital quality affect religiosity. research on this topic has assumed that a change in religious involvement alters marital quality rather than the reverse. marital difficulties or other difficulties are believed to lead couples to increase their religious involvement. many religions emphasize to families that regardless of distress, they must remain intact and individuals whose marriages are troubled may view increased involvement as a way to strengthen the relationship. in booth et al. (1995) study, five features of religious life are examined: (a) learning about the divine other through reading religious materials such as the bible, (b) interacting with a divine other through prayer, (c) attending services, (d) participating in religious social events, and (e) existential certainty (religious influence). these 5 marital scales were assumed to be indicators of marital quality. the research found strong evidence that an increase in religiosity has very little effect on marital quality. second, evidence was found that marital qualities sometimes alter religious activities. third, gender has little role in explaining the relation between changes in re-ligiosity and marital quality. in other words, little support is found for the idea that an increase in religious activity improves marital relations. increase in religiosity slightly decreased the prob-ability of considering divorce, they neither enhance marital happiness or interaction nor decrease conflict and problems that are commonly thought to cause divorce (booth et al. 1995). in conclusion, for many americans, tolerance toward individuals marrying across religious lines has increased. more and more couples from every religion are taking the plunge into interfaith marriage and the raising of california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 34-39) changing religions for marriage by chairty perry california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 34-39) 39 interfaith children. one crucial issue of our time is how are we to live together in a world which is becoming increasingly aware of its religious diversity, notably more so since 9/11? in many of these situations, issues of religion and culture are contributing factors. we also live in a world where one is increasingly likely to find young people marrying across the old religious line. children are being educated alongside others who come from quite different religious backgrounds and we live in a society where people are willing to harmonize their marriages by changing religions. references booth, a., r. johnson, a. branaman, and a. sica. 1995. “belief and behavior: does religion matter in today’s marriage?” journal of marriage and the family 57:661671. burchinal, lee b., and chancellor, loren e. 2004. “survival rates among religiously homogamous and interreligious marriages.” social forces 41:353-362. hughes, patrick, and fran dickson. 2005. “communication, marital satisfaction, and religious orientation in interfaith mar-riages.” the journal of family communication 5: 25-41. iannacone, lawrence r. 1990. “religious practice: a human capital approach.” journal for the scientific study of religion 29:297314. musick, mark, and john wilson. 1995. “religious switching for mar-riage reasons.” sociology of religion 56:257-270. nelson, hart m. 1990. “the religious identification of children of interfaith marriage.” review of religious research 32:122-134. salisbury, w. seward. 1970. “religious identity and religious behavior of the sons and daughters of religious intermarriage.” review of religious research 11:128-135. sherkat, darren e. 2004. “religious intermarriage in the united states: trends, patterns, and pre-dictors.” social science research 33: 606625. whitehead, b.d. and d. popenoe. 2001. the state of our unions: the social health of marriage in america (a summary report). piscataway, n.j.: rutgers university, the national marriage project. microsoft word 1terryholt_reviewed_sg_td.docx california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) the effect of race on poverty and the equality of minorities terry holt department of sociology california state university, los angeles using general social survey (gss) data from 1972 to 2004, this study considers if racial discrimination continues to represent a significant barrier for the economic advancement of african americans and other minorities in the u.s. compared to whites. specifically, does race affect income equality? bivariate analysis and logistic regression analysis indicate that the “total family income average” for blacks is significantly less compared to whites, and blacks are more likely to live in poverty (income less than $25,000) than whites. conversely, when it comes to other minority groups, there is no significant difference in “total family income average” compared to whites. in addition, the findings also suggest that women are far more likely to live in poverty than men, as one’s gender has a significant effect on one’s income earning potential. introduction 1racism has existed throughout human history, and it continues to represent significant problems for many people in the united states. racism is the belief that one’s race is primarily the determining factor that reflects human traits and capacity. racist ideology generally supports the premise that a particular race is either superior or inferior to another, and that a person’s 1. terry holt is a graduate student at the department of sociology. his paper was originally submitted to soc 410 advanced statistics, taught by professor hyojoung kim in summer 2009. social and moral qualities are pre determined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. the distinction of racial differences gives way to the belief of an inherent superiority of a particular race while simultaneously ordering other races in a hierarchy. institutional racism causes a large numbers of individuals who are deemed inferior to be denied even the most basic human rights. conversely, individuals who belong to the group that is deemed superior have historically been elevated to positions that allow them to enjoy preferential treatment. why do people from one social group oppress and discriminate against people from other social groups; and why is it so difficult income inequality by terry holt 2 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) to eliminate? this study investigates whether racial discrimination continues to represent a significant problem for african americans and other ethnic minorities in the u.s. some race theorists assert the pessimistic view that racism is permanent and that policy reforms will not curtail the development of racial distinction and antagonisms. racial inequality has become an enduring and deeply regimented way of knowing and organizing the social world, and thus is unlikely to be completely eliminated. the african american experience in the united states has enriched the fabric of american history and society in a myriad of ways, many of which have only recently been recognized. however, the overarching theme of african americans and other minority groups’ experience has been one of misery, exploitation, inequality, and discrimi nation. it is to this end, that those who wish to understand the minority experience in america ask themselves following question: are minorities making progress in the united states? is there any significant gap in the income of african americans and other minorities compared to those of caucasians in the united states, and what ethnic minorities are more likely to live under the poverty level? if we find that a particular ethnic group is more likely to live in poverty compared to whites, then, one might conclude that racism continues to remain a significant obstacle for the economic advancement of the aforementioned minority groups. in addition to race, this study will also consider the impact of age, gender, religion, political affiliation, educational attainment, and the number of years spent obtaining formal education and training with respect to relative income and those who live in poverty. poverty is defined as the total family income level of respondents that falls at or under 25,000 annually. literature review recent battles regarding civil rights and race discrimination in the united states were fought on two fronts: legal, and the public’s perception of race. legal fronts consisted of lawsuits and amended legislation prompted institutions such as schools, banks, and government agencies to lessen race discrimination. brown vs. board of education, the civil rights act of 1964, and other subsequent battles brought race discrimination to the attention of the american public. the former front involves the public’s perception of race. henry and sears (2002) argue that public sentiments concerning africanamericans are governed by a psychological blend of negative feelings and conservative values, particularly, the belief that african-americans violate cherished american values. the public’s per ception of african-americans is rooted in an abstract system of early learned moral values and ideas that typically view african-americans as social misfits. racial conflict has plagued the united states since its inception; in particular, it has been primarily driven by racial prejudice of african-americans (allport 1979). while overt forms of racial discrimination such as “jim crow” segregation have been eliminated in the united states, and whites’ opinions regarding racial issues have become income inequality by terry holt 3 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) more liberal, racial discrimination remains a significant difficulty for many ethnic minority groups. moreover, current research shows that racism has evolved from these overt forms of jim crow segregation (older belief systems which incorporated social distance between the races). one form of research has been developed around the basic idea that new forms of racism have taken root in america, which is the symbolic racism theory (sears 1988). according to kender and sears (1981), symbolic racism is commonly described as a coherent belief system, which supports concepts that racial discrimination is no longer a valid point of contention for african americans, and that their disadvantage stems from personal ir responsibility, and thus their continual demand for equal treatment is not valid. proponents of liberal optimism, on the other hand, contend that viable solutions to our nation’s race problems are possible. robert parks (1950) clearly articulates key concepts of the race relation cycle. he argues that race relations develop in a four cycled stage: contact, conflict, accommodation, and assimilation. the first stage occurs when two or more different races of people come together, and they are obliged to interact with each other. competing for scarce resources they fall into conflict, which eventually gives way to accom modation, where a stable but antagonist social order fosters a social hierarchy. finally, parks asserts that accom modation is attained when different races assimilate through a process of cultural and physical merging. the end result of such a merger is the development of one homogenous race, where class supersedes race as the primary focal point of social distinction. parks ascertains that race relations invariably pass through the previously mentioned stages, and that the present location of a particular race of people offers strong evidence to suggest the kind of social experiences that a particular race of people will encounter not only their past but also the future path. the american society, like many others throughout the world, is organized by powerful dynamics that are often very difficult to interrupt. privilege is a predictable precursor for such things as race distinction, because the privileged group must distinguish itself from other groups. distinctions based on race may not always be carried out with malicious intent, however, to suggest that the effects of such characterizations are inconsequential, definitely deserves examination. but, how are we to understand the realities that both produce such distinctions and the ensuing consequences that they in variably produce? do we view them as purely accidental, or as oddities that simply seem to happen? or is race, in fact, reflective of designed dynamics that are sown into the very fabric of our society? data and variables in order to empirically examine whether or not race remains a significant barrier for the equality of ethnic minorities in the united states, this researcher uses general social survey (gss) data. the gss was designed as part of a data diffusion project in 1972. the gss replicated questionnaire items and wordings are used in order to facilitate income inequality by terry holt 4 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) time and trend studies. this data collection includes a cumulative file that merges all data collected as part of the general social services surveys from 1972 to 2004. the 2004 survey was composed of permanent questions that appeared on two out of every three surveys and a small number of occasional questions that occurred in a single study. there were a total of 2,812 respondents research hypotheses the dependent variable: income level a comparative level of income between whites (the comparison group), african americans and other ethnic minorities over time will demonstrate whether racism remains a central hindrance to the advancement of minorities in the united states. that is, i hypothesize that caucasians will show a higher mean income from that of minorities and, therefore, a lowered propensity for having a total family income of 25,000 dollars or less. if racial equality is present between races, then, we can expect to see a somewhat uniform distribution of income between the different ethnic groups and an average number of people in different races living in poverty. however, if we see a significant difference between mean incomes of different ethnic groups, then, we assume that there is no real equality. the continuous variable income was converted to a dichotomous variable (because of a skewed distribution of income), where if respondent’s total family income is 25,000 or less, then, they are considered to live in poverty; conversely, if the respondent’s total family income was above 25,000 dollars per year, then they are coded as not being in poverty. income level is measured by the gss variable (var: income). respond ents were asked, “in which of these groups did your total family income, from all sources, fall last year before taxes that is?” a fifteen point response category was used to capture respondent’s answers: under $1,000; $1000 to 1,999; $2,000 to 2,999; $3,000 to 3,999; $4,000 to 4,999; 5,000 to 5,999; $6,000 to 6,999; $7,000 to 7,999; $8,000 to 8,999; $9,000 to 9,999; $10,000 to 14,999; $15,000 to 19,999; $20,000 to 24,000; $25,000 or over; refused; don’t know, no answer; not applicable. the variable “income” was converted into a dichotomous variable: 1) 1= living in poverty (income $25,000 or less) 2) 0= not living in poverty (income above $25,000). the key independent variable: race the mere distinction of individuals by race invariably gives way to the belief that slight biological differences between certain groups of people predetermines the worth, intelligence, value, and other aspects of a person’s being. as a consequence, race distinction is typically followed by the formation of preset stereotypes regarding a particular group of people and the creation of a racial hierarchy. distinction by race has been the catalyst throughout mans history for wars as well as hate-crimes, and it has caused untold human suffering not only in the u.s. but, indeed, throughout the entire world. it is this author’s hypothesis that race continues to plague income inequality by terry holt 5 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) minorities in the u.s. race is measured by the gss variable (var: race). respondents were asked, “what race do you consider yourself?” respondents were asked to select their appropriate race from a three-point scale: white, black, or other (specify). the key independent variable “race” was dichotomized as follows: 1) black or not, and 2) other race or not. other independent variables: age it is my hypothesis that the working age of an individual will be positively correlated with a higher mean income. that is, when people begin to work they will often start at the low end of the pay scale in their respective occupations. however, as they gain more experience on the job, their worth to their employer increases, and thus they can demand higher incomes. age is measured by the gss variable (var: age). respondents were asked to indicate their age by selection from the approximate eight point choice category. the categories are listed as follows: 10-19 years of age (y.o.a.), 20-29 (y.o.a.), 30-39 (y.o.a.), 40-49 (y.o.a.), 50-59 (y.o.a.), 60-69 (y.o.a), 70-79 (y.o.a), 80 or over, and no answer/don’t know. remarks: respondent’s age: data has been recoded into actual age in cols. 92 and 93. see appendix d, and appendix e. age distribution, for the detailed response. the distribution for the first digit, col. 92 is given below. see appendix n for changes. gender not only is income level stratified along racial dimensions, but also by gender. traditionally, the u.s. has always exercised patriarchal domination, and, as such, men have characteristically held more prestigious employment positions that typically pay more. therefore, i hypothesize that the mean income of men will be higher than that of women. gender is measured by the gss variable (var: sex). code respondent’s sex: they were asked to indicate their gender by using the following two point response category: “male, female;” male=1, female=2. education level i hypothesize that higher levels of education will be positively correlated with a higher mean income. individuals, who have higher levels of education, will be more valuable to their employers because of special training, job skills, and knowledge, which will allow them to perform specialized tasks. education is measured by the gss variable (var: degree). respond ents were asked, “what is your highest level of education?” respondents were asked to select their appropriate education level from a six-point scale which is listed as follows: 1) less than high school, 2) high school, 3) associate/ junior college, 4) bachelor’s, 5) graduate, and 6) don’t know. religion one was raised with i hypothesize that those individuals who were raised in families that regularly attended religious services as children income inequality by terry holt 6 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) will have a stronger work ethic, than those who did not; consequently, those individuals who were raised with religion will possess a higher mean income than those respondents who were not raised in a family that attended religious services. religion is measured by using the gss variable (var: relig16). respondents were asked, “in what religion were you raised?” respondents were asked to select the religion they were raised in by making a selection from the following five-point choice selection category: protestant, catholic, jewish, none, other (specify religion, and/or church denomination. the variable “religion” was dicho tomized as follows: 1) jewish or not, 2) catholic or not, 3) protestant or not 4) other religion or not, and “none” or not raised with any religion is the comparison group. political affiliation i hypothesize that those respondents who are republicans (who typically hold more traditional values) will be more positively correlated with higher mean income levels than those of other political affiliations. this argument is not strong enough political affiliation is measured using the gss variable (var: pardyid). respondents were asked, “generally speaking do you usually think of yourself as republican, democrat, independent, or what?” the variable “pardyid” was dichotomized as follows: 1) democrat or not 2) independent or not 3) other political party or not. the findings figures 1, 2, and 3 report the frequency distributions for the main variables used in analysis. a. frequency distribution of the d.v. and the key i.v. the main hypothesis of this paper singles out the dependent variable as total family annual income (var: income), and this continuous variable was converted into a dichotomous variable: 1) respondents whose total family income was 25,000 dollars or less are considered to be in poverty, and they were coded as “1”; and 2) those respondents whose total family income is above 25,000 dollars were coded as “0,” and they are considered not in poverty. there were a total of 2,812 respondents. 1, 764 respondents (71.1%) reported that their total family income was $25,000 or more (not in poverty), and 718 respondents (28.9%) reported that their total family income was below $25,000 (in poverty), and 330 (11.7%) respondents showed missing data for this question. the key independent variable race the key independent variable for this study is race (var: race), and this nominal variable was dichotomized as follows: 1) black or not, 2) other race or not (white is the comparison group). the frequency distribution for “black or not” is as follows: there were a total of 2,812 respondents in this study, 377 of whom (13.4%) reported that they were black; 2,482 respondents indicated that income inequality by terry holt 7 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) they were not black, and 333 respondents failed to answer the question. the frequency distribution for “other race or not” is as follows: 2812 respondents took part in the survey, and 201 persons reported that their race was “other” (7, 1%), and 2,611 respondents reported that their race was not “other.” b. univariate statistics table 1 reports the frequency distribu tions for all the variables used in analysis. the dependent variable “income” was converted to a dicho tomous variable (in poverty or not) and it has a frequency of 2482, a mean of 0.2893, and a standard deviation of 0.45352. most respondents in the survey had incomes that were 25,000 or more (not in poverty). the key independent variable “race” was dichotomized as follows: black or not, and other race or not (whites are the comparison group). the frequency for “black or not” is 2812 with a mean of 0.1341 and a standard deviation of 0.34079. the frequency for “other race or not” is 2812 with a mean of 0.0715 and a standard deviation of 0.25767. “age” has a frequency of 2803, a mean of 45.96, and a standard deviation of 16.1801. “respondents’ sex” has a frequency of 2812, a mean of 1.54, and a standard deviation of 0.498. “rs highest degree” has a frequency of 2811, a mean of 1.61, and a standard deviation of 1.207. “religion one was raised with” was dichotomized as follows: 1) jewish or not, 2) catholic or not, 3) protestant or not, and 4) other religion or not (no religion is the comparison group). “jewish or not” has a frequency of 2809, a mean of 0.0228, and a standard deviation of 14924. “catholic or not” has a frequency of 2801, a mean of 0.2960, and a standard deviation of 45656. “protestant or not” has a frequency of 2801, a mean of 0.5598, and a standard deviation of 49650. “other religion or not” has a frequency of 280, a mean of 0.0421, and a standard deviation of 20092. “partyid” was dichotomized as follows: 1) democrat or not, 2) independent or not, and 4) other political party (no political affiliation is the comparison group). “democrat or not” has a frequency of 2800, a mean of 0, 3425, and a standard deviation of 0.47463. “independent or not has a frequency of 2800, a mean of 0.3539, and a standard deviation of 0.47827. “other political party or not” has a frequency of 2800, a mean of 0.0104, and a standard deviation of 0.10126. income inequality by terry holt california sociolo terry holt california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: figure 1 figure 2 8 1-17) income inequality by terry holt california sociolo terry holt california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: figure 3 9 1-17) income inequality by terry holt 10 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) table 1 frequency distribution variables survey questions response categories freq mean s.d. income in which of these groups did your total family income fall? 0= not in poverty 1= in poverty 2482 .2899 .4535 race what race do you consider yourself? 1= white or not 2812 1.28 0.586 2= black or not 2812 .1341 .3408 3= other race or not 2812 .0715 .2577 age select you age 1=10 to 19 2=20 to 29 3=30 to 39 4=40 to 49 5=50 to 59 6=60 to 69 7=70 to 79 8=80 or over 2803 45.96 16.18 sex select your sex 1=male 2=female 2812 1.54 0.498 degree what is your highest level of education? 1=less than high school 2=high school 3=junior college 4=bachelors 5=graduate 6=don’ know 2811 1.61 1.207 relig16 in what religion were you raised? 1= jewish or not 2809 .0228 1492 2= catholic or not 2801 .2960 4566 3= protestant or not 2801 .5598 4565 4= other religion or not 2801 .0421 2009 pardyid in which political party are you affiliated with? 1=democrat 2800 .3425 .4746 2= independent or not 2800 .3530 .4783 3= other pol. party or not 2800 .0104 .1013 income inequality by terry holt 11 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) c. pearson’s correlation analysis table 2 reports the bivariate associations (pearson’s correlation) for all the variables used in analysis. as hypothesized, pearson’s correlation supports the premise that the total family income of blacks, on average, is likely to fall at or below 25,000 dollars (poverty). pearson’s correlation is 0.175 (very significant); therefore we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative. that is, there is a significant difference between the average total families incomes of blacks compared to whites. other races appeared to earn slightly more than whites. pearson’s correlation for other is -0.003. therefore, we fail to reject the null hypothesis for others, and conclude that there is no significant difference between the average total family incomes of others as opposed to whites. pearson’s correlation for income and other political party is -0.029, indicating a slight decrease in the number of other political party members who have a total family income of 25,000 dollars or less. therefore, we fail to reject the null, and conclude that other political party affiliation does not significantly affect the total family income of these respondents, as opposed to republicans. pearson’s correlation between poverty and democrats shows .064. therefore, we reject the null, and accept the alternate hypothesis; democrats are significantly more likely to show a family income of 25, 0000 or more a year. democrats are less likely to have a total family income of 25,000 dollars or less. pearson’s correlation between independent party and poverty is -0.064, which is significant; therefore, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. independent party membership has a significant effect on poverty. that is, independent party members are more likely to have total family incomes of 25,000 dollars or less. pearson’s correlation between the jewish religion and poverty is -.052 which is significant. therefore, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. we conclude by stating that respondents who are jewish are more likely to have a totally family income that is above 25,000 dollars. pearson’s correlation for catholics is -0.55, which is significant. therefore, we reject the null hypothesis, and conclude that catholics are less likely to show a total family income of less than 25,000 dollars. pearson’s correlation for protestants is -0.028, which is insig nificant. therefore, we fail to reject the null hypothesis and reject the alternative hypothesis. we conclude that respond ents who are protestant are not likely to have incomes below 25, 0000 dollars. pearson’s correlation between other religions and poverty is 0.017, which is statistically insignificant. therefore, we fail to reject the null hypothesis and reject the alternative hypothesis. respondents who are coded as having other political affiliation are not likely to have total family incomes below 25,000 dollars. income inequality by terry holt 12 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) table 2. pearson’s coefficients of variables used in the analysis *p<0.05; **p<0.01 (two-tailed tests) the main limitation of pearson’s correlation is that the observed relationship between the dependent variable “in poverty or not” may be spurious due to the effects of other variables in the analysis. the multivariate analysis enables us to address such spurious relationships that may arise due to other control variables in the model. i used a dichotomous logistic analysis because the dependent variable “income” was converted to a dichotomous value (in poverty or not). logistic regression analysis was performed using a dichotomous dependent variable: 1= “in poverty and 0= “not in poverty.” an ols binary regression test was performed and it yielded the following results (see table 3). the likelihood ratio test is statistically significant at .05 levels. therefore, we reject the null hypothesis; that is, none of the independent variables has a significant effect. the reported r-square is .2093, meaning that roughly 21-percect of the variance in the latent dependent variable is captured by the model. the regression coefficient of “black or not” is positive and significant at the .05 level, net the other variables in the model. therefore, we conclude that being black does significantly affect one’s income earning potential, and thus blacks are more likely to live in poverty than whites. the regression coefficient of “other race or not” is positive and insignificant, net the other variables in the model. therefore, we conclude by stating that there is no significant difference between whites and other 1 in poverty or not 2 black or not 3 other race 4 other pol. party 5 demo. or not 6 indep. or not 7 jewish or not 8 catholic or not 9 protestant or not 10 other religi on in poverty or not delete this row black or not .174** other race -,003 -.109** other pol.party -.029 -.020 -.015 democrat .064** .269** .000 -.074** independent .061** .059** 089** -.076** -.534** jewish or not -.052** -.060** -.024 .032 .071** -.038* catholic or not -.055** -.191** .121** -.012 .001 .029 -.096** protestant or not -028 .201** .198** .-.009 -.063 -.063** -.167** -.731** other religion .017 .001 .225** .-.004 .031 .031 -.031 -.136** -.231** income inequality by terry holt 13 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) races in their probability of being in poverty. persons who are of other racial groups are not significantly more likely to live in poverty than whites. of course, this offers an interesting paradox that is exactly why some minority groups fair better finically than others. the regression coefficient of “age” is positive and insignificant. the effect of age was found to have no significant effect on one’s income earning potential; therefore, we fail to reject the null hypothesis, and reject the alternative hypothesis. we conclude by observing that one’s age does not significantly affect one’s earning potential. the regression coefficient of “sex” is positive, and it was found to be highly significant. therefore, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. we conclude by noting that one’s gender has a very significant impact on earning potential. finally, women are statistically much more likely to live in poverty than men. the regression coefficient of “in poverty or not” and “rs highest degree” is negative and quite significant at the .05 level, net the other variables in the model. therefore, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. we conclude by asserting that respondent’s educational level has a very significant impact on one’s income earning potential. finally, we conclude that respondents who obtained higher levels of education are less likely to live in poverty than the less formally educated person. the regression coefficient of “jewish or not” is negative and statistically insignificant. therefore, we fail to reject the null hypothesis, and we reject the alternative hypothesis. further, we conclude that the probability that one’s income is not statistically impacted by the fact that they are jewish. that is, being jewish does not appear to affect one’s chances of living in poverty, as opposed to individuals who were not raised in any religion. the regression coefficient of “catholic or not” is negative and very statistically significant. therefore, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. the relationship between living in poverty and catholicism shows that individuals who were raised catholic are less likely to live in poverty than those who were not raised in any religion. as hypothesized, individuals who were raised in christian based religion have a stronger work ethic than people who were raised with no religious belief. the regression coefficient of “in poverty or not” and “protestant or not” is negative and significant. therefore, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the null hypothesis. we conclude by asserting that people who were raised in the protestant religion are significantly less likely to live in poverty than individuals who were not raised in any religion. again, we see that people who were raised with religious belief are less likely to live in poverty than those who were not; this could of course be explained by my hypothesis that individuals who were raised with strong religious beliefs are more likely to have a stronger work ethic, thereby making them less likely to live in poverty. the regression coefficient of “in poverty or not” and “other religion” is negative and statistically insignificant. therefore, we fail to reject the null, and income inequality by terry holt 14 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) we reject the alternative hypothesis. we conclude by stating that there does not appear to be a significant relationship between living in poverty and individuals who were raised in other religious beliefs, as opposed to those who were raised with no religious belief. this finding could be explained by the fact that many other religions are not christian based, which would support my hypothesis. the regression coefficient of “in poverty or not” and “other political party” is negative, and it is statistically insignificant. therefore, we fail to reject the null hypothesis and reject the alternative hypothesis. we can conclude by stating that other political party members are not more likely to live in poverty than republicans. the regression coefficient of “in poverty or not” and “independent party or not” is positive and highly statistically significant at the .05 level. therefore, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. we conclude by asserting that people who are independent party members are much more likely to live in poverty than republican (as hypothesized). the regression coefficient of “in poverty or not” and “democrat or not” is positive and very statistically significant. therefore, we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis. we conclude by stating that people whose political preference is associated with the democratic party are more likely to live in poverty than their republican counterpart. d. logistic model selection for dichotomous d.v. table 3. model fit statistics of binomial analysis independent variables coefficients standard error constant black or not other race or not age sex rs highest degree jewish or not catholic or not protestant or not other religion other political party independent or not democrat or not -0.786 0.744 0.063 0.005 0.404 -0.728 -0.724 -0.507 -0.382 -0.058 -0.081 0.481 0.406 (0.274)** (0.142)** (0.195) (0.003) (0.098)** (0.052)** (0.464) (0.186)** (0.176)* (0.282) (0.595) (0.127)** (0.133)** likelihood ratio chi-sq. 390.482** nagelkerke r-square .209 *p<0.05; **p<0.01 income inequality by terry holt 15 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) conclusion to examine how the independent vari able “in poverty or not” is affected by the independent variables (race, age, educational level, religion, and political affiliation), we first examined the frequency distribution of all variables in the study, see table i. table ii shows the relationship between the dependent variable and each of the independent variables using pearson’s correlation. pearson’s correlation indicates the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two random variables; in this case, the dependent variable “in poverty or not” and all independent variables are compared while negating the affect of other variables logistic regression logistic regression was performed on all the variables in the model (see table 3) the findings above can be viewed as both encouraging and as a source of concern. on one hand, we can clearly see that most people in the united states have total family incomes above $25,000—that is most people in the u.s. are not living in poverty. on the other hand however, as hypothesized, there is reason for concern regarding the relative income of african-americans in the u.s. despite the efforts of civil rights leaders in the turbulent years of the 1960s and laws enacted to promote racial equality, african-americans are currently far more likely to live in poverty than whites or members of other races. considering the fact that many minority groups who recently migrated to the united states are not living in poverty at the same rates as african-americans suggests that africanamericans may be dis criminated against based on preset stereotypes that were popularized during slavery. that is, in order for white slave owners to justify their inhumane treatment of slaves, they dehumanized them. insisting that slaves were subhuman, whites were able to justify their maltreatment. it is my belief that lingering racism against african americans stems from these preconceptions; consequently, there remains a high degree of covert racism in america with regards to african americans. in addition, capitalist nations, such as the u.s., thrive on exploitation. therefore, one could assume that some group(s) may be prevented from acquiring equality. it is obvious that racism involves complex dynamics, and more research is needed to shed light on this issue, but it is clear that african-americans are far more likely to live in poverty than whites or other races. in this study, one of the most troubling findings is the statistical significance of gender and one’s income earning potential. that is, women are far more likely to live in poverty than men, as initially hypothesized. the u.s., from its inception, has been a male dominated society. as such, women are often seen as second class citizens. thus, women are relegated to positions that are deemed not as desirable as those that are typically occupied by men. these less desirable positions, typically, pay less than the more desirable positions of men. therefore, we expect to see women income inequality by terry holt 16 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) being more likely to live in poverty than men. changing attitudes towards women and laws enacted to bring about gender equality would help to ameliorate this problem. the respondent’s highest degree of formal education was also found to have a very significant effect on the probability of living in poverty. as hypothesized, respondents who have attained more formal education are far less likely to live in poverty than those with less education. respondents who are more educated are generally more valuable to their respective employers because of specialized training and knowledge. therefore, the more educated person is more likely to a hold higher paying position than a less educated person. as a consequence, the more educated is less likely to live in poverty than the less educated person. respondents who were raised in the catholic and protestant religion were also found to have a significant effect on their income earning potential. that is, people who were raised catholic or protestant are far less likely to live in poverty than people who were raised with no religious belief. as hypothe sized, people who are raised in a strong christian based belief system are more likely to have a stronger work ethic than those who were raised with no religious belief. traditional values of christian based religious belief systems encourage its members to work hard to gain god’s favor. as hypothesized, respondents who were affiliated with the independent political party were found to be far more likely to live in poverty than people who were affiliated with the republican party. independent party members can be seen as those who want to radically change government. therefore, we would expect them to be ostracized by the powers that be; as a result, independent party members might have restricted employment opportunities. the independent variables in this model that were not found to be statistically significant at the .05 level are as follows: other race, age, jewish, other religion, and other political party. respondents who are african american and women continue to be the prime victims of inequality, which presents significant barriers for them and can be the catalyst for impoverished life opportunities. sadly, many blacks and women are still plagued by apparent discrimination; consequently, these groups are often mired in poverty, deprivation, and despair. racism, no doubt, involves a complex set of factors that are beyond the scope of this study. for example, some factors that were not considered in this study that may contribute to lingering racism in america are reduced federal funding of social programs, economic factors, cultural, and psychological damage that past racial discrimination has inflicted on minorities, especially african americans. thus, while this study does support my initial hypothesis that ethnic discrimination remains a central hind rance to the equality of opportunities for many in the united states, the subject of discrimination needs further investi gation. income inequality by terry holt 17 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 1-17) references allport, gordon. 1991. “the nature of prejudice” political psychology 12(1):125-157. sears, david o. 1995. “the scar of race.” american journal of sociology. 100(5)1351-1354 sears, david o., and p.j. henry. 2003. “the origins of symbolic racism.” journal of personality and social psychology 85(2):259-275. parks, robert. 1950. “race and culture.” american sociological review 15(3)447. employee empowerment and employee satisfaction employee empowerment and employee satisfaction in the workplace victor voisard department of sociology california state university, los angeles organizations adapt different strategies or methods for managing their labor forces. every discussion of management of labor compels analysis within the framework of schools of thought in the field of organizational sociology, industrial organizational psychology, and organizational management. this study evaluates a healthcare organization’s efforts derived from humanistic management and coordinated through its human resources department to improve workforce morale. the study’s hypothesis contends that employee empowerment positively affects employee satisfaction levels. the empirical findings support this hypothesis. in addition, the findings reflect that employee empowerment has a stronger effect over employee satisfaction than other variables including employees’ salaries. this study’s findings have major significance for corporations given the steadfast globalization of the economy. employee empowerment may offer organizations an invaluable tool in their quest for organizational competitiveness. introduction1 effective management is the foundation for creating high morale, high productivity, and a sense of meaning for the organization and its employees. an organization’s success depends on its ability to con-tinuously 1. victor voisard is a graduate student at the department of sociology. he is currently working on his master’s thesis under the supervision of professors elaine draper (chair), gretchen peterson, and hyojoung kim. the paper was originally submitted to soc410 (advanced statistics) taught by professor hyojoung kim. nourish the satisfaction of its employees. there are job characteristics considered crucial to employee satisfaction and all these variables are relevant since they all influence the way employees’ feel about their jobs. a workplace phenomenon, employee empowerment, that is employees’ actual involvement and influence over organizational processes and decision-making, continues to cultivate the attention of organizational sociologists, industrial psychologists, and business administrators particularly human resources professionals. since the early 1990s, the concept of employee empowerment gained notoriety in both academic and management groups. at california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard 2 that time, business leaders such as general electric’s ceo, jack welch, laid out ge’s workout program to empower employees to identify and solve problems as they encounter them rather than shifting responsibility to others or management (ulrich, 1998). the workplace literature mainly includes studies on the effects of employee satisfaction, and its effects on labor force efficiency and overall productivity. many studies focus on the particular effects of salaries and indirect forms of compensation, such as employer sponsored benefits, on employee satisfaction. however, literature focusing on the relationship or effects of employee empowerment on employee satisfaction primarily involves a limited number of qualitative studies. the goal of this study is to remedy the literature’s shortcomings by systematically analyzing the relationship, if any, between employee empowerment and employee satisfaction in the workplace. specifically, this study evaluates a southern california healthcare organization’s ef-forts derived from humanistic management and coordinated through its human resources department to improve workforce morale and overall employee satisfaction. before discussing such evaluation, i offer a brief literature review on employee empowerment to lay the foundation for this empirical study. literature review from the late 1800s until world war ii, frederick taylor’s scientific management greatly influenced entrepreneurs’ and managers’ strategies for managing workers. managers believed that workers possessed a natural tendency to perform the minimum labor to remain employed. harry braverman’s (1974) labor and monopoly capital comprehensively examined scientific management. he argued that scientific management encouraged the fragmentation of work processes in repetitive and simple tasks, thus discouraging workers’ problem solving capabilities. scientific management fostered an authoritarian management style while annulling and disappointing workers’ demands for self-esteem and self-actualizing in the workplace. the effects of scientific management encouraged workers to unionize and to demand higher compensation, the main vehicles available to workers to express their frustration with workplace alienation. this situation negatively affected both organizations’ decisionmakers and workers. after world war ii, the united states economy became world dominant. american workers enjoyed relative high salaries and fringe benefits such as medical coverage vis-à-vis workers in the rest of the world. abraham maslow’s (1943) “a theory of human motivation” offered a different model from scientific management. maslow contended that as humans meet “basic needs” they seek to satisfy successively “higher needs” on a set hierarchy. maslow's hierarchy of needs is frequently represented as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the four lower levels are grouped together as deficiency needs associated with phys-iological needs, while the top level is termed growth needs associated with psychological needs. according to maslow, deficiency needs must be met before the growth needs can be met. the basic concept is that the higher needs in the hierarchy only come into focus once all the needs that are lower down in the pyramid are mainly or entirely satisfied. douglas mcgregor’s (1957) the human side of enterprise applied maslow’s ideas to the workplace. michael handel (2003: 81-82) articulated mcgregor’s major california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard 3 conceptualizations. mcgregor contended that organizations could tap into invaluable workers’ resources through the application of maslow’s theory of motivation. mcgregor argued that the scientific management system of labor control needed to be replaced by a philosophy recognizing that workers seek stimulating work. similarly, the new phi-losophy would need to encourage workers’ inventiveness, enhance work-ers’ self-esteem, and ultimately make them share responsibility for organizational success or failure. employee’s self-actualization demands entail that individuals seek a job inherently worthwhile in addition to workers simply seeking extrinsic rewards such as compensation. in contrast to scientific management, mcgregor stated that all jobs, especially those at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy, need to be composed of diverse, meaningful tasks and entrusted with greater responsibility. in addition, decentralization of decision making needs to take place through considerable and material delegation of tasks and re-sponsibilities from management to workers. workers’ participation in decisionmaking must be real; mcgregor warned management that problems would arise when worker participation in decision-making was not authentic. the actual shift of decisionmaking power from management to employees entails less reliance on external control of workers but more on worker’s internal motivation (handel 2003: 108-113). sherman, bohlander, and snell (1998) in managing human resources articulated the case for implementing mcgregor’s earlier contributions (pp. 107111). they argued that organizational leaders could increase employee contributions through employee empowerment. they defined employee empowerment as a “method of involving employees in their work through a process of inclusion” (p. 107). in addition, sherman, bohlander, and snell operationalized what employee empowerment entails for it to succeed. also in 1998, david ulrich in delivering results articulated the need for employee empowerment in today’s american organizations (p. 223). ulrich highlighted acme corporation’s failure at successfully implementing an employee empowerment program. ulrich points out that some organizations struggled with and failed to change from a “command-andcontrol hierarchy to employee empowerment” because they failed to change their organizational culture. ulrich’s analysis exemplifies what mcgregor argued fifty years earlier as crucial aspects required for employee empowerment initiatives to suc-ceed. in october 1999, goldfarb, a canadian consulting group, sponsored by the canadian federation of independent business, conducted a systemic study on workplace satisfaction in private and public sectors. the study correlated many work aspects to overall workplace satisfaction, including quality of decision-makers, work ethic, communication between manager and employees, flexibility for personal needs, training opportunities, salary, job security, work hours, and benefits. goldfarb used spearman's correlation coefficient for the included independent variables and employee satisfaction. however, the goldfarb study omitted employee empowerment or similar variables from the analysis. consequently, this research proposal’s main goal is to address such omissions. other quantitative studies have examined the effects of different independent variables, particularly salary, on employee satisfaction but none to date have california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard 4 examined the effects of employee empowerment on employee satisfaction. even though no quantitative research on the effects of employee empowerment on employee satisfaction has been identified in the literature, matt vidal from the department of sociology, university of wisconsin at madison, published a valuable qualitative article on employee empowerment (vidal 2007: 247–278). vidal’s article “lean production, worker empowerment, and job satisfaction: a qualitative analysis and critique” states that even though many studies have analyzed employee em-powerment since the 1980s, “little qualitative research directly addressing the relationship between participatory work arrangements and job satisfaction [exists], and the quantitative evidence is much less clear than often presented.” vidal qualitatively researches the effects of participatory work arrangements on job satisfaction. in summary, the literature reviewed to date reflects no systemic quantitative research on employee empowerment’s effects on employee satisfaction. the goal of this thesis will be to remedy the literature’s short-comings. research hypothesis in line with mcgregor’s notions on worker motivation, our organization introduced a series of employee empowerment initiatives. this survey research will focus on a specific aspect of employee satisfaction. it will examine the effect of employee empowerment on employee satisfaction. i hypothesize that employee empowerment has a positive effect/relationship with the degree of employee satisfaction. how – as the degree of an employee’s sense of empowerment increases, his/her level of satisfaction increases. why employees given additional responsibility for the execution and management of their job duties and given participation in decision making are more “emotionally” invested than those with simple/repetitive jobs and not given participation in the decision making process. other research hypotheses: “age” would have a positive effect on employee satisfaction (i.e. older employees would display higher employee satisfaction). employees of older generations tend to be more loyal and committed to the organization one belongs to. for instance, baby boomers (i.e. those born form 1946 to 1965) would be expected to be more loyal to the employer than generation ys (i.e. those born after 1981). “tenure” would have a positive effect on employee satisfaction (i.e. higher tenure would lead to higher employee satisfaction). employees that have invested significant time with an employer and had remained with such over time would be expected to display higher degree of employment satisfaction. “commuting time” to the workplace would have a negative effect on employee satisfaction (i.e. shorter commutes would lead to higher employee satisfaction). employees with shorter commutes resulting in lower “unproductive time” and lower commuting costs would be expected to display higher degree of employee satisfaction than those with longer commutes. “flexible schedule” would have a positive effect on employee satisfaction (i.e. flexibility would lead to higher employee satisfaction). employees with flexible schedules are in a better position to find an california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard 5 optimum balance between work and their non-work life. “job rank” would have a positive effect on employee job satisfaction (i.e. the higher an employee’s rank in the organizational hierarchy would lead to higher employee satisfaction). employees higher in the organizational hierarchy such as super-visors, managers and directors, would be expected to be more committed and invested in the organization than rankand-file employees. “salary” would have a positive effect on employee satisfaction (i.e. higher salaries would lead to higher employee satisfaction). employees earning higher salaries would be expected to feel more appreciated and recognized for their work. survey procedures and sampling the subjects selected for study were employees of a medical management service corporation located in southern california. the workforce selected was an appropriate population for study because the organization had introduced employee empowerment initiatives and its management supported the study. physician groups and administrators created the healthcare organization selected for study in their attempt to cope with various types of healthcare plans. this corporation is typical of california healthcare organizations that employ many primary-care physicians servicing diverse patient populations. the development of health maintenance organizations (hmo), preferred provider organizations (ppo), and other “managed care” plans resulted in the need for management healthcare organizations to offer their services to physician groups. this type of health-care management organization evolved into a full-service management services organization (mso) in affiliation with medical physician groups to provide high quality patient care to the community. the selected organization’s workforce entailed 330 employees, of whom roughly 65% are clinical employees, including medical assistants, licensed vocational nurses, and registered nurses. the other 35% of the workforce are administrative per-sonnel, including claims examiners, medical records clerks, customer services rep-resentatives, accountants, and admin-istrative assistants. since physicians were not employees of the mso organization, they were excluded from the study. the simple random sampling method was used. a table of random numbers and employees’ four-digit payroll identification numbers was used for selecting the population sample. the selection probability of a case was equal to 110 employees (target sample) divided by 330 employees (sampling frame). the population equals 330 employees. consequently, every element in the sampling frame had a 33.3% selection probability. every employee in the organization had an equal chance of being selected to avoid any bias. this characteristic of probability sampling makes it much more desirable given our goal of generalizing to the larger workforce population. the survey was administered via interoffice mail. due to our organizations’ widely scattered geo-graphical locations and because of the high costs of sending someone from human resources to administer the survey in person to employees, the mail survey was the only current feasible option. the surveys were interoffice mailed to employees’ to their physical work locations on monday, october california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard 6 29, 2007, with a return date of thursday, november 1, 2007. thus, the ad-vantages of mailing the survey was lower costs including but not limited to, wage saving and avoided travel expenses. how-ever, there were potential trade-offs for these cost savings such as possible lower response rates and lack of immediate availability to answer any questions that may come up. the decision to conduct a mail-out survey should not be constructed as an implicit settlement for a lower response rate. attention to specific efforts had been taken to ensure the success of this research. a total of 110 surveys were mailedout of which 104 were completed and returned by the due date for a response rate of 94.6%. the resulting sample is 31.6% of the workforce. due to the confidentiality nature of the survey and the mail-out survey design utilized, no comment can be made on the 6-six employees not responding. the final sample is representative of our workforce population since the probability sampling method was utilized, the sampling frame used is an unbiased list of the population. given the mailed survey design used for disseminating the survey questionnaires, it seems that the survey is least vulnerable to social desirability effect. a focus group totaling 5-five employees was utilized to pre-test and improve the survey. the employees chosen were from the following departments: human resources, ac-counting, finance and payroll. these respondents were chosen because of their availability. it took them an average of 15-20 minutes to complete the survey. i briefly interviewed all five respondents to get meaningful feedback to revise and improve the survey. overall they felt comfortable with the survey. they communicated under-standing of the survey instructions, ques-tions’ wording and response categories. they helped me by pointing out that a few questions were redundant, asking basically the same thing. their feedback helped me to eliminate unnecessary questions and fine tune the wording on a few others. measurement of variables “employee satisfaction” (dependent variable) is here defined as the employee’s feelings or state-of-mind regarding the nature of their work and conditions of employment with a particular employer. specifically i focus on the following three dimensions: sense of perceived job worth, sense of perceived growth opportunities, and sense of perceived fairness in the workplace. job worth is further defined as the employee’s state of mind of steady employment and perceived balance between job and their non-work life. growth opportunities is the employee’s state of mind of present and future “growth” opportunities with the employer including promotions/ ad-vancement and training and/or job ex-perience. fairness in the workplace includes a set of separate dimensions including fairness of pay and benefits, fairness of recognition, and fairness of management. to measure this variable, respondents are asked to indicate their level of satisfaction using a 6-point lickert scale of “very satisfied,” “satisfied,” “somewhat satisfied,” “somewhat dissatisfied,” “dissatisfied,” and “very dissatisfied,” for each of the following eight statements: 1 i feel my job provides steady employment. 2. i feel my job and the other parts of my life are balanced. california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard 7 3. i am satisfied with the promotional growth opportunities within the company. 4. i am satisfied with the frequency and quality of training i received. 5. i am satisfied with the compensation i receive for my work. 6. i am satisfied with the current benefits package offered to me. 7. i am satisfied with the amount of recognition i receive for my job performance. 8. i am satisfied with the management style of my supervisor. an employee satisfaction index was created by computing the responses’ scores to the eight statements. this index was utilized for data analysis. “employee empowerment” (key independent variable) is here defined in terms of the employee’s perception or believes of enhanced involvement in organizational processes and decision making. specifically i focus on the following sub-dimensions: allowance to make decisions on assigned routine work duties, allowance to make decisions to resolve non-routine issues, level of encouragement given for creativity and implementation of work improvement ideas, opportunity to influence depart-mental goals setting, and invitation to participate in process improvement teams. to measure this variable, respondents are asked to indicate their level of agreement using a 6-point lickert scale of “strongly agree,” “agree,” “somewhat agree,” “somewhat disagree,” “disagree,” and “strongly disagree,” for each of the following five statements: 1. i am allowed to make decisions necessary for effectively accomplishing my routine day-to-day duties and responsibilities. 2. i am allowed to make decisions when resolving non-routine situations or issues. 3. i receive encouragement to come up with and implement new and better ways for improving the organization. 4. i have the opportunity to influence the way my department’s goals are estab-lished. 5. i have been invited to participate in teams/committees that influence decisions for my department or the company as a whole. an employee empowerment index was created by computing the responses’ scores to the five statements. this index was utilized for data analysis. other control variables the age variable is defined as the chronological age of the employee. due to confidentiality concerns, respondents will not asked for their precise age. respondents are asked the following question: which of the following describes your age group? respondent responses are classified in an ascending order, with category a indicating 18 26 years of age, category b indicating 2742 years of age, category c indicating 43 62 years of age, and category d indicating 63+ years of age. the four age-group categories above identified approximate four different and distinct generations of workers: silent generation (those born from 1925 and 1945), baby boomers (those born from 1946 and 1964), generation x (those born from 1965 and 1980), and generation y (those born on after 1981). the tenure variable is defined as the length of employment (time measurement). california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) 8 respondents are asked the following question: how long have you worked for the company? respondent responses are classified in an ascending order, with category a indicating less than 1-one year of employment, category b indicating at least 1-one but less but less than 5-five years of employment, and category c indicating at least 5-five or more years of employment. the commuting time variable is defined as the actual time it takes the employee to get to the workplace. respondents are asked the following question: which of the following de-scribes your commuting time to work? respondent responses are classified in an ascending order, with category a indicating less than 15 minutes, category b indicating at least 15 but less than 45 minutes, and category c indicating more than 45 minutes. the flexible schedule variable is defined as the employee having or not having flexible work hours. respondents are asked the following question: which of the following best describes your scheduled work hours? respondent responses are classified into two groups, with category a indicating the employee has fixed workhours (for example 8:00 am until 5:00 pm), and category b indicating the employee does not have flexible work-hours. the job rank variable is defined as the employee’s position within the organizational hierarchy. respondents are asked the following question: which category best describes your job? respondent responses are classified in an ascending order, with category a indicating rank-and-file employee, category indicating b lead/supervisor, and category indicating c manager/director. the salary variable is defined as the employee’s direct compensation for their work. respondents are asked the following question: which of the following describes your salary/wages? respondent responses are classified in an ascending order, with category a indicating less than $15.00 hour, category b indicating more than $15.00 hour but less than $25.00 hour, and category c indicating more than $25.00 hour. findings univariate summary statistics an index was created from respondents’ answers to the 5-statements measuring employee empowerment. table 1 shows a mean of 4.92 and a standard deviation of .76 for this variable. as figure 1 illustrates, the majority of respondents (45) expressed “agreement” and 38 respondents expressed “somewhat agreement”. these two groups represent 79.9% of all respondents. only 9 respondents expressed any type of disagreement (8.7%). these findings reflect a relatively overall high degree of employee empowerment in the workplace. an index was created from respondents’ answers to the 8-statements measuring employee satisfaction. table 1 shows a mean of 4.86 and a standard deviation of .68 for this variable. as figure 1 illustrates, the majority of respondents (47) expressed to be “satisfied” and 42 respondents expressed to be “somewhat satisfied”. these two groups represent 85.6% of all respondents. only 11 respondents expressed any type of dissatisfaction (10.6%). these findings reflect a relatively overall high degree of employee satisfaction in the workplace. bivariate pearson’s correlation analysis table 1 reports pearson’s correlation coefficients among the variables. as employee satisfaction by victor voisard figure 1.-frequencey distribution of employee satisfaction 0 0 11 42 47 4 0 10 20 30 40 50 very dissatisfied dissatisfied somewhat dissatisfied somewhat satisfied satisfied very satisfied degree of satisfaction figure 2.-frequency distribution of employee empowerment 0 2 7 38 45 12 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 strongly disagree disagree somewhat disagree somewhat agree agree strongly agree degree of agreement n um be r o f r es po nd en ts california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard table 1. univariate statistics and pearson’s correlation coefficients of the variables in the analysis correlation coefficients with variable variables mean standard deviation (8) (7) (6) (5) (4) (3) (2) (1) age 2.12 .75 .12 .12 .25* .29** .18 .15 .30** (2) tenure 2.31 .70 .12 .11 .37** .28** .24* .03 (3) commuting time 1.83 .67 .03 .010 .20* .12 .17* (4) flexible schedule .37 .48 .27** .37** .31** .31** (5) job rank 1.15 .46 .24* .44** .56** (6) salary 1.75 .68 .01 .20* (7) employee empowerment 4.92 .76 .71** (8) employee satisfaction 4.86 .68 ** correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). * correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard predicted, significant positive correlations were found between flexible schedule and employee satisfaction (r = .27 at the 0.01 level, 2-tailed), and job rank and employee satisfaction (r = .24 at the 0.05 level, 2tailed). similarly expected, positive correlations, even though not significant at the 0.01 or 0.05 level (2-tailed), were found between age and employee satisfaction (r = .12), and tenure and employee satisfaction (r = .12). contrary to predictions, com-muting time and salary were found not to show association with employee satisfaction (r = .01). the most relevant finding and as predicted was the significant positive correlation found between employee empowerment and employee satisfaction (r = .71 at the 0.01 level, 2-tailed). the analyzed coefficients support the hypothesis that employee empowerment has a positive relationship with the degree of employee satisfaction. this bivariate finding is a very encouraging first step in the analysis. multivariate regression analysis the outcomes of bivariate associations may be spurious due to the effects of other variables that may affect both the dependent variable and the key independent variable simultaneously. better evidence can be found if the effects of these other variables are controlled for. in order to control the effects of other variables on employee satisfaction, the data is analyzed using multivariate regression techniques. the normality assumption was checked by examining the distribution of residuals. the resulting probability plot showed a reasonably good fit to the normal distribution. since employee satisfaction is a continuous dependent variable, the ols regression analysis estimates the effect of independent variables on the dependent variable. as shown in table 2, the adjusted r square shows that the model fits the data well, providing empirical support that the model successfully explains 50 % of the variance present in the dependent variable. in addition, the resulting f test is statistically significant at .05 level. these results indicate the explanatory power of the model in explaining employee satisfaction levels. table 2 also shows the relationship of independent variables and dependent variable. the regression coefficients of age, tenure, commuting time, flexible schedule, and job rank are all statistically insignificant at 0.05 net of other variables in the model. these findings show that the employees’ age, length of employment, travel time to work, having or not a flexible schedule, and their job rank have no significant effects on employee satisfaction. salary’s regression coefficient is negative and statistically significant at 0.05 level net of other variables in the model, such counterintuitive finding compels a deeper analysis. a partial regression plot for salary was examined to identify any outliers (figure 3). the most obvious outlier (identified as id=24 located in the lower right part of figure 3), exhibits a pattern different from the rest of the sample. when this outlier case is removed, the new regression outcome reflects that the coefficient for salary becomes in-significant at the 0.05 level net of other variables in the model. the coefficients for all other variables remain insignificant except employee empowerment, which con-tinues to be significant. outlier case id=24 is a lead/supervisor dissatisfied with his/her supervisor and level of recognition. this lead/supervisor belongs to the group of employees describing their salary to be $25 california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard table 2. regression coefficients of employee satisfaction on selected independent variables full sample without id=24 independent variables coef. (std. error) coef. (std. error) (constant) 1.62 (.39) 1.36 (.38) employee empowerment .65 (.07)** .68 (.07)** age .04 (.07) .06 (07) tenure .10 (.08) .06 (.07) commuting time .05 (.07) .09 (.07) flexible schedule .05 (.11) -.03 (.11) job rank -.04 (.14) 0.0 (.13) salary -.19 (.09)* -.15 (.09) n 104 103 adjusted r square 0.50 0.55 f test 15.75** 18.81** ** correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). * correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) 13 1.501.000.500.00-0.50-1.00 salary 1.00 0.50 0.00 -0.50 -1.00 -1.50 -2.00 em pl oy ee s at is fa ct io n 24 103 102 101 100 99 98 97 9695 94 93 92 91 90 89 88 87 86 85 84 83 82 81 8079 78 77 74 7372 71 70 69 68 67 66 65 64 63 62 61 60 59 58 57 56 55 54 53 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 4241 39 3837 36 35 3433 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 23 22 2120 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 54 3 2 1 figure 3 partial regression plot employee satisfaction by victor voisard hour or higher, which is the highest category for this variable. the uniqueness of this outlier as shown in figure 3 makes a compelling case for removal from the analysis. the most important finding is the regression coefficient of employee empowerment been positive and statistically significant at .01 net of other variables in the model. i hypothesized that employee empowerment has a positive effect/relationship with the degree of employee satisfaction. the findings support the notion that as the workforce’s degree of empowerment increases, its level of satisfaction increases. the findings validate mc gregor’s and argyris’ notions on worker motivation. in addition, the survey’s findings have multiple ramifications to human resources professionals and operational executives and managers. the incorporation of employee empowerment concepts including but not limited to, job-design, employee reward systems, and service delivery systems will be beneficial to employees and employer alike. the survey findings may also indicate how organizations could increase their competitiveness in today’s global and highly competitive economy. workers given increasing “powers” for the execution and management of their job duties combined with genuine participation in decision making are more satisfied. discussion and conclusion this study draws on survey data from a sample of 104 respondents employed at a southern california healthcare organization to primarily investigate the impact of employee em-powerment on employee satisfaction. using a model that combines the employee’s age, tenure, community time to work, having or not a flexible work schedule, job-rank, and perceived degree of employee empowerment, the model successfully accounts for 50% of the variance in employee satisfaction. the survey procedures, sampling, and data analysis support the paper’s key research hypothesis that employee empowerment has a positive effect on employee satisfaction. it may also indicate that employee empowerment has a more relevant effect on employee satisfaction over other employment variables such as salary. it is important to note that the studied orga-nization competitively compensates employees and offers comprehensive and very affordable benefits based on healthcare industry standards. in addition, annual employee satisfaction surveys’ results conducted at the company for the last few years consistently show employees having high levels of satisfaction with their wages. this organizational context may explain why salary was found to have a statistically insignificant effect on employee satisfaction. the reported evidence may have two limitations. first, the scope of this research was limited to the analyzed variables. as a result, extraneous variables omitted from this analysis could have produced different outcomes. for instance, the research omitted employees’ disciplinary records and performance reviews results. these variables could have added additional insights including but not limited to, evaluating their statistical significance or insignificance with employee satisfaction, their effects on employee empowerment, and explaining outliers such as id=24. second, the sample utilized on this project was representative of the employee population studied. however, it cannot be said to be representative of other employers in healthcare or across industries. california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) employee satisfaction by victor voisard california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) 15 the first above-mentioned limitation could be breached by conducting a comprehensive review of the current literature on employee satisfaction and other employment variables including but not limited to employee empowerment. the second above-mentioned limitation could be addressed by conducting similar research at other organizations in healthcare and other industries. such research will provide the needed depth of analysis for generalizing findings across employers in the united states. even though limited in its scope, this research project presented compelling and valuable insights on the positive and statistically significant effect of employee empowerment initiatives on employee satisfaction. employee empowerment initiatives may include but not be limited to: (1) allowing staff to make decisions necessary for effectively ac-complishing routine and non-routine day-to-day duties and responsibilities, (2) encouraging staff to come up with and implement new and better ways for improving the organization, (3) providing staff the opportunity to influence the way department’s goals are established, (4) and inviting staff to participate in teams/committees that influence decisions. this study’s findings have significant value to employers when prioritizing strategies and allocating resources to their respective workforces. they aid decision-makers when trying to promote the “workforce-will” to accomplish organizational goals and objectives such as increase profits and improve customer satisfaction. endnotes 1the terms “employee satisfaction” and “job satisfaction” denote the same concept according to the literature and may be used interchangeably. 2 this is an introductory and brief definition of employee empowerment to provide the reader a general understanding on the concept. a more comprehensive definition and analysis is forthcoming. 3 “personnel” was the term commonly used until the 1980s; “human resources” has been the term commonly used since the 1990s. 4 literature review: for the purpose of this report, the brief literature presented provides a basic background to the study. references braverman, harry. 1998. labor and monopoly capital: the degradation of work in the twentieth century. new york: monthly review press. goldfarb consultants. “study on workplace satisfaction in private, public sectors.” canadian federation of independent business. toronto, canada: 1999. handel, michael. the sociology of organizations, classic, contemporary, and critical readings. thousand oaks: sage, 2003. perrucci, robert and carolyn perrucci. the transformation of work in the new economy, sociological readings. los angeles: roxbury, 2007. maslow, abraham. “a theory of human motivation.” psychological review 50 (1943): 370-396. sherman, arthur, george bohlander, and scott snell. 1998. managing human resources, 11th edition. cincinnati, ohio: south-western college publishing ulrich, dave. 1998. delivering results. boston, massachusetts: harvard business school publishing employee satisfaction by victor voisard california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) 16 appendix 1 complete survey questionnaire dear employee, human resources is conducting this survey to give you an opportunity to express your views on the company’s latest employee empowerment initiatives. the value of this survey depends on your being thoughtful and frank. all of your responses are confidential. your identity will not be linked to your responses in any way. this survey will only take about 20 minutes for you to complete. if you have any questions about this survey or need assistance, please contact human resources at xxx-xxx-xxxx. thank you. 1) which of the following describes your age group? a) 18 26 years of age; b) 2742 years of age; c) 4362 years of age; d) 63+ years of age 2) how long have you worked for the company? a) less than 1-one year of employment; b) at least 1-one but less but less than 5-five years of employment; c) at least 5-five or more years of employment 3) which of the following describes your commuting time to work? a) less than 15 minutes; b) at least 15 but less than 45 minutes; c) more than 45 minutes. 4) which of the following best describes your scheduled work hours? a) i have a fixed work-hours schedule (for example 8:00 am until 5:00 pm) b) i have a flexible work-hours schedule that i have agreed upon with my supervisor 5) what category best describes your job? a) rank-and-file employee; b) lead/supervisor; c) manager/director 6) which of the following describes your salary/wages? a) less than $15.00 hour; b) more than $15.00 hour but less than $25.00 hour; c) more than $25.00 hour employee satisfaction by victor voisard california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 1-17) 17 please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following statements: strongly agree agree somewha t agree somewha t disagree disagree strongly disagree 1. i am allowed to make decisions necessary for effectively accomplishing my routine day-to-day duties and responsibilities. 2. i am allowed to make decisions when resolving non-routine situations or issues. 3. i receive encouragement to come up with and implement new and better ways for improving the organization. 4. i have the opportunity to influence the way my department’s goals are established. 5. i have been invited to participate in teams/committees that influence decisions for my department or the company as a whole. please indicate your level of satisfaction with each of the following statements: very satisfied satisfied somewhat satisfied somewhat dissatisfied dissatisfied very dissatisfied 6. i feel my job provides steady employment. 7. i feel my job and the other parts of my life are balanced. 8. i am satisfied with the promotional growth opportunities within the company. 9. i am satisfied with the frequency and quality of training i received. 10. i am satisfied with the compensation i receive for my work. 11. i am satisfied with the current benefits package offered to me. 12. i am satisfied with the amount of recognition i receive for my job performance. 13. i am satisfied with the management style of my supervisor. douglas mcgregor’s (1957) the human side of enterprise applied maslow’s ideas to the workplace. michael handel (2003: 81-82) articulated mcgregor’s major conceptualizations. mcgregor contended that organizations could tap into invaluable workers’ resources through the application of maslow’s theory of motivation. mcgregor argued that the scientific management system of labor control needed to be replaced by a philosophy recognizing that workers seek stimulating work. similarly, the new phi-losophy would need to encourage workers’ inventiveness, enhance work-ers’ self-esteem, and ultimately make them share responsibility for organizational success or failure. employee’s self-actualization de-mands entail that individuals seek a job inherently worthwhile in addition to workers simply seeking extrinsic rewards such as compensation. in contrast to scientific management, mcgregor stated that all jobs, especially those at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy, need to be composed of diverse, meaningful tasks and entrusted with greater responsibility. in addition, decentralization of decisionmaking needs to take place through considerable and material delegation of tasks and re-sponsibilities from management to workers. workers’ participation in decision-making must be real; mcgregor warned management that problems would arise when worker participation in decision-making was not authentic. the actual shift of decision-making power from management to employees entails less reliance on external control of workers but more on worker’s internal motivation (handel 2003: 108-113). an employee empowerment index was created by computing the responses’ scores to the five statements. this index was utilized for data analysis. other control variables univariate summary statistics bivariate pearson’s correlation analysis table 1. univariate statistics and pearson’s correlation coefficients of the variables in the analysis multivariate regression analysis references microsoft word 3lin's paper finished[2].docx california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 31-36) women’s liberation movement: the second wave lin wang department of sociology california state university, los angeles this paper examines some of the achievements and setbacks that the “second wave” of the women’s movement faced based on their organizational capacity. women across the united states have the equality and opportunities that they have today because of the sacrifice of feminists during this period in time. however, due to a lack of cohesiveness during a majority of the “second wave,” feminists ended up being both a friend and a foe to feminism and their objectives. 1 for a brief moment in history, supporters of president john f. kennedy thought that his election to the white house in 1960 signified the beginning of women’s liberation. that belief was short-lived. in fact, many soon realized that president kennedy was “neither a friend nor a foe of feminism” (berkeley 1999:19). it would be the indifference of the political climate—that of his unresponsiveness and the lack of real support from his successor and the newly formed equal employment opportunity commission (eeoc) in accordance to the title vii amendment of the 1964 civil rights act that prohibited sex discrimination in employment—as well as the economic and 1 lin wang is an undergraduate student at the department of sociology. her paper was originally submitted to soc 418 crowd behavior and social movements, taught by professor hyojoung kim in summer 2009. cultural social structural shift that would ignite the “second wave” of the women’s liberation movement through the establishment of its first social movement organization of the national organization for women (now). in the decades that followed, many collective groups of the women’s movement industry found triumphs and failures, unity and dissent. this paper will examine some of the achievements and setbacks that they faced based on their organizational capacity and choices of collective action tactics and demonstrate that the results of some of their ups and downs came directly from themselves— from feminists who were both a friend and a foe to feminism. according to berkeley (1999), the organizational structure of now was closely modeled after that of the interdepartment committee on the status of the second wave by lin wang 32 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 31-36) women. shortly before his death, president kennedy had issued an executive order that created this committee, which was later matched at the state level by august of 1963. now’s first 28 members adopted the committee’s tactic of utilizing annual meetings to compare notes on the status of women of various states, share strategies for promoting change, renew friendships, and decide key issues that they would address as a group. the expectation was for policies to be hammered out during these annual meetings with the bulk of the actual work being carried out by officers, board of directors, and task force leaders. local chapters would then be formed across the country to work on specific task force issues, lobbying for their changes and funds in federal legislations. this strategy of organization brought early success to now. in 1968, they were able to pressure the eeoc to review violations of sex discrimination in employment on a case-by-case basis rather than through uniform policies and convince the eeoc to rule in favor of integrating sex-segregated want advertisements in newspapers. because of these early successes, now’s membership grew to 1,200 members in its first year. despite these early successes, now’s strategy of organization was flawed. the leaders of now focused too intently on controlling the issues that they felt were important to all women. they never stopped to realize that they did not possess the leadership skills or dedicate the time and effort needed to actually convince all of the women that their views were right. rather, they resorted to implementing a “to-do” list of issues and policies and placing them to a vote. consequently, their actions angered a significant number of women, whose “minority” opinions were simply dismissed and never given the chance to be heard. dissension would come from members who disagreed with now’s policies. those who were more radical or more conservative in their views became fed up with the way that now was organized. after now’s 2 nd annual meeting, they disbanded from the organization and established their own social movement groups. one of the more conservative organizations that sprang up was the women’s equity action league (weal). led by elizabeth boyer, a lawyer from ohio, weal had chapters in 40 states in only three short years that represented the interests of elite, professional women (berkeley 1999: 34). these women were all members that now could have potentially reached out to had they been more willing and capable of adjusting or expanding their views. various radical women’s organizations also sprouted across the united states. unlike the large national organizations of now and weal, which represented liberal ideologies and called for “equal rights before the law” through legal and legislative changes, radical organizations were small and localized anti-hierarchal groups that emphasized revolutionary socioeconomic and cultural changes that liberated them from their oppressors. radical organizations encouraged wideranging levels of participation and expression and did make small, individual contributions to the women’s movement. however, their organizational capacity was severely limited. the second wave by lin wang 33 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 31-36) even from the beginning, these groups could not agree on either the root cause of their oppression—capitalism or male supremacy—or on a single strategy for achieving liberation. not known for their staying power, most radical organizations disappeared or transformed by the 1980’s. both liberal and radical feminists found some levels of success in their early years. however, at the same time, they were enemies to themselves in terms of organizational capacity. feminists from both sides stood in their own ways of gaining activists and awakening their target audience by being stubborn and egotistical in what they perceived as right or wrong and important or trivial for feminism. fortunately, the 1970’s witnessed a renewed effort toward “united sisterhood”. weal began favoring now’s abortion stance and started leaning towards the radical side by accepting “responsible rebellions.” radical feminists began acknowledging that their extreme protests led to few long-lasting results. eventually, pragmatism won out and all groups began seeking reforms of laws and established institutions through participation in politics. ideological differences between the two branches also diminished as they both sought common ground on defining “feminist” issues, which included securing the passage of the equal rights amendment (era), abortion, child care, rape, and domestic violence. as proof of their changed ways, tens of thousands of members from different organizations gathered to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of woman’s suffrage by taking it to the streets for women’s strike for equality day on august 26, 1970. “women demonstrated that day in practically every major city in the country, and in some smaller ones as well . . . [that] strike day was a high for virtually everyone involved” (davis 1991: 116). this strategy of demonstrating the new organizational capacity of the women’s movement garnered tremendous success. millions of americans that were previously unaware of the women’s movement awoke to its political potential as a “unified sisterhood” on that day. their public support increased dramatically—as did their memberships. for instance, now who had started the decade with 4,000 members reached 20,000 by the year1973 and 125,000 by the year 1980. now would go on to be the largest feminist organization in the united states in 2009 with a total of 500,000 contributing members and 550 chapters in all 50 states (the national organization of women 2009). the effort towards “united sisterhood” merged not only ideologies but choices of collective action tactics. during the beginning stages, liberal feminists highly favored legal and lobbying tactics. unfortunately, results from such tactics were painstakingly slow. it took a long time for any changes to be enacted and an even longer time for such changes to be enforced. for example, it took the federal agency eeoc years after it was created to even bother doing what they were funded to do, which was to enforce the law’s sex discrimination provisions. in fact, between “1964 and 1966, women workers filed some four thousand claims of sexual discrimination and in nearly every case, the commission ruled against them” (shomp 2007:101). at times, it the second wave by lin wang 34 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 31-36) simply appeared that the efforts of liberal feminists were a joke to the entire political system, and radical feminists would tolerate none of it. they devised tactics that shocked and awed their target audience. according to berkeley, the more outrageous and radical their stance or action was, the easier it became to popularize their political message of liberation (1999). radical feminists chose their tactics based on the source of their blame for oppression. those that that blamed capitalism frequently chose the tactic of direct action, which were public demonstrations staged for the media. “though the mass media were, for the most part, hostile to feminism . . . they lavished attention on the women’s liberation movement until there was hardly an american who hadn’t heard of the movement” (davis 1991:106). some of the more well-known and highly publicized demonstrations included the 1968 miss america beauty pageant demonstration by the new york radical women (nyrw) and the hexing on wall street delivered by the women’s international terrorist conspiracy from hell (witch) on october 31, 1968. on the other hand, the radical feminist groups that blamed male supremacy frequently utilized conscious-raising tactics. these tactics involved gathering women into small groups to share personal experiences of oppression with the goal of making them aware of how their lives were being shaped by patriarchy and its male chauvinists value system. overall, with the exception of a few radical feminist groups, most radical feminist organizations preferred discussion over action. their goal centered on informing women of their treatment as an exploited class under a patriarchal society. as the feminist movement matured in the 1970’s, tactical distinctions between the two branches of feminism became less pronounced. eventually, both sides turned to tactics that sought reforms in legal and social institutions through the use of “petitions, letter-writing campaigns, and lawsuits to force legal reform” (schomp 2007:106). consequently, significant moments of success for the women’s liberation movement followed. recognizing that equal opportunity for women in the job market meant equal opportunity in education, now and weal placed their legal and lobbying talents to work in the 1970’s. along with other women’s groups, members targeted over 300 colleges and universities and all medical and law schools, charging them with sex discrimination towards women in education. their efforts proved to be fruitful. on june 23, 1973, title ix cleared congress, banning sex discrimination in all schools that received federal funds. private under-graduate schools were the only ones exempt from this legislation. in 1975, the women’s movement also directed public attention to areas of household violence and battered women. they helped change the way that the public viewed domestic violence—from that of a private issue to a public outrage. the numbers of shelters for battered women grew as a result. by 1978, 300 shelters spanned over the united states. in addition, 40 states passed laws that eased restrictions on restraining orders and increased criminal penalties for batterers. some states even began imposing surcharges on marriage licenses to raise funds for the second wave by lin wang 35 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 31-36) sustaining these shelters. the women’s movement then went on to contribute vital reforms for rape victims. the many changes that they helped make included revisions in the federal rules of evidence that prohibited defense attorneys from introducing a victim’s sexual history and style of dress as “evidence” and legislation amendments that dropped the marital exemption clause from rape statutes. tackling all of the various “feminist” issues as a “unified sisterhood” allowed feminists to be friends of feminism. however, tackling all of these issues at once also backfired on them. feminists would go on to witness the evaporation of support for one of the most critical policy reforms for the women’s liberation move-ment—that of the equal rights amendment (era). era had sailed through congress in early 1972 and was seemingly on a fast-track process to ramification. according to berkeley, in order for the amendment to become law, it “needed to be ratified by thirty-eight states and by december 1972, twentytwo states had affirmed their support for the amendment” (1999:83). although support from additional states slowed somewhat in the following three years, feminists remained optimistic. “after all, a public opinion poll conducted in 1974 had indicated that 74% of the americans queried supported the era” (berkeley 1999:83). and, by 1975, feminists only needed three more “yes” votes before their deadline on march 22, 1979. however, what the feminists failed to anticipate was that ramification would stall in that same year and nosedive only two short years later. prior to this time, feminists’ energies and resources had been focused on a myriad of issues, mostly dealing with localized needs and concerns. as a result, feminists never really noticed or cared about the conservative republican activist phyllis schlafly or her seemingly small publication called the phyllis schlafly report that centered on what was wrong with the era. in fact, feminists figured that schlafly’s opposition was not a big deal, since they had the support from both republicans and democrats at the time. they never thought that schlafly and her organization of stop era would turn the tide from support to complete and utter resistance. in a final ditch effort, feminists tried to salvage the weakening support for era by gathering at the 1977 national women’s conference. however, by the time that the feminist organizations shifted their focus to ramification of the era, it was too late. they discovered a well-entrenched opposition and nothing that they tried to do, from televised debates to fasting vigils to economic boycotts, seemed to resonate with the “white, middle-aged males from business or professional backgrounds” who comprised the majority of legislators in unratified states (berkeley 1999:85). schafly had won and defeated the era. in conclusion, in terms of organizational capacity and choices of collective action tactics, feminists were both a friend and foe of feminism. throughout the decades following their rise in the 1960’s, feminists have succeeded countless times in pressuring lawmakers to make the necessary legal and legislative changes that gave women equal rights and protection before the law. women across the united states the second wave by lin wang 36 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 31-36) would not have the equality and opportunities that they have today had it not been for the “second wave” of the women’s liberation movement. however, organizational capacity of feminists was severely limited in the beginning by their years of disputes and their sheer inability to compromise. the nation watched as feminists scattered to form various organizations that seemed to all want different things. also, for the most part, the tactics feminists chose seemed to work both for them and against them. they finally managed to come together in the 1970’s for the sake of tackling multiple women’s issues. however, multi-tasking only turned out to hurt them in the end as one of their most important areas of reform failed with the defeat of the era. references berkeley, kathleen c. 1999. the women’s liberation movement in america. westport, connecticut: greenwood press. davis, flora. 1991. moving the mountain: the women’s movement in america since 1960. new york, new york: simon & schuster. schomp, virginia. 2007. american voices from the women’s movement. tarrytown, new york: marshall cavendish benchmark. national organization for women. 2009. “about now.” retrieved august 23, 2009. (http://www.now.org/organization/info.html). california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 63-66) for the love of music kathy huynh department of sociology california state university, los angeles are you e-ing, rolling, dropping, or popping? this is a question that the author was constantly asked when she attended a rave at the la sports arena, basically asking if she was on ecstasy. not knowing what to expect, she was very surprised by the journey on which she embarked on. the author explores a subculture full of people who want to escape the realities of life. these same individuals gather every year for these eight to twelve hour parties, no matter what part of the world they are from. it is a subculture that is all about love for one another and for music. 1think of the biggest gathering of people listening to the best electronically charged music, people dazed and confused on drugs, people dancing around, some jumping with their hands in the air, lights flashing everywhere, girls scantily dressed, and people just acting free. this was what i encountered when attending a huge outdoor party, also known as a rave. not knowing what to expect when arriving at la sports arena, i was highly excited and wondering what it was going to be like to finally experience something that was totally out of my norm. my first thoughts about a rave were basically what it is; a huge eight to twelve hour party full of drugs and music. at first, i did not want to go because i felt as if i was not going to fit in. i was not going to take kathy huynh is an undergraduate student in the department of sociology. her paper was originally submitted to soc. 301 writing for sociology, taught by dr. tabor in winter 2011. methylenedioxymethamphetamine (mdma) a psychedelic drug also known as ecstasy (eisner, bruce 1989: xvii). mdma is a popular drug of choice when attending one of these huge outdoor parties. i thought that people were going to be mean, rude, or weird because they were under the influence of something. i also had the preconception that being on drugs would be universal. as i got to the rave, the first thing i noticed was how scantily-dressed the girls were: an underwear, bra, and fairy wings bedecked most of them. some wore 6 inch platform boots with fake fur, and every inch of their skin was covered in glitter. i thought, “wow, what a place to really free one’s sexuality.” there were homosexual men dressed as fairies too. this is where people can act like grown-up kids, full of psychedelic imaginations, music, and fun. as i sat back and enjoyed the music, i started to scan and study the for the love of music by kathy huynh 64 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 63-66) crowd. some were high out of their minds on weed or other drugs, some were drunk, and some were like flies to light. e-ing, on e, on x, dropped, popped, and rolling are all jargons that were constantly mentioned referencing the use of ecstasy. at the sides of each venue, people were giving light shows to people who had “dropped”, it was one of the most beautiful and interesting things to look at. the people there acted like hippies and they were very friendly. because ecstasy intensifies senses and perceptions, people were rubbing each others backs, some were making out on the dance floor, and some were glued to the flashing laser light shows of the stage. one person who looked to be 14 years old actually went to the hospital because she had overdosed on a cocktail of different drugs, her eyes were rolling back into her head and she was acting as if she was having a seizure. as the night went on, i was trying to dance without anything in my system, and my feet started to hurt after the 5th hour. it is as if the people who go to raves are professional all night dancers. this one boy i saw when i first walked into the venue was dancing with super high energy. towards the end of the night, he was still dancing with the same energy as he started out with. it was amazing and very impressive to see. i started to talk to some of the people who were as tired as i was from dancing and found that some came from out of state to go to the raves in california. a boy from arizona said that we have the best raves and the best people, and a girl from texas said that she has gone to the raves every year since she was 17 because it is like an escape and a get-away from home. they were all recovering from the last pill they had swallowed, and then they told me how it feels like to drop. the girl from texas said, “it is like an out of the body experience, something that can’t really be explained; only that it feels amazing when you are dancing and listening to music. the flashing lights and the light shows are like the most amazing piece of art, coming to life when you look at each and every single stroke.” the boy from arizona said that, “it just gives you a feeling of euphoria and there is a feeling of no care or problems in the world.” then i thought to myself: maybe i should have dropped. ecstasy is not something that i would want to try because i heard that it makes holes in your brain. it was surprising to know that there were people just like me who were not on drugs; we were there for the music and entertainment. another thing that people do at raves is trade off colorful beaded bracelets. these bracelets basically represent a friendship statement, and the more bracelets people have means that they are long time ravers and have a lot of friends. besides the exchanging of bracelets, senior ravers would also give nicknames to new ravers. these names usually describe how the individual is dressed or acts on first impression. i was given the raver name “bubbles” because the person who gave it to me said that i had a bubbly personality. a rave is a huge gathering of people who dance all night and promote plur: peace, love, unity and respect, and most recently added responsibility (wikipedia, 2010). i noticed that the word plur was expressed excessively in the process of exchanging beaded bracelets and personal information. unlike church, which does promote the same morals, the rave subculture is full of people who want to escape the for the love of music by kathy huynh 65 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 63-66) realities of life and just have fun. these same individuals gather every year for these eight to twelve hour parties, and it does not matter what part of the world they are from. some use drugs like ecstasy to enhance their enjoyment and pleasures as they dance the whole night away. they all have different reasons for why they go to raves; some go because it is a get-away, for the fun of it, for the music and entertainment, to meet people, to dance, to experience something different, or to use drugs. it is definitely a subculture that is all about unity, love for one another, and love for music. for the love of music by kathy huynh 66 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 63-66) references eisner, bruce. 1989. ecstasy: the mdma story. berkeley, ca: ronin publishing, inc. wikipedia. 2010. “rave.” retrieved june 2, 2010 (http://en.wikipedia.org/w iki/rave). microsoft word 7religionandstress_reviewed_sagrariogutierrez.docx california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) religion and stress in daily life yi yang department of communication studies california state university, los angeles it is debated among researchers whether there is an existing relationship between religion and well-being. some researchers have found that religion diminishes stress. however, some claim that this can be influenced by age, as older people have been found to be more religious than younger people. therefore, age, gender, ethnicity, and education are controlled for by using multivariate regression techniques. religiosity is predicted to diminish stress in daily life. in a sample of 101 surveys, result of the regression analysis showed significant support for the hypothesis that the more faithful people are the less stress they have; age, gender, ethnicity, and education showed to have no statistically significant effect on stress. i． ．． ．introduction 1 currently, people in the united states have many goals and responsibilities. many of which include education, careers, marriage, and child rearing. nowadays, it is required that both parents work in order to keep up with costs of living and raising a family. additionally, the burden must be twice as hard on single parents. as a result, people are more likely to feel stressed in their daily lives. “stress is simply a fact of nature, forces from the outside world that are affecting the individual. the 1 yi yang is a graduate student at the department of communication studies. this paper was originally submitted to s0c 410 advanced statistics, taught by professor hyojoung kim in summer 2009. individual responds to stress in ways that affect the individual as well as their environment” (panzarino 1998). individuals that experience stressful lifestyles not only influence their own lives, but those around them. it is debated among researchers whether there is an existing relationship between religion and well-being. many argue that religion is positively related to healthy well-being. it has been found, for instance, that people who are more religiously involved tend to live longer than those who were not involved. in addition, religion allows people to have a social support network which alleviates anxiety and depression. on the other hand, other researchers have found that religion has no effect or that it can even aggravate stress. some explanations for differences in findings may be religion and stress by yi yang 66 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) due to individual styles of adaptation among people of different ages as older people tend to be more religious than younger ones (noor 2008). this study examines whether religious beliefs play a significant role in relieving stress. ii. research hypothesis key research hypothesis: religious beliefs individuals that participate in religious activities may resort to them because it might help them cope or deal with stress. once people depend on the lord or something religious in their mind, they may tend to count on it and become less stressed. christians get strength form pray like buddhists get comfort from worshipping in the temple. therefore, i hypothesize that religious beliefs will have a negative effect on stress level. other research hypotheses: “age” would have a negative effect on stress. in many cases, young people have experienced plenty of worries and stress when they are either teenagers or have just begun their career. middle-aged persons have already gotten used to hardship in daily life, so they may not be as stressed as younger people. most seniors are in retirement and enjoy their sunset golden times without as many worries as they had before. based on this, i hypothesize that young people tend to get stressed more easily than older people. “gender” may be a contributing factor to people’s stress levels. society imposes heavy expectations upon females which raise their stress level; whereas, males in the same situation can be easily excused from the same expectation. males are expected to have a good career in their life; while females are anticipated to do both, a professional career and care for the family. therefore, i hypothesize that women deal with greater levels of stress than males. “ethnicity” would also play a role in the level of stress. the united states is a diverse country with immigrants from all over the world. minorities as newcomers to an unfamiliar land are required to devote more time to achieve the “american dream.” therefore, minorities would be expected to endure greater stress levels than the majority population, as they are faced with more difficult situations. for example, language challenges, cultural assimilation and social-economic status. i hypothesize that hispanic, asian, and other races which include native americans, black/african americans, etc. would have more stress than whites in the united states. “education” may have a negative effect on stress level. people with higher education might know of more techniques to relieve their stress such as meditation. comparatively speaking, people with low education may know of fewer solutions to their worries and problems so they are hypothesized to have higher stress score than the persons with high education. iii. the data and variables a total of 101 surveys were distributed and all were completed and returned. the surveys were distributed at hospitals, factories, schools, public libraries, metro stations, and churches religion and stress by yi yang 67 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) around the los angeles region using an availability sampling method. the survey distribution and data entry were conducted during november 2008 through january 2009. the questionnaire consisted of two parts. the first part was a demographics section, including gender, age, ethnicity, and education level. additionally, respondents needed to rate their level of religious faith, using a 5-point scale (1= not at all, 2=very little, 3 = somewhat, 4=much, 5 = very much). in the second part respondents were asked to answer 11 questions which were selected from an online stress test. stress: the dependent variable the “stress” component, which is represented as the dependent variable represents the stress capacity. to measure this variable, respondents are asked to indicate their stress level using a 9-point lickert scale, ranging from “1” which equals not at all and ending at “9” which equals very much, for the following statements: (1) i find myself eating emotionally: eating unhealthy foods or eating when i am not hungry, as a response to stress or difficult feelings. (2) i don’t ever have trouble sleeping. (3) i am experiencing any digestive problems, such as indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, or ulcers. (4) i am suffering from burnout, or anxiety. (5) i am not getting regular exercise. (6) i find myself smoking and/or drinking to excess as a way to deal with stress. (7) i don’t often find myself with tension headaches. (8) i am having trouble maintaining a healthy weight or, i am gaining weight. (9) i easily get irritated lately. (10) i did not miss work in the last year due to actual illness. (11) i have a feeling that stress may be affecting my health. for each respondent, an index was created out of the 11 questions, to calculate individual stress level. religiosity: key independent variable religiosity is defined here as the respondents level of religiosity. respondents are asked to rate their own religious level using 5-point scale with 1 indicating “not at all”, 2 indicating “very little”, 3 indicating “somewhat”, 4 indicating “much”, and 5 indicating “very much”. other control variables respondents were asked to provide their demographic information, including gender, age, and ethnicity, education at the beginning of the survey. ethnicity includes hispanic/latino, asian/pacific islander, native american, black/ african-american, caucasian/white, and other. since white is regarded as reference group, i recoded it as “0”. education: the level of education was asked to be identified at varied levels ranging from high school through the doctorate concentration. religion and stress by yi yang 68 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) the details for the scale can be found in table 1. iv. findings (1) univariate analysis univariate distribution of stress score and religious level the lower score a person has, the less stressed he/she is. the mean for stress is 41.29 with a standard deviation 15.25. there were only 6 respondents (5.9%) with a stress score of 11-21.there were twenty-three respondents (22.8%) with a score of 22-32, thirty-three (32.7%) with a score 33-43, and twenty (19.8%) with a score 44-54. nineteen reported stress scores in the range of 55 to 87. none of the respondents have a score higher than 87. figure 1 shows the distribution of the stress scores. as for the key independent variable, religious level, there are twelve (11.9%) respondents who claim they are “not at all” religious, eleven (10.9%) claim they are “a little”, thirty-three (32.7%) “somewhat”, twenty-three (22.8%) claim themselves as “much”, and twenty-two (21.8%) claim themselves as “very much faithful” in their religion. figure 2 shows the distribution of religious level. table 1 reports the univariate distribution of the respondents for each of the variables used in the analysis. there were 51 males and 50 females who took part in the survey. ages ranged from 18 to 68, with a mean age of 32 years old. there were 32 hispanics (31.7%), 39 asians (38.6%), and other (17.8%). about 85% are college students with bachelor degrees, graduate students, or hold a master’s degree. there are fourteen (18.9%) respondents with an education level below college, and there are only 2 (2%) with phd. religion and stress by yi yang 69 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) table 1. survey questions and descriptive statistics of variables used in the analysis variable survey questions used response categories frequency mean s. d. gender • what is your gender? 1 = male 2 = female 51 50 (50.5%) (49.5%) 1.50 0.50 age what is the year of your birth? 32.41 11.32 hispanic what is your racial background? 1= hispanic 0= otherwise 32 69 (31.7%) (68.3%) 0.32 0.47 asian what is your racial background? 1= asian 0= otherwise 39 62 (38.6%) (61.4%) 0.39 0.49 other what is your racial background? 1= other 0= otherwise 18 83 (17.8%) (82.2%) 0.18 0.39 religiosity rate your level of religious faith 1= not at all 2= a little 3= somewhat 4= much 5= very much 12 11 33 23 22 (11.9%) (10.9%) (32.7%) (22.8%) (21.8%) 3.32 1.26 education what is your education level? 1= some high school 2= high school graduate 3= some college 4= current college student 5= associate degree 6= ba/bs 7= some grad school 8=current grad school stud 9= master’s degree 10= phd/md/post doctorate 5 9 11 29 11 16 1 8 9 2 (5.0%) (8.9%) (10.9%) (28.9%) (10.9%) (15.8%) (1%) (7.9%) (8.9%) (2%) 4.90 2.28 stress score add up all the 11 variables 41.20 15.25 religion and stress by yi yang 70 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) figure 1. distribution of stress scores religion and stress by yi yang 71 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) figure 2. distribution of religious level religion and stress by yi yang 72 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) (2) pearson’s correlation analysis table 2 reports pearson’s correlation coefficients among the variables. as predicted, significant negative correlations were found between religious level and stress score (r = -.39 at the 0.01 level, 2-tailed), and age and stress score (r = -.31 at the 0.01 level, 2-tailed). similarly there was a negative correlation, though not significant, between gender and stress score (r = .03), and education and stress score (r = -.09). the most important finding was the significant negative correlation found between religious level and stress score. the analyzed coefficients support the hypothesis that religious level has a negative relationship with stress levels. similarly, age has significant negative relationship with stress score. the analyzed coefficients support the hypothesis that younger people tend to get stressed more easily than older people. as i expected, hispanic ethnicity and stress score have significant positive correlation (r = .42 at the 0.01 level), which indicates the hispanic respondents hold higher stress levels than the non-hispanic group. on the contrary, the asian ethnicity and stress score have negative correlation (r = -.36 at the 0.01 level), which is to say, asian respondents are not as stressed as the non-asian group. however, other ethnicities do not have a significant correlation with stress score, indicating that there is no significant difference in the level of stress between hispanic, asian, white groups and other ethnic groups such as native american, black/african-american, and others. religion and stress by yi yang 73 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) table 2. pearson’s correlation coefficients of variables used in the analysis total stress score religious level gender age education hispanic or not asian or not other or not total stress score pearson correlation -.389(**) -.034 -.311(**) -.085 .419(**) -.360(**) .004 sig. (2-tailed) .000 .737 .002 .398 .000 .000 .967 n 101 101 101 101 101 101 101 religious level pearson correlation .207(*) .090 .008 -.155 .204(*) .109 sig. (2-tailed) .038 .370 .940 .123 .040 .278 n 101 101 101 101 101 101 gender pearson correlation -.206(*) -.079 .049 -.135 .263(**) sig. (2-tailed) .039 .432 .624 .180 .008 n 101 101 101 101 101 age pearson correlation .314(**) -.230(*) .197(*) -.008 sig. (2-tailed) .001 .020 .048 .940 n 101 101 101 101 education pearson correlation -.158 .079 -.014 sig. (2-tailed) .115 .429 .890 n 101 101 101 hispanic or not pearson correlation -.540(**) -.317(**) sig. (2-tailed) .000 .001 n 101 101 asian or not pearson correlation -.369(**) sig. (2-tailed) .000 n 101 other or not pearson correlation sig. (2-tailed) n ** correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). * correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). religion and stress by yi yang 74 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) (3) ols regression analysis the bivariate associations may be spurious because of the effects of other variables that may affect both the dependent and the key independent variables simultaneously. in order to control the effects of other variables on stress scores, the data was analyzed using multivariate regression techniques. since stress is a continuous variable, ols regression is used to estimate the effect of the independent variables on stress. as shown in table 3, the adjusted r square shows that the model fits the data well, providing empirical support that the model successfully explains 30.4 % of the variance present in the dependent variable. in addition, the resulting f test is statistically significant at the .01 level. these results indicate that at least one dependent variable has significant effect on the stress score. table 3 also shows the relationship of independent variables and dependent variable. the regression coefficients of gender, education, asian, and other are all statistically insignificant at the 0.05 level net of other variables in the model. these findings show that gender, education, whether they are asian or not, whether they are native american and black american or not, all have no significant effects on stress. the most important finding is the regression coefficient of religious level that is negative and statistically significant at .01 level net of other variables in the model. i hypothesized that religious level has a negative relationship with the degree of stress. the findings support my notion that the more faithful people are, the less stress they have. age’s regression coefficient is negative and statistically significant at .05 level net of other variables in the model. i hypothesized that age would have a negative effect on stress. my hypothesis was supported in that the stress level will decrease as people get older. the most interesting significance found in ols regressions is that the regression coefficient of hispanics is positive and statistically significant at the .01 level net of other variables in the model. with whites is used as the reference category. i hypothesized that minorities hold a positive effect with the degree of stress. the findings support part of my hypothesis that the hispanic respondents are more stressful than their white counterparts. however, the findings do not support that with the asian respondents. there is no significant difference in the level of stress between asian and white. in the same way, the findings show there is no significant difference in the stress scores between the white and other ethnic groups such as native american, black american and other. religion and stress by yi yang 75 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) table 3. ols regression of stress score on selected variables ** correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed) * correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed) v. conclusion the primary goal of this study was to investigate how religious beliefs aid people in dealing with stress. overall, the results support the hypothesis which indicated that high levels of religious beliefs help people effectively cope with stress. it was found that people with a higher religious level reported lower stress scores than respondents with low religious levels. age also plays an important role in stress scores. younger people struggle with stress much more than older people do. as young adults learn to cope with increasing demands and pressures, the teen years often bring about an increase in perceived stress other studies have shown that excessive stress during the teen years can have a negative impact upon both physical and mental health later in life. for example, teen stress is a risk factor for the development of depression. sometimes depression is a serious condition that carries an increased risk of suicide (panzarino 1998). according to a 2006 national survey conducted by the american psychological association (apa) and released in partnership with the national alliance for hispanic health and the national women’s health resource center, nearly all americans experience stress. unfortunately, stress is especially a major health concern for hispanics with more than half reporting that they are worried about stress in their daily lives. (snyder, cervantes, padilla 2004). “fortunately, effective stressmanagement strategies can diminish the ill effects of stress. strong social support networks among school, family, and religious or other group affiliations can help reduce the subjective experience of stress. recognition of the problem and helping teens to develop stress-management skills can also be valuable preventive measures. in severe cases, a physician or other health care provider can independent variables coef. (s.e.) intercept 59.77 (7.33) ** religious level -3.82 (1.08) ** gender -2.40 (2.77) age -.30 (.12) * education .31 .594 hispanic or not 13.26 (4.45) ** asian or not .835 (4.37) other or not 7.82 (5.03) n 104 f-test 7.24 ** adjusted r-square 0.304 religion and stress by yi yang 76 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 65-76) recommend treatments or counseling that can reduce the long-term risks of teen stress” (panzarino 1998). the reported evidence may have two limitations. first, the scope of this research was limited to the analyzed variables. as a result, extraneous variables omitted from this analysis could have produced different outcomes. for instance, income was not counted as an independent variable. second, most (85%) of the respondents had some college level education or higher which means the sample did not contain varied education levels on which to make accurate comparisons. lastly, the sample was collected based on availability which indicates we cannot generalize these findings to the american population. references noor, noraini m. 2008. "work and women's well-being: religion and age as moderators." journal of religion and health 47, no. 4: 476-490. online stress test (2008). retrieved nov. 12, 2008, from http://stress.about.com./od/selfkno wledgesefltests/selfknowledge_self tests_personality_test.hem panzarino, peter jr. 1998. “stress.” retrieved april 16, 2007. (http://www.medicinenet.com/stre ss/article.htm) snyder, v. n. s. d., cervantes, r. c. & padilla, a. m. (2004) gender and ethnic differences in psychosocial stress and generalized distress among hispanics. sex roles 22(7-8), 441453. microsoft word 6mikebouvetan exploratory look at solidarity and support between siblings in young and middle adulthood.docx california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) an exploratory look at solidarity and support between siblings in young and middle adulthood michael bouvet department of sociology california state university, los angeles this literature review explicitly centers on both solidarity and support of sibling relationships. past research and analysis has clearly demonstrated that four variables—birth order of siblings, gender of siblings, family size and paternal framework—are vital and necessary to any research on siblings. however, there is no apparent research that has included a complete analysis of how these specific factors shape and mold the sibling relationships among young individuals emerging from adolescence into adulthood. therefore, to complete the gap in literature, more analysis is necessary on the solidarity and support of young and middle aged adults. introduction 1 siblings play very unique roles in one another’s lives in several distinct ways. sibling relationships have the greatest potential for a lengthy existence and one that most individuals nurture and maintain throughout the entire life course (white 2001). siblings are also more likely than other familial pairs to share a common lineage and heritage, living environment, and passage through particular life events. furthermore, siblings tend to be more egalitarian in 1 michael bouvet is a graduate student at the department of sociology. this literature review was originally submitted to soc 595 critical issues and the problems in sociology: the aging family, taught by dr. roseann giarrusso in fall 2009. their relationships, more so than with other family members and certainly more egalitarian in nature than the parent-child or grandparent-grandchild relationship (gentry 2001). only ten to twenty percent of individuals grow up an only child, making sibling relationships highly prevalent (cicirelli 1982). previous studies indicate that siblings often have a profound and significant presence in the lives of individuals. they are integral and fundamental sources of affection, encouragement, support, comfort and friendship to one another (cicirelli 1995). additionally, among older adults, a sibling is often the only person that has known an individual his or her entire life. therefore, it is not surprising that previous research has found that, along with parents, siblings solidarity and support between siblings by michael bouvet 54 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) form critical reference points in the development of identity, attachment and support (white 2001). sometimes, support from siblings appears to compensate for a lack of support from other members of the social network, such as parents and/or friends (milevsky 2004). eriksen and gerstel (2002) found that a majority of adults give some form of help to at least one of their siblings within a year’s time, many on a monthly basis, suggesting that siblings often act as important social safety nets. because a sibling relationship can have such profound significance for an individual, it is one that is constantly analyzed. however, previous research either concentrates on the relationship in childhood years or in later life. there is considerably less research conducted on sibling relationships specifically on solidarity and support in the early and middle years of adulthood. this specific time within adulthood is significant because it is here that the bonds of strong future support are forged and solidified. as people live longer, have fewer children, remain single, or choose not to have families, their social networks may decrease, and the sibling bond often emerges as a vital source of support (volkom 2006). the assumption is that as medical research and technologies progress, individuals are living longer and more robust lives, potentially making strong sibling relationships critical because they provide necessary social safety nets in later life. therefore, as we continue to transition into the 21 st century, we can anticipate the need for stronger sibling relationships in young and middle adulthood. as the baby boom cohort ages and the cost of health care premiums continue to increase, young and middle adult siblings will need to work cooperatively in order to take care of not only their elderly parents, but each other as they age. thus, we can better understand what the implications are for these relationships in the future by studying and understanding the sibling bonds present amongst young and middle adults in society today. literature review since this review explicitly centers on both solidarity and support, it is important to define the terms in regards to how previous studies have utilized them. past studies have conceptualized solidarity as closeness, value consensus, contact, and exchanges (bengtson and roberts 1991). since the focus is on the degree to which family and siblings are integrated, solidarity is specifically based upon kinship. support can, to an extent, be considered an indicator of solidarity. support between siblings theoretically is influenced by family structure and solidarity. an observation of heightened support reflects actual behavior, thereby making the content and benefits of sibling relationships tangible. support is specifically defined as both emotional and instrumental support. emotional support is exemplified by the actions that individuals do to make their sibling feel loved and cared for, or reinforce their sibling’s sense of self-worth and selfesteem (e.g. providing encouragement, talking over a problem, giving positive feedback, or advice); such support is often embodied in non-tangible types of assistance. by contrast, instrumental support pertains to the various types of solidarity and support between siblings by michael bouvet 55 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) tangible assistance that siblings may provide (e.g., help with housekeeping or chores, childcare, provision of transportation or assistance with repairs) (spitze and trent 2006). support among family members there have been quite a few recent sociological studies that have focused on the relationships and bonds that exist between family members. most of these studies have corroborated theoretical notions that these important bonds do often exist between various members of a family, demonstrating the many ways modern families work to provide care and exchange economic resources. these studies have also identified that there is a cascading flow of support, aid and resource exchanges both up and down the generational line. parents provide support and care throughout their children’s early and later lives (mandemakers and dykstra 2008), and children reciprocate that support and care more and more as their parents age (burr and mutchler 1999). a similar relationship can be found between grandparents and grandchildren. there are plenty of incidences where a grandparent raises a grandchild (minkler and fuller-thomson 2005), and often a grandchild will assist with support and care of an older grandparent in later life (chan and elder 2000). most of these studies, however, describe a vertical, exchange of resources between family members. absent from these particular studies and corresponding discussions is the identification and relevance of the horizontal exchange of resources, support and care that exists among siblings. as vertical family relationships across several generations are becoming increasingly important in american society, it is imperative that horizontal relationships between siblings are also methodically analyzed to better understand the dynamics that exist within these bonds. it is apparent that this belief is beginning to catch on in the sociological community as an increasing amount of research is being conducted on the solidarity and support between siblings. however, these studies tend to focus on the relationship and exchange of support in either childhood or later life, presenting a gap in the literature on these interactions in early and middle adulthood specifically. sibling support in adolescence numerous studies have deter-mined the importance of siblings as a source of emotional support and instrumental aid in early and later life. as adolescents, the support given between siblings is more emotional in nature. branje et al. (2004) found that because siblings are such an important source of support for each other during this period, they often affect both each other’s externalizing behavior as well as each other’s internalizing behavior. in the process of gaining autonomy and defining their identity, adolescents may seek help from their siblings, and therefore become important role models for each other. tucker, mchale, and crouter (2001) found that both older and younger siblings are viewed as sources of support in familial issues, and older siblings are viewed as a source of support about nonfamilial issues such as social and scholastic activities. feinberg and hetherington (2000) identified that solidarity and support between siblings by michael bouvet 56 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) siblings share a unique relationship, making them more likely to experience similar discrete family events, such as death, divorce, unemployment, a relocation or parental discord. a shared traumatic experience between siblings often strengthens the bond between them and initiates a lifelong exchange of emotional support. other research has indicated that the more an individual interacts with a feeling of love for his/her sibling, the less depressive symptoms for that adolescent become observable, indicating an effectiveness of a strong bond with a sibling on positive emotional and psychological growth (vogt yuan 2009). sibling support in later life several studies suggest that the sibling relationship changes over time. as sisters and brothers get older, the relationship becomes less obligatory and more voluntary. additionally, the support and care given and received by older siblings incorporates resource exchanges as well as emotional reinforcement (martin, anderson and rocca 2005). erikson and gerstel’s (2002) research refutes the notion that siblings are largely symbolic ties in adult lives. they found that a majority of older adults give some form of help to at least one of their siblings within a year’s time, many on a monthly basis. volkom’s (2006) research characterizes the sibling relationship in later life as one of strong emotional ties, helping, and importance for the older adult’s well-being. because a sibling can be a great helper, confidante, and friend in adulthood, contact with a sibling can also improve the physical health of an older adult. white and riedmann’s (1992) analysis of data taken from a national survey of families and households is a clear illustration of how valued the sibling relationship is among adults. half of the adults surveyed indicated they had contact with a sibling at least monthly. nearly two-thirds of these respondents considered at least one brother or sister to be among their closest friends. about a third indicated they would call upon their sibling first when in need of emergency help. conflicting theories of sibling support in early and middle adulthood although these studies are high caliber investigations consisting of quality research and analysis, these studies fail to fully evaluate the relationship that exists between early and middle-aged adults. what is acknowledged is that during this time, the bond between siblings early and middle-aged is often transformed due to other significant concurrent life events, such as full-time employment, marriage, relocation, and birth of an offspring (voorpostel and blieszner 2008). another analysis by white and riedmann (1992) yielded similar results. they postulate that early and middle-aged young people start to move to separate residences, invest in economic or educational endeavors and establish intimate relationships with a romantic partner. this is paralleled by decreased intensity of interactions with family members. white expounds on this idea in later research. she explains that underlying most interpretations of sibling relationships is the assumption of a hierarchy of kinship relationships. she solidarity and support between siblings by michael bouvet 57 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) states that the in the standard kinship model, family bonds are conceptualized as a set of nested circles. during childhood, siblings typically are included within one’s inner circle or first tier of family social support. as people mature into adulthood, often distancing themselves geographically for their siblings and forming their own families, sibling relationships are commonly relegated to outer circle of second-tier status. the inner circle in adulthood is mainly reserved for parents, spouses and children (white 2001). bedford (1989) discovered an hourglass effect in sibling relationships, where sibling closeness and involvement are intense as adolescents, gradually decrease in early adulthood, are relatively low in the middle adult years, and then rise again in later life. other research has postulated that a decrease in contact during early adulthood is the reason why young adults reported lower levels of conflict with their siblings than adolescents, engaged in less quarreling, less antagonism, less competition, and less conflict related to power (scharf et al. 2004). thus, some previous researchers have hypothesized that the more that siblings grow apart and become immersed in their own separate lives, they have less opportunity to spend together ultimately limiting all interactions, including conflict. however, that hypothesis has been contested by others. some research has indicated that a reduction in conflict may be attributable to emerging adult siblings’ greater ability to negotiate disagreements and their favoring negotiation over coercion (laursen, finkelstein, and betts 2001). further research suggests that early adulthood fosters an addition of a new quality to the relationship between siblings. they can become a source of potential support, or an important source of advice, that can be relied on, despite the lower incidence of daily interaction or involvement. once young adult siblings emerge from adolescence and leave home, the amount of support and assistance that they give each other is determined by the similarity of their roles and their feelings of closeness. during early and middle adulthood, they provide encouragement, companionship, assistance and occasionally financial support for one another. they also are usually relied upon for help during various life dilemmas, and typically cooperate with one another when it comes to caring for elderly parents (goetting 1986). because marriage and parenthood create decidedly unique social worlds, similarities in marital and parental status may ensure help from particular siblings (erikson and gerstel 2002). milevsky (2004) conjointly touched upon sibling relationships in early adulthood. he also postulated that sibling support is related to an adjustment in emerging adulthood. however, he found that support from siblings appears to compensate for low support from other members of the social network such as parents and friends. these separate findings are in complete contrast to other research hypothesizing that sibling relationships become diminished in early and middle adulthood, presenting a clear and present contradiction in the previous research on the subject. furthermore, another analysis by white and riedmann (1992) found that prevalence in contact and interactions solidarity and support between siblings by michael bouvet 58 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) diminishes with age in late adolescence, equalizes during early and middle adulthood, and deteriorates sharply in later adulthood. white and riedmann’s (1992) nationwide study of 7,700 adults who had at least one biological sibling still living, indicated that approximately half reported some sort of interaction with their sibling (i.e. talking to or visiting) at least monthly. among sisters, the amount of contact and interaction was the greatest. conversely, it was the reported the least among brothers. sister-brother pairs landed between the other two groupings. as anticipated, siblings who live in closer proximity to each other have more contact and interactions. the most contact was seen in those that lived within two miles of one another. the child that was the oldest, in addition to siblings with higher income and education, reported the most consistent contact. frequent contact was also reported with siblings that still lived at home with their parents. white and riedmann also found that biological siblings, living in integrated households with half-siblings and step-siblings, reported less close relationships. interestingly, those same respondents viewed their biological siblings as a close companion through the life cycle. thus, a potential source of the conflicting results of young and middle aged adults’ relationships may be due to dissimilarities in research measures and sampling methods as well as the utilization of cross-sectional data in the studies. although these separate studies provide some insight to the relationships that exist among early and middle aged siblings, they are few and far between, they are not consistent in their findings, and they lack the thorough and robust analysis seen in the research pertaining to adolescent and older sibling relationships. four significant variables because a connection in the literature is necessary, it is important to see how previous research has investigated the similar topics of solidarity and support among adolescent and older adult siblings. these studies provide an ample starting point from which to address the similar relationships that exist among siblings in early and middle adulthood. when analyzed as a collective body, previous research provides several themes that are apparent in sibling relationships both in adolescence and later life. sibling research has identified four specific variables that must be considered when relationships between siblings are assessed: (1) the relative birth order, namely whether the sibling is younger or older, (2) the gender of the sibling, (3) the family size, specifically whether there are two or more siblings within the family, and (4) the paternal framework in which the siblings were raised, namely whether it was a singleparent or dual-parent environment. because research has indicated that children’s experiences with siblings differ greatly depending on whether they are older or younger, any research on siblings should include birth order as a variable. scharf et al. (2004) indicated that older siblings inherit some positions of authority and responsibility, and children were found to be satisfied more and to quarrel less with older siblings than with younger siblings. additionally, older siblings were described as solidarity and support between siblings by michael bouvet 59 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) being more a source of support and advice. other research suggests that because most siblings differ in age, older siblings are likely to acquire experience and familiarity with certain issues, such as social life, schoolwork, and risky behavior, before their younger siblings do. in addition, parents may not be as knowledgeable as adolescents are about such non-familial experiences (tucker, mchale and crouter 2001). for these reasons, older siblings may provide elemental advice for their less experienced younger siblings. this idea could also apply to young and middle aged siblings. an older sibling might undergo a major life transformation prior to a younger sibling (i.e. moving out, getting married, having a child), providing a unique and invaluable source of information and advice on that particular subject. gender plays a substantial role in sibling relationships. this is evident in both research of adolescent siblings and older adult siblings. previous researchers have concluded that sister-sister pairs had more contact and were emotionally closer than others (spitze and trent 2006). cicirelli (1989) found that the perception of a tight bond with sisters by either males or females was directly correlated to psychological well-being, illustrated by fewer symptoms of depression, while a tight bond to brothers seemed to have little effect on well-being. white (2001) found that both being female and having sisters were associated with contact, exchange of support, and having a sibling as a close friend. tests for statistical interaction suggested that women with sisters had the closest relations to siblings, whereas men with sisters fared better than men or women without sisters (white and riedmann 1992). white (2001) also reported that women, relative to men, increased levels of contact and help exchange with siblings over time. previous research has also found that women were perceived to be more involved in their close relationships than men, and the sister-sister relationship was described as the most intensive bond among siblings. among early adolescence, female siblings were most likely perceived to generate emotionally supportive outcomes (howe et al. 2001). in contrast, participants in boy-boy sibling dyads reported less caring, less intimate exchange, and less coping resolution than participants in girl-girl dyads (cole and kerns 2001). this is highly relevant to the solidarity and support among young adult siblings, especially relation-ships involving sisters. it could be hypothesized that certain significant life events, such as the birth of a child or a marriage could actually bring sisters, or a sister and brother, closer together by creating a scenario in which gender specific advice and/or support is relevant. additionally, spitze and trent (2006) found that women reported giving and receiving more child care and chore support (i.e. cooking, cleaning), consistent with gendered patterns of household labor. more specifically, men with a sister are about a third as likely than women with a sister to provide child care or advice, and women with a brother are about a fifth as likely than those from sister pairs to help with chores, and about half as likely to give advice. thus, a woman with a sister will, in all likelihood, maintain a closer relationship with their sibling in early adulthood as opposed to solidarity and support between siblings by michael bouvet 60 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) a sister-brother or brother-brother sibling configuration. another prominent factor indentified by previous research is the size of the family. researchers have proposed that adults from larger families exhibit greater affection and have more contact with all their siblings than those in smaller families. based on this premise, researchers have found that older adults from larger families tend to have at least one sibling to whom they feel close than do those from smaller families (connidis and campbell 1995). studies also suggest that adults with a greater number of siblings perceive more support will be forthcoming and actually receive more help than those with fewer siblings (white and riedmann 1992), which is a pattern for receipt of help similarly noted among older adults. eriksen and gerstel (2002) found that those who have more siblings give significantly less total help to particular siblings, suggesting that having more siblings forces adults to act judiciously about what they give. conversely, other researchers have found that siblings from smaller families may depend on each other more, relative to those from larger families who have more sisters or brothers to turn to in times of need (tucker and crouter 2001). thus, research on young and middle aged adults should include analysis of the family size and composition to observe whether or not having more siblings will affect solidarity and support amongst them. finally, the paternal framework present in a family has been shown to affect the relationship siblings have with each other. for example, growing up with both parents predicted more interactions among adult siblings, whereas those raised in single parent families had significantly more diminished contact in later life (white and riedmann 1992). poortman and voorpostel’s (2009) research results show that siblings from divorced families more often have conflict-laden relationships in adulthood than do siblings from intact families. there were, however, no differences between siblings from divorced and intact families regarding the more positive aspects of their relationships (i.e. relationship quality and contact frequency). it can then be hypothesized that a positive family atmosphere is likely to be related to warm sibling relationships, whereas a distressed atmosphere will probably be related to negative sibling relationships. in addition, furman and giberson (1995) suggested that conflicts with parents could increase the likelihood that children will be irritated and discharge their anger onto their siblings. parents may influence their children’s interpersonal relationships directly by giving advice and intervening in their interactions and disputes (mchale et al. 2000), or indirectly by modeling social behavior or regulating their children’s emotions and behaviors (parke and o’neil 1999). previous research showed that children, whose relationships with parents were characterized by warmth, reported exhibiting less hostility and rivalry and more affection toward their siblings (stocker and mchale 1992). in contrast, parental assertion of power was related to a higher frequency of conflict between siblings (furman and giberson 1995). thus, contemporary demographic trends such as the rise in single-parent families and decrease in family size solidarity and support between siblings by michael bouvet 61 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) could be relevant to the solidarity and support of young and middle aged adults and should therefore be considered as contextually relevant to the study. implications for research past research and analysis has clearly demonstrated that these four variables are vital and necessary to any research on siblings. however, no one previous investigation, to my know-ledge, has included a complete analysis of how these specific factors shape and mold the sibling relationships among young individuals emerging from adolescence into adulthood. additionally, variability in the extent of sibling support has typically been explored by studying sibling dyads from different families. however, comparisons of the experiences of two or more siblings from the same family are extremely rare. therefore, information from a series of siblings, ranging in age and gender, across different families is extremely important to the analysis of solidarity and support of siblings. the addition of the relationship of half and step siblings would also be invaluable. finally, nearly all of the previous research on siblings was obtained through crosssectional studies, drawing the entirety of data from one point in time. since it is important to see how the sibling relationship undergoes a metamorphosis as siblings advance through the young and middle adult years into later life, a longitudinal study might be more effective for discovering trends in data. implications for practice as previously mentioned, we are very much influenced by the relation-ships that we have with our parents and our siblings in early life. as we grow into adulthood, these complex influences continue to play a role in all our relationships, regardless of whether we are geographically or emotionally close, distant or detached from our family of origin. as siblings age, their relationships are influenced and altered by many actual or perceived events that may or may not be directly related to each other. it is postulated that as siblings grow into adulthood, their focus may move away from each other to their own children, and to their aging parents, which could negatively affect their solidarity and support for each other in later life. over time, some sibling issues will obviously remain the same. on the other hand, may social factors emerge that are bound to have an ever-increasing influence on the way siblings deal with their own inevitable aging. the biggest factor, arguably, is the ever-increasing number of older men and women in our society. current trends and future projections include: (1) a population of aging siblings that is not only growing, but is changing in terms of longevity, health status, and needs, (2) a babyboom generation that is already arriving at the threshold of retirement (projections suggest that 25% of the population will be over sixty-five early in the 21 st century), (3) an expanding geographical dispersion among family members, (4) a projected increase in programs and legislation that expand services to meet the needs of aging siblings (these are projected to offer solidarity and support between siblings by michael bouvet 62 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) more options than in the past, which may affect the quality of life for the elderly and their aging siblings), (5) families of aging siblings will have many more opportunities and options in their caregiving and support roles, (6) and finally, the prevalence of divorce and remarriage has produced a proliferation of step relationships, including sisters and brothers. as aging individuals face illness, retirement, a death of a spouse and other enormous life changes, their siblings also face questions of how involved they will become in their lives. these events and issues often bring siblings together on new terrain and highlight the strength and stressors of their relationships that have occurred in the most previous periods of their lives. how siblings come together and negotiate this new terrain is affected by many of the latent themes of the early and middle adult eras of their lives: a complex mixture of friendship and collaboration, support and solidarity, and sometimes rivalry around common sibling issues. therefore, what older adults do for their aging siblings and how they negotiate their own behavior with siblings are salient personal issues for many people. these relationships ultimately concern almost all individuals for whom an aging sibling is, has, or will be part of their life. it ultimately concerns all of us who have siblings and hope to live long, fruitful lives, making it all the more important to investigate, learn and understand the relationship that exists between siblings in not only childhood and old age, but across the whole life span. therefore, to complete the gap in literature, more analysis is necessary on the solidarity and support of young and middle aged adults. references bedford, v. 1989. “sibling research in historical perspective: the discovery of a forgotten relationship.” american behavioral scientist vol. 33. 6-18. bengtson, v. l., and roberts, r. e. l. 1991, “intergenerational solidarity in aging families: an example of formal theory construction.” journal of marriage and the family. vol. 53. 856 870. branje., s., lieshout, c., aken, m. and haselager, g. 2004. “perceived support in sibling relationships and adolescent adjustment.” journal of child psychology and psychiatry 45:8.1385–1396. burr, j. and mutchler, m. 1999. “race and ethnic variation in norms of filial responsibility among older persons.” journal of marriage and family vol. 61. no. 3. 674-687. chan, c. and elder, g. 2000. “matrilineal advantage in grandchild-grandparent relations.” the gerontologist vol 4(2). 179-190. cicirelli, v. 1982. “sibling influence throughout the life span.” in m. e. lamb and b. sutton-smith (eds.), sibling relationships: their nature and significance across the life span (pp. 267-284). hillsdale, nj: lawrence erlbaum. cicirelli, v. 1989. “feelings of attachment to siblings and well-being later in life.” psychology of aging vol. 4. 211-216. solidarity and support between siblings by michael bouvet 63 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) cicirelli, v. 1995. sibling relationships across the life span. new york: plenum press. cole, a. and kerns, k. 2001. “perceptions of sibling qualities and activities of early adolescents.” the journal of early adolescence vol. 21. 204-227. connidis, i. and campbell, l. 1995. “closeness, confiding, and contact among siblings in middle and late adulthood.” journal of family issues vol. 16(6). 722-745. eriksen, s. and gerstel, n. 2002. “a labor of love or labor itself: care work among adult brothers and sisters.” journal of family issues 23; 836. feinberg, m., and hetherington, e. 2000. “sibling differentiation in adolescence: implications for behavioral genetic theory.” child development 71. 1512–1524. furman,w.,and giberson, r. s. 1995. “identifying the links between parents and their children 's sibling relationships.” in s. shulman (ed.), close relationships and socioemotional development (vol. 7, 95-108). stamford, ct: ablex. gentry, d.r. 2001. “resolving middleage sibling conflict regarding parent care.” conflict resolution quarterly 19(1). 31-47. goetting, a. (1986). “the developmental tasks of siblingship over the life cycle.” journal of marriage and the family 48. 703-714. howe, n., aquan-assee, j., bukowski, w., lehoux, p. and ranaldi, c. 2001. “siblings as confidents: emotional understanding, relationship, warmth, and sibling selfdisclosure.” social development vol. 10(4). 439-454. laursen, b., finkelstein, b. d., and betts, n. t. 2001. “a developmental meta-analysis of peer conflict resolution.” developmental review 21. 423-449. laursen, b., finkelstein, b., and betts n. 2001. “a developmental metaanalysis of peer conflict resolution.” developmental review vol. 21. 423449. mandemakers, j., dykstra, p. 2008. “discrepancies in parent’s and adult child’s reports of support and contact.” journal of marriage and family vol. 70. 495–506. martin, m., anderson, c., and rocca, k. 2005. “perceptions of the adult sibling relationship.” north american journal of psychology vol. 7. no. 1. 107-116. mchale, s., updegraff, k., tucker, c. and crouter, a. 2000. “step in or stay out? parents' roles in adolescent siblings' relationships.” journal of marriage and the family vol. 62. 746-760. milevsky, a. 2004. “compensatory patterns of sibling support in emerging adulthood: variations in loneliness, self-esteem, depression and life satisfaction.” journal of social and personal relationships vol. 22(6). 743–755. solidarity and support between siblings by michael bouvet 64 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 53-64) minkler, m. and fuller-thomson, e. 2005. “african american grandparents raising grandchildren: a national study using the census 2000 american community survey.” the journals of gerontology 60b(2). s82-s91. parke, r., and o’neil, r. 1999. “social relationships across contexts: familypeer linkages.” in w. a. collins, and b. laursen (eds.), relationships as developmental contexts (211-240). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates, inc. poortman, a. and voorpostel, m. 2009. “parental divorce and sibling relationships: a research note.” journal of family issues vol. 30. 7491. scharf, m., mayseless, o. and kivensonbaron, i. 2004. “adolescents' attachment representations and developmental tasks in emerging adulthood.” developmental psychology 40. 430-444. spitze, g. and trent, k. 2006. “gender differences in adult sibling relations in two-child families.” journal of marriage and family vol. 68. 977–992. stocker, c., and mchale, s. 1992. “the nature and family correlates of preadolescents’ perceptions of their sibling relationships.” journal of social and personal relationships vol. 9. 179-195. tucker, c., mchale, s. and crouter, a. 2001. “conditions of sibling support in adolescence.” journal of family psychology vol. 15. no. 2. 254-271. vogt yuan, a. 2009. “sibling relationships and adolescents' mental health: the interrelationship of structure and quality.” journal of family issues vol. 30. 1221-1244. volkom, m. 2006. “sibling relationships in middle and older adulthood.” marriage and family review vol. 40(2/3). 151-170. voorpostel, m. and blieszner, r. 2008. “intergenerational solidarity and support between adult siblings.” journal of marriage and family vol. 70. 157–167. white, l. and riedmann, a. 1992. “ties among adult siblings.” social forces vol. 71(1). 85-102. white, l. 2001. “sibling relationships over the life course: a panel analysis.” journal of marriage and family vol. 63. no. 2. 555-568. microsoft word 2tajiajoseph_soc 410_final_2.docx the hair issue by tajia joseph 18 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) the hair issue: political attitude and self-esteem as determinants of hairstyle choices among african american women tajia joseph department of sociology california state university, los angeles this paper presents a two-fold study. first, the study focuses on whether self-esteem influences hairstyles among african american women. second, it focuses on whether hairstyles are an indicator of political beliefs. a survey questionnaire was distributed to 100 african american women in order to analyze their attitudes regarding hair in relation to political beliefs and self-esteem. using pearson’s correlation coefficient and ols regression, the findings suggest that those with high self-esteem are more likely to wear their hair in a natural state. therefore, african american women with high self esteem are more likely to wear their hair in a natural state, while african american women with low self-esteem are more likely to process their hair. meanwhile, political attitudes do not affect hairstyle preferences. finally, more educated women prefer to wear processed hair compared to less educated women, who prefer to wear their hair natural. introduction 1black hair care has always managed to fit into the budget and, while some may think it would be the first to go, studies have shown that despite the present economic state of america and the price spike at most salons black women are 1 tajia joseph is a graduate student at the department of sociology. this research paper was originally submitted to soc 410 advance statistics, taught by professor hyojoung kim in summer 2009. still flocking to their hairdressers to keep up with routine maintenance. some do it for the look; some do it for social reasons, and others do it for professional reasons. right or wrong, hair does matter. next to skin color, hair is truly the most visible stereotype of being a black woman. physically, socially, economically, and stylistically black women's hair is, not just hair. it evokes a serious debate in the black community. hair can be seen as an indicator of gender, social class, sexual orientation, the hair issue by tajia joseph 19 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) political views, religion, and age. the focus of this study is to determine if selfesteem influences hairstyles. the other focus of this study is whether or not those hairstyles are an indicator of political beliefs. throughout history, emulating white hairstyles, particularly straight hair, signified many things in the black community. first, straight hair was associated with free-person status during times of slavery. light-skinned runaway slaves “tried to pass themselves off as free, hoping their european features would be enough to convince bounty hunters that they belonged to that privileged class. “emulating whiteness offered a certain amount of protection. second, lighter-skinned and straighterhaired slaves worked inside the plantation houses performing less backbreaking labor than the slaves relegated to the fields. the practice of straightening was viewed as a pitiful attempt to emulate whites and equated hair straightening with self-hatred and shame” (bellinger, 2007). with regard to the issue of hair, garvey proclaimed, “don’t remove the kinks from your hair! remove them from your brain!” black women choose to wear their hair in a natural state in order to embrace their culture. black women are less concerned with weight and more concerned with the appearance of their hair. black women’s hair is an indicator of self-satisfaction and ethnic pride. some african american women have considered changing their hair from its natural state to be an act of selfhatred. african american women say they no longer follow historical norms of wanting to appear white and choose to not change their hair based on racial pride. in the 1960s, hair was a political statement and a symbol of the black power movement. hair was used as a resistant strategy against white beauty standards. natural hair was considered radical because it gave off the message that i do not desire to conform. however, in the 1990safro hairstyles became a symbol of delinquency for males and lower status for females. it was no coincidence that last year's infamous new yorker cover that depicted the obamas as white house terrorists featured michelle with a huge afro. barack's turban was a bad joke; michelle's big hair was a legitimate threat that could materialize at any moment. the afro challenges the hegemonic white standard of beauty through black beauty liberation. as michelle obama, a black woman who has become the first lady, undergoes scrutiny, there is no better time than now to examine how black women are frequently prejudged and mischaracterized. one of the variables of examination is self-esteem levels. social comparison theory argues there is a drive within individuals to look to outside images in order to evaluate their own opinions and abilities. these images are usually in comparison to other people. people look to the images portrayed by others to be obtainable, realistic, and, subsequently, to make comparisons among themselves, others, and the idealized images. the exposure to caucasian models in advertisements affects the self-esteem of african american women. “exposure to idealized advertising images creates selfdoubt and dissatisfaction for women of color. they actively or passively engage the hair issue by tajia joseph 20 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) in social comparison” (frisby 2004). younger african american women say they no longer follow historical norms of wanting to appear white and choose to not change their hair based on racial pride taught to them by their mothers. during slavery, slave children were told “to refer to their hair as wool and encouraged not to like their own hair” (bellinger 2007). slaves were regularly told to cover their hair with rags or scarves so they could look “presentable” for company. the natural look did not sit well with them at all during that time. african american hair was so different that some scholars actually said they were from a different species because the hair was like wool, not like silk. afrocentrists believe that africans exhibit a range of types and physical characteristics, and such elements as wavy hair or aquiline facial features are part of a continuum of african types that do not depend on admixture with caucasian groups. it is concerned with racism, racial subordination, and discrimination. afrocentric theory examines the effect of the white standard of beauty upon african american women. it challenges the hegemonic white standard of beauty through black beauty liberation. this theory argues that black is beautiful in all the varying ways. it also calls into question the standards of beauty, which change over time depending on the ruling class. “beauty is subject to the hegemonic standards of the ruling class” (patton 2006). there are “unrealistic expectations of beauty and hairstyle that reify the divisions that exist between african american and euro american women” (patton 2006). the afrocentric theory advocates that african americans distance themselves from the views of mainstream society, which in this case is the white culture. social identity theory is concerned both with the psychological and sociological aspects of group behavior. social identity theory is concerned with when and why individuals identify with and behave as part of social groups, adopting shared attitudes to outsiders. collective identity refers to the shared definition of a group that derives from its members’ common interests, experiences, and solidarities. some argue that group identity creates a mentality of victimization, cultivates exclusion from and hostility toward main-stream society, and encourages separatism and divisiveness. however, there is “little evidence that black identity consists of oppositional attitudes towards whites” (herring, jankowski and brown 1999). hairstyles serve as important cultural artifacts because they are simultaneously public (visible to everyone), private (biologically linked to the body), and malleable to suit cultural and personal preferences (weitz, 2001). hairstyle would be an indicator of group identity. wearing natural hair would indicate an identity with black culture, while processed hair would indicate an identity with white culture. most professional black women straighten their hair. ethnic hair can be misinterpreted as defiant or militant. hair is central to the resistance of oppression. “the black body has been a site of political struggle since the antebellum period and the body of the diasporic settler has been and remains a key site of political contestation” (dash 2006). the hair issue by tajia joseph 21 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) the first hypothesis explores if there is a correlation between selfesteem and hairstyle. the hypothesis is: the more self-esteem african american women have the more natural their hairstyle will be. self-esteem can have an effect on hairstyle choices. therefore, we predict that high self-esteem leads african american women to wear their hair in its natural state more often. for the second hypothesis, the relationship between political attitudes and hairstyles are examined. the hypothesis states that the more natural hairstyle an african american wears, the more likely she is to have a liberal viewpoint in politics. according to this hypothesis, hairstyle is an indicator of political attitude. the prediction is that hairstyle does indicate political beliefs and the more natural the hairstyle, the more radical the person will be. data and measurement of variables for my research, the target population was african american women. the study analyzes attitudes based on hair. a survey will be used to collect the data necessary for the study. the study will take place during the summer in the month of july 2009. the participants will be african american women residing in the united states. in order to get the data required for meaningful results, participants need not be residents of california. dependent variables in this study, hairstyle choices depend on the political beliefs or self-esteem of african american women. therefore, african american women are surveyed about the following two types of hairstyle choices: natural hair can be defined as not having been unaltered by chemicals and, therefore, does not have a straight look but is tightly coiled in appearance or braided. processed hair is any hair that has been chemically altered or straightened by heating tools. in order to assess the predominant hairstyle choices of african american females, the participants were asked to self identify their hairstyle preference. they were asked three questions about hair maintenance. they were asked “how often do you press/ straighten your hair?” “how often they perm (or relax) their hair?” “how often they wear their hair in its natural state?” each of the questions had the following response categories: always (daily), frequently (weekly), sometimes (monthly), rarely (yearly), and never. for each question, values from 0 to 4 are used in such a way that higher values indicate more preference for natural hair styles. the three questions are added together to create an index. this index range is between 0 and 12, with higher values indicating more preference for natural hair styles. independent variables self esteem reflects a person’s overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. since we cannot depend on the respondent’s assessment of their selfesteem, the rosenberg test of selfesteem is adjusted and used to determine levels of esteem. the participants were asked to rate themselves on several the hair issue by tajia joseph 22 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) aspects concerning self-esteem. the response categories, taken directly from the rosenberg scale, ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree. each of the questions had the following response categories: strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. for each question, values from 0 to 3 are used in such a way that higher values indicate higher level of self-esteem. political attitude, for the purpose of this study, political attitude is measured by ideas and beliefs that align on a continuum from liberal to conservative. i asked questions on 6 major political issues (gun control, abortion, gay marriage, death penalty, war and welfare) to assess political viewpoint. using the same scale as above, the response categories ranged from strongly agree to strongly disagree. each of the questions had the following response categories: strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree. for each question, values from 0 to 3 are used in such a way that higher values indicate democratic attitudes and lower values would indicate conservative attitudes. control variables in determining the affect of self-esteem and political attitude on hairstyle, other factors may influence findings and affect the dependent variable. a possible variable that may affect the findings is employment. employment: one’s employment status may influence hairstyle choices as well. if a person already has a steady job, they may be more willing to wear their hair in a natural style or coerced into changing it. if someone is looking for employment in corporate america, they may feel more pressure to “look” the part and process their hair. on the other hand, they are free of constrictions and can do as they wish. african american women are well aware of the stigma related to natural hair. it’s about how american society and culture feels about what black people do with their hair. again, natural hair is still viewed as radical and not willing to conform. no employer wants an employee that may be radical enough to cause the company problems or repel clientele. the findings a survey was distributed to female african american participants. i asked each respondent to please answer each of the questions as accurately as possible and return it to the envelope with other completed surveys. to insure that they were anonymous, i folded all surveys and let the respondent place them into my envelope. univariate statistics in total, there were 100 participants. table 1 reports the univariate distribution of the respondents on each of the variables used in the analysis. of the participants, 55% of the women say they wear their hair natural at all times. the age of the women in this survey concentrated in one category. the age range of 25-32 comprised of 68% of the participants. only 13% of the respondents were unemployed. eighty-seven women were working either part-time or full time jobs. the independent variable of education was the most evenly distributed. the high school diploma the hair issue by tajia joseph 23 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) category had eight women, and only 2 women earned higher than a bachelor’s degree. ninety two percent of the women had at least some college in their lifetime. personal income had 64% of women in the category of $35,001 $50,000 earnings. only 5% of women said they did not agree with having a positive self-attitude. no matter what the hairstyle preference, most women still held a positive self-attitude. pearson’s correlation analysis table 2 reports pearson’s correlation coefficients among the variables in the analysis. pearson’s correlation coefficient between current hairstyle and self-esteem is negative and statistically significant at least at the 0.05 level. this means that as hairstyle decreases from zero to one, or processed to natural, selfesteem increases from low to high. therefore, self-esteem does affect hairstyle preference in african american women. apparently, political attitudes also influence hairstyle preference among african american women. pearson’s correlation coefficient for these two variables was positive and statistically significant at the 0.05 level. these two variables are positively correlated. this means that as political attitudes increase from low scores (conservative) to high score (liberal), hairstyle preference increases from processed to natural. there was also a negative correlation found between education and hairstyle preference. pearson’s correlation coefficient for these two variables is negative and statistically significant at the 0.05 level. this means that as education increases, hairstyle preference decreases from natural hairstyles to processed hairstyles. in other words, more educated people are more likely to process their hair and less likely to wear their hair natural. another statistic was tested for the variable employment and hairstyle preference. the pearson’s correlation coefficient between these two variables is statistically insignificant at the 0.05 level. this means that employment status, whether you are employed or not, does not affect hairstyle preference. as it turns out, marital status, age, and income are not significantly correlated. pearson’s correlation coefficient for all of the above variables is statistically insignificant at the 0.05 level. this means that the variables above have no individual effect on hairstyle preference. the hair issue by tajia joseph 24 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) table 1. survey questions and descriptive statistics of variables used in the analysis variable survey questions used response categories frequency mean s. d. age what is your current age? 0 = under 18 1= 8-24 2 = 25-32 3 = 33-45 4 = 46+ 0 4 68 6 22 4% 68% 6% 22% 2.46 .881 employment what is your current occupation? 0 = unemployed 1 = employed 13 87 13% 87% 0.87 .338 marital status please choose the one choice for each question that applies to you 0 = single 1= in a relationship 2 = married 3 = divorced 4 = widowed 41 40 14 5 0 41% 40% 14% 5% 0.83 .853 education please choose the one choice for each question that applies to you 0 = h.s diploma 1 = some college 2 = a.a degree 3 = b.a 4 = m.a 5 = ph.d 8 31 23 36 2 0 8% 31% 23% 36% 2% 2.93 1.037 personal income please choose the one choice for each question that applies to you 0 = 0-$10,000 1 = $10,001-$20,000 2 = $20,001-$35,000 3 = $35,001-$50,000 4 = $50,001-$75,000 5 = over $75,000 10 16 64 10 0 10% 16% 64% 10% 2.74 .774 the hair issue by tajia joseph 25 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) table 2. pearson’s correlation coefficients of variables used in the analysis 1) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. hairstyle preference .005 .052 .046 -.212 -.008 .452 .230 2. age -.102 .374 -.185 -.371 -.262 -.117 3. employment -.112 .060 .024 .107 .001 4. marital status .272 .208 -.026 .004 5. education .644 .160 .059 6 income .209 .089 7. self-esteem .525 8. political attitude statistical significance at 0.05 level is indicated by bolded italics the hair issue by tajia joseph 26 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) multivariate continuous regression analysis the outcomes of bivariate associations may be spurious due to the effects of other variables that may affect both the dependent variable (hairstyle preference) and the key independent variables (self esteem and political attitude) simultaneously. how can we determine the genuine effect of an independent variable? the unique effect of the key independent variables on the dependent variable without regard to other independent variables must be assessed. in other words, i must control for the effects of other variables. in order to control the effects of other variables on hairstyle preferences of african american women, i now analyze the data using multivariate regression techniques. please note that our hairstyle preference variable (the dependent variable) is continuous, consisting of different categories of preferences and choices of hairstyles. originally, my dependent variable had five outcome categories: always, frequently, sometimes, rarely, and never. i created a new index out of three questions. the three questions distinguished hairstyle maintenance questions and were combined to determine preference overall. with the new index, 12 categories were differentiated. a person could have a score anywhere from 0 -12. consequently, i use ols regression analysis to separate out the effects of self-esteem and political attitude net of the effects of other control variables. the degree to which two or more independent variables are related to the dependent variable is expressed in the adjusted r square, which explains the variance in the dependent variable. r square ranges from 0 to 1. the adjusted r square in my model summary was 0.263. this shows that the model successfully explains 26% of the total variation present in the dependent variable. this outcome indicates the explanatory power of our model in explaining who is more likely to have and prefer wearing natural hair. analysis of variance (anova) consists of calculations that provide information about levels of variability within a regression model and form a basis for tests of significance. the f test is a global hypothesis test, which tests significance. the f test for the independent variables in relation to the dependent variable is statistically significant; indicating that least one of the independent variables is significantly affecting the dependent variable of hairstyle preference. the ols regression analysis also tests whether a given individual independent variable has a significant effect on the dependent variable. statistical insignificance here indicates that the corresponding independent variable has no significant effect in determining the outcome of hairstyle preference. two variables are statistically significant at least at the 0.05 level (one-tailed). they are self-esteem and education. other variables are statistically insignificant even at 0.05 level, thus, indicating that they have no direct or independent effect in determining the outcomes of hairstyle preference, net of the effects of other independent variables. the hair issue by tajia joseph 27 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) table 3. ols regression coefficients of hairstyle preference on independent variables independent variables coefficient (s.e.) political attitude -.049 (.427) self-esteem 2.829 (.648)** age .227 (.301) employment .256 (.639) marital status .296 (.312) education -.935 (.301)** income .451 (.432) f-test 5.412** adjusted r-squared .263 * p< 0.05 level of significance; ** p < 0.01 level of significance the hair issue by tajia joseph 28 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) the regression coefficient of self-esteem is positive and statistically significant at the 0.05 level, net of all the other variables in the model. the positive regression coefficient means that self-esteem has a positive effect on hairstyle preference. this means that those with high self-esteem are more likely to wear their hair in a natural state. this supports the hypothesis that high self-esteem leads african american women to wear their hair in its natural state more often. the regression coefficient of education is negative and statistically significant at the 0.05 level, net of all other variables in the model. the test reveals that education has a significant negative effect on hairstyle preference. this means that more educated women prefer to wear processed hair while less educated women prefer to wear their hair natural. interestingly, political attitude did not have a significant effect on hairstyle preference. the regression coefficient of political attitude is statistically insignificant at 0.05 level, net of other variables in the model. according to pearson’s correlation coefficient test, political attitude was significant. however, in the regression analysis, political attitude was found to be insignificant. this means that the relation reported in pearson’s test was spurious. it turns out that political attitudes do not affect hairstyle preferences. for all other independent variables, the regression coefficient is statistically insignificant at 0.05 level, net of the other variables in the model. therefore, the variables age, employment, marital status, and income have no significant effect on hairstyle preference, net of the other variables in the model. discussion/conclusion the findings above show that there is a high correlation between self esteem and hairstyle. the hypothesis stated that “the more self esteem african american women have the more natural their hairstyle will be.” based on my findings, my hypothesis has been accepted. according to findings, self-esteem does affect hairstyle preferences. high selfesteem leads african american women to wear their hair in its natural state more often. these findings may indicate that there is a positive shift in ethnic pride, self-satisfaction, and social identity. natural, unprocessed hair is the essence of african american pride. women with high levels of self-esteem are choosing to not follow historical norms of wanting to appear white, even though they are constantly exposed to idealized images of beauty through the media. african american women with high levels of self-esteem seem to share the afrocentric perspective that black is beautiful in all its varying ways. however, the fact that african american women still process their hair suggests that they are still judged by their hair composition. low self esteem causes african american women to seek dominant images that are valued and accepted in american society. therefore, african american women with low selfesteem are still trying to emulate white hairstyles. high self-esteem leads african american women to embrace their natural hair. they are the women that are secure enough to decline the hegemonic standard of beauty. these the hair issue by tajia joseph 29 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) women with high self-esteem are comfortable in their own skin. they embrace their natural hair and are not afraid to have a more afrocentric image. the second hypothesis on political attitudes and hairstyles was not supported. the hypothesis stated that the more natural hairstyle an african american woman wears, the more likely she is to have a liberal viewpoint in politics. the rejection of the second hypothesis disrupts the classic image of the militant or radical, afro-wearing women and suggests that african american women are aligning themselves with mainstream societal concerns. hairstyle is a personal choice, not a political indicator. it also challenges the notion of “the more natural, the more dangerous,” an image of african american women that has been popular since the black panther movement. today, african american women can embrace their natural hair without being directly tied into radical movements and thought. the natural hair preference has more to do with taking on the african american culture and accepting self than with rejecting mainstream society. today, these two things are not one in the same. there were also interesting findings on the variable education. i found that more educated people are more likely to process their hair and less likely to wear their hair natural. as african american women enter white dominated markets they may feel more pressure to conform to institutional norms. wearing an afro or braids might hurt more than help their prospects in corporate america. white executives are the majority population throughout corporate america. therefore, standards of dress and acceptable hairstyles have mirrored white styles. the assumption is that if you're a dark woman with nappy hair, you can't be a woman in the board room, running the company. educated african american women seek approval from colleagues and other professionals. entering the professional world means shedding anything that may intimidate future employers and/ or clientele from hiring them. hair does not mean the same thing to all women as it does to black women. the great hair obsession is driven by the painful need of many african-americans to conform to the dominant values of american society. for black women, hair is a physical indicator of the ways in which they are different. part of female beauty has always included long flowing locks, and for black women who have gravitydefying hair, that refuses to match the standard appearance; this can be a problem. in a culture that teaches that anything black or associated with blackness is negative. publicly wearing your hair natural for african-american women is to embrace blackness as a positive. african american women must be secure within themselves in order to accept their natural hair. exposure to images of acceptable beauty can negatively affect black women’s selfconfidence, which causes them to indulge in image altering products and behaviors. this is why women with high self-esteem are more likely to wear their hair in its natural state and women with low self-esteem are more likely to process their hair. wearing your hair natural is a way for black women to show love for themselves and their ethnicity. the hair issue by tajia joseph 30 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 18-30) there are some limitations to consider in this study. most women were chosen from the los angeles area. self esteem issues may be more prevalent in the los angeles area where hollywood aspirations and celebrity comparison are high. another limitation could be the hawthorn effect. the mere fact that i was present when submitting the surveys may have altered participant responses. the way i presented the survey, my demeanor, or the way the questions were structured may have affected the findings. another factor to consider is the social desirability involved. although the survey was anonymous, respondents may have answered certain questions in a way that presented them in good light. future research may need to administer the survey in different states to compare results. also, future research might examine employment types. to distinguish between full time and part time occupations. also, to compare employment types and positions held by african american women. this may reveal interesting patterns among working african american women. references bellinger, whitney. 2007. “why african american women try to obtain good hair.” sociological viewpoint. 23: 60-72. dash, paul. 2006. “black hair culture, politics, and change.” international journal of inclusive education 10: 27-37. frisby, cynthia m. 2004. “does race matter?: effects of idealized images on african american women's perceptions of body esteem.” journal of black studies 34: 3 23347. herring, mary, thomas b. jankowski and ronald e. brown “pro-black doesn't mean anti-white: the structure of african-american group identity” the journal of politics 61: 363-386. patton, tracey owens. 2006. “hey girl, am i more than my hair?: african american women and their struggles with beauty, body image, and hair.” nwsa journal 18:24-51. weitz, rose. 2001. “women and their hair: seeking power through resistance and accommodation.” gender & society 15:667-86. california sociology forum xiv recognition of the 2023 graduating class at cal state la to the graduating class of 2023: we are so proud of your many achievements that each of you have accomplished at cal state la. best wishes to you all as you move into the next chapter of your personal and professional lives. may you all continue to uplift sociologically informed scholarship and progress in activism for many years to come. class of ‘23 -you did it! the past, present and future of sociology is now! congratulations to the class of 2023! microsoft word 9affects of children of divorce caused by domestic abuse.docx california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 82-90) divorce caused by domestic abuse: how it affects the children eugenia nicole macias department of communication studies california state university, los angeles this paper explores the dynamics of domestic violence to comprehend why it occurs, to examine whether or not mediation works in a divorce involving domestic abuse, to see what effects divorce has on the children, and how to help children cope with divorce caused by domestic abuse. in retrospect, by changing the erroneous social perceptions of domestic abuse, people can learn how to analyze, understand, and see domestic violence for what it really is. since the effects can be lifelong and very damaging, especially to children, it is imperative for society, as a whole, to put an end to it immediately. 1 there are many different reasons why couples file for divorce, such as lack of communication, commitment issues, financial problems, addiction, irreconcilable differences, or simply falling out of love with one another. there is, however, one cause of divorce that is very detrimental to a child’s health and capacity to evolve and grow into a healthy loving adult, which is domestic abuse. domestic violence is more common than many people think, and it is the cause of many divorces. we will explore the dynamics of domestic violence to comprehend why it occurs, to find whether or not mediation works 1 eugenia nicole macias is an undergraduate student at the department of communication studies. this paper was originally submitted to soc 120, taught by professor rick fraser. in a divorce involving domestic abuse, to see what effects divorce has on the children, and, finally, how to help children cope with divorce caused by domestic abuse. in order to understand the complexities behind a divorce caused by domestic abuse, one must be able to analyze the reasoning behind such violence and the reasoning behind staying in the relationship or seeking help. according to professor robert a. pollack (2004) of washington university, he introduces “an intergenerational model of domestic violence [in which he] proposes and analyzes [the] behavioral strategies or scripts [which] are transmitted from parent to child (92).” pollack’s model is based on three assumptions: divorce caused by domestic abuse by eugenia nicole macias 83 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 82-90) • the probability that a husband will be violent depends on whether he grew up in a violent home. • the probability that a wife will remain with a violent husband depends on whether she grew up in a violent home. • individuals who grew up in violent homes tend to marry individuals who grew up in violent homes as well. pollack (2004) emphasizes the trend that individuals who were raised in a home where they were exposed to violence--physical, emotional, or verbal-will most likely be in a violent relationship in the future, whether they themselves are the victims or the abuser. it is crucial to understand that children who grow up witnessing violence in their home will learn that violence is admissible. when children are young, they learn from the behaviors of their parents or care takers and soon begin modeling the very same behavior they see on a day to day basis. this cycle must be put to an end because it is possible that the more violence children are witnessing and exposed to, the more acceptable it seems to hurt others and to have no boundaries. if a child sees his/her parents constantly fighting-verbally and/or emotionally unstable-they will grow up thinking that abuse is normal in every relationship, and they too will suffer the same abuse in their future relationships. in short, pollack (2004) emphasizes the fact that individuals who were raised in an abusive environment will most likely be in an abusive relationship in the future. it is harder for abused children to leave an abusive relationship when they are older because that is a lifestyle they are familiar with, and thus much harder for them to change their ways. a person who was not raised in a violent environment will most likely seek help, if they are in a violent relationship or leave their partner, because that type of violence should not be tolerated, no matter how much they love their significant other. so far, we have analyzed domestic violence and why it occurs, and now we will learn about the importance of changing society’s views on violence within families. social workers have been known to help out families in trouble for many years, and one way they have been trying to help out is to change the social perceptions of domestic abuse. social worker liane v. davis claims that “sexual and physical abuse of children, wives and elders are not new phenomena. we do not really know whether there is more or less now than in centuries past. what has changed now is how we perceive the problem (davis 91).” what davis means by this is that viewing domestic abuse as a very common and traumatic problem for all provides social support for the victims. she also emphasizes that battered women’s shelters did not spring up because there was an upsurge in abused women; child protective services did not develop because more children were being abused and neglected. instead, services developed because some people decided to do something different about problems that have been around since the beginning of recorded history. when people change their perceptions on certain problems, it divorce caused by domestic abuse by eugenia nicole macias 84 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 82-90) makes other people think differently as well. for years, domestic abuse was perceived as something that was normal in families, that it was a man’s right to put his wife in place, and to physically hurt children; however, now, people have been voicing their opinion. women and children should not have to go through these traumatic experiences, that women have the right to protect themselves and their children. it is incredibly important to change the social perceptions of domestic abuse and any other brutalities as well. no type of destructiveness should be permitted, and the only way to change this cycle of violence is to put an end to it, to come out and say that hitting ones’ wife is not acceptable anymore, and it should not have been acceptable in the past either. if nobody stands up and says something is wrong, then nothing will ever change, and society will stay the same. change is needed to grow, and it is necessary that our society changes its views on domestic violence and that it shouldn’t be allowed to happen. what davis has to say is imperative: that we as a society have to change together in order to make a difference in helping women and children grow and live in an abusive free environment. now that we have analyzed domestic violence and learned the importance of changing social perceptions of violence, we will learn how mediation works in abusive and non-abusive relationships. in many divorces, mediation is used to gather both parties and consult them to agree on decisions that will favor both parties and the children; however, there are many pros and cons in having a mediator within a divorce caused by domestic abuse. according to research specialist, wendy koen, and california attorney board certified licensed psychologist, dennis p. saccuzzo, “when mediation is used, [in a nonviolent home] conflict is decreased, cooperation is increased, and there is evidence of more child-focused communication between parents (koen and saccuzzo 2006).” however, in a home with domestic violence, koen and saccuzzo claim that the act of separation and bringing legal finality to the marriage relationship may act as a trigger to the abusive spouse, causing the abuser to attempt to regain control over the victim of dv through increased violence. the abusive spouse might make the victim seem miniscule in court by slandering their partner and saying they are not fit to take care of their child in order to gain back control of the deteriorating relationship, or the abuser might threaten the victim that they will never have their child back and other such threats. koen and saccuzzo (2006) also emphasized that “the abused spouse has been conditioned to relent, compromise, and conform . . . in order to be safe from violence.” the abuser will try his/her hardest to make the process of divorce as difficult as possible for the victim, so that they will give in and agree to almost anything just to get everything over with. some examples are giving in to spousal visits with the children, causing the victim to constantly face her abuser. so, even though it has been proven that while mediation in nonviolent families has productive outcomes for couples in a divorce, it does not necessarily work for couples with a history of dv, because it involves both the abuser and victim to still visit divorce caused by domestic abuse by eugenia nicole macias 85 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 82-90) each other and be a part of one another’s’ life. now that we learned that mediation does not work in violent families, we will discuss the conflicts related to child-visiting in domestic abuse cases. when a couple who has a history of domestic violence decides to divorce, it does not necessarily mean that the violence automatically ends; there are many conflicts the victims have to deal with even after the divorce has been settled. according to melanie shepard (1992), “60% of women reported ongoing psychological abuse in the form of threats and intimidation, often involving mutual children, after legal intervention and counseling had taken place (shepard 92).” shepard states that women were still abused by their ex-husbands mostly during the pickup and return of the children. because the children are still exposed to the abuse, they begin to form adjustment problems and become very anxious, as well as forming psychological problems (shepard 92). through research, shepard (1992) has found that “the seriousness of children’s adjustment problems was related to the frequency of wifebattering, to the number of negative life events, and to the levels of anxiety and other stress-connected dysfunctions of their mothers.” the more stressed out the mother is about having to see the abuser, then the more anxious the child will become as well. when they are forced into mediation, the feelings of anxiousness, uneasiness, intimidation, and fear, will only continue. in addition, through shepard’s research, she has found that after all the legal matters have been settled in a dv divorce where mediation is involved, the abuse does not end, and that different options should be considered that will help the battered women/men and children feel safe during child-visiting to help keep the children safe from harm and from viewing more abuse. now that we have learned about the conflicts related to child-visiting in domestic abusive cases, we will take a look at how a family’s divorce with history of dv can cause more problems than before. although some people seem to believe that once a family with a repeated history of domestic violence files for divorce, the violence ends. as mentioned before, this is generally not the case. sometimes, cases of dv actually cause more abuse once the divorce is finalized. as robert geffner (1990), founder and executive director of the family violence research and treatment program at the university of texas, and mildred pagelow, research professor in the department of sociology at california state university, fullerton, both remind us that this indeed is the case for most dv divorces, and they further indicate that “the pending termination of [an abusive] marriage leads some men into abusive activities such as ‘spying, breaking down the door at night, obscene phone calls, physical beatings, vandalism, and attempts at child-napping (quoted wallerstein & kelly 1980).” the abuser feels threatened that they will no longer be in charge of the relationship, or have control over the victim and the children any longer, so they begin to further abuse the victims as much as possible to keep them in fear that they cannot get away from them. because the abuser needs to be in constant control of his or her victims, they use violence in order to divorce caused by domestic abuse by eugenia nicole macias 86 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 82-90) keep them in line. now we will learn the major effects of divorce on the victims. the effects of divorce in an abusive marriage can be very traumatic, especially to the children involved. it has been said that “psychological violence, family disruptions, and characteristics of parental conflict have all been associated with a greater risk of developing adjustment problems in childhood and adolescence (gange & drapeau 2007).” not only do the children of abusive relationships have to deal with the trauma of their parents’ divorce, they have to deal with even more emotional and psychological problems brought on by the stress of their parents. they have to live in the fear of what their abuser might do next--like kidnap them, hurt their mothers or even of being victimized themselves, more so than before. often times, the children feel pressured to favor one parent over the other (called triangulation), which can also lead to more problems. should the child pick the mother, who is also being victimized and threatened, or are they supposed to pick the abusive father with the fear that in choosing to side with their mother might cause the father to become more violent and abusive? the children are going through enough in having to go through the divorce as well, there shouldn’t have to be any more pressure or fear instilled in them. in short, it has been emphasized that children of divorce caused by domestic abuse have more psychological and emotional problems than that of a child whose parents are not involved in an abusive relationship. not only do children of abusive relationships acquire psychological problems, they also tend to suffer from negative attitudes towards many aspects of life. according to mo-yee lee, associate professor at the college of social work at ohio state, she claims that “[s]tudies of children from violent homes have shown the prevalence of the emotions of fear, anxiety, sadness, and anger in children that may be related to post-traumatic stress symptoms (quoted jaffe, wolfe & wilson 1990; pelede 1998).” because these young children have to go through all the fear and manipulation involved in a divorce involving dv, they also end up suffering much more afterwards, such as not knowing what to expect anymore, always being scared or fearful of abandonment. since they were not raised in a healthy environment, they are not capable of maturing the way a child brought up in a loving household would be capable of. due to their neglectful upbringing, children of divorce caused by domestic violence are more vulnerable to feelings anger or sadness than love and happiness, and thus are more prone to post-traumatic stress disorders than children of divorce in a healthy environment. children that are raised in an unhealthy, abusive environment are more likely to have long-lasting emotional problems in their adulthood. according to journalist raymond taylor, traumatic childhood experiences can be profound: childhood traumas can result in intimacy disturbance (e.g., fearing, distrusting, and experiencing ambivalence about interpersonal closeness; impaired ability to trust), difficulties with sexual relating, increased probability of physical violence and re-victimization, problems with emotional expressiveness and divorce caused by domestic abuse by eugenia nicole macias 87 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 82-90) intimacy, and emotional avoidance, which may in turn interfere with effective relationship functioning (as quoted briere 1992; compton & follette 1998). it is important to be aware of the fact that if the children of abusive relationships grow up into fearful and distrusting adults it can affect them in a completely negative manner. they will have many more problems to deal with once they are in an intimate relationship of their own, if they are even able to do so. everyone should have the right to openly and expressively love another person. and if their childhood trauma keeps them in fear of trusting anyone other than themselves, and keeps them from acquiring a healthy loving relationship, then something should be done in order to help these innocent, young victims. living in a world full of fear and anxiety is not healthy or productive at all, and they are not to blame. there are many sources from which individuals going through a divorce can rely on to help them get through such a difficult process, one form of help is through therapeutic intervention. raymond j. taylor claims that eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (emdr) with supplemental modalities of ericksonian hypnosis and anchoring devices of neuro-linguistic programming (nlp) is [a] therapeutic model that may be combined with the efforts of mediation, divorce education and support and counseling groups to reduce the pain and anguish being experienced (taylor 04). the process of emdr and nlp (under the directions and supervision of a psychotherapist) consists of the following: the desensitization of negative cognitions and installation of positive processes or thoughts by use of planned, rapid, rhythmic eye movements and internal body scanning of the results. the client rates the level of anxiety using a 10-point subjective unit of disturbance scale (suds) where 0 represents neutral intensity and 10 equals the highest possible anxiety (quoted wolpe, 1991). because the patient is working to desensitize their negative cognitions and to replace them with positive processes, this, in turn, allows them to be less anxious regarding whatever makes them fearful or any other negative feeling regarding their traumatic childhood experience of their parents’ divorce. in making their fears less fearful, they are able to overcome emotional and psychological obstacles they were once not able to face. this process can be very productive and helpful for individuals who are not able to deal with their childhood trauma through regular therapy. in short, through therapeutic intervention, many adults who were affected by their abusive parent’s divorce are now able to live in a life with less fear and anxiety. therapeutic intervention is not the only source to helping children coping with distress; there are also other ways to help them grow productively and healthy. according to (bradley 2007), there are four main perspectives a parent can keep in mind in helping their child grow as any healthy young child: “(1) [protection] from direct threats of harm; (2) [provide] a sense of emotional security; (3) the capacity to enact adaptive coping strategies; and (4) the opportunity and ability to build and use divorce caused by domestic abuse by eugenia nicole macias 88 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 82-90) positive personal assets (quoted cummings, davies & campbell 2000; lazarus, 1993; scales & leffert 1999).” if a parent is capable of offering these four necessities to their child, then there is a chance that they will be able to grow up with the basic capabilities of functioning in a relationship as a child who did not grow up in a violent home. if the abused mother or father is able to rid the family of their abuser, then she/he will save the children from strain and stresses. if the victim is able to offer emotional security, and to build positive communication skills with the children, then the children might not be as traumatized internally as they would have, if the parent had not been able to offer these securities. these are just a few ways in which a parent can help their neglected, abused child to cope with a painful and violent divorce. if a parent is capable of offering these perspectives, then their child has a greater chance of developing and growing in a more healthy state of mind. in retrospect, we learned how to analyze domestic violence by changing the social perceptions of domestic abuse, and that mediation works in divorce where abuse is involved. it is imperative to understand the seriousness of domestic abuse and how it affects victims, especially if children are involved. the effects can be lifelong and very damaging. it is unfair for the children to be a part of such a hostile environment because then they will abuse other innocent individuals as well. they also should not have to go through such trauma, or simply be in a relationship as the victim, because they do not know anything else. no one should be put through abuse in a relationship; love is not really love if someone is getting hurt. just because someone is not getting physically hurt does not mean they are not in an abusive relationship; verbal and emotional abuse are still abuse, and it still hurts. all this constant abuse and negative attitude is unbearable, and nobody should have to stay in a relationship where there is more damage than productivity and love. i have so much empathy for women, children and men as well as those who are the victims in abusive relationships; it should not be tolerated and should be put to an end immediately. reference bradley, robert h. 2007. “parenting in the breach: how parents help children cope with developmentally challenging circumstances.” parenting: science & practice, aprjun2007, 7:2, 99 148, 50 retrieved january 20, 2009 available: academic search premiere briere, j. n. (1992). child abuse trauma: theory and treatment of the lasting effects. newbury park: sage compton, j.s & follete, v. m. (1998). couples surviving trauma: issues and interventions. in v.m. follette, j. i. ruzek & f.r. abueg (eds.) cognitivebehavioral therapies for trauma (pp. 321-352). new york: guilford. cummings, e. m., davies, p., & campbell, s.b., (2000). developmental psychopathology and family process. ny:guilford. divorce caused by domestic abuse by eugenia nicole macias 89 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 82-90) davis, liane v. 1991. “violence and families.” social work, sep91, 36:5,371-373, 3 retrieved january 19,2009 available academic search premiere gagne, marie-helene, sylvie drapeau, claudiante melancon, marie christine saint-jacques, and rachel lepine. 2007. “links between parental psychological violence, other family disturbances, and children's adjustment.” family process, dec2007, 46: 4 523542, 20 retrieved january 20, 2009 available: academic search premiere geffner, robert; daley pagelow, mildred. 1990. “mediation and child custody issues in abusive relationships.” behavioral sciences & the law, spring 1990, 8: 2, 151159, 9 retrieved january 17 2009 available: academic search premiere koen, wendy j. dennis p saccuzzo. and nancy e. johnson. 2006. “custody mediation in violent and nonviolent families: pitfalls and perils.” american journal of family law, winter 2006, 19:4, 253-265, 13 retrieved january 20, 2009 available: academic search premiere jaffe, p.g., wolfe, d. a., & wilson, s. k. 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(1999). developmental assets. minneapolis, mn: search institute. shepard, melanie. “child-visiting and domestic abuse.”child welfare, jul/aug92, 71: 4, 357-367, 11 retrieved january 20, 2009 available: academic search premiere taylor, raymond j.. “therapeutic intervention of trauma and stress brought on by divorce” journal of divorce & remarriage, 2004, 41:1/2, 129135, 7 retrieved january 19, 2009 available: academic search premiere whisman, mark a.. “childhood trauma and marital outcomes in adulthood.”personal relationships, dec2006, 13:4, 375-386, 12 retrieved january divorce caused by domestic abuse by eugenia nicole macias 90 california sociology journal, 2010, vol. 2 (issue 1: 82-90) 20, 2009 available: academic search premiere wallerstein, j.s, & kelly, j.b. (1980). surviving the breakup: how children and parents cope with divorce. new york: basic books. wolfe, d.a, zak, l., wilson, s., & jaffe, p. (1986). child witnesses to violence between parents: critical issues in behavioral and social adjustment. journal of abnormal child psychology,14, 95-104. wolpe, j. (1991). post-traumatic stress disorder overcome by eye movement desensitization: a case report. journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychology, 22(1), 39-24 california sociology forum student journal of sociology volume 5 spring 2023 support for the publication of california sociology forum (csf) came from the instructionally related activities budget of the college of natural and social sciences at california state university, los angeles. special thanks to victor mojica (nss communications specialist) and kirstie genzel (electronic resources and digital publishing librarian) at california state university, los angeles cover image: photograph by victor mojica. cover design by andrea dominguez and brittany kalaj margulieux. “drowning in the american dream” painting by claudio talavera-ballón. this art mural captures the experiences of latin american immigrants crossing the southern border of the united states. it depicts migrant families persisting through a river to greener pastures but encountering the obstacle of a border patrol on horseback using a whip. monarch butterflies represent the right of living beings to move freely. the mural shows dreamers in graduation attire, achieving the immigrant dream of upward mobility. in the center of the mural, a student depicted in graduation attire holds a sign that asks, “now what?” another student on the left holds a sign with the writing, “i am a dreamer. you can’t deport ideals.” op-ed | garcia 1 california sociology forum vol. 5 how the devil influenced rock and metal sammy garcia iii department of sociology california state university, los angeles introduction if folktales are to be believed, the devil seems to have quite the interest in music. from the satanic imagery in metal, the legendary fiddle duel in “the devil went down to georgia,” to the legend of robert johnson selling his soul to the devil at a crossroads. it would appear that the prince of darkness likes a good tune as much as you and i. he has been present every step of the way in popular music throughout the last century. the relationship between the devil and music goes back centuries, but this paper begins in the delta with tommy johnson and robert johnson (no relation) and how they both made deals with the devil, continues with an analysis of how the devil influenced rock and metal as we know today, and concludes with an examination of how satan remains as the most powerful symbol of absolute rebellion in music today. erving goffman and emilie durkheim were sociologists who each had concepts relating to society and how society viewed those concepts and theories of stigma, symbols, ritual, and sacred. stigma is behavior, attributes, or reputation viewed as socially discrediting. basically, stereotyping and negative connotations associated with the thing being stigmatized and in this case it’s rock and metal. symbols, ritual, and sacred are religious concepts by emile durkheim which all represent sacredness in a way because they are deemed as so by how society views them. rituals and symbols are things that are viewed as highly respected and commonly practiced forms of devotion but if we flip it to our point of view you can see rock and metal as forms of rituals and it too has symbols of devotion too. sacred is something deemed as such because society and individuals in society deem it as so. now as these concepts are treated as sacred by how individuals and society views them, we can also use these concepts as a way to destigmatize how rock and metal are viewed as “devil’s music” and how they are misrepresented and how they’re seen through a different sociological lens. with the help of these concepts. but op-ed | garcia 2 california sociology forum vol. 5 first we have to dive into how this stigma got started and the person that is commonly associated with the “devil’s music”. history of the devil in johnsons’ music before we dive into robert johnson, we must first have a little backstory that led up to him at the crossroads and another blues player before him. tommy johnson was a blues player from 1914-1956 who recorded in the late 1920s who came before robert and was so good on the guitar that he was instrumental in creating the delta blues sound along with its accompanying mythology. according to the legend, johnson’s older brother, ledell, claimed that at one point his brother had sold his soul to the devil: he returned two years later an accomplished performer, which, according to ledell, johnson attributed to a meeting with a mysterious figure at a crossroads. the story involved johnson handing over his guitar to a large black man who tuned it for him. (mississippi blues commission 2022) johnson’s stage presence was one of curiosity that led credence to this idea. he showboated on stage like a man overcome by something supernatural. he played his guitar behind his head, between his legs, and using a falsetto voice unmistakable to contemporary blues fans and which can be heard in the tune “big road blues.” tommy even eventually took up the mantle that he did indeed sell his soul to the devil. tommy johnson’s legend would soon be overshadowed by robert johnson. the infamous story of robert johnson begins around 1929 with meeting bluesman son house and willie brown in robinsonville, mississippi where they had settled and played the local area. johnson would accompany them and play with them around the local spots, on some occasions after a gig, brown, house and another accompaniment named patton would all belittle johnson and his embarrassing lack of guitar skills. son house said of robert, “such another racket you never heard! lt’d make people mad, you know. they’d come out and say ‘why don’t y’all go in there and get that guitar from that boy?” (compagna 2000). shortly after crossing paths, robert left for op-ed | garcia 3 california sociology forum vol. 5 martinsville, mississippi; two years later, robert returned to robinsonville where his ability to play now blew both locally based notable bluesmen son house and willie brown away. by the time robert johnson became known in the mainstream, his myth and legend had already had decades to grow and warp. when tommy johnson told his tale and when robert johnson sang about the crossroads, neither of them could have possibly known the huge changes they were about to bring on, because the crossroads and the delta blues that they helped to create were not the final destination. instead, they’re a key landmark in the incredible journey that brought on rock and roll and metal. in doing so, they changed the world forever. robert johnson’s influence in rock robert johnson is seen by many today as the grandfather of rock and roll. that comes not only from how he played but also from his mythology. it is foundationally why rock has been labeled as “devil's music.” many musicians who followed in johnson’s footsteps have since played with occult imagery, including the rolling stones, who were influenced by robert johnson, muddy waters, and other famous bluesmen. in the book me and the devil blues, j.d. wells connects johnson and the stones, stating that: the influence of robert johnson is particularly evident in terms of individual values and themes. johnson’s songs, like the rolling stones, are rooted in honesty and social realism which uncovers an often brutal account of the world through the expressive characteristics of the human voice. (wells 1983: 17) in other words, johnson sang about what was around him, and what others were going through during the great depression. the rolling stones and other popular rock bands of the 60s and 70s reflect a consonant attunement to social observation and critique. robert johnson influenced early rock and roll musicians through his musical talent and qualities, lyrics, and legend. adam compagna (2000) argues that: according to black folk culture, johnson had a number of traits that might have been seen as op-ed | garcia 4 california sociology forum vol. 5 demonic: he had a cataract in one eye; he often played with his back turned to other musicians, causing people to believe he had something to hide; and he favored unusual guitar tunings. even in his music there is devil imagery. in “hellhound on my trail,” johnson sings that he became a traveling vagabond in the middle of a run-in with the devil and that hellhounds are following him. you can also see it as the middle of a song trilogy and his legend coming to an end. “cross road blues” is the beginning of his tale and where he sold his soul, “hellhound on my trail” in the middle where he has run-in with the devil, and then the trilogy ends with “me and the devil blues” in which the opening lyrics are johnson opening his door to see the devil standing there and johnson replying, “hello satan, i believe it’s time to go.” a year later, after he had recorded “me and the devil blues” on june 19, 1937, on august 16, 1938, the devil came for his part of the deal and took johnson’s soul. he was poisoned by a jealous husband and died at 27 years old. ‘devil music’ and stigma erving goffman was a canadian-born sociologist, social psychologist, and writer, considered by some the most influential american sociologist of the twentieth century. his theory about stigma applies to how others view rock and metal as “devil's music.” stigma is defined as signs that expose something about a person. during the 1950s, when rock and roll was becoming popular, parents could have a visual on how they could distinguish kids who were listeners of the “devil’s music.” they could tell by rock and roll lovers’ appearance, leather jackets, levi’s, and boots compared to the more conservative kids. that appearance of the leather jacket and boots was and still is by some the official uniform of rock and roll, punk, and metal. this was a uniform that both distinguished and stigmatized them. goffman said that “a stigmatized person is ‘blemished’ and is ‘disqualified from full social acceptance.’” scared parents during this era believed that if their kids liked this music, they might also emulate deviant acts of the musicians they idolized. according to goffman’s stigma (1963), “most people experience the role of being stigmatized …at least in some op-ed | garcia 5 california sociology forum vol. 5 connections and in some phases of life." at first, those who loved rock and roll were treated as a “blemish” and this disqualified them from social belonging in line with societal norms. however, the strongly stigmatized often holds the "blemish" as a badge of honor, showing others that: yes, i am what i am, and there is nothing you can do about it. that type of resistance emerged in rock and roll lovers in the 50s and continues to be sort of a battle cry of musical rebels today. a great example of this was when john lennon of the beatles remarked that they were bigger and more popular than jesus christ. this sparked a ton of controversy about the real “message” of the music. the beatles were stigmatized by conservative segments of society for a while but it never actually stopped their popularity. ‘devil music’ as sacred resistance emile durkheim was a french sociologist and was the first academic sociologist. he formally established the academic discipline of sociology along with karl marx and max weber, who are commonly cited as the principal architects of modern social science. according to durkheim, the sacred is defined as the extraordinary, that which is set apart from and “above and beyond” the everyday world. in other words, anything can be deemed sacred if socially defined as such. people who mark blues, rock, and metal as sacred see those genres as such specifically because they have formed communities around the act of marking the art as sacred (sociology guide 2023). when rock and roll and metal were labeled “devil’s music,” it did not deter listeners of the music. it, in fact, did quite the opposite. it brought more and more and more listeners to those genres and made them even more popular. an excellent example of the concept of sacred put into practice was in the 1980s when tipper gore and the parents music resource center (pmrc) went after heavy metal bands and their songs deemed in their eyes as the “filthy fifteen,” which included twisted sister’s “we’re not gonnatake it”, black sabbath’s “trashed”, and venom “possessed” to just name a few. the goal was to make children not listen to them since they purportedly promote violence and occultic activity. well, like that saying goes, tell someone “no don’t do that,” and they’ll do it anyway. this has op-ed | garcia 6 california sociology forum vol. 5 been called the forbidden fruit effect (binder, matthes, naderer 2020). that parental advisory sticker did the opposite and caused new listeners to go and listen to these songs from these bands and any other album that dawned that sticker (“tipper sticker”). labeling the music "explicit" made the regular listeners and fans that much more adamant and determined never to abandon their beloved genre. rock and metal as ritual durkheim’s concept of ritual is defined as a highly routinized act (e.g. taking communion, praying towards mecca or jerusalem, and so forth). you could say that listening to rock and roll and metal is a ritualistic form for devotees. they listen to it religiously because they love the bands, like how catholics take the host every time at mass because they love jesus christ. people attend mass or sunday service for social support and to rejoice in god’s love. when i asked my friend why he loves rock and metal, this is what he had to say, “being at metal shows and rock shows breaks down all barriers and allows people who love the music to share their passion with others. i have seen and met so many cool people at these shows.” as catholics, christians, muslims, and jewish people all go to their places of worship to share their love with god, rockers, metalheads, and punks all go to shows to share their love with others for the band playing. an example of shows being a ritual is when i went to my second festival, punk in the park. i saw all the older punks and the new generation of younger punks like myself all together outside at oak canyon park in silverado, ca. you can even compare it to those outdoor churches. in the outdoor churches, you sometimes have food and drink offered after service as we did at the festival, with food trucks and beer. everyone was enjoying themselves, eating some good food, having some good beer, and making new friends over the love of the different bands that were playing that day. again, much like people who go to their places of worship to rejoice in their love for their god, rock and metal fans rejoice in the love of our musical gods. the fans stuck with it because of the aforementioned community bond over deeming the genres sacred. op-ed | garcia 7 california sociology forum vol. 5 the role of symbols in music durkheim’s concept of symbols is defined as something that stands for something else, a representation that calls up collective meanings. places of worship have their symbols, such as the sign of the cross, as does rock and metal music. the symbol for rock on is index finger up, middle fingers down, pinky up, and thumb in. a prime example of the rock on symbol being widely recognized and popular was through its use by black sabbath. in 1979, ronnie james dio replaced ozzy in black sabbath. osbourne had his double peace sign he would do on stage, so dio felt the band would not be black sabbath without one. dio many times explained to media outlets that he took the hand sign from his italian grandmother. in an interview he gave with evilg of the online service metal-rules.com, dio mentions that “it’s not the devil’s sign like we’re here with the devil. ... it’s to ward off the evil eye or to give the evil eye, depending on which way you do it. so, it’s a bit like “knocking on wood” (evilg 2006). even if you have never listened to rock and metal music you have seen this symbol of rock on at least once in your life. this is much like people who aren’t religious and or atheists know what the symbol of the cross is because they too have seen it once in their lives. these symbols are engrained in our minds. devil influences in music many people say that heavy metal first started and began with black sabbath, including myself. black sabbath's first debut album had the most amazing artwork for the album cover: it had an inverted cross on the inner sleeve. the distortion of the image of the woman in the cloak wearing nothing underneath (the photographer mentions that), just added fuel to critics saying they were satanists and occultists. but they rolled with it and brushed it off, and now black sabbath are considered the fathers of heavy metal. to add to the play of satanists and occultists, the album was released on friday 13th in february 1970. as we know friday 13th is associated with the horror franchise but it was also controversial because of the number 13 being a superstitious number and bad luck. since then, the imagery of the devil has been prominent, from venom having a goat head in a pentagram in their welcome to hell album, to ghost having an inverted cross op-ed | garcia 8 california sociology forum vol. 5 which they call the grucifix, to countless other metal bands. many other people would say that the devil is playing the instruments, putting hidden messages in songs. in the 80s, christian organizations and tv shows were against heavy metal and against their child listening to such ‘vile devil music’. one anonymous critic said, “listen to heavy metal music and the devil will make you kill your mom.” in the article “heavy metal kids: are they playing with the devil?” it talks about how listening to heavy metal will promote violence, suicide, and satanism, as said by the author, “the popularity of heavy metal music with young people has grown dramatically; among adults, concerns about its influence have also grown. it is alleged that heavy metal promotes violence, suicide, satanism, and the occult” (trzcinski 1992). this is roughly the same thing parents of the 50s said about rock and roll: that it promotes sex, violence, delinquency, and crime. the satanic panic of the 1980s helped fuel the rebellious nature of heavy metal and gave kids something that could really piss off their parents, just like early rock and roll did in the 1950s. when thinking of the beatles, you wouldn’t think of satan, would you? well, my friends, you would be wrong. in the book lucifer rising, sin, devil worship & rock and roll, the author gavin baddeley (1994) mentions this about the beatles: christians suspicious of the beatles were confirmed by detailed perusal of the cover of their catchy, innovative sgt. pepper album. the cover design is a collage of people admired by the beatles, all standing behind the band: among them, in the top row can be seen aleister crowley. (2016) crowley himself is a prominent force in metal songs such as “mr. crowley” by ozzy osbourne to iron maiden's song “moonchild.” the reason why is that crowley had such a rock star mystique about him, shocking everyone with his indulgence in sex and drugs until his death at the age of 72. when the beatles were recording their album sgt. pepper’s lonely hearts club band, they were on a spiritual rebellion, because as i mentioned before, lennon had remarked that they were more popular than jesus christ. because of that remark they had a somewhat terrible u.s. tour and vowed that they wouldn’t tour again and be a studio-only op-ed | garcia 9 california sociology forum vol. 5 band. in my opinion, i think john lennon saying that was a good thing because we wouldn’t have this amazing album, where they expanded on their sound and experimented with different instruments. this was also a time of expanding on the mind as well through mind-altering, eye-opening drugs such as lsd. so, the beatles took that label of being satanists and devil’s music and ran with it, releasing an amazing album. conclusion satan is one of the strongest concepts that any artist could draw on. from tommy johnson’s tale, to robert johnson’s legend, to elvis’ gyrating hips, to the beatles infamous long hair, satanic concepts have riled up the public promoting the bands more than any advertising could instead of keeping their children away from the “devil's music.” durkheim’s and goffman’s concepts help to paint rock and metal in a different picture; a picture of understanding instead of misunderstanding. we saw how durkheim’s concept of ritual applied to places of worship, but we also saw how it can also apply to these genres. as long as art and music exist, satanic themes and imagery do not equal devil worship. they are just that: themes and imagery, nothing more nothing less. stories of the devil are essential in the history of human creativity and the devil has helped to shape pop culture. without the devil we wouldn’t have the blues and without the blues, we wouldn’t have the amazing genres that followed the blues pattern. no rock and roll, no punk, no metal, no country, no pop, no r&b, and no rap to just name a few of the big genres. even at the 2023 grammys, we saw another return of the devil back in the music game. sam smith and kelly petras did a duo performance of the song “unholy” to some backlash by some conservative people, as this news article talks about the highlight of the night: surrounded by long-haired acolytes in identical red sheaths, smith kicked off the performance in an outfit of latex and a devil-horned top hat before petras made her grand entrance in a giant cage guarded by a trio of she-devils. ‘mummy don’t know daddy’s getting hot/ at the body shop, doin’ something unholy,’ the duo belted in hellish op-ed | garcia 10 california sociology forum vol. 5 harmony as a wall of fire erupted on stage behind petras’ personal prison. (rowley 2023) i think the devil should be awarded a grammy for his help in the music business, that is if he is real. it all comes back to that ageold question, is the devil real? as is said, the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. references anon. n.d. “sacred and profane.” sociologyguide.com. retrieved march 7, 2023 https://www.sociologyguide.com/socioshort-notes/sacred-and-profane.php. baddeley, gavin. lucifer rising: sin, devil worship & rock’n’roll. london, england: plexus publishing, 1999. print. binder, alice, brigitte naderer, and jörg matthes. 2020. “a ‘forbidden fruit effect’: an eye-tracking study on children's visual attention to food marketing.” international journal of environmental research and public health. retrieved april 30, 2023 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc714281 4/. compagna, adam. 2000. the devil in robert johnson: the progression of delta blues to rock and roll. loyno.edu. n.p., n.d. web. evilg. 2013. “ronnie james dio.” metalrules. retrieved march 7, 2023 https://www.metal-rules.com/2006/09/14/ronniejames-dio-2/. goffman, e. 1963. stigma: notes on the management of spoiled identity. london: penguin. rowley, glenn. n.d. 2023. “sam smith & kim petras deliver fiery performance of ‘unholy’: 2023 grammys.” recording academy. retrieved march 7, 2023 https://www.grammy.com/news/sam-smith-kim-petras2023-grammys-performance-unholy. “tommy johnson.” the mississippi blues trail. retrieved september 5, 2022 https://msbluestrail.org/blues-trailmarkers/tommy-johnson. trzcinski, jon. 1992. “heavy metal kids: are they dancing with the devil?” child & youth care forum 21(1):7–22. op-ed | garcia 11 california sociology forum vol. 5 wells, john d. 1983. “me and the devil blues: a study of robert johnson and the music of the rolling stones.” popular music & society (9)3:17–24. print. williams, steve. 2017. “rock 'n' roll and ‘moral panics’ part one: 1950s and 1960s.” university of southern indiana. retrieved march 7, 2023 https://www.usi.edu/news/releases/2017/02/rock-n-rolland-moral-panics-part-one-1950s-and-1960s california sociology forum student journal of sociology volume 6 fall 2023 spring 2024 support for the publication of california sociology forum (csf) came from the instructionally related activities budget of the college of natural and social sciences at california state university, los angeles. special thanks to victor mojica (communications specialist with the college of natural and social sciences) and milo valentine (m.a. student with the department of sociology’s graduate program) at california state university, los angeles for their image expertise. land, resistance, and radical care | design by milo valentine. cover image description: pastel teal solid foundation with a graphic design depicting … the primary object of land, resistance, and radical care is an illustration of two hands side-by-side, palms up, with fingers slightly rounded. in the palm of the hands rests an object that might resemble earth or a flower in bloom. a warm pink backlight surrounds the hands, symbolizing the interconnection of care and resistance. this piece is set against the backdrop of the los angeles county map from the 1800s, which includes topographic symbols and borders marked by colorful patches overseeing miles of land. additionally, the phrases “stolen land” and “landback” are inscribed across the wrists of the hands holding our world, symbolizing the necessity of our pursuits to stem from this foundational historic understanding. california sociology forum creative works | op-eds | parsons 170 california sociology forum vol. 6 opioid addiction and overdose in america brian benjamin parsons department of sociology california state university, los angeles introduction in 1971, richard nixon declared the war on drugs. today, almost 53 years later, it’s clear the united states has not only lost this war but is also suffering the consequences. in 2014, the life expectancy of americans decreased for the first time since world war i (deweerdt 2019). the drug related death toll in 2017 alone surpassed american casualties (minhee and calandrillo 2019) from “the vietnam, iraq, and afghanistan wars combined.” three drugs in particular are to blame for what the american government has deemed a public health emergency: opioids, heroin, and fentanyl. ironically, legally acquired prescription opioids are the biggest culprit as they have acted as a gateway and created a snowball effect into the more serious drug use of heroin and fentanyl. drug addiction and drug overdose is now considered to be a number one threat to the american people (minhee and calandrillo 2019). context to understand how the united states got here, let’s rewind to 1995 when purdue pharma began a manipulative and deadly anti-pain campaign. prior to 1995, the medical community viewed opioids like purdue’s oxycontin as medication only to be used by those who were terminally ill. purdue hoped to expand the possibilities for who might be deemed appropriate to receive this kind of medication, so they went on a nationwide lobbying offensive. their goal was to manipulate physicians into believing that these opioids did not pose a risk for their patients because opioids were not an addictive substance if used under the appropriate supervision of a medical professional. purdue did this by citing a 1986 study, which only included 38 participants, to prove to physicians that opioids would only pose an addictive threat if used recreationally (minhee and clandrillo 2019), and invented a new term called “pseudoaddiction” to downplay the creative works | op-eds | parsons 171 california sociology forum vol. 6 actual threat their opioids would pose to the american people. despite this history, it would be an oversimplification of a very complex situation to only blame purdue pharma for the current drug epidemic; they were not prescribing the opioids, medical professionals were. according to an expert in pharmacology (minhee and clandrillo 2019), “the success of oxycontin stems partly from the fact that so many doctors wanted to believe in the therapeutic benefits of opioids.” whether this was true or not, it was not long after the opioid flood gates were opened that it should have become very clear to all parties involved that something was going terribly wrong. minhee and clandrillo give one example of what should have been an alarming warning sign was the fact that “some counties and states had more prescriptions than people, yet distributors continued to let the drugs proliferate.” purdue pharma and the doctors would have been aware of the number of opioids they were selling and prescribing, and yet the number of drugs being introduced to the american public accelerated at hazardous levels. jones et al. (2018) notes: “from 1997 to 2002, oxycontin prescriptions increased from 670,000 to 6.2 million.” a large part of why opioids like oxycontin skyrocketed in sales was because, unlike purdue pharma’s original claims, their drugs were extremely addictive and users were now needing larger doses (ryan, girion, and glover 2016). due to the benefit of hindsight , the center for disease control and prevention (cdc) now knows that “up to 24% of people on the drugs long-term become addicted.” with more and more negative statistics like this becoming known to the public, it was only a matter of time before purdue pharma had to pay for its wrongdoing. after 12 years, purdue pharma had been sued and fined 635 million dollars for marketing oxycontin as less addictive when they knew from the outset that this was false information. unfortunately, this fine did nothing to help the millions of americans who now suffered with addiction and were seeking out cheaper and more potent drugs (minhee and clandrillo 2019). at this point, phase two of the epidemic began. as restrictions mounted and legal opioids became harder to acquire, addicts began turning to heroin. if it seems like hyperbole that one drug can lead to another drug, minhee and clandrillo (2019) found creative works | op-eds | parsons 172 california sociology forum vol. 6 that ”94% of opioid-addicted participants reported switching from prescription opioid pills to heroin because the former was far more expensive and harder to obtain.” unlike opioids like oxycontin, which are synthesized in a lab and can almost guarantee that the user is getting a consistent dose, heroin is illegally manufactured and far less safe for the user. in fact, “between 1999 and 2016, heroin related overdoses increased by a factor of five” (minhee and clandrillo 2019). unfortunately, this is because heroin is often laced with one of the most dangerous drugs of all time: fentanyl, which represented phase 3 of the epidemic. fentanyl poses such a danger (minhee and clandrillo 2019) that it is only “medically appropriate for individuals facing imminent death. it is not only 100 times more potent than natural morphine, but 50 times stronger than heroin.” what adds to the level of danger that fentanyl poses is that many users have no idea they are about to ingest it, as dealers cut either heroin or cocaine with it to increase its potency. by 2016 (minhee and clandrillo 2019), “deaths involving synthetic opioids, mostly fentanyl, had risen 540 percent in just three years.” in a period of 18 years, the united states witnessed how a legally prescribed drug can ravage communities, morph into increasingly dangerous forms, and seemingly have very little in the way of effective responses for how to combat this deadly epidemic. it is past time for the united states to look for new solutions to end its 52-year war on drugs. undoing the damage from the war on drugs reversing the damage of the war on drugs requires major changes on federal, state, and local levels. instead of punishing people who are addicted to drugs, we should be ensuring that they get the help that they desperately need. the affordable care act and the mental health parity and addictions equity act of 2010 were major steps in the right direction. the former increased the number of insured americans, and the latter prevented insurance companies from blocking access to mental health. individuals with substance use issues who previously had no insurance can now access life altering drug treatment programs and receive benefits (jones et al. 2018) formerly not accessible to millions of citizens. when circumstances allow, witnesses can call 911 for help, apply first aid themselves and administer the lifesaving drug creative works | op-eds | parsons 173 california sociology forum vol. 6 naloxone (narcan) before it’s too late. the opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution program seeks to distribute naloxone more widely to opioid users and to educate the public about this non-addictive drug’s potential to save lives. the program distributes naloxone to veterans at-risk (dunn et al. 2017) and has had favorable outcomes thus far. in addition to this initiative, the federal government has also taken positive steps to reduce the number of overdose deaths in america. studies on drug overdose risk the ways in which drug addiction and overdose have been studied are numerous. when it comes to analyzing the yearly death toll, drug overdose numbers are a reliable metric of the epidemic because all deaths are required to be reported in all u.s. states and territories using standardized international classification of disease (jalal et al. 2018). from this point, drug overdose deaths are categorized as either unintentional, suicide, undetermined intent, or homicide. this is a vital piece to consider when studying overdose mortality as it shows how most of the overdose are unintentional. a study by dunn et al. (2017) administered a demographic survey for individuals who had overdosed, but not died from it, and used the diagnostic and statistical manual (dsm)-5 checklist to review and categorize responses related to symptoms of opioid use disorder. one question asked opioid users if they used opioids exclusively or if they mixed them with other drugs--an important piece of information to understand about individuals who have survived overdoses. mixing synthetic drugs like opioids with other dangerous drugs was found to greatly increase the likelihood that the user will experience an overdose. drug overdoses which result in death are reliably tracked on a yearly basis, so we have a good sense of the scope of the problem. future research would not only focus on the overwhelming negative side of the epidemic but look to individuals who have gotten sober and live healthy lives despite having had an overdose and substance use issues. this kind of information would be very beneficial for people who are newly sober to understand what elements have and have not worked for actual opioid users who have been in similar circumstances. like creative works | op-eds | parsons 174 california sociology forum vol. 6 the study previously mentioned, one could administer a survey about past use of synthetic opioids and ask specific questions about what has helped them get and remain sober. in terms of what hasn’t been studied about this epidemic, “there are few empirical data regarding the experience and understanding of opioid overdose risks among cp (chronic pain) patients, and this information is necessary to develop overdose prevention resources for this population” (dunn et al. 2017). conclusion almost 53 years ago, the united states waged a war on drugs. they used aggressive and forceful tactics often against communities of color to combat this “domestic enemy.” at the time of president nixon’s declaration, no one would have guessed that the most dangerous threat we would eventually face in this war would come from legal, physician prescribed drugs. yet, through manipulation and lies from purdue pharma, which is exactly what transpired. it is now time for the united states to rethink and come up with a brand-new strategy if it hopes to provide a safe and healthy environment for its citizens. the war on drugs is a war that the united states has lost miserably, but it is not too late to help those in need now and for future generations. references deweerdt, sarah. 2019. “the natural history of an epidemic.” nature. 573(7773):10-12. dunn, kelly, frederick s. barrett, michael fingerhood, and george e. bigelow. 2017. “opioid overdose history, risk behaviors, and knowledge in patients taking prescribed opioids for chronic pain.” pain medicine. 18(8):1505-1515. humphrey, john a., and frank schmalleger. 2021. deviant behavior. thousand oaks, california: sage publications. jalal, hawre, jeanine m. buchanich, mark s. roberts, lauren c. balmert, kun zhang, and donald s. burke. 2018. “changing dynamics of the drug overdose epidemic in the united states from 1979 through 2016.” science. 361(6408):1-6. jones, mark r., omar viswanath, jacquelin peck, alan d. kaye, and jatinder gill. 2018. “a brief history of the opioid epidemic and strategies for pain medicine.” pain and therapy, 7(1):13-21. martins, silvia s., laura sampson, magdalena cerda, and sandro galea. 2015. “worldwide prevalence and trends in unintentional drug overdose: a systemic review of the literature.” american journal of public health. 105(11), 29-49. minhee, christine & steve calandrillo. 2019. “the cure for america’s opioid crisis? end the war on drugs.” harvard journal of law and public policy, 42:547-623 creative works | op-eds | parsons 175 california sociology forum vol. 6 ryan, harriet, lisa girion, and scott glover. 2016. “oxycontin goes global – ‘we’re only just getting started.’” los angeles times. https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-oxycontin-part3/ brian benjamin parsons (he/him) will get his csula bachelor of arts degree in sociology in may of 2024 and will be graduating cum laude. he has recently been accepted into antioch university’s master of arts in clinical psychology program with an emphasis in addiction and recovery studies. brian hopes to earn his master’s degree and begin a career helping people overcome their issues with addiction and help them toward recovery. this paper examines the failed war on drugs and highlights some of the reasons why the united states finds itself in the ‘fourth wave’ of an opioid overdose crisis. this is brian’s first published paper, and he is extremely grateful to csf for this publishing opportunity. https://www.latimes.com/projects/la opioid addiction and overdose in america brian benjamin parsons language maintenance in children language maintenance in children jennifer banh child and family studies & department of sociology california state university, los angeles the purpose of this paper aims to explore the different areas of language maintenance and the pressures for a child to abandon their native tongue and adopt the dominant language. the first area that will be investigated is the attitude of the individual. secondly, the attitude of the parents will be examined. lastly, the educational system and the influences it has on the maintenance of language will be explored. this paper hopes to develop a deeper understanding in language development and the way it is acquired and maintained in children. 1 i am ashamed of my illiteracy of the english language. i used to say i came to the united states for my children’s better education and their bright future. but frankly speaking, i have not spent enough time with them. i spend more time working. i thought it was the best way for them. i mean, i thought financial support was a more important factor than anything else. i have a sixteen-year-old boy and a twelve-year-old girl. i came to jennifer banh has recently graduated from california state university, los angeles with her degree in child and family studies and a minor in sociology. her interest involves studying the effects acculturation and assimilation in minority immigrants. the article submitted served as her writing sample for graduate school. jennifer plans to pursue her masters in social work and then go on to a doctoral program in sociology. the united states in 1977, when my son was two years old. after my son entered junior high school, i realized we had some gap between us. the gap was getting wider and wider because of a lack of communication. i should have learned the english language or i should have taught korean to my children, but i did not do either. now, i wonder why i came to the united states; for my children or for myself?” (quoted in jo, 1999:49) every year, thousands of immigrants like this mother come to the united states in hopes of providing better opportunities for their children and a chance to reach the american dream. and every year, thousands of immigrants like this mother struggle with a growing language gap between parents and their children. it is an undoubted fact that the united states is one of the largest melting pots of immigrants. the ethnic diversity is the central characteristic of the united states and is the very aspect that makes it california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 50-57) language maintenance in children by jennifer banh 51 such a unique country, yet there are undeniable social pressures to assimilate to the mainstream culture of america. the main basis behind assimilation is for minority groups to progressively take on the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture. this is especially true in the case of language. contrary to a popular assumption that immigrants do not want to learn english, immigrants themselves understand very well that learning english is not a luxury but a necessity (shin 2005). it has been ingrained in the minds of first and second generation americans that in order to have an equal opportunity to become successful, being fluent in english is a requirement. the ability to speak and understand english would enable one to seek out opportunities that are not given to non-english speakers. inevitably, the pressure to assimilate from one native language to english is relatively high. the execution of this paper aims to explore the realms of language maintenance and the pressures for a child to abandon their native tongue and adopt the dominant language. the first realm that will be explored is the attitude of the individual. the child’s motivation to acquire english as their second language will be investigated. i also look at the consequences of losing one’s native language and its negative effects on relationships and identity. the second realm that will be inspected is the attitude of the parents. i investigated how important parents believe it is for their child to acquire english and the amount of pressure they put on their child. the third realm that will be explored is the educational system and the influences it has on the development and maintenance of language in children. the educational institution has more influence on language than any other institution; therefore, i examined the roles and pressures disposed in schooling. the development of language in children is one of the most amazing feats known to humankind. for that reason it is important to recognize these developments in children and the reasons that influence the maintenance of their native language. in hopes of developing a deeper understanding behind language development, i will investigate the areas concerning the child’s attitude, the parent’s attitude, and the child’s schooling. child’s attitude the child’s attitude and views towards acquiring and maintaining english plays a crucial role in the child’s decision to acculturate to the larger society. it is clear that english dominates the united states government, education, popular culture, and industry, and has slowly formed itself to be the single most important component in the creation of national identity (zolberg and long 1999). thus, the pressures of society for an immigrant to assimilate are relatively high. it can be seen that language shifts frequently occur where children come in contact with a language that offers greater practical and economical rewards (shin 2005). this may explain why children develop ambivalent feelings towards their native language. while their mother tongue is an entity that connects them to their culture and is a source for identifying themselves to their ethnicity, the dominant english language creates a struggle to maintain both languages. in many cases, the end result is a complete california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 50-57) language maintenance in children by jennifer banh 52 loss of their mother tongue. the general attitude of the angloamerican majority has been that members of linguistic minorities should integrate themselves into the englishspeaking society as soon as possible. although the official policy towards linguistic minorities has been neither one of encouragement, nor one of repression, it has been more of a policy of toleration (grosjean 1982). the larger society believes that the maintenance of language and culture should be accepted; however, one should not slow down their acquisition of learning the english language. these pressures from society to assimilate largely influence children’s attitudes and views towards their language, including feelings of confusion. over the years, there has been increasing pressure in our society directed towards the assimilation of immigrants. these efforts include the desire to make english the only language in governments, hospitals, and schools (macedo 2000). children have recognized these growing changes because they realize that if they do not want to be alienated due to their inability to communicate, then learning english would be essential. with english being so dominant, it leaves very little incentive for children to maintain their native language. this concept links the desire of being able to strive in american with language loss. children face many pressures to adopt the dominant language from parents, school, and society. these strains can sometimes lead to unwanted consequences such as becoming monolingual. recent studies have shown negative effects when linguistic minority children are forced to learn the majority language, are not encouraged to maintain their native language, and whose social environment does not encourage maintenance (shin 2005). the attitudes of minority children are affected by the demands to learn the dominant language. these demands may contribute to a child’s feelings of wanting to abandon their first language in order to be included in the larger society. from policies to the media, they all send the message that immigrants need to assimilate into the mainstream culture rapidly. these messages are not bold but rather subtle. looking at the media, it is clearly dominated by english speaking cartoons and actors. reading and coloring books are printed in english text. from toy instructions to restaurant menus, it is obvious that the english language dominates. hence, children feel an enormous obligation to assimilate as an essential need to survive in america because their prior linguistic skills are deemed irrelevant and useless. as a result, many minority children end up losing their mother tongue and become monolingual. while societal pressures are one hurdle that hinders language maintenance, the child’s own ideologies about success is also another impediment. it is embedded in the minds of young children at an early age that language is linked to prestige. children’s attitudes and views of a language are linked to how prestigious they feel that the language is, thereby influencing their development and maintenance of a language. if the people who speak a language have power and prestige, the language they speak will have the benefit of high prestige as well. if the people who speak a language have california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 50-57) language maintenance in children by jennifer banh 53 little power and low prestige, their language is unlikely to be thought of as prestigious (gernoble and whaley 1998). because the status of a language is so intimately tied to that of its speaker, it is primarily one of the major reasons for a language shift. it is important to remember that the attitudes and views of language of many young adults and children are on a continuum and differ from person to person. for many people, their attitudes change throughout their lifetime. tse (2000) supported this idea by addressing the fact that ethnic identity formation is achieved in several stages. it typically starts moving from a period of preference for the dominant culture, to a period of awakening to one’s own ethnic minority status. then to a stage of identity and cultural exploration and ending in a point of ethnic identity conflict resolution and incorporation of ethnic identity into one’s overall social identity. these attitudes then shape a person’s desire to acquire or discard a language. a child’s current stage in identity formation can help predict if a child will maintain their native language. when minority children exhibit a period called ethnic ambivalence or evasion, they begin to relate negative emotions to their heritage and language. some children feel a need to abandon their minority group and join a more positively-valued dominant group if the members are willing to accept them. other children show very little interest in their ethnic culture and believe it is more practical and desirable to be accepted by the dominant group (tse 2000). for that reason, many children abandon their native tongue altogether. parents’ attitude they didn’t want us to learn tagalog or a dialect from their island, which is called ivatan. at first they spoke both dialects at home with my sister and me. but after the incidents of language in school, they made a conscious decision not to mix the languages. so they didn’t speak any tagalog to my sister or me when we were growing up (quoted in lee, 1991: 47). victor merina recalled his parents discouraging him and his sister from learning their native tongue because they were being ridiculed for their non-native english. it was previously discussed how children feel an immense amount of pressure to discard their mother tongue in favor of english. nonetheless these pressures are not only felt by children, but by their parents too. while it is important to understand the role of the child’s attitude in developing and maintaining one’s native language, it is equally important to understand the parental attitudes as well. children are extremely influenced by their parent’s attitude towards language use. they are the role models and rule keepers. parents are the ones who set up the environment for children to learn in. they pick the schools, set up the household context, nurture language, and provide encouragement. in general, parents are the ones who expose children to the second language and the parent’s attitudes tend to impact their children’s use of language. in 2003, a research study found that government policies and publication, popular media, and professional texts privilege english over minority languages (fairclough 2003). theses are large influential discourses that cause parents to abandon their native language. california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 50-57) language maintenance in children by jennifer banh 54 parents are overwhelmed by negative messages about having home language abilities, and its ability to obstruct american acceptance. this causes some parents to decide against home language maintenance, hence erasing any chance for a child to learn and practice their native language. many parents go to great lengths to make sure that their children completely acquire english, so that their children will not be insulted for their imperfect english and to amplify opportunities given to fluent speakers. for example, they may enroll their child in an english only daycare, remove all obvious exposure of the native language (television, books, music), and even censor their playmates. when the parent’s attitudes reflect desires to have their child speak english fluently and have native-like proficiency, the general outcome is that their children will almost always completely lose their mother tongue. another factor that influences a parent’s desire to either discourage or encourage language maintenance is the parents’ own views on their culture. if there are a lot of negative societal attitudes directed towards their culture, parents may begin to reject their own culture and adopt a more positively viewed culture. this would make it difficult for a child to maintain their native language. on the other hand, if a parent believes that acquiring both languages is beneficial to the child, they may encourage cultural exploration and associate positive feelings such as pride with their ethic identity (mills 2001).the positive outlook of one’s own culture will help nurture language development in children and increase the likelihood of language maintenance. in a current study, tse (2000) offers three main primary implications that influence parental attitudes on language. the first reason that parents may prefer english over their native language is the ideology that association with the dominant language affords prestige. knowledge of the native language may create embarrassment and shame, similar to the feelings that result from association with ethnic group members. second, imperfect english speakers are judged as less valuable than those with fluency, similarly to those who are closely associated with the ethnic group that suffers lower status. third, the need to emphasize american identity is reflected in the need to demonstrate english fluency. it should be recognized that not every parent thinks or acts the same. every parent values different ideologies and believes in different ideas. ultimately, their attitudes will reflect their desire to foster or abandon their native language in their children. education while the child’s and the parent’s attitudes are important influences that shape language maintenance, it is also important to consider the role education plays. education is handled separately from other institutions because it generally has more impact on the development of english. there are two possible roles of language in education, one is to act as a medium (language is used to teach subjects) or to be taught as a curriculum subject. california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 50-57) language maintenance in children by jennifer banh 55 when language is used as a medium in education, it is used to teach subjects other than english. for example, math taught through the medium of chinese and science through the medium of english. bilingualism is very effective in helping children maintain their native language when their two languages are used effectively as a media. there is substantial evidence that an educational medium is one of the most effective means of promoting language maintenance and bilingualism (swain and lapkin 1982). this is because the school will provide a fostering environment that allows children to practice and apply their native language. however, there is also considerable evidence that poor bilingual education is ineffective in language maintenance. in some schools, the structure of bilingual education does not provide substantial amounts of education in the weaker language, or the educator lacks the ability to engage the learner and makes the material comprehensible (gibbson and ramirez 2004). this may happen when the teacher mixes the two languages until only one of the languages is needed for the students to comprehend the subject matter. “when this happens and the home language is ignored by the education system, this sends a clear message to the student about the values given to languages other than english in the wider society, and helps to create the attitudes that make situations self perpetuating” (gibbson and ramirez 2004). when their home language is brought to school and not recognized and used by the school, it is devalued. education also plays a large role in language maintenance when english is taught as a curriculum subject. language instruction varies in its effectiveness because of the different resources, social context, and attitudes of students. moreover, teachers provide different amounts of encouragement and support, and these are priceless factors in enhancing the child’s development of english and influencing language maintenance. having english taught to students does not only provide them access to an english speaking environment, but also provides language learning opportunities. therefore, it may be difficult for children to maintain their native language when english is so strongly supported by mainstream education. conclusion it is not a secret that language is an important part of our lives. not only is it a form of communication, but it is indirectly a form of identity. therefore, it is important to study the way in which language is acquired and maintained because it gives us a deeper understanding about how humans function. it is especially important to study the difficulties in maintaining one’s native language since there are an estimated 6,000 languages spoken in the world today, only half of which will still be spoken a century from now (gernoble and whaley 1998). the process of acquiring and maintaining a language is relevant in understanding human behavior, but also to the psychological reality of immigrants and their families. children face all sorts of pressures from society to fully assimilate and abandon their native language. through reviewing current studies, i have hypothesized that there are three major factors that california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 50-57) language maintenance in children by jennifer banh 56 influences a child in the maintenance of their native language: the child’s attitude, the parent’s attitude, and the child’s education. there is a lot of pressure from society for immigrants to assimilate and learn english quickly. the english language dominates the media and education system. children recognize this direction our society is moving towards. hence, they feel a strong need to integrate themselves into the mainstream society in hopes of preventing feelings of alienation. they recognize the problems associated with the lack of fluency in english, embarrassment, inability to exercise one’s right adequately, and being perpetually perceived as a foreigner by americans (krashen 1998). consequently, many children do not feel motivated in maintaining their native language which leads them towards abandoning their mother tongue. these pressures are not only felt by children, but by their parents as well. every year thousands of immigrants come to america in hopes of giving their children more opportunities. however, they recognize that these opportunities require the ability to speak english fluently. feeling a need to integrate themselves into the american society rapidly, they may discourage the use of their native language at home. this makes it difficult for a child to maintain their native language if they are no longer exposed to the language and lack the opportunity to practice it. while the child’s and parent’s attitudes are important to recognize in the maintenance of language, another important factor to include is the child’s education. the school that a child attends is probably the most powerful socializing institution in their life. depending on the type of school the child attends, the school might promote the usage of the child’s native language or the school might integrate language minority children into english classes. in most cases the child’s english skills will continue to improve and refine, and their native language will decrease from the lack of use, eventually resulting in loss (shin 2005). the significance of language maintenance in children has far-reaching effects. it can destroy relationships and build communications barriers. therefore, it is important to recognize language developments in children and the underlying reasons that influence the preservation of their native language. as a society we should promote language maintenance and encourage cultural and linguistic experiences in the home and at school. every child deserves the opportunity to express themselves freely in their native language without fear of embarrassment and judgment. references fairclough, n. 2003. analyzing discourse: textual analysis for social research. london: rout-ledge. gernoble, a.l., & whaley, j.l. 1998. endangered languages. united kingdom: cambridge university press. gibbsons, j., & ramirez, e. 2004. maintaining a minority language. clevedon: multilingual matters. grosjean, f. 1982. life with two languages. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 50-57) language maintenance in children by jennifer banh california sociology journal, 2008, vol. 1 (november: 50-57) 57 jo, m.h. 1999. korean immigrants and the challenge of adjustment. westport, ct: greenwood. krashen, s,d. 1998. heritage language development: some particle arguments. in s.d. krashen, l. tse & j. mcquillan (eds) heritage language development. culver city, ca: language education associates. lee. j.k.j. 1991. asian americans: oral histories of first to forth generation americans from china, the philippines, japan, india, the pacific islands, vietnam, and cambodia. new you: the new press. macedo, d. 2000. the colonialism of the english only movement. educational researcher 29(3), 15-24. mills, jean. 2001. being bilingual: perspectives on third generation asian children on language, culture, and identity. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 4(6), 383-402 shin, sarah. 2005. developing in two languages: korean children in america. clevedon: multilingual matters. swain, m., & lapkin, s. 1982. evaluating bilingual education: a canadian case study. clevedon: multilingual matters. tse, lucy. 2000. the effects of ethnic identity formation on bilingual maintenance and development: an analysis of asian american narratives. international journal of bilingual education and bilingualism, 3(3), pp. 185-200. zolberg, a.r., & long, l.w. 1999. why islam is like spanish: cultural incorporation in europe and the united states. politics and soci-ety 27: 5-38. research | essays | gaytan 46 california sociology forum vol. 6 ethiopian jewish migrants into israel jasmine gaytan department of sociology california state university, los angeles contextual overview with the influx of jewish migrants into israel from all over the world, israel has become a settler society for persons of jewish origin. according to the pew research center, as of 2010, 3 million jewish migrants have ended up in israel. additionally, in 2021, the jewish agency for israel helped 28,601 jewish immigrants enter israel, marking a 31% increase compared to 2020. through a sociological perspective on religious migration and identity, this paper intends to discuss the ethiopian jewish migration processes into israel. according to the migration data portal, israel is a top country for ethiopian migrant destinations, with 78,000 ethiopian immigrants in 2020. by analyzing how religion and identity can motivate migration, this paper intends to discuss the structures that facilitate ethiopian jewish migration into israel. previous research has shown that heterogeneity within the country of origin has influenced ethiopian migration. also, with limited microdata analysis involving individual ethiopian demographic characteristics, large-scale data shows migration trends for ethiopian migrants. more so, research has shown there is growing religious intolerance that ethiopian jewish migrants have endured in their country of origin and how cultural differences have created challenges for ethiopian jewish migrants in israel. lastly, the population in the movement defines themselves both in the sending and receiving country as ethiopian jewish migrants. the ethiopian jewish identity is shaped by religious and racial intolerance both in the sending and receiving countries. finally, this paper aims to explore the motivations and challenges of ethiopian jewish migration to israel as it is essential to understand historical and contemporary issues surrounding departure, transit, and arrival conditions for ethiopian jewish migration into israel. recommendations to improve conditions and human rights can be inferred. research | essays | gaytan 47 california sociology forum vol. 6 demographic portrait as the country of origin, ethiopia is in the horn of africa, which is a large peninsula in the east africa region between sudan, somalia, and kenya. the demographic population of ethiopia has been shaped by western influence, both critical political as well as rural upheaval, and natural disasters like drought and famine. the historical complexities of ethiopia have shaped the population to be highly heterogeneous regarding ethnicity, education, and religious beliefs. for instance, ethiopia’s society is ethnically stratified, whereas “one group dominates the others” (tuso 1982:270). ethiopia is ethnically heterogeneous, whereas ethnicity plays a crucial feature in “governance, power and resources, development, and management of public affairs (mberu 2006:512). similarly, ethiopia’s educational system is disproportionate to that of pre-revolutionary ethiopia, as those who were more socially and economically advantageous could benefit from the opportunity of modern education. tuso (1982:280) states, “government schools were built to educate the children of these groups and not the rural masses, who are usually non-amhara.” more importantly, ethiopia’s religious beliefs have a long cultural and historical relationship to the practice of christianity and islam. for instance, ethiopian jewish migrants faced religious persecution for practicing jewish and zionist activities (terrazas 2007), such as when “the derg made emigration illegal, closed ethiopia’s borders, and banned religious practices.” moreover, a brief description of migration processes based on large-scale data will give insight into the overall demographic characteristics of ethiopian migrants. macro-level data analysis has provided insight into the dynamics of ethiopian migration. there are limited microdata involving individual ethiopian migrant characteristics. the majority of ethiopian migration data is based on large-scale processes. an example of macro-level research regarding migration trends amongst ethiopians is conducted by authors kuschminder, anderson, and siegel (2012:31). in contrast, the study examines the primary motivation for ethiopian migrants emigrating to the middle east, including work, and the primary reason for choosing the destination country is due to network research | essays | gaytan 48 california sociology forum vol. 6 effects like “having family or friends in the country of destination (26 percent).” authors kuschminder, anderson, and siegel (2012) also state that the feminization of migration is a growing trend for ethiopian migrants, as 68 percent of ethiopian migration to the middle east is comprised of females. in the east and horn of africa, which includes ethiopia (world migration report 2022:264), “females account for the largest share of refugees and asylum seekers.” ethiopian women tend to use the eastern route through the horn of africa for migration. most female ethiopian migrants use irregular channels through the eastern route to reach middle eastern countries for domestic work. ethiopian migrants in 2021 were the largest nationality in the east and horn of africa to move into and out of the region with the predominant eastern and northern routes. the international organization for migration in relation to the east and horn of africa (2021:73) states that ethiopian migrants who used the northern route consisted of “over half of the population on the move (54%) were between 18 and 29 years old.” another large-scale analysis of migration trends shows that ethiopia is a top host country for internally displaced persons, with 9.6 million persons as well as 3.6 million refugees and asylum seekers. the influx of 5.4 million internally displaced persons in ethiopia is due to “political tensions, terrorist attacks as well as prolonged droughts” (international organization for migration 2021:17). moreover, a brief description of the demographic characteristics of the population in movement is relevant to religious challenges jewish ethiopians have endured in ethiopia. historical and contemporary complexities in the practice of judaism in ethiopia determine a key feature of ethiopian jewish identity. in ethiopia, jewish ethiopians refer to themselves as beta israel, whereas their neighbors usually referred to them as falasha (kaplan 1988:1), “landless, wanderers, exiles.” in essence, ethiopian jewish migrants have historically remained outcasts in their own country. for the jewish community in ethiopia, ethiopians have historically lived in peace with their muslim and christian neighbors (terrazas 2007). however, historical events such as the push for christian conversion in ethiopia, as well as the derg political repression of the late 19th century, have inflicted religious persecution amongst jewish research | essays | gaytan 49 california sociology forum vol. 6 ethiopians. again, judaic ethiopians have primarily concentrated in the northern and northwestern parts of ethiopia, where the jewish community became increasingly isolated from the jewish world until the historical events of world war ii. however, the ethiopian jewish community did observe traditional practices of judaism (britannica 2022) like “the sabbath, practice [of] circumcision, synagogue services led by priests…dietary laws of judaism, observance [of] many laws of ritual uncleanness.” the practice of judaism in ethiopia has made judaic ethiopians a distinct minority in ethiopia. the practice of judaism has consistently been a predominant factor in how judaic ethiopians identify themselves. as salamon (2003) illustrates, “the beta israel saw themselves as a distinct group, keepers of a faith…their belief was rooted in the old testament, whose commandments they meticulously observed.” ethiopian jewish identity whilst in ethiopia has been shaped by ethiopia’s historical and contemporary complexities. challenges for safe and sustainable livelihoods challenges for safe and sustainable ethiopian jewish livelihoods are evident across migration processes and how judaic ethiopians are racially and religiously perceived while living in israel. again, ethiopia’s location is a strategic transit region (adugna 2021) for migrants who aim for europe and other northern destinations. according to the migration policy institute, adugna (2021) references migration patterns throughout ethiopia, stating, “migration occurs eastward to the persian gulf states and the middle east, crossing the red sea or the gulf of aden; southward to south africa; and northward across the sahara, into sudan and often europe.” jewish ethiopians are mainly concentrated in beta israel in northern gondar, ethiopia. during the derg governance of 1974, when ethiopian jewish migrants faced religious persecution, ethiopian jewish migrants who migrated used two routes: one was out of sudan and the other kenya. author terrazas (2007) states, “an estimated 4,000 perished during the journey due to the severe conditions” because of illegal emigration. in 1989, ethiopian jewish migrants were able to migrate to addis ababa, the capital of ethiopia, because of the “reestablishment of diplomatic relations between israel and research | essays | gaytan 50 california sociology forum vol. 6 ethiopia” (terrazas 2007). ethiopian migrants have traveled to the middle east at high rates since the 1990s through irregular channels. the international organization for migration (2021:6) illustrates the severity of irregular channels that many ethiopian migrants use, noting, “the irregular journeys remain fraught with peril as migrants use multiple smuggler networks, cross dangerous seas, pass through war-torn countries and continuously face the risk of detention and deportation along the way or at destination.” the usage of irregular channels is an extreme reality ethiopian migrants face regularly. meanwhile, ethiopian jewish migrants faced significant migration challenges upon arriving in israel. according to israel’s central bureau of statistics (2021:1), the population of ethiopians living in israel at the end of 2020 consisted of 159,500 residents, of which “88,500 were born in ethiopia, and 71,000 were israeli born with fathers born in ethiopia.” the ethiopian jewish population in israel is defined as those of ethiopian origin by one or more parents. moreover, the ethiopian-origin population in israel is concentrated in specific communities within israel. such as, in qiryat moshe, 3,000 ethiopian-origin residents comprise over 56% of the total number of residents, and in rishon leziyyon, where 2,700 ethiopianorigin residents comprise 53% of the total number of residents, according to israel’s central bureau of statistics (2021:3). the concentration of ethiopian jewish migrants has led to the ghettoization of specific neighborhoods which are based on racial and socioeconomic prejudices. the evident increase in the ethiopian-origin population in israel has culminated in racial and religious intolerance, which has reflected the perceived identity of the ethiopian jewish-origin population. for instance, ethiopian jewish migrants did not identify as black. however, in the transition from ethiopia to israel, ethiopians were racially categorized as black under israel’s racial construct. researcher salamon (2003:9) illustrates the effect of the white-black binary within israel’s racial system: “race hierarchies persist to this day within the ethiopian community in israel and continue to have deleterious and far-reaching effects on ethiopian racial identity.” to dig deeper, the categorization of judaic ethiopians as black under israel’s racial hierarchy fundamentally altered preconceived racial identities within the research | essays | gaytan 51 california sociology forum vol. 6 ethiopian community. in other words, researcher salamon (2003:7) describes ethiopia’s racial categories, which consisted of red (qey), black (t’equr), light brown, and brown skin color (t’eyem). in contrast, ethiopian jewish migrants referred to themselves as qey or t’eyem but never black (t’equr). this racial categorization in beta israel is based on the historical racial oppression of black (t’equr) enslaved people, where ethiopian jewish migrants have historically owned enslaved black ethiopians. the transition from ethiopia to israel fundamentally changed the preconception of how ethiopian jewish migrants viewed themselves. equally important, judaic ethiopians living in israel faced religious intolerance by israeli society. the disparities in religious and cultural practices created difficulties for integration. integration challenges into israeli society are because jewish ethiopians were isolated from other jewish communities for many years. as a result, their practice of judaism differed in many ways from the rest of the world’s jewish population. as author beneliezer (2008:936) exemplifies the practice of judaism by ethiopians, “it is a judaism that is fraught with elements dating from biblical times, intermixed with elements of ethiopian christianity – the milieu in which they lived.” in other words, the ethiopian population in israel identifies as jewish, but their jewishness was questioned because of years of isolation from the rest of the world’s jewish community. additionally, the question of jewishness is relative to israel’s non-jewish muslims (jewish immigrants). ethiopians who migrated to israel in 1993 under the law of return were converted to falas mura. as a result, falas muras are not recognized as jewish under israel’s halakhic law. according to researcher raijman (2020), falas mura are “the descendants of beta israel communities in ethiopia and eritrea that converted to christianity.” israel’s halakhic law does not recognize falas mura as jewish because of this ancestral conversion out of judaism. again, falas muras identifies (raijman 2020) as “ethnically belonging to the beta israel community, with many practicing jewish faith rituals.” they are considered non-jewish migrants under israel’s halakhic law. finally, challenges for sustainable livelihood amongst the ethiopian jewish population living in research | essays | gaytan 52 california sociology forum vol. 6 israel are shaped by religious and racial intolerance. by understanding the challenges to the sustainable livelihoods of ethiopian jewish migrants, recommendations to protect their human rights can be inferred. recommendations for improved conditions recommendations to protect the human rights of ethiopian jewish migrants may be inferred throughout the migration process, as well as ethiopian jewish livelihood in both ethiopia and israel. the unfortunate reality concerning the migration processes worldwide has led to increased migration governance. the migration data portal discusses the internal organization for migration’s (iom) usage of the migration governance indicators (mgi) tool. the mgi is a way to help countries understand and develop migration policies and practices. the mgi uses 90 indicators to help facilitate migration governance with three main objectives (2022:2), “generate a dialogue on well-managed migration policies. identify gaps to be addressed to inform the formulation of comprehensive migration strategies. help establish baselines to track progress on national and international commitments.” the mgi (2019) for ethiopia indicates numerous well-developed areas and the potential need for further development related to six different dimensions of migration governance. for instance, a possible need for further development within mgi’s safe, orderly, and regular migration indicator includes ethiopia’s proclamation no. 909/2015. ethiopia’s proclamation to provide for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants is limited. according to mgi (2019:19), “there are no formal cooperation agreements with other countries on the identification and tracking of missing migrants…revision to include…a national referral mechanism meant to assist victims of trafficking and other vulnerable migrants and returnees.” ethiopia’s proclamation for the prevention and suppression of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants needs to be thoroughly addressed to protect the human rights of trafficked persons in and out of ethiopia. in addition to the iom’s mgi for further development in ethiopia’s policies and procedures, immigration services in research | essays | gaytan 53 california sociology forum vol. 6 ethiopia have helped service ethiopian jewish candidates for israeli approval. the jewish agency for israel has provided services for aliyah, another term for the immigration of jewish descent to israel, in ethiopia’s addis ababa and gondar. in contrast, the jewish agency for israel (2021) has helped with departure, transit, and arrival in israel; for instance, they have helped ethiopian immigrants integrate into israeli society by providing transitional housing that is dedicated to the “unique cultural needs of ethiopian olim [immigrants on aliyah to israel].” additionally, israel’s 1950s law of return has encouraged jewish migration to israel, as stated by palmer and kraus (2017:3). this policy has significantly influenced ethiopian jewish migration, as it policy allows immigration into israel for anyone who can prove their jewish ethnicity. for instance, operation moses and operation solomon were two pivotal movements under israel’s law of return for ethiopian jewish immigration. under operation moses (kruger 2005), 8,000 judaic ethiopians came to israel under a “covert removal of ethiopian jews who had fled to sudan,” and 14,000 ethiopian jews arrived in israel under operation solomon when “eritrean and tigrean rebels challenged the ethiopian government in 1991.” again, these are only a few policies and procedures that help protect human rights throughout the ethiopian migration process; innumerable policies and procedures on the macro and micro spectrum can help protect the human rights of ethiopian migrants during the migration process. meanwhile, there are considerable recommendations that protect the human rights of ethiopian jewish migrants living in israel. growing research shows the everyday cultural racism ethiopian jewish migrants experience while living in israel. the association for civil rights in israel (acri) has helped protect the human rights of ethiopians living in israel as there is an emergence of ethiopians experiencing painful discrimination in many sectors of israeli society. for instance, the acri recently filed a claim against the israeli police for racial profiling of a 16year-old ethiopian boy. as reported by acri (2021), “we argued that the behavior of the officers violated the boy’s right to equality and dignity, unjustifiably revoked his freedom, and invaded his privacy.” racial discrimination against ethiopians persists amongst many different sectors of the israeli community, and the research | essays | gaytan 54 california sociology forum vol. 6 acri is just one example that helps protect the civil and human rights of israeli society. lastly, recommendations for improved ethiopian jewish livelihood can be made based on the religious intolerances ethiopian jewish migrants encounter while living in israel. as previously mentioned, ethiopian jewish migrants face integration challenges because of the differences in the practice of judaism in comparison to their israeli neighbors. again, judaic ethiopians have been the victims of discrimination while living in israel. however, specific advocacy groups like the israel association for ethiopian jews have helped the absorption of ethiopian jews into israeli society. the israel association for ethiopian jews offers programs in the forms of community empowerment, employment, technical training, and law. for example, in an article by world israel news written by paul shindman (2020), “president reuven rivlin and prime minister benjamin netanyahu joined [ethiopian] community leaders to remember the estimated 4,000 jews from the african country who perished…trying to reach israel.” services to commemorate ethiopian jewish migrants have helped bring attention to ethiopian jewish integration into israeli society. conclusion to effectively protect the human rights of ethiopian jewish migrants, recommendations for migration processes through migration tools like the migration governance indicator and immigration services like the jewish agency for israel may be utilized to ensure the safety of ethiopian jewish migration into israel. the irregular migration channels and the severity of natural circumstances surrounding the realities of migration processes are inevitable. however, these harsh realities can be significantly decreased by implementing migration governance. additionally, to effectively provide a sustainable livelihood for ethiopian jewish migrants’ advocacies like the association for civil rights in israel and israel association for ethiopian jewish migrants are prominent instruments that promote ethiopian jewish integration into israeli society. recommendations for sustainable livelihood for ethiopian jewish migrants living in israel are comprehensible research | essays | gaytan 55 california sociology forum vol. 6 if the information is publicized through written text and various media sources. references adugna, girmachew. 2021. “once primarily an origin for refugees, ethiopia experiences evolving migration patterns.” the online journal of the migration policy institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/ethiopia-origin-refugeesevolving-migration encyclopedia britannica. “beta israel.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/beta-israel friends of ethiopian jews assisting ethiopian israeli programs and organizations. 2010. “program.” http://friendsofethiopianjews.org/programs.html international organization for migration. 2019. “migration governance profile: the federal democratic republic of ethiopia.” https://www.migrationdataportal.org/sites/g/files/tmzbdl251/files/201912/migration%20governance%20profile%20%20the%20federal%20democratic%20republic%20of%20ethiopia.pdf international organization for migration (iom). 2022. “a region on the move 2021: east and horn of africa.” iom, nairobi. https://publications.iom.int/books/regionmove-2021-east-and-horn-africa international organization for migration. 2022. “the migration governance indicators: a look into the way countries govern migration.” https://www.migrationdataportal.org/sites/g/files/tmzbdl251/files/202208/en%20national%20four%20pager%20%282%29.pdf israel central bureau of statistics. 2021. “the population of ethiopian origin in israel: selected data published on the occasion of the sigd festival.” https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/mediarelease/pages/2021/the-population-ofethiopian-originin-israel-selected-data-on-the-occasion-of-the-sigdfestival-2021.aspx kaplan, s. 1988. “the beta israel and the rabbinate: law, ritual and politics.” social science information 27(3), 357–370. https://doi.org/10.1177/053901888027003004 kruger, martha. 2005. “israel: balancing demographics in the jewish state.” the online journal of the migration policy institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/israel-balancing-demographicsjewish-state kuschminder, k., lisa andersson, & melissa siegel. 2012. “profiling ethiopian migration: a comparison of characteristics of ethiopian migrants to africa, the middle east and the north.” crossing african borders: migration and mobility. http://books.openedition.org/cei/223 mberu, blessing u. 2006. “internal migration and household living conditions in ethiopia.” demographic research (14)21:509-540. mcauliffe, m. and a. triandafyllidou (eds.). 2021. “world migration report 2022.” international organization for migration (iom), geneva. https://publications.iom.int/books/world-migration-report-2022 palmer, zachary d, and rachel kraus. 2017. “‘live in israel. live the dream: identity, belonging, and contemporary american jewish migration to israel.” sociological focus (50)3: 228–243. pew research center’s religion & public life project. 2022. “jewish migrants.” https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2012/03/08/religious-migration-jewishmigrants/ raijman, rebeca. 2020. “a warm welcome for some: israel embraces immigration of jewish diaspora, sharply restricts labor migrants and asylum seekers.” the research | essays | gaytan 56 california sociology forum vol. 6 online journal of the migration policy institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/israel-law-of-return-asylum-labormigration salamon, hagar. 2003. “blackness in transition: decoding racial constructs through stories of ethiopian jews.” journal of folklore research 40(1): 3-32. shindman, paul. 2020. “israel remembers ethiopian jews who died trying to reach israel.” world israel news. https://worldisraelnews.com/israel-remembers-ethiopianjews-who-died-trying-to-reach-israel/ terrazas, aaron m. 2007. “beyond regional circularity: the emergence of an ethiopian diaspora.” the online journal of the migration policy institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/beyond-regional-circularityemergence-ethiopian-diaspora the association for civil rights in israel. n.d. “about the association for civil rights in israel.” https://www.english.acri.org.il/about-us the jewish agency for israel. 2021. “ethiopian immigration services.” https://www.jewishagency.org/ethiopian-immigration-services/ tuso, hamdesa. 1982. “minority education in ethiopia.” africa: rivista trimestrale di studi e documentazione dell’istituto italiano per l’africa e l’oriente, 37(3), 270–293. uri ben-eliezer. 2008. “multicultural society and everyday cultural racism: second generation of ethiopian jews in israel’s ‘crisis of modernization.’” ethnic and racial studies (31)5:935-961. jasmine gaytan (she/her): i have my a.a. in administration of justice from pasadena city college. i also have my b.a. in sociology with an emphasis in law and society from california state universitylos angeles. i am in my last semester for my m.a. in sociology here at california state universitylos angeles. my research of interest includes education, pedagogical practices, race and ethnic inequalities. i am currently submitting my research on the topic “what role does whiteness have in the opposition of critical race theory (crt) in florida’s k-12 public education?” which i hope to be published in an academic article. it is my intention to promote awareness of the social phenomenon of anti-crt legislation by understanding the role “whiteness” has in opposition to crt. ethiopian jewish migrants into israel jasmine gaytan california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) residential segregation jesus campos department of sociology california state university, los angeles this study explores the influences of socioeconomic factors on residential integration. data was collected through an internet questionnaire and respondents were gathered by snowball technique. residential integration is measured by the percentage of white individuals living in the respondent's specific zip code based off information from the u.s. census bureau. the author proposes that an increase in socioeconomic status will lead to an increase in residential integration. despite having mixed results, a significant positive correlation was found between one's level of education and residential integration, supporting a part of the author's original hypothesis. introduction 1studying the residential patterns of the various peoples within the united states will almost certainly lead the reader to a well known set of facts: those of us living in this country are not evenly distributed and tend to cluster based on a number of demographic factors. though this statement may come off as a common sense, , it nonetheless poses a difficult social challenge for the united states: how and/or why does a nation which pronounces itself as diverse and accepting continue to exhibit such a large degree of residential segregation. the implications here mean that u.s. residents may not be free (at least in a jesus campos is a graduate student in the department of sociology. his paper was originally submitted to soc. 410 advanced statistics, taught by dr. hyojoung kim in winter 2011. structural sense) to settle down wherever they wish. in a sense, it would appear as if modern u.s. society has become tolerant of those of varying ethnicities/skin colors/outwardly appearances only in its public space (i.e. the workplace; schools; any place sufficiently distant from our own neighborhood), but has yet to conquer the unseen barrier that tends to keep our living spaces distinctly segregated from one another. perhaps most critical, however, is the issue of whether or not such residential segregation, if continued, will perpetually prevent the populace of this country from achieving true and complete social unity. literature review in trying to explain the causes of residential segregation, two prominent theories have arisen. the first, known as residential segregation by jesus campos 13 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) spatial assimilation, assumes that economic factors in of themselves will always produce such uneven distribution, even if we were to presume no discrimination based on physical and/or identity traits. in essence, this theory proposes that, since the freemarket model of the united states produces a variation in the costs of housing and living from one area to the next, it is a given consequence that those with more money will be the ones with access to the costlier housing, regardless of other factors. the second theory, known as place stratification, factors in the potential consequences of other noneconomic variables, such as race or ethnicity. even factors such as religion or nationality, not readily apparent to the naked eye, may serve to create an atmosphere of non-acceptance or outright discrimination, effectively keeping people away from certain residential areas. in this theory, economics tends to lose its importance, since it presumes that two individuals of different traits, even if in the same social class, would likely not settle down in the same residential area (iceland and wilkes 2006). the issue is more complex than this, however. as will be further discussed later, research has shown that residential segregation also varies between whites and various individual race/ethnicities. for example, there appears to be less spatial segregation between whites and asians than between whites and blacks or even whites and latinos (massey and fong 1990). depending on one’s point of view, this is to be attributed either to a greater ethnic acceptance by whites for asians than for other races (i.e. place stratification), or to economic differences (caused by educational and occupational differences) between these minorities that has led one minority to achieve a generically higher status (i.e. spatial assimilation). unfortunately, there is no consensus on what exactly constitutes socioeconomic status. in their attempt to define socioeconomic status, massey and denton include a person’s objective level of both wealth and education, as well as the more subjective perceived status of the person by the rest of society (massey and denton 1985). these concepts can be further divided into various sub-dimensions. for example, wealth is often tied to income, and perceived status can be seen as a combination of such factors as the extent of social networks and type of occupation. though we typically view these dimensions as achievable by anyone dedicated enough to pursue them, massey and denton point out that u.s. society has been plagued by the unequal achievement of these factors largely as a result of discrimination based on any number of traits, such as race, class, or gender. as such, they conclude that it becomes somewhat necessary to include such ascribed characteristics as race and gender when determining socioeconomic status, as such factors can have considerable impact on patterns of spatial integration. (massey and denton, 1985). historically speaking, within the united states, the dominant wasp (white anglo saxon protestant) group has constantly expected minority groups to eventually assimilate into the dominant group (hirsch 1942; woolston, 1945; gordon; 1964). the residential segregation by jesus campos 14 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) desire to one day establish a homogenous national culture, albeit reflecting the traits of the dominant group, is considered to be the driving force behind such an overwhelming expectation. the residential aspect of the assimilation processes reflects the tendency of a minority group to integrate proximally (i.e. in terms of distance) with the dominant group. this becomes difficult, however, as several decades and generations of systematic ethnic and racial segregation has created a strong barrier to such spatial integration, creating somewhat of a paradox (the dominant group expects minorities to assimilate, yet still discriminate against and resist any encroaches by minority members). (massey and denton 1988) from the perspective of the minority individual, fong and wilkes identified several factors that minorities consider when determining ideal neighborhoods: health; crime rates; quality of local schools; the perceived socioeconomic status of the area; and, quite interestingly, level of interaction with the dominant group (fong and wilkes 1999). although all factors are important, the basis of residential integration seems to imply that the perceived status (i.e. social class) of the area in question would be the main factor for where minorities choose to settle down and reside in, since this would have a direct effect on the degree of interaction and integration with the dominant anglo population (mullan and massey, 1984). as such, massey and denton were actually able to record that increases in the social status of minorities (as a result of choice of neighborhood) often resulted in an increased likelihood of contact with the dominant group (massey and denton 1985; beshers, lauman, & bradshaw, 1964). this leads gordon to simply declare residential integration as a means for minorities to increase their socioeconomic status (gordon 1961). this does not mean, however, that all minority group members choose to move into neighborhoods consisting mostly of dominant group members. even within the segregated communities of the minority groups there exist hierarchies which allow local minority residents to achieve greater wealth and status relative to those around them. some residents may prefer to buy homes within their segregated community than to rent homes outside of them in order to heighten their status within these minority hierarchies (fong and shibuya, 2000). nevertheless, minorities are still aware that the areas outside of their somewhat isolated neighborhood hierarchies provide an opportunity for even greater social ascension, with the well-documented difference in the quality of schools between white and minority neighborhoods being a prime example (massey and denton 1988). in this regard, attempts by minorities to integrate into anglo-dominant neighborhoods may be seen as nothing more than rational decisions made to improve their lives and that of their families. though many studies have hinted at a positive connection between socioeconomic status and degree of residential segregation, race seems to produce variation among the patterns of residential integration (fong 1965; massey and fong 1990; massey and bitterman 1985). according to massey and fong, asians appear to be the residential segregation by jesus campos 15 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) quickest in residentially integrating into dominant anglo communities, followed by latinos. blacks have the lowest degree of integration, though in no way does this mean they are incapable of reaching a high level of socioeconomic status (massey and fong 1990). instead, the implication here may revolve around the level of acceptance by the anglo community towards each minority group. logan, alba, and leung also observed that dominant anglo acceptance (in regards to residential integration) also vary by region (logan, alba, and leung 1996). consequently, though we may presume that higher socioeconomic status should lead to increased opportunities for residential mobility, it must be realized that the perceived status of any minority may be arbitrary to the dominant anglo group; it is they who have the power to restrict residential integration to minority group members (with the white flight phenomenon serving as an ideal example). the question remains as to which of these two leading theories is more accurate? does one trump the other, or is it possible that both theories can coexist side by side? if ascribed factors such as race and gender are to be included into socioeconomic status, then this would seemingly eliminate the need to measure residential segregation based on these factors alone (i.e. place stratification). however, the possibility exists that a measure of using socioeconomic status (including both ascribed and achieved features) may very well yield a different set of results than a measure using ascribed features alone. hypothesis i propose that an increase in socioeconomic status will lead to increased residential integration. my ultimate intention is to examine the proposed causes behind a person’s existing social class and their degree of residential integration. i’d like to determine if higher levels of a minority individual’s socioeconomic dimensions (i.e. education and wealth) are in fact correlated to their residential placement within society. second, i would like to analyze the effect of secondary independent variables on residential integration: • sex, an ascribed visible feature, is viewed by place stratification theory as having an impact on residential placement (though marital status may have a greater role than sex alone). i hypothesize that minority males are more likely than minority females to reside in areas that are predominantly white. • race/ethnicity, being the most prominent ascribed feature, ultimately determines (according to place stratification) residential placement as a result of dominant group acceptance or rejection. i hypothesize that non-whites respondents are more likely to reside in areas that are not predominantly white. • religion, though not easily discernible, also has the potential to affect patterns of integration. (i.e. existence of predominantly jewish neighborhoods; catholic residential segregation by jesus campos 16 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) and protestant divides). i hypothesize that non-christians and non-jews are more likely to find themselves in areas that are less predominantly white than those who are christians or jews. • legal status, such as whether the respondent is a u.s. citizen, resident, or other perhaps even undocumented, may play a key role amongst certain groups, particularly latinos and asians, regarding their willingness to integrate into dominant anglo communities. i hypothesize that as legal status increases (using an ordinal scale to be described later) so does residential integration into predominantly white neighborhoods. • generation, though not applicable in all cases, may affect residential patterns. some respondents of certain origin (i.e. latinos and asians) may be so far removed from their immigrant ancestors that they no longer see their racial or ethnic minority status as an impediment towards integration (i.e. they may feel sufficiently comfortable around dominant anglo groups, or perhaps are fully assimilated and are now anglicized). i hypothesize that for those respondents whose families come from immigrant backgrounds, the more generations the family has resided in the united states (using an ordinal measurement to be described later) the higher the percentage of whites living in the respondent’s neighborhood. • marital status may affect a person’s willingness to residentially integrate? for example, a single minority woman may become more willing to integrate into a dominant anglo neighborhood once married. i hypothesize that married minority women are more likely to live in areas with a larger percentage of whites than unmarried minority women. • home ownership may potentially add to a person’s status. furthermore, individuals who are seeking to purchase a home may tend to seek out neighborhoods based much more so on the demographic characteristics of the area than those who are seeking to rent or lease (presumably since renting or leasing is often viewed as temporary). • job type may play a role in determining one’s socioeconomic status, as certain different societies attach greater prestige to some occupations than they do to others. survey procedures all members of a focus group completed the survey in about five minutes. all were satisfied with the instructions within the survey, as well as with the overall appearance of the questionnaire. however, some members residential segregation by jesus campos 17 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) raised concerns about the response categories to some of the questions. for example, the questions measuring income and savings were originally open-ended; the respondent was instructed to write a numerical figure to the nearest thousand. however, the focus group felt that this could be rather difficult for the respondent to calculate in the course of a few minutes. as such, i decided to introduce an ordinal scale in intervals of ten thousand dollars. the focus group also raised concerns in the distinction of the response options between two questions: one which asked for race and the other for ethnicity. the race question originally allowed a respondent to choose between white (including white hispanic); black (including black hispanic); asian (including indian and pacific islander); and native american. the group felt the options were too vague, and perhaps even insulting. in expanding the options, the resulting list was almost identical to the existing options already in place for the question regarding ethnicity. as such, i decided to combine race and ethnicity into a single question asking for the respondent’s race/ethnicity (though this has forced me to consolidate two separate secondary independent variables into one). lastly, the group raised concerns about determining socioeconomic status. for example, the group raised the possibility of how home ownership can affect perceived status, persuading me to include such a question. the group also assisted me in expanding the options for the question regarding occupation, and also assisted in determining perceived various occupation options listed in the questionnaire. an online questionnaire, posted on the online survey site zoomerang.com, was utilized to measure the variables. posting the questionnaire online allows the researcher to potentially reach a large number of people for a minimal amount of effort (as opposed to telephone surveys, which can be time-consuming). furthermore, online surveys are comparable to mailed surveys in regards to minimizing any potential social desirability effects. lastly, online survey sites allow a researcher to collect and analyze results rather quickly and efficiently. zoomerang, the website used to create and post this questionnaire, gives users a fairly large number of options in creating a web-based survey (including survey templates, response types, etc). the website then creates a specific internet address for the survey, allowing respondents to reach the survey by either imputing the address or linking to it. zoomerang considers a complete questionnaire as one in which respondents have clicked on the done button located at the bottom of the questionnaire page. thus complete questionnaires can include those in which not every question was answered. zoomerang also keeps track of what are referred to as views, which include both the number of surveys marked as complete (as previously defined) as well as those surveys that were opened but subsequently closed without clicking the done icon. such ‘incomplete’ visits are not included in the tally of complete questionnaires. the site does not allow one to distinguish between those incomplete surveys in which a person simply viewed the survey and decided not to respond, and those in which a residential segregation by jesus campos 18 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) survey was completed but the respondent did not click done (for whatever reason) or accidently closed the page. it is also impossible to ascertain whether or not some respondents who simply ‘viewed’ the questionnaire the first time came back to complete one later on. since the basic survey package offered by zoomerang was utilized, a maximum of 100 complete surveys were allowed. for the purposes of this survey, the site was instructed to close the survey once this limit was reached. this survey was completed by 100 people (the maximum allowed), and was viewed by 126. thus, on 26 occasions the survey was opened but then closed without clicking the done icon. though the questionnaire was posted online, the researcher is still responsible for finding those he or she wishes to survey and directing them to the questionnaire page online. as such, this particular survey was undertaken using the snowballing technique, in which roughly forty people, including friends, family, and classmates, were originally asked to participate in the survey, and were also asked to spread the word to others in their social network, with the only limitation being that an individual must be an adult and could only take the survey once. the 100 completed survey mark was reached roughly over two weeks after the survey was activated online. since the majority of those originally asked to participate are non-whites and tend to be of college age, this may arguably mirror itself in the final results at least in terms of age and race/ethnicity. measurement of variables residential integration is to be the dependent variable. to determine the level of integration for each respondent, the percentage of whites living within the respondent’s zip code (given by the respondent in the questionnaire) will be obtained from the u.s. census bureau’s official website: http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/m ain.html?_lang=en. the data from the website is from the 2000 census. the primary independent variable is socioeconomic status, to be measured amongst the following three separate components: 1) incomemeasured by asking respondents their level of income using an ordinal scale with ten thousand dollar intervals; 2) savingsmeasured using the same ordinal scale as for the question regarding income; 3) level of education measured using an ordinal scale consisting of the various educational degrees typically offered in the united states. in addition to these three measures of socioeconomic status, i will ask the participants to also list the following secondary independent variables: 1) sexobtained from a simple dichotomous male/female option; http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en residential segregation by jesus campos 19 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) residential integration socioeconomic status (achieved traits only) sex race/ethnicity religion legal status generation marital status home ownership job type (both achieved and ascribed traits) 2) race/ethnicityobtained from a nominal-level list consisting of the more common race/ethnic backgrounds found within the united states; 3) religionobtained using another nominal list consisting of various religious backgrounds; 4) legal statusdetermined by an ordinal list of possible options in descending order; 5) generationobtained by defining first generation, and then asking if respondent to mark which generation they belong to; 6) marital statusobtained from a list consisting of various relationship possibilities; 7) home ownership obtained from a dichotomous list of either rent/lease or own; 8) job typeobtained by asking respondents to choose their occupation from a nominal list; a separate question, employment, will ask respondents if they are temporarily employed or directly employed. though ascribed factors such as race and sex can be construed to some as being a determinant of socioeconomic status, i will keep them separate for the purpose of this piece. thus, since i will define socioeconomic status using only achieved factors, the distinction between the spatial assimilation and place stratification theories will be intact (the ascribed secondary independent variables can be used to test the latter). the following diagram is fairly representative of the correlations i intend to do: data cleaning in total, 14 distinct variables were measured throughout the course of the questionnaire. however, many of these variables were later recoded, and some were eliminated altogether. all nominal sets of response categories consisting of more than two possible options were recoded into various dichotomous variables. however, original response categories that did not illicit a single response were dropped entirely from any future analysis. table 1 in appendix ii is a summary of the cleaning and recoding process and includes all the new dichotomous variables (with the exception of the reference groups, though they too have been recoded). table 1 also summarizes the mean and standard deviation of all listed variables. the nominal marital status variable originally consisted of three separate response categories. however, since one of the original response residential segregation by jesus campos 20 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) categories did not illicit a single response, the remaining two categories have automatically become a dichotomous variable. the values for these two categories were simply changed to 0 and 1 to match all other dichotomous variables. similarly, the variable generation, which originally consisted of four different response options, did not receive a single response for the category 3rd generation. this response category, therefore, was completely eliminated (with the value numbers changed to remain consecutive), and the remaining categories recoded into dichotomous variables. a variable labeled job type status was to be included into the final analyses. this variable was to be determined by a designation of lower status and higher status based upon the respondent’s occupation as given for the variable job type. however, since the variable job type contained 18 missing answers, the idea was abandoned. the actual occupation options for the variable job type will be used in analysis instead (they will be recoded into dichotomous variables). furthermore, a variable entitled employment type was simply eliminated, as its analytical justification was difficult to establish. univariate analysis the dependent variable, consisting simply of the percentage of whites living within the respondent’s zip code, yielded a mean value of 39.36%, with a standard deviation of 24.57 %. level of education produced a mode response of a bachelor’s degree; level of income produced a mode response of $30,000-$40,000; and less than $10,000 was the mode response for level of savings. table 2 in appendix ii summarizes the response frequencies for the dependent and key independent variables. the average age of all respondents was 27.8 years with a standard deviation of 5.6 years. of the 100 total respondents, 47 are females and 53 are males. most of the respondents (44) are roman catholic and most (64) are latino/hispanic. furthermore, 64 of the 100 respondents are not married and 80 either rent or lease (but do not own) their housing. another vast majority of respondents (77) were born in the united states, and 64 respondents come from immigrant families and are the first generation to be born in this country. in terms of occupation types, the administrative option had the most responses with 28. bivariate analysis (refer to table in appendix iii for all pearson’s values obtained from the bivariate analyses) in comparing the key dependent variable (utilizing white percentage of zip code) with the variable level of education (the first of three key independent variables), a pearson’s value of -.561 (significant at the .01 level) is obtained. this is not what was expected, as an interpretation of this value means that as the level of education a respondent has obtained increases, the average white percentage of the respondent’s neighborhood (i.e. the area encompassed by their zip code) residential segregation by jesus campos 21 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) decreases. the relationship between the white percentage of the respondent’s neighborhood and their level of income did not produce a statistically significant value. however, there does appear to be some association between white percentage of zip code and level of savings. a pearson’s value of .237 (significant at the .05 level) was obtained in the bivariate analysis of the two variables. this implies a positive association, meaning that the average percent of whites living in the respondent’s neighborhood increases alongside one’s amount of savings. other factors that may potentially influence the dependent (i.e. the control variables) include one’s race/ethnicity, religion, legal status, job type, immigrant generation (if applicable) marital status, home ownership, sex, and age. the pearson’s values obtained from comparing the various non-white race/ethnicities with the white percentage of the neighborhood are somewhat mixed. there is a significant value (at the .01 significance level) between latino/hispanic and white percentage of zip code of -.275, meaning that the average white percentage of the neighborhood decreases when moving from nonlatino/hispanic to latino/hispanic. however, the pearson’s values for the remaining race/ethnicities are somewhat inconclusive, with none being significant even at the .05 level. there are only two religions (out of six) with pearson’s values that are statistically significant: atheist/agnostic with a value of -.384 (at the .01 significance level), and other religion with a value of .220 (at the .05 level). thus, there is a strong negative association between those that are atheist or agnostic and the average percent of whites living in their neighborhoods, whereas there is a potential positive association between those who responded to belonging to an unlisted religion and the dependant variable. the pearson’s value measuring the relationship between legal status (in regards to citizenship) and white percentage of zip code is not statistically significant (its value is .147). this implies a lack of relationship between the two variables. of the seven different occupations to receive a response for the job type variable, only two had any sort of statistically significant association with the dependant variable, though in opposite directions. these two are administrative and education, with pearson’s values of .565 and -.585, respectively (with both values significant at the .01 level). this implies that those working in the administrative field are more likely to live in areas of higher concentrations of whites, on average, than those working in the education field. though retail, food service, and public services jobs yielded figures denoting negative associations with the dependant variable, while business and health/medicinal fields yielded positive association values, none of these occupation types yielded results with any acceptable statistical significance levels, so no such associations can be established. the bivariate analyses between the dependant variable and the three dichotomous variables constituting the [immigrant] generation variable yielded results that can be said to be expected in residential segregation by jesus campos 22 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) regards to the relationship between the two factors. though the pearson’s value for those who responded to belonging to 1st generation yielded a statistically insignificant value, the analyses for 2nd generation and beyond 2nd generation produced values (significant at the .01 level) of -.338 and .345, respectively. an interpretation implies that those who belong to the 2nd immigrant generation (i.e. the first generation of their family to be born in the united states) are likely to live in areas with a lesser concentration of whites than those whose families have been in this country longer, though the exact generation the respondent belongs to cannot be determined. the bivariate analysis between the dependent variable and marital status did not produce a statistically significant pearson’s value, nor did the analysis with the variable age. however, the relationship between the dependent variable and home ownership did produce a positive association of .415 (significant at the .01 level). this means that those who own their own housing live, on average, in neighborhoods with a greater percentage of whites than those who rent or lease. similarly, the association between the dependent variable and sex also produces a pearson’s value that is statistically significant (at the .01 level) value. the value, .353, implies a positive association between the respondent’s sex (when moving from female to male) and the dependent variable. ols regression analysis though the various pearson’s values allow us to establish a correlation between two variables, such an analysis does not allow us to measure the effect that all possible key and control variables have on the dependent variable as a whole. thus, a linear regression must be utilized to determine the overall influence of all independent variables on the dependent variables; in essence, a linear regression allows one to measure the strength of the model as a whole. for this particular model, an ols regression analysis will be utilized since the single dependent variable is of continuous value (a percentage figure measuring the percentage of whites living in the respondent’s zip code). in theory, a linear regression analysis of the research model would include the single dependent variable plus the twenty-nine key and control independent variables (most of which are recoded dichotomous variables). however, spss excluded six of the independent variables (though not key ones) during the regression analysis. the excluded variables are white; latino/hispanic; roman catholic; deist/spiritualist; administrative job; and beyond 2nd generation. the reason for these exclusions may be related to an issue of perfect multicollinearity with the variables in question. several attempts were made to solve this issue by recoding some of the existing dichotomous variables pertaining to race/ethnicity and religion in order to compress them into fewer variables. no such recode attempts produced a model in which no independent variables were excluded by spss. the model which ultimately bore the fewest excluded variables (four) was one in which four separate religious variables (buddhist/tao/shinto; atheist/agnostic; deist/spiritualist; and residential segregation by jesus campos 23 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) other religion) were merged into a single category known simply as other religion, and two racial/ethnic variables (multi-racial/ethnic and other race/ethnicity) were merged into a single category known as other race. the four excluded variables under this new model are latino/hispanic; roman catholic; administrative job; and beyond 2nd generation. this new model is summarized in appendix iv as table 1. despite the changes between them, the initial and newer models yielded similar regression values, with f-test values of 11.23 and 11.91, respectively, and adjusted r-squared values of .77 and .76, respectively. since this second model yielded fewest excluded variables, it shall be used to analyze all other independent variables. as stated, the linear regression analyses for the research model yielded a statistically significant (at the .01 level) f-test score of 11.91, meaning that at least one of the independent variables has a significant effect on the dependent variable). the adjusted r-squared value of .76 means that the model can explain 76% of the variance in the dependent variable. in regards to specific independent variables, three of the variables (income; other race; and 2nd generation) produced values significant at the .05 level. the variable 2nd generation produced a negative relationship, meaning those who are in the first generation of their family to be born in this country decreases the average white percentage of one’s neighborhood (a somewhat expected outcome). another expected outcome is the positive relationship between one’s level of education and the dependent variable, meaning that, on average, as the respondent’s level of education rises, so does the percentage of whites living in their neighborhood (i.e. zip code). the positive relationship between the dependent variable and the variable other race may be somewhat confusing. though this variable excludes whites, latino/hispanics, and asians, it is difficult to specify as to what race this significant association can be attributed to. conclusion overall, the regression model may be interpreted as having produced somewhat ambiguous results. the model is strong in that in can explain much of the variance in the dependent variable; however, the fact remains that only three of the over two dozen independent and control variables yielded any sort of statistically significant influence (with only one of the three key variables having any sort of significant influence). furthermore, variables that were largely expected to produce a significant positive relationship (such as education, savings, and white) failed to do so. similarly, variables that were expected to produce negative relationships (most notably latino and black) also failed to do so (with latino even being completely excluded by spss from the model). obviously, such outcomes may be a result of issues relating to sample size, or perhaps more likely to issues relating to the use of availability sampling. nevertheless, in taking into account the absence of such largely expected outcomes, it may perhaps be inaccurate to conclude that the overall model is indeed a strong one. residential segregation by jesus campos 24 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) references beshers, james m.; laumann, edward o.; bradshaw, benjamin s. ethnic congregation-segregation, assimilation, and stratification. social forces, vol. 42, no. 4. 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outcome. american sociological review, vol. 50, no. 1 (feb., 1985), pp. 94-106. woolston, howard. the process of assimilation. social forces, vol. 23, no. 4 (may, 1945) pp. 416-424. http://www.jstor.org/search/basicresults?search=search&query=aa:%22stanley%20l.%20m.%20fong%22&hp=25&si=1 http://www.jstor.org/browse/00029602 http://www.jstor.org/browse/00029602 http://www.jstor.org/browse/00029602/dm992565 http://www.jstor.org/browse/07311214 http://www.jstor.org/browse/07311214 http://www.jstor.org/browse/07311214/ap050069 http://www.jstor.org/search/basicresults?search=search&query=aa:%22eric%20fong;%20rima%20wilkes%22&hp=25&si=1 http://www.jstor.org/view/01979183/di009803/00p0518p/0?currentresult=01979183%2bdi009803%2b00p0518p%2b0%2c67408005&searchurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.jstor.org%2fsearch%2fadvancedresults%3fhp%3d25%26si%3d1%26all%3dfong%2bwilkes%26exact%3d%26one%3d%26none%3d%26sd%3d%26ed%3d%26jt%3d 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http://www.jstor.org/browse/00377732/di010923 http://www.jstor.org/browse/00377732/di010923 http://www.jstor.org/search/basicresults?search=search&query=aa:%22douglas%20s.%20massey;%20brendan%20p.%20mullan%22&hp=25&si=1 http://www.jstor.org/view/00029602/dm992676/99p03734/0?currentresult=00029602%2bdm992676%2b99p03734%2b0%2c00&searchurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.jstor.org%2fsearch%2fadvancedresults%3fhp%3d25%26si%3d1%26all%3dmassey%2bmullan%26exact%3d%26one%3d%26none%3d%26au%3don%26sd%3d%26ed%3d%26jt%3d%26dc%3dsociology http://www.jstor.org/view/00029602/dm992676/99p03734/0?currentresult=00029602%2bdm992676%2b99p03734%2b0%2c00&searchurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.jstor.org%2fsearch%2fadvancedresults%3fhp%3d25%26si%3d1%26all%3dmassey%2bmullan%26exact%3d%26one%3d%26none%3d%26au%3don%26sd%3d%26ed%3d%26jt%3d%26dc%3dsociology http://www.jstor.org/browse/00029602 http://www.jstor.org/browse/00029602 http://www.jstor.org/browse/00029602/dm992676 http://www.jstor.org/search/basicresults?search=search&query=aa:%22douglas%20s.%20massey;%20eric%20fong%22&hp=25&si=1 http://www.jstor.org/browse/00377732 http://www.jstor.org/browse/00377732/di010930 http://www.jstor.org/view/00031224/di974363/97p0080r/0?currentresult=00031224%2bdi974363%2b97p0080r%2b0%2c00&searchurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.jstor.org%2fsearch%2fadvancedresults%3fhp%3d25%26si%3d1%26all%3dmassey%2bdenton%26exact%3d%26one%3d%26none%3d%26au%3don%26sd%3d%26ed%3d%26jt%3d%26dc%3dsociology http://www.jstor.org/view/00031224/di974363/97p0080r/0?currentresult=00031224%2bdi974363%2b97p0080r%2b0%2c00&searchurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.jstor.org%2fsearch%2fadvancedresults%3fhp%3d25%26si%3d1%26all%3dmassey%2bdenton%26exact%3d%26one%3d%26none%3d%26au%3don%26sd%3d%26ed%3d%26jt%3d%26dc%3dsociology http://www.jstor.org/browse/00031224 http://www.jstor.org/browse/00031224 http://www.jstor.org/browse/00031224/di974363 residential segregation by jesus campos 25 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) appendix i this survey questionnaire is a part of a study attempting to measure the connection between socioeconomic status and residential patterns. the questionnaire consists of 14 questions, and should take roughly 5 minutes to complete. please note that the survey is intended to be anonymous – do not write your name or any other identifying information on open-ended portions of the questionnaire. your participation is greatly appreciated. thank you. 1) age: ______ 2) sex: [ ] male [ ] female 3) what zip code do you currently reside in? _________________________ 4) what is your current citizenship/residency status? [ ] natural-born citizen [ ] naturalized citizen [ ] legal resident [ ] temporary resident/visitor [ ] undocumented status 5) marital status [ ] single [ ] divorced/widowed [ ] married (including common law) 6) what is the highest level of education you have completed so far? [ ] less than high school [ ] high school diploma/ged [ ] associate’s degree [ ] bachelor’s degree [ ] master’s degree [ ] doctorate or equivalent residential segregation by jesus campos 26 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) 7) what is your approximate annual income (including that not reported to the government) to the nearest thousand? please include wages from employment, money received from tenants, government subsidies (welfare), etc. do not include income from bank and/or government loans that must be repaid. [ ] below $10,000 [ ] $10,000-$20,000 [ ] $20,000-$30,000 [ ] $30,000-$40,000 [ ] $40,000-$50,000 [ ] $50,000-$60,000 [ ] above $60,000 8) to the best of your knowledge, how much money do you have in savings to the nearest thousand? this includes money stored in a bank account, trust fund, mutual fund, stock options, real estate, etc. [ ] below $10,000 [ ] $10,000-$20,000 [ ] $20,000-$30,000 [ ] $30,000-$40,000 [ ] $40,000-$50,000 [ ] $50,000-$60,000 [ ] above $60,000 9) what is your religious affiliation/preference? [ ] protestant [ ] jewish [ ] muslim [ ] roman catholic [ ] hindu/sikh [ ] buddhist/tao/shinto [ ] atheist/agnostic [ ] deist/spiritualist [ ] other 10) do you own or rent/lease your current housing (whether it be a house, apartment, or otherwise)? rent includes any money you pay your parents for housing if you still reside with them. [ ] own [ ] rent/lease 11) if you or either side of your family immigrated to the u.s. from abroad, what generation do you belong to (using the definition of first generation as those who originally immigrated here)? please leave blank if the question is not applicable to you. [ ] 1st generation [ ] 2nd generation residential segregation by jesus campos 27 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) [ ] 3rd generation [ ] beyond 3rd generation 12) what is your current employment status? temporary employment is employment through agencies/staffing services or seasonal employment. [ ] unemployed [ ] temporary employment [ ] direct employment 13) how would you classify the field of your current employment (if you have more than one job, please choose the job which provides you with the majority of your income)? [ ] retail [ ] business [ ] food services [ ] public service [ ] administrative [ ] education [ ] manufacturing [ ] general clerical [ ] health/medicine [ ] sales (including insurance) [ ] repair/mechanic [ ] other (please specify): ________________________ 14) which race/ethnic group do you identify yourself as belonging to? [ ] black [ ] white (non-hispanic) [ ] asian [ ] latino/hispanic [ ] native american or alaskan native [ ] middle eastern [ ] indian [ ] pacific islander [ ] other [ ] multi-ethnic residential segregation by jesus campos 28 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) variable categories frequency mean s.d. d v percentage of whites in zip code n/a n/a 39.36 24.57 in d e p e n d e n t v a r ia b l e s education level 1=less than high school 2=high school diploma/ged 3=associate’s degree 4=bachelor’s degree 5=master’s degree 6=doctorate or equivalent 0 10 10 63 17 0 3.87 .81 income 1=less than $10,000 2=$10,000 to $20,000 3=$20,000 to $30,000 4=$30,000 to $40,000 5=$40,000 to $50,000 6=$50,000 to $60,000 7=more than $60,000 21 11 11 28 24 5 0 3.43 1.68 savings 1=less than $10,000 2=$10,000 to $20,000 3=$20,000 to $30,000 4=$30,000 to $40,000 5=$40,000 to $50,000 6=$50,000 to $60,000 7=more than $60,000 93 4 2 1 0 0 0 1.11 .45 c o n t r o l v a r ia b l e s race/ ethnicity#1 black/non-black asian/non-asian latino or hispanic/non-latino or hispanic other race-ethnicity/non-other race-ethnicity multi-ethnic/non-multi-ethnic 5/95 7/93 64/36 5/95 5/95 .05 .07 .64 .05 .05 .23 .26 .48 .22 .22 religion#2 roman catholic/non-roman catholic buddhist, tao or shinto/non-buddhist, tao, or shinto atheist or agnostic/non-atheist or agnostic deist or spiritualist/non-deist or spiritualist other/non-other 44/56 5/95 16/84 3/97 30/70 .44 .05 .16 .03 .30 .45 .22 .37 .17 .46 legal status 1=undocumented 2=temporary visitor 3=permanent resident 4=naturalized citizen 5=natural-born citizen 0 0 3 20 77 4.74 .51 job type#3 retail job/non-retail job business job/non-business job food services job/non-food services job public service job/non-public service job administrative job/non-administrative job health & medicine job/non-health & medicine job 7/75 3/79 3/79 16/66 28/54 6/76 .09 .04 .04 .20 .34 .07 .28 .19 .19 .40 .48 .26 generation#4 1st generation/non-1st generation 2nd generation/non-2nd generation 12/83 64/31 .13 .67 .33 .47 marital status 0=single 1=married 64 32 1.33 .47 home ownership 0=rent/lease 1=own 80 20 1.20 .40 sex 0=female 1=male 47 53 .53 .50 age 27.80 5.60 appendix ii table 1: residential segregation by jesus campos 29 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) white percentage of neighborhood (n=100) percent white 10 10 63 17 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 high school diploma/ged associate's degree bachelor's degree master's degree level of educaton (n=100) 21 11 11 28 24 5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 income (n=100) 93 4 2 1 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 savings (n=100) table 2: #denotes recoded variable in x/y format, where x has value of 1 and y has value of 0. 1 reference group is white (non-hispanic). 2reference group is protestant. 3 reference group is education. 4 reference group is beyond 2nd generation. r e si d e n t ia l s e g r e g a t io n b y je su s c am po s 30 c a l if o r n ia s o c io l o g y j o u r n a l , 2 01 1, v o l . 3 (i ss u e 1 : 1 232 ) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1 . w hi te p er ce nt ag e of z ip c od e -.5 61 ** .0 70 . 23 7* . 37 5* * -.2 75 ** -.0 58 .0 23 .1 20 -.0 66 .1 13 -.0 30 .1 95 -. 38 4* * -. 01 9 2 . l ev el o f e du ca ti on .0 07 -. 48 9* * -. 36 3* * .2 14 * . 04 4 .0 37 .0 37 -.0 20 .0 23 -.0 82 .0 37 . 30 6* * . 10 1 3 . l ev el o f i nc om e . 23 9* . 19 5 .3 65 ** .3 64 ** -.0 55 -.3 46 ** -.2 88 ** -.0 34 .2 59 ** .2 35 * -. 15 7 -. 26 5* * 4 . l ev el o f s av in gs . 54 8* * -.2 83 ** -.0 68 -.0 57 -.0 57 -.0 57 -.0 35 -.2 19 * -.0 57 -. 04 7 -. 04 3 5 . w hi te -.5 38 ** -.1 11 -.0 93 -.0 93 -.0 93 -.0 58 -.3 58 ** .5 69 ** . 06 0 -. 07 1 6 . l at in o/ h is pa ni c -.3 66 ** -.3 06 ** -.3 06 ** -.3 06 ** .1 07 .6 65 ** -.3 06 ** . 04 3 -. 23 4* 7 . a si an -.0 63 -.0 63 -.0 63 -.0 39 -.2 43 * -.0 63 -. 12 0 -. 04 8 8 . b la ck -.0 53 -.0 53 -.0 33 -.2 03 * -.0 53 -. 10 0 -. 04 0 9 . o th er r ac e/ et hn ic it y -.0 53 -.0 33 -.2 03 * -.0 53 -.1 00 -.0 40 10 . m ul ti -r ac ia l/ et hn ic -.0 33 -.2 03 * -.0 53 . 76 7* * -. 15 0 11 . p ro te st an t -.1 27 -.0 33 -. 06 2 -. 02 5 12 . r om an c at ho lic -.2 03 * -. 38 7* * -. 15 6 13 . b ud dh is t/ ta o/ sh in to -. 10 0 -. 04 0 14 . a th ei st /a gn os ti c -. 07 7 15 . d ei st /s pi ri tu al is t 16 . o th er r el ig io n 17 . l eg al s ta tu s 18 . r et ai l j ob 19 . b us in es s jo b 20 . f oo d se rv ic es jo b 21 . p ub lic s er vi ce jo b 22 . a dm in is tr at iv e jo b 23 . e du ca ti on jo b 24 . h ea lt h & m ed ic in e jo b 25 . 1 st g en er at io n 26 . 2 nd g en er at io n 27 . b ey on d 2n d g en er at io n 28 . m ar it al s ta tu s 29 . h om e o w ne rs hi p 30 . a ge 31 . s ex 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 a p p e n d ix i ii *c or re la tio n is s ig ni fic an t a t . 05 le ve l. ** co rr el at io n is s ig ni fic an t a t . 01 le ve l. #c an no t b e co m pu te d be ca us e at le as t o ne v ar ia bl e is c on st an t. r e si d e n t ia l s e g r e g a t io n b y je su s c am po s 31 c a l if o r n ia s o c io l o g y j o u r n a l , 2 01 1, v o l . 3 (i ss u e 1 : 1 232 ) 1 .2 20 * -.1 47 -.0 24 .0 99 -.0 15 -. 15 2 .5 65 ** -.5 85 ** .1 15 .0 62 -.3 38 ** .3 45 ** -.0 46 .4 15 ** -.0 83 .3 53 ** 2 -.2 19 * -.0 83 -.2 89 ** .0 35 . 10 8 . 08 8 -.5 36 ** .6 18 ** .0 50 .0 63 .3 46 ** -.4 57 ** -.0 71 -.2 91 ** -.0 77 -.4 20 ** 3 -.1 57 .0 11 -.3 36 ** -.3 50 ** -. 35 0* * -. 20 0 .4 40 ** .1 98 .0 48 -.4 07 ** .2 41 * .0 55 .4 20 ** .2 28 * -.0 02 .3 67 ** 4 .3 29 ** .1 28 -. 08 4 -.0 54 -. 05 4 -. 13 5 .3 29 ** -.0 92 -.0 77 -.0 97 -.3 16 ** .4 50 ** .3 09 ** .4 38 ** -.1 72 .6 80 ** 5 .1 13 .0 37 -. 13 9 .4 29 ** -. 08 8 -.2 23 * .4 25 ** -.2 49 * -.1 27 -.1 58 -.5 97 ** .8 31 ** .1 93 .4 47 ** -.1 97 * .9 06 ** 6 -.5 55 ** -.0 15 .0 43 -.2 63 * -. 26 3* .1 71 -.3 28 ** .3 46 ** .1 10 -.0 73 .4 25 ** -.4 38 ** -.0 16 -.3 54 ** .3 37 ** -.3 48 ** 7 .4 19 ** .1 42 -.0 34 -.0 22 -. 02 2 -.0 55 -.0 80 -.0 61 .3 95 ** -.1 07 .1 96 -.1 41 -.1 98 -.1 37 .2 58 ** -.1 39 8 .3 50 ** .0 27 -.0 78 -.0 50 -. 05 0 -.1 25 .3 54 ** -.1 40 -.0 72 # # # .3 31 ** .4 59 ** -.2 44 * -.1 57 9 .3 50 ** -.3 38 ** -.0 69 -.0 44 -. 04 4 .3 17 ** -.1 63 .0 10 -.0 64 .6 20 ** -.3 39 ** -.1 18 -.1 66 -.1 15 -.2 24 * -.1 99 ** 10 .1 19 .2 87 ** -.0 50 -.7 65 ** -. 12 5 -.1 83 -.1 40 -.0 72 .0 90 -.1 18 -.1 64 -.1 18 -.1 66 -.1 15 -.2 44 * -.1 57 11 -.0 94 -.4 95 ** -.0 48 -.0 31 -. 03 1 -.0 78 -.1 14 .2 88 ** -.0 44 .3 86 ** -.2 11 * -.0 73 .2 06 * -.0 71 -.1 52 .0 18 12 -.5 80 ** .0 18 .1 31 -.1 95 -. 19 5 .2 46 * -.1 03 -.1 45 .1 87 -.0 99 .2 41 * -.2 01 .1 92 -.1 41 .3 91 ** -.2 31 * 13 -.1 50 -.1 55 -.0 78 -.0 50 -. 05 0 -.1 25 .3 54 ** -.1 40 -.0 72 -.0 90 -.3 39 ** .4 71 ** -.0 73 -.1 15 -.2 44 * .4 62 ** 14 -.2 86 ** .2 26 * .0 93 .4 29 ** -. 08 8 -.2 23 * -.3 27 ** .4 42 ** -.1 27 -.1 71 .1 33 -.0 14 -.3 16 ** -.0 14 -.1 36 .0 10 15 -.1 15 .0 91 -.0 60 -.0 38 1. 00 0* * -.0 96 -.1 40 -.1 07 -.0 55 -.0 69 .1 26 -.0 90 -.1 27 -.0 88 -.1 87 -.1 10 16 -.0 09 -.1 56 -.1 00 -. 10 0 .0 52 .3 30 ** -.2 10 -.0 28 .2 05 * -.1 96 .0 60 .0 48 .2 73 ** -.0 83 .0 58 17 .1 74 .1 11 . 11 1 -.4 10 ** .0 26 .0 43 .1 60 -.5 53 ** .3 03 ** .1 04 -.1 94 .0 10 .2 70 ** .0 83 18 -.0 60 -. 06 0 -.1 50 -.2 20 * -.1 68 -.0 86 -.1 15 -.2 31 * .3 43 ** -.2 62 * -.1 74 .1 62 -.1 08 19 -. 03 8 -.0 96 -.1 40 -.1 07 -.0 55 -.0 73 -.2 66 * .3 52 ** -.1 67 .3 43 ** .2 15 .1 84 20 -.0 96 -.1 40 -.1 07 -.0 55 -.0 73 .1 52 -.1 15 -.1 67 -.1 11 -.1 77 -.1 33 21 -.3 55 ** -.2 70 * -.1 38 .4 11 ** -.0 12 -.2 93 ** .2 22 -.2 80 * .0 48 -.3 13 ** 22 -.3 95 ** -.2 02 -.2 37 * -.1 56 .3 50 ** .1 78 .5 49 ** -.0 33 .4 56 ** 23 -.1 54 .0 73 .2 45 * -.3 28 ** .0 73 -.3 12 ** -.0 33 .4 56 ** 24 -.1 06 .2 20 -.1 66 -.2 41 * -.0 51 -.1 61 -.0 58 25 -.5 46 ** -.1 90 -.1 11 -.1 65 -.1 72 -.2 43 * 26 -.7 18 ** .0 01 -.2 53 * .1 94 -.5 01 ** 27 .1 00 .4 33 ** -.0 85 .7 89 ** 28 .2 90 ** -.0 74 .2 69 ** 29 -.1 30 .4 22 ** 30 -.2 20 * 31 *c or re la tio n is s ig ni fic an t a t . 05 le ve l. ** co rr el at io n is s ig ni fic an t a t . 01 le ve l. #c an no t b e co m pu te d be ca us e at le as t o ne v ar ia bl e is c on st an t. residential segregation by jesus campos 32 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 12-32) appendix iv table 1: linear regression independent variables# coefficients standard error intercept 73.30 56.30 education -14.02 5.26 income 16.64 5.33* savings -3.72 5.91 white -71.80 29.76 asian -34.66 20.27 other race 37.26 11.56* protestant 32.49 19.43 other religion 4.77 11.51 legal status 1.12 5.80 retail job -34.20 16.44 business job 70.62 32.23 food services job 11.76 21.58 public service job -8.55 13.47 education job -27.62 16.54 health & medicine job 18.17 11.22 1st generation -19.79 24.53 2nd generation -57.07 17.32* marital status -3.60 8.93 home ownership (rent→own) .87 10.26 age .37 1.33 sex (female→male) -1.32 5.87 f-test 11.91 adjusted r-squared .76 # variables excluded by spss: latino/hispanic; roman catholic; administrative job; beyond 2nd generation *p<0.05 film review | bates and cunanan 1 california sociology forum vol. 5 film review: everything everywhere all at once by daniel kwan and daniel scheinert taryn bates and darron cunanan department of sociology california state university, los angeles everything everywhere all at once (eeaao) is the second feature film by directors known as the “daniels,” and it has broken numerous records since releasing in march 2022. under distribution through indie house a24, the film was originally only given a limited run but quickly increased to a nationwide release due to popular demand – even while the movie theater business struggled to bounce back from pandemic conditions. eeaao was recognized during awards seasons since its release, setting a high bar with upward of 300 nominations and becoming the first film to sweep the oscars in all the “above-theline” categories for which it was nominated: best picture, best original screenplay, best director, best actress, best supporting actor, and best supporting actress. clearly this film has had an impact. the “daniels” writer/director team is made up of daniel kwan and daniel scheinert. they met while majoring in film at emerson college, located in boston. for kwan, emerson college was just 40 minutes from where he had been born and raised by parents who are immigrants from taiwan and hong kong. on the other hand, scheinert was born and raised in alabama before moving to massachusetts. since 2010, the duo’s initial rise to fame came from directing (as well as often appearing in) odd yet eyecatching surrealist music videos for popular musicians, such as “turn down for what” by dj snake and lil jon. this film perfectly portrays a person struggling to fulfill competing demands, a concept sociologists refer to as role conflict. evelyn wong is constantly being pulled in different directions because of her roles and she cannot meet their demands. she is torn between her positions as a homemaker, business owner, person with their own aspirations, and as an interdimensional heroine. we see in the opening scene evelyn prepares a meal for the family while the dinner table is scattered with paperwork related to her laundromat business. as a homemaker, she is film review | bates and cunanan 2 california sociology forum vol. 5 expected to tend to the needs of her husband, daughter, and father but her responsibilities as a business owner are making it difficult for her to fulfill those responsibilities. the consequence of this conflict is husband waymond serving divorce paperwork to evelyn. she is presented with a new role of an interdimensional heroine by an alternate universe version of waymond. her newfound role eventually comes into conflict with her role as a business owner and homemaker as she struggles to save her business at an irs office while fighting an interdimensional villain at the same time. despite the science fiction premise, evelyn wong’s situation beautifully reflects the lives of women juggling their roles in daily life. eeaao is a multiverse-hopping, genre bending movie about realizing one’s potential and choosing the life that is most authentic to oneself. while evelyn is trying to sort out her taxes, counterparts from “the alphaverse” start showing up in the bodies of her family and acquaintances. alpha waymond explains that their evelyn discovered how to cross between parallel universes through “verse-jumping” into the bodies of counterparts by engaging in strange actions that the individual normally would never do. unfortunately, alpha evelyn’s zeal for pushing her daughter joy to her fullest potential accidentally broke joy’s mind and created an irreverent entity going by jobu tupaki. jobu in turn killed alpha evelyn. ever since, the alphaverse has been looking for an evelyn that can stop jobu from obliterating everything. alpha waymond has a realization that this evelyn is the greatest failure out of every evelyn in the multiverse, which means she actually has the most pathway connections to verse-jump into other versions of herself who succeeded in specific talents. she eventually realizes that the only way to defeat jobu is to become like her. at first, evelyn also falls prey to nihilism, but then waymond’s reminders to be kind breaks through the noise and allows evelyn to engage in empathy. this empathy then allows jobu to also turn away from nihilism and embrace community support. the film has great strengths in showcasing how to be true to oneself, even amid chaos, while also highlighting how different personalities can create a truly supportive community. though evelyn is the main character, the film shows the struggles of film review | bates and cunanan 3 california sociology forum vol. 5 assimilation and intergenerational trauma through the presence of her father gong gong and her daughter joy. evelyn fears that gong gong will see joy’s identity as a lesbian, who is also dating a non-asian woman, as a personal failure of evelyn’s parenting. joy was born and raised in america, so is the most assimilated into american culture. gong gong is visiting but does not speak english and upholds a lot of traditional chinese perspectives. evelyn is in the middle, feeling pulled in multiple directions on what she should be embodying. the trauma of assimilation bleeding into intergenerational issues is evident between evelyn and joy each fearing disappointing the generation that raised them. evelyn takes refuge in universes where she did not marry waymond, causing joy to not exist. while at first evelyn sees these as signs that her life would have been better if she had rejected waymond, it turns out that what she really needed was time and space to find her true self. she realizes she loves waymond and that he has always done what he can to support her and joy. once evelyn embraces her own identity, she is able to give space and support for joy/jobu to make the choices that are best for her own self as well. the movie addresses topics of roles, mental health, support systems, assimilation, but the positive messages may get lost in the absurdist aspects of the plot. i (darron) imagine that children of immigrant parents want to share this film with their parents to show them an example of how families support the very different lives of their assimilated children. however, between scenes of characters trying to sit on a trophy to induce versejumping and an odd hotdog finger world, children of immigrants may be hesitant to share with a generation that may find these gags inappropriate. despite those scenes, families should give the movie a chance! while not explicitly stated in the film, the “daniels” have explained that evelyn has undiagnosed adhd. when looking into real-life examples of a person who is constantly being distracted and/or dissociating, they came across the explanation film review | bates and cunanan 4 california sociology forum vol. 5 for undiagnosed adhd in adults. this sparked a revelation that kwan openly explains: i started taking some adhd tests. i started realizing . . . as tears were falling down my face . . . ‘oh, no, maybe this is who i am. maybe this is why i had such a hard time in school and still have such a hard time in my day-to-day life.’ even without trying to put in adhd, this movie was going to be infused with it from the very beginning. the dna of it was all going to be there. (kwong, lu, and grayson 2023) individuals diagnosed with adhd as an adult may resonate with evelyn’s journey trying to manage distractions and waves of hyperfocus while also feeling pressure from societal expectations of what an adult “should” be doing to support everyone. overall, this movie does a wonderful job of showing how everyone embracing their own personality truly builds the strongest support network. references kwan, daniel and daniel scheinert. 2022. everything everywhere all at once. new york, ny: iac films. los angeles, ca: gozie agbo; year of the rat; ley line entertainment. kwong, emily, thomas lu, and gisele grayson. 2023. “meet the mathematical minds behind oscar-nominated ‘everything everywhere all at once.’” short wave from national public radio. retrieved april 11, 2023 https://www.npr.org/2023/01/24/1150938152/meet-themathematical-minds-behind-oscar-nominatedeverything-everywhere-all-at-. creative works | poetry | calderon 137 california sociology forum vol. 6 estimado padre astrid calderon department of sociology california state university, los angeles explanation of sociological relevance the video poem i created for my cls 1600-03 class is a poignant exploration of the immigrant experience through a sociological lens. by crafting the narrative in spanish, i constructed a direct dialogue with my immigrant father, delving into the intricacies of his journey and the motivations behind leaving his life in mexico. through this intimate portrayal, the poem sheds light on the reality and complexities of the american dream from the perspective of immigrants, illustrating the challenges and sacrifices inherent in pursuing a better life. moreover, the poem offers insights into the latinx view of hustle culture, depicting the determination and resilience required to navigate unfamiliar territories and societal expectations. it captures the essence of the coming-of-age story of my father and i, who gain a deeper understanding of our familial roots and the intergenerational struggles embedded within our upbringing. as a first-generation college student, exploring my father’s journey resonates with a broader sociological context, reflecting the experiences of many who grapple with the legacies of hardship and resilience passed down through generations. this narrative serves as a testament to the strength of immigrant communities and the complexities of familial relationships shaped by adversity and the pursuit of the american dream. to watch the poem in its original video format, scan below: creative works | poetry | calderon 138 california sociology forum vol. 6 estimado padre en los campos donde el sol se hace uno con la tierra donde la tierra produce el fruto que nos alimenta donde el alimento crea fusiones de sabores que toca nuestro paladar donde se te hacen las manos desgastadas y la ropa desgarrada allí trabajas aunque tu cuerpo te diga que ya no puede más pensarías que hablo de un adulto pero en verdad hable de un niño ese niño es mi padre nuestro padre a los 10 años ese niño ya era un adulto se cuidaba solo se decía que era listo se sabía que el niño era muy trabajador nunca tomó la moneda de judas nunca tomo el camino fácil nunca se dejo engañar por la gente nunca dejaron a ese niño, ser niño con lágrimas en los ojos y el corazón acelerado se despido de su tierra a los 16 años por el sueño americano arriesgo sus manos pero por un milagro la virgencita lo mantuvo sano trabajando de noche trabajando de día cuando miraba el sol no sabía amanecía o anochecía ya no tienes que esconderte ya no tienes que huir porque tu sueño ya se te pudo cómplir creative works | poetry | calderon 139 california sociology forum vol. 6 el sueño americano no será lo que dicen el sueño americano es numas para los que nos contradicen llegando aqui pronto aprendistes que el sueño americano, se trata de poder ser feliz ni con dinero, ni con riquezas pero con tu familia todo si se puede complir aquel nino ya no es un nino el es mi padre, mi padre el que me dice échale ganas y ponte las pilas gracias mi padre por ser mi padre dear father in the fields where the sun is one with the earth where the earth produces the fruit that feeds us where food creates fusions of flavors that touches our palate where your hands become worn and your clothes torn there you work even though your body tells you to stop you would think i’m talking about an adult but really i speak of a child that child is my father our father at the age of 10, that child was already an adult. he took care of himself it was said that he was clever the boy was known to be a hard worker never took coin of judas never took the easy way he never let the people fool him they never let that child, be a child with tears in his eyes and a racing heart at the age of 16, to his motherland he said goodbye for the american dream creative works | poetry | calderon 140 california sociology forum vol. 6 he risked his hands but by a miracle the virgin kept him complete working at night working during the day when he looked at the sun he couldn’t tell dawn from dusk you don’t have to hide you no longer have to run away because your dream has been fulfilled the american dream is not what they say the american dream is for those who contradict us here you soon learned that the american dream is about establishing happiness neither with money nor with riches but with your family everything can be complied that child is no longer a child he’s my father, my father who tells me never give up look alive thank you my father for being my father astrid calderon (she/her/ella) is a first-generation, undergraduate junior at california state university, los angeles. she is an active participant of the csula pre-pa club and was the historian of the former movimiento estudiantil chicanx de aztlan (m.e.ch.a) de csula organization. majoring in sociology with a focus on gerontology, astrid has a passion for researching societal issues and diseases correlated with socio-economic status. her works often delve into themes of identity, inequality, and social justice. alongside her academic pursuits, astrid brings a wealth of practical experience in patient care and healthcare administration gained through her role as a cope health scholar at glendale adventist health hospital. with a commitment to advocacy and community engagement, astrid submitted to csf as an opportunity to share her perspectives through this piece, which delves into the immigrant experience through a sociological lens. estimado padre astrid calderon op-ed | rivera 1 california sociology forum vol. 5 my postpartum depression consumed self marie rivera department of sociology california state university, los angeles abstract this paper seeks to examine my personal experience of motherhood as it relates to navigating through postpartum depression. through the methodology of autoethnography, scenarios and encounters were analyzed to depict my marginalized position as a new mother in a traditional hispanic family and in a contemporary white supremacist heteropatriarchal society. the theoretical framework of deviance, in particular labeling theory, was used to introduce alternative frameworks to the traditional culture of motherhood. key themes included cultural values seen as gendered scripts that dictate the place of women within the motherhood realm. discussion of what the dominant culture deems normal is utilized to demonstrate the conflicts that an individual may experience when internalizing stigma around resisting the traditional roles womanhood. marginalization and implicit acts of othering, condoned by those perpetuating hetero-patriarchal values exhibiting normalized ideals, exacerbate the subordination of those who do not fit in this idealized matrix of motherhood. introduction motherhood is a very challenging experience to navigate. if you fail, your child will be a direct reflection of that failure. there are cultural expectations for how a child should be brought up, how one should present themself as a mother, how a mother has a ‘natural’ ability to nurture. what is not spoken about, is the possibility that a woman can have a child and not be equipped with unrealistic characteristics. postpartum depression can suck the life out of a new mother. with little information being circulated about the condition, it can make one feel extremely isolated. developing postpartum depression is something deemed deviant to the social world. it marginalizes a new mom, progressing to the sense of othering. my experience with postpartum depression was a life op-ed | rivera 2 california sociology forum vol. 5 changing experience. however, rallying the strength to recover was one of the best things i have experienced in life. after her birth, i lacked a natural bond with my daughter a bond i was told would come naturally. it was very confusing to me as a new mom. i knew this stemmed from my lack of ability to breastfeed her, but i was internally conflicted. i felt robbed of the experience everyone raves about when they bring a new baby home. i let my husband and parents take charge of her caregiving because i felt that i had already failed her. i could not provide my daughter with the one thing she needed to thrive, something my body was supposed to do naturally. how could i succeed at anything else? i didn’t realize i was experiencing postpartum depression until my daughter was nearly six months old. that was a very challenging time for me. i wasn’t so much in denial, but it wasn’t something i was ready to open up and talk about. i come from a fairly traditional mexican family. postpartum depression is taboo and implies that you are not meant to be a mother. my family believes that once you become a mom, you put all your emotions aside and pride yourself on raising your child the best that you can. how could i fulfill these expectations when i could not even identify a connection between us? when i finally came forward to my husband about how i was feeling, we cried together. i knew that was the first step to my mental and emotional healing. we were ready to venture through this journey together side by side. that is what gave me the strength to push through. i became more involved and present with my daughter. i was balancing school and parenting much more efficiently. my mom noticed a shift in my behavior and sat me down to discuss her previous concerns. i was confronted by a mirror i could no longer evade. this is when the term that i avoided for so long surfaced – postpartum depression. it felt like a bomb exploded within me. my mom is a mental health facilitator and matt coordinator for the department of child and family services. she knew exactly what she was talking about. i thought i was prepared for all the questions she would ask me. i wasn’t prepared when she asked if i had ever considered harming my child. as someone with long term experience, looking back now, i don’t feel like i reacted properly. i stormed out of my mom’s house and sped home where i had a two-hour breakdown waiting op-ed | rivera 3 california sociology forum vol. 5 for my husband to get home. how could my own mother ask me that? how could she think i was capable of committing such a monstrous act? my mother has seen a lot of ugly in this world, and she had to do what she felt necessary to protect the grandchild she had been helping raise for half of a year. to society, i was a threat to my daughter, a failed parent, and a disgraced mother. gendered scripts tell us that i was supposed to be a ‘natural’ nurturer. i was supposed to be able to feed my child with my own production of milk. i was supposed to put her first the minute she came out of me. eventually i realized that all of expectations were reflections of the patriarchal society we live in, not a reflection of who i was or who i wanted to be. i was an unfortunate individual who had to take a step back, analyze the situation, and implement changes. i rarely speak about my journey, but there was one specific instance where i decided to educate my sister on the subject. this led to her frowning upon me and making the statement, “i never felt that way with any of my kids. some people are just not meant to be parents. i could never imagine hurting my children”. it took everything in me not to blow up, as anyone would naturally do. instead, i took the high road and relayed that i never once thought about hurting nalani, my daughter, and walked away from the situation. mom-shaming comes and goes, i use those instances as fuel to be positive. i refuse to allow the opinions of others and what they deem normal be utilized as a tool to marginalize others. everyone’s experiences of parenthood are vastly different, what one experiences may not be the case for other families. there are many misconceptions postpartum depression. every woman experiences it differently. the lack of awareness allows for false information to spread. one thing i had to overcome was the ideology that i wore the postpartum depression, that it was performative. my struggle with postpartum depression is ongoing, my daughter is almost two and there are some days that are definitely harder than others. i have accepted that my normal differs from the norms of society and the dominant culture. there is always a power struggle when conversing with other moms. there’s constant criticism about how i navigate through motherhood. to say that it does not affect me would be untrue. i op-ed | rivera 4 california sociology forum vol. 5 have had to reframe my whole ideology of parenting. i conceptualized ideals that i felt would benefit my daughter and me a new set of expectations i set for myself, to aid me in my adventure of raising my child. i believe parenting is a process where trial and error is progressive. i have allowed myself to become ambivalent when others force their own beliefs upon me. i am my own critic, and it pains me to admit that it took quite a while before i comprehended that my experience would not be similar to those i’ve witnessed. patriarchy determines that as a woman, we are subordinate and being a mother is my entire purpose of life. lacking the ‘natural’ instinct and creating my own system of parenting threatens the norms already in place. adapting to my situation and creating my own expectations jeopardizes the preexisting scripts we are expected to act out in the social world. i am an example of how acceptable it is to target those who threaten societal norms. society can be cruel, if ‘normal’ people think you are a threat, they shame you to the best of their ability. they make you feel subordinate in attempts to sway you to become adherent. there is a gender hierarchy in place. if women change the system, imagine what power they could hold. changes in society should be welcomed. unfortunately, the act of “othering” triumphs over open-mindedness. i could never assimilate properly into society due to ‘normal’ people othering me. a ‘normal’ person rejects the idea of my conformity because they fail to relate to my experience. when a ‘normal’ person hears my story, they become overwhelmed. it makes them feel sad, which is followed by ignorance, because there’s a barrier of understanding. their discomfort is a result of in my rejection to conformity. i am different from them, which ultimately leads to my being labeled an outcast. they themselves have not felt what i feel, and they do not understand how severe a situation can become. the ‘normal’ people view my postpartum depression as an excuse for not wanting to face my own inadequacies of being a parent. not asking for help reflects my negligence, and reiterates the negative stigma held against me. how could i step forward and speak about something, knowing what the outcome would be? they could not conceive how the birth of my daughter, something that should be celebrated, had the op-ed | rivera 5 california sociology forum vol. 5 ability to make me feel inferior and sad. a ‘normal’ person shames me because they could not understand how a mother could feel that way. oftentimes, normal people utilize the act of othering to tackle my endeavors of maneuvering through parenthood. there have been occurrences where this method was prosperous, but i look at it now as character-building. i needed those negative occasions to help myself become stronger willed, for both my daughter and me. now, when someone challenges my experiences with postpartum depression and parenting, i provide the individual with insight. i share my experience with them. what they choose to do after that is their prerogative. i have found this route to be more impactful when i show any sign of fear or sadness, i give them power over me. i have learned how not to allow others to get the best of me when addressing one of my biggest vulnerabilities. their attempts to berate me will not have the intended effect. instead, it made me a much stronger woman, and a better mother. as a sociologist in training, i was fortunate enough to determine that the looking glass self was destructive to me. as i mentioned before, one of the biggest struggles was shifting the notion that i performed postpartum depression. there was a point where i thought everyone in public knew i was struggling just by looking at me. i became a reflection of what i knew everyone thought of me. i needed to abandon this idea and adopt a new sense of self. i wanted to highlight my distinctions from others, i wanted to praise my authenticity. having felt like my experience with postpartum depression was a personal fable, it became crucial to develop a deeper understanding that it can happen to any woman. i was not exempt from any potentialities that are associated with childbirth, and i needed to remember that. when i finally understood that my experience with postpartum depression didn’t define me, my sense of self-identity became much more positive. i realized my negative experience could be helpful to someone else one day, and that i needed to come to terms with it. i could not let the depression consume me any longer, i needed to act, and i needed to do it fast. i learned that it could get better. only i could decide what type of relationship i wanted with my daughter. i op-ed | rivera 6 california sociology forum vol. 5 learned that i must allow love to overtake the bad, and i learned to love my very dysfunctional motherhood experience. the theory of deviance that best describes my encounter with postpartum depression is labeling theory. cox (2018:122) pointed out that: labeling theory also includes analysis of the processes of the labeling, or the stereotyping (schur 1971) that is involved. stigmas are powerful because of this process of typification, which refers to the stereotypical terms under which culture has created a standardized and simplified category to describe all bearers of the deviance. indeed, the stereotypes often extend beyond the attribute and constitute a masterstatus. (huges 1945) labeling theory is demonstrated in my experience because i subconsciously began to absorb the criticisms i was receiving. i internalized the negative labels. the views people had of me began to mold my self-identity. i was becoming all of the negative things those ‘normal’ people saw in me. although i was informally labeled, being labeled as deviant took a dramatic toll on my selfesteem. it wasn’t until i had my epiphany that i realized if i was already considered deviant, what would i be considered if i created my own terms of motherhood? that is precisely why labeling theory best fits my situation. oftentimes, when individuals are defined or labeled as deviant, it creates an inclination to become more deviant in society because you are already a victim of stigma. when i decided that i was going to challenge the unrealistic expectations of motherhood, it was because i was already negatively viewed and stigmatized. i thought to myself, how much worse can it get? as a survivor of postpartum depression, i feel it necessary to state: life goes on, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. moving away from the darkness takes time and patience. change does not occur overnight. trauma is an ongoing process that you learn to cope with for the rest of your life. having setbacks should be expected, do not allow them to discourage you. keep pushing and remind yourself that you are your child’s role model. create the ultimate parent in your mind and apply those attributes through op-ed | rivera 7 california sociology forum vol. 5 actions you take. being negatively labeled, although hurtful, will break you only if you allow it. use the negativity to push forward to be the best parent to your child. love your child and educate them. change can happen over time if enough people want it to. my deviating behavior in its entirety, was experienced as having to guide myself along a route foreign to me. overcoming my postpartum, although a prosperous conquest to me, was seen as an unfavorable act to normal people. having felt negatively at all during my time in new motherhood, i was constantly reminded about my disappointment as a parent. normal people intended to break me for being different, i allowed them to for quite some time. i was unintentionally oppressing myself in the midst of selfvictimization. their attempts to other me, ended the minute i reframed parenting for myself. my sense of self was being altered to cater to what i felt was positive. i am thankful for my journey, the good and the bad. it has made me who i am today. references cox, peta. 2013. “the stigma of deviant physical appearance” pp. 120-127 in deviance: understanding societal norms and stigmas. edited by luis nuño san diego, ca: cognella publishers, 2018. about the california sociology forum the history csf was initially published in 2007-2008 by professor hyojoung kim. it was re-launched in 2022-2023 by a group of faculty members in the department of sociology. csf expresses its immense appreciation to all editors—both faculty and student — who have served on the editorial board through all its iterations. the mission the california sociology forum (csf) is a student-run online journal that publishes scholarly and creative works of students enrolled in the sociology program or taking sociology classes at cal state la at both the undergraduate and graduate level. it is committed to cultivating student research, supporting intellectual exchange, and featuring diverse perspectives on various issues of our society and world. students are strongly encouraged to submit not only original research papers, but creative works such as poems, cartoons, music, pictorial essays, personal essays, and fieldwork notes that use the sociological imagination, as well as sociologically relevant book and film reviews. as we continue to grow, we welcome new additions to our editorial board. please feel free to reach out to us! contact us website: https://journals.calstate.edu/csf/ email: csf.csula@gmail.com © 2024 by california sociology forum (csf) all rights reserved. no part of this journal may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review study, without prior permission from the publishers and the student author. copyright reverts to each author upon further publication of his or her article. department of sociology, california state university, los angeles 5151 state university drive, los angeles, ca 90032-82 csf 2023-2024 editorial board volume 6 was reviewed, promoted, edited, uploaded, and published by the following editorial board. their innovations have continued the endeavors of csf for sociological relevance. for this publication, previously established sections were expanded even further, to research subsections for articles, essays, theoretical framework, & theses; creative works subsections for cover image art, multimedia poems, & zines; and reviews subsections for not only books & films but also video games adapted into film & music! the pieces in the reviews were mainly contributions from the ever-evolving editorial student board subteam of media reviews and original content creations. publication managing editors taryn bates | marie rivera website specialists marlonzo smith | michael young public relations leaders andrea dominguez | joram mugerwa | april d. laird media review & original content creation leaders esai santana | kandice vass board members jesse arceo | taryn bates | andrea dominguez | katherine eason sammy garcia iii | emely gavini mendez | jasmine gaytan april d. laird | anthony jonathan morales | joram n. mugerwa rachel natland | luis ortiz | christina mary ramirez jessica rivera | marie rivera | leticia romero | esai santana marlonzo smith | andrea cesar urbach | kandice vass lauren whiting | michael young faculty editors-in-chief dr. luoman bao (fall 2023) | dr. katie dingeman (spring 2024) faculty editors prof. gilbert garcia (it liaison) dr. roseann giarrusso (advisor) dr. hyojoung kim (founder) about sanchez 1 california sociology forum vol. 5 first generation students in higher education olivia sanchez department of sociology california state university, los angeles abstract the percentage of first-generation college students enrolling in universities has been increasing. however, the percentage of first-generation students who continue past the first year is significantly lower than their peers. past research indicates that low bachelor’s degree attainment rates among first-generation students include difficult transitions to college, financial barriers, and personal relationships. recent literature confirms a change in educational pathways for many first-generation students. as the cost of education increases, the traditional route of four-year institutions has encountered a more cost-effective pathway offered by two-year community colleges. however, the challenges present in transferring from a two-year community college to a four-year university impact the bachelor’s degree attainment rate for firstgeneration and transfer students. it is crucial to identify factors contributing to the gap to create policies and services that better support students from marginalized backgrounds. this study employs logistic regression to compare the educational experiences of first-generation and transfer students at a large public hispanic-serving institution (hsi) university. i examine the association between first-generation students or transfer students and academic challenges such as academic probation. findings support most prior research surrounding the academic challenges pertaining to transfer students and their educational experiences in higher education institutions. however, contrary to recent research, this study did not find a significant relationship between first-generation students and likelihood of being on academic probation. although no significant relationship was observed between first-generation students and having ever been on academic probation, educational policies that further support this student body remain essential. sanchez 2 california sociology forum vol. 5 introduction college students who are the first in their families to obtain a bachelor’s degree face numerous academic and social challenges in their transition into college, impacting their access and retention in higher education (redford and hoyer 2017). using the definition from the national center for education statistics (nces 2018), students are considered first-generation if their parents completed some college credits but hold no degree or may have siblings who have completed bachelor’s degrees. throughout this thesis, i will use the definition from cataldi, bennett, and chen (2018). as of 2015–2016, 56 percent of all undergraduates were first-generation, meaning neither parent held a bachelor’s degree (rti international 2019). first-generation students tend to be racial minorities and come from lower-earning households; latinx students represented 27 percent of firstgeneration college students, compared to 9 percent of traditional students, and 77 percent of students come from households with income below $50,000, compared to 29 percent of traditional students (redford and hoyer 2017). combined with the challenges of being a racial minority and coming from a lowincome household, first-generation students tend to withdraw from college at higher rates than traditional students, especially before the second year (cataldi et al. 2018). although many bridge programs and resources aim to close equity gaps for firstgeneration students, there is still a need for support beyond the first year of enrollment. scholars have identified numerous contributing factors as to why first-generation college students struggle academically (cataldi et al. 2018; ives, castillo, and montoya 2022). however, a key barrier in college persistence among first-generation students is academic probation. students earning low grades are placed on academic probation and may be suspended if grades do not improve. one of the key factors contributing to academic probationary experiences among first-generation students may be insufficient academic preparation prior to entering college (graceodeleye 2019). additionally, the challenges faced by transferring from two-year colleges into four-year universities may potentially exacerbate rates at which first-generation students are placed on academic probation compared to continuing first-generation sanchez 3 california sociology forum vol. 5 students. because the enrollment of first-generation students is expected to increase in the next decade (cataldi et al. 2018), it is important for researchers to understand the academic challenges faced by first-generation students. this paper examines the relationship between generational status (first-generation or traditional) and the likelihood of academic probation as a key obstacle many firstgeneration students face navigating higher education. my thesis also considers the experiences of transferring from a two-year college to a public four-year university. it aims to contribute to prior research by highlighting students’ experiences with academic probation and providing insight on how to target better students disproportionately impacted by obstacles commonly encountered on educational pathways. review of literature past research on first-generation students suggests that their educational experiences are negatively impacted by a wide range of factors such as financial constraints, sense of belonging, and family conflicts (ives, castillo, and montoya 2020). moreover, many first-generation students who start at two-year colleges encounter additional barriers when transferring to fouryear universities, including adjusting to differences in class and campus size, academic rigor, and institutional culture (wang, lee and wickersham 2019; witteveen and attewell 2020; xu et al. 2018). while these factors are beyond the scope of this study, the literature review draws on prior research on academic probation, placement, and transferring experiences among first-generation students. academic probation among first-generation students academic probation is a prevalent tool used by colleges and universities to warn students that their grade point average (gpa) is below a minimum threshold (typically 2.0 on a 4.0 scale) and are not in good academic standing (bowman and jang 2022). if students do not meet the minimum threshold within a specific timeline, students are usually subject to escalating penalties up to dismissal from the institution (bowman et al., 2020). while national data on academic probation is scarce, research suggests sanchez 4 california sociology forum vol. 5 that academic probation is relatively common among undergraduates in general–one study observed that more than 94 percent of students at a large four-year university were placed on academic probation within the first three semesters (leon et al. 2019). moreover, nearly 25 percent of first-year students in a statewide community college sample had overall gpas below 2.0 – the minimum threshold for most universities (schudde and scott-clayton 2016). despite the prevalence of academic probation among undergraduates generally, few studies have investigated whether first-generation students are more likely to be placed on academic probation and what role transferring from a two-year to a four-year university plays in mediating this relationship. as reported by eveland (2019:2) “although the growing attendance of first-generation college students attests to higher education’s commitment to access and social mobility, by many measures students who are the first in their family to attend college are not as successful as their later-generation peers”. moreover, research has shown that first-generation college students have many responsibilities that compete with that of the university for time and attention (eveland 2019). thus, the obstacles firstgeneration students encounter in assimilating to university culture are exacerbated by the lack of preparation to navigate through these spaces successfully. researchers have found that “negative signals” experienced in higher education contribute to the early withdrawal of first-generation students, such as placement in remedial coursework, lower gpa, repeating classes, and delay in major declaration all of which results in a slower accumulation of credits towards the degree (chen 2005). while there are a variety of resources to support students, first-generation students continually face significant challenges impeding their success in degree completion and beyond. although there is a broad range of scholarship that examines the various aspects of first-generation student profiles that contribute to their academic experiences, there is a lack of scholarship centered on the intersection of the personal and academic identities of this student population. through a comparative analysis on first-generation and traditional students, lack of family support and understanding from family members sanchez 5 california sociology forum vol. 5 are other issues faced by many first-generation college students (house, neal, and kolb 2019: 4). furthermore, abraham barouch-gilbert’s (2016) qualitative study of former probationary students draws on a self-efficacy theoretical framework to analyze the role that supports from family, friends, and the four-year university played in the academic attainment of participants. barouch-gilbert (2016:156) states, when sharing their experiences of academic probation, participants described how to support, encouragement (social persuasions), and guidance from others (vicarious experiences) emerged as primary sources of self-efficacy information. further, participants' academic achievements (e.g., good grades on papers and/or assignments) and changes in their emotional states strengthened their beliefs in their academic capabilities. the different components that impact the educational success of first-generation students are tied to the various facets of their intersecting identities. further analysis of the effects of intersectional identities on the educational experiences of marginalized student bodies will provide a stronger understanding of the discrepancies in higher education institutions. navigational pathways of first-generation students although not all transfer students are first-generation, the transfer identity forms a large part of the intersectional identities of first-generation students. over one-third (37%) of firstgeneration students entered as transfers, versus 27% for others, nearly three-fifths (58%) of first-generation students identified as female, and three-fifths (60%) of first-generation students were reported as lower-income pell grant recipients, versus 16% for others (university of california annual accountability report 2021). while there are various pathways among students who navigate multiple higher education institutions (e.g., lateral transfer, reverse transfer, dual credit), the most critically reviewed and prevalent transfer pathway is the vertical transferwhen a student transfers from a two-year to a four-year college with or without an associate degree (taylor and jain 2017; townsend sanchez 6 california sociology forum vol. 5 2001). this study examines students who identified as having vertically transferred from a two-year college into a public fouryear university. vertically transferring from community colleges to fouryear institutions plays a critical role in upward mobility among first-generation, low-income, and racial/ethnic minority students – many of whom are overrepresented in community colleges but less represented at four-year universities (jenkins and fink 2015; witteveen and attewell 2020). part of this can be attributed to vertical “transfer gaps” the difference between the percentage of students who indicate they desire to transfer and the percentage that transfer (taylor and jain 2017). a racial transfer gap, coined by crisp and nunez (2014), identifies an inequity in vertical transfer rates based on race. using this lens, white students from community colleges were 71% more likely to transfer than students of color (wood et al. 2011). thus, while racial and ethnic minority students are heavily represented at the community college level, this representation is not reflected in the transfer to four-year universities. the underrepresentation of marginalized students in transfer rates can be attributed to the many challenges that students must navigate; many students who begin at community college must ascertain when to transfer, whether their credits transfer, how to afford increased tuition costs, or how to juggle career, education, and family (jabbar, epstein, sanchez, and hartman 2020). many first-generation students who transfer struggle with securing financial resources to pay for increased tuition costs at a four-year university which can be a crucial factor when deciding to which institutions they apply and transfer (xu et al. 2018). low financial security can also negatively impact the academic and social lives of first-generation students; many firstgeneration students are employed while attending college, resulting in fewer opportunities for interactions between firstgeneration students and their peers as well as the level of involvement in campus culture (gibbons and woodside 2014). lack of adequate academic preparation has also been a significant aspect of transfer students’ experiences. community college students are less likely to transfer if they attended underresourced high schools that did not adequately prepare them for sanchez 7 california sociology forum vol. 5 college if their parents did not attend or complete higher education if they are older, or if they did not come from wealthy families with stable incomes (wood et al. 2011; taylor and jain 2017). common struggles transfer students reported were social isolation, problems adapting to the change in academic systems and class sizes, as well as a lack of access to information, and difficulty maintaining a balanced student life (solis and duran 2020). overall, the different components that impact the successful transfer from two-year colleges to four-year universities are also related to the challenges faced by firstgeneration students. thus, examining the experiences of both statuses with academic probation can provide further insight on the challenges faced by marginalized students. the current study in this study, i drew data from a web-based questionnaire that collected responses from undergraduate students currently enrolled at california state university, los angeles (cal state la). using quantitative analysis, this study examines the experiences of first-generation and transfer students on academic probation. thus, i ask: (1) what is the relationship between firstgeneration student status and academic probation? and (2) how does transferring into a four-year university mediate the relationship between first-generation student status and academic probation? hypotheses for the first research question, i hypothesize that firstgeneration students will have higher odds of being on academic probation than their traditional student counterparts. regarding the second question, i hypothesize that the relationship between first-generation status and academic probation is mediated by transfer status. that is, the experience of transferring from a twoyear college will have an indirect association with academic probation through first-generation status. the literature on the educational pathways and experiences of first-generation and transfer students describes similar challenges that characterize their educational outcomes. sanchez 8 california sociology forum vol. 5 therefore, i examine the odds of these student identities ever having been on academic probation. as i will demonstrate, the relationship between academic challenges and student status will further support the literature and hypotheses outlined above. methods data i collected data using a web-based survey (i.e., qualtrics) between september 9th, 2021 and february 17th, 2022, distributed among undergraduate students enrolled at california state university, los angeles (cal state la) during this window. the survey consisted of 37 questions and was estimated to take approximately 11 minutes. eligibility to take the survey included having a current undergraduate enrollment status at cal state la. access to the web-based questionnaire was provided in a variety of ways, including an anonymous url link and qr code both available via flyer. the survey flyer was posted on the sociology department’s bulletin board and distributed by several department faculty. the survey asked participants about their academic experiences in the 2020-2021 school year. additionally, the survey includes closedand open-ended questions about educational barriers, such as academic probation, and decisions to withdraw and re-enroll. measures the key independent variables of this study include firstgeneration and transfer statuses. students who identified as firstgeneration were coded as “1” and “0” for students who did not check this option. students identifying as transfer were coded as “1” and “0” was coded for students who did not check this option. these categories are not mutually exclusive, as the original survey requested students to check all identities that applied to their experience. the main outcome variable in this study is academic probation. academic probation is a dummy variable, with “0” coded for students who reported not having ever been on academic probation and “1” for students who identified as ever having been on academic probation. covariates in my models include student demographic characteristics, such as gender, race and ethnicity, year of sanchez 9 california sociology forum vol. 5 enrollment, and house size. gender was recoded into a dummy variable, coded 0 for male and 1 for female. racial-ethnic categories included latinx, american indian/alaskan native, asian, black/african american, middle eastern/north african, native hawaiian/other pacific islander and white identities. due to sample sizes comprising less than 10 participants (and to ensure confidentiality among participants), the racial-ethnic variable was collapsed into two categories: “latinx” (coded as “1”) and “nonlatinx” (coded as “0”). year of enrollment is drawn from participants identifying what year they are enrolled at cal state la. because of the relatively smaller sample of students enrolled in their fifth year and beyond, i pooled participants in their fifth year and beyond into a single category for year of enrollment. household size is drawn from a question asking participants to identify the number of residents residing in their household, including the participant. because not all students self-reported funding strategies in the survey, i use house size to approximate a measure for socio-economic status and include it as a control in my analytic models. sample data drawn from the csula office of institutional effectiveness (2022) reports that in the 2021-2022 school year of 44,445 total enrolled undergraduate students, approximately 72 percent identified as hispanic, and 79 percent had a parent that did not obtain their bachelor’s degree. furthermore, a majority of the students enrolled in the fall 2021 semester were female (59 percent), with 41 percent males, less than 1 percent identifying as non-binary. moreover, of the total enrolled undergraduate students, 10 percent were new transfer students. additionally, 81 percent of all students reported a full-time course load with 19 percent identifying as part-time students. thus, the average student profile of those currently enrolled is hispanic, full-time, and first-generation. table 1 summarizes the controls and the number of students that completed surveys for this study (n = 59). the initial sample included 98 participants with 87 completed survey responses, resulting in an analytic sample of 59 observations with non-missing values on key independent, dependent, and sanchez 10 california sociology forum vol. 5 demographic variables. the sample comprises more women (86 percent) than men (14 percent), which does not necessarily align with the undergraduate 2021-2022 average student profile of currently enrolled csula students of 59 percent female and 41 percent male. moreover, the sample consisted of primarily latinx students (85 percent), and 15 percent non-latinx. regarding academic characteristics, more than half of students were between their first and fourth year at cal state la (90 percent), while 10 percent were in their fifth year or beyond. for key independent variables, the study sample is primarily composed of firstgeneration students (83 percent), with more than half identifying as transfer students (54 percent). for academic outcomes, about 22 percent of students reported having ever been on academic probation. analytical strategy given that the outcome variable is dichotomous, i use logistic regression for my analyses to estimate the odds of having ever been on academic probation among first-generation students. the first model is a bivariate analysis, predicting the odds of academic probation across first-generation and traditional students. then, the second model includes transfer status as a control to investigate how transfer status mediates the relationship between first-generation status and academic probation. the third model includes demographic characteristics, such as latinx, gender, year, and house size, to statistical control for extraneous variables and test the influence of these variables on the relationship between first-generation status, transfer status, and academic probation. for ease of interpretation, the coefficients from logistic regression analyses are exponentiated to the odds ratio. findings table 2 reports the logistic regression results of firstgeneration and transfer students in odds ratio predicting having ever been on academic probation. i first report the odds ratio for first-generation status across all models. model 1 reports the baseline model without controls for first-generation students ever on academic probation. while first-generation students have sanchez 11 california sociology forum vol. 5 higher odds of academic probation, the coefficient was not statistically significant (β = 2.92) my findings thus show that firstgeneration first status is not significantly associated with odds of academic probation. likewise, in model 2, although the odds of academic probation increase, the association for first-generation status remains statistically insignificant (β = 3.05). model 3, which includes controls for latinx, gender, year of enrollment, and house size, reports statistically insignificant odds among firstgeneration students in odds of academic probation (β = 2.16). thus, i reject my first hypothesis that first-generation students will have higher odds of academic probation than traditional students. instead, i find that first-generation status is not significantly associated with academic probation. next, i examine the odds of academic probation with the transfer status of the student. because model 1 does not include transfer status as a variable, i will present results from models 2 and 3. model 2 reports higher odds of academic probation that is statistically significant (β = 15.77). this suggests that students who transferred had 15 times the odds of those who did not to have ever been placed on academic probation, even after controlling for first-generation status. transfer status appears to be a stronger predictor of academic probation than first-generation status alone. model 3 reports that, even after controlling for studentlevel covariates, the odds of academic probation increased (β = 24.93) among transfer students, and the statistical significance increased. transfer students have nearly 25 times the odds of having ever been on academic probation compared to traditional students, even after accounting for first-generation status and other demographic characteristics. across models 2 and 3, because the odds ratio is greater than 1, transferring from a twoyear college appears to be a risk factor of experiencing academic probation at any point in a student’s academic career. the high magnitude of the odds ratio (β = 15.77 in model 2 and β = 24.93 in model 3 also suggests a unique and strong association between transfer status and academic probation. thus, i reject my second hypothesis that transferring from a two-year college to a four-year university mediated the relationship between first-generation status and academic probation. instead, i find evidence of a direct relationship between transfer status and sanchez 12 california sociology forum vol. 5 academic probation. however, caution must be exercised in interpreting the odds ratio for first-generation status, in that while the coefficient remained statistically insignificant across all models (perhaps due to the small sample sizes of the comparison group), first-generation students had higher odds of academic probation compared to traditional students. overall, my findings demonstrate evidence of the challenges transfer students endure in their navigational pathways in higher education. discussion this thesis examined the relationship between academic probation and student status (e.g., first-generation, transfer) to provide insight on their academic experiences. contrary to prior research (barouch-gilbert 2016), my study shows that firstgeneration status is not statistically significantly associated with academic probation. however, consistent with prior research, transferring from a two-year college to a four-year university is significantly associated with having been on academic probation (taylor and jain 2017). my findings also show that, even after accounting for students who identified as first-generation, transfer students had significantly higher odds of academic probation compared to traditional students. the findings from this study align closely with prior research on the educational experiences of transfer students. moreover, this study builds on barouch-gilbert’s (2016) analysis of the impact of academic challenges such as academic probation on transfer students. the significant relationship between transfer students and academic probation is further highlighted throughout this study. thus, additional analysis of the role that supports from family, friends, and institutions play in the academic attainment of marginalized students is essential to develop stronger educational policies. this thesis aims to contribute to literature regarding the factors contributing to the academic experiences of firstgeneration students while also attending to their navigational pathways. however, this study has important limitations. the first limitation is a limited sample size from survey collection efforts. although the survey was distributed to on-campus and off-campus students, the variance in experiences may not be accounted for. sanchez 13 california sociology forum vol. 5 many students were able to select various identities in multiple response formats; as noted in the sample description, the sample size was relatively small (89 responses) and reduced by 6 percent (59 observations) after eliminating responses that were missing on key variables. the second limitation is non-response bias, in that sampled students who did not respond (by choice or by mistake) may differ in characteristics from students who responded to the questions about academic probation, first-generation status, transfer status, or other demographic characteristics. the third limitation is that this study cannot account for potential differences in the unobserved characteristics of students who transferred or did not transfer, or who were ever placed on academic probation. furthermore, sampling on-campus students provides an additional set of limitations. given that the data cannot establish whether the experience of academic probation happened before or after transferring, my study cannot make causal inferences. additionally, the sample does not account for students who have been on academic probation or are academically disqualified from enrolling at csula. as such, the results from this thesis should be viewed as a descriptive analysis. the fourth limitation is that the study sample comprises different demographic characteristics than the overall csula student population. moreover, the study sample only collected survey responses from students at a public four-year university. thus, these findings should be cautiously interpreted and cannot be considered a nationally representative student population. although my hypotheses were not supported by my findings, the results contribute to existing literature and potential directions for future research. educators and policymakers should pay special attention to the intersecting identities of transfer students, who tend to be racial-ethnic minorities, come from lowincome households, and identify as first-generation. future research should consider expanding the focus of first-generation students to include the various challenges posed by transferring from two-year colleges into four-year universities. future directions of this study include replicating the survey in different settings such as other csu universities, the uc university system, and the community college network. sanchez 14 california sociology forum vol. 5 conclusion despite the prevalence of academic probation among first-generation students, there are few studies that examine the additional academic challenges faced by first generation students who tend to transfer from two-year colleges into four-year universities. this thesis examines the relationship between firstgeneration students currently enrolled at csula and the odds of having ever been on academic probation, with transfer status as a mediating variable. contrary to prior research, my thesis finds that first-generation status was not statistically significant with academic probation. however, i find that transfer students had significantly higher odds of having been placed on academic probation. my findings shed light on the transfer experiences of first-generation students and their relationship to the academic challenges faced by many first-generation students. references acevedo-gil, nancy. 2017. “college-conocimiento: toward an interdisciplinary college choice framework for latinx students.” race ethnicity and education 20(6):829-850. bowman, nicholas a., nayoung jang, 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"firstgeneration college students as academic learners: a systematic review." review of educational research 90(2):139-178. jain, dimpal. 2010. “critical race theory and community colleges: through the eyes of women student leaders of color.” community college journal of research and practice 34(1):78-91. jenkins, davis, and fink, j. 2015. “what we know about transfer.” new york, ny: community college research center. https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/publications/whatwe-know-about-transfer.html. leon, molly ann burke, anthony guest scott, andrew m. koke, stefano fiorini, and alexander rangazas. 2019. “claiming their education: the impact of a required course for academic probation students with a focus on purpose and motivation." journal of the scholarship of teaching and learning 19(4):33-57. lester, jaime. 2014. “the completion agenda: the unintended consequences for equity in community colleges. in m. b. paulsen (ed.)” higher education: handbook of theory and research 29:423-466. martin lohfink, mandy and michael b. paulsen. 2005. “comparing the determinants of persistence for firstgeneration and continuing-generation students.” sanchez 17 california sociology forum vol. 5 journal of college student development 46(4):409–28. nuñez, anne-marie, and vanessa a. sansone. 2016. “earning and learning: exploring the meaning of work in the experiences of first-generation latino college students.” the review of higher education 40(1):91-116. ovink, sarah m., and demetra kalogrides. 2015. “no place like home? familism and latino/a–white differences in college pathways.” social science research 52(2015):219-35. redford, jeremy, and kathleen mulvaney hoyer. 2017. “first generation and continuing generation college students: a comparison of high school and postsecondary experiences. stats in brief.” washington, dc: national center for education statistics. u.s. department of education. retrieved july 1, 2021 https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2018 009. rti international. 2019. “first-generation college students: demographic characteristics and postsecondary enrollment.” washington, dc: naspa. retrieved july 1, 2021 https://firstgen.naspa.org/files/dmfile/factsheet01.pdf schudde, lauren, and judith scott-clayton. 2016. “pell grants as performance-based scholarships? an examination of satisfactory academic progress requirements in the nation’s largest need-based aid program.” research in higher education 57(8):943-967. solorzano, daniel. 1998. “critical race theory, racial and gender microaggressions, and the experiences of chicana and chicano scholars.” international journal of qualitative studies 11(1):121-136. taylor, jason l. and dimpal jain. 2017. “the multiple dimensions of transfer: examining the transfer function in american higher education.” community college review. 45(4):273-293. thomas, eveland j. 2019. “supporting first-generation college students: analyzing academic and social support’s effects on academic performance” journal of further and higher education 44(1):1-13. sanchez 18 california sociology forum vol. 5 townsend, barbara k. 2008. “feeling like a freshman again”: the transfer student transition.” new directions for higher education 144:69–77. university of california. 2021. “university of california annual accountability report 2021.” oakland, ca: university data warehouse. retrieved may 10, 2021 https://accountability.universityofcalifornia.edu/2021/do cuments/pdfs/aar-2021report.pdf wang, xueli, yen lee, and kelly wickersham. 2019. “the role of community college attendance in shaping baccalaureate recipients’ access to graduate and professional education.” educational researcher 48(2):84-100. wibrowski, connie r., wendy k. matthews, and anastasia kitsantas. 2016. “the role of a skills learning support program on first-generation college students’ self regulation, motivation, and academic achievement: a longitudinal study.” journal of college student retention: research, theory & practice 19(3):317-32. witteveen, dirk, and paul attewell. 2020. “the vertical transfer penalty among bachelor’s degree graduates.” the journal of higher education 91(1): 32-57. wood, luke j., carlos nevarez, and adriel a. hilton. 2011. “creating a culture of transfer.” making connections 13(1):54-61. xu, di, shanna smith jaggars, jeffrey fletcher, and john e. fink. 2018. “are community college transfer students “a good bet” for 4-year admissions? comparing academic and labor-market outcomes between transfer and native 4-year college students.” the journal of higher education 89(4):478-502. sanchez 19 california sociology forum vol. 5 appendix sanchez 20 california sociology forum vol. 5 research | articles | bates 18 california sociology forum vol. 6 technology and culture: how predictive policing harmfully profiles marginalized people groups taryn bates department of sociology california state university, los angeles introduction american law enforcement departments use predictive policing technology to predetermine crime zones within assigned jurisdictions. predictive police technology is susceptible to human error, due to both the directives from algorithm programmers and the lack of vetting for bias in data collection processes. a study by selbst (2017) on potential applications of predictive policing found police data excessively links crime to neighborhoods with high percentages of demographics and up of primarily non-white residents living below poverty income thresholds. data mining systems work by gathering information from records of human decisions without considering the intent behind the actions; this creates the possibility of generating or worsening discriminatory outcomes. for programs based off of flawed data (2017), erroneous predictions reinforce existing prejudices held by law enforcement. since past crime data is integrated into predictive policing systems, it is inevitable results will include historic biases within recorded enforcements. this correlation maintains discriminatory policing instead of creating a future of equality to all humankind. if predictive policing technology disproportionately profiles marginalized people groups, then the algorithms are inherently discriminatory while reinforcing implicit bias held by operators or enforcers of results generated by the program. therefore, predictive police technology algorithms need to be correctly updated to avoid perpetuating harm through biased association of crime with minority cultures. literature review and context implicit bias in the article bias in, bias out, sandra g. mayson (2019: 2218) relays that “ample and mounting evidence has documented otherwise inexplicable racial disparities in policing, charging, pretrial detention, and sentencing.” mayson (2019:2278-2279) research | articles | bates 19 california sociology forum vol. 6 additionally notes, “two recent studies of risk assessment in action have argued that it was the exercise of human discretion in responding to risk-assessment scores that injected racial disparity in outcomes, rather than the risk-assessment scores themselves.” mayson is supported by the data from previous iterations of racially stratified inequities in american history – such as the criminal justice practice of subjective prediction – distorting calculations made by predictive technology meant to advance objective enforcement. records note that elevated percentages of minority groups in the criminal justice system is a causation of human prejudice provoking action when presented with neutral situations. predictive policing technology decoding data from these conflicts could misidentify discriminatory practices of officers as correlations to inherent behavior within ethnicities subjected to high detention rates. racial stratification through implicit bias is pervasive in police officers, due to the unconscious acceptance of societal stereotypes. spencer et al. (2016:50) found that implicit bias maintains stereotypes associating people with darker skin tones to aggressive personality traits or criminal activity. this association shapes the standards of probable cause. as note by glenn (2023:60), “a cbs news publication identified that police have killed at least one black man or woman every week in 2020, as of august 31, 2020.” it feels noteworthy that 24 of those weeks took place during covid-19 pandemic, which instigated a global lockdown mid-march 2020; even under quarantine, black americans were not able to peacefully navigate the u.s.a. without threat to their life at the hands of law enforcement. this implicit bias by human police seems to place more support towards upgrading law enforcement with technological algorithms. however, those algorithms are typically fed data taken from the instances that were informed by implicit bias. peacekeeping robots law enforcement agencies that have invested in peacekeeping robots can experience issues with the artificial intelligence programming. artificial intelligence applications utilized by police agencies are susceptible to biased algorithms seen in predictive policing technology. howard and borenstein research | articles | bates 20 california sociology forum vol. 6 (2018) clarify that robots can acquire biases through machine learning, despite theories that robots should be able to avoid prejudice. in facial recognition, choices for photo databases are often influenced by programmers setting outcomes to match unconscious beliefs or showing favoritism toward alleged experts without verifying credentials. this shows how ai is confined within parameters set by developers, causing the understanding of robots to mirror their creators. the model of systematic analysis is crucial to determining ways to diminish how bias impacts the implementation of peacekeeping. the use of robots by police is already causing harm to vulnerable people groups. howard and borenstein disclose an incident in dallas from 2016 where a police robot took the life of a black man. the researchers emphasize this tragedy by noting it increases pressure in strain from the extreme death rates of black americans at the hands of human police officers. the artificial emulation of police brutality creates a situation where “it is disconcerting that robot peacekeepers, including police and military robots, will, at some point, be given increased freedom to decide whether to take a human life, especially if problems related to bias have not been resolved” (2018:1527-1528). additional mechanisms need to be implemented in robots tasked with keeping the peace, to eliminate the ability to kill humans. robot patrols process massive amounts of data when patrolling urban areas; programmers trying to maximize protection of civilians could unintentionally facilitate racism in predictive policing by creating shortcuts with algorithms that mimic the group profiling practices of human officers. police agencies considering ai as a path to unbiased patrolling should acknowledge precedents set by human officers can influence the learning processes of autonomous peacekeeping robots. surveillance state institutionalized racism in law enforcement has led to harmful operation of technologies in ways that reinforce implicit bias. surveillance technology is unduly used by american state agents against marginalized people groups. black americans have specifically endured oppression by an array of military and policing surveillance technologies gathering information on their activities (hatch 2017:125). this over regulation leads to the research | articles | bates 21 california sociology forum vol. 6 constant harassment of black citizens. in addition to infrared cameras used aerially by the fbi, social media has become a way for security organizations to persecute protest movements led by black activists (2017:130). in a 1988 study, g.t. marx details that this ‘new surveillance’ does not require the execution of a crime; uses covert practices, has redrawn the relationship between the individual and the state vis-à-vis the state’s and individuals’ rights, incorporates new technological developments in size and type of audio and video equipment available, incorporates preventive operations, allows for disruption and infiltration, can operate without a specific target/subject, and allows for the sharing intelligence between agencies. (byfield 2019:99) over the last three decades, advancements in smart technology through ubiquitous computing have made the use of reconnaissance devices even harder for average citizens to detect. armed drones police have a history of deadly force against marginalized people groups through the use of drones and bombs. the article new technologies of resistance by anthony hatch (2017) records an incident where a two-pound bomb was launched by officers over a house in philadelphia on may 13, 1985. hatch (2017:129) describes that the “assault, which killed eleven civilians, including five children, and the ensuing fire that displaced hundreds of local residents, marked another horrific moment when state-sanctioned police violence against black people and black communities was represented on live television.” the bombing was a tactical decision to destroy the black alliance named move which was home-based in the area. the leader was a black man named john africa who advocated for a revolution to end capitalism and oppressive politics. the eventual drone assault was predicated by a police raid in august 1978, which included the demise of a philadelphia officer. the subsequent seven years included constant persecution by the local police against the move organization. the incidence in a supposed post-civil rights america emphasizes the systemic nature of institutionalized research | articles | bates 22 california sociology forum vol. 6 racism persistence in subjugating black citizens. thirty years later, in 2015, north dakota passed a law allowing police to use armed drone technology (howard and borenstein 2018:1528). the legality of deadly force in modern society permits threat of assault against citizens. this form of intimidation specifically reinforces attempts to subdue people of color. broken window “community” policing predictive policing technology can be used to enforce policies of racially biased community policing. implicit bias is inherent when enforcing community policing strategies, such as broken window policing which disproportionately targets minority groups, since it originated from racist theories. broken window policies and over-maintenance policing focus on minor instances; a broken window is linked to the hypothesis that cultural atmosphere encourages misconduct (seigel 2017:481). these policies create busy work by curbing trivial activities and consequently increase rates of racial profiling. phillip j. thompson’s article, broken policing: the origins of the ‘broken windows’ policy (2015), identifies the source for broken window policy in conservative theories made by edward banfield during the post-civil rights era. banfield’s policy prescriptions for racial imbalances (2015:44) ignored societal constructions and claimed irresponsible behaviors were hereditary within cultural or biological people groups. these assertions mirror principles of eugenics, focusing on biology and breeding to explain perceived behaviors that differ from social expectations of desirable traits. the term community policing is a misnomer that creates division, due to a lack of consideration of the humanity for the marginalized people groups. in new york city (byfield 2019:99), crime rates increased on every level and police shootings of black men also became frequent instances upon implementing community policing. stop and frisk racially biased policies, like stop and frisk, reinforce prejudiced data being presented to predictive policing technology by establishing past practices. the societal construct of white dominance in america leads to concepts of research | articles | bates 23 california sociology forum vol. 6 racialized surveillance as an organic function of the racial state that is deployed via legislation, social practices, and technologies that use the ‘white gaze’ to maintain the state as a ‘white racial space’ that constructs and reproduces racial categories and hierarchies. these laws, practices, and technologies create existential norms, thus violations of these norms represent existential crimes in a white racial state. (byfield 2019:96) the sole championing of white perspective sullies the ability for law enforcement officers to grow cultural understanding when interacting with diversity among citizens. this paradigm was heightened after the 2001 events of 9/11 increasing attention on national security from terrorism. the foundation for advanced technologies of predictive policing lies in nypd’s new surveillance implementation of stop and frisk. even when not charged with a crime, the identification information obtained in these interactions is stored in the police databases. black and latinx young men are the largest demographic of victims stopped and frisked in nyc (2019:100), with almost 90 percent proven innocent of police allegations. the precedent for the officers targeting young men of color in stop and frisk endeavors creates a pattern in recorded data that will be integrated into predictive technology. advocates for a.i. the opposite side of this issues argues that predictive police technology is a neutral method to avoid unconscious bias in humans; however, this is incorrect because technology is not inherently neutral, since programs for predictive policing mine human data throughout internet platforms without regard for accuracy. police departments looking to avoid bias in crime identification can purchase predictive policing technology to extrapolate neutral data to improve patrolling techniques. the ability of predictive technology to mine data is promoted as an option to diminish inequality (selbst 2017:148) because “unconscious bias is well enough understood that the use of seemingly neutral technology to take the decisions out of human hands is seen as a good thing.” acknowledgement over the need research | articles | bates 24 california sociology forum vol. 6 for better implementation of justice has led to a rise in contemporary smart technology focused on predictive policing. northpointe, the owner of algorithmic predictive policing tool compas, focuses on metrics of equivalence (mayson 2018:2233) by demonstrating both black and white perpetrators who are classified as high risk by the algorithm held equal rates of being rearrested. these ratios imply that the algorithm is free of racial bias. compstat, a mapping system that tracks data from large police jurisdictions (byfield 2019:101), is the base program for policing maintenance which makes resource deployment determinations. technological developments bolster the theory in law enforcement bureaus that human bias can be eliminated by using established criminality calculations to prevent delinquency. the emphasis on scientific processes contrasts the emotional inclination of humanity that can obscure judgements elicited from intense situations in american policing. a.i. algorithms predictive policing algorithms are derived from data mining which collects human interactions on internet platforms, without double-checking the accuracy of the trends. interactions on the internet, especially the phenomenon of trending, operate out of sensationalism instead of vetted information. impartial predictive policing is a marketing ploy rather than an accurate designation. this is noted in the article disparate impact in big data policing: predictive policing promises both to provide auditable methods that will prevent invidious intentional discrimination and to mitigate the unconscious biases attending police officers’ daily choices. but at the moment, such a promise amounts to little more than a useful sales tactic. data mining is likely to introduce new discrimination or to reproduce and exacerbate the existing discrimination in society due to various design choices that are necessary to any data mining system. risk assessment scores used in criminal sentencing overestimate black research | articles | bates 25 california sociology forum vol. 6 recidivism and underestimate white recidivism. selbst (2017:120) the imbalance of the current man-made model for risk assessment determination will cause the data history to skew the conclusions of predictive policing algorithms. results (2017:147) from unconscious bias tests have proven that officers are unable to distinguish personal beliefs on race, culture, identity, and delinquency from probable cause. even if the predictive technology is more neutral in data translation than of conclusion drawn human research, the chances are high that officers can misapply the results of the predictive technology due to human predisposition of implicit bias. to the other extreme, the application of compstat changed the performance evaluation of officers to total crime bookings, while lowering the ability to implement personal discretion. quelling judgement to standardize the execution of the law can easily be used to ignore grievances over biases affecting individuals (byfield 2019:101). homogeneity undermines the ability of officials to offer understanding or make exceptions when situations involve vulnerable individuals. discussion predictive technology needs double-blind vetting in early stages of development to test accuracy before police implementation. selbst has created the idea of “algorithmic impact statements” for such programs (2017:110). the statements would clarify the actual purpose and application of such technologies. he proposes (2017:119) the “regulation would mandate that, before adopting the new technology, police consider and publicly detail the predicted efficacy of and disparate impact resulting from their choice of technology and all reasonable alternatives.” the lack of field expertise to determine long-term consequences of using predictive police technology is a persistent dilemma. a metered implementation of the programs would allow time to catch concerns that arise. the article black spaces/white spaces: black lives, leisure, and life politics (pinckney, et al. 2018:283) gives examples of racial profiling, such as local police departments in new york city using the stop and frisk program to target black men or arizona’s strict immigration policy impacting research | articles | bates 26 california sociology forum vol. 6 latin americans. the article goes on to detail the symbiotic relationship between technology and racial prejudices, where each entity significantly informs the rate of recurrence in cultural acceptance. the growth of mobile video streaming devices has increased the intrusions black americans endure through publicly filmed violence and killings against their ethnic group by officers. the perpetuation of harm is aggravated further by the reality that such culprits are rarely prosecuted. media coverage raises awareness of homicides by persistent racism but has not seemed to deter recurrence. unfortunately, since the murder of teenaged emmet till in the mid-twentieth century, the list of innocent victims has grown. a movement called “say their names” seeks to humanize lives taken suddenly by actions of over policing due to the unfair association of blackness to criminal behavior. this underscores the seriousness of challenging unconscious biases hidden within districts disproportionately enforcing corporal punishment upon minority groups. conclusion algorithms in predictive policing technology are based off of patterns; institutionalized racism in law enforcement reproduces problems of racial stratification. if implicit bias in officers continues to go unaddressed, the examples from enforcement of probable cause based in prejudiced beliefs will then continue to influence the programming and use of police technology. therefore, completely reforming policing practices and technologies will ensure proper implementation of equity within law enforcement. law enforcement resources should invest in developing programs to identify implicit bias in patrolling practices to eliminate all forms of targeted persecution against marginalized people groups. as noted by bates and glenn (2023:123), cultural understanding is crucial to tearing down systemic institutions that keep humanity subjugated under an “us vs. them” perception. police brutality will continue to occur, even with predictive technology, as long as the root informing implicit bias maintains an inhumane framing of historically marginalized identities. research | articles | bates 27 california sociology forum vol. 6 references bates, taryn, and lami j. glenn. 2023. “book review: divide & conquer: race, gangs, identity, and conflict (studies in transgression) by robert d. weide.” california sociological forum student journal 5:120-123. byfield, natalie p. 2019. “race science and surveillance: police as the new race scientists.” social identities 25(1):91–106. glenn, lami j. 2023. “introspection: an expository analysis of police brutality against unarmed black men.” california sociological forum student journal 5:6375. hatch, anthony ryan. 2017. “new technologies of resistance.” radical history review 2017(127):125–132. howard, ayanna, and jason borenstein. 2018. “the ugly truth about ourselves and our robot creations: the problem of bias and social inequity.” science & engineering ethics 24(5):1521–1536. mayson, sandra g. 2019. “bias in, bias out.” yale law journal 128(8):2218–2300. pinckney, harrison p., rasul a. mowatt, corliss outley, aishia brown, myron f. floyd, and katrina l. black. 2018. “black spaces/white spaces: black lives, leisure, and life politics.” leisure sciences 40(4):267–287. seigel, micol. 2017. “the dilemma of ‘racial profiling’: an abolitionist police history.” contemporary justice review 20(4): 474–490. selbst, andrew d. 2017. “disparate impact in big data policing.” georgia law review 52(1):109–195. spencer, katherine b., amanda k. charbonneau, and jack glaser. 2016. “implicit bias and policing.” social & personality psychology compass 10(1): 50–63. thompson, j. phillip. 2015. “broken policing: the origins of the ‘broken windows’ policy.” new labor forum (sage publications inc.) 24(2):42–47. taryn bates (she/her) graduates with her sociology b.a. in may 2024 from cal state la. taryn is an avid writer exploring convergence of her personal interests with research projects on systemic racism, abolitionist and anarchist modalities for a changed community-focused future, cultural appreciation vs. cultural appropriation, cross-cultural intersections of social partner dances, and societal constructions of purity culture conflating sensuality to sexuality. she is honored to have had publications for poetry and reviews in csf volume 5 and is grateful for the inclusion in volume 6 with a research article, theoretical framework, and collection of poetry. technology and culture: how predictive policing harmfully profiles marginalized people groups taryn bates rodriguez 1 california sociology forum vol. 5 elite course-taking and racial disparities in stem eglys rodriguez department of sociology california state university, los angeles abstract african american and latinx populations are still disproportionately underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (stem) fields. to understand why racial disparities persist, this article investigates african american and latinx students' high school careers. specifically, it examines whether students take a course in trigonometry, pre-calculus, or calculus students’ (elite math courses) in their senior year. using the theoretical framework of categorical inequality, i examine whether racial disparities exist in elite math courses that often serve important gatekeeping functions for future stem pathways. data are from the educational longitudinal study of 2002 (els:02) public use data, focusing on data from the first followup (when the students are in their senior year of high school) and postsecondary education transcripts collected in 2012. i use logistic regression methods to examine the odds of taking an elite math course across racial and ethnic subgroups. then i analyze the odds of high school graduation rates, postsecondary enrollment across different racial/ethnic subgroups, and whether students obtained a bachelor’s degree in stem, after accounting for elite math courses taken in high school. surprisingly, my findings show that african american and latinx students have similar odds as white students of taking an elite math course and have higher odds of enrolling in a postsecondary institution than their white counterparts. introduction careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) have become one of the fastest growing areas in the united states; however, racial and gender disparities continue to persist in the stem workforce (chen 2013). the representation of african american and latinx populations in stem fields is still considerably low; where only 9% of the stem workforce is african americans and 7% is latinx (pew rodriguez 2 california sociology forum vol. 5 research center 2018). moreover, only 7% of african americans and 12% of latinx students graduated with a degree in stem, lower than the national average of 15% (fry et al. 2021; pew research center 2018). examining math course-taking in high school can help us understand the factors that contribute to students pursuing and persisting in stem (sanabria and penner 2017). in doing so, my study highlights the disparate pathways of minority racial and ethnic groups in stem. prior research has established that the type of math courses taken in high school often serves a gatekeeping function into stem in higher education. students are differentially sorted into higher-level math courses offered in high schools and evidence shows that students from minority groups are less likely to enroll and take higher-tracked math courses, such as trigonometry, pre-calculus, or calculus, than white and asian american students (u.s. department of education 2018). advanced math course-taking in high school is a strong predictor for attending college (long et al. 2010). additionally, higher-level math courses operate as a “gatekeeper” in stem, limiting the rate at which students can prepare for college coursework in stem fields. investigating the extent to which african american and latinx students take these higher-tracked math courses in high school (which i will refer to simply as elite math courses in this thesis) and earn a bachelor’s degree in stem can better illuminate a key mechanism in racial stratification in stem. thus, this thesis examines the racial disparities in stem elite math courses taken in high school, high school graduation, postsecondary attendance, and stem degree attainment. literature review this thesis will be drawing from previous literature which utilized various theoretical frameworks to demonstrate why the categorical inequality framework can better explain racial disparities in stem. this thesis will also examine previous literature which focus on math course taking at the high school level, their findings and how racial disparities in math course taking has contributed to stem attrition among african american and latinx students. rodriguez 3 california sociology forum vol. 5 racial disparities in higher-level math courses previous researchers have focused on patterns relating to math course-taking and race. as previously stated, research on racial disparities in stem has been an ongoing issue for decades with researchers focusing on several factors affecting math course taking. for example, daempfle’s (2004) study on stem attrition at the undergraduate level found that there was a disconnect between high school and college teachings that impacts for students’ opting out of stem majors. while daempfle’s research focused on students at the undergraduate level, others researched students at the high school level. some of the earlier studies conducted on math course taking at the high school level found that elite math courses can predict postsecondary attendance (riegle-crumb 2006; tyson 2007; riegle-crumb and grodsky 2010), math course taking across different racial/ethnic subgroups has increased (with some exceptions) across different cohorts (dalton 2007), african american and latinx students have lower odds of taking higher level courses (archbald and farley; ripple 2012), and elite math and science courses in high school play a significant role in stem persistence amongst students of color (lichtenberger and george-jackson 2013). while these studies contributed greatly towards the understanding of stem attrition and persistence among students of color, they are outdated. some of the studies used data from the national education longitudinal study of 1988, beginning postsecondary students longitudinal study (bps:96/01), and adolescent health and academic achievement (ahaa) which was conducted in the 1990’s. although the data used in these studies were instrumental in research and policy, newer data would help researchers today in understanding why stem attrition continues to persist. categorical inequality framework plenty of research on racial disparities in stem discusses the relationship between elite math course taking and racial disparities at different intervals of students education (rieglecrumb 2006; dalton et al. 2007; kelly 2009; kokkelenberg and sinha 2010; riegle-crumb 2010; archbald and farley-ripple 2012; domina and saldana 2012; xie et al. 2015; champion 2016; rodriguez 4 california sociology forum vol. 5 shi 2017; fong 2020; sanabria 2020; mceachin et al. 2020; irizarry 2021). this thesis examines the impact of math course taking at the high school level and how this affects students’ stem pathways after they transition to a postsecondary institution. more recent studies (2016 onward) analyzed similar data to that of this article but used different theoretical frameworks to explain racial disparities. much like this thesis, previous research focused on students starting from high school to understand how math courses might affect stem persistence at the postsecondary level. for example, fong and kremer (2020) used the expectancy value theory to examine math underachievement at the high school level and found that ‘math motivation’ was a significant predictor in underachievement which played a role in the students' transition to college. rieglecrumb et al. (2019) used the opportunity hoarding framework in their study of underrepresentation of racial/ethnic groups in stem and found stem is a high value degree and due to opportunity hoarding, racial disparities continue to persist. the theoretical frameworks used in these studies were instrumental in providing relevant and significant findings, the categorical inequality framework will contribute to understanding why racial disparities continue to persist in stem. previous researchers used a myriad of theoretical frameworks to investigate and further understand why racial disparities exist in stem (fong and kremer 2020; andersen and ward 2013; domina and saldana 2012; archibald farley-ripple 2012; daempfle 2004; crisp 2009; and riegle-crumb et al. 2019). however, this article uses the categorical inequality framework (domina et al. 2018) to explore racial inequality in elite math courses in high school. in their review, domina, penner and penner (2018) discuss and apply the theoretical framework of categorical inequality to education. unfortunately, within the institution of education, schools have been sorting and categorizing students, placing them on track to higher education, technical schools, or elsewhere, leading them on a specific pathway. for working class students, female students and people of color, education is sometimes the only clear path towards a successful life. rodriguez 5 california sociology forum vol. 5 by creating categories and sorting youth among them, schools develop templates that influence the contours of inequality throughout contemporary societies…the categorical inequality perspective draws attention toward the organizational processes through which schools create categories and sort individuals into them, and how, in doing so, they generate and reinforce social inequalities. (domina, penner, and penner 2018) by sorting students, educational institutions are creating and perpetuating inequalities; students who are sorted into lowerlevel courses are at a disadvantage compared to students sorted into higher level courses. applying the categorical inequality framework towards elite math course-taking and racial disparities in stem gives insight as to the important role sorting students based on race and status has on the persistence of racial disparities. the current study this project examines the relationship between elite math courses and stem pathways, as well as the role of sorting in math courses on racial disparities. in sum, the literature suggests that math course taking plays an important role in continuing on the stem pathway. thus, this thesis asks (1) what are the racial disparities in elite math course-taking in high school? after accounting for elite math courses taken, i ask the following questions: (2) what is the high school graduation rate across racial and ethnic groups? (3) what are the odds of ever attending a postsecondary institution across ethnic/racial subgroups? and after students have enrolled in a postsecondary institution, i ask (4) what are the odds of obtaining a degree in stem across ethnic/racial subgroups, after accounting for elite math courses completed in high school? i expect that my findings for research question 1 will support previous research on math course taking and racial disparities (tyson et al. 2007; kelly 2009; riegle-crumb 2010; irizarry 2021). i hypothesize african american and latinx students would have lower odds of taking elite math courses in high school compared to white students. i hypothesize that rodriguez 6 california sociology forum vol. 5 african american and latinx students would be less likely to complete high school compared to their white counterparts even after accounting for elite math courses taken in high school. previous research has demonstrated evidence of math course taking at the high school level playing a significant role in students’ stem pathways after high school (lichtenberger and george-jackson 2013; shi 2017; riegle-crumb et al. 2019; fong 2020; sanabria 2020; irizarry 2021). as previous studies suggest that taking elite math courses in high school affects students’ decision in attending a postsecondary institution and obtaining a degree in stem. therefore, this project proposes two more research questions: for my third research question, i hypothesize african american and latinx students are less likely to attend a postsecondary institution compared to their white counterparts. previous research has found that students sorted into different levels of math courses affect students’ decisions in choosing a stem major (irizarry 2021). therefore, for my final research question, i hypothesize that among those who attend a postsecondary institution, african american and latinx students are less likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree in stem even after accounting for elite math courses taken in high school. as students enter postsecondary institutions, required courses for stem majors affect african american and latinx students persisting in stem (chen 2009). methods data data is drawn from the educational longitudinal study of 2002 (els:02) by the national center for education statistics (nces) public-use data, specifically focusing on high school seniors graduating in spring 2004. the els (2002) is a longitudinal study that followed a baseline representative sample of approximately 17,500 tenth-grade students over ten years, beginning in 2002. the els data contains a nationally representative sample of high school seniors graduating in 2004 and follows students’ trajectories into enrollment and degree completion at postsecondary institutions. as a longitudinal panel study, els experienced sample attrition and non-response bias. to adjust for the sampling frame, the els:02 replenished the sample rodriguez 7 california sociology forum vol. 5 with additional respondents. i adjust for attrition by using a sampling weight and only including students who are non-missing on key outcome, predictor, and control variables in my analyses. els (2002) collected a wide range of individual-level details from students, including race, gender, socioeconomic backgrounds, family housing composition, and family educational background. els surveyed students through four waves: base year (by) during the students’ tenth-grade year in 2002, first follow up (f1) during the student's senior year in 2004, second follow-up (f2) in 2006 two years after high school, and third follow up (f3) occurred in 2012 (eight years after high school). high school transcripts were collected in the first follow-up (f1) and postsecondary transcripts were collected in 2012 in the fourth follow-up (f4). measures i examine whether racial disparities in elite math coursetaking and persist across a range of academic outcomes: high school postsecondary attainment, and stem degree completion. the key independent variable is race and ethnicity. the categories under race and ethnicity in the els (2002) data were american indian/alaska native, non-hispanic; asian, hawaii/pacific islander, non-hispanic; black or african american, nonhispanic; hispanic, no race specified; hispanic, race specified; more than one race, non-hispanic, and white, non-hispanic. due to the small sample of american indian/alaska native and more than one race, these categories were combined into one category and categorized as “other.” for this study, white, non-hispanic, is the reference category due to their overrepresentation in the stem fields and workforce (pew research center 2021). given that this paper investigates the role of elite math course taking on future student outcomes, the four dependent variables used in this thesis are whether the student has taken and elite math course (pre-calculus or higher), high school diploma or ged equivalent, enrollment at a postsecondary institution, and a bachelor’s degree in stem. demographic variables will be student-level covariates, which include gender, socioeconomic status, family composition, math item response theory (irt) scores in senior year, and parents’ rodriguez 8 california sociology forum vol. 5 highest level of education. for research questions 2, 3 and 4, elite math course is added to the complex models as a control. in addition, models for research questions 3 and 4 only include students who have obtained a high school diploma (or equivalent). sample as shown in table 1 (n = 17,500), the sample was fairly evenly split by gender consisting of 48.85% male and 50.15% female students, with male students being the reference category. the racial composition consisted of white (62.22%), hispanic, race specified (8.46%), hispanic, no race specified (6.6%), black (13.34%), asian (4.51%), and other (4.86%) students. socioeconomic status (ses) is measured in quartiles with students fairly evenly distributed across quartiles. family composition was categorized as: ‘mother and father’ (60.08%), ‘female guardian only’ (1.22%), with ‘mother only’ (17.66%), and the following categories were combined: ‘mother and male guardian’, ‘father and female guardian’, ‘two guardians’, ‘lives with student less than half time’, and ‘father only, male guardian only’ (17.73%). parent’s highest level of education was divided into three categories: ‘did not finish high school’ and ‘graduated from high school or ged’ (25.03%); ‘attended 2-year, no degree,’ ‘graduated from 2-year school,’ attended college no 4-year degree’ (34.21%); ‘graduated from college,’ ‘completed master’s degree or equivalent,’ ‘completed ph.d., md, other advanced degree’ (34.78%). students’ math scores are on a continuous scale ranging from 13.74 to 83.03 (std=13.84). this variable measures the probability of students correctly answering, “each of the items in the pool” (nces 2014). the key dependent variables: elite math course, high school attainment, postsecondary enrollment, and bachelor’s degree in stem were collapsed into dichotomous variables. the categories for ‘elite math course’ were ‘no math course or math course is other,’ ‘pre-algebra, general or consumer math,’ ‘algebra i,’ ‘geometry,’ and ‘algebra ii’ which were combined (54.03%) and my reference category and trigonometry, pre-calculus, or calculus as the reference category (45.08%). high school attainment was categorized as: ‘successful graduate (hs diploma rodriguez 9 california sociology forum vol. 5 recipient),’ ‘marginal graduate (hs diploma recipient),’ ‘completer (ged/equivalency/certificate of attendance),’ and ‘non-completer.’ the categories were collapsed into ‘completer’ (90.24%) and ‘non-completer’ (2.6%) with non-completer as the reference category. the categories for postsecondary enrollment were already dichotomous ‘has some postsecondary enrollment’ (87.9%) and ‘no postsecondary enrollment’ (12.1%) which was the reference category. the final key dependent variable ‘bachelor’s degree in stem’ was collapsed into ‘stem’ (10.25%) and ‘non-stem’ (31.99%) categories (57.76% were missing or na); non-stem was the reference category. analytical strategy given that the key dependent variables are dichotomous (has taken an elite math course or not), i use logistic regression to examine (1) racial disparities in elite math course taking by senior year of high school; after accounting for elite math course taking: i examine the odds of (2) high school attainment (3) postsecondary enrollment and (4) stem degree attainment. with each research question and corresponding key dependent variable i examine the students’ transition into a postsecondary institution and whether students earned degrees in stem. for ease of interpretation, logit coefficients from the analyses are exponentiated into odd ratios that are then interpreted as either an increase (>1) or decrease in odds (<1) of the outcome variable occurring. the analyses start with a baseline model to estimate the association between elite math course-taking and race: (𝐸𝐿𝐼𝑇𝐸)𝑖 estimates the odds of taking an elite math course by senior year of high school for every student. i first examine the odds of taking an elite math course across racial and ethnic subgroups. in the second model, i include the following student-level covariates: gender, socio-economic status, family composition, parent’s highest level of education, and prior math achievement, represented as 𝑋𝑖. the second model with added controls examines whether elite math courses have a distinct rodriguez 10 california sociology forum vol. 5 relationship with racial disparities in stem relative to other significant predictors. equation 2 predicts the odds of high school attainment across racial/ethnic groups, controlling for whether the student had taken an elite math course by senior year. then, the second model includes controls. analyses for research questions 3 and 4 follow a similar equation as equation 2 to predict the odds of attending postsecondary education and stem degree attainment. results table 2 reports the odds ratios for taking an elite math course by the students’ senior year of high school. model 1 (n = 13, 300) reports the baseline model without controls showing the odds of taking an elite math course across racial and ethnic categories. we can see that asian, hawaii/pac. islander students had twice the odds (β = 2.0; p < 0.001) of taking an elite math course compared to their white counterparts. black, non-hispanic (β = 0.6; p < 0.001), hispanic, race specified (β = 0.5; p < 0.001), hispanic, no race specified (β = 0.4; p < 0.001), and other (β = 0.7; p < 0.001) students had significantly lower odds than white students of taking an elite math course by their senior year. model 2 in table 2 (n = 13,000) shows the odds of taking an elite level math course by senior of high school with the following covariates: gender, ses, family composition, prior math achievement, and parents’ education. we see in model 2 that black, non-hispanic (β = 2.2; p < 0.001) and asian, hawaii/pac. islander (β = 2.4; p < 0.001) students have twice the odds of taking an elite math course compared to white students. hispanic, no race specified, was no longer statistically significant after introducing controls. however, hispanic, race specified, and other were only marginally significant (β = 1.2; p < 0.10; β = 0.7; p < 0.10 respectively). table 3 reports the odds ratio of completing high school by race/ethnicity after accounting for elite math course taking. model 1 (n = 12,800) represents the baseline model without rodriguez 11 california sociology forum vol. 5 controls, showing that the odds of completing high school were significantly lower for black non-hispanic (β = 0.4; p < 0.001), hispanic no race specified (β = 0.4; p < 0.001), hispanic race specified (β = 0.3; p < 0.001), and other (β = 0.3; p < 0.001) race compared to white students; asian, hawaii/pac. island students were just as likely to complete high school as white students and was not statistically significant. after accounting for control variables in model 2 (n = 12,000), the odds of asian students completing high school lowered slightly and were not significant (β = 0.9; p > 0.10). for black (β = 0.6; p < 0.001), hispanic, race specified (β = 0.5; p < 0.001), and other (β = 0.4; p < 0.001) students, there wasn’t much change from model 1, the odds increased slightly and remained statistically significant. however, interestingly hispanic, race specified, students were slightly more likely to complete high school than white students but lost significance in model 2. the elite math course covariate was marginally significant (β = 0.7; p < 0,10). table 4 reports odds ratios predicting enrollment at a postsecondary institution. model 1 (n=10,400) shows the baseline model without controls, showing the odds of students ever attending a postsecondary institution by race. hispanic, no race specified (β = 0.6; p < 0.001) and other students (β = 0.6; p < 0.001) had lower odds of ever attending a postsecondary institution; black and hispanic, race specified were not statistically significant. asian students were more than twice as likely to attend a postsecondary institution than white students (β = 2.3; p < 0.00). after accounting for controls in model 2 (n = 10,000), the odds of ever attending a postsecondary institution increased significantly for each category of students with the exception of other students who were just as likely as white students to attend a postsecondary institution although this was not significant (β = 1.0; p > 0.10). model 2 shows asian students have three times the odds (β = 3.0; p < 0.00) than white students to attend a postsecondary institution. black (β = 2.1; p < 0.001), hispanic, race specified (β = 1.8; p < 0.001), and hispanic, no race specified (β = 1.8; p < 0.001), students were about twice as likely as white students to ever attend a postsecondary institution. the control, rodriguez 12 california sociology forum vol. 5 family household composition was only marginally significant, and the parent's highest level of education was only statistically significant for the parents in the category high school/ged or less. highest elite math course taken was statistically significant (β = 0.4; p < 0.00). table 5 reports the odds ratios of attaining a bachelor’s degree in stem. model 1 (n = 4,700) shows the baselines without controls with white students as the reference category. asian students had twice the odds of earning a stem degree (β = 1.7; p < 0.001) compared to white students; all other categories were not statistically significant. after accounting for controls in model 2 (n = 4,500), the odds for earning a stem degree compared to white students lowered slightly for asian students but remained statistically significant (β = 1.5; p < 0.001). however, even after accounting for controls, black, hispanic, race specified, hispanic, no race specified, and other students were still not significant. students who did not take an elite math course were less likely than students who took pre-calculus, calculus, and/or trigonometry to earn a stem degree (β = 0.5; p < 0.00). when examining elite math course taking, i hypothesized that african american and latinx students were less likely to take an elite math course in high school compared to their white counterparts, the results presented in table 2 shows that model 2 does not support my hypothesis. as previously stated, african american and latinx students were twice as likely or just as likely to take an elite math course by their senior year of high school. this finding shows that students of color are slowly narrowing the gap in elite math course taking. for the second hypothesis: african american and latinx students are less likely to complete high school compared to their counterparts (after accounting for elite math), table 3 supports my second hypothesis. apart from hispanic, no race specified, african american and latinx (when race is specified) students are less likely to complete high school compared to white students. regarding postsecondary enrollment, i hypothesized that african american and latinx students were less likely to ever attend a postsecondary institution compared to white students (after accounting for elite math course). table 4 shows that the results do not support my hypothesis. results show african rodriguez 13 california sociology forum vol. 5 american and latinx students are about twice as likely to ever attend a postsecondary institution compared to white students. lastly, when looking at the first known bachelor’s degree, i hypothesized that african american and latinx students are less likely to obtain a bachelor’s degree in stem, after accounting for elite math course taking. unfortunately, results were not statistically significant therefore i was not able to conclude if african american and latinx students were more or less likely to obtain a bachelor’s in stem. discussion & conclusion this paper examined the effects of taking an elite math course in a nationally represented dataset and provided a better understanding of how elite course taking plays a role in persisting on the stem pathway. this study shows that while students of color are enrolling in elite math courses in high school at similar or increased odds as white students, african american and latinx students are shown to have lower odds of attaining a high school diploma. however, according to data, african american and latinx students are more likely to attend a postsecondary institution but results on stem degree attainment could not provide evidence of the odds of which students of color earned a bachelor’s in stem. unsurprisingly and consistent with prior research, asian students are more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree in stem compared to their white counterparts (chen and weko 2009; kokkelenberg and sinha 2010; ma and liu 2015). this project contributes to literature on racial disparities in stem education and persisting on the stem pathway, despite some of the thesis’ limitations. the first limitation was sample attrition; as with longitudinal designs, one of the issues is losing participants over time. furthermore, another limitation was from analyzing data from els:02 public use data instead of their restricted data; unfortunately, some variables of interest were restricted. for example, students’ first choice of major and institution type (two-year vs. four-year) was inaccessible. in addition, access to students’ first choice of major would have provided important information on stem attrition across racial/ethnic subgroups. rodriguez 14 california sociology forum vol. 5 previous research shows there is a relationship between math courses taken and stem persistence (chen 2013). while some of my findings aligned with prior research, others contradicted it. findings suggest that african american and latinx students were just as likely or more likely to take an elite math course by their senior year. this finding supports previous literature comparing students from different cohorts (1982, 1992, and 2004). students in 2004 earned more math credits than the other two cohorts with the exception of latinx students who did not show much difference from 1992 to 2004 (dalton et al. 2007; domina and saldana 2012). this finding also supports xie and coauthors (2015) study who found that the racial gap in elite course taking in high school has narrowed. future research should focus on why students of color are more likely to be sorted in lower-level math courses compared to white students (xie et al. 2015). furthermore, even though this thesis did not find any statistically significant results on african american and latinx students’ odds of obtaining a bachelor’s in stem, previous research found evidence of racial disparities in obtaining a degree in stem (chen and weko 2009; ma and liu 2015). more research should be conducted to these seemingly contradictory results. it is important for researchers and policymakers to understand why african american and latinx students do not persist in stem once they’ve enrolled in a postsecondary institution. perhaps developing pre-college programs aimed at creating a smooth transition from high school to postsecondary institutions could lower attrition rates among these students. sorting students also plays a significant role in stem persistence as students of color, african american female students in particular were found to be less likely to have been recommended for elite math courses (francis et al. 2019). policies need to be developed to prevent bias against students of color who qualify for enrollment in elite math courses. on a structural level, perhaps school districts can consider making elite math courses mandatory. in most public schools in the united states math requirements usually go up to algebra ii or students need to fulfil only three years of math by making elite a requirement it might rodriguez 15 california sociology forum vol. 5 work to motivate students or introduce them to math courses that are relevant and lay a foundation to a stem education. although some of the hypotheses were not supported by the results, the findings from this thesis contributes to literature and future research. for example, students of color were found to have taken elite math courses at equal and or double the odds as white students. future research should continue research on elite math course taking and its relationship with stem persistence. as previously stated, african american and latinx students have higher odds of enrolling in a postsecondary institution, future research should be conducted to determine whether postsecondary enrollment in two-year vs. four-year institutions would be significant in persisting in stem across racial/ethnic subgroups. the theoretical framework of categorical inequality helps explain students being sorted in elite level courses. previous research utilized different theoretical frameworks when researching racial disparities in course taking and stem. for example, fong and kremer (2020) used the expectancy value theory which focuses on the students, their perceptions of reality and how this affects their academic performance. categorical inequality shifts the focus from the student to the educational institution by stating that schools create categories based on status and sort students accordingly. it focuses on sorting at the institutional and organizational levels and frames racial status as more salient in elite math courses. when analyzing data from els:02 i found that students are taking elite math courses at similar rates. however, racial disparities continue to persist in stem education and workforce. future researchers should utilize this framework to understand how sorting students in elite 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vilma mesa. 2016. “factors affecting calculus completion among u.s. high school students.” pp. 9-25 in the role of calculus in the transition from high school to college mathematics, edited by david m. bressoud. the mathematics association of america. codiroli, natasha. 2015. “inequalities in students’ choice of stem subjects: an exploration of intersectional relationships.” centre for longitudinal studies. institute of education: university college london. chen, xianglei. 2013. stem attrition: college students’ paths into and out of stem fields. statistical analysis report. national center for education statistics. chen, xianglei, and thomas weko. 2009. “students who study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) in postsecondary education.” stats in brief. national center for education statistics. crisp, gloria, amaury nora, and amanda taggart. 2009. "student characteristics, pre-college, college, and environmental factors as predictors of majoring in and earning a stem degree: an analysis of students attending a hispanic serving institution." american educational research journal 46:924–42. daempfle, peter a. 2004. “an analysis of the high attrition rates among first year college science, math, and engineering majors.” journal of college student retention 5(1):3752. rodriguez 17 california sociology forum vol. 5 dalton, ben, steven j. ingels, jane downing, and robert bozick. 2007. advanced mathematics and science coursetaking in the spring high school senior classes of 1982, 1992, and 2004. washington, dc: national center for education statistics. domina, thurston, andrew penner, and emily penner. 2018. “categorical inequality: schools as sorting machines.” annual review of sociology 43:311-330. domina, thurston, andrew m. penner, and emily k. penner. 2016. “‘membership has its privileges’: status incentives and categorical 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riegle-crumb, catherine, barbara king, and yasmiyn irizarry. 2019. “does stem stand out? examining racial/ethnic gaps in persistence across postsecondary fields.” educational researcher 48(3):133-144. riegle-crumb, catherine, and eric grodsky. 2010. “racial-ethnic differences at the intersection of math and course-taking rodriguez 19 california sociology forum vol. 5 and achievement.” sociology of education 83(3):248270. sanabria, tanya, and andrew penner. 2017. “weeded out? gendered responses to failing calculus.” social sciences 6(2):47-60. sanabria, tanya, andrew penner and thurston domina. 2020. “failing at remediation? college remedial coursetaking, failure and long-term student outcomes.” research in higher education 61:459–484. seo, eunjin, yishan shen, and edna c. alfaro. 2018. “adolescents’ beliefs about math ability and their relations to stem career attainment: joint consideration of race/ethnicity and gender.” journal of youth and adolescence 48:306-325. shi, qi. 2017. “english language learners’ (ells) science, technology, engineering, math (stem) course-taking, achievement and attainment in college.” journal of college access 3(2):45-61. sovero, veronica, moshe buchinsky, and matthew d. baird. 2021. “playing catch up: a term level investigation of the racial gap in stem retention.” economics of education review 83:1-18. tyson, will, reginald lee, and kathryn m. borman. 2007. “science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) pathways: high school science and math coursework and postsecondary degree attainment.” journal of education for students placed at risk 12(3):243-270. wesley, jeffrey. 2019. “crossing the finish line? a review of college completion inequality in the united states by race and class.” sociology compass. 14(5):1-19. u.s department of education. 2018. “paths through mathematics and science: patterns and relationships in high school coursetaking.” washington d.c.: national center for education statistics. u.s department of education. 2018. “2015-16 civil rights data collection: stem course taking.” washington d.c.: office for civil rights. rodriguez 20 california sociology forum vol. 5 xie, yu, michael fang, and kimberlee shauman. 2015. “stem education.” annual review of sociology 41:331-357 appendix rodriguez 21 california sociology forum vol. 5 rodriguez 22 california sociology forum vol. 5 rodriguez 23 california sociology forum vol. 5 rodriguez 24 california sociology forum vol. 5 california sociology forum student journal contents volume v spring 2023 letter from the editors…………………………………………vi about the editors……………………………………………..viii recognition of the 2023 graduating class at cal state la…..xiv articles first generation students in higher education olivia sanchez………………………………………..15 elite course taking and racial disparities in stem eglys rodriguez……………………………………...35 introspection: an expository analysis of police brutality against unarmed black men lami j. glenn………………………………………...59 difference in receipt of gratitude: a comparative analysis of the experiences of vietnam and operation desert storm veterans marie rivera…………………………………………72 creative works art “now what?”: drowning in the american dream mural darron cunanan……………………………………88 poetry social constructs creatively deconstructed: a collection of six poems taryn bates………………………………………….91 op-eds how the devil influenced rock and metal sammy garcia iii……………………………………98 my postpartum depression consumed self marie rivera………………………………………..109 book reviews divide & conquer: race, gangs, identity, and conflict (studies in transgression) by robert d. weide taryn bates and lami j. glenn……………………116 politics is for power: how to move beyond political hobbyism, take action, and make real change by eitan hersh darron cunanan……………………………………120 film reviews women talking by sarah polley taryn bates…………………………………………122 everything everywhere all at once by daniel kwan and daniel scheinert taryn bates and darron cunanan………………...12 tijuana’s art scene, artist’s migration california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 1-11) tijuana’s art scene, artist’s migration jimena salas department of sociology california state university, los angeles this paper is a research proposal aimed at answering the question of why artists from other mexican cities or from abroad decides to move to tijuana, a city that despite offering one of the most attractive artistic scenes in méxico, is also one of the most dangerous ones. among the several factors that can explain this social phenomenon are: the closeness to the united sates, the ideological and aesthetic style of the creative scene, the art programs that the different universities and institutions offer, or even the city itself. the goal of this exploratory research is to find out which of these, if not others, play a significant role. a qualitative study will be conducted and during the documentation stage there will be observation and interviews in order to help identify and discover the most relevant trends. meanwhile, a snowball sampling method will be used to find the subjects of this study. in addition, the subjects will include artists not from tijuana, artists from tijuana, artists that have not left their cities, and owners of galleries and cultural/ educational institutions. introduction 1the border cities of northern mexico have been generally treated as spaces that do not favor the development of culture. tijuana has proven this statement wrong for decades. as cuauhtémoc ochoa has argued, despite the difficulties and obstacles that this city has faced in the last decades, the cultural and artistic activity and production has not stopped in the fields jimena salas is a graduate student in the department of sociology. her paper was originally submitted as a research proposal to soc. 490 quantitative research methods in sociology, taught by dr. gretchen peterson in fall 2010. of fine arts, popular expressions or in the vanguard arts (2009: 323). in turn, several artists from other mexican cities and even other countries have moved to tijuana due to their attraction to the art scene. the objective of my research is to analyze why artists from other mexican cities or from abroad make the decision to move to tijuana, a city that despite offering one of the most attractive artistic scenes in méxico, is also one of the most dangerous ones. among the several factors that can explain this social phenomenon are: the closeness to the united sates, the ideological ideas and aesthetic style of the creative scene, the art programs that tijuana's art scene by jimena salas 2 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 1-11) the different universities and institutions offer, or even the city itself. my goal is to find which of these, if not others, plays a preponderant role. in addition to providing insights and a better understanding of tijuana’s art scene, the broader purpose of this research is to contribute to the increasing literature in sociology that highlights the close relationship between art and society. art provides a different face to the public space and given its significant impact in the way a society behaves, it should be considered a central topic in sociology. although these types of studies can easily turn subjective, we cannot avoid the fact that art plays a relevant role in society, providing very meaningful results in societal studies. as an individual experience, art mediates human’s conception of reality. however, in a much broader sense, there have been art movements that have been anti systemic and have been very critical of their time. in the following document i talk about the characteristics of the city of tijuana, the relationship between the educational institutions and culture in this northern city, and the five different events that have characterized the last three decades of the art scene. additionally i discuss the theory of richard florida in which he argues that in order for a city to attract creative people, generate innovation and stimulate economic development, it needs to offer three different characteristics; technology, talent, and tolerance (2005: 37). furthermore i analyze a similar case to the one in tijuana that took place in san miguel de allende, a historic town located in the eastern part of the state of guanajuato in mexico's bajío region. although these cities are very different and their creative scenes have very distinct origins and characteristics, artists from abroad were interested in migrating to these places because of the beauty of the locations, the jobs related to art, and the art schools offered in the area. the final part of this work talks about the reasons i chose an exploratory research, describes the method i will use, and assembles the conclusions. the city of tijuana in order to understand the social phenomenon of the artists in tijuana, i find relevant to first describe some of the general aspects of the city. adriana cadena argues that thinking tijuana is a complex task, especially because of the myths, stereotypes, legends and academic discourses that have historically idealized and influenced their own configuration (2010:65). tijuana, located in the northern region of baja california, méxico, was established 120 years ago and is part of the framework region known as the cuenca del pacífico (pacific basin), whose main poles of development are los angeles, california, and tokyo, japan. tijuana has more than 1 and a half million inhabitants and has a complex social fabric. according to cadena, the social fragmentation that tijuana presents is associated to the fact that it is a city of migrants whose demographic composition is heterogeneous (2010:68). with respect to the economy, the assembly plant (maquiladoras) industry is the most relevant economic activity, followed by the entertainment industry, the construction industry, and the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mexico http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/baj%c3%ado tijuana's art scene by jimena salas 3 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 1-11) manufacture of metallic and nonmetallic products (gonzález 2004:53). in addition, the impact of the united states (us) in tijuana has shaped the life of its inhabitants in many ways. for example, the prohibition on the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the us from 1920 to 1933 caused the development of an industry in the border of mexico, including tijuana, devoted to help the americans to get the alcohol they could not get in their own country (piñera 2007:9). even now there is still an important industry in tijuana that specializes in serving american consumers. in addition, tijuana is a city where it is very easy to identify all the tendencies and characteristics of globalization, including: 1) mass-media consumption, 2) strong presence of transnational corporations, 3) multiculturalism, given the huge migratory flow, 4) high volume of tourism, 5) high consumption levels of technology, and 6) the intense and constant interaction with international markets (iglesias 2009: 38; cadena 2010: 65). another characteristic of the life in this northern mexican city is the violence associated with the growth of organized crime, a problem with no short-term solution. for example, only in 2009, 650 persons were executed in violent acts related to drug cartels. although a serious problem, authors like cadena have argued that having the media only present alarming stories about this problem has led to the perception that the violence affects every citizen’s regular life and that the problem has no solution (2010: 76). remarkably, within this context, different areas of tijuana’s cultural life has experienced a significant increase in recent decades, gradually acquiring a particular diversity, richness and complexity that currently defines the cultural field of this city. furthermore, compared to other border towns, tijuana's cultural life has had a much more significant development, which is expressed in various forms of production, promotion, distribution, and consumption of cultural goods and services (ochoa 2009: 325). cultural development and educational institutions from ochoa’s point of view, the evolution of tijuana’s cultural field has been closely linked to the education sector and its traditionally very rich offer of artistic programs –especially if compared with other northern cities. in 1939 the city began to grow the instituto técnico superior de agua caliente, which quickly became a stimulus for culture. at that time, ochoa proposes, the artistic and cultural activities were socially understood as an occasional hobby and also as an excuse to do charity events. in 1957 the universidad autónoma de baja california (uabc)2 was created, consolidating the local educational system. the first formal cultural promotion activities organized by the uabc began in 1961 with the creation of departamento de difusión cultral (ddc). for ochoa this was a central event because it was a reflection of the relationship between the 2 state public university. tijuana's art scene by jimena salas 4 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 1-11) university, the cultural community, and the city’s society. furthermore, ochoa suggests that along with the efforts made by educational institutions, since the 1950s there was a group of activist citizens involved and concerned with the city’s life, which decided to assume, as one of its goals, supporting artists and bringing culture closer to the people. these individuals were involved in the creation and strengthening of governmental areas and cultural organizations that dealt with some segments of the city's cultural life. moreover, ochoa states that despite the weakness and instability of their projects and how improvised and pragmatic their labor was, as cultural promoters and advocates, their actions became crucial because they filled the vacuum left by governmental institutions in the cultural field. this was especially relevant because, as ochoa mentions, the vision and policies imposed by the federal government on the northern cities were not always well received, generally because they were disconnected from the local reality. although the relationship between the border and the federal government was not always a good one, the image that each had over the other changed over time and this could be perceived in actions and expressions of the various political actors, economic, social, and cultural rights. one outcome of this process of recognition was the creation and establishment of federal educational and cultural bodies in the city of tijuana. furthermore, the establishment of the centro de estudios fronterizos del norte de méxico, the predecesor of colegio de la frontera norte (colef), and the universidad iberoamericana (uia) favored the development of scientific research and academic activities that soon got interested in the study of various economic, political, and cultural phenomenons of the city and the region. these educational centers had the labor to promote and disseminate the regional creative work since their cultural projects had some institutional continuity. last two decades of the 20th century and the first ones of the 21st century tijuana’s artistic life during the last three decades has been characterized by five different events, all of them illustrative and useful to understand the present situation of this city’s art scene and how it has been able to gain international recognition. the first event took place in the 1980s with the emergence of border art workshop/taller de arte fronterizo (baw/taf), a group of politically concerned artists from tijuana and san diego. this was a multicultural group of mexicans, americans, and chicanos that wrote and made art about the border for five years. baw/taf became very famous and ‘border art’ became a popular theme in the art world (berelowitz 1997: 69). the second event occurred in the 1990s with the creation of insite tijuana/san diego (organized in 1994, 1997, 2000, 2005), a contemporary art project based in the binational region of san diego-tijuana dedicated to commissioning and promoting new works by artists in the public domain. this brought thousands of people, both artists and academics, to tijuana's art scene by jimena salas 5 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 1-11) the border from all over the world. tijuana's artists began to collaborate with artists from outside and vice versa. the third event was the emergence of colectivo nortec, a musical ensemble from northern mexico. their musical genre mixes electronic beats with traditional northern music. nortec collective's second album, tijuana sessions, vol. 3, (nacional records) received very good reviews and was nominated for two latin grammy awards in 2006 (valenzuela 2004: 30). the fourth event, also related with nortec, was arco 05, a yearly art fair held in madrid, spain, that in 2005 had mexico as the guest country with tijuana invited to participate in the event. finally, the fifth moment was strange new world: art and design from tijuana (2006), the first major traveling exhibition that showed over fifty works by twenty of tijuana’s most important contemporary artists, architects, designers, and filmmakers. similarities with the case of san miguel de allende although san miguel de allende and tijuana are very different cities in many respects, they both have a relevant art scene and have artists from other parts of méxico and abroad. while san miguel de allende, a colonial historic town located in the state of guanajuato, was founded in 1542 and has around 130,000 inhabitants, tijuana is a relatively new metropolitan area that is among the sixth largest cities in mexico. during the 1950s an important group of canadians and americans migrated to san miguel de allende, setting the pillars of the solid foreign colony that later emerged (fenebock 2003: 93). the peruvian diplomat and artist felipe cossio del pomar founded the instituto allende (school of fine arts) in this small city, motivated by the “quality of the light”. since its foundation, the instituto allende was incorporated to the university of guanajuato for the master of arts and therefore received the recognition of several universities in the united states. this gave the new school a privileged position and by 1960 it grew both in size and scope and also began to offer graduate studies. attracted by the possibility of obtaining academic credit for art studies in mexico, a growing number of american students in san miguel found a place to come back to frequently, sometimes bringing friends with them. furthermore, in the sixties the city became a center for the counter culture movement. i found this case interesting because like tijuana, this case is an example of how the educational institutions may be one of the things than can attract artists to migrate. richard florida, the creative class the study of the creative class of richard florida, as i mentioned in the introduction, is important to this study since it delineates interesting points that are helpful in building the research questions. however, his main focus is economic growth and for that reason it is not a model than can be applied in its totality because that it not the purpose of this research. florida argues that there are three key factors to attract creative http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mexico http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nacional_records http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/latin_grammy tijuana's art scene by jimena salas 6 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 1-11) people, generate innovation, and stimulate economic development; he calls them the 3 t’s--technology, talent, and tolerance (2005:37). florida defines tolerance as openness and inclusiveness; talent as a highly talented/educated/skilled population, tolerance as a diverse community, and finally technology as the concentration of innovation and high technology in a region. i will use these characteristics to raise some of the research questions. research questions since the art scene of tijuana has caused the migration of artists to this northern city, the purpose of this exploratory research is to provide insights into and comprehension of this situation. the reasons for that social phenomenon to happen can be related to several variables. artists can feel attracted to tijuana because of the closeness to the us (san diego and los angeles) or the political or ideological ideas of the art scene. a different motivation could be identification with the aesthetic proposal of the art scene. since the city offers a rich variety of art programs, the purpose of an artist to move to tijuana could be to study. finally artists from other cities can be interested in moving to tijuana because of the characteristics of the city like its openness, diversity, contrasts or multiculturalism. method to have a richer analysis of the reasons and thoughts of why certain artists from other mexican cities and countries decide to move to tijuana i decided to do a qualitative study. during the documentation stage i will do observation and conduct interviews and with that information i will identify and refine the most relevant trends. observation/fieldwork the objective of the observation and fieldwork is to spend time in tijuana to assist in art events (entijuanarte 2010, september 26th – october 3rd), get to know their cultural and educational institutions and art galleries (centro cultural tijuana, colegio de la frontera norte, la caja gallery), and hang out in different public spaces where artists get together (bars, restaurants). the purpose of this stage is to take jotted notes of social interactions between artists and the characteristics of the places where they convene. moreover, i will identify who is who within the different artistic groups in order to open the opportunity of knowing more people and make the social network bigger. the reason for visiting the art galleries and the different cultural institutions is to observe the artists’ work and to get to know some of the persons behind these places in order to be able to interview them later on. social distance and limitations i may find some kind of problems because i have only been in tijuana twice and did not stay long. the lack of knowledge of the city may help in a way because i will go with fewer prejudices, but at the same time i could also miss relevant information because of it. in order to reduce this social distance, this summer of 2010 i am tijuana's art scene by jimena salas 7 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 1-11) planning to stay a week to get familiarized with the city and some of their inhabitants. another problem that i will face during the observation and interviews is that with the situation of danger and violence in tijuana, i will have to be very careful and that may limit the freedom to move around the city and the frequency of my visits. target population the objective of the sample procedure is to contact young members of the artistic community of tijuana that come from tijuana and other mexican cities or countries. it is also relevant to contact artists who have stayed in their cities, and have not moved in order, to be able to contrast their answers with the ones of the artists that have moved to tijuana. the way to contact these last ones is going to be through the references of the artists that moved to tijuana. later on i will contact some of the owners of the galleries and people who work for the cultural institutions to include their perspective about the art scene. sampling strategy since i did not have a social network within this group of artists, i previously built a directory just with artists from tijuana. the type of procedure to build that previous list was a snowball sampling method. the first step was to prepare a list of everyone i knew from tijuana or mexico city that were related to the cultural life of tijuana. i started with a list of 6 people. from these first 6 contacts i was able to get 176 more contacts through their referrals. from those 176 contacts i was able to get 56 more contacts. from those 56 last contacts i got 90 more contacts. this part took me several weeks, but once i started getting in touch with these persons a snowball effect occurred. i contacted different artists, people that work for museums (cecut, museum of contemporary art san diego), universities (colegio de la frontera norte), art-festivals (entijuanarte, bordocs) and other art organizations and institutions. it meant a lot of hard work but it was very fulfilling and exciting to receive so much support. in the end, from those 6 contacts and two web pages (www.archivobc.org, www.bajacalifornia.gob.mx/icbc/docto s/pecda2009-2010.pdf) where i found two directories of artists, i managed to build a directory of 328 artists from tijuana. another important point is that i was also able to contact people who are studying related topics about tijuana. the final step is to build a similar sample with artists that come from other mexican cities or countries and for that purpose i will use again a snowball sampling method contacting the persons of this first directory. http://www.archivobc.org/ tijuana's art scene by jimena salas 8 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 1-11) first contacts 1 daniela, alatorre producer, morelia’s international film festival (mexico). i studied with her my ba in communication in mexico city. 2. pablo, collada sociologist mexico city, knew a person doing a thesis about tijuana’s art scene. 3. javier, salas playwright mexico city, related to the theater scene of tijuana. 4. jimena, lara worked for the ministry of culture in mexico city, related to several artists from tijuana. i studied with her my ba in communication in mexico city. 5. julio, rodríguez director of the art festival entijuanarte in tijuana 6. valeria, valencia ucla ph.d student, from tijuana web sources 1. www.archivobc.org tijuana’s artists archive. i found it while navigating in google. 2. pecda list of beneficiaries (artists from baja california) of the stimulus program pecda that the government of baja california published on its website. i found it while navigating in google the following list shows the final list of contacts and the persons in bold are the ones who referred me to other contacts: 1. daniela alatorre: 1. producer galatea audiovisual 2. second producer galatea audiovisual: 1. manager of casa del tunel and ex-consul of art in los angeles 2. member of cultural alternative cultural space in los angeles, farm lab 3. independent curator in tijuana and los angeles works at casa del tunel 4. curator at tijuana and san diego 5. architect, professor, artist in tijuana and san diego 6. visual artist from tijuana 7. manager of contemporary art event insite tijuana 8. cecut (centro cultural tijuana) in charge of exhibitions: 43. list of 43 contacts of artists from tijuana 9. curator, cultural promoter, los angeles and tijuana 10. san diego journalist interested in tijuana’s art 11. diffusion manager, colegio de la frontera norte, 12. literature manager cecut artist/activist 13. bordocs documentary festival 14. filmmaker/artist, tijuana 15. manager school of arts, mexicali tijuana's art scene by jimena salas 9 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 1-11) 16. sub manager uabc (universidad autónoma de baja california) campus tijuana 17. manager annual design event esquinanorte -: 73. list of 30 artists from tijuana 18. writer/artist, tijuana 19. curator/artist, san diego and tijuana 20. artist, san diego and tijuana 21.writer/cultural issues professor usc (university of southern california) los angeles 22. writer, tijuana 23. architect/artist, tijuana 3. producerbordocs: 42. (19) visual artists, tijuana 43. phd student studying tijuana’s art scene unam (universidad autónoma de méxico, mexico city) -: 76. (5) visual artists, tijuana 77. ma student social anthropology ciesas (centro de investigaciones superiores en antropología social, mexico city), thesis about tijuana’s art scene 4. artist, tijuana: 44. assistant curator of the museum of contemporary art san diego 45. professor colegio de la frontera norte,tijuana, did interviews to several artists from tijuana 49. (4) tijuana’s artists 2. pablo collada: 5. ma student social anthropology ciesas (centro de investigaciones superiores en antropología social, mexico city), thesis on tijuana’s artists 50. artist, tijuana 3. javier salas: 6. theater group, grupo ojo, tijuana 4. jimena lara: 7. artist, tijuana 5. julio rodríguez: 76. (69) artists from tijuana who participated at entijuanarte 09 6. valeria valencia: 77. plastic artist, tijuana 7. www.archivobc.org 149. (72) artists from tijuana 8. pecda 176. (27) artists from tijuana who won a state grant juan t. acosta: 56. (6) musicians, tijuana 57. musician, tijuana: 90. (13) musicians, tijuana http://www.archivobc.org/ tijuana's art scene by jimena salas 10 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 1-11) instrument the number of interviewees is going to be determined by the responses i get. whenever i achieve the point when i keep finding the same answers and i am able to determine a certain trend then that is going to be the limit. the goal of the interviews is to gather general information about the background of the person, like the type of artwork they do, and then the questions go deeper in order to find out about the reasons why artists move to tijuana in relation to the closeness to the us, the ideological ideas and aesthetic style of the creative scene, the art programs that the different universities and institutions offer, or even the city itself. because of my lack of experience in doing interviews it may be possible that the quality of the first few is not going to be as good as the last few. findings the findings show that the reasons why artists from other cities decide to migrate to tijuana are mainly related to the characteristics of the city, the aesthetics of the art scene, and the closeness with the us. the majority of the artists consider that one of the most relevant reasons they decided to move to tijuana was because they find the aesthetic of the artwork in tijuana very interesting and attractive, and they identified themselves with it. an important group of artists migrated to tijuana because of its diversity, vitality and dynamics. additionally, another common reason for artists to migrate to tijuana was its closeness with the us; since there are a lot of binational art events and programs, like with san diego for example. conclusion when i started studying the art scene of tijuana i found out that many of its residents did not like the way people from outside used clichés like exotic, collage, hybridism, and prism to describe their city and creative life. luis humberto crosthwaite, a renowned writer from tijuana, put it this way, “speaking about the border from the mexican side is the enormous opportunity to discuss our daily bread as exotic dish, talk about discrimination and inequality as a case and not the daily reality.”2 for this reason i am very interested in understanding the art scene of tijuana through the perspective of its inhabitants and in that way contribute to a better understanding of this social phenomenon. furthermore, as i mentioned in the introduction discussing the development and characteristics of the art scenes of the cities should be a relevant topic for sociology because it broadens the perspective of a society and it opens a door for a deep comprehension of the social dynamics of a certain place. talking about tijuana’s art scene is an opportunity to see that this city has other faces besides the violent one. 2 http://www.lehman.edu/ciberletras/v20/bellver.html, 06.13.2009 http://www.lehman.edu/ciberletras/v20/bellver.html tijuana's art scene by jimena salas 11 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 1-11) references arreola, daniel d. (1996) border-city ideé fixe, geographical review, 86:3, 356-369 berelowitz, jo-anne (1997) conflict over ‘border art’, third text, 11:40, 69-83 cadena, adriana (2010) tesis: experiencias locales, resonancias globales. dinámica cultural y procesos de producción artística en la ciudad de tijuana en la última década. estudios de caso de tres grupos de creación artística, ciesas mexico df florida, richard (2005), cities and the creative class, ed. routledge, great britain iglesias, norma (2002)“perspectivas sobre la frontera. cortometrajes y videos de la regió fronteriza”, conferencia para la serie “fronteras”, festival mexarts.berlín, alemania. disponible en http://www.mexartesberlin.de/esp/01/iglesias print.html, consultado en octubre de 2009. fenenbock, lorna marie (2003) thesis: an expatriate colony in san miguel de allende: 1937-1997, california state university northdridge gonzález, josé de jesús (2004), tijuana una nueva ciudad 1889-2004, ed. h. ayuntamiento de tijuana, tijuana ochoa, cuauhtémoc (2009), de la bohemia a las insitutciones. el sinuoso camino de las políticas culturales en la ciudad de tijuana, vol. 6, num. 11, pp 332352 piñera david, gabriel rivera (2007), tijuana en la historia, vol. ii, ed. instituto tijuana renacimiento ac, tijuana bc, méxico valenzuela, josé m. (2004), paso del nortec, this is tijuana, ed trilce ediciones, méxico http://www.lehman.edu/ciberletras/v20/bellver.html reviews | film | j. rivera 188 california sociology forum vol. 6 film review: breaking barriers: a critical examination of transgender representation in media through disclosure jessica rivera department of sociology california state university, los angeles directed by sam feder, disclosure (2020) is a groundbreaking documentary on netflix that provides a comprehensive sociological analysis of the symbolic annihilation of transgender individuals in film and television. symbolic annihilation refers to the underrepresentation or misrepresentation of a particular group in media, reinforcing stereotypes and limiting the visibility of that group. through a combination of historical context, critical analysis, and personal narratives, the film sheds light on the harmful and inaccurate representations of transgender people in mainstream media, as well as the broader societal implications of these portrayals. one of the most striking aspects explored in disclosure is the complete absence of transgender characters in film and television. transgender individuals have long been erased from mainstream media, perpetuating their marginalization and reinforcing the notion that they are abnormal or non-existent. by showcasing the lack of representation and its impact on transgender individuals’ self-image, mental health, and overall well-being, the documentary highlights the devastating consequences of this erasure. moreover, the film delves into the harmful and inaccurate portrayals of transgender characters when they are included in media narratives. transgender individuals have often been reduced to caricatures, perpetuating harmful and unrealistic stereotypes and misconceptions. these portrayals do not only misrepresent the transgender community, but they also contribute to the stigmatization and discrimination they face in society. disclosure meticulously analyzes specific examples of such portrayals, providing a detailed sociological analysis of their negative effects on both the transgender community and broader societal attitudes towards transgender individuals. in addition to examining the content of media representations, disclosure also explores the power dynamics reviews | film | j. rivera 189 california sociology forum vol. 6 within the film and television industry that perpetuate the symbolic annihilation of transgender individuals. the documentary sheds light on the systemic barriers transgender individuals face in accessing meaningful roles both in front of and behind the camera. by exposing the inequities in media production and distribution systems, disclosure calls for structural changes within the industry to foster more inclusive and accurate representation. it emphasizes the need for diverse voices and perspectives to be included in the creative process to avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes and biases. furthermore, disclosure delves into the intersectionality of transgender representation, highlighting how gender identity intersects with race, class, and other social categories. the film recognizes that transgender individuals from marginalized communities face compounded forms of symbolic annihilation, as their identities are further erased or misrepresented due to intersecting systems of oppression. by exploring the intersectional experiences of transgender people, disclosure provides a nuanced understanding of the broader societal dynamics that contribute to their symbolic annihilation in film and television. while disclosure offers a powerful sociological analysis of the symbolic annihilation of transgender individuals, it also has some shortcomings. one critique is that the documentary focuses primarily on the negative aspects of transgender representation without fully exploring the positive strides being made in recent years. while it is crucial to address the harmful portrayals and erasure of transgender individuals, it is equally important to highlight the progress being made towards more accurate and inclusive representation. by balancing the analysis with examples of positive representation and showcasing the efforts of filmmakers and activists who are working towards change, the documentary could provide a more comprehensive perspective. additionally, though disclosure acknowledges the intersectionality of transgender representation, it could delve deeper into the experiences of transgender individuals from different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. the documentary primarily features the narratives of white transgender individuals, which limits the examination of how intersecting systems of oppression uniquely impact transgender reviews | film | j. rivera 190 california sociology forum vol. 6 people of color and those from marginalized communities. by incorporating more diverse voices and experiences, disclosure could provide a more comprehensive analysis of the complexities of transgender representation. despite these limitations, disclosure remains a valuable and thought-provoking documentary contributing to the ongoing discussion about representation and inclusion in film and television. by providing a sociological lens through which to understand the symbolic annihilation of transgender individuals, the film challenges viewers to critically examine the media they consume and the broader societal dynamics at play. it serves as a call to action for the film and television industry to prioritize diverse and accurate representation and for society as a whole to recognize the importance of visibility and inclusion for transgender individuals. in conclusion, disclosure is a great documentary that offers a comprehensive sociological analysis of transgender individuals in film and television. through its examination of historical context, critical analysis, and personal narratives, the film portrays inaccurate representations of transgender people in mainstream media and highlights the broader societal implications of these representations. while the documentary falls short in certain aspects, it remains an important contribution to the ongoing conversation about representation and inclusion. disclosure challenges viewers to examine the media they consume critically and calls for structural changes within the film and television industry to foster more inclusive and accurate representation. references feder, sam. 2020. disclosure. los gatos, ca: netflix. jessica rivera (she/her/ella) is a first-generation graduate student at cal state la. jessica will be graduating with her m.a. in sociology in may 2024. her research interests consist of deviant behaviors, gender and mental health. she is currently working on her portfolio project on the topic of social media specifically instagram affecting college students’ self-perception. she is grateful for the opportunity she has been given to explore, grow in her writing and learn from her csf team. jessica had the opportunity to be a part of the book/film review team. she is a proud member of the editorial board and hopes to continue her passion in writing. film review: breaking barriers: a critical examination of transgender representation in media through disclosure jessica rivera creative works | art | valentine 130 california sociology forum vol. 6 land, resistance, and radical care: additional exploration and musings of cover image design milo m. valentine department of sociology california state university, los angeles the cover piece, land, resistance, and radical care, for the sixth volume of the california sociology forum stems from conversations between myself and the student editorial board in hopes of prompting a discussion around the violent history of colonization and our role in the ongoing fight for indigenous sovereignty. my goal for this written work is a more in-depth expansion on the cover piece to provide additional information and description, explore the concept of radical care from the black feminist perspective, and seeks to integrate these concepts as guides which inform both scholarship and praxis. the primary object of land, resistance, and radical care is an illustration of two hands side-by-side, palms up, with fingers slightly rounded. in the palm of the hands rests an object that may resemble earth, though all personal interpretations can be unique. a warm pink backlight surrounds the hands, symbolizing the interconnection of care and resistance. this piece is set against the backdrop of the los angeles county map from the 1800s, which includes topographic symbols and borders marked by colorful patches overseeing miles of land. additionally, the phrases “stolen land” and “landback” are inscribed across the wrists of the hands holding our world, symbolizing the necessity of our pursuits to stem from this foundational historic understanding. the division of territory on the los angeles county map is a result of the violent colonization of the gabrieleños people and their land. as individuals attending a university on land stolen from the gabrieleños, it is crucial not to view colonization as a historic event set in the distant past, but rather, as an ongoing process of violence that can be resisted by looking to indigenous organizers who have long been fighting for landback. according to the indigenous organization ndn collective (landback 2021), landback is an organizing framework with goals of acquiring sovereignty over stolen lands, as well as language, ceremony, food, education, housing, healthcare, governance, medicine, and kinship which “allows us to envision a world where black, indigenous & poc liberation co-exists.” landback initiatives work towards indigenous sovereignty and reclamation justice for what was stolen. we must listen to indigenous voices to better understand the complexities of colonization, become better equipped to organize, and creative works | art | valentine 131 california sociology forum vol. 6 imagine a future where all communities can experience liberatory justice. the practice of radical care, rooted in black feminist thought, seems particularly instrumental when envisioning a liberated future. in their book, no more police: a case for abolition, mariame kaba and andrea j. ritchie (2022) portray black feminism as offering visions of “collective practices based in an ethics of care and personal accountability.” they illustrate how care, as a longstanding practice, fuels their efforts to combat state violence, secure necessary resources, and cultivate the future they desire through mutual aid and transformative justice. the foundational and supportive role that care plays in black feminist praxis highlights its necessity in creating meaningful movements and communities. in this way, radical care becomes a cornerstone for building a future where marginalized communities can thrive. as we navigate our roles as students, sociologists, and residents on unceded stolen land, we must recognize our position within the context of a long history. by centering the perspectives and practices of indigenous organizers and black feminists, we can guide our scholarship and actions towards a more just and equitable society; a society that includes collective liberation for all marginalized communities. references ndn collective. “landback.” accessed march 28th, 2024. https://landback.org/. kaba, mariame and andrea j. ritchie. 2022. no more police: a case for abolition. new york: the new press. milo m. valentine (he/him/his) is a graduate student in the master’s in sociology program at california state university, los angeles. his research interests include transgender studies, gender and sexuality, queer and feminist methodologies, labor, and abolition. his thesis research explores how gender-queer individuals manage emotions in service-based work environments. milo has served as a teaching apprentice in several courses and is a writing tutor at the center for academic success. he is also a member of the abolition study action people’s (asap) collective. additionally, milo provides design assistance to various groups, including the department of sociology, the sociology club, and csf, creating flyers and promotional materials for their programs and events. milo is grateful for the opportunity to design the cover for this latest volume and extends his deepest appreciation to everyone at csf. land, resistance, and radical care: additional exploration and musings of cover image design milo m. valentine reviews | film | garcia 184 california sociology forum vol. 6 film review: unveiling the shadows shadow of the vampire by e. elias merhige sammy garcia iii department of sociology california state university, los angeles e. elias merhige’s film shadow of the vampire (2001) is a mesmerizing cinematic journey that transcends the realms of horror, art, and social commentary. at its core, the film offers a chilling glimpse into the complexities of power and control, masterfully presented through a sociological lens that forces viewers to confront uncomfortable truths about the entertainment industry and human nature. set against the backdrop of the silent film era, “shadow of the vampire” centers on the making of f.w. murnau’s iconic nosferatu (1922). however, this film within a film takes a sinister twist as it suggests that the actor portraying count orlok, max schreck (played brilliantly by willem dafoe), may indeed be a real vampire. this narrative device forms the perfect allegory for the sociological exploration of power and control through these examples of directors’ tyranny, exploitation and sacrifice, collateral damage, and art vs. reality. john malkovich delivers a formidable performance as the visionary f.w. murnau, a morally dubious and tyrannical director. murnau embodies the archetype of a director who wields absolute power on the set. his relentless pursuit of cinematic perfection blinds him to the ethical boundaries of filmmaking. this imbalance of power reflects the hierarchical nature of the film industry, where directors often hold unquestioned authority. malkovich’s portrayal of director f.w. murnau is a poignant representation of the power-hungry filmmaker. murnau’s relentless pursuit of artistic perfection mirrors the ambitions of directors who seek to make their mark in the industry. in this context, murnau serves as an embodiment of the artistic control asserted by directors, as highlighted in the 2022 npr article by bob mondello called “hollywood and tyrants: how filmmakers take on the powerful.” the film exposes the darker side of the entertainment industry by portraying the exploitation of max schreck. he is treated as a disposable commodity, a means to an end in reviews | film | garcia 185 california sociology forum vol. 6 murnau’s quest for cinematic immortality. schreck’s physical and emotional well-being is disregarded, highlighting the callousness with which those in power can manipulate and exploit those beneath them. he becomes the embodiment of the exploited artist, subjected to the whims of a powerful director. schreck’s willingness to endure physical and emotional hardships for the sake of his art reflects the power imbalances in the film industry, where the desire for creative expression can lead to the vulnerability of actors and other artistic collaborators. because of his willingness to endure those hardships, schreck’s dedication to the role was unquestionably remarkable, even by contemporary standards. his performance was so convincing and captivating that it gave rise to rumors and legends about him being a vampire. this notion has persisted over the years and is a testament to his extraordinary ability to become the character he portrayed. while schreck was not a “method actor” in the modern sense, his commitment to his role and the impact of his performance were certainly ahead of his time. the rumors of him being a vampire serve as a testament to the power of his acting and the lasting impression he left on audiences. beyond schreck, “shadow of the vampire” underscores the collateral damage of murnau’s single-minded pursuit. the crew and cast members are forced to endure dangerous and unhealthy working conditions, echoing real-world instances where the safety and welfare of workers have been compromised in the name of art. the secrecy surrounding max schreck’s true nature and the manipulative tactics employed by murnau create a climate of fear and mistrust on the set. the actors, particularly those who share scenes with schreck, are subjected to a level of uncertainty that amplifies the horror of their roles. this atmosphere of secrecy and manipulation has tangible consequences on the emotional well-being of the cast and crew. the film poignantly portrays the impact of unchecked authority on artistic collaborators, highlighting the emotional toll it takes on those who find themselves at the mercy of a director’s relentless ambition. the power dynamics within the film industry are mirrored in the power struggle between murnau and schreck. the collateral damage on the set, whether it’s emotional distress or physical hardship, is a direct result of the unchecked authority reviews | film | garcia 186 california sociology forum vol. 6 wielded by the director. this dynamic emphasizes how power imbalances can create an atmosphere of fear, insecurity, and mistrust among those who are not in positions of authority. the film raises pertinent questions about the boundaries of artistic expression. how far should artists go in their quest for creativity, and at what point does the pursuit of art become an excuse for cruelty and inhumanity? shadow of the vampire forces viewers to contemplate the ethical responsibilities of artists and the societal implications of their work. the film challenges the notion that artistic ambition can sometimes lead to the compromise of one’s morality, and it blurs the line between artistic expression and ethical boundaries. the moral dilemmas faced by the characters in the film, particularly murnau and schreck, invite viewers to reflect on the societal implications of artistic choices and the potential harm they can inflict. it underscores the idea that artists, in their quest for creative expression, must grapple with the ethical considerations of their work and the potential impact it may have on individuals both within and outside the industry. an example of this is at the end of the movie when murnau and crew are filming the final scene where count orlok is going to bite ellen’s neck, he does it once for the film, and then he can’t contain himself any longer, and actually bites her and starts to suck blood from her neck. he ends up getting his strength back and proceeds to break the neck of photographer fritz wagner and chokes producer albin grau, all while murnau is still filming, capturing all this. in his quest to create the perfect vampire movie, murnau ends up sacrificing his people to count orlok, all to fulfill his ego and power. as the outside crew breaks down the door to let the sun rays come in, orlok dies for real, and murnau says, “i think we have it.” shadow of the vampire is a masterpiece that invites viewers to explore the sociological dimensions of power and control within the film industry. it is a chilling reminder of the consequences of unchecked authority, exploitation, and the sacrifices made in the name of art. merhige’s film serves as a thought-provoking allegory that transcends its horror genre, leaving us with a profound reflection on the dynamics of power and control that permeate both the world of cinema and society at large. in a world where the shadows often conceal uncomfortable reviews | film | garcia 187 california sociology forum vol. 6 truths, this film shines a light on the darkest corners of human ambition and desire for control. as the narrative unfolds, we witness the sacrifices made in the name of art, the emotional toll on collaborators, and the blurred ethical boundaries that artists may grapple with in their pursuit of creative expression. the film serves as a reminder of the delicate balance between artistic dedication and artistic exploitation, highlighting the complexities of human ambition and the far-reaching consequences of unchecked authority. yet, shadow of the vampire leaves us with a lingering question, one that continues to provoke thought long after the credits roll: was max schreck truly a vampire, as the film suggests, or was he simply a remarkably skilled actor? this question challenges our perceptions of the boundaries between reality and fiction, a theme that echoes throughout the film. it compels us to consider the role of art in blurring those lines and raises the intriguing possibility that even the most captivating performances may leave us questioning what is real and what is illusion. references ebert, roger. 2001. “shadow of the vampire.” rogerebert.com. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/shadow-of-the-vampire-2001 merhige. elias e. 2001. shadow of the vampire. orlando, fl: long shot pictures. london, u.k.: bbc films. los angeles, ca: saturn films; pilgrim media group. luxembourg: delux productions. spain: cea studios. mondello, bob. 2022. “hollywood and tyrants: how filmmakers take on the powerful.” npr, all things considered. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/28/1095304319/hollywood-and-tyrants-howfilmmakers-take-on-th e-powerful sammy garcia iii (he/him) is a sociology, m.a. graduate student at cal state la. he graduated with his b.a. in sociology and minor in cls spring 2023. he made the dean’s list for sociology twice (fall 2021, spring 2022) and received a sociology award for being part of csf student journal in spring 2023. his research interests are in music and film, and he is proud to have an op-ed on music published in the spring ‘23 csf volume 5. he was part of the editorial team for spring semester 2023 and returned again in the fall 2024. he enjoyed the process of working with his fellow students and new editorial team each semester. film review: unveiling the shadowsshadow of the vampire by e. elias merhige sammy garcia iii film review | bates 1 california sociology forum vol. 5 film review: women talking by sarah polley taryn bates department of sociology california state university, los angeles the title women talking initially comes off as passive. however, the women featured in this story are actually working to put words into action after a shocking revelation about the strange and violating experiences all female-bodied residents of an isolated mennonite community have been waking up to for years. when seeking explanations, the male elders of the colony gaslight the women by attributing the assaults to satan, ghosts, bids for attention, or hysterical female imagination. finally, one of the men is caught in the act and gives up the names of the other perpetrators while revealing the use of cow tranquilizer to pull off the attacks. during the two days while the male perpetrators are jailed in the city, the women are left behind at the colony. they are told to use this time to forgive the attackers or be banished from the colony. their banishment also means being barred from heaven due to their unforgiveness. instead, the women decisively use this time to host a referendum, which leads to talking out a tie between choosing to stay and fighting or leaving the colony. canadian director (and former child actor) sarah polley won the academy award, critics’ choice award, and writers guild of america award for “best adapted screenplay” for her screen adaption of women talking (2022) based on the 2018 novel of the same name by award-winning canadian writer miriam toews. the writing motivation for toews was partly inspired by actual events in a bolivian mennonite colony paired with the questioning that had built up during her time growing up in a canadian mennonite colony. while the sexual assault did not happen in her own colony, the circumstances of patriarchal power dynamics could have easily led to such a situation. women talking is sociologically relevant because the entire story hinges on women who have essentially been trapped in an extreme societal construct of a religious colony coming to terms with the reality of the power dynamics of abuse that they had all been subjected to. the narrator of the film specifically notes that this restrictive community does not talk about women's film review | bates 2 california sociology forum vol. 5 bodies, so there is no language for violation which leaves a horrific gaping silence that erases any chance of empowerment. additionally, one of the women is considered a spinster but is carrying a child as a byproduct of the sexual assaults. at one point, she articulates that she chooses to remain single to be true to herself – a surprising act of autonomy and empowerment for a woman raised under strong indoctrination. the takeaway implied is that if the parameters of the societally constructed concept of being a spouse do not allow you to be yourself, then do not settle for betraying your true self. the idea of forced forgiveness not being true forgiveness is a central theme throughout the film. this includes the men threatening the women with banishment and eternal damnation if they are not ready to forgive the perpetrators and live alongside them. additionally, one of the women has been subjected to domestic abuse but all the while was advised by the elders, including the matriarchs, to forgive her husband. her bitterness, fear, and resignation act as foil to the other women throughout the heated discussions. another theme is power, with one woman specifying that the men want power and therefore need people to have power over, in this case the women. this also speaks to the internalized misogyny of patriarchal culture that enlists women in keeping their fellow women down and subservient. when the woman who has been subjected to domestic abuse wonders if the imprisoned men might not even be guilty, one of the other women proposes the idea that the conditions set up by the men of the colony led to the circumstances perpetuated by the men. in that case, everyone in the colony are victims of the system. later on, concerns about the logistics of choosing departure separating them from the boys leads to conversation over "not all men" being evil. they also discuss at what point in time do boys become men who become perpetrators. one of the women has a panic attack during this debate over whether males can join their exodus, which leads to her sister accusing this behavior of being attention seeking. the woman explains that the gaslighting making her disbelieve her own self is personally the worst part for her to wrestle with from the trauma. i appreciate the decision made by director sarah polley to purposefully not show any of the men's faces. any scenes that film review | bates 3 california sociology forum vol. 5 include the perpetrators and enabling adult males of the colony are framed in ways that leave the men undistinguishable. the women and their passion are the main focus here. however, one of the other qualms i had with the film was trouble keeping track of who everyone was until about halfway through. the majority of the screentime is focused on eight women from two households. it was confusing figuring out the relationships between the two elder matriarchs, the four middle aged women, and the two teenagers. the movie also includes a transgendered character: melvin played by nonbinary actor august winter. the narrator explains it was later on that melvin reveals it was not the sexual assault that "turned" him into a man, but that this led to undeniable proof that he had never felt like a woman. after being impregnated (possibly by their own brother) and suffering a miscarriage of the baby due to malformations, the trauma leads melvin to refuse to speak with anyone but the children. this bond with the children gave melvin the role of watching over them while the women figure things out. unfortunately, melvin is deadnamed multiple times. near the end of the film, one of the matriarch elders finally calls melvin by his chosen name and he speaks to her, thanking her for saying his name. as much as i disliked the constant deadnaming, this moment seemed to be a way to show how community accepting and honoring a person's chosen name that aligns with their gender identity is important. women talking certainly tackles a heavy topic with rage and righteous indignation. we do not get to see the group settled post-departure. though i prefer explicit closure, having one of the teenaged girls as the narrator for this film adaptation helps it feel like this ending is one of hope. the story overall is empowering and i highly recommend watching it. however, if any of the content warnings below are of personal concern, make sure to be in the right head space to experience. as a woman who was raised under fundamentalism (though not in a colony), i personally had an intense watching experience. women talking is a passionate and raw depiction of women advocating for safety and body autonomy while also recoiling from realizing they have been living in a barely veiled toxic patriarchy. film review | bates 4 california sociology forum vol. 5 content warning: mentions of sexual assault, miscarriage, suicide, deadnaming, domestic violence. blood (but not really gore) is featured throughout the film. while no act of sexual assault is depicted on screen, the whole film revolves around conversations on how to handle the truth of violating sexual assaults and subsequent actions to be taken. references polley, sarah. 2022. women talking. los angeles, ca: orion pictures; plan b entertainment; hear/say productions. reviews | book | gavini 181 california sociology forum vol. 6 book review: just mercy: a true story of the fight for justice by bryan stevenson emely gavini department of sociology california state university, los angeles imagine having to spend 6 years in prison for a crime you did not commit. now imagine being executed on death row for a crime you did not commit. the true story of walter mcmillian and other innocent people of color on death row would infuriate anyone who truly supports justice being served. mcmillian’s lawyer, bryan stevenson, released over 140 wrongfully convicted prisoners on death row. walter’s story in the 2015 book just mercy: a true story of the fight for justice is just a mere glimpse of what bryan stevenson’s time as a lawyer truly entailed. the author, bryan stevenson, is an american lawyer, social justice activist, and law professor at new york university school of law. he is also the founder and executive director of the equal justice initiative. he is not only brilliant for the way he authors the book just mercy, captivating the readers with diligence, but also for how he advocates for the people he represented in court and what the people he represented did for him unknowingly. the author is ingenious for not only serving imprisoned men without being paid a penny by the families but also for spreading the word on the injustices he had to face as a black man himself back in alabama in the late 1980s. publishing his memoir out there was the best decision he could have made to raise awareness about these injustices and the fulfillment of serving justice for the underrepresented and wrongfully convicted. the book has several strengths, beginning with its advocacy for the truth. people often like to turn away from the truth because it can be ugly and horrendous, and no one wants to recognize it so that they can continue living comfortably. however, as we learn from this story, the truth will also save lives, and there is no limit to advocacy when it is the truth. if there is anything to learn about this book, it would be patience and perseverance to find what is right. the criminal justice system at the time of this story failed so many people of color, especially black men. the book just reviews | book | gavini 182 california sociology forum vol. 6 mercy begins with the story of walter mcmillian in 1987 when he was arrested and convicted to death row for murdering an 18-yearold white woman. yet, walter was nowhere near the place of the crime when it occurred. unfortunately, during the time of the crime, black people were afraid to speak up to authorities because of the consequences it would bring to them and their families. instead of fighting the allegations, walter mcmillian knew that his fate was set as it came down to his word vs. a white man’s word. during the time that walter was awaiting his execution, we learned of the injustices that had also been pinned on other people of color just like walter. other innocent men of color who also had just accepted their fate on death row simply because they never had hope to begin with. as a black man himself, bryan stevenson saw himself in his clients. the frustration imposed on him by the judicial system inspired him, even more, to give some sense of hope to the innocent, as well as simply stating the truth and advocating for them since they were poorly represented at the time of their initial conviction. the book proceeds through a series of stories that begin with the author experiencing his first execution of one of his clients, herbert richardson, by electric chair for a crime that he did not commit. in all of stevenson’s best efforts, he could not stop herbert’s execution. stevenson’s experience with herbert made him even more determined to get the resources to help the following clients he represented in the following years. throughout the book, stevenson faces discrimination for the color of his skin, and he faces racism simply for supporting his own race. stevenson’s partner and ally, eva ansley, faces threats as well, especially since she was a white woman collaborating with a black man to get wrongfully convicted felons of color on death row released. she stood by stevenson as a white woman who was also tired of the discrimination she was forced to be surrounded by every day. for the underrepresented black community, it was the entire world against their own words. they are surrounded by corrupt officers who are in it out of loyalty to their corrupted leaders who dictate what to do, or they will kill their families or put them in jail, too. it is people like bryan stevenson who give the world hope in a dark place that seems almost hopeless. stevenson’s equal reviews | book | gavini 183 california sociology forum vol. 6 justice initiative in alabama brought a small amount of reform into an entire country that was corrupt. it, of course, took the help of stevenson’s allies, who made everything possible. advocacy is an especially important theme in this story as stevenson advocates for others who inspire him to learn more about himself. this represents how important it is to stand together to spread the truth. spreading awareness in the original time that the events occurred seemed almost impossible, as people of color were afraid to stand up for themselves, let alone for others. resistance is also a particularly important theme, as stevenson’s resistance to the way the system was functioning saved so many lives. unfortunately, these themes highlight a very dark history that has now led to mass incarceration simply because of prejudices. just mercy is a gripping story – simple, suspenseful, upsetting, and fulfilling all in one. walter’s story moves the audience in a way that makes one question their life choices – even when innocent. that is what corruption can do to a man: change you, make you believe that you are the problem, and belittle you to the point where you are afraid to speak up for what’s right, even if a person’s life is at stake. these real-life events reminded us that racism is an issue that started long ago and is still practiced today. as people try to justify it, it is important to advocate for one another, especially for the truth. the significance behind the story is of extremely high importance as it advocates for justice being served. references stevenson, bryan. 2015. just mercy: a true story of the fight for justice. new york: spiegel & grau. emely gavini mendez (she/her/ella) is a sociology, ma graduate student at cal state la. she attended san bernardino valley college and received four associates degrees: administration of justice, humanities and fine arts, social and behavioral sciences and sociology. she proudly transferred over to cal state la and pursued her b.a. degree in sociology and graduated in less than two years. emely’s final thesis project focuses on family dynamics and how the covid-19 pandemic has affected those dynamics. emely will be graduating with her m.a. degree in sociology during may 2024 as a proud published student on the csf editorial board in hopes to continue her passion for writing. book review: just mercy: a true story of the fight for justice by bryan stevenson emely gavini california sociology forum iv california sociology forum student journal contents volume vi fall 2023 spring 2024 letter from the editors .............................................................. vii about the editors ........................................................................ ix research articles technology and culture: how predictive policing harmfully profiles marginalized people groups taryn bates ................................................................. 18 colorism and its effects on self perception marcia b. moran ........................................................ 28 essays ethiopian jewish migrants into israel jasmine gaytan .......................................................... 46 as the days, months, years, and “leap years” of our lives’ turn lami j. glenn ............................................................. 57 theoretical works racial hierarchies globalized: from colonialism to informal empire taryn bates and rubén huerta ................................ 68 theses black college students’ hardship in post-secondary education john eleby ................................................................... 83 california sociology forum v theses (cont.) managing alone: single parenthood and silver linings in the time of covid-19 martha toscano joya ............................................... 106 creative works art land, resistance, and radical care: additional exploration and musings of cover image design milo m. valentine ..................................................... 130 poetry humanity and technology explored through poetry taryn bates ............................................................... 132 estimado padre astrid calderon ........................................................ 137 zines de eso no se habla izabayla ramirez, sarah ramirez, & daniel flores...141 op-eds treepeople: bringing sociology, climate research, and community voices into the same room april d. laird ........................................................... 154 opioid addiction and overdose in america brian benjamin parsons .......................................... 170 california sociology forum vi reviews books the red deal: indigenous action to save our earth by the red nation marie rivera and christopher snyder ................... 176 just mercy: a true story of the fight for justice by bryan stevenson emely gavini ............................................................. 181 film unveiling the shadows: shadows of the vampire by e. elias merhige sammy garcia iii ..................................................... 184 breaking barriers: a critical examination of transgender representation in media through the documentary disclosure by sam feder jessica rivera ............................................................ 188 don’t worry darling by olivia wilde christina mary ramirez .......................................... 191 video game adapted into film to enjoy our cherry pie in community: a commentary on gekijōban dōbutsu no mori by jōji shimura esai santana and lauren whiting .......................... 194 music a haunting sociological masterpiece in the song “left behind” by the plot in you sammy garcia iii ..................................................... 202 table of contents california sociology forum viii about the student editors victor amador (he/him) is an undergraduate senior of sociology at california state university, los angeles. he is graduating with his b.a. in may 2023. his main research focus is on deviant behavior. one thing that drew victor to being on csf is the enjoyment he receives out of reading the submissions of other sociology majors at cal state la. taryn bates (she/her) is a transfer student to cal state la in her junior year, currently pursuing her undergraduate b.a. in the sociology inequalities and diversity track while also participating in the honors college. for 2022-2023, she holds the positions of sociology club treasurer & social media manager, student homie union (shu) treasurer, and the role of managing copy editor for csf. taryn is honored to be a 2023 recipient of the campuswide 21st annual distinguished women awards. she is passionate about the written word – specifically crafting or refining pieces for the best audience engagement – and is grateful to csf for the opportunity to work alongside dedicated faculty and students. sarra benghorbal (she/her) is a cal state la alumni and part-time lecturer in the department of sociology. she also teaches ethnic and gender studies at cerritos college and pasadena city college. sarra received her master's in sociology from cal state la in may 2022, a bachelor’s in sociology in the inequalities & diversity option (summa cum a laude; honors’ college), and a minor in women gender & sexuality studies. sarra is one of the founding student editors in the csf journal relaunch and an engaged member of diversity, equity & inclusion at the college of natural & social sciences. california sociology forum ix madeline “maddie” bourdeau (she/her) is a second-year master’s student with a special interest in labor and the political-economy. she completes her m.a. program at cal state la in may 2023. maddie is passionate about the written word and its ability to communicate the unique perspectives of others. maddie is glad to have served alongside such talented and dedicated peers and faculty members on the editorial board for the csf journal’s revival. darron michael cunanan (he/him) is a graduate student at cal state la pursuing his m.a. in sociology. his research interests include pop culture, asian american studies, and political sociology. on campus, he is involved as a research assistant with leeaf (los angeles economic equity accelerator and fellowship) and as a graduate assistant in the sociology and psychology departments. at csf, darron is the book and film review lead editor and a member of the public relations team. he truly believes in csf’s efforts in showcasing students’ written work and appreciates the opportunity of working alongside the students and faculty of csf who work hard to make it happen. andrea dominguez (she/they) is currently a graduate student who is pursuing her m.a. in sociology. andrea is the public relations leader for csf. additionally, she works as an assistant student engagement coordinator for the center for student involvement at cal state la, along with serving as one of the board of directors for the university student union. her interests in academia include studying phenomena occurring in the world of urban sociology and different sociological pedagogies. andrea hopes that csf will continue to encourage students to submit their works and show the academic world their creativity. california sociology forum x john m. eleby (he/him) is an m.a. student in sociology at cal state la. his research highlights black college students’ experiences in post-secondary education. john is involved in associated student incorporation (asi) as the vice president for academic governance. he developed a quantitative survey to measure how grad students are serviced by cal state la, which the graduate resource center used to improve its visibility. he believes one benefit of joining csf is working with other future sociologists to learn to analyze scholarship, which is a great skill to have for future employment. sammy garcia iii (he/him) is an undergraduate senior at cal state la. he will be graduating in may 2023, receiving his b.a. in sociology option law and society. he made the dean’s list for sociology twice (fall 2021, spring 2022) and received a sociology award for being part of csf student journal. his research interests are in music and film, and he is proud to have an op-ed on music published in this volume. he has enjoyed being part of the csf editorial team and loved the process of editing and working with his fellow students and faculty. lami j. glenn (he/him) is a senior undergraduate student, majoring in sociology, with a minor in pan african studies at california state university, los angeles, graduating summa cum laude in may 2023. glenn currently holds the position of president for both the sociology club and the student homie union (shu) and is also the senior research assistant for the department of sociology professor dr. robert d. weide. born and raised in south los angeles, with a fervor for social justice, his research seeks to examines people’s sentiments and attitudes towards police brutality against unarmed black americans from the multifarious perspectives rooted in race, class, and gender. california sociology forum xi brittany kalaj margulieux (she/her) is pursuing her b.a. in sociology. her interests lie at the nexus of sound sociological research and effective policymaking. cal state la has provided rich opportunities for growth she serves as dr. dingeman’s qualitative research coordinator, interns for abundant housing la, and serves as outreach coordinator for the campus’ leeaf program. in her capacity as csf undergraduate managing student editor, she has taken pleasure in witnessing the profound and diverse learning that is taking place within the department and is grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such a dedicated and accomplished editorial team. jennifer c. perez (she/her/ella) is a transfer student from rio hondo college. she’s a firstgeneration college student and an ab540 student, daca recipient. she will be graduating with her b.a. in sociology with an emphasis in law and society this spring. she’s vice-president of surge which advocates for undocumented students on campus. she’s also an intern with project rebound and enjoys working with the community. joining csf has been an honor for her, learning from faculty and members has only opened more opportunities for her in her college career. she’s eager to expand her experience and continue to learn from faculty and members. marie rivera (she/her/ella) is a graduate student currently pursuing her thesis in the department of sociology. she has research interests in intersectionality, race and ethnicity, gender, climate justice, and abolition. marie loves working collaboratively with other students and faculty on research projects, theoretical literary works, and organizing with her abolition study action people’s (asap) collective. she is honored to work alongside amazing faculty and students in csf and is thankful for the opportunity to grow as a writer and student. marie acted as graduate managing editor for csf in spring 2023. california sociology forum xii about the faculty editors luoman bao is an associate professor in sociology whose primary research interests include family dynamics, population aging and health, and quantitative methods. her work has been published in various venues, including journal of gerontology: social sciences, journal of health and social behavior, and research on aging. dr. bao served as the editorin-chief of csf in fall 2022. she loves working with students in classrooms and on projects. she is passionate about facilitating students to grow and achieve their full potential. katie dingeman is an associate professor in sociology with research interests around migrant rights, reproductive justice, social ecology, and qualitative methods. she has published in a variety of venues, including social problems, feminist criminology, and the journal on migration and human security. she loves facilitating student-led projects and enjoys growing as a teacher, scholar, and advocate alongside her students. dr. dingeman was editor-in-chief of csf in spring 2023. gilbert garcia is a lecturer in sociology at california state university, los angeles and associate faculty at riverside city college in riverside, california. he is also on the board of the social science research instructional council for the california state university system. his research and teaching interests are in race and ethnic relations with an emphasis on exploring systemic racism in the u.s. he also explores the connection of media and technology as socializing forces in the development of individuals. he serves as the it liaison for csf. california sociology forum xiii roseann giarrusso is chair and professor of sociology with research interests in aging and the life-course, family and intergenerational relations, and quantitative research methods. she has over 50 publications including two coauthored books, many peer-reviewed journal articles (e.g., journal of marriage and family; journals of gerontology: social science; journal of family issues; and generations), and numerous chapters in books. she enjoys helping students to realize their academic potential. dr. giarrusso wrote a grant to facilitate the relaunching of csf and served as faculty editor-advisor in fall 2022 and spring 2023. hyojoung kim is a professor of sociology and director of the center for korean american and korean studies in cal state l.a. his main research and teaching areas include political sociology and race and ethnic studies with special emphasis in korean and korean american studies, quantitative research methods and statistics, rational choice, social network analysis and social movements. his research has been published in various internationally acclaimed academic journals, including american sociological review, american journal of sociology, and european sociological review. dr. kim has edited a few books on korean americans and korea. he founded california sociology forum— student online journal of sociology and served as editor-in-chief during 2007~2013. california sociology forum vi letter from the editors dear reader, with great pleasure, we share with you the 5th volume of the california sociology forum, a student-led journal showcasing the depth and breadth of the learning that is being undertaken by students in the department of sociology at cal state l.a. this volume comes after a protracted hiatus since 2010. bringing it into the world required a commitment to the process of learning and dedication to creating a final product that sets a precedent for future editorial boards. together we debated processes and points both big and small. we’ve agreed and disagreed. we reimagined accessibility to academic spaces by collaborating with csu open journals and added a creative works section to recognize the many ways sociologists make society visible. we returned to one another every week: a neat assembly of tiny videos on digital screens; very real windows into our lives and homes. when we finally met in person, we were already months into our endeavor. it was fitting that dr. hyojoung kim, csf's founding faculty editor and director of the center for korean-american and korean studies, hosted our coming together around a traditional barbecue. he shared his culture—the traditional dress he wore for his wedding, how one must always pour a drink for their elders as a sign of respect, and the meaning of eating wraps (or “ssam”) with one bite to enjoy all the flavor and take in the blessing all at once. dr. hyojoung kim introducing csf to kbbq california sociology forum vii dr. kim illustrated the character language for family—eating together under one roof. he explained that in the process of sharing a meal we would forge a family. this felt symbolically parallel to our assembly of tiny videos. in a time of post-pandemic disconnectedness, we have found an academic home and forged an academic family through our csf community. week after week our editorial team came together to participate in simultaneous action—moving toward a singular goal to uplift the scholarship and voices of cal state la students. together, csf helps create what émile durkheim called collective effervescence—a sense of harmony through shared purpose. this reflects dr. kim’s explanation of imbibing in ancient korean culture, allowing the gods to enter the body so people could access a higher plane. we are proud of this volume and the future we envision for csf. within, you will find original and creative works by dedicated student sociologists of cal state la. this collection is a testament to the varied, complex lived experiences and deep curiosity of our campus community. we editors are thankful to all of the authors and feel privileged to have curated these works with the help of thoughtful and devoted faculty editors. we are eager to share it with you. in community, the csf editorial board csf dining at kbbq reviews | book | m. rivera and snyder 176 california sociology forum vol. 6 book review: the red deal: indigenous action to save our earth by the red nation marie rivera and christopher snyder department of sociology california state university, los angeles in the wake of a growing consensus about global warming and the imminent climate crisis, the “green new deal” (gnd) is a catchphrase that has increasingly gained political traction in recent years. defined broadly, gnd proposals call for policies which address climate change while also targeting social and economic efforts like job creation, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy. some critics of gnd proposals claim these efforts do not go far enough. the red nation – a coalition of indigenous and non-indigenous activists, students, academicians, and organizers – is one such group with an alternative and more radical vision for climate change and social justice. in their book the red deal, they set forth a liberatory political vision that calls for an end to capitalism, settler colonialism, and global imperialism. across three major sections, the book argues for the abolition of these systems and the institutions which support them in favor of a vision of society that affirms common life – indigenous and non-indigenous alike – and revitalizes relationships with land and the environment. in the first major section, red nation’s objective is to demonstrate the necessity of eliminating the carceral regimes that support settler colonialism, global imperialism, and global capitalism through divestment and abolition. the interrelated institutions of the carceral system are the military, police, and prisons – or, as they call it, the military-prison industrial complex (mpic). according to the red nation, the mpic is in place, serving to protect the settler ruling class by maintaining control over stolen lands. extensions of this carceral system consist of child protective services, customs and border protection, and customs enforcement. the red nation proposes that these systems of oppression are known for reflecting white supremacy and settler dominance. it is worth noting that the mpic expands to the detention and deportation of immigrant people. the red nation calls for divestment as a strategy to dismantle these reviews | book | m. rivera and snyder 177 california sociology forum vol. 6 systems of state violence that seek to steal people from their lands, place them in cages behind bars, and remove indigenous children from their families and tribes. further, the red nation implies that these racialized systems of incarceration are functioning as intended and cannot be reformed – and, thus, must be abolished. the abolishment of these carceral systems is a key aspect of the red deal. mindful of the broad implications of settler colonialism and capitalism, the red nation aptly identifies other sites of struggle which must be divested from as well. for example, they call for an end to violence in bordertowns. as the red nation posits, “bordertowns emerged from the dispossession, relocation, and ethnic cleansing of indigenous people” (2021:51). these towns – highly populated by indigenous people, yet surveilled and policed as settler-controlled spaces – function as sites of capitalist exploitation of indigenous bodies, land, and labor. these extractive spaces have also been significant sites of violence for indigenous women, trans, and non-binary individuals. the red nation elaborates, “a common form of violence inflicted upon indigenous people is ‘indian rolling’ or the targeted assault, torture, and murder of native people” (2021:53). as such, the red nation asserts a need for the extension and enforcement of treaty rights in these off-reservation sites. furthermore, the red nation calls for an end to us occupation of indigenous lands globally. just as indigenous colonization and genocide of the past (and present) has served as a measure of ensuring us economic and political dominance, contemporary us foreign interventions, wars, and occupations across the globe serve to assure continued capitalist dominance. thus, they assert that movements and campaigns must embrace anti-imperialism as a necessary tenet of change. equally important is their call to abolish nation-state borders. much like global imperialist occupation, they point out that borders serve to segregate, surveil, exploit, criminalize, and overall aid in enforcing the agendas of nation-states – particularly in the global north. in an especially effective example, the red nation refers to the kumeyaay and tohono o’odham nations, whose lands are divided by the us/mexico border, demonstrating how state borders are in direct opposition to indigenous reviews | book | m. rivera and snyder 178 california sociology forum vol. 6 sovereignty and self-determination. they end this chapter of the book by stating, “no one is illegal on stolen ground,” which is perhaps one of the best summations of this contradiction. divestment and abolition of these carceral institutions and arms of the state is only one part of what the authors of the red nation call for. as they argue in the second major section, divested money and resources from these institutions can and should be reinvested into collectively healing our bodies. as the authors (2021:7) tactfully point out, capitalism, imperialism, and settler colonialism have incapacitated indigenous peoples (along with many others outside of the ruling class) ability to develop and thrive according to their own “needs, principles, and values.” furthermore, they point out the united states’ enforcement of global austerity programs, economic sanctions, free trade agreements which favor large corporations in the global north, and the burning of fossil fuel as contributors to the international displacement and forced migration of indigenous peoples. in light of these disparities, they point out a number of possible paths forward. for example, they propose extending citizenship rights to all migrants – especially climate migrants – affected by the fallout of us global imperialism. they also suggest universalizing access to a wide range of resources that fulfill basic human rights. these include free, sustainable, and accessible housing, education, healthcare, and transportation/infrastructure. they also stress the need for access to healthy and sustainable food. under a capitalist system, food is a commodity, which further drives class inequalities. for indigenous peoples, this has in part translated to an inability to grow their own food and left them with dependence on processed junk foods. here, they suggest building food sovereignty movements which reestablish relationships with the land, collective efforts such as cooperative gardens and seed banks, and community organizations to feed people. these recommendations call for and encourage self-determination, collectivity over commodification, and access to resources that benefit all. in the final section, the red nation makes the case for reinvesting in our common future to heal the planet. the red nation argues that healing the planet is not possible without indigenous liberation and decolonization of our atmosphere. the reviews | book | m. rivera and snyder 179 california sociology forum vol. 6 future of our ecosystem is dependent on the transition from exploitative extraction or, in better words, extractive capitalism to renewable extraction led by indigenous people creating clean, sustainable energy. the extraction of minerals for lithium-ion batteries, which power solar panel systems and sustain renewable energy, may be viewed as a form of renewable extraction. the red nation emphasizes this transition cannot be led by anyone other than indigenous peoples because they are not profit-driven and are not motivated by green capitalism; they are simply attempting to rekindle their relationship with the land, which they consider a relative. therefore, indigenous people demand mass land return so they can begin the cleansing of the earth. this follows with a call to decriminalize all water protectors and land defenders. as part of the process of transitioning to renewable extraction, the red nation acknowledges the need to pay reparations to those the us has exploited in the past. we must consider that the us has created the most carbon gas emissions in the world and thus owes what the red nation refers to as a “climate debt.” land, water, and air restoration – polluted and poisoned by capitalist endeavors – will take years to restore. with indigenous peoples leading this restoration through mass land return, the red nation proposes reliance on hydroponics and aquaponics for subsistence. this ultimately means that food will be grown indoors, without groundwater, and not in soil while the lands are being restored. biodiversity thrives in areas where indigenous people are free to caretake land. humans are not separate from the earth; the red nation believes we are all interdependent and related. who better to restore our ecosystem than its relatives who view the earth as sacred? the red nation’s call to action is a call to all of humanity – not just indigenous peoples. according to their ideology, every human on this earth is a relative and should act accordingly. this call depends on an anti-capitalistic, anti-imperialistic, and decolonial transition that would ultimately benefit our ecosystem. references to this transition include abolishing borders, carceral systems, and their extensions, providing universalized access to resources, paying reparations and climate debts to those countries of the global north exploits, and mass land return so that indigenous people can begin the restoration of the earth. as a call reviews | book | m. rivera and snyder 180 california sociology forum vol. 6 to action, the red deal is incredibly comprehensive and covers numerous dimensions and sites of struggle. whether a scholar, activist, policy maker, or simply interested in changing the world for the better, we highly recommend this book. although the incredible breadth of the book can occasionally make disseminating information difficult, it is incredibly inclusive as it calls for action from all of those who inhabit the earth. despite its shortcomings, this book serves as a vital warning and reminder that “it’s decolonization or extinction” (the red nation 2021:7). references the red nation. 2021. the red nation. brooklyn, new york. common notions press. marie rivera (she/her/ella) is a graduate student pursuing her m.a. in sociology. her research interests consist of intersectionality, gender and sexuality studies, race and ethnicity, abolition, and climate justice. marie currently holds the position of vice president of the soc club. she is also a research assistant to several faculty members in the department of sociology. she is passionate about organizing with her abolition study action people’s (asap) collective and educating students on abolition as a teaching assistant. she has a strong enthusiasm for the written word and its capacity to convey the distinctive thoughts of others. she is grateful for the opportunity to work on such an amazing, dedicated editorial team and admires the journal’s ability to display the work of students. marie acted as graduate managing editor for csf in the spring of 2023 and publication co-managing editor in the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024. christopher snyder (he/him) is a csula alumni who graduated with a master’s in sociology in may of 2023. his research interests include race and ethnicity, inequality, climate justice, surveillance capitalism, and abolition of the carceral state. at csula, christopher served as the 20192020 vice president for the sociology club. currently, he is a member and organizer in the abolition study action people’s (asap) collective. christopher thanks and is grateful to csf for this publishing opportunity. book review: the red deal: indigenous action to save our earth by the red nation marie rivera and christopher snyder california sociology forum vii letter from the editors dear reader, we are pleased to present the latest publication of the studentrun csf journal, featuring a range of works created by cal state la’s department of sociology students (and even a few of their peers from other departments as co-authors). volume 6 continues our goal to expand beyond traditional texts and provide students the opportunity to exhibit creative pieces. several discussions and panels were held with the goal of encouraging student contributions to the journal. the formal structure of these lectures served to illustrate the advantages of being a peerreviewed author as well as the process of becoming published. similarly to csf’s last volume, csf’s founder dr. hyojoung kim (and director of the center for korean american and korean studies) presented csf with korean barbecue in three stages. stage 1 was composed of typical cuts of kbbq meats, stage 2 was a korean bulgogi specialty not commonly offered in southern california. dr. kim expressed the significance of the bulgogi’s unique preparation on a special grill allowing it to cook in a soup typically eaten over steamed rice; something he grew up eating on special occasions as a child. stage 3 was a serving of cold noodles meant to cleanse the palate of all the protein digested. a collage of photos showcasing the multiple stages of kbbq experiencing this food and learning the meaning behind the preparations together contributed to the fostering of community, in this moment we were family. this sense of community felt symbolically relevant to the experiences csf members were having outside of the journal. california sociology forum viii the fall 2023 semester was filled with calls to justice. the first movement was from students against tuition hikes organizing a walkout across all the csu’s. then the genocide in gaza demanded attention, with students and faculty alike rallying to offer programs and protests in support of solidarity to #freepalestine. the transition into the start of the spring 2024 semester was eventful, as classes were delayed due to multiple unions striking for contract negotiations. students and faculty alike were utilizing their agency as community members in the csu, bargaining for better conditions for all. such organizing and acts of resistance against greed and the corporatized university set the tone not only for the semester but for the csf board as a whole. consistent with the spirit of solidarity, the 9th annual social theory conference, hosted by the department of sociology, picked the theme of “conflict, ideology, and critical humanitarianism.” half a day was devoted to “social justice” – allowing labor and union organizers to sit on a panel followed by a mixer enacted to teach the students agency and how to advocate for themselves. as volume 6’s completion progressed, themes of resistance began to emerge organically from the submissions. we as a board followed our authors’ lead with fluidity, reinforcing the decision to not produce a normative sociology journal. we encouraged the spirit of imagination to roam free in our journal and pivoted away from the standard formatted journals common to academia. the work in this journal, although untraditional, is impactful and depicts how knowledge can be produced through art and community. the varied expressions of the sociological imagination reflect csf’s platform to assist in the decolonization of students’ minds and challenge the heteronormative, patriarchal, ableist, white supremacist institution. we are thrilled with this volume and look forward to what csf has ahead of it. in solidarity, the csf editorial board description of "union" as seen on the 3rd floor of the csula u-su letter from the editors reviews | music | garcia 202 california sociology forum vol. 6 music review: a haunting sociological masterpiece in the song “left behind” by the plot in you sammy garcia iii department of sociology california state university, los angeles music has always been a powerful medium for artists to explore and express sociological themes. the plot in you’s single “left behind” is a testament to this, as it explores profound sociological aspects like interpersonal relationships, abandonment, and emotional resilience. the plot in you is a metalcore band formed in hancock county, ohio, in 2010. they have consistently pushed the boundaries of post-hardcore and metalcore genres; their 2023 single release, “left behind,” is no exception. with its emotionally charged lyrics, relentless instrumentals, and haunting atmosphere, the song tackles moving on from a toxic relationship, abandonment, loss, and betrayal and having the strength to leave it all behind and move forward. in this song review, we embark on a sociological exploration of how “left behind” resonates with the complex dynamics of marriage and human relationships. from the impact of time to the nuances of power dynamics, this song encapsulates the multifaceted nature of human experience within the context of intimate connections. as we embark on this exploration, we navigate the haunting melodies and introspective lyrics, shedding light on emotional labor, the looking-glass self, and the temporal dimension intricately woven into the fabric of this musical masterpiece. embedded within the emotional tapestry of “left behind” are the concepts of emotional labor and the looking-glass self. the singer’s introspective journey reflects the emotional labor involved in maintaining a relationship—navigating desires, sacrifices, and the weight of societal expectations. the concept of emotional labor (betterup 2021) refers to when a person is responsible for managing their own feelings and the feelings of others. in the song, the singer’s struggle to make the other person care can be identified as a form of emotional labor. although they are investing emotional effort into the relationship, it appears to be one-sided. in other words, he is giving his all in this, but it isn’t reciprocated. in contemporary society, many individuals find reviews | music | garcia 203 california sociology forum vol. 6 themselves performing emotional labor, often in the pursuit of maintaining relationships that may not be mutually beneficial. this unequal distribution of emotional labor can lead to feelings of frustration and exhaustion, mirroring the sentiments expressed in the song. according to theprp website (2023), guitarist and vocalist landon tewers commented on the release of their single and discussed the motivation for it, saying, “‘left behind” was inspired by old nostalgic bands and artists i grew up listening to. i wanted to make something as a tribute to that sound and hopefully elevate it. it’s a song about gaining back confidence and hope after cutting off a person that was draining and moving forward with a fresh perspective.” both musically and lyrically, you can detect those inspirations; similar to the bands he grew up listening to, their songs were so raw, visceral, and emotionally charged that they resonated with teenagers. tewers is also doing the same thing but with a metalcore twist. the looking-glass self, a sociological theory by charles horton cooley, is manifested as the singer gazes upon the self through the perceived judgments of the other. lines such as “craving me was useless, all excuses drained” capture the emotional labor of yearning within a relationship. the drained excuses signify not just personal exhaustion but also the societal pressures to justify one’s desires, echoing the looking-glass self, where individuals shape their self-concept based on imagined judgments from society. the haunting opening lines thrust the listener into the temporal dimension: “time has hit you different, but i don’t think you’ve changed.” the interplay of time and personal evolution takes center stage, introducing a sociological perspective transcending individual experiences. in sociological terms, the temporal dimension refers to the dynamic nature of relationships over time. in the context of “left behind,” the temporal dimension becomes a canvas on which the singer paints the evolving landscape of a relationship. the notion that time hits each person differently becomes a collective reflection on the temporal ebb and flow that shapes the sociological landscape of marriage. the singer’s observation that “i don’t think you’ve changed” introduces a sociological lens through which we view personal growth within the confines of matrimony. this observation reviews | music | garcia 204 california sociology forum vol. 6 prompts contemplation on societal expectations surrounding change in relationships. as the lyrics progress, the exploration of sacrifice unveils a sociological theme deeply embedded in the institution of marriage. “craving me was useless” speaks to societal expectations of fulfillment within relationships. the concept of drained excuses suggests emotional exhaustion, pointing to the societal pressure to justify one’s desires within the context of marriage. “all the sacrifice had robbed me of my time” introduces a poignant sociological exploration of societal pressures to make sacrifices within marriage. while sacrifice is often praised, the line suggests that certain sacrifices celebrated by society may erode the essence of self over time. this resonates with broader sociological discussions on the expectations and consequences of sacrifices within the context of marriage. the narrative takes a sociological turn, addressing power dynamics within relationships: “you’d keep me down. i know better now. won’t bring me down again.” the acknowledgment of being kept down suggests societal imbalances within marriages. the singer’s declaration of knowing better now becomes a sociological proclamation of empowerment, reflecting the collective understanding of the sociological evolution of personal strength in the framework of marriage. the refusal to be brought down again signifies a sociological shift in power dynamics—an emancipation from oppressive forces within marriages. the singer’s voice becomes a resonant vessel, carrying the collective narrative of those who have overcome societal imbalances in the context of marital connections. the acknowledgment of keeping secrets and knowing one’s biggest errors introduces a sociological investigation of intimacya fundamental component of marriage. “i still keep your secrets, know your worst mistakes” portrays the singer as a repository of shared vulnerabilities, reflecting the societal norm of emotional intimacy within marital relationships. this complexity is further emphasized by the notion of playing into weakness, offering a sociological commentary on the power dynamics that can erode individual strength within the context of marriage. the stripping away of strength becomes a poignant observation of the societal pressures and vulnerabilities that may compromise one’s reviews | music | garcia 205 california sociology forum vol. 6 resilience within marital connections. the singer’s voice becomes an auditory canvas, portraying the nuanced interplay of societal expectations and personal weaknesses within the context of marriage. as the lyrics draw to a close, the temporal theme resurfaces, reflecting on emotional transformation within the context of marriage: “time has hit me different, i don’t feel the same. know i feel this distance, but i don’t share the pain.” the singer’s voice becomes a sonic vessel for nuanced emotions— time hitting differently, a sense of emotional detachment, and an unshared pain within the broader societal framework of postmarital dynamics. the intentional repetition of “i left behind” serves as a sonic bookend, bringing the narrative full circle. the singer’s voice becomes a sonic thread, weaving together the temporal, emotional, and sociological elements. the unshared pain becomes a sociological exploration of how societal expectations and norms shape the aftermath of marital relationships. “left behind” by the plot in you emerges as a profound sociological commentary on marriage and relationships. through its evocative lyrics, the song navigates the temporal, sacrificial, and power dynamics inherent in intimate connections. it unveils the complexities of societal expectations, vulnerability, and emotional transformation within the context of marriage. as the song unfolds, it invites listeners to reflect on the shared sociological experiences embedded in the intricate dance of human relationships. in a society where marriage is often idealized, “left behind” disrupts the narrative, shedding light on the societal pressures and complexities that individuals face within the confines of matrimony. the lyrics become a mirror reflecting the collective challenges and triumphs within the broader sociological framework of intimate connections. as we delve into the haunting melodies and introspective lyrics, “left behind” stands as a testament to the power of music to articulate, resonate, and dissect the profound sociological intricacies woven into the fabric of human relationships. the plot in you has a discography that often explores complex emotions, relationships, and personal struggles. reviews | music | garcia 206 california sociology forum vol. 6 if you enjoyed the themes in “left behind” and are looking for other songs that delve into similar issues, here are a few recommendations from the plot in you’s repertoire! from their 2018 album dispose: with themes of self-destruction and the toll of toxic relationships, “disposable fix” provides a raw and unfiltered exploration of personal struggles and emotional turmoil. “rigged” addresses themes of manipulation and deceit in relationships. it explores the realization of being deceived and the emotional aftermath that follows. “feel nothing” explores themes of emotional detachment and numbness, offering a deep dive into the complexities of feeling nothing in the face of tumultuous relationships. while more musically upbeat, “not just breathing” explores themes of liberation and self-discovery. it touches on breaking free from the constraints of a suffocating relationship and reclaiming one’s identity. from their 2015 album happiness in self destruction: a raw and intense track, “dear old friend” delves into the darker aspects of personal relationships, addressing betrayal and the emotional toll it takes on individuals. the lyrics of “my old ways” delve into the struggle of breaking free from destructive habits and patterns in relationships. it reflects on personal growth and the challenges of leaving behind harmful behaviors. “better vibes” reflects on the aftermath of a toxic relationship and the pursuit of better days. it explores the idea of moving forward and finding solace in a more positive mindset. stand-alone single: “crows” touches on the aftermath of a failed relationship and the emotional scars that linger. it delves into the haunting aspects of memories and the impact of past connections. references cooks-campbell, allaya. 2021. “emotional labor.” betterup blog. november 9, 2021. https://www.betterup.com/blog/emotional-labor nickerson, c. (2022, november 3). looking-glass self: theory, definition & examples. simply psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/charles-cooleyslooking-glass-self.html theprp. 2023. “the plot in you debut video for ‘left behind’, announce tour with holding absence, thornhill & more.” theprp. february 8, 2023. https://www.theprp.com/2023/02/08/news/the-plot-in-you-debut-video-forleft-behind-announce-tour-with-holding-absence-thornhill-more/ https://www.theprp.com/2023/02/08/news/the-plot-in-you-debut-video-for-left-behind-announce-tour-with-holding-absence-thornhill-more/ https://www.theprp.com/2023/02/08/news/the-plot-in-you-debut-video-for-left-behind-announce-tour-with-holding-absence-thornhill-more/ creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 141 california sociology forum vol. 6 de eso no se habla izabayla ramirez, sarah ramirez, & daniel flores department of sociology; department of english california state university, los angeles creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 142 california sociology forum vol. 6 creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 143 california sociology forum vol. 6 creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 144 california sociology forum vol. 6 creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 145 california sociology forum vol. 6 creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 146 california sociology forum vol. 6 creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 147 california sociology forum vol. 6 creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 148 california sociology forum vol. 6 creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 149 california sociology forum vol. 6 creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 150 california sociology forum vol. 6 creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 151 california sociology forum vol. 6 creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 152 california sociology forum vol. 6 creative works | zines | i. ramirez, s. ramirez, & flores 153 california sociology forum vol. 6 de eso no se habla izabayla ramirez, sarah ramirez, and daniel flores research | essays | glenn 57 california sociology forum vol. 6 as the days, months, years, and “leap years” of our lives’ turn lami j. glenn department of sociology california state university, los angeles abstract this analysis provides a nuanced understanding of how the calendar serves not only as a temporal reference but also as a tool that structures and influences societal and sociological dynamics. beginning with the roman catholic church’s role, i explore the integration and profound early influence of religion into the temporal structure, elucidating how its conceptualization has shaped societal norms and influenced some of humanity’s more important decision-making processes today. the interplay between religious traditions and temporal organization highlights the calendar’s dual function as a practical timekeeping tool and a cultural artifact. the four tetrads by marshall mcluhan integrally offers a lens to analyze how changes in media and communication have influenced our perception and utilization of time as well as the effects of the calendar on contemporary societal issues. i then explore the interconnectedness of media evolution and the transformation of the calendar, emphasizing their reciprocal relationship in shaping societal values and priorities. examining how the calendar dictates the rhythm of our lives, the theme investigates its role in determining the timing of critical events and decision-making processes. to offer a holistic perspective, i also trace the chronological changes in the calendar over the course of time, addressing key historical junctures that contributed to its evolution. from the julian calendars to the gregorian calendar’s introduction, the narrative encompasses the various adaptations and reforms that have shaped the calendar into its present form. research | essays | glenn 58 california sociology forum vol. 6 all media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.” marshall mcluhan introduction today, the calendar undoubtedly influences and dictates every aspect of our lives. the calendar has the sociological abilities to reveal to many of us when we were born, what day(s) of the week we go to work and/or school, what day of the year easter will be observed, our college graduation date, and other information that we, ourselves, may personalize on the calendar and hold dear to us. instances such as when my next doctor’s appointment will be, being informed of the day my parking ticket is due, my nephew’s impending court date, and the ten-year anniversary of my mentor passing away, amongst other dates and events that the calendar enables us to keep track of. it is limitless to imagine the various ways and dictation that the calendar has on our lives in society on a daily basis. the communication medium, which in this case is the calendar, is an example of what communication theorist marshall mcluhan (2007:129) theorized when he studied extensively on the communications medium effect on a society’s culture; “the medium is the message”. culture is generally a derivative of a technological change rather than any independent factor. mcluhan contends that media is an extension of self; meaning that technologies have the ability to change how humans think, feel, act, and even how a person perceives and processes information. mcluhan is famously known for saying, “we shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us” (2007:128). this is clearly evident as we look to apply mcluhan’s tetrad to the calendar. the calendar reconfigures thought and knowledge through mcluhan’s four laws of media, leading to the enhancement of time, the obsolescence and retrieval of astronomy and the reversal to chaos. his theory is significant both culturally and religiously as practiced here in the united states today. in applying the “laws of media” that mcluhan has developed, we then can commence to explore the sociological relationship between the causes and effects of media, which in itself is an interdisciplinary topic of great extension. to better understand the origins of its history, this has to be researched to be best contextualized. i will then critically examine how the four research | essays | glenn 59 california sociology forum vol. 6 effects of enhancement, obsolescence, retrieval, and reversal are utilized in correlation with the calendar. furthermore, the uses of the effects apply today in numerous sociological ways, including some of the manners in which the calendar can be applied to one’s personal life, such the ways as a culture the calendar can specify how we go about our days by celebrating holidays or mourning the death of beloved artists and such. throughout the phases of the year, we are societally informed by the calendar. history of calendars the gregorian calendar, also known popularly as the western or christian calendar was first introduced in 1582. however, it took more than 300 years for most countries to switch to the gregorian calendar. this calendar was introduced by pope gregory xiii – and was subsequently named after him. prior to this becoming the most commonly used calendar, the julian calendar, named after julius caesar, was the calendar of use dating back as far as 45 b.c. among the causes of concern for adopting a new calendar was, for one, the julian calendar system miscalculated the length of the solar year by 11 minutes. as a result, this calendar fell out of sync with the seasons. another reason, and the most important cause for concern with the julian calendar, was the roman catholic church’s issue with the observance of easter. it was traditionally observed on march 21, but was falling further away from the spring equinox with each passing year (cohen 2018). in addition, the julian calendar didn’t properly reflect the actual time it takes the earth to orbit once around the sun, known as tropical year. the julian calendar also produced a leap year every four years, which is by all accounts too many. according to the history channel, the julian calendar included an extra day in february every four years. but aloysus lilius, the italian scientist who developed the system pope gregory would unveil in 1582, realized that the addition of so many days made the calendar slightly too long. he devised a variation that adds leap days in years divisible by four, unless the year is also divisible by 100. if the year is also divisible by 400, a leap day is added regardless. research | essays | glenn 60 california sociology forum vol. 6 while this formula may sound confusing, it did resolve the lag created by caesar’s earlier scheme—almost. (cohen 2018) figure 1 “leap year flowchart” (ongytenes 2015). the gregorian calendar was found to use a much more accurate rule for calculating leap years. in the correction of these inadequacies and in order get the calendar system back in sync with the astronomical events like that of the vernal equinox or the winter solstice, eleven days would have to be dropped from the calendar. imagine that – days the people had become accustomed to were instantly eradicated. meanwhile here in the american colonies in the eighteenth century, benjamin franklin would write to his delight in the welcoming of this change when he expresses, “it is pleasant for an old man to be able to go to bed on september 2, and not have to get up until september 14” (cohen 2018). the papal bull inter-gravissimas, issued by pope gregory xiii in 1582, decreed that ten days would be dropped when shifting to the gregorian calendar. it was believed that the later the interchange occurred, the more days that would have to be omitted. at the time of the transition, a shorter month of 18 days, and odd dates like february 30 would occur (webexhibits.org 2008). prominent research | essays | glenn 61 california sociology forum vol. 6 catholic countries, including spain, portugal, and italy swiftly adopted the new calendar for their civil affairs. figure 2 “conversion from julian to gregorian dates.” (clavius 2018). other countries and nations originally rejected the calendar in opposition to the roman catholic church. the european protestants, for example, largely rejected the change seeing this as an attempt to silence their movement. the protestants also accused pope gregory xiii of being the “roman anti-christ,” and lamenting that the real purpose of the new calendar was a catholic plot to keep true christians from worshipping on correct days (cohen 2018). it is also important to note that both calendars were based on the connection to the birth and life of jesus christ, which would also draw opposition from non-christians and those who followed other faiths of religion. essentially, the focal point of time is centered on the birth of christ and is arguably the dividing point in time in world history (wellman 2014). the terms, before christ (b.c.) and anno domini (a.d) meaning “in the year of the lord,” are used to label or number the years in the julian and gregorian calendars, which are religiously based. these varying religions such as christianity, islam, catholicism, and hinduism, to name just a few, are all examples that continue to divide families, friends, and in recent cases nations of people (thirty years’ war 2018). historically, protestants and catholics were at war with each other; individuals on both sides killing each other in the name and in defense of their respective faith (kane 1951) it would be plausible to believe because of instances such as this, and other multifarious factors, that many countries now use c.e., research | essays | glenn 62 california sociology forum vol. 6 an acronym for “common era” and b.c.e., which means “before common era;” this is used as an alternative to track years of time in a non-christian manner. mcluhan’s law of media by having an extensive background of the history, and significant knowledge of the calendar, it can be discerned as a transformative medium of technology. mcluhan (2007:128) asserts that tetrads are, “a means of focusing awareness on hidden or unobserved qualities in our culture and technology.” in this way, mcluhan reasons that in reference to the calendar the effects of this media can be viewed in four ways. the tetrad offers us an “exegesis on four levels, showing the logos – structure of each artefact, and giving its four parts as a metaphor or word.” with this model, the calendar can be examined in association to this tetrad. based on the aforementioned information the calendar amplifies time. the calendar is an extension of time, people’s culture, and religious practices. the calendar also manifests days and events in time that are relevant to us. for instance, the gregorian calendar is widely used today and was originally enacted to protect easter from falling further away from the spring equinox with each passing year. in this example, this historic observance is known as the day that jesus christ rose from the dead, according to christian faith. this faith-based connection that exists with this observance is amplified here in the united states in addition to other parts of the world. presently in the united states, easter in many households have become the day that everyone goes to church or mass, get dressed nicely in new suits, dresses and shoes, perform recitals and readings in front of the congregation, and later indulge in an elaborate easter dinner, accompanied with baskets and marshmallow peeps for the children. at least, this was the case in my household. enhancement due to the calendar and other historical and other sociological concepts, a multitude of other events in time would soon be emphasized. in contradistinction to an eastern country like china, where for example, january 1 is recognized as the beginning of a new year of life for all citizens, and western research | essays | glenn 63 california sociology forum vol. 6 countries like the united states and canada recognize christmas as a major holiday and celebration based on the birth of jesus christ. china, on the other hand, does not celebrate christmas as a major holiday as the day is observed casually, with no time off granted for such an affair. for many nations, specifically those that considered a christian or catholic majority, celebrating christmas encompasses activities such as buying gifts or purchasing a christmas tree, with folks full of christmas spirit, kindness, gift-giving, and other gestures that have been made customary. western countries tend to take a significant amount of time aside from work or school to spend time with family, known as a “christmas vacation.” in consonance with this, in the united states, there are historical events that are held dearly in this country to different groups of people. one of the days in american culture that has been amplified over time is dr. martin luther king jr’s birthday, which signifies the honorable and heroic work of his civil rights activism in this country. another day is “mother’s day,” a day reserved as a celebration of all the mothers and an opportunity to acknowledge them. “memorial day” is our nation’s day of paying homage and respects to all those that have lost their lives for this country, like that of the 9/11 attacks, or those in the duty of service to the united states, presumably defending our freedoms from attacks of the likes of isis, the taliban, or rival nations like north korea or russia. there’s also the “fourth of july,” which marks the celebration of the day in time that the united states declared its independence from great britain in 1776. it is also important to contemplate that the calendar enhances how our society traditionally observes it, which in other countries may be an ordinary day. for example, “mother’s day” dictates to many that we must buy lavish flowers and cards for our mother or loved ones who may have children of their own. dr. king jr. day is an observance that warrants all state and government buildings be closed and is usually celebrated with a “kingdom day” parade in most major u.s. cities. the “fourth of july” is conventionally an exciting day of food, fun, family activities, and an extraordinary firework show that can be seen throughout the day, but mostly over the night sky and across the country simultaneously. even on a more personal level, there are examples of amplifications that i can point to in my life. these research | essays | glenn 64 california sociology forum vol. 6 exemplifications include my birthday, which i generally celebrate with family and close friends by going out to dinner and dressing nicely. my parents’ wedding anniversary, which gratifies their years of a loving marriage together. another day of importance was when my son was born on september 19, 2016. this is a day that i’ll never forget, as it marked the beginning of a new life and a better version of me. most recent would be my brother’s release from state prison, which will forever mark the beginning of the newest chapter in the book of our lives. obsolesce the calendar has become the recognized norm in which we track time, days, seasons, and years. earlier practices that were used to do these same things would now become, “the erosion of formerly significant artifact” (2007:129). some of the things that would be pushed to the background would be the use of astronomy for the purposes of studying seasons and intervals of the year. before the calendar, there was a reliance on studying the patterns of the sun and moon to have knowledge of seasons and the time of day it was (hobden). the cycle of the moon’s phases, for example, provided a convenient means of counting days. this methodology would no longer be needed with the calendar now in place. in earlier civilizations, the community also relied on shamans and priests as calendar-keepers to provide accurate predictions for the purposes of initiating economic activities. farming and hunting needed efficient rituals based on an accuracy of the calendar to ensure success. just as the evolution of print would eliminate the use of scribes for hand copying, the calendar would allow for shamans and priest to focus on other duties besides calendar keeping. retrieval another concept that recently has been moved to the periphery is the theory of measuring time according to the birth and life of christ. many countries and people have pushed aside b.c. and a.d. in favor of using b.c.e., which is an acronym for “before common era,” and c.e. which refers to “common era,” as a non-religious or anti-christian means of their description of measuring time, without portraying an allegiance or affinity to research | essays | glenn 65 california sociology forum vol. 6 christianity or any religion for that matter. being that the terms b.c. and a.d. are affixed to christ, there are people who don’t agree or refuse the practice of following a calendar system that is bias to this, thus, justifying why many countries originally stood in opposition to calendar standardization. an example of this would be saudi arabia, an islamic state, that would adopt the gregorian calendar as recent as the end of 2016, over 200 years since its original inception. in saudi arabia’s use of the calendar, the terms b.c. and a.d. are non-existent, and the country’s practices of the gregorian calendar is in regard to it being confirmed as the common era calendar. lastly, the gregorian calendar would cancel out the julian calendar as the “world’s calendar,” whether the transmission over to the more accurate gregorian calendar was immediate or eventual. one of the practices that would reinvent itself and would be used as a basis of academic study would be astronomy. the study of the sun and the moon are no longer relied on as intently for knowing the time of day or year. these studies can be concentrated on the basis of studying the patterns of the sun and moon from a scientific perspective. throughout the calendar, specific days are noted as to inform us of different moon patterns that we can expect to see in the sky. the weather portion of los angeles’ channel 7 news does this as well. the meteorologist typically gives the viewer the seven day forecast for the upcoming week, yet also details the time of the sunrise and sunset for any given day, in addition to listing the different phases of the moon; e.g. this tuesday, we may visibly be able to see a crescent moon, this friday the sun will rise at 5:39am and set at 7:46pm, and this sunday will mark the first day of spring. the study of animal migration and hibernation patterns now centers around the studying of nature and the natural sciences and are no longer needed as a basis of tracking time or seasons. these are a few of the various concepts that were pushed aside that were responsible for the calculation of time, days, and seasons as humanity once knew it. these concepts would resurface with new invigorated purpose and permanence. reversal with the practices and uses that analogize with the calendar, an argument can be legitimately made of the detrimental research | essays | glenn 66 california sociology forum vol. 6 effects that the calendar can have on a person and society. the ideology of abuse and pessimism can make this medium an enemy instead of an ally in some cases. according to mcluhan (2007:128), every innovation has within itself the seeds of its reversal. in the case of the calendar, this technology has the ability to facilitate stress, anxiety, sorrow, or even anger among several other emotions when pushed to its limits. deadlines, court dates, or an impending prison sentence that is scheduled to be enacted can serve as scenarios in which the calendar “flips” against society. it would also be just to say that calendars and its structures and constraints can push people to the limits of not following important dates, events, and engagements that may have been scheduled on one’s calendar in an act of defiance and deviation from the norm. the calendar can serve as a painful reminder of specific days, like when family members have passed away, the day that our professor for statistics will administer their dreaded final exam assignment, and the length of a school year in los angeles county, which may cause parents and students alike the inability to travel freely to vacation in papeete, tahiti or san juan, puerto rico, causing some anger and extreme frustration. in this way, the calendar over-extends itself to a culture of due dates, long awaiting appointments at the dentist’s office, the ennui leading up to a not-so-important staff meeting at work, and the fear of flying on a plane to detroit on a ‘red-eye’ by wednesday morning to protest police brutality and the subsequent civil unrest in the city’s urban communities. these are all realistic scenarios of the calendars being “flipped” against a society and its people. conclusion in the sociological examination and application of marshall mcluhan’s laws of media to the calendar, there are extensive details and research on the calendar and its history to further understand and conceptualize the calendar and its interconnection to mcluhan’s tetrad, and how this tetrad is confirmed and applies to the calendar. the calendar has the components of all four effects: it enhances holidays and religion; it obsolesces the study of moon and sun patterns for timekeeping; it retrieves the study of astronomy and natural sciences; and reverses into deadlines and the sickening anxiety that research | essays | glenn 67 california sociology forum vol. 6 accompanies it. these are some of the numerous concepts that apply in the evolvement of the calendar. in my analysis, i was able to ask the same questions in the same way with all the effects; as a social scientist, i indeed found all the answers that were needed to validate my collected datum. mcluhan (2007:128) is quoted as stating, “human artefacts are human utterances, or outerings, and such they are linguistic and rhetorical entities.” in this way, calendars shape us, and thereafter we have come to shape our calendars. references a&e television networks. (n.d.). thirty years’ war. history.com. https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/thirty-years-war calendars through the ages. 2008. “years & months: history of our calendar.” webexhibits.org/calendars/year-history.html. clavius, christopher. 2018. “conversion from julian to gregorian dates.” the gregorian calendar. https://tyiekaugtr.wixsite.com/september-2018-vol-2/the-gregoriancalendar-part-1 cohen, jennie. 2018. “6 things you may not know about the gregorian calendar.” history.com/news. a&e television networks. hobden, heather. n.d. “time before clocks.” cosmicelk.net/timebeforeclocks.htm kane, john j. “protestant-catholic tensions.” american sociological review, vol. 16, no. 5, 1951, pp. 663–72. jstor, https://doi.org/10.2307/2087360. mcluhan, marshall, and eric mcluhan. 2007. laws of media: the new science. toronto: u of toronto. ongytenes. 2015. “leap year flowchart.” https://www.insightsonindia.com/wpcontent/uploads/2020/02/leap_year_flowchart.png wellman, jack. 2014. “what is the meaning of b.c. and a.d.? when did this originate?” patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier. lami j. glenn (he/him) is a recent summa cum laude graduate of california state university, los angeles, where he received his bachelor’s degree in sociology, with a minor in pan african studies in may 2023. glenn currently serves as an alumnus advisor for csf, the sociology club, and the student homie union (shu) club and is in a leadership role at homeboy industries, a non-profit organization based in the los angeles area committed to social justice & reentry services to the greater county of los angeles community. born and raised in south los angeles, with a fervor for equitable justice, his previous research seeks to examines people’s sentiments and attitudes towards police brutality against unarmed black americans from the multifarious perspectives rooted in race, class, and gender. glenn plans to enroll in graduate school within the next year to extend on this scholarship endeavor. as the days, months, years, and “leap years” of our lives’ turn lami j. glenn physical attractiveness and career success california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) physical attractiveness and career success lisett acevedo department of sociology california state university, los angeles the way an individual feels or see’s themselves physically can affect their overall confidence, self esteem, and can be equated with one’s capabilities in other aspects of life. this study examines how perceptions of one’s image, specifically one’s physical attractiveness, can be viewed as having an influence on how successful an individual believes he/she can be in their career. the study focuses on how an individual feels about his or her physical attractiveness and if they believe it is a career determinant. the findings suggest that individuals have stereotypes about the importance of possessing a specific image for career success. the findings also indicate that there needs to be further research done on how the perception of one’s physical appearance might be perceived as effecting other life opportunities and achievements (such as one’s selfesteem, personal relationships, and leisure pursuit). furthermore, this study’s findings can also exemplify how certain occupational and organizational stereotypes can be reinforced and continued. therefore, the findings show that further analysis on stereotypic role expectations within the workplace need to be conducted. by doing so, the extent to which this is having an effect on potential employees, workplace perceptions, and upward mobility of current employees can be further explored and addressed. introduction 1individuals hold beliefs about their own image and degree of physical attractiveness. these beliefs may encompass physical characteristics such lisett acevedo is a graduate student in the department of sociology. her paper was originally submitted to soc. 410 advanced statistics, taught by dr. hyojoung kim in winter 2011. as one's height, weight, and demographic attributes like gender, race, and age. such beliefs are likely grounded in and reflective of the current cultural and social norms regarding image and attractiveness in a society. beliefs about the importance of image, personal appearance, and physical attractiveness in the workplace may reflect occupational and organizational stereotypes. perceptions of one's own image may influence assessments of attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 68 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) self-esteem and self-efficacy and serve to establish expectancies about the likelihood of success in certain occupations. occupational stereotypes about the importance of image and physical attractiveness for career success in certain occupations may become the basis for image norms. an individual may believe that he or she needs to possess a specific image to work at and be successful in certain occupations, industries, and companies. these beliefs may be likely to arise from one's own experiences, messages from family and friends in the social network, and messages from the media. the goal of this study is to analyze individual’s opinions on the relationship, if any, between physical attractiveness and career success. literature review literature on physical attractiveness and career success includes studies on the effects of personal image on career outcomes. the studies analyze the role that image norms play in the career decisions and upward mobility of current employees. in female managers and quality of working life: the impact of sex-role stereotypes, bartol(1980) explains the impact of sex-role stereotypes on the quality of working life of female managers is assessed by reviewing sex differences literature within a framework of walton's (1974) eight dimensions of quality of working life. the results suggest that sex-role stereotypes are associated with adverse effects on the quality of working life of female managers as compared to male managers. this article suggests that until stereotypic role expectations are questioned and changes are made, an individual is not likely to achieve improvement in the quality of work life. this shows that there is a relationship between physical attractiveness and career success because if one meets the stereotypic role expectations held within the workplace, then he or she will be successful. but if one does not meet said criteria, the chances of upward mobility are likely to be reduced. in dellinger and williams (1997) makeup at work: negotiating appearance rules in the workplace, they seek to understand women's use of makeup in the workplace. they analyze 20 in-depth interviews with a diverse group of women who work in a variety of settings to examine the appearance rules that women confront at work and how these rules reproduce assumptions about sexuality and gender. they found that expectations for wearing makeup do vary by occupation and organization, but in all the cases they studied, makeup connoted heterosexual femininity. in occupations in which makeup use is normative, those who refuse to wear it were typically suspected of being lesbian. women then must negotiate societal standards of beauty with the demands of their particular workplace and occupation. individuals feel that they are often held accountable to heterosexual norms of appearance in interactions with not only others, but in the workplace as well. haskins and ransford (1999) in the relationship between weight and career payoffs among women studied how weight affects women's life chances attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 69 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) for reaching high-status, white-collar jobs. the data was gathered from surveying a large aerospace organization (n = 306). they hypothesized that women who are at or below their desirable weight will have higher incomes and occupational positions than women who are overweight. overweight women are more likely to encounter discrimination because they are more likely to be isolated from informal occupational experiences and contacts that are part of the screening process so important for career mobility. the literature on gender and organizations indicates that women are more isolated and less likely to be placed on the fast track required for promotion (lawrence, 1985; miller et al, 1975). as a result, it is highly plausible that weight adds an additional increment of disadvantage such that overweight women are even more isolated than women as a whole. consequently, overweight women are less likely to be groomed for upward mobility, which can lead physical attractiveness to have an impact on career success. in discrimination, harassment, and the glass ceiling: women executives as change agents, bell, mclaughlin and sequeira (2002) analyze the relationships between discrimination, harassment, and the glass ceiling. they also discuss factors that prevent women from occupying executive and managerial positions. the authors argue that increasing representation of women at executive levels in organizations will have a positive effect on all levels of discrimination and promote gender equality. this can help ensure that organizations base upward mobility on job-related criteria and not on other factors such as image and physical attractiveness. lerum (2004), in sexuality, power, and camaraderie in service work, considers the issues of gender, sexuality, power, and context in light of ethnographic data collected in two service work (waitressing) establishments. within these organizations, many workplace sexualized interactions emerge as facilitating camaraderie and empowerment between workers. the article concludes that the sexual particularities of a workplace should be interpreted as one of its many cultural features, reflective more of its organizational conditions than of a static sexual symbolism. this study demonstrates women's use of sexual banter with their coworkers and how they use their sexual interactions with coworkers in a positive way. research hypothesis this research will examine the effect that perceived physical attractiveness has on career success. i hypothesize that individuals who perceive themselves to be physically attractive tend to consider physical attractiveness as a career determinant where as those individuals who do not consider themselves to be physically attractive may not consider physical attractiveness a determinant. as the degree of an individual’s perception of his or her physical attractiveness increases, the individual's belief in their attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 70 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) ability for a successful career also increases. other research hypotheses: agewould have a positive effect on the belief that physical attractiveness is a major determinant of career success. in the past where society was much more gendered, people tended to evaluate the virtue of women on the basis of their appearances rather than their professional abilities. with a large number of women being incorporated into the american labor force and an increasing number of women escalated into leadership positions, such perceptions changed dramatically. accordingly, it is hypothesized that older individuals are more likely to hold the gendered view of physical attractiveness as determinant of career success than their younger counterparts who tend to hold more merit-based beliefs. racewould have an effect on the belief that physical attractiveness is a major determinant of career success because companies may prefer to hire and retain employees whose image is consistent with their organizational image. individuals may rely on organizational images as one factor in determining their potential fit with a particular company. therefore, it is hypothesized that african americans, hispanics, asians, and those individuals who identify themselves as other racial groups have more career importance of physical attractiveness than whites. genderwould have a negative effect on the belief that physical attractiveness is a major determinant of career success because of perceived gender differences in ratings of skills and abilities may also emerge in selfevaluations of image and attractiveness. educationwould have a positive effect on the belief that physical attractiveness is a major determinant of career success because the higher the education attained (high school, trade school, or university), the more likely qualifications needed for higher positions would be met. political affiliationwould have an effect on the belief that physical attractiveness is a major determinant of career success because organizations may prefer to hire and retain employees whose political affiliation is consistent with theirs. therefore, it is hypothesized that republicans would have less career importance of physical attractiveness than democrats, whereas those individuals who identify themselves as independent and other groups would have more career importance of physical attractiveness than democrats. incomewould have a positive effect on the belief that physical attractiveness is a major determinant of career success because individuals earning higher salaries would be expected to feel more appreciated and recognized in the workplace. the data and survey procedures the subjects selected for the study were individuals in my social network as well as those i have most access to. the sample included 62 family and friends, 149 employees in the attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 71 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) law enforcement field, and 23 students at a state university. due to the time framework and costs of administering the survey in person, through the mail, or over the phone, email was the only feasible option that could generate a large number of respondents in a short period of time and with no expenses. email surveys are relatively easy to complete as respondents simply click on response boxes and click "submit" once they are done. it also allows the respondent to take the survey at any time of day and at his or her convenience. by emailing the survey instead of administering it in person or with phone interviews, it can also elicit more honest responses. the nonprobability sampling method was used. surveys were then emailed to respondents who were chosen based on their availability. the surveys were emailed on friday, november 20. 2009. however, thanksgiving holiday was taking place on thursday, november 26th , and some respondents might not be able to respond until after the holiday. as a result the return date was set for tuesday, december 1, 2009 so as to allow adequate time for some individuals who would be away on vacation to reply. given the holiday took place while the survey was administered, it could also cause some respondents to not take part in the survey. in order to increase the response rate, an email reminder was sent on saturday, november 28th , reminding individuals to take the survey as well as thanking them if they had already done so. a total of 234 surveys were emailed out of which a total of 209 were completed and returned before or on the due date for a response rate of 89.3%. due to the confidentiality nature of the survey and the email survey design utilized, no comment on demographic characteristics can be made on the 25 individuals who did not respond. the final sample is not a representative sample because the nonprobability sampling method was used. this could cause generalizability and validity issues because no systematic technique was used to select the respondents and they mostly consisted of a single population from which they were drawn, leading to a biased sample. therefore the sampling error is also higher and the results obtained cannot be generalized to a larger population. given the survey was administered via email and was anonymous, subjects felt less guarded and more comfortable to be honest with their responses. as a result, the survey is least vulnerable to social desirability effect. a focus group totaling five individuals were chosen to pre-test and improve the survey. the individuals chosen are employees in a transportation company. i did a group administered survey of the focus group. the respondents were chosen because of their availability. it took them an average of 15-20 minutes to complete the survey. i briefly interviewed all five respondents to get feedback to improve and revise the survey. overall, they felt comfortable with the survey, understood the survey instructions, questions, wording and response categories. they helped me by pointing out that a few attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 72 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) questions were not phrased correctly. i needed to filter out the questions that would illicit the information needed, and get rid of the ones that were repetitive or did not pertain to the topic of study. i also needed to put the questions in order so as to make the questions flow from one topic to the other and not jump from one topic to the next and back and forth. the phrasing was also unclear and that could bring about leading questions. i had to revise the terminology used in a question in order to not cause an effect on the responses i would get. some questions were also getting off topic as to bringing about information that was not relative to testing my hypothesis. i needed to be more specific and detailed. the questions needed to be neutral and more direct. by doing so i think the quality of the information gathered for analysis is better. measurement of variables career importance of physical attractiveness (dv)the belief that physical attractiveness is a major determinant of greater occupational potential and/or opportunities in different jobs, companies, and fields. this variable will be measured in terms of absolute v. relative assessment: absolute career importance of physical attractiveness and relative career importance of physical attractiveness. absolute career importance of physical attractiveness-to measure this variable, respondents are asked to indicate their level of agreement using a 6-point lickert scale of “strongly disagree”, “disagree”, “somewhat disagree”, “somewhat agree”, “agree”, and “strongly agree”, for the following statement: physical appearance is important for a career. relative career importance of physical attractivenessto measure this variable, respondents are asked to rank in order of importance each of the following seven factors that in their opinion is most important in determining one’s career success: age gender race education human capital (such as skills, knowledge) social capital (such as friendships, networks) physical appearance (such as attractiveness) physical attractiveness (iv)—is the perception of the physical traits of an individual as aesthetically pleasing, such as body structure, social skills, dress attire, and use of make-up. to measure this variable, respondents are asked: in your personal opinion, how much more physically attractive do you think you are compared to other persons? very unattractive, unattractive, somewhat unattractive, somewhat attractive, attractive, very attractive age—the age variable is defined as the chronological age of the individual. respondents are asked the following question: how old are you?___years old race—the race variable is defined as the categorization of humans into populations or groups on the basis of various sets of heritable characteristics. conceptions of race, as well as specific ways of grouping races vary by culture and over time. some physical features attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 73 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) commonly seen as indicating race are salient visual traits such as skin color, facial features, and hair texture. to measure respondent’s race, this study uses gss variable race. this variable has the following response categories: white, african american, hispanic/latino, asian, race other. in our analysis, this variable is coded into the following variables: african american (coded 1 if a respondent is african american, 0 otherwise), hispanic/latino (coded 1 if a respondent is hispanic/latino, 0 otherwise), asian (coded 1 if a respondent is asian, 0 otherwise), and race other (coded 1 if a respondent is race other, 0 otherwise). the white variable is used as the reference category. gender—refers to the set of characteristics that humans perceive as distinguishing between male and female entities, extending from one's biological sex to one's social role or gender identity. respondents are asked: please indicate whether you are: (1) male or (2) female education—the education variable is defined as the years of education attained, such as completion of high school, a trade school, or a university with a bachelor’s degree or higher. respondents are asked the following question: which of the following best describes the highest level of education you have received? (1) less than high school graduation, (2) high school graduation, (3) some college, (4) university with a bachelor’s degree, (5) graduate degree or higher. political affiliation—is defined as the political party an individual chooses to identify with. this variable has the following response categories: republican, democrat, independent, green party, don’t know, other. in our analysis, this variable is coded into the following three dichotomous variables: republican (coded 1 if respondent is republican, 0 otherwise), independent (coded 1 if respondent is independent, 0 otherwise), and other (coded 1 if respondent is other, 0 otherwise). the democrat variable is used as the reference category. income—is defined as the monetary sum of all the wages, payments, and other forms of earnings received in a given period of time for their work. respondents are asked the following question: which of the following best describes your annual income last year? (1) less than $20,000; (2) $20,000 – $40,000; (3) $40,000 – $60,000; (4) $60,000 – $80,000; (5) $80,000 – $100,000; (6) $100,000 or more findings respondents’ characteristics respondents consisted of 53.1% females and 46.9% males. the majority of them (50.7%) were hispanic, followed by whites (19.1%), african american (19.1%), asian (7.7%), and other (3.3%). the majority of them (43.5%) had some college education and 24.4% have graduated from a university with a bachelors degree. these two groups consisted of 67.9% of all respondents. twenty-seven percent of them reported an annual income of $60,000-$80,000 for the previous year followed by 23.9% reporting $20,000-$40,000. these two groups represented 51% of all respondents. given the findings, we can attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 74 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) presume that most of the respondents were employed as recent as last year, if not currently employed. univariate summary statistics table 1 shows a mean of 4.86 and a standard deviation of 1.20 for measuring absolute career importance of physical attractiveness. as figure 1 illustrates, the majority of respondents (83) expressed they “strongly agree”, 54 respondents expressed they “agree”, and 46 respondents expressed they “somewhat agree” that physical appearance of an employee is important for a career. these three groups represent 87.5% of all respondents. only 11.9% of respondents expressed any type of disagreement. these findings reflect a relatively overall high degree of career importance of physical attractiveness. with these findings, we can presume that some individuals may have stereotypes about the importance of possessing a specific image for career success. a somewhat different picture emerges when we measured respondent’s opinion about career importance of physical attractiveness relative to other successful career determinants such as: age, gender, race, education, human capital (such as skills, knowledge), and social capital (such as friendships, networks). table 1 shows a mean of 3.72 and a standard deviation of 1.35 for measuring relative career importance of physical attractiveness. as figure 2 illustrates the majority of respondents (88) identified that physical appearance (such as attractiveness) as fourth most important factor in determining career success. the second largest group of respondents (44) expressed that physical appearance is somewhat important for a career. these two groups represent the largest percentage of the respondents (63.2%). these findings show that while respondents generally consider physical appearance (such as attractiveness) as an important determinant of one’s career, their opinion tends to vary greatly in terms of absolute v. relative assessment. for example, when respondents are asked to indicate their level of agreement with physical appearance of an employee being important for a career, the majority of respondents (83) expressed they “strongly agree”, as figure 1 illustrates. that is when evaluating only the importance of physical appearance and its importance for a career (absolute assessment), it was viewed as very important by the majority of respondents. however, when respondents are asked to rank in order of importance the factors that determine one’s career success, such as: age, gender, race, education, human capital (such as skills, knowledge), and social capital (such as friendships, networks), and physical appearance (such as attractiveness), physical appearance was then viewed by respondents as fourth most important factor in career importance not first (relative assessment). table 1 reports the univariate distribution of the respondents on each of the variables used in the analysis. table 1 shows a mean of 4.47 and a standard deviation of 0.72 for measuring physical attractiveness. as figure 3 attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 75 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) illustrates, the majority of respondents (108) expressed “somewhat attractive”, 73 respondents expressed “attractive” and 18 respondents expressed “very attractive” when they compared themselves with other persons. these three groups represent 95.2% of all respondents. only 4.8% of respondents (10) expressed themselves to believe to be “somewhat unattractive” as compared to other persons. these findings reflect a relatively overall high level of physical attractiveness individuals hold about their own image as compared to others. overall, these statistics indicate that the respondents perceive themselves to encompass certain physical characteristics that make them physically attractive that other persons do not have. bivariate pearson’s correlation analysis table 2 reports pearson’s correlation coefficients among the variables. table 2 shows that the effect of self-perceived physical attractiveness on career importance of physical attractiveness varies depending on how the career importance of physical attractiveness is measured. the pearson’s correlation coefficient between absolute career importance of physical attractiveness and physical attractiveness is positive and statistically significant at the 0.01 level. this indicates that individuals who perceive themselves to be physically attractive tend to consider physical attractiveness as a career determinant, if the career importance is measured in an absolute sense. however, if the career importance of physical attractiveness is measured relatively by pitting it against other career determinants, self-perceived physical attractiveness fails to have a statistically significance relationship with the career importance of physical attractiveness(relative). as shown in table 2, the pearson’s correlation coefficient between education and relative career importance of physical attractiveness is negative and statistically significant at the 0.01 level. positive and statistically significant correlations at the 0.05 level were also found between education and physical attractiveness, between hispanics and physical attractiveness, and between individuals whose political party affiliation is independent and physical attractiveness. a negative and statistically significant at the 0.01 level association was also found between age and physical attractiveness. multivariate regression analysis the outcomes of bivariate associations may be spurious due to the effects of other variables that may affect both the dependent variable and the key independent variable simultaneously. better evidence can be found if the effects of these other variables are controlled for. in order to control the effects of other variables on career importance of physical attractiveness, the data is analyzed using multivariate regression techniques. logistic regression analysis for ordinal dependent variables was used since career importance of physical attractiveness is ordinal. as shown in table 3 the nagelkerke r square shows that the model fits the data well, providing attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 76 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) empirical support that the model successfully explains 21% of the variance in absolute career importance of physical attractiveness. in addition, the score test for the parallel regression assumption is statistically insignificant at .05 level. these results indicate we fail to reject the null hypothesis which states that the slope coefficients are the same across categories. table 3 shows the relationship of independent variables and absolute career importance of physical attractiveness (dv). the regression coefficients of gender, age, african american, hispanic, asian, education, income, republican, and independent are all statistically insignificant at 0.05 net of other variables in the model. these findings show that whether the respondent was male or female, their age, racial identification, the years of education attained, their salary, and their political party affiliation have no significant effects on absolute career importance of physical attractiveness (dv). however, for individuals that identified themselves as belonging to the other category of political party affiliation the regression coefficient is negative and statistically significant at 0.01 level net of other variables in the model. the most important finding is the regression coefficient of physical attractiveness that is positive and statistically significant at .01 net of other variables in the model. i hypothesized that physical attractiveness has a positive effect/relationship with absolute career importance of physical attractiveness (dv). the findings support the notion that as the degree of an individual’s perception of his or her physical attractiveness increases, the beliefs in his or her ability for a successful career also increases. for table 4, the nagelkerke r square shows that the model fits the data well, providing empirical support that the model successfully explains 18% of the variance in relative career importance of physical attractiveness. in addition, the score test for the parallel regression assumption for table 4 is statistically insignificant at .05 level. these results indicate we fail to reject the null hypothesis which states that the slope coefficients are the same across categories. table 4 shows the relationship of independent variables and relative career importance of physical attractiveness (dv). the regression coefficients of gender, age, african american, hispanic, asian, income, republican, independent, and other are all statistically insignificant at 0.05 net of other variables in the model. these findings show that whether the respondent was male or female, their age, racial identification, their salary, and their political party affiliation had no significant effect on relative career importance of physical attractiveness (dv). although for the education variable, the regression coefficient is positive and statistically significant at 0.01 level net of other variables in the model. this means that as the level of education attained by the respondent increased, so did their belief in physical attractiveness as a important career determinant. the most important finding is the regression coefficient of physical attractiveness being positive and statistically significant at .01 net of other attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 77 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) variables in the model. i hypothesized that physical attractiveness has a positive effect/relationship with relative career importance of physical attractiveness (dv). these findings also support the hypothesis that individuals who perceive themselves to be physically attractive tend to consider physical attractiveness as a career determinant. conclusion and discussion this study draws on survey data from a sample of 209 respondents to primarily investigate the perceived effect that physical attractiveness has on career success. the majority of the respondents consisted of employees in the law enforcement field and students at a state university. the survey procedures, sampling, and data analysis support the paper’s key research hypothesis that as the degree of an individual’s perception of his or her physical attractiveness increases, the beliefs in his or her ability for a successful career also increases. the reported evidence may have some limitations with generalizability and validity because of the sample composite. for example, based on the diversity of the respondent’s age, race, gender, and income no difference of opinion was found. all these variables had no effect on how they perceived one’s image and degree of physical attractiveness as being an influential career determinant. also, ordinarily one would presume educated individuals would emphasize merit and hard work over physical attractiveness as most important career determinants. however, the analysis above showed otherwise. the more educated the respondent was, the more he/she viewed physical attractiveness as an important career determinant. this might be a result of the majority of respondents belonging to the same occupation cohort. this limitation could be resolved by conducting similar research in a systematic way that ensures a representative sample of the larger population. by doing so, new findings may arise or the findings in this study can be further supported. although it has limitations, this research project presented compelling data on how an individual’s perception of his or her physical attractiveness is viewed as an important career determinant. we live in a youth and beauty fixated culture, and some people may feel that being qualified is not enough anymore. you have to look qualified too. such an emphasis has been placed on making that first impression memorable. when an individual does not get that call back or second interview, that person is left to feel it could have been more because of how you look and what you wore, instead of what you’re qualified to do. one's image has then changed from a part of you to what defines you. overall, whether it’s a new job, a promotion, a larger raise, or a new career path, in today’s extremely competitive business world, people are connecting physical attractiveness with career success. one's image has become not only a part of life, but has become an essential part of career success, and physical attractiveness is seen as either helping or hindering that success. attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 78 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) this study’s findings have significant value to analyze the role that image norms play in the career decisions of employees as well as employers. it also exemplifies how certain occupational and organizational stereotypes are reinforced and continued. therefore the findings above show that further analysis on stereotypic role expectations within the workplace need to be conducted. by doing so, the extent to which this is having an effect on potential employees, workplace perceptions, and upward mobility of current employees can be further explored and addressed. attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 79 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) references bartol, kathryn m. 1980. “female managers and quality of working life: the impact of sex-role stereotypes.” journal of occupational behaviour 1(3): 205-221. (retrieved from jstor on october 7, 2009.) dellinger, kirsten and christine l. williams. 1997. “makeup at work: negotiating appearance rules in the workplace.” gender and society 11(2): 151-177. (retrieved from jstor on october 7, 2009.) haskins, katherine m. and h. edward ransford. 1999. “the relationship between weight and career payoffs among women.” sociological forum 14(2):295-318. (retrieved from jstor on october 7, 2009.) lerum, kari. 2004. “sexuality, power, and camaraderie in service work.” gender and society 18(6): 756-776. (retrieved from jstor on october 7, 2009.) myrtle p. bell, myrtle p. and mary e. mclaughlin and jennifer m. sequeira. 2002. “discrimination, harassment, and the glass ceiling: women executives as change agents.” journal of business ethics 37(1): 65-76. (retrieved from jstor on october 7, 2009.) attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 80 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) appendix 1. complete survey questionnaire consent form: dear participant: you are invited to take part in a research project conducted by lisett acevedo, a graduate student at california state university, los angeles. in this study we hope to learn more about the perceptions individuals hold about the importance of image, personal appearance, and physical attractiveness in the workplace. the survey should only take about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. there are no expected risks, discomforts, or inconveniences if you select to participate in this research project. there are also no expected medical risks in your participation in this research project. reports resulting from this study will not identify you as a participant. all information gathered in this study will remain confidential. if you have any questions about this research at any time, please contact professor dr. hyojoung kim at (323) 343-5768, or by email at hkim@calstatela.edu. q1. please indicate your gender: (1) male (2) female q2. how old are you? _____ years old q3. please indicate your race? (1) white (2) african american (3) hispanic/latino (4) asian (5) other q4. which of the following best describes the highest level of education you have received? attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 81 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) (1) less than high school graduation (2) high school graduation (3) some college (4) university with a bachelor’s degree (5) graduate degree or higher q5. which of the following best describes your annual income last year? (1) less than $20,000 (2) $20,000 – $40,000 (3) $40,000 – $60,000 (4) $60,000 – $80,000 (5) $80,000 – $100,000 (6) $100,000 or more q6. which of the following best describes your political party affiliation? (1) republican (2) democrat (3) independent (4) green party (5) don’t know (6) other, please specify:__________ q7. there are many factors that affect one’s career success such as employment and promotion. in your opinion, which of the following factors are more important in determining one’s career success. please rank them in order of importance with 1 being most important and 7 least important: _____ age _____ gender _____ race _____ education _____ human capital (such as skills, knowledge) _____ social capital (such as friendships, networks) _____ physical appearance (such as attractiveness) q8. please indicate your level of agreement with the following statement: physical appearance of an employee is important for a career. attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 82 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) strongly agree agree somewhat agree somewhat disagree disagree strongly disagree q9. in your personal opinion, how much more physically attractive do you think you are compared to other persons? please indicate one: very attractive attractive somewhat attractive somewhat unattractive unattractive very unattractive attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 83 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) appendix 2: attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 84 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 85 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) a t t r a c t iv e n e ss a n d s u c c e ss b y l is et t a ce ve do 8 6 c a l if o r n ia s o c io l o g y j o u r n a l , 2 01 1, v o l . 3 (i ss u e 1 : 6 791 ) t ab le 1 . su rv ey q ue st io ns a nd d es cr ip ti ve s ta ti st ic s of v ar ia bl es u se d in th e a na ly si s su rv ey q ue st io ns u se d r es po ns e c at eg or ie s f re qu en cy m ea n s. d . a bs ol ut e c ar ee r im po rt an ce o f ph ys ic al a ttr ac tiv en es s pl ea se in di ca te y ou r l ev el o f a gr ee m en t w ith th e fo llo w in g st at em en t: ph ys ic al a pp ea ra nc e of a n em pl oy ee is im po rt an t f or a c ar ee r. 1= st ro ng ly d is ag re e 2= d is ag re e 3= so m ew ha t d is ag re e 4= so m ew ha t a gr ee 5= a gr ee 6= st ro ng ly a gr ee 4. 86 1. 20 r el at iv e c ar ee r im po rt an ce o f ph ys ic al a ttr ac tiv en es s t he re a re m an y fa ct or s th at a ff ec t o ne ’s c ar ee r su cc es s su ch a s em pl oy m en t a nd p ro m ot io n. i n yo ur o pi ni on , w hi ch o f t he fo llo w in g fa ct or s ar e m or e im po rt an t i n de te rm in in g on e’ s ca re er su cc es s. p le as e ra nk th em in o rd er o f i m po rt an ce w ith 1 b ei ng m os t i m po rt an t a nd 7 le as t im po rt an t: r an k o rd er : 1= l ea st im po rt an t 7 =m os t im po rt an t 3. 72 1. 35 ph ys ic al a ttr ac tiv en es s in y ou r o pi ni on , h ow m uc h m or e ph ys ic al ly at tr ac tiv e do y ou th in k yo u ar e co m pa re d to o th er pe rs on s? p le as e in di ca te o ne : 4. 47 0. 72 g en de r pl ea se in di ca te y ou r g en de r: 1 = m al e 2 = fe m al e 98 11 1 (4 6. 9% ) (5 3. 1% ) 1. 53 0. 50 a t t r a c t iv e n e ss a n d s u c c e ss b y l is et t a ce ve do 8 7 c a l if o r n ia s o c io l o g y j o u r n a l , 2 01 1, v o l . 3 (i ss u e 1 : 6 791 ) a ge h ow o ld a re y ou ? 30 .6 8 8. 62 a fr ic an a m er ic an pl ea se in di ca te y ou r r ac e? 0 = n ot a fr ic an a m er ic an 1 = a fr ic an a m er ic an 12 9 40 (6 1. 7% ) ( 19 .1 % ) 0. 23 0. 42 h is pa ni c pl ea se in di ca te y ou r r ac e? 0= n ot h is pa ni c 1= h is pa ni c 63 10 6 (3 0. 1% ) (5 0. 7% ) 0. 62 0. 48 a si an pl ea se in di ca te y ou r r ac e? 0= n ot a si an 1= a si an 15 3 16 (7 3. 2% ) (7 .7 % ) 0. 09 0. 29 o th er pl ea se in di ca te y ou r r ac e? 0= n ot o th er 1= o th er 16 2 7 (7 7. 5% ) (3 .3 % ) e du ca tio n w hi ch o f t he fo llo w in g be st d es cr ib es th e hi gh es t le ve l o f e du ca tio n yo u ha ve re ce iv ed ? 1 = l es s th an h ig h sc ho ol 2 = h ig h sc ho ol g ra du at io n 3 = so m e c ol le ge 4 55 91 (1 .9 % ) (2 6. 3% ) (4 3. 5% ) 3. 01 0. 85 a t t r a c t iv e n e ss a n d s u c c e ss b y l is et t a ce ve do 8 8 c a l if o r n ia s o c io l o g y j o u r n a l , 2 01 1, v o l . 3 (i ss u e 1 : 6 791 ) 4 = u ni ve rs ity w / b ac he lo rs d eg re e 5= g ra du at e d eg re e or h ig he r 51 7 (2 4. 4% ) (3 .3 % ) in co m e w hi ch o f t he fo llo w in g be st d es cr ib es y ou r an nu al in co m e la st y ea r? 1 =l es s th an $ 20 ,0 00 2= $2 0, 00 0$4 0, 00 0 3= $4 0, 00 0$6 0, 00 0 4= $6 0, 00 0$8 0, 00 0 5= $8 0, 00 0$1 00 ,0 00 6= $1 00 ,0 00 o r m or e 33 50 37 57 29 3 (1 5. 8% ) (2 3. 9% ) (1 7. 7% ) (2 7. 3% ) (1 3. 9% ) (1 .4 % ) 3. 04 1. 35 r ep ub lic an w hi ch o f t he fo llo w in g be st d es cr ib es y ou r po lit ic al p ar ty a ff ili at io n? 0= n ot r ep ub lic an 1= r ep ub lic an 14 4 47 (6 8. 9% ) (2 2. 5% ) 0. 24 0. 43 in de pe nd en t w hi ch o f t he fo llo w in g be st d es cr ib es y ou r po lit ic al p ar ty a ff ili at io n? 0= n ot in de pe nd en t 1= in de pe nd en t 17 6 15 (8 4. 2% ) (7 .2 % ) 0. 07 0. 26 o th er w hi ch o f t he fo llo w in g be st d es cr ib es y ou r po lit ic al p ar ty a ff ili at io n? 0= n ot o th er 1= o th er 18 5 6 (8 8. 5% ) (2 .9 % ) 0. 03 0. 17 a t t r a c t iv e n e ss a n d s u c c e ss b y l is et t a ce ve do 8 9 c a l if o r n ia s o c io l o g y j o u r n a l , 2 01 1, v o l . 3 (i ss u e 1 : 6 791 ) t ab le 2 . p ea rs on ’s c or re la ti on c oe ff ic ie nt s of v ar ia bl es u se d in th e a na ly si s 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 1. a bs ol ut e c ar ee r i m po rt an ce o f p hy si ca l a ttr ac tiv en es s .3 04 ** .2 09 ** . 05 1 -.0 91 -. 03 1 -.0 11 .0 78 -.0 22 .0 44 .0 15 .0 34 .0 15 -. 20 4** 2. r el at iv e c ar ee r i m po rt an ce o f p hy si ca l a ttr ac tiv en es s .1 16 -. 12 9 -.0 96 -. 01 2 .0 23 -.0 27 .0 08 -. 22 3** .0 70 .0 92 .0 19 -.1 36 3. p hy si ca l a ttr ac tiv en es s . 04 6 -.2 39 ** -. 05 5 .1 68 * -.1 23 -.1 10 .1 58 * .1 32 .1 37 . 16 0* -.0 34 4. g en de r -.0 67 . 04 9 -.0 24 .0 04 -.0 53 -.0 01 .0 66 .0 39 .0 72 .0 52 5. a ge .1 64 * -.1 35 -.0 77 .0 92 .1 50 * .5 02 ** .1 10 .0 04 -.1 17 6. a fr ic an a m er ic an -. 72 2** .1 80 * -.1 16 -. 29 9** .0 53 .1 48 .0 23 -.0 25 7. h is pa ni c -. 41 9** -. 27 0** . 20 0** .0 97 .0 35 .0 84 .0 82 8. a si an -.0 67 .1 21 .0 40 .0 91 .0 67 -.0 67 9. r ac e o th er -.0 19 .0 61 .2 41 ** .0 52 -.0 45 10 .e du ca tio n .2 42 ** . 16 3* .0 96 .0 22 11 .in co m e .3 55 ** .0 28 -.0 76 12 .r ep ub lic an -. 16 7* -.1 03 13 .in de pe nd en t -.0 53 14 .o th er ** . c or re la ti on is s ig ni fi ca nt a t t he 0 .0 1 le ve l ( 2ta ile d) . *. c or re la ti on is s ig ni fi ca nt a t t he 0 .0 5 le ve l ( 2ta ile d) . attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 90 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) table 3. logistic regression analysis of absolute career importance of physical attractiveness on selected variables independent variables coef. (s.e.) intercept 1 intercept 2 intercept 3 intercept 4 intercept 5 physical attractiveness gender age african american hispanic asian education income republican independent other -1.764 0.600 1.431 2.967 4.406 1.150 -0.003 0.007 -0.660 -0.384 0.823 -0.387 -0.019 -0.578 -0.036 -1.832 (1.798) (1.560) (1.546) (1.550) (1.573**) (0.252**) (0.310) (0.23) (0.810) (0.760) (0.895) (0.207) (0.147) (0.444) (0.608) (0.789**) likelihood ratio chi-square 32.37** nagelkerke r-square 0.21 score test for parallel regression lines 54.43 *p<0.05; **p<0.01 attractiveness and success by lisett acevedo 91 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 67-91) *p<0.05; **p<0.01 table 4. logistic regression analysis of relative career importance of physical attractiveness on selected variables independent variables coef. (s.e.) intercept 1 intercept 2 intercept 3 intercept 4 intercept 5 intercept 6 physical attractiveness gender age african american hispanic asian education income republican independent other -2.899 -1.883 -0.811 1.091 2.185 3.266 0.728 -0.401 0.007 -0.956 -0.631 -0.420 -0.756 0.143 -0.676 0.175 -1.282 (1.572) (1.507) (1.497) (1.501) (1.516) (1.551**) (0.233**) (0.302) (0.023) (0.796) (0.744) (0.863) (0.209**) (0.143) (0.439) (0.571) (0.789) likelihood ratio chi-square 29.00** nagelkerke r-square 0.18 score test for parallel regression lines 45.01 california sociology forum vol. 5 difference of receipt of gratitude: a comparative analysis of the experiences of vietnam and operation desert storm veterans marie rivera department of sociology california state university, los angeles introduction scholarship has long understudied the veteran population in the united states in part because civilians generally lack the military exposure to adequately understand the lived experiences of veterans. few studies analyze how the receipt of gratitude by the u.s. public is internalized by veterans, as well as the ways in which their experiences “returning home” depend on the war in which the veteran served. namely, vietnam veterans were ostracized upon returning to the u.s. civilian life they once knew so well. they lacked widespread social acceptance due to negative opinions regarding the vietnam war. reintegration into society became challenging and led to internalized schemas among veterans that their military participation was morally wrong. this contrasts with the social support attributed to operation desert storm veterans. operation desert storm (ods) was a war in which american causalities were at an all-time low for the first time in u.s. war history (hillen 1993). civilians’ opinions were less harmful and contributed to the veterans being welcomed back with relatively open arms, though gratitude also is subjective and can be perceived differently by individuals within each cohort. gratitude associated with military veterans has become normalized in the u.s. over time. we now have specific rituals and aestheticized scripts celebrating veterans and their services to the country that were not present during the vietnam war. the political climate surrounding the vietnam war made the context surrounding the receipt of gratitude different from that of an ods participant. however, the existing literature does not sufficiently examine how the context of reception affects different cohorts of veterans receiving gratitude differently. from a symbolic interactionist perspective, i seek to describe the subjectiveness of gratitude and how it differs when comparing veterans from two separate wars. symbolic california sociology forum vol. 5 interactionism claims that an individual's thought processes modify the interpretation of a symbol. in this case, vietnam veterans' interpretation of receiving gratitude is unique due to their adverse experiences with stigma following the war. symbolic interactionism further emphasizes that meaning arises from people's social interactions. the meaning of gratitude is thus perceived differently when comparing vietnam veterans with ods veterans. ods veterans are positively associated with gratitude based on u.s. society's relative appreciation for their military endeavor. contrarily, vietnam veterans experienced hostility in society, which led to different interpretations of gratitude by veterans. vietnam veterans perceive gratitude as a complex process. therefore, they interlinked gratitude with their negative experiences with the war; thus, they assigned a different meaning of gratitude than ods veterans who assigned a more positive meaning. gratitude as a ritual gratitude can be interpreted as a state of being thankful or exhibiting appreciation. “gratitude puts its benefactor into an emotion or state of consciousness resulting from both an awareness and appreciation of that which is valuable, meaningful, and fulfilling” (bryan, young, lucas, and quist 2018). in contemporary society, there are social mores regarding interacting with veterans, such as expressing our appreciation with “thank you for your service.” society has emphasized the rhetoric of viewing veterans as “heroes” and/or “victims.” for civilians, communicating gratitude is an expected ritual that attests to the “debt” civilians internalize regarding the veterans' service to ensure our safety and freedom (robillard 2017). this “directed duty” overshines the individual's moral reasoning for introducing gratitude dialogue, perpetuating a lack of understanding of the veteran experience (robillard 2017). robillard (2017) suggests that gratitude is subjective, and its value depends on what meaning is attributed to the population in the question of getting thanked. the two populations being studied clearly differ in how “thank you for your service” has been conveyed due to varying levels of stigma associated with the vietnam war and operation desert storm. gratitude can also be california sociology forum vol. 5 perceived differently according to the individual receiving it. as such, when we introduce discourse comparing wars, we also acknowledge nuanced within-group experiences. internalization of gratitude mcguire, fogle, tsai, southwick, and pietzak (2021) theorized that dispositional gratitude is directly linked to mental health. the authors felt that military veterans served as an “ideal population” due to their increased likelihood of having experienced various forms of trauma and psychological stress (mcguire et al. 2021). their findings support the hypothesis that receipt of gratitude is divergent depending on if the veteran is suffering from “psychiatric morbidities” (mcguire et al. 2021). the internalization of trauma also affects the veteran's perception of receiving gratitude. kashdan uswatte, steger, and julian (2006) address a link between self-esteem and post traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) experienced by military veterans. the instability of an individual's self-esteem can contribute to personal attachments to external environmental events and internally generated experiences (kashdan et al. 2006). suppose the interpretation of gratitude corresponds with the veteran's mental state. in that case, it is safe to assume that a vietnam veteran would struggle immensely with receipt of gratitude compared to an ods veteran. internalized gratitude can have positive impacts on veterans. kashdan et al. (2006:1611) find that, “upon examining the benefits of gratitude, it becomes apparent that they counter the emotional and social dysfunctions reported by veteran trauma survivors…the experience of gratitude requires a mindful, present-moment awareness of positive things received, and the causal chain to specific benefactors. gratitude promotes a desire to engage in altruistic behaviors toward others and feeling grateful on a given day has been shown to build positive social interactions and relationships, counter negative emotions, and lead to greater emotional well-being, less social comparisons with others, and greater frequency of healthy behaviors.” straus et al. (2019) explain that veterans with higher levels of social connectedness had lower levels of ptsd and alcohol use disorder (aud). this finding suggests that vietnam california sociology forum vol. 5 veterans likely suffer from higher mental health problems due to the prejudice they endured coming home. “gratitude may be a key factor in buffering the effects of depression, in particular among those high in ambivalence over emotional expression, as gratitude allows one to reappraise burdensome situations in a better light” (bryan, young, lucas, and quist 2018). gratitude was an avoided subject when associated with the vietnam war. difference of treatment there has been an enormous paradigm shift in about how gratitude is delivered and expected to be expressed by civilians to veterans. anti-war movements promoted throughout the u.s. spread the narrative that the war was morally wrong. unfortunately, the soldiers became victims of the hostile political climate surrounding the vietnam war. “two other symbolic attitudes were more specifically related to the vietnam war: attitudes toward ‘the military’ and toward ‘anti-war protesters’” (brown and sears 1978). the severe lack of support during reintegrating into society led many veterans to internalize their patriotism as shameful or wrong. “rather, the more important determinants of attitudes toward the war were symbolic attitudes toward various political symbols associated with the war” (brown and sears 1978). struggling with feelings of guilt, veterans began to feel alienated by society. the unwelcoming they endured catered to their already fragile mental state. “these participants spoke of being overwhelmed with societal betrayals, including hostile treatment and marginalization on homecoming…being scapegoated for unpopular military and political decisions contributed to feelings of alienation and a growing sense of isolation in their social communities” (mccormack and joseph 2014). the stigma associated with the war still affected civilian perspectives of veterans and justified the mistreatment and marginalization of vietnam veterans. “in general, veterans suffered from a longstanding experience of social rejection, abandonment, and even betrayal following the war, including pervasive stigmatizations and perceived “weaknesses, and their own preferences for self-reliance over inattentive social and governmental institutions” (desai, harpaz-rotem, and rosenheck 2015:229). california sociology forum vol. 5 the trauma the vietnam veterans endured extended further than the war: first, much discussion on the effects of war has dealt simply with the tensions and problems produced by returning from the combat theater to a civilian society in which the war was not popular and in which veterans received little moral support for the sacrifices they had made for their country. (laufer, gallops, and frey-wouters 1984) the ostracism and moral questioning directly contributed to the veterans' trauma worsening upon arrival home: it has been widely noted that the vietnam war was new to the american experience in at least two important ways. first, vietnam was not primarily a war of confrontation, but a war of infiltration a guerrilla war. it was not a war of fronts, but one in which the enemy was fluid, mobile, and, it often seemed, ubiquitous. second, the scope and intensity of guerrilla activity placed the noncombatant status of all civilians in question. (laufer, gallops, and frey-wouters 1984). laufer et al. (1984) highlight the conspicuous elements of the vietnam war experience; this improves the development of a reframed perspective of how a veteran is affected by their particular war. this process has allowed for a new generation of veterans to be celebrated. “after returning to the united states, vietnam veterans felt unwelcome joining the veterans of foreign wars and the american legion. that is how the veterans of america got its start” (anthony 2015). modern society is still developing a deeper understanding of the wrongs committed against vietnam veterans, which led to mistreatment and lack of gratitude: the earlier war/post-war portion of their experience was characterized by feeling unwelcomed when returning home, difficulty connecting with others, thwarted attempts to start a fulfilling post-service life, and finding california sociology forum vol. 5 themselves having to deal with life on their own in the face of inattentive others or unresponsive social institutions. (desai et al. 2015) these veterans came home reflecting on their war experiences and began to internalize the preconceived notions that civilians had associated with them. these actions have ultimately contributed to the already impacting variables experienced by these veterans: in many cases, vietnam veterans felt ostracized and stigmatized. their social world became constricted, and they felt they could not trust or open up to others, profoundly exacerbating the already enormous challenge of being able to build a new life and reintegrate into social relationships. (desai et al. 2015) the lack of support for these troops changed how gratitude is received later in life. rosenthal (1975:89) states, “furthermore, recent reports indicate that vietnam-stationed veterans are suffering delayed rage and guilt reactions after their return to civilian life.” vietnam veterans are starting to unravel many emotions now that frameworks regarding soldiers' participation in war have been reframed. this has affected their internalization of gratitude, seeing as veterans are now “allowed” to feel everything they were once forced to suppress (rosenthal 1975). paradigm shift of receiving gratitude during this new era, perceptions of war in society had been altered. the unfavorable ideas once affiliated with war and soldiers began to subside. civilians developed a better understanding of the functions and societal benefits of a soldier. the military's positive associations enticed individuals, and being a veteran became a position of admiration and pride. griffith et al. (1993) suggest, “what needs further examination, however, is (a) how experiencing the military meets the expectations of the enlistee for military service and (b) how experiencing the military should be represented...” that is not to say that this population of veterans endured trauma on multiple fronts. “in addition to individual difference factors, the impact of trauma is influenced by the nature and severity of stressful experiences and the unique california sociology forum vol. 5 characteristics of adverse circumstances” (sukter, uddo, brailey, and allain 1993). ods veterans were met with support and newfound knowledge of veterans’ experiences while at war. research efforts to discover the origins of negative sequelae to traumatic events and to identify population subsets who may be at greatest risk for negative impact, or conversely, resilient to adverse psychological residuals, are of crucial significance for increasing stress resistance and stress recovery among military recruits and people more generally. (sukter, uddo, brailey, and allain 1993) with the knowledge that positivity contributed to better mental health for veterans, civilians began to understand their responsibility for expressing gratitude. it was easier for civilians to positively associate with the ods veterans because of the overall outcome of the war versus vietnam's aftermath: once the use of force was initiated, it was used to gain an overwhelming advantage, one so overpowering that it allowed us to sustain the lightest casualty rate in the history of warfare. the architects of desert storm had no desire for protracted war. (hillen 1993) the historically low casualties and positive outcome of the ods made the transition to civilian life more manageable. additional comparisons were made to the outcomes of the vietnam war. “like the korea stalemate before it, the vietnam war revealed the tragic limitations of a strategy of limited war with no definitive objectives” (hillen 1993). the blame was put on the soldiers for doing their jobs, while the government that ordered the attack was conveniently left out of the discussion. “a conscious decision was made to fight a war of attrition as opposed to a war of annihilation. the result was a costly and largely wasted effort that left a heavy burden on the professional military” (hillen 1993). the soldiers were the scapegoats; this influenced the negative perceptions and unwelcoming. ods veterans thus had organization and support from the people. the newfound support for the troops triggered vietnam veterans. they found it upsetting to witness a new generation of california sociology forum vol. 5 soldiers be praised for fulfilling their duties when they had experienced only harassment: operation desert storm brought memories of vietnam abruptly into the consciousness of the vietnam veteran. the american people were concerned that the war be definitively won, the objectives be clear, and the troops be taken care of and then welcomed back at the conclusion of the war. these elements were missing in vietnam. (vellenga and christenson 1995) vietnam veterans struggle to understand the ostracism they endured due to the opinions of the war and how that has shifted significantly to public demonstrations of gratitude now enacted towards veterans. “this process of making the connection between the war and their life struggles engendered anger and resentment, for instance, at not being given the same support that the veterans returning from current wars are receiving” (desai et al. 2015). the domestic controversy surrounding the war and the lack of support for soldiers returning home was something only vietnam veterans experienced. (vellenga and christenson 1995). the shame that the vietnam veterans internalized was not something that widely occurred for the ods veterans: a sense of shame was understood by these veterans in two very different ways... the second type related to being a part of such an unpopular endeavor and the response of the american public to the war. they alienated themselves so as not to be singled out as 'baby killers or one of those vietnam bums,' as one veteran put it (vellenga and christenson 1995:8). the difference in receipt of gratitude reflects the change of perspective regarding soldiers: because the vietnam war was perceived so negatively by most people, an inevitable result for these veterans was an unavoidable isolation. the experience was too critical to shut out, and too unpopular to share, so a natural consequence for these subjects was to isolate themselves (vellenga and christenson 1995) california sociology forum vol. 5 if vietnam veterans are affected by higher rates of self-isolation and shame, we can assume their internalization of “thank you for your service” to be different from that of an ods veterans. existing literature acknowledges that gratitude is beneficial for veterans and their self-esteem. what the literature lacks is a lens comparing two different wars and taking into consideration how society has played a role in the internalized schemas of two separate veteran populations. one population of veterans experienced positivity and support, while the other experienced negativity and a sense of othering. with this in mind, we must address that gratitude is perceived differently due to each unique situation. in this study, i seek to fill the void in the literature and theorize the connections between treatment received and how that has contributed to the difference in their receipt of gratitude. through analyzing veterans’ experiences returning home, i answer the question: how do veterans’ experiences of receiving gratitude differ by the type of war in which they served? through the utilization of symbolic interactionism, i examine how the process of the receipt of gratitude is different depending on the meaning ascribed by the individual receiving it. when veterans have had negative interactions in society due to their military participation in a specific war, their perception of gratitude is altered. further, when analyzing a separate population who has had positive social interactions and appreciates gratitude, we see that becomes a trigger to the population with uncomfortableness with gratitude. newly implemented rituals displaying gratitude by civilians to veterans in contemporary society have led to unique perceptions and experiences of gratitude for an older military generation who feels unacknowledged. these new practices marginalize these populations further because gratitude comes after the trauma has been internalized. thus, gratitude is interpreted differently among vietnam and ods veterans. through my data collection, i have identified specific trends and recurring themes emerging from the interviews i conducted. i have analyzed previous research and found similarities. newer generations of veterans have compared themselves and their experiences to veterans from the vietnam era. they have suggested that their experiences participating in the civilian world were more manageable due to less stigma california sociology forum vol. 5 associated with their generational cohort. vietnam veterans were ostracized, and their trauma extended beyond the barriers of combat. their traumas worsened upon their arrival “home.” this has led me to believe that receiving, “thank you for your service” is internalized differently. how is receiving gratitude interpreted differently depending on the war in which it was served? is there a difference? does the stigma of the war have anything to do with this different interpretation? methods i approach this research study based on the question: how do war veterans’ experiences of receiving gratitude differ by the type of war in which they served? i examine how gratitude is interpreted differently and how social interactions have contributed to differing interpretations. in the current study, i have conducted semi-structured interviews with four self-identified u.s. veterans who were actively involved in combat either in ods or the vietnam war. one participant self-identified as a vietnam war veteran, two self-identified as ods veterans, and one participant participated in both wars. i developed an interview guide to steer myself through the interviews and ensure i was collecting all the necessary information for analysis. the interviews were semi-structured and i did not follow the same sequence of questioning for all participants, allowing the interviews to be as organic as possible. the interview guide emphasized the concepts of disclosure, stigma, and gratitude. the questions regarding disclosure were used to measure the differences in experiences with civilians. the questions asked about stigma allowed me, as the researcher, to contextualize whether some veterans are affected by societal stigmas at higher rates than other veterans. these led to questions about gratitude, the focus of my study. i utilized a convenience sampling methodology by advertising this research project in los angeles area elks lodges with high populations of veterans. members tend to be active participants at the department of veteran affairs. i gained access by leveraging my own elks membership. i used a gatekeeper to increase veterans’ trust and participation, making them more accessible. this ensures my ability to expand my research. if participants california sociology forum vol. 5 perceive me as an ally and trusted friend, they will be more willing to discuss their experiences. at multiple lodges, i announced that i am looking to recruit participants who identify as either a vietnam or ods veteran. i briefly described my project, as the comprehension of my project critical to potential participants. i intend for participants to understand the meaning of the project to develop trust that their stories and perspectives will be heard and acknowledged. to increase validity, i utilized an audit trail by keeping record of all my data collected. i opted for this method due to the sensitive nature of the topic and to ensure that participant messages were accurately communicated. as a researcher, this takes a lot of trial and error, including revisiting the raw data to make accurate comparisons. the second method i used to increase validity is member checking. i wanted participants to know that my intention is not to speak for them, but with them. member checking allows participants to actively participate in the research process and provide feedback. the strengths of my methodology lie in the semistructured interview process giving veterans the opportunity to narrate attitudes about receiving gratitude and what they experienced to have this perspective. the interview style allows for rich discussions and data. member checking also validates the participant’s depiction of their experiences and allows me to collect more data from their reflection. as i adjust research and analysis as trends organically emerge, the use of audit trails ensures no outstanding details go unnoticed. findings respondents were asked directly whether they chose to disclose their veteran status to others. this question was followed up with probing questions addressing why they feel inclined or deterred from disclosing their veteran status to others. sage, an ods veteran stated: normally i don’t, unless they ask or unless, ughh, normally no. between military people who are buddies, they talk and sometimes the story gets a little bigger and bigger especially after a couple of beers, but normally no. you know, the ones california sociology forum vol. 5 who, who really, you know most people are quiet about it, the ones who brag about it really didn’t do anything. sage is reflecting on his reluctance to disclose to civilians, expressing that he is more comfortable disclosing to other veterans. he goes on to share that there is a lack of understanding by civilians regarding military exposure and experience. participants were then asked to examine if there was a conscious awareness of stigma attributed to those with military status. this was followed by asking the respondents to reflect on the possibility of their ever having felt stigmatized due to their military experience. i probed further and asked participants if specific military populations were more stigmatized than others. most veterans shared that specific groups of veterans have been more stigmatized than others. sage stated, “vietnam war it was the nastiest war, it was the longest war…they called it the first televised war…a lot of [vietnam veterans] still feel stigmatized from going over there.” as an ods veteran, he was very mindful of how other generations of veterans before him experienced massive social stigmatization. civilian perception of veterans was a trend that emerged organically. respondents spoke of how perceptions of specific groups of veterans are vastly different depending on the war served. perception emphasizes the individual experiences of possible ostracization or acceptance by society. it also highlights the symbolic interactionism framework where individuals ascribe meaning to certain things depending on their social interactions. marty, a veteran of both wars expressed: anybody that came back veterans that were in the late 60’s early 70’s all experienced the same thing. everybody’s got the same type of atmosphere, organizations like the vfw didn’t want vietnam veterans in as part of their organization because we weren’t as good as they were, cuz we weren’t in a war, we were in a conflict. so, that’s the, the assumption that people make. that we weren’t in a war. …i still won’t join the vfw even now. because they said, we don’t need you vietnam veterans, now they do need vietnam veterans. we’re the vietnam california sociology forum vol. 5 veterans are the old guys, it’s the same thing with iraq and afghanistan, so it kind of goes in a circle. it’s a little bit different it took a lot of time, but i’m around it all the time. treatment was another key finding that surfaced organically. while analyzing the “stigma” section, i decided to differentiate treatment in hopes of highlighting that every generation of military men are treated differently. respondents spoke of their experiences of how they are perceived and how it is different depending on the war in which they served. even resources made available to them after their service are different sage conveys: i believe yes, i would say so. you know right now the thing to do is when you see them, you know say, ‘welcome home’, that’s the main thing that most of them never got to hear was ‘welcome home’, they never, i mean never got that. they got everything but that. all they wanted to hear was, ‘hey, welcome home’, that and ’thank you for your service’. and they’re content with that, that’s what they never got, a formal welcome home. they brought them back and kicked them off the bus and so you know, whenever i see them, i say, ‘welcome home.’ formal recognition of service was not allocated equally. i was interested in this particular response and wondered if the participant who served more than one war felt similarly or had corresponding experiences. mick was asked to reflect upon his experiences arriving home. mick shared: it sucked. flew out of a[n]airspace base out of the phillipines…the terminal at lax was blocked, and it was blocked by people. my girlfriend, this is back when your girlfriend was allowed to pick you up at the airport. i saw her, and i had to physically push people out of my way to get to her. gratitude is the center of the research study. within the context of the interviews, i highlight that gratitude is subjective. i ask participants to discuss why that is. their experiences with california sociology forum vol. 5 arriving home are different when compared. these positive or negative experiences gratitude look and feel different depending on the individual. with gratitude being reframed from generation to generation, scripts have been composed about implementing gratitude and making veterans feel appreciated. for vietnam veterans, they say it is too little, too late. marty shares: all the veterans appreciate each other. like the 29th of march is vietnam day, you know vietnam war day. so, it’s a recognition of you get kind of recognized but not, cuz, it’s over now. so, they were trying to do a drive by at the va hospital, to be a drive by is like going to the hamburger stand, getting a hamburger, and going home. so, i told them thank you, but no thank you type of situation. i live three miles away from the va hospital and i wouldn’t even go. marty implies that gratitude was not given equally to each generation of veterans. stigmas surrounding the vietnam conflict overrode the need for gratitude to be given. discussion gratitude is a subjective emotion that can be interpreted differently depending on who receives it. when comparing the experiences of veterans from the vietnam conflict and operation desert storm , we must realize that they are qualitatively different. the present literature does not examine how veterans' individual experiences of being welcomed or not welcomed have influenced how they receive recognition. utilizing a symbolic interactionist framework, i describe the subjectiveness of appreciation and how it differs when comparing soldiers from different conflicts. i highlight personal narratives and experiences to display their altered perceptions of gratitude. when comparing both populations of veterans, i find that their interactions with civilians were different. ods veterans’ interactions were positive while vietnam veterans still face echoes of stigmatization due to their participation in an unfavorable war. through the symbolic interactionist framework, i reflect on these differences and how the meaning of gratitude has become subjective. ods veterans appreciate gratitude, while vietnam california sociology forum vol. 5 veterans face a complex relationship with gratitude. further, the rituals of gratitude expressed by civilians has unintentionally contributed to the marginalization of one group of veterans in comparison to the other. having only two comparison groups produces ungeneralizable data. in future research, i could conduct a survey of veterans from a randomized or representative sample, which would permit me to make generalizations. i could also analyze additional wars, including korea, iraq, afghanistan to expand the sample. references anthony, maureen. 2015. “vietnam veterans--thank them for their service.” home healthcare now 33(7):353-54. bryan, jennifer l., chelsie m. young, sydnee lucas, and michelle c. quist. 2018. “should i say thank you? gratitude encourages cognitive reappraisal and buffers the negative impact of ambivalence over emotional expression on depression.” personality and individual differences 120:253-58. desai, miraj u., anthony j. pavlo, larry davidson, ilan harpazrotem, and robert rosenheck. 2016. “‘i want to come home’: vietnam-era veterans’ presenting for mental health care, roughly 40 years after vietnam.” the psychiatric quarterly 87(2):229–39. griffith, james, and shelley perry. 1993. “wanting to soldier: enlistment motivations of army reserve recruits before and after operation desert storm.” military psychology: the official journal of the division of military psychology, american psychological association (2):127-39. hillen, john f. 1993 “peacekeeping is hell: a veteran of desert storm explains how the clinton administration is ignoring the lessons of vietnam.” policy review (washington, d.c.) 66:36–39. kashdan, todd b., gitendra uswatte, michael f. steger, and terri julian. 2006. “fragile self-esteem and affective instability in posttraumatic stress disorder.” behaviour research and therapy 44(11):1609-19. california sociology forum vol. 5 lau, richard r., thad a. brown, and david o. sears. 1978. “selfinterest and civilians’ attitudes toward the vietnam war.” public opinion quarterly 42(4):464-482. laufer, robert s., m. s. gallops, and ellen frey-wouters. 1984. “war stress and trauma: the vietnam veteran experience.” journal of health and social behavior 25(1):65-85. mccormack, lynne, and stephen joseph. 2014. “psychological growth in aging vietnam veterans: redefining shame and betrayal.” journal of humanistic psychology 54(3):336-55. mcguire, adam p., brienna m. fogle, jack tsai, steven m. southwick, and robert h. pietrzak. 2021. “dispositional gratitude and mental health in the u.s. veteran population: results from the national health and resilience veterans study.” journal of psychiatric research 135:279-88. robillard, michael. 2017. “a case for gratitude: a response to stephen kershnar’s gratitude toward veterans.” reason papers. 39(1):65. rosenthal, irwin. 1975. “vietnam war soldiers and the experience of normlessness.” the journal of social psychology 96(1):85-90. straus, elizabeth, sonya b. norman, moira haller, steven m. southwick, jessica l. hamblen, and robert h. pietrzak. 2019. “differences in protective factors among u.s. veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder, alcohol use disorder, and their comorbidity: results from the national health and resilience in veterans study.” drug and alcohol dependence 194:6-12. sutker, patricia b., madeline uddo, kevin brailey, and albert n. allain jr. 1993. “war-zone trauma and stress-related symptoms in operation desert shield/storm (ods) returnees.” the journal of social issues 49(4):33-49. vellenga, barbara a., and janell christenson. 1995. “healing the wounds of war: the vietnam veteran after operation desert storm.” perspectives in psychiatric care 31(4):58. about the california sociology forum the history the california sociology forum (csf) was initially published in 2007-2008 by professor hyojoung kim. it was re-launched in 2022-2023 by a group of faculty members in the department of sociology. csf expresses its immense appreciation to all editors—both faculty and students—who have served on the editorial board through all its iterations. the mission csf is a student-run online journal that publishes scholarly and creative works of students enrolled in the sociology program or taking sociology classes at cal state la at both the undergraduate and graduate level. it is committed to cultivating student research, supporting intellectual exchange, and featuring diverse perspectives on various issues of our society and world. students are strongly encouraged to submit not only original research papers, but creative works such as poems, cartoons, music, pictorial essays, personal essays, and fieldwork notes that use the sociological imagination, as well as sociologically relevant book and film reviews. as we continue to grow, we welcome new additions to our editorial board. please feel free to reach out to us! contact us website: https://journals.calstate.edu/csf/ email: csf.csula@gmail.com © 2025 by california sociology forum (csf) all rights reserved. no part of this journal may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review study, without prior permission from the publishers and the student author. copyright reverts to each author upon further publication of his or her article. department of sociology, california state university, los angeles 5151 state university drive, los angeles, ca 90032-82 csf 2024-2025 editorial board volume 7 was reviewed, promoted, edited, uploaded, and published by the following editorial board. their innovations have continued the endeavors of csf for sociological relevance. the pieces in the reviews were mainly contributions from the fall 2024 csf cohort. new to this publication, the alumni advisory board (aab) was founded on august 13th, 2024, with an inaugural meeting over zoom. the aab consists of former csf student board members who have progressed in their academic journeys but are still passionate about volunteering to invest time in mentoring the new csf cohorts each semester. we are grateful for their continued support! student managing editor taryn bates publication lead jalene garcia-santamarina | maria hernandez original content lead angel jaimes | annica meija public relations lead shanya a. olivares perez | hilda gamero board members keila bailey | taryn bates | kayla bellipanni | tenille blackburn spidey canoy | lorena escalante | ian joaquin esparza | hilda gamero darinka luciana garcia | jalene garcia-santamarina | jackeline e. gomez diaz maria hernandez | angel jaimes | victoria lopez | sabrina loya michael madrilejo | stephanie mayahua | annica mejia | alicia justice melich ashliegh b. norwood | elibeth ochoa deleon | shanya a. olivares perez erik ortiz | alondra pacheco | celia peña | nicole r. perez | maría ramírez daniel roman | amaya simental | desiree denise suarez nathalie velasco-quiroz | abigail whitenack | ramona vega alumni advisory board members darron michael cunanan | sammy garcia iii | marie rivera | esai santana miguel valadez | kandance vass | lauren whiting | michael young faculty editors-in-chief dr. katie dingeman (fall 2024) | dr. luoman bao (spring 2025) faculty editors professor gilbert garcia (it liaison) dr. roseann giarrusso (advisor) dr. hyojoung kim (founder) 2 about the california sociology forum volume_7_california_sociology_forum_student_journal_2024-2025 california sociology forum ix about the student editors jesse arceo (he/him) is in his second year of the m.a. program for sociology program here at california state university of los angeles. his expected graduation date is spring of the following academic year for 2024-2025. jesse’s research interests are anything involving behavior, more specifically individuals’ well-being and happiness in our society. his position as part of the csf student editorial board included serving as a peer reviewer for the works and articles being submitted for publication to csf. taryn bates (she/her) is in her senior year as an undergraduate at cal state la and will graduate summa cum laude in may 2024 as an honors college thesis participant, achieving her b.a. in sociology: inequalities and diversity. she is excited to gain this next level of degree through transferring from irvine valley college in 2022, having obtained three simultaneous a.a. degrees summa cum laude with honors for sociology, emphasis in liberal studies, and emphasis in social and behavioral sciences. in 2023-2024, she became a member of the abolition study action people’s (asap) collective, holds the positions of sociology club president & social media manager, and rose to the challenge of publication co-managing editor role for csf. she is passionate about pursuing research on cross-cultural intersections of social partner dance. andrea dominguez (she/they) is currently a graduate student who is pursuing her m.a. in sociology. andrea is the public relations leader for csf. additionally, she works as a student assistant engagement coordinator for the center for student involvement at cal state la, along with serving as one of the board of directors for the university student union. her interests in academia include studying phenomena occurring in the world of urban sociology and different sociological pedagogies. andrea hopes that csf will continue encouraging students to submit their work and show their creativity to the academic world. california sociology forum x katherine eason (she/her) is a graduate student who’s excited about excelling in her academia journey. being a first-generation college student and the first to receive her bachelors, she strives to go farther the anyone in her family was ever able to. being an african american woman has driven her to the major of sociology. being involved within her community and fighting against oppression and obstacles that have been placed for women and people of color has fueled her academic journey and the main interest in her academic studies. as part of the csf 2023 board, it has been her privilege to review academic work driven and created with sociological relevance in mind. she encourages all sociology students to get involved in csf, as it is a great way to get to know your classmates and to get to know your school. csf is the heartbeat of the campus. sammy garcia iii (he/him) is a sociology, m.a. graduate student at cal state la. he graduated with his b.a. in sociology and minor in cls spring 2023. he made the dean’s list for sociology twice (fall 2021, spring 2022) and received a sociology award for being part of csf student journal in spring 2023. his research interests are in music and film, and he is proud to have an oped on music published in the spring ‘23 csf volume 5. he was part of the editorial team for spring semester 2023 and returned again in the fall ‘24, he enjoyed the process of working with his fellow students and new editorial team this semester. emely gavini mendez (she/her/ella) is a sociology, m.a. graduate student at cal state la. she attended san bernardino valley college and received four associate’s degrees: administration of justice, humanities and fine arts, social and behavioral sciences and sociology. she proudly transferred over to cal state la and pursued her b.a. degree in sociology and graduated in less than two years. emely’s final thesis project focuses on family dynamics and how the covid-19 pandemic has affected those dynamics. emely will be graduating with her master’s degree in sociology may 2024 as a proud published student on the csf editorial board, in hopes to continue her passion for writing. california sociology forum xi jasmine gaytan (she/her) has an associate’s degree in administration of justice from pasadena city college and a bachelor’s degree in sociology with an emphasis in law and society from california state universitylos angeles. she is in her last semester for the master’s degree in sociology here at california state universitylos angeles. her research interests include education, pedagogical practices, race and ethnic inequalities. she is currently in the submission process of her research on the topic “what role does whiteness have in the opposition of critical race theory (crt) in florida’s k-12 public education?” which she hopes will be published in an academic article. it is her intention to promote awareness of the social phenomenon of anti-crt legislation by understanding the role “whiteness” has in opposition to crt. april d. laird (she/her) will complete a b.a. in sociology, in spring 2024. her research and action interests include climate justice, labor rights, antiracism, abolition, and sustainable urban planning, and her professional ambitions in advocacy coalesce around these topics. she is an active honors society member, has been featured on the dean’s list 6 times, and is recognized for her contributions to the community in ecology and anti-racism, as well as for her on campus participation in calstatela’s students with dependents student organization as committee chair and president. her experience collaborating with csf as an editor and team leader has been a true delight, enjoying participating in the peer review process and the exciting heterogeneity of student sociological work at calstatela. currently, april assists part time as a community messaging and engagement intern and student employee alongside the policy and research team at treepeople.org, for county scale climate resilience initiatives. anthony jonathan morales (he/him) is a sociologist student at csula. his area of study and expertise is in sociology and education. he is also set to graduate with a bachelor’s in sociology spring of 2024 and is also set to pursue a master’s degree after. he is grateful and enjoyed working on the student journals. california sociology forum xii joram n. mugerwa (he/him) is an undergraduate transfer student at california state university, los angeles. he will be graduating in december 2023, receiving a b.a in sociology with an option in gerontology. he is part of various campus organizations dedicated to advancing people of color (bsu, eop, the network, etc.) and a peer mentor at the veterans resource center. joram hopes to use his gained intellect to advance the mobility of the aged population, specifically those with low-income statuses. joram has also made it his mission to understand the structural foundations of society that promote well-being, hoping to one day apply his knowledge to his home country of uganda. joining csf and working with its members has been illuminating for joram because it has made him more aware of inequalities and perspectives. he played the role of team lead within csf public relations and will continue to advocate for this program’s success. rachel natland (her/they) is a sociology major in her senior year at csula. her area of expertise is in the application of regenerative studies to social system design with a focus on k-12 education models. she will earn her b.a. in sociology in the fall of 2023 and intends to pursue a master’s degree in regenerative studies through cal poly pomona in fall 2024. luis ortiz (he/him) is a b.a. sociology student at california state university los angeles. he is interested in intersectionality of identities on social interaction and quality of life. luis spends much of his time on campus interacting with students in the cross cultural centers (ccc) in the student union (u-su), especially in the genders and sexualities resource center (gsrc). since 2021, he organizes a social justice-oriented sports recreation community every saturday called rainbow beach ultimate in venice, california, as a response to a growing number of nationwide anti-trans legislation. through rbu, luis promotes an inclusive environment that focuses on building the representation of women, bipoc, and lgbt+ identifying players in the ultimate frisbee community through playing and teaching beach ultimate. luis looks forward to furthering his education in jotería studies in a future master’s program at csula. california sociology forum xiii christina mary ramirez (she/her) is a sociology m.a. student at cal state university, los angeles and will be graduating in the spring of 2024. her interest is in intergenerational solidarity, children’s psychological well-being, and family dynamics. she believes exploring these topics is vital for society because the family may be the first to serve as a foundational source of love, companionship, and understanding. she is in the process of completing her thesis, studying the effects parentchild conflict has on children’s depression, especially while enduring a traumatic experience like divorce. christina is grateful for the opportunity she has been given to explore her writing in sociological areas and to be able to work alongside brilliant, goal-orientated students and faculty. jessica rivera (she/her/ella) is a first-generation graduate student at cal state la. jessica will be graduating with her m.a. in sociology in may 2024. her research interests consist of deviant behaviors, gender, and mental health. she is currently working on her portfolio project on the topic of social media specifically instagram affecting college students’ self-perception. she is grateful for the opportunity she has been given to explore, grow in her writing and learn from her csf team. jessica had the opportunity to be a part of the book/film review team. she is a proud member of the editorial board and hopes to continue her passion in writing. marie rivera (she/her/ella) is a graduate student pursuing her m.a. in sociology. her research interests consist of intersectionality, gender & sexuality studies, race & ethnicity, abolition, and climate justice. marie currently holds the position of vice president of the soc club. she is also a research assistant to several faculty members in the department of sociology. she is passionate about organizing with abolition study action people’s (asap) collective and educating students on abolition as a teaching assistant. she has a strong enthusiasm for the written word and its capacity to convey the distinctive thoughts of others. she is grateful for the opportunity to work on such an amazing, dedicated editorial team and admires the journal’s ability to display the work of students. marie acted as graduate managing editor for csf in the spring of 2023 and publication co-managing editor for the fall 2023-spring 2024. california sociology forum xiv leticia romero (she/her/ella) is a sociology graduate student working on her master’s at cal state university, los angeles. she has a unique and diverse perspective on under resourced communities and people of color and believes systematic change is needed to improve the quality of life for people not born into wealth. her research interest is on critical gang studies and why young men join gang. she is focused on the chicano community of east los angeles where she is conducting qualitative interviews to exhibit the resilience of chicano street gangs and analyzing conflict issues based on allocated resources, identity issues based on hypermasculinity. she is member of the international sociology honor society, alpha kappa delta as well as the international interdisciplinary honor society, phi kappa phi and is currently a student editor for the california sociology forum. esai santana (he/him) is an undergraduate senior at california state university, los angeles who transferred from east los angeles with an associate in arts degree: sociology for transfer and an associate in arts general studies: social and behavioral sciences. with an estimated graduation in spring 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, he joined csf as an opportunity to connect more with his peers in sociology, step out of his comfort zone, and take an interest in publishing a journal. his main research interests when it comes to sociology are topics that include inequalities, sexuality, and gender. he also has a passion for playing video games, enjoying the stories they tell through a player and sociological perspective. marlonzo smith (he/him) is a sociologist m.a., student at csula. marlonzo’s interest is in criminology and political sociology, with a focus on deviant behavior and the effects of deviant labels. for his thesis, he hopes to study negative social factors among young men that influence their decision toward deviant behaviors. marlonzo is a case manager at a nonprofit on skidrow which helps homeless individuals find affordable housing units within los angeles. participating as csf’s website specialist has allowed him to present the research that his fellow students have worked so hard to research so their passions can be shown to others. california sociology forum xv andrea cesar urbach (she/her) is a sociology graduate student. she received her b.a. in sociology from california state university los angeles. she is writing her m.a. thesis about the sociological perception of warfare. her research focus is climate change and warfare as a social conflict based on how we understand it as a part of societal group interests. in her first year as a student, she helped start a student organization that addressed global warming and was the secretary. she likes talking and reading about sociology and joined csf as an editor in the fall of 2023. academic editing allowed her to work with other authors and enhance her academic life. kandice vass (she/her), a junior at cal state la, transitioned from los angeles valley college in fall 2023. having proudly earned her associates degree in sociology in june 2023, she is now driven to further her academic and professional journey. with a focused goal of attaining a bachelor’s degree in sociology, specializing in law and society, kandice is thrilled to immerse herself in learning, forge meaningful connections, and undergo personal growth during her time at cal state la. serving as the book and film team lead for csf, she looks forward to contributing to the academic community and continuing her enriching journey with csf throughout her enrollment. lauren whiting (she/they) is a sociology, m.a. student at csula, but attended avc for their adt in sociology and csub-av for their b.a. in sociology: human services. lauren’s sociological areas of interest cover topics such as us interactions with and perceptions of the justice system and the parent-child relationship when parenting with disabilities. for her thesis, she hopes to explore the influence of parental religiosity on the relationship between disabled parents and their children. their passion for these topics offered them opportunities to tutor sociology, present at six conferences, and receive various accolades. while working toward their master’s, lauren is a case manager at a reentry nonprofit in the antelope valley. with a passion for supporting others, participating in csf as a peer reviewer and media team member has offered lauren the joy of aiding fellow students in their journey of sharing their passions with others. california sociology forum xvi michael young (he/him) is a dual major at cal state la who has utilized his upper education path to explore his special interest regarding students with disabilities within the education system. he expects to graduate magna cum laude in spring 2024 with both a b.a. in sociology and a b.a. in psychology, while additionally being recognized for participation in the cal state la honors college. his achievements include advocacy for students with disabilities within government support systems, presenting at multiple conferences, and being a coinvestigator on a research study conducted as an undergraduate thesis under the honors college which focuses on the experiences of accommodations students with disabilities receive while attending cal state la. about the faculty editors luoman bao is an associate professor in sociology whose primary research interests include family dynamics, population aging and health, and quantitative methods. her work has been published in various venues, including journal of gerontology: social sciences, journal of health and social behavior, and research on aging. dr. bao served as the editor-in-chief of csf in fall 2022 and fall 2023. she loves working with students in classrooms and on projects. she is passionate about facilitating students to grow and achieve their full potential. katie dingeman is an associate professor in sociology with research interests around migrant rights, reproductive justice, political ecology, and qualitative methods. she has published in a variety of venues, including social problems, feminist criminology, and the journal on migration and human security. she loves facilitating student-led projects and enjoys growing as a teacher, scholar, and advocate alongside her students. dr. dingeman was editor-in-chief of csf in spring 2023 and spring 2024. california sociology forum xvii gilbert garcia is a lecturer in sociology at california state university, los angeles and associate faculty at riverside city college in riverside, california. he is also on the board of the social science research instructional council for the california state university system. his research and teaching interests are in race and ethnic relations with an emphasis on exploring systemic racism in the u.s. he also explores the connection of media and technology as socializing forces in the development of individuals. he serves as the it liaison for csf. roseann giarrusso is chair and professor of sociology with research interests in aging and the life-course, family and intergenerational relations, and quantitative research methods. she has over 50 publications including two co-authored books, many peer-reviewed journal articles (e.g., journal of marriage and family; journals of gerontology: social science; journal of family issues; and generations), and numerous chapters in books. she enjoys helping students to realize their academic potential. every year, dr. giarrusso coauthors grant proposals to solicit funds to print copies of csf and provide stipends to student managing editors. hyojoung kim is a professor of sociology and director of the center for korean american and korean studies in cal state l.a. his main research and teaching areas include political sociology and race and ethnic studies with special emphasis in korean and korean american studies, quantitative research methods and statistics, rational choice, social network analysis and social movements. his research has been published in various internationally acclaimed academic journals, including american sociological review, american journal of sociology, and european sociological review. dr. kim has edited a few books on korean americans and korea. he founded california sociology forum—student online journal of sociology and served as editor-in-chief during 2007~2013. about the student editors research | theses | toscano joya 106 california sociology forum vol. 6 managing alone: single parenthood and silver linings in the time of covid-19 martha toscano joya department of sociology california state university, los angeles introduction the covid-19 pandemic has taken the world by storm. it has been a hundred years since a pandemic of this scale – of devastation and interference – has struck the global community with expansive social, economic, political, and cultural ramifications. despite the medical and technological advancements of our time, the covid-19 pandemic has immobilized modern society in unprecedented ways. there was no viable cure when it first struck, healthcare systems were on the brink of exhaustion, death toll skyrocketed, widespread closures amassed, and supply-chain scarcities marked the first months of the pandemic. we are still grappling with the implications of this moment in history. my study focuses on the implications of the pandemic on single parents, arguably an understudied demographic group. my findings, based on 5 in-depth interviews with single parents suggest that the pandemic has been a double-edged sword – on the one hand, it has pushed single parents to the brink as they juggled rigorous parenting duties while shouldering work responsibilities. yet, surprisingly on the other hand, single parents also found priceless moments of time that brought forth joy in those uninterrupted moments spent together with their children. the government’s assistance schemes (e.g., expanding ebt, rent moratorium, hot school packed lunches) that were put into effect in the first months of the pandemic sustained them through the worst forms of precarity. this study, based on a feminist lens, contributes to the sociological scholarship on families in significant ways as it examines the micro-dynamics of everyday life in single-parent households during an unprecedented global crisis. the demographic group (single parents in california) as well as the context (covid-19 pandemic) lend sociological credence to this article for several interrelated reasons. first, the u.s. has the research | theses | toscano joya 107 california sociology forum vol. 6 highest rates of single parent households in the world (kramer 2019) wherein a quarter of u.s. children under the age of 18 live with one parent. additionally, women outnumber men as single parents. a pew study estimates that 9% of women between the ages of 35-59 years live as single parents (kramer 2019); this is four times the rate at which men of the same group live as single parents. yet, even as studies depicting everyday lives between families and children are emerging, they disproportionately focus on two-parent households. second, existing sociological scholarship on families has shown that single parents often create and rely on a network of extended kin and community (that includes friends and neighbors) to augment everyday needs of childcare. brewster and padavic (2002) found that, “mothers with fewer social and economic resources of their own—those who were single, less educated, or very young—were significantly more likely than other mothers to use relatives for childcare.” the pandemic often closed these communities off limiting the very support and childcare that single parents once relied on. given these circumstances, it becomes necessary to investigate the challenges experienced by single parents at this historic juncture. in addition to contributing to the sociological literature on families, this study fills the gap in mainstream news reporting on families which overwhelmingly depicts stereotypical family arrangements –comprising of two parents and children living in a household. my long-term hope for this study is that in the future it will generate awareness and provide insights for social policies related to single parents in times of crises and otherwise. context “covid-19 was first reported in wuhan, china, in december 2019, and rapidly spread to all parts of the globe, earning the title of a pandemic and changing the modus operandi of all segments of society” (almeida, et.al 2020). while the world remained unaware, patients with cases of severe pneumonia or upper respiratory illness began presenting themselves at the hospitals in wuhan, china. by the end of the month, the world confronted a highly infectious variant of coronavirus that was impacting wuhan, china. “the outbreak of sars-cov-2 was research | theses | toscano joya 108 california sociology forum vol. 6 considered to have originally started via a zoonotic transmission associated with the seafood market in wuhan, china. later it was recognized that human to human transmission played a major role in the subsequent outbreak” (yuki, fujiogi and koutsogiannaki 2020). within two months, on january 31, 2020, the world health organization (who) announced a global health emergency. soon thereafter, who, declared the novel coronavirus as a pandemic setting the stage for sweeping changes all over the world. as of may 2022, 6,210,719 people had succumbed to the virus. the united states reported, “covid-19 has been impacting many people worldwide, being reported in approximately 200 countries and territories. as of april 7th, 2020, around 1,400,000 cases worldwide have been reported according to the center for systems science and engineering (csse) at johns hopkins university” (yuki, fujiogi and koutsogiannaki 2020). this wasn’t the first time where humans experienced a pandemic, and it won’t be the last. the spanish flu of 1918 is often compared with the covid-19 pandemic for the extent of disruptions that it caused. according to the center for disease control (cdc) statistical data, the spanish flu of 1918, was one of the deadliest outbreaks in the last century. it is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. the number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the united states. despite the surface similarities and high death toll, the spanish flu occurred a century ago and therefore is not a living memory for the majority who populate the world today. yet, the precautions taken in that historical period are reminiscent of the ones that this current pandemic brought forth (such as closures of businesses and schools as well as social distancing protocols). in march 2020, our whole world changed overnight. the covid-19 pandemic manifested in ways that were unforeseen and unpredicted. many countries shut down their daily operations; businesses, schools, recreation, and all other places that were deemed “non-essential” were shut down. supply chain disruptions research | theses | toscano joya 109 california sociology forum vol. 6 caused further panic. the fear of running out of an essential product led to excessive hoarding where stores couldn’t fulfill the needs of the public. as consumers play a key role in food supply chain, changes in consumer behavior strongly affected the food supply chain. covid-19 outbreak caused a significant rise in food price related to lockdown restrictions accompanied by panic buying, as well as supply chain disruptions. (aday and aday 2020) there was a unique and unforeseen phase in the pandemic where people were hoarding toilet paper. for a long period of time, disinfectants, hand sanitizers, disposable cloths, masks, gloves, and even baking yeast among other items were unavailable and if they were–only one per customer could be purchased. food items also became scarce on the shelves. in the early days of the first shutdown, the new york times (2020) reported, “they grabbed milk and aspirin, paper towels and spaghetti. cans of soup and bottles of laundry detergent. olive oil and sanitizing wipes. with futures suddenly thrust into the unknown, they did what felt reassuring: panic shop.” consumers experienced long wait times to purchase goods, which wound around parking lots. banker (2021) wrote, “during the early months of the pandemic, demand planning error jumped to 59%, up 14% from the pre-pandemic error rate of 45% as companies could not accurately forecast demand in this unprecedented time.” many compared the lack of food and goods to the great depression of 1929. in the united states, the first state to experience full shutdown was california and this occurred in march. 19, 2020– making the californian population remain at home due to this mandate. it is in this social context of elevated fear, scarcities, and social distancing that single parents found themselves “managing alone” while balancing childcare with work. literature review scholarship on single parenthood (pre-covid) single parents refer to a parent – a mother or a father living without a co-parent and with their dependent children. circumstances that bring on single parenting can be due to research | theses | toscano joya 110 california sociology forum vol. 6 separation, death, divorce. with the growth of reproductive technologies (ivf, surrogacy etc.) women have also made the choice to have children regardless of being in a relationship. “in the us, there are more than 11 million single-parent families with young children that are younger than 18-years-old. single moms make up just over 80% of single-parent homes” (pace 2021). mother-only families have become increasingly common during the past three decades.' whereas in 1960 only about 9% of families with children in the united states were headed by nonmarried women, by 1985 the number was over 2007 (u.s. bureau of the census, 1960, 1961, 1988). (mclanahan and booth 1989) while a taboo in the past, as compared to today, being a single parent is becoming more common. this is in part due to the women’s rights movement and the sexual revolution that introduced sweeping changes in society. however, scholarship shows that “individuals serving as a single parent for their family may experience more stressors than those who coparent their family including poor finances, reduced social support, and higher rates of depression” (cairney, boyle, offord, & racine 2003). the first challenge is the absence of the other parent to share in parenting and childcare. raising children can be quite stressful, even if it is a meaningful responsibility, and stressors multiply when one is forced to manage them alone. factors that contribute to chronic stress and mental health issues among single mothers are numerous and include a lack of financial resources, challenges with job stability, issues with health insurance, stress in the home, and increased instances of experiencing or witnessing domestic violence (broussard 2010). the second challenge are finances; scholarship shows occupation sex segregation and gendered differentials in income and wealth coupled exposes the financial fragility that households with single mother’s experience (as noted before, 80% of single parents are women). pressman (2003) argues the complication that holds with having a lone earner is that they become vulnerable to financial shifts, various obstacles such as being laid off from work, getting sick, getting reduced hours due to an economics low research | theses | toscano joya 111 california sociology forum vol. 6 down. previous research (augustijn 2022) has repeatedly shown that separation or divorce can lead to a substantial decline in economic resources, and that it is mostly mothers who suffer from the severe economic consequences. thus, the household is more than likely to wind up in poverty due to these circumstances. the emotional strain of struggling with finances takes further toll on the family (kotwal and prabhakar 2009). though there is public assistance it should be noted that it is hard to come by, public benefits can be denied, and there are delayed wait times in receiving the actual assistance. as a result, many single parents also deal with poverty and food insecurity. food insecurity, broadly defined by the u.s. department of agriculture (usda) as a lack of “enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members,” generally rises and falls with changes in the economy but has fluctuated between 10 percent and 15 percent since the usda began tracking it in the early 1990s.” (coleman-jensen et al. 2020) food insecurity amongst single parent households is already a challenge due to it being a single income household. on the downside, parents may also have to navigate an unhealthy relationship with the other parent. this relationship might manifest onto the child(ren) as well and can create a hostile environment where the child(ren) finds it hard to “choose” between parents due to their own parents' strained relationship and so forth. the relationship amongst parents may be strained due to previous physical and emotional domestic abuse and there may be certain restrictions set in place by a high level of authority–such as a court order. the other parent may have a court order that restricts them from seeing their child(ren) and can place another added challenge that the family may experience. on the upside, there are parents who work together and co-parent effectively. challenges of single parenthood (covid-19) the pandemic affected everyone as was often repeated in the media through the popular slogan, “we are all in this together.” however, the extent may have varied depending on research | theses | toscano joya 112 california sociology forum vol. 6 factors such as socioeconomic status, gender, class, race, occupation, and country of residence (to name a few). as this paper will show, the pandemic has brought forth a new set of challenges for single parents. it affected each corner of their lives and continues to impact them negatively and, in some cases, positively. in the following paragraphs, i detail the nascent literature that has described the many ways in which the pandemic has affected single parents and the new set of challenges and hardships that they have faced. financial hardships businesses, schools, recreation, and all other places that were considered “non-essential” were forced to shut down. the shutdown placed a financial burden on employees. with having to stay home, many individuals were out of employment. a percentage of the population included single parents. the unexpected loss of income and not having any funds to cover expenses is a tremendous hardship for the family. even before the pandemic, solo parents were experiencing challenges, said juliana horowitz, an associate director of research at pew research center. she noted that pew’s research shows a quarter of solo parents living in poverty; that number was even higher, 30 percent (bowen 2020), for single moms. vulnerable communities face significant risks in times of covid-19. communities with deeply entrenched poverty, overcrowded housing, and limited employment flexibility (e.g., communities where individuals are unable to work from home, miss a day of work, or face long and crowded commutes), face greater immediate risk of covid-19. (fisher et.al, 2020) financial hardships such as losing a home and/or becoming houseless changes lives. the impact that this would have on the family is tremendous. not only would the loss of a home impact on the family, in a physical sense, the loss of comfort of a safe space is removed. this would not only affect the parent but the child(ren) as well. another factor in experiencing financial hardship is food insecurity. not knowing where to locate emergency social services and/or the accessibility of food is research | theses | toscano joya 113 california sociology forum vol. 6 something that the parent confronts. there is often shame brought forth in seeking these types of services and can have the parent feeling a wave of helplessness that may affect the family as well. childcare another challenge that many single parents faced were school closures. school-aged children attending school in the traditional setting (in person) were restricted to staying at home and processing their daily schoolwork via virtual learning. their mode of operation for learning was having a teacher instruct a classroom via the computer. teachers and educators used different modes of learning, and many used the video application, zoom, to communicate with students. this may or may not have taken a toll on the student. considering issues regarding connectivity i.e., a stable internet connection, could be classified as a barrier to the student in effective learning. another foreseen drawback is if the student may have had difficulty in learning in this new virtual setting as opposed to their usual mode of learning. the challenge here would be if the student could or could not thrive in this learning space and if they were able to manage their schoolwork. “communication is essential for any task, and due to the lockdown, communication through technology has replaced face to face interactions. it has its own limitations” (debbarma & durai 2021). communication is key in transmitting the information that is imperative in learning and flourishing as a student. the limitation with online learning is not having that “face to face” interaction that a student is typically used to in a traditional school setting. “during the lockdown, children and adolescents were experiencing physical isolation from their classmates, friends, teachers, and other important adults (e.g., grandparents) leading to further emotional stressors” (luijten et.al, 2021). with the issue of virtual learning occurring in the same household environment as the parent, working from home also became an issue for both parties to work effectively. moreover, having a parent considered an “essential” employee– one that must work at an institution or establishment that cannot be shut down, can pose a concern for childcare. research | theses | toscano joya 114 california sociology forum vol. 6 co-parenting the issue of co-parenting is a major concern for many single parents. the issues of child custody are always relevant and may be cumbersome for parents to deal with especially if the other parent is “difficult” and there may not be a harmonious agreement between parents. the pandemic may pose several challenges for co-parenting. if one parent falls ill the other parent may have to take on the full load of parenting due to the other quarantining and not being able to see the child(ren). the other factor is that the other parent may not even be in the picture and not have any responsibilities shared. an added difficulty is if there is child custody in place. the courthouses, being considered an essential establishment in the pandemic, may have only a small window of operating hours and/or communication was limited. thus, arranging any modifications to a court order could be incommodious and sometimes not possible due to their constricting hours of operation. considering if there was a violation of court order, an enforcing institution such as a police department, was available for the public and parents could seek aid if there was cause for any type of court order violation or case of domestic dispute amongst parents. mental health children and families in the united states have suffered greatly throughout the covid-19 pandemic. school shutdowns, unprecedented job loss, and the grief and loss related to covid-19 deaths have highlighted the mental health and financial needs of parents— particularly single parents. (shipe, ayer and guastaferro 2022) the social distancing and restrictions may impede single parents from reaching out to others “face to face” for companionship and/or support. all the issues together pose a risk for a single parent to suffer from depression, anxiety, and distress. with so many people forced to conduct paid work from home—and with so many social services like childcare and public schools that are essential to people’s ability to work shut down—the research | theses | toscano joya 115 california sociology forum vol. 6 pandemic has stretched family to a breaking point. (hertz, mattes, shook, 2020) this accumulation of these issues coming together at such a vulnerable time in a parent’s life can stress the family out and make them reach their breaking point. methodology & data data collection this study examines 5 in-depth interviews with women who also identify as single parents living in california. the term single (alternatively, sole) parent refers to a parent who may be divorced, separated, widowed, single, never married, or not living with a partner. the study was reviewed, approved, and granted “exempt” status by the csula irb and conducted during academic year 2021-22. to recruit participants, i posted fliers on social media sites (e.g., primarily through facebook) to recruit my participants. i posted the flyer on facebook in a specialized group that included nearby neighbors in the city of which i live in. i also posted this flyer on two other university school pages and lastly on a single parents facebook page. the fliers contained my contact information so that potential participants could contact me if they were interested in the study. over four months, i received over ten email messages from individuals who wanted to take part in the study. ultimately, only five of the ten followed through with an interview. based on the recruitment parameters, all participants identified as currently “single” parents and had at least one child living with them. i used zoom to conduct my interviews for several reasons. first, on account of the pandemic, zoom was the safest option to get together. second, the ability to conduct interviews from comfort of homes would be especially important to my participants who were singularly juggling childcare and busy work schedules. for example, even during the interview the hum of everyday life and parenting was happening in the background. i could hear mothers instructing their children to take a bath or get ready for bed. if a participant did not have access to a computer or internet access, i was prepared to offer the interview via a mobile device– such as a telephone call. i should add that all participants were research | theses | toscano joya 116 california sociology forum vol. 6 able to connect via zoom. each interview lasted between 45-60 minutes and were, with the consent of the participant, recorded. i decided to use interviews as a method to elicit in-depth stories that spoke of their unique experiences/ familial situation and the pandemic. i transcribed each interview and coded them thematically to arrive at my findings. participant characteristics all the participants for this study identified as women i.e., karina, lizette, jennifer, crystal, and annie (names altered per irb). i did not specifically seek single mothers as i understand that there are single fathers out there as well. however, as data shows—most single parents are mothers. even though 3 single fathers had initially responded to my flyer, none followed through despite multiple emails from me. all the participants were women of color – four of them identified themselves as latinas and one as black. all of them had sought higher education with three completing a bachelor’s degree. their income range varied. crystal $125,000/annually and was arguably an outlier as the rest made between $24,000 – 50,000 annually. at least two worked more than one job. their ages ranged between early 30s and early 40s years. two of the mothers had only one child, while three of the participants had 2-3 children. all the children were minors, lived with their mothers, and their ages ranged between 4-14 years of age. further, all participants self-identified as “single” parents. all women had been in heterosexual relationships before its dissolution. four of the participants had separated before the pandemic. only one of them (annie) separated and started the divorce process at the beginning of the pandemic. in annie’s case, as related by her, the domestic violence she had endured before the pandemic had escalated during the pandemic and during the pandemic the children were also becoming victims of abuse. in fact, annie made the decision to separate when her ex-husband physically abused her son. as i discuss in the next section in more detail, all participants were solely responsible for the care of children and for most of them their ex-partners were not invested in childcare. two ex-partners reported active restraining orders against them due to a history of violence. the data provided for research | theses | toscano joya 117 california sociology forum vol. 6 the pieces of information and taking a “closer” look at the lives of these single parents provided a foundation for further analysis into their very own hardships and struggles. managing alone as single mothers all my participants said that the fathers of their children were mostly absent from their lives. none of the fathers made financial contributions and the few that met their children did so rarely. crystal mentioned that even when they were together, she essentially operated as a single parent and divorce just solidified that responsibility. she said, “sometimes even when you're married, you select you're single anyways, i just want to make that a point that women do a significant amount of work in the household. and so, it's just hard either way.” karina said that her son’s father wasn’t majorly involved in his everyday activities as she was. he would visit when it suited him. for all intents and purposes, she was the only parent who held the sole responsibility for her son. lizette and jennifer reported that their ex-partners were both incarcerated during much of the pandemic, but their substance dependence meant that they didn’t contribute even when they had been together. in jennifer’s case, it has always been an uphill battle when it came to the inconsistency that her expartner provided for her and her child. lizette’s ex-partner was released for a short while before being incarcerated again. annie and crystal reported that the fathers of their children had a current restraining order on file. they were both survivors of domestic violence. even though the fathers saw their children for supervised visits according to the court’s child custody order, there was no shared parenting relationship due to restraining orders. annie said, so, when we separated, um, we had that domestic violence situation. and so immediately, i had a restraining order put in place. and i still okay, now i know that people are most likely going to relapse multiple times before they could get sober, you know. so, i decided to stick around with him for two years. it was on and off, he would get clean, then he would relapse...when he research | theses | toscano joya 118 california sociology forum vol. 6 was clean, everything was fine...but i can’t have a part time husband or father figure for my son, you know. he had gotten released from the state facility. so, whenever he came out, he had to go live with his sister. he couldn’t...he didn’t have the resources to support or share custody, buying food for the kids. he didn’t even have a job. i have a restraining order in place till this day. and within that restraining order, it gave me executive control over the children with their persons, their medical, so i am their number one caregiver and in the eyes of the law and just in general. but i also want to preface this by saying, even when i was married, i was basically doing all the work anyways. so, i was already doing everything. clearly, the participants are the sole caregivers and the household's only breadwinners. going through the challenge of living through a historic pandemic—or not—they report that they were always there for their children. they couldn’t depend on or even place the father of their children in consideration in their children’s lives. this is due to the constant inconsistency that they experienced even when they were together, as a couple, at some point in their lives. managing alone is a recurring theme with all these participants and it is clear that they carry the tremendous responsibility of playing all these roles simultaneously to provide a quality of life for their child(ren). positionality like my participants, i identify as a single mother. i am also the sole caretaker of two school-aged children–aged twelve and seven years old. as an “essential worker,” i was required to go into work even as my children were home due to school closures. i was fortunate to have my mother close by to rely on. she looks after my children while i am away. but that came with its own challenges, i had daily contact with the public and feared contracting the virus and bringing it back to my family. my mother is immunocompromised, and i constantly feared for her well-being. unlike my participants, i was also fortunate enough to have developed a healthy co-parenting relationship with my exresearch | theses | toscano joya 119 california sociology forum vol. 6 partner. since he was able to work from home, he would often come by to my house and assist our children with online learning. he also had a computer desk set up for our children when they would visit him at his home. i was acutely aware that i was extremely fortunate in this regard, and this was not the case for most of my participants yet the shared realities between myself and my participants forged a rapport and intimacy that would have been harder to achieve had i been an “outsider.” if i had been an outsider, i wouldn’t have gained my participant’s trust so easily. it is difficult to open to someone, let alone talk about hardships and challenges that one goes through. if i claimed to be single with no children, i wouldn’t have a commonality to share with them. they would have possibly not wanted to be emotionally open to me and might have withheld information if that were the case. all in all, as single parents, we shared a deep knowledge and empathy for each other’s challenges. at the end of the interviews, they added that they were grateful to have participated in this research study and claimed it to be a form of therapy and felt that they were “seen” and “heard”. thus, my own personal history, common and shared stories of challenges and resilience aided in gaining my participant’s trust and confidence. findings my findings suggest that single parents experienced the pandemic as a double-edged sword – on the one hand, it pushed single parents to the brink as they “managed alone” the intensive tasks of parenting while shouldering work responsibilities. yet, surprisingly, they found moments of joy in otherwise trying times due to uninterrupted time spent with their children. managing alone and pushed to the brink the single mothers i interviewed were pushed to the brink during the early months of the pandemic as school closures weighed heavily on the mothers as a “new” expectation of roundthe-clock parenting without breaks added to already existing challenges that single mothers endured while keeping a balance on work and life. as karina noted, “for one if you're single, right, so you cannot rely on your partner late at night or in the morning, it's kind of you... kind of just have to keep on going without research | theses | toscano joya 120 california sociology forum vol. 6 hesitating or, or even have a time to complain, because at the same time, you're so busy trying to get things moving, like taking your child to school, to the doctor, to providing food on the table, that it has been very challenging... there is just no time.” due to fear of spreading and contracting the virus, they further isolated themselves from others. while in the past they had the support of their mothers and friends to step in, the pandemic took that away from them. with no one to fall back on, lizette summarized and said, “there’s no time i can't even be sick, because if i'm sick every ship will sink!” since schools and childcare centers were shut down due to the lockdown, it became a hardship for those parents that had to still go to work “in person” and leave their children at home. with no one to turn to, some like lizette left her children – who were of “legal age” –home alone as she went to work. but she worried about them nonstop. she said, “without anyone to watch over them, there is no one to even make sure they wake up for school on time.” some others like crystal, who jobs to find one where she could take her youngest with her. ultimately, she took a job at a daycare to be able to take her youngest son with her. she said she worked in a school district, took her children with her when she went to work. annie had to change professions—she notes the following: i reached out to this school that had daycare. they have special programs for low-income families, like you know... so, i went in there looking for daycare, and they offered me a job, because i said i need a job. so, i had to stop looking out for things in my field, you know, office, clerical stuff—to changing diapers and potty training and all that just so that i could be close to kayden so that i can obtain childcare. it was not a job annie wanted. she did not want to “clean poopie diapers all day,” but she settled for the sake of her son. all in all, the feature of childcare has always been an issue with or without the pandemic taking place, but the pandemic took away the few support systems that my participants had previously relied on. virtual schooling added another layer of stress. all the participants wanted to make sure that their children did great in research | theses | toscano joya 121 california sociology forum vol. 6 school. they often reported checking their work and rearranging their work schedules and/or meetings to accommodate their children. in addition to it all participants reported being stressed, due to the pandemic, and the uncertainty of everything occurring around them. parents were often responsible for facilitating the education of their children during the pandemic. as one participant said, “they call us the parent coaches...i have to help him with doing the homework, experiments, reading and i have to check everything before he submits. so, in addition to everything else i’m basically his teacher at home.” single mothers also feared for the welfare of their children. they worried what would happen to their children if they had covid and were hospitalized or worse. fear was a constant that would further isolate them from others. annie, for example stated the following, “we would go outside for a little while, but it was always that little fear, like, the uncertainty of like, is it okay, is it not?” moreover, the losses they experienced during the pandemic made it harder. two of the participants (lizette and crystal) lost their own mothers during the pandemic leading to tremendous emotional turmoil. scholarship has shown the important roles grandmothers typically play in low-income and/or single-parent families to supplement childcare (george and dickerson 1995). the women in this study had also relied on their mothers on occasion before so their mothers’ loss left yet another gap in their lives. during the interview, all the women reflected on the pain and loss, yet not being able to find time or space to properly grieve losses. they felt stretched thin. annie’s words put that in perspective. annie who had just left a violent marriage knew she needed therapy, but she said, the kids are going through therapy, right? you know, every, every tuesday they get therapy. they offered me help as well. i said no at the time, they are priority right now. i still have a lot of a lot going on. and i go to work, i come home, i have to cook, i have to do homework, i have to give showers. when do i even have time to do therapy? during my lunch break? so, i don't have time for school, i don't have time for therapy research | theses | toscano joya 122 california sociology forum vol. 6 sessions. i know, they will probably benefit me a lot, but i don’t have time. having to manage alone in this pandemic and life overall wasn’t enough for these participants— their quality of life was at a standstill or to place it in a literal sense—they felt defeated. they were all “burnt” out in having to just exist in their child(ren)’s lives and having to constantly juggle everything all at once without having to drop anything because everything, each role, was just as important. they constantly had to manage the everchanging climate of their surroundings and had to adhere to these special circumstances that made life cumbersome for them. they expressed a tiresome tone in their interviews. they felt like they needed a “break” from it all but when was that going to happen? “silver linings” while managing alone despite the struggles and hardships that the participants faced, it was surprising to hear that they felt the pandemic had its silver linings for them. all of them claimed that they were able to spend more time with their children and that it was a blessing in disguise. they experienced this quality time that they had not experienced “pre-pandemic.” there was time “saved” in not having to get ready and the time it took to travel from point a to b was just a walk to the living room to start work or school. they created this special bond with their children. they felt they were more than just parents—they were their teachers now. while this was sometimes overwhelming, as noted above, they also got a chance to be involved more with their children’s schoolwork and academics, which was meaningful. all, except for crystal, had dealt with severe financial strain before the pandemic but things shifted after the pandemic. as karina said, “financially, it is challenging, because i’ve always worked two or three jobs in order to maintain a healthy financial status for me.” in fact, their finances were less impacted by the pandemic and most continued to work where they had worked before. ironically, for some, the pandemic offered more hours at work and therefore, more money. jennifer reported that she was offered more overtime which added more income to the family. she stated the following, “in my field, i feel like we’re always going to be...considered essential. so workwise, it didn’t research | theses | toscano joya 123 california sociology forum vol. 6 really affect me...we were getting more hours...it was even a better working schedule for me.” however, this came with the possibility of exposure which constantly worried them. she related the extra time she would spend sanitizing her workplace to keep herself safe. government assistance programs during pandemic further added to their financial stability. however, they all reported that they qualified for the ebt card and were able to purchase groceries to help sustain their families. the “free lunch” pickup feature at school was another feature that helped them. even crystal, who makes $125,000 annually, qualified for the ebt card because of her children’s school district in a low-income neighborhood. lizette said, we were fortunate, their school district without us even knowing they applied for a grant. so, what they did is that if your children received free lunch, and all the kids get free lunch here in the district, they don’t have to pay for lunch. pretty much everybody got it...they would do curbside meals. so, the cafeteria would supply breakfast and lunch...my kids didn’t have a way to get there when i was at work...they got a food benefit card...that helped tremendously. further, child tax credit programs helped them create some savings. under the american rescue plan, parents were eligible to receive an increased child tax credit, if they were caring for a child in the household. the monthly child tax credit was $250 per child. this occurred from the time of july through december 2021. annie had fared the worst amongst all. she had just begun the process of separation when the pandemic started. upon separation, she had to find employment and a place to live with her children. her ex-spouse refused to provide support in any form and even kept the money received from child tax credit programs. she worked multiple jobs to stay afloat and relied on social services (e.g., ebt, section 8 housing, church, and domestic violence shelters) to get her back onto her feet and provide a type of security for her and her children. annie would spend hours and days trying to ensure that she and her children had basic amenities. yet, she felt that the pandemic also saved her research | theses | toscano joya 124 california sociology forum vol. 6 and her children, because pandemic related assistance programs helped her out: i’m under a program where they’re helping me with housing, which is for women and children that suffer from abuse. so, it’s called, “(name removed)” they’re helping me with my rent. i had covid in february. i reached out to a church that helped me...so i’ve been looking out for different programs to help me because it’s really hard getting paid $15 an hour when your rent is $1,800. and i get paid $2,000 a month? the process of healing also not only occurred within each participant, but it was apparent on the outside. annie claimed that she started to notice changes on the outside. she started to become healthier, and her mental health was getting better. despite all her struggles, she expressed that she felt that the pandemic saved her life. my health is better. i was on heart medication. you know because he had me on edge. my heart rate was always like 185 and i was sitting on the sofa. it was because of the tension because he would bring my adrenaline you know, like this (snaps fingers) like a switch. no, i’m not on that anymore...i had this weird allergy on my face...it was all stress related. my hair is actually growing out. it’s all those little things that you start noticing. it’s like, ``wow, this man was affecting so many people in so many different ways.” even my son is thriving, and now for the past year now, since he's been with me... we've been away from all that mess. he's nothing but straight a’s, honor roll. 4.0 grade point average. i mean, he's doing so well. this significant feature is the most remarkable silver lining in the study. annie was the participant that showed the most turmoil and was in great distress. although she remained calm and positive. she managed to cope and handled her hardships with grace and hope. research | theses | toscano joya 125 california sociology forum vol. 6 thus, despite the many challenges the pandemic presented the single mothers in this study found their solace in the few indirect perks the pandemic brought them, they found more time with their children and sometimes more of a financial safety net they had not experienced before due to pandemic relief programs. while the study had initially expected to find that challenges for single parents were exacerbated during the pandemic, i unexpectedly found narratives of hope and resilience. despite these silver linings the study points to the fact that even before the pandemic, single mothers were hard pressed to find quality time with their children. perhaps, more importantly, it shows the need for stronger safety nets for single parents. the moderate offerings in public assistance during the pandemic made so much of a difference is both eye-opening and troubling; and suggests that the public safety net needs to be broadened more generally. conclusion i expected the pandemic to only bring more grief and challenges along the way for the single parent and make life worse for the household. however, there were silver linings in these times uncertainty and unforeseen circumstances. the resilience of the participants and how they approached and coped with the challenges was remarkable. there was a medley of hardships that each of them uniquely encountered, however, they were all able to jump over that obstacle and make the best out of a bad situation. the participants shared a wealth of information about how they coped with the many factors that they encountered during the pandemic. they provided a lens into their lives and told stories about “managing alone” through the pandemic as a single parent. they spoke about their children and how much they cared for their well-being during this uncertain time. they tended to their basic human needs such as shelter and food security. they also were concerned about their children’s education. they all coped with virtual schooling that brought many challenges that needed to be dealt with. they worried about childcare and who could be present to ensure their children’s physical well-being if something were to happen to them. these parents worried about social distancing and mask requirements. after the school reopened and the research | theses | toscano joya 126 california sociology forum vol. 6 children were able to get back to a so-called “normal” they had to rebuild their past friendships and teacher relationships once again since they had spent so much time apart. while single parents are and were resilient for the sake of their children, the pandemic offered unforeseen silver linings that they all experienced during doubt and uncertainty. the information gathered here and the data that was analyzed, especially what mothers called “silver linings” is also a troubling insight into our current world. what kind of world do we live in that it takes a pandemic for a single parent to find quality time with their children? what kind of work culture have we created that allows us to ignore the crises of childcare experienced especially by single parents, day after day? the study showed the importance of public assistance/welfare measures for the health and welfare of children and women. all these participants benefited from a social service, one way or another, that was provided by the government during the pandemic. how would annie have fared without these given her ex-husband had not provided for them financially? the school lunches enabled the mothers to work, parent, and teach without worrying about making food during school/work hours. consider this, what would have happened to the mothers in this study had these services been absent during the pandemic? how would these single parents fend for themselves and their children? if anything, this study shows the importance of strengthening our social safety nets even after the pandemic. future directions of research a major limitation of this study was sample size. this research is based on five participants due to time constraints and the difficulty in recruiting from a demographic whose time is stretched thin. being a single parent and managing everything all at once is cumbersome and they simply may not have any extra time reserved to answer the questions involved in the interview. many single parents are still trying to manage and maintain their households and their mental health might be at risk. some potential participants may not have been ready to share their own challenges and struggles. they might be struggling with research | theses | toscano joya 127 california sociology forum vol. 6 homelessness or food insecurity and do not feel that they are in a safe space to speak about these hardships. future research could feature a larger sample size. further, as this study focused on single mothers, future research could compare the experiences of single fathers. the study would benefit from viewing the coping mechanisms according to a single father’s perspective, a group we rarely hear from. finally, future research could include an explicit analysis of vulnerable groups within categories of single parents, like undocumented single parents. such research would add nuance to our understandings of how groups living under multiple layers of oppression cope with the systemic challenges facing them. references almeida, marcela, angela d. shrestha, danijela stojanac, and laura j. miller. 2020. “the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on women’s mental health.” archives of women’s mental health 23(6):741–48.  andrada-poa, mary rose jean, ronaldo f. jabal, and jerome v. cleofas. 2021. “single mothering during the covid-19 pandemic: a remote photovoice project among filipino single mothers working from home.” community, work & family 25(2):260-278. aday, serpil, and mehmet seckin aday. 2020. “impact of covid-19 on the food supply chain.” food quality and safety 4(4):167-180. asanov, igor, francisco flores, david mckenzie, mona mensmann, and mathis schulte. 2021. “remote-learning, time-use, and mental health of ecuadorian highschool students during the covid-19 quarantine.” world development 138:105225. augustijn, lara. 2022. “mothers’ economic well-being in sole and joint physical custody families.” journal of family and economic issues 44(1):53–64.  banker, steve. 2022. “toilet paper shortages, empty shelves, and panic buying: just how bad was grocery service in 2020?” forbes. retrieved may 5, 2022 (https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebanker/2021/10/01/toilet-paper-shortagesempty-shelves-and-panic-buying-just-how-bad-was-grocery-service-in2020/). bowen, alison. ‘there’s not balance:’ single parents struggle with being the sole decider, caregiver and teacher. tca regional news. chicago: tribune content agency llc, 2020. brewster, karin l., and irene padavic. 2002. “no more kin care?” gender & society 16(4):546-563. broussard, c. anne. 2010. “research regarding low-income single mothers’ mental and physical health: a decade in review.” journal of poverty 14(4):443–51.  burghes, l. 1994. “what happens to the children of single parent families?” bmj 308(6937):1114-1115. cairney, john, michael boyle, david r. offord, and yvonne racine. 2003. “stress, social support and depression in single and married mothers.” social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology 38(8):442-449. research | theses | toscano joya 128 california sociology forum vol. 6 choi, shinwoo, soo-jung byoun, and eun hee kim. 2020. “unwed single mothers in south korea: increased vulnerabilities during the covid-19 pandemic.” international social work 63(5):676–80. dunatchik, allison, kathleen gerson, jennifer glass, jerry a. jacobs, and haley stritzel. 2021. “gender, parenting, and the rise of remote work during the pandemic: implications for domestic inequality in the united states.” gender & society 35(2):194-205. christner, natalie, samuel essler, astrid hazzam, and markus paulus. 2021. “children’s psychological well-being and problem behavior during the covid-19 pandemic: an online study during the lockdown period in germany.” plos one 16(6):e:0253473. craig, l., & churchill, b. 2021. unpaid work and care during covid-19: subjective experiences of same-sex couples and single mothers in australia. gender & society, 35(2), 233-243. debbarma, immanuel and tabitha durai. 2021. “educational disruption: impact of covid-19 on students from the northeast states of india.” children and youth services review 120:105769. elliott, sinikka, sierra j. satterfield, g. solorzano, sara bowen, annie hardison-moodie, and latasha williams.2021. “disenfranchised: how lower income mothers navigated the social safety net during the covid-19 pandemic.” socius: sociological research for a dynamic world 7. doi: 237802312110316. fisher, jenny et al. 2020. “community, work, and family in times of covid-19.” community, work & family23(3):247-252. fenstermaker, sarah, and candace west. 2013. doing gender, doing difference. gasibat, qais, aburwais aymen, and musab gasibat. 2021. “should schools reopen during the covid-19 pandemic?” journal of medicine 22(1):57-59. hertz, rosanna, jane mattes, and alexandria shook. 2020. “when paid work invades the family: single mothers in the covid-19 pandemic.” journal of family issues42(9):20192045. george, susan m., and bette j. dickerson. 1995. “the role of the grandmother in poor single mother families and households.” pp. 146-163 in african american single mothers; sage publications kotwal, nidhi, and bharti prabhakar. 2009. “problems faced by single mothers.” journal of social sciences 21(3):197-204. luijten, michiel a., maud m. van muilekom, lorynn teela, tina j. c. polderman, caroline b. terwee, josjan zijlmans, leonie slaufus, arne popma, kim j. oostrom, hedy a. van oers, and lotte haverman. ‘the impact of lockdown during the covid-19 pandemic on mental and social health of children and adolescents.” quality of life research 30(10): 2795-2804. “the impact of lockdown during the covid-19 pandemic on mental and social health of children and adolescents.” quality of life research 30(10):2795-2804. mclanahan, sara and karen booth. 1989. “mother-only families: problems, prospects, and politics.” journal of marriage and the family 51(3):557.  mills, susanna, viviana albani, and heather brown. 2021. “estimating the direct and indirect risks of becoming food insecure during the covid-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional analysis using uk cohort data.” the lancet 398: s67. pakstis, debra, and pei-chun hsieh. 2015. “how family leisure influences family functionality in single-parent families.” therapeutic recreation journal 49(4). pace, lori. 2021. “single mother household statistics in 2022.” retrieved may. 5, 2022 https://singlemothers.us/single-mother-statistics/ perry, charity, and rick fraser. 2020. “a qualitative analysis of new norms on transition days in blended families.” sociology mind 10(02):55-69. research | theses | toscano joya 129 california sociology forum vol. 6 radey, melissa, lisa langenderfer-magruder, and joedrecka brown speights. 2021. ““i don't have much of a choice”: low-income single mothers' covid-19 school and care decisions.” family relations 70(5):1312-1326. samuel, laura j., darrell j. gaskin, antonio j. trujillo, sarah l. szanton, andrew samuel, and eric slade “race, ethnicity, poverty and the social determinants of the coronavirus divide: u.s. county-level disparities and risk factors.” bmc public health 21(1). shipe, stacey l., lynsay ayer, and kate guastaferro. 2022. “american single father homes: a growing public health priority.” american journal of public health 112(1):21-23. spyreli, eleni, michelle c. mckinley, jayne v. woodside, and colette kelly. 2021. “a qualitative exploration of the impact of covid-19 on food decisions of economically disadvantaged families in northern ireland.” bmc public health 21(1). tang, suqin, mi xiang, teris cheung, and yu-tao xiang. 2021. “mental health and its correlates among children and adolescents during covid-19 school closure: the importance of parent-child discussion.” journal of affective disorders 279:353–60. clinical immunology tso, winnie w. y., rosa s. wong, keith t.s. tung, nirmala rao, king wa fu, jason c. s. yam, gilbert t. chua, eric y.h. chen, tatia m.c. lee, sherry k.w. chan, wilfred h.s. wong, xiaoli xiong, celine s. chui, xue li, kirstie wong, cynthia leung, sandra k.m. tsang, godfrey c.f. chan, pual k.h. tam, ko ling chan, mike y.w. kwan, marco h.k. ho, chun bong chow, ian c.k. wong, and patrick lp. 2020. “vulnerability and resilience in children during the covid-19 pandemic.” european child & adolescent psychiatry 31(1):161-176. westrupp, elizabeth m., mark a. stokes, matthew fuller-tyszkiewicz, tomer s. berkowitz, tanha capic, sarah khor, christopher j. greenwood, antonia mikoka-walus, emaa sciberras, george j. youssef, craig a olsson, delyse hutchinson. 2021. “subjective wellbeing in parents during the covid-19 pandemic in australia.” journal of psychosomatic research 145:110482. yuki, koichi, miho fujiogi, and sophia koutsogiannaki. 2020. “covid-19 pathophysiology: a review.” clinical immunology 215:108427. martha toscano joya (she/her/ella) graduated with a master of arts degree, in sociology, from california state universitylos angeles. she is an adjunct instructor at pasadena city college. her main courses are intro to sociology and race & ethnicity. her research interests include: human sexuality, immigration, race & ethnicity, poverty & social psychology & justice. this published piece is representative of her work alongside mentor, dr. shweta adur, who she is grateful and thankful for her continued support. this piece is dedicated to all single mothers who navigate life's challenges & obstacles. managing alone: single parenthood and silver linings in the time of covid-19 martha toscano joya reviews | book | melich 128 california sociology forum vol. 7 book review: just like family: how companion animals joined the household by andrea laurent-simpson alicia justice melich department of anthropology california state university, los angeles in the present day, more people are choosing to be childfree, or have children later in life, and marrying at older ages. the concept and definition of family are changing and reflecting these demographics. the nuclear heteronormative couple with two children is no longer the first image that comes to mind when a person thinks of the word family. andrea laurent-simpson, a research assistant professor and senior lecturer in the department of sociology at southern methodist university, offers an insightful approach to the “multispecies” family in america in her book just like family: how companion animals joined the household. her educational background includes a phd in sociology from texas woman’s university, and her research focus is based on family and fertility, non-human animal interaction, and identity theory. laurent-simpson’s main purpose and goal of this book is to “explain why the presence of the multispecies family is an important domain of research, particularly for family scholars. . . and to demonstrate how the multispecies family has developed in the context of increasing diversification of familial structures within the united states” (2021:23). she offers a sociological lens of the development of this new family form by analyzing her original data. this data includes 35 in-depth interviews with people who own dogs, cats, or both, from different types of family structures in the us, including families with children and families without (by choice or by circumstance), veterinary visit observations, pet advertisement analysis, and the author’s personal narratives. the purpose of this review is to highlight sociological literature on non-human actors and their social importance and relevance in not only the discipline of sociology but also to highlight a post-humanistic and non-human-centered approach to the subject of non-human social actors. the introduction to her book is a simple yet impactful one; this book is about family, a “multispecies” family. in chapter 1, she analyzes how different reviews | book | melich 129 california sociology forum vol. 7 historical macro-level devices have driven the multispecies family to appear. laurent-simpson also reviews the literature on the socio-historical impact of “postmodernity” and how it reflects in recognizing animals as sentient beings. she argues that we cannot fully understand the multispecies family as a new family type without looking at the influence of the industrial revolution and the changing family structure in the united states. identity theory is used in chapter 2 to observe how traditional family identities form within families without children. she also highlights the expectations of the role of the “parent” in american culture. she shows how her participants are parenting their pets as children, which results in the changing definition of family and who can take ownership of the said family label. in chapter 3, she shows how childless and childfree participants talk about the role of “parent” to a non-human participant and how that role is affirmed by their loved ones and close family members. chapter 4 is supported by a literature analysis examining the identities assigned to pets when human children are part of the home. she explores the emotional fulfillment and the identity formation that occurs from being a pet parent and how this role affects behaviors and lifestyle choices. in chapter 5, laurent-simpson analyzes macro-level evidence in pet product ads to connect the multispecies family dynamic as being reproduced and cemented in mainstream american culture. she highlights how the mass entity of advertisements has embraced the new multispecies family as a unique and distinct structure with different needs than the single-species family. she uses her analysis of advertisements that include pets as her evidence of this. lastly, in her conclusion, she states there is a gap in the scholarly literature about the multispecies family and calls for scholars to look at the impact of multispecies relations on identity and family structure in the united states. the exploration, thoughtfulness, and rich analysis of the multispecies family given by laurent-simpson provides a clear and relevant piece of literature supported by sociological theories, data, and personal anecdotes. the book achieves the author’s goals of demonstrating the importance of researching the multispecies family without being pretentious or overly academic. her writing is accessible to a multitude of readers. it provides an reviews | book | melich 130 california sociology forum vol. 7 abundance of qualitative data and theoretical sociological support from several authors to cement her own analysis. it is a relevant book to the changing of traditional family structure. although impactful and meaningful, this book could benefit from a deeper look at the ethical repercussions of “pet ownership,” the actual acquirement of the pet, and what the commodification of family pets implicates. this book provides an opportunity for the sociological field to broaden the definition of family and look to include nonhuman participants in more research. it takes a nuanced approach to the reaction of capitalistic fatigue and offers a liminal reaction to liberating the traditional, white-dominated notions of family. this book is meant for anyone who has a pet, any animal lover, or any person who recognizes that a family takes many forms and knows there is no limit on love and what a family can look like. it is a validating, informative love letter to anyone who has ever loved an animal. this book provides a practical application to expand the definition of family to include nonhuman participants. in final thoughts, i found this book to be affirming to pet lovers, clear and informative, and provides an abundance of sociological evidence. this book can provide a foundation to more scholarly works about the multispecies family and the possibilities for growth are endless. references laurent-simpson, andrea. 2021. just like family: how companion animals joined the household. nyu press. book review: just like family: how companion animals joined the household by andrea laurent-simpson alicia justice melich reviews | film | gamero 137 california sociology forum vol. 7 film review: under the same moon by patricia riggen hilda gamero department of sociology california state university, los angeles the storyline of the film under the same moon (2008) demonstrates a mexican mother and son who are separated by the u.s.-mexico border. the film examines the challenges and risks of immigrants who face hardship when crossing these neighboring countries. patricia riggen is a mexican film director born in guadalajara, jalisco, and has gained experience in journalism and writing for documentaries. riggen obtained a degree in communication sciences, and her thesis work is titled “female directors,” which allowed her to interview the top four female film directors at the time. given that opportunity, riggen had many job inquiries lined up but worked as a writer for her local newspaper and for a producer, which allowed her to collect research on the production industry. with that, she moved to new york city, where she received her master’s degree in directing and screenwriting at columbia university. since english was not her first language, riggen started writing short movies without dialogue. while attending columbia university, she directed two short films and found herself interested in writing and producing films. this led to the directing of her major-recognized movie under the same moon, which was acknowledged by many industries and granted even more opportunities. directing the film under the same moon allowed riggen to portray the immigrant experience of a young woman who is working in los angeles illegally and is separated from her 9-year-old son, still living back home with her mother in a small mexican village. under the same moon begins by illustrating a single mother, rosario, who entered the united states illegally to secure work in los angeles, leaving behind her young son carlitos in mexico for his grandmother’s care. with this separation, the son dearly misses her and wants her to return home; although she wants to see carlitos and wants him to come to los angeles, she cannot make the arrangements for him to come to the states and live with her due to her immigration status. as time passes, 9-yearold carlitos loses his grandmother and does not want to live with reviews | film | gamero 138 california sociology forum vol. 7 his aunt and uncle because they want his mother’s remittances. with that in mind, he decides to gather some money and seek help from a ‘coyote’ – a person who helps smuggle people across the border. carlitos finds two mexican american students who need cash to help take him to the united states, and it takes a turn when border officials impound the two students’ vehicle. as carlitos is stranded in the car, trying to make a run to seek help, he lands in the hands of drug addicts but is later rescued by a woman who helps immigrants. seeking any new resources that will help him be reunited with his mom, carlitos takes the opportunity to work with some men who pick crops. carlitos realizes the work provided to him is hard work and can acknowledge the difficulties and risks of work in the field. as they are working, suddenly, the farm is raided by police, but carlitos manages to escape with enrique, a middle-aged man who is also working at the farm. as they search for new work, carlitos manages to get jobs at a restaurant for two for the price of one deal which both carlitos and enrique will work but split the wages of a single worker. after some time, enrique decides to accompany carlitos searching for rosario in los angeles, where the mother and son eventually reunite in a location rosario would describe while she would call and stay in touch with carlitos. as the film shows the timeline of the mother and son being separated, it also has a representation of immigrants who cross the border illegally in hopes of finding opportunities but deal with the hardship of fear over being caught. this film demonstrates many social issues immigrants face when looking for employment opportunities. social issues are a problem within society as they affect many individuals who are seeking a better lifestyle. under the same moon shows experiences of discrimination, the lack of resources, deportation, family difficulties, poverty, and the purpose of social functioning. it illustrates how society has set aside people who do not have the same opportunities as someone who has to risk their lives to find a job for a proper lifestyle to afford their daily needs. the story underlines the struggles that immigrants face from separation of family, exploitation of labor, and deportation. the film represents social issues of family separation through rosario having to leave her son in order to work and to be able to provide for her son’s future. during one of the scenes, after reviews | film | gamero 139 california sociology forum vol. 7 rosario calls carlitos she states to one of her coworkers, “es que yo le estoy haciendo más daño estando aquí, lejos de el. el no sabe por qué me fuí. solamente sabe que lo dejé.” which translates, “it’s just, i’m hurting him more, by being here away from him. he doesn’t know why i left. he only knows that i left him.” this stood out to me because rosario chose to seek the opportunity of work to be able to provide a better lifestyle for carlitos. the separation of family shows that many are willing to take the risk of finding better working opportunities to help better assist themselves and their loved ones. though released in 2008, under the same moon still represents issues that are occurring today. the exploitation of labor and human trafficking is presented when immigrants are utilized as a trade to work under horrible working conditions. immigrants who migrate to the united states seeking opportunities have barriers that can result in a conflict in having the ability to interact with a society who disagrees with them coming to the u.s. for work or education purposes. migrant workers often are paid low wages and work in poor conditions while doing jobs that are more hands-on and do not require language fluency or book knowledge. the exploitation of labor in the film shows how immigrant workers work in unsafe conditions for long hours while only receiving low pay. in the film, young carlitos works the farm alongside the others in hot sunny conditions cropping crops in order to make some money to be able to reunite with his mother. at one point while acknowledging the heat, carlitos states, “pero eso no fue nada. cuando crucé la frontera eso fue lo más difícil. pero, ¿qué importa? vale la pena. yo haría lo que fuera por mi mamá.” this translates to, “but this was nothing. when i crossed the border, that was the most difficult part. but what does it matter? it is worth it. i would do anything for my mom.” to me this quote shares how, despite working in poor conditions and almost getting caught by ice when the farm is raided, carlitos believes the most difficult part was crossing the border and now that he has succeeded, he would do anything to reunite with his mother. this highlights elements of family separation because if carlitos was caught by ice as a child alone traveling, it would have been a difficult spot for his mother who is in the state with no documentation. reviews | film | gamero 140 california sociology forum vol. 7 lastly, deportation is the risk many immigrants face if they are detained, especially as undocumented people who are in the states illegally; they will be removed from the country because they have no authority or legal right to be there. in the film, when carlitos is working on the farm, it shows the risk of getting raided and having to flee the area without getting caught to continue working. working in the u.s. without the proper documentation while avoiding any potential legal consequence always has the possible consequences of getting caught that could limit migrants’ opportunities to improve their situations. with the current policies and laws that are being passed in the u.s., we can see the hardship and difficulties of getting caught and detained. many individuals who are accused of migrating or coming to the states illegally have been detained for long periods of time before preparing to leave everything they have built in the u.s. and be transferred back to their homeland. the film under the same moon illustrates the hardship and treatment many immigrants receive when coming to the united states for opportunities. it portrays resilience, family, immigration, identity, and hope, which reflects the experiences of individuals who cross the borders to seek opportunities to move forward to help themselves and their loved ones. in the shoes of rosario, we can see the difficulties of having to leave her child in order to be able to provide a better lifestyle and chance of making ends meet. it demonstrates the representation of resilience and finding the strength to move forward in finding working solutions to help one find the opportunities that will help them provide the essentials needs they lack. this film is essential to understanding the story behind an individual and real-life events that happen to those who migrate for opportunities to have a better future and a chance to succeed and help their family move forward, aside from the many challenges and barriers an individual may face. with that perspective, this film shows the importance of acknowledging and comprehending the struggles many immigrants face by risking their lives and leaving their families to achieve a better living. references riggen patricia. 2008. under the same moon. querétaro, mexico and los angeles, california potomac pictures film review: under the same moon by patricia riggen hilda gamero research | theoretical works | torres 77 california sociology forum vol. 7 marx and the question of palestine victoria torres department of sociology california state university, los angeles abstract may 15th is recognized by palestinians around the world as nakba day (nakba meaning ‘catastrophe’ in arabic), marking the anniversary of the creation of the state of israel on the same date in 1948, and the escalation of the ethnic cleansing of palestine. within 2 years (1947-1949), 15,000 palestinians were killed, 40% of the palestinian population became refugees, and zionist forces had taken over 78% of historic palestine. in 2025, 77 years later, we are witnessing the mass genocide of the palestinian people and the destruction of palestinian land by the zionist state and their allies–-the united states being one of the most prominent. in this paper, the history and current state of the palestinian genocide and the pro-palestinian movement will interact with karl marx’s theories on superstructure and infrastructure, class struggle, and class consciousness. positioning zionists as the oppressive, ruling class and palestinians as the oppressed will explain the influence of class struggle and economic infrastructure on the ethnic cleansing of palestine and the pro-palestinian movement that has followed. history of palestine in the 1600s, poet and colonist, george sandys spoke of palestine as “a land that flowed of milk and honey . . . adorned with beautiful mountains and luxurious valleys; the rocks producing excellent waters; no part empty of delight or profit” (said 1980:11). said (1980) also notes that the native palestinian population was composed of people who all spoke arabic and were mainly sunni muslims, with a smaller sum of the population being christians, druzes, and shiite muslim. native palestinians were the prideful caretakers of their land and were responsible for the construction of the major cities in palestine–nablus, jerusalem, nazareth, acre, jaffa, jericho, ramallah, hebron, and haifa. palestinian intellectuals and professionals organized social, economic, and cultural life around the issues of independence and anti-colonialism, which gave rise to a distinctly palestinian and research | theoretical works | torres 78 california sociology forum vol. 7 pervasive form of resilience (giacaman 2020; said 1980). a palestinian identity was created in opposition to the ottoman empire, british rule, and jewish colonization. despite the presence of native palestinians and their efforts to maintain their land, outsiders viewed palestine as empty land and deemed palestinians as invisible (embrick and williams 2023). world war i marked the beginning stages of serious zionist planning for the colonization of palestine (amar-dahl 2017; said 1980). zionism emerged because of the rise of antisemitism in europe, to resolve the jewish people’s statelessness, and to preserve the collective existence of the jewish people (amar-dahl 2017). this marked a shift in focus from religion toward nationalism amongst zionists. leaders of zionist organizations (tahhan 2018) believed it to be “the principle that palestine should be reconstructed as the national home for the jewish people,” (said 1980:13) and through intensive zionist lobbying, led british authorities to declare that the jewish people were capable of giving palestine “a place in the modern family of nations” (said 1980:13). other locations, such as south america and east africa, were considered potential homes for the jewish people; however, palestine was selected because of jewish connection to the holy land. in november 1917, arthur balfour issued the balfour declaration which declared its aim to establish a national home for the jewish people in palestine and was included in the terms of the british mandate for palestine after the dissolution of the ottoman empire, (tahhan 2018). the initiation of the mandate expedited european jews’ immigration to palestine. from 1914 to 1927, the jewish population increased from 11% to 28% (said 1980). the mandate made an apathetic attempt to protect the civil and religious rights of the non-jewish population in palestine but refused to even acknowledge the native palestinian population as anything other than non-jewish (said 1980; tahhan 2018). many speculate what influenced the balfour declaration (tahhan 2018), and scholars debate that it was either to solve the jewish problem, maintain british influence in the region, appease zionist lobbying, and/or garner jewish support in the war. the balfour declaration resulted in violent clashes between jewish immigrants and native palestinians and is cited as the precursor for the nakba (or research | theoretical works | torres 79 california sociology forum vol. 7 ‘catastrophe’). the arab revolt, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, destroyed more than 2,000 palestinian homes, the placement of 9,000 palestinians in concentration camps, and the deportation of 200 palestinian nationalist leaders (chomsky and pappé 2015; tahhan 2018). by november 1947, the british government turned over control of palestine to the united nations, ending its colonial project, due to the violence of zionist armed forces. the united nations adopted resolution 181 which recommended a two-state solution for palestine. before the adoption of the resolution, jews made up less than one-third of the population in palestine and owned about 6% of palestinian land (said 1980). the united nations and resolution 181 granted zionists 55% of palestinian land, depriving palestinians of key agricultural lands, seaports from haifa to jaffa, and major cities (chomsky and pappé 2015; said 1980). this resolution was a confirmation of the political and economic power of zionism. despite being granted 55% of palestinian land, zionist leaders recognized that the creation of a monoethnic, monocultural jewish state would not be achieved by purchasing land and homes but by force (chomsky and pappé 2015). an idea that garnered fervent support amongst israeli leaders. therefore, the plans for the ethnic cleansing of palestine were finalized on 10 march 1948, and on that same evening, israeli military troops prepared for the systematic expulsion of palestinians from large portions of the country (chomsky and pappé 2015). the order provided detailed instructions on how to utilize large-scale intimidation tactics, bombardment of villages, and explosives to remove palestinians from their land and prevent them from returning (said 2015; chomsky and pappé 2015). 15 may 1948 marked the official end of the british mandate and the beginning of the israeli state. annually, may 15th is recognized amongst palestinians as a national day of remembrance for the loss of their homeland; for israelis, this day commemorates their independence. within 6 months, 750,000 palestinians had been uprooted, 531 villages had been destroyed, and 11 neighborhoods were forcefully uninhabited (chomsky and pappé 2015). in 1948, a jewish homeland was achieved via violent attacks on palestinian political leadership, financial supporters, means of sustenance (wells, mills, land, etc.), and vital means of research | theoretical works | torres 80 california sociology forum vol. 7 production (chomsky and pappé 2015). regardless of their victory, the zionist project continues. the naksa (or ‘the set-back’ in arabic), commonly referred to as the 1967 arab-israeli war or six-day war, increased israeli control of palestine from 55% to 85%. israeli occupation forces (iof) gained control of east jerusalem, the west bank, and the gaza strip and displaced 430,000 palestinians. about 50% of those people who had been previously displaced by the “nakba” were displaced again. under israeli occupation, palestinians became either refugees by relinquishing their right to return to historic palestine or palestinian citizens of israel (farsakh 2016). palestine today in the 77 years since the naksa and nakba, israel has controlled every aspect of palestinian life, from where they can travel, to what they learn in school, to what services they can access, and to where they live. life in occupied territories is characterized by its de jure discrimination, heavy surveillance, violent military, and constant threat of imprisonment or execution (embrick and williams 2023). tensions between iof and palestinian resistors have persisted from 1947 to today, with thousands of bombs dropped and tens of thousands of lives lost in between. on october 7th, 2023, hamas and other palestinian resistance groups broke through a barrier around the gaza strip in response to decades of israeli oppression. 1,139 people were killed and 250 were taken as hostages. israel retaliated by exclaiming that they would eradicate hamas, and since the october 7th attack, iof have killed over 42,000 palestinians and buried thousands under the rubble. an amnesty international usa investigation (2024) has concluded that israel is committing genocide against palestinians in gaza. since october 2023, all efforts towards an israeli-hamas ceasefire have failed repeatedly. 2.2 million gazans have been displaced, some of whom are being displaced for a second or third time. the iof have destroyed gaza’s infrastructure (housing, schools, healthcare facilities, water and sanitation services, and the electricity grid). the united nations population fund states that the genocide has worsened gaza’s already severe poverty and that its socio-economic outlook is dire. additionally, all economic research | theoretical works | torres 81 california sociology forum vol. 7 sectors have ceased production and sales, restricting access to humanitarian relief. the amnesty international usa (2024:1) report finds that israel is aware of the “irreparable damage it is inflicting on palestinians in gaza,” regardless of their claims that their actions to eliminate hamas are justified. marx, palestine, and the pro-palestinian movement existing literature (aronson 1980; embrick 2023; englert and bhattacharyya 2024) focuses on the ethnic/racial, historical, theological, resource struggles, and/or geopolitical dimensions of zionist’s ethnic cleansing of palestine. the theological argument states that jerusalem has been the spiritual, religious, and national center of the jewish people for thousands of years (englert and bhattacharyya 2024). jews were exiled from the kingdom of judah, but it remains an important aspect of jewish life. historical arguments state that the jewish rule of israel dates back to 1000 bce and claims that jerusalem was vital in shaping jewish history, traditions, and cultural identity. the ethnic/racial perspective argues that zionists use anti-arab, anti-muslim sentiments to garner the support of the west. edward said (1980) explains that zionism is in complete correspondence with western ideas about society and man. european jews were expected to create “a civilization of sweetness and light out of the black islamic sea” (said 1980:25). this paper seeks to explain how capitalism and israel’s interest in wealth accumulation have influenced the ethnic cleansing of palestine and the current genocide. karl marx’s theories on infrastructure and class consciousness will provide an alternative perspective on the history and current state of palestine. infrastructure and superstructure karl marx’s law of development of human history states that people must fulfill their basic needs before they can pursue politics, science, art, religion, and beyond; therefore, those who have access to a surplus of capital and control the means of production determine prominent societal norms and culture (adams and sydie 2001). palestinians’ relationship to production, (in)access to wealth, and social structure are largely shaped by research | theoretical works | torres 82 california sociology forum vol. 7 historical, political, and economic contexts, specifically the impact of colonialism, occupation, displacement, and resistance. before 1948 and the establishment of the state of israel, 60% of the palestinian population worked in agriculture (said 1980). land ownership and agricultural output were central to production, livelihood, and identity. palestine was a feudal society, whose folklore, societal structure, cuisine, habits, customs, dialect, and culture were influenced by their connection to the land and were uniquely palestinian (said 1980). after the nakba, the shift toward alienated labor and the israeli government’s push for the privatization of palestinian land transformed palestine from a feudal, agricultural society to a capitalistic society with the israeli bourgeois at the helm. the systematic destruction of palestinian homes, villages, universities, cultural landmarks, religious institutions, and so forth, left tens of thousands of palestinians displaced, jobless, and under israeli occupation. the israeli government had the power to seize the land of entire palestinian villages and transfer ownership to the state of israel (falah 2004). only a few palestinians were fortunate enough to find jobs, afford housing, and reintegrate into the economy (englert and bhattacharyya 2024). this provided the israeli government with a surplus of palestinian labor. employment opportunities for palestinians consisted of construction or other labor-intensive jobs in israeli-controlled areas; therefore, alienating palestinians from the means of production, themselves, and their communities. palestinians were forced to participate in the israeli economy without reaping any of the financial benefits. israel has ensured that israeli jews occupy the highest positions on the economic scale and that indigenous palestinians are excluded to maintain total control of palestine (embrick and williams 2023; marx and engels 1978). from a marxist lens, israel’s ability to successfully carryout and “justify” the continual expropriation of palestine is due to their control of the means of production, alienation of labor, access to a surplus of labor, and “ownership” of private property. now that the israeli occupation forces have claimed palestinian land as their own, the israeli capitalist class attempts to eliminate palestinian norms, traditions, society, practices, and more to replace them with israeli culture. a primary target being research | theoretical works | torres 83 california sociology forum vol. 7 education. said (1980) explains that education for palestinians deteriorated drastically under israeli occupation due to a lack of teachers, inferior schools, use of hebrew language over arabic, and a stark change in the curriculum. the israeli government’s education policies emphasize palestinian decline, corruption, and violence, while simultaneously presenting jewish history in the best possible light (said 1980). an attack on palestinian education is an attack on the promotion and preservation of palestinian culture. however, the palestinian people are at the mercy of the israeli government. their complete control over the economy places palestinians in a vulnerable position where they are reliant on the state of israel for survival. the israel government, in turn, uses their power to ensure the subordination of palestinians and their culture, while promoting zionist ideology. without the need for justification, israeli zionists have been able to carry out an ethnic cleansing of the palestinian people. their accumulation of wealth in combination with the continual cultural extermination has produced a state that does not need to rationalize their actions. class consciousness and resistance marx’s concept of class consciousness refers to the recognition of one’s social position concerning larger economic systems, power dynamics, and inequality (marx and engels 1978). amongst the working class, class consciousness allows for the realization of their exploitation and alienation for the benefit of the capitalist class. working-class folks’ humanity is discounted in pursuit of the accumulation of wealth. the proletariat and capitalist class are two sides of the same coin; the wealthy are compelled to preserve their wealth, while the proletariats seek to abolish it. collective action, birthed from social awareness, seeks to eradicate exploitation and oppression (marx and engels 1978). class consciousness among palestinians is shaped by the socio-political and economic conditions of palestine. class intersects with palestinian national identity, geography, and external pressures to shape their class awareness and struggle (englert and bhattacharyya 2024). the israeli occupation has created a heightened awareness of economic inequality and class struggle amongst palestinians through their alienation from production (embrick and williams 2023; englert and research | theoretical works | torres 84 california sociology forum vol. 7 bhattacharyya 2024). regardless of their alienation, class consciousness and a strong sense of identity remain powerful forces that are deeply ingrained in palestinian culture. said (1980) explains that palestinians, since the ottoman empire, have consciously and consistently positioned themselves in collective opposition to colonial forces. he continues by stating that the idea of resistance gets content and muscle from palestine (said 1980). the preservation of palestinian culture via poetry, literature, art, music, food, and so forth serves as a form of ideological resistance. palestinian cultural and ideological resistance aims to transform material conditions. boycott, divestment, sanctions movement the boycott, divestment, sanctions (bds) movement employs non-violent punitive measures to put economic pressure on israel to recognize palestine’s right to self-determination. palestinian political parties, unions, associations, coalitions, and organizations have come together to represent the interests of palestinian refugees, palestinians under occupation, and palestinian citizens of israel. there is a recognition of shared struggles and the importance of solidarity across class and national lines. given that all efforts to convince or force israel to comply with humanitarian law and end its occupation of the people of palestine have failed, representatives of the oppressed class are encouraging boycotts and divestment against israel. they are calling upon international civil society to pressure their respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions against israel. the bds movement is targeting the economic base that plays a vital role in funding and maintaining systems of oppression (desai 2021). they have called for an escalation in boycott and divestment efforts, within the last year, in response to israel’s escalation of violence against palestinians. their social media campaigns have worked to educate people around the world about the palestinian genocide and encourage them to participate in the bds movement, making them allies in the palestinian struggle. academic associations and student unions in the united states, canada, the united kingdom, and beyond have turned to their colleges and universities asking them to divest from israeli businesses. the bds movement is a clear example of class research | theoretical works | torres 85 california sociology forum vol. 7 consciousness because it recognizes israel’s economic exploitation, its promotion of solidarity among oppressed groups (palestinians and allies), and its efforts to dismantle systems of power (desai 2021). bds aligns with the principles of class struggle and demonstrates how economic resistance can serve as a tool for broader liberation. conclusion an overview of the history of palestine was included to provide context for its connection to marx’s theories on infrastructure and superstructure, class consciousness, and class struggle. palestine was positioned as the oppressed, working class, and israel was posited as the oppressive, ruling class. israel’s complete control of palestinian land and means of production led to their complete control of israeli-palestinian society and culture, which promotes the oppression and dehumanization of palestinians. despite the efforts of the iof and their zionist allies, palestinians continue to demonstrate unwavering resilience and faith that their land will be there once again. references adams, bert n., and rosalind a. sydie. 2001. sociological theory. thousand oaks, ca: pine forge press. amar-dahl, tamar. 2017. zionist israel and the question of palestine: jewish statehood and the history of the middle east conflict. berlin; boston: de gruyter. amnesty international usa. 2024. “amnesty international investigation concludes israel is committing genocide against palestinians in gaza.” amnesty international. https://www.amnestyusa.org/pressreleases/amnesty-international-investigation-concludes-israel-iscommitting-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza/. aronson, ronald. 1980. “never again? zionism and the holocaust.” social text 3(1980):60-72. doi: 10.2307/466344. chomsky, noam, and ilan pappé. 2015. on palestine. edited by f. barat. harmondsworth, ny; ringwood, on; auckland: penguin books. desai, chandni. 2021. “disrupting settler-colonial capitalism: indigenous intifadas and resurgent solidarity from turtle island to palestine.” journal of palestine studies 50(2):43–66. doi: 10.1080/0377919x.2021.1909376. embrick, david g., and johnny eric williams. 2023. “alienation, racial capitalism, and the racialization of palestinians.” critical sociology 49(6):939–51. doi: 10.1177/08969205231172730. research | theoretical works | torres 86 california sociology forum vol. 7 englert, sai, and gargi bhattacharyya. 2024. “capital’s genocide: a conversation on racial capitalism, settler colonialism, and possible worlds after gaza.” journal of holy land and palestine studies 23(2):165–86. doi: 10.3366/hlps.2024.0337. falah, ghazi-walid. 2004. "war, peace and land seizure in palestine's border area." third world quarterly 25(5):955–975. doi: 10.1080/0143659042000232054. farsakh, leila. 2016. “palestinian economic development: paradigm shifts since the first intifada.” journal of palestine studies 45(2):55–71. doi: 10.1525/jps.2016.45.2.55. giacaman, rita. 2020. “corrigendum to: reflections on the meaning of ‘resilience’ in the palestinian context.” journal of public health 42(2):440–440. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdaa037. marx, karl. 1970. a contribution to the critique of political economy. new york. marx, karl, and friedrich engels. 1978. the marx-engels reader. edited by robert c. tucker. 2nd ed. new york: w. w. norton." said, edward w. 1980. the question of palestine. 1. vintage books ed. new york, ny: vintage books. tahhan, zena al. 2017. “more than a century on: the balfour declaration explained.” al jazeera. victoria torres (she/ella/they) is a graduate student in the sociology department at cal state la. in may 2022, she graduated magna cum laude from cal poly pomona where she was recognized with the “outstanding sociology student” scholarship, conducted research as a president’s discovery fellow, and was the vice president/secretary for akd, the sociology honors society. at cal state la, she hopes to make an impact within the sociology department and beyond. her research interests include gender, queer theory, latinx/e sociology, social movements, and radical social theory. victoria is grateful to the california sociology forum for the opportunity to publish her piece on marx and palestine. marx and the question of palestine victoria torres reviews | film | ramirez 191 california sociology forum vol. 6 film review: don’t worry darling by olivia wilde christina mary ramirez department of sociology california state university, los angeles introduction the film don’t worry darling (2022) depicts unhappiness with married life, toxic masculinity, and the fight for gender equality. seemingly set in the 1950s, several couples live in a pretentious, thriving community that shelters successful couples under an experiment. everyone in the town of victory lives in a simulation initiated by a character named frank. in the actual present day, throughout the film, frank is portrayed as a cult leader. in this experimentation he is leading, frank has motivated and swayed men to give him their money to exist in a virtualreality stimulation similar to life during the 1950s. this voluntarily paid experiment transfers them mentally into another dimension, leaving their failed lives behind for the make-believe lifestyle they choose. the new life entails a successful career for the husband, a luxurious lifestyle, and joy, while the wives stay home cleaning, cooking, exercising, and living up to what the perfect woman entails. the film represents a vision of femininity that relies on essentialist assumptions about what it means to be a woman; it also underscores the risks of ignoring those who don’t perfectly align with this image. social structures examined the movie describes our society’s obsession with a perfect world. it demonstrates the pressure on individuals to live a ‘perfect life,’ to the point of violence against women. in its most straightforward explanation, don’t worry darling challenges its spectators to test our typical and traditional social structure by the story narrative of characters falsifying and creating a new world shaped to their liking by disassembling the social structures forced onto them. in the present day, it is revealed that alice and jack, the main characters, are both working-class individuals. alice maintains her occupation while her partner jack has growing feelings of hopelessness in his search for a job. for jack to become reviews | film | ramirez 192 california sociology forum vol. 6 a man in his own eyes, he chooses an independent route that affects alice’s entire life. while he may have had the option of ending their relationship and pursuing his new life goal, he chooses to bring her along without her knowing. jack had an unrealistic view of what society he wants to be a part of, which is one where he has more of an impact as a man than any of the women. although jack ultimately wanted a better life for himself and alice, he took a path that affects others without their consent. on the other hand, alice opposes this lifestyle once she learns she’s been living in a technologically controlled community called victory. the experiment manipulates the participants into believing that having the men assume the role of breadwinner allows them to be in charge of everything while their wives will be left at ease not by having to worry about working or any personal obligations or own ambitions other than to be a regular housewife. despite the life of luxury and comfort victory provides, alice wants more in life. she wanted no part of this; she prefers a society which encourages gender equality. the film illustrates a battle for change. by refusing to be a part of this community, alice is violently putting her life at risk, possibly even death. even in her inferior position within the simulation, she keeps fighting to end the experiment and make the world better through gender equality. conclusion this film meets the audience with curiosity, confusion, mystery, thrilling, and even controversial observations. director olivia wilde brings the viewers on an appealing adventure full of deceit. wilde’s ability to represent the inequalities and predetermined gender roles put into society is magnificent. the story speaks on women’s rights issues, especially the shared role in strengthening equality as opposed to patriarchy. in the development of the movie don’t worry darling, wilde focuses on preventing a biased portrayal, trying to steer clear of defining men as characteristically bad and women as characteristically good. additionally, she investigates to which level individuals acknowledge their contribution in a system that belittles them.  however, the story fails to account for the experiences of lowerclass women, women of color, and people living nonreviews | film | ramirez 193 california sociology forum vol. 6 heteronormative lifestyles. there’s an economic privilege that the film doesn’t acknowledge. it assumes that all members of the two depicted genders have shared experiences and that the struggles or successes middle-class white women go through are the same for all other women. nevertheless, this film is for anyone who wants to experience a challenging and different view of society and gender roles. references wilde, olivia. 2022. don’t worry darling. los angeles, ca: new line cinema; vertigo entertainment. christina mary ramirez (she/her) is a sociology m.a. student at cal state university, los angeles and will be graduating in the spring of 2024. her interest is in intergenerational solidarity, children’s psychological wellbeing, and family dynamics. she believes exploring these topics is vital for society because the family may be the first to serve as a foundational source of love, companionship, and understanding. she is in the process of completing her thesis, studying the effects parent-child conflict has on children’s depression, especially while enduring a traumatic experience like divorce. christina is grateful for the opportunity she has been given to explore her writing in sociological areas and to be able to work alongside brilliant, goal-orientated students and faculty. film review: don’t worry darling by olivia wilde christina mary ramirez california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) the role of resocialization in the disposition of california college students toward the legalization of marijuana michael bouvet department of sociology california state university, los angeles previous research on marijuana consumption indicates that peer influence plays a significant role in an individual’s decision to try it; however, there is little research that focuses on the role of the collegiate environment as a tool of resocialization in the disposition of college students toward marijuana. the author argues that it is through a process of resocialization that an individual will begin to become more liberal on certain issues. from the perspective of a resocialization process, the author proposes that (1)attending college will proliferate a process of resocialization, specifically in the belief that the use of marijuana by a student or other students within the college environment is not deviant in nature and is, on the contrary, a socially acceptable behavior; and that (2) college students that had been re-socialized to perceive marijuana use as part of a collegiate style of life will be more likely to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. using data drawn from a 2009 availability sample of 220 csula students at various stages of their college education, this paper found,through a multivariate regression analysis, that respondents who had received more college education were more likely to support the legalization of marijuana.these findings clearly demonstrate a correlation between the dependent variable and key independent variable, supporting the hypothesis that attending college will proliferate a process of resocialization, at the very least, on this specific topic of support for the legalization of marijuana. from the re-socialization perspective, when exposed to a collegiate environment, most individualswill experience a transformation in previous socialized perceptions, which is significant as the implications of marijuana’s legalization suggest a relief in the current economic crisis plaguing college students across the country. introduction 1 most studies agree that marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the united states today. according to the 2004 michael bouvet is a graduate student in the department of sociology. his paper was originally submitted to soc. 410 advanced statistics, taught by dr. hyojoung kim in winter 2011. national survey on drug use and health (nsduh), approximately 96.8 million (40.2%) americans ages 12 and older have used marijuana in one form or another at least once during their life. comparatively 25.5 million (10.6%) individuals reported using marijuana in the past 12 months, and 14.6 million (6.1%) individuals reported using marijuana in the past 30 days. adjoined with wide use of marijuana has come an escalated concern specifically on resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 93 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) public policy regarding the possession and use of marijuana. recently, the associated press reported that the legalization of marijuana has gained substantial momentum in california. many marijuana supporters and advocates are accumulating signatures to appropriate as many as three marijuanalegalization measures for the 2010 california ballot, essentially fashioning what could be a groundbreaking clash with the federal government over u.s. drug policy on marijuana (wohlsen, 2009). the issue of whether to legalize marijuana is an extremely heated topic. there is an extensive laundry list of the pros and cons with valid arguments coming from both sides. some of the most prominent arguments for legalization of marijuana are based on the assumption that significant amounts of money would be generated or saved if legalization would occur. funds derived from the tax revenue generated from a regulated marijuana market, reduction in prosecutions of marijuana offenses and subsequent jail sentences, and increased production and market of hemp based products could potentially create a large sum of money that could ease the effects that the current economic downturn has had on the state. however, there is another hidden factor adding wind to the sails of this issue and that is the sea of change in the public perception of marijuana that has occurred since the smear campaigns of the 50s and 80s to eradicate it. its usage is more and more socially acceptable among younger generations. as one might expect, college students use marijuana at higher rates than the u.s. population generally. a 2007 national college health assessment (ncha) reported that nearly a third of college students have tried marijuana in their lifetimes. it has been theorized that the college environment may play a role in these higher rates of usage since it is a very impressionable time for young adults. for many college students, it is their first real taste of freedom. it is a transition from living at home and having the supervision and guidance of their parents, to becoming an adult with more freedom than ever. it is often a period of radical change that can arguably be fostered by a collegiate atmosphere of learning and a collective coming of age. one interesting scenario that occurs when addressing public policy regarding possession and use of marijuana among college bound voters is that students tend to misperceive the usage rate among their peers. studies have noted that, despite the actual campus norm, college students tend to behave in accordance with what they believe to be the expectations and behaviors of their peers. this particular study employs a socialization theory and tests the hypothesis that re-socialized college students that perceive marijuana use as part of a collegiate style of life will be more likely to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. research hypothesis key research hypothesis: the blackwell encyclopedia of sociology states that re-socialization is a process of identity transformation in which people are called upon to learn new roles, while unlearning some aspects of their old ones. the need to learn new roles may result from voluntary or involuntary changes in status. when the role requirements of the new status conflict with an individual's earlier or primary socialization, the process of resocialization may be necessary. this process often requires an unlearning of internalized norms, values, beliefs, and practices, to be replaced by a new set which is considered appropriate to the new role. resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 94 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) re-socialization most often occurs when an individual is called upon to adopt a new specialized status, often in adulthood. thus it is sometimes referred to as adult socialization. examples include joining the military or a religious order; enrollment in a school or college; becoming a prisoner; or being hospitalized for mental illness. in each case, a person is required to take on a new identity as a professionalized or institutionalized self, and must adopt new ways of relating to both self and others. therefore it is theorized that attending college will proliferate a process of resocialization, specifically in the belief that the use of marijuana by a student or other students within the college environment is not deviant in nature and is, on the contrary, a socially acceptable behavior. accordingly it is hypothesized that college students that had been re-socialized to perceive marijuana use as part of a collegiate style of life will be more likely to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. current college education: it is hypothesized that more education received by the college student surveyed, the more likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore, undergone a process of resocialization. it is further hypothesized that other control variables will affect a college’s students perception of marijuana as socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. gender: males are hypothesized to more often perceive marijuana as a collegiate style of life and will be more likely to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. age: it is hypothesized that the older the age of the college student surveyed, the more likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. mother’s education: because children are more likely to be influenced by their mothers compared to other influences, it is hypothesized that the more education received by the mother of the college student surveyed, the more likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. religion: it is hypothesized that the more religious the college student surveyed, the less likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. mother’s religion: because children are more likely to be influenced by their mothers compared to other influences, it is hypothesized that the shared religious beliefs of the college student surveyed and his/her mother will likely inhibit the belief that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore inhibit the support for the legalization of marijuana. political affiliation: it is hypothesized that certain political affiliations and/or background political beliefs (republican) will likely inhibit the belief that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore inhibit the support for the legalization of marijuana. mother’s political affiliation: because children are more likely to be influenced by their mothers compared to other influences, resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 95 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) it is hypothesized that a shared political affiliation and/or background political beliefs of the college student surveyed and his/her mother will likely inhibit the belief that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore inhibit the support for the legalization of marijuana. past/present marijuana consumption: it is hypothesized that if a college student surveyed indicates a past/present consumption of marijuana, the more likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. the belief that college peers currently consume marijuana regularly: it is hypothesized that if the assumption that college peers regularly consume marijuana is present, the more likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. literature review there are numerous studies that have been conducted on the prevalence of marijuana usage among college students. the data on student marijuana usage at any given campus in the united states can range from 5% to 40%. however, the 2007 national college health assessment (ncha) reported that 12.7% of college students reported using marijuana in the past thirty days. additionally, 31.2% reported using marijuana in their lifetime (american college health association, 2008). the 2006 core institute reported similar numbers; in the past 30 days, 16.7% reported usage and 30.1% reported usage in their lifetime (the core institute, 2007). this data seemingly corroborates the notion that recreational use of marijuana has considerably increased within the united states in the past few decades, especially among college students. another interesting facet to the increased usage of marijuana among college students is the misconception of how prevalent usage is among peers. the 2007 ncha surveyed students about their perceptions of the marijuana usage rate for the typical student. eighty percent of the survey respondents believed their peers used marijuana in the past thirty days, clearly overestimating usage (american college health association, 2008). overall, previous studies indicate that higher marijuana use by relatively younger collegiate age groups suggests that a separate analysis of college students could be particularly useful in understanding the role of college in a resocialization process of young adults. early socialization of children by parents or guardians regarding the negative affects of marijuana usage is usually typical in the united states. often parents attempt to enforce their version of american reality on their children. this is normally perceived by individuals within society as the duty of the parent or guardian, to be done for the good of community and for the good of the child. this stems from the societal norm that it is both moral and scientifically soundfor parents to do so (goode, 1969). furthermore, many students who attend college are living away from home for the first time in their lives, and they are free from direct parental supervision and control. they are also faced with the challenges of making new friends and acquaintances, establishing new living arrangements, and negotiating their way around a college campus (beck et al., 2008). it is understandable that marijuana is used in the context of social facilitation, to make friends more easily and to form relationships with others. as noted by gledhill-hoyt et al (2000), there are a number of factors that resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 96 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) propagate the heightened usage of marijuana among college students, including absence of parental controls and oversight, the tendency of college students to try new, previously prohibited behaviors, and the economic ability to afford the cost of usage. the 1972 published reports of the national commission on marijuana and drug abuse, indicated a strong relationship between marijuana use and social values among college students, attitudes, and life styles expressing opposition to authority (knight, sheposh, & bryson, 1974). additionally several studies have demonstrated peer and faculty influence on college student’s values and attitudes (chickering, 1969; thistlewaite and wheeler, 1966; wallace, 1966; vreeland and bidwell, 1965; new comb et al., 1970, 1971). most researchers agree that much of the environmental impact of colleges and their subenvironments is mediated, enhanced, or counteracted by the informal contacts of students with peers and faculty. friends, reference groups, and the general student culture have an important impact on student values and personal development. in contrast, faculty are particularly important in influencing intellectual development, educational aspirations, and occupational decisions (wilson, 1966; clark, et al., 1972; gamson, 1967). basically, colleges may be viewed as socializing organizations where students come to accept normative attitudes and intellectual values through interaction with the agents of socialization. one specific theory, the reference group theory, suggests that a person may use marijuana in an attempt to emulate others who use it. a reference group is a group a person takes as a frame of reference for selfevaluation (merton, 1957: shibutani, 1967). a reference group is a source of standards of conduct and beliefs for an individual. usually, groups to which a person belongs are reference groups for that person, such as peer groups on college campuses (secord and backman, 1964). many researchers have suggested that marijuana use occurs, at least in part, as a result of the influence of peers. however, there is little research conducted on the role of college as an agent of resocialization in the particular context of marijuana usage among college students. this study attempts to address that specific area of research. the data, survey procedures, and variables the survey design utilized for this particular study was a questionnaire, or a survey instrument containing the questions in a self-administered survey. this particular design is versatile because they can be used to study a wide range of social phenomena. it is also efficient because data can be collected on large numbers of people, at relatively low cost, and often very quickly. finally, it is more easily generalizable because questions are asked to a large number of persons at a low cost, making it relatively easy to create a representative sample of the target population. with a representative sample, the findings are safely generalizable, or applicable, to the target population. in this particular study on the resocialization of college students, a random sample of 220 california state university, los angeles students from various sociology classes were administered the survey included here in appendix 1. the specific classes are as follows: 1) sociology 201, mo-we, 9:50am11:30am, kh b3018 2) sociology 426, mo-we, 11:40am1:20pm, kh b4013 3) sociology 201, mo-we, 1:30pm3:10pm, kh b3018 4) sociology 201, mo-we, 4:20pm6:00pm, kh b3018 resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 97 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) 5) sociology 454, mo-we, 4:20pm6:00pm, fa 345 6) sociology 383, mo-we, 6:10pm10:00pm, bios 334 7) sociology 201, tu-th, 9:50-11:30am, kh 3018 8) sociology 497, tu-th, 6:10-8:50pm, kh 1021 the professors that agreed to allow the survey to take place during their class periods all informed their students that the survey was completely optional and in no way mandatory. all 220 students that were asked to take the survey agreed and participated in the survey, therefore, there was a 100% response rate. the target population is all college students in the united states. the population is all csula students. the target sample is 220 csula students. finally, the sample consists of all 220 csula students that were asked to participate. the nonprobability sampling method utilized was availability sampling, or sampling in which the elements are selected on the basis of convenience. the representativeness of the sample, or a how much the sample “looks like” the population from which it was selected in all respects that are potentially relevant to the study, is flawed because it is an availability sample. however, it does to a certain extent, look like the population. the selection of various classes had the benefit of providing a better representative sample than random surveying of students on campus because all students within the classes participated. to a certain degree, their participation, although not mandated, was heavily suggested and therefore, ensured a distribution of characteristics among the elements of the sample that mirrored the characteristics of the total population. the specific way that the sample differs from the whole population is that they are all sociology students. sociology, by nature, evokes a more liberal way of thinking by suggesting that a detachment from social norms is required to prevent a bias in research on society. therefore, a sociology student may possess a more relaxed perception of marijuana usage and therefore a sample drawn only from sociology students may present an issue with measurement validity. furthermore, an assessment of this survey clearly would indicate a propensity for the social desirability effect, or a tendency of respondents to reply in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others, because marijuana usage is, to a certain extent, still a taboo issue. however, students were assured that they would remain anonymous and their responses would also remain confidential. the results indicate that the students appeared to accept this agreement because many indicated that they have consumed marijuana in the past. however, it is noted that the accuracy of those results could be skewed due to the social desirability effect and the potential inhibition of responses. focus group outcomes the focus respondents included three (3) students from our soc 490: quantitative research methods class, (1) one student from the ucla sociology doctorate program, (1) one graduate from the ucla sociology program, (1) one graduate from the uc irving political science program, (1) one graduate from the new york fine artsgraphic design program. the three students from our soc 490: quantitative research methods class were chosen due to their perspective on the project, having had to complete the same project and possessing a unique understanding of what is required. the one student from the ucla sociology doctorate program was chosen due to her overall knowledge of how to construct a survey, her previous and current experience conducting surveys, and her advanced resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 98 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) insight on how to improve the quality of a survey. the one graduate from the ucla sociology program, the one graduate from the uc irving political science program, and the graduate from the new york fine arts-graphic design program were all chosen because they are all responsible for research and development of data collection for the city of los angeles community development department youth opportunity system. they all have previous experience creating, developing, and administering surveys to individual and therefore possess a distinct insight on how to construct survey questions. all individuals in the focus group reported that it took them, on average, 3 minutes to complete the survey. the focus group activity assisted in the revision of the questionnaire by helping to identify flaws in the questionnaire that weren’t readily apparent upon its initial construction. of the most important observations provided by the focus group was the identification of the “loaded” questions that might have invalidated data due to the social desirability affect. additionally, the order of the questions themselves was an issue in that all of the strong and emotionally charged questions were all at the beginning of the survey as opposed to the end. the feedback was extremely helpful in that it provided the opportunity to see how respondents would react to certain questions. the focus group was extremely helpful in identifying lapses in the indicators as responses. finally, the response categories were also revised according to the responses of the focus group. measurement of variables dependent variable: support for the legalization of marijuana: the support for the legalization variable is here defined as the intention to vote for the legalization of marijuana on the 2010 california ballot. respondents are asked the following question: how much do you support or oppose the idea of legalizing marijuana in california? respondent responses are measured in an ascending order, with the value of 1 indicating a “strongly oppose” answer; 2 indicating a “oppose” answer; and 3 indicating a “neither support nor oppose” answer; 4 indicating a “support” answer; and 5 indicating a “strongly support” answer.for data analysis purposes the answer choices were collapsed. according, it has been recoded into a collapsed variables oppose (1 = strongly oppose and oppose), neither support nor oppose (2 = neither support nor oppose), and support (3 = support and strongly support). key independent variable: current college education: the education variable is here defined as the highest level of college education completed. it is hypothesized that the more education received by the college student surveyed, the more likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore, has undergone a process of resocialization. respondents are asked the following question: which of the following best indicates the level of college education you are currently receiving? respondent responses are measured in an ascending order, with the value of 1 indicating freshman; 2 indicating sophomore; 3 indicating junior; 4 indicating senior; 5 indicating first year of grad school; and 6 indicating second or more years of grad school. other control variables: gender: the gender variable is here defined as the biological sex type that the college resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 99 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) student surveyed most identifies with. males are hypothesized to more often perceive marijuana as a collegiate style of life and will be more likely to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. respondents are asked the following question: what is your gender? respondent responses are measured in an ascending order, with the value of 1 indicating female; and 2 indicating male. for the purpose of analysis, the results were recoded into ascending order based on nvalue (number) alone with a value of 1 indication males; and 2 indicating females. age: the age variable is here defined as the number of years the subject has been alive. it is hypothesized that the older the college student surveyed, the more likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. respondents are asked the following question: how old are you currently? respondent responses are measured in an ascending order, with the value exactly corresponding to the age they indicate (eg. recorded answer is 18, then a value of 18 is assigned). mother’s education: the mother’s education variable is here defined as the highest level of education completed by the respondent’s mother, if applicable. it is hypothesized that because children are more likely to be influenced by their mothers,the more education received by the mothers of the college student surveyed, the more likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. respondents are asked the following question: which of the following best describes the highest level of education your mother has received? respondent responses are measured in an ascending order, with the value of 1 indicating less than high school graduation; 2 high school graduation, 3 some college; 4 college degree; and 5 post-college degree. religion: the religion variable is here defined as the practiced religion of the subject. it is hypothesized that the more religious the college student surveyed, the less likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. respondents are asked the following question: with what religion do you most closely align your beliefs with? respondent responses are measured in an ascending order, with the value of 1 indicating a “catholicism” answer; 2 indicating a “protestantism” answer; 3 indicating a “buddhism” answer; 4 indicating a “judaism” answer; 5 indicating a “islam” answer; 6 indicating a “hinduism” answer; 7 indicating a “agnosticism” answer; 8 indicating a “atheism” answer; and 9 indicating a “other” answer. unfortunately, the survey was conducted utilizing csula students only. as a result, the vast majority of the respondents (47.3%) identified themselves as catholics, with only 9.1% as protestants, 8.2% as buddhists, 6.4% as agnostics, 6.8% as atheists, and 22.3% as some other various denomination. accordingly, the ability to examine the respondent’s religion is quite limited. since catholicism is the mainstay of religions among csula students, it is utilized as the reference group. accordingly, it has been recoded into a dichotomous variable (1 for the catholic respondents variable, 0 otherwise). the same recoding has been done for the other religions of significance: protestant respondents (1 = protestant, 0 = otherwise), buddhist respondents (1 = buddhist, 0 = otherwise), agnostics respondents (1 = agnostic, 0 = otherwise), atheist respondents (1 = atheist, 0 = otherwise), other denomination resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 100 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) respondents (1 = other denomination, 0 = otherwise). mother’s religion: the mother’s religion variable is here defined as the practiced religion of the respondent’s mother, if applicable. it is hypothesized that because children are more likely to be influenced by their mothers,the shared religious beliefs of the college student surveyed and his/her mother will likely inhibit the belief that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore inhibit the support for the legalization of marijuana. respondents are asked the following question: with what religion does your mother most closely align her beliefs with? respondent responses are measured in an ascending order, with the value of 1 indicating a “catholicism” answer; 2 indicating a “protestantism” answer; 3 indicating a “buddhism” answer; 4 indicating a “judaism” answer; 5 indicating a “islam” answer; 6 indicating a “hinduism” answer; 7 indicating a “agnosticism” answer; 8 indicating a “atheism” answer; and 9 indicating a “other” answer.unfortunately, the survey was conducted utilizing csula students only. as a result, the vast majority of the respondents (56.4%) stated that their mothers identified themselves as catholics, with only 12.3% as protestants, 10.9% as buddhists, and 20.5% as some other various denomination. accordingly, the ability to examine the respondent’s mother’s religion is quite limited. since catholicism is the mainstay of religions among csula student’s mothers, it is utilized as the reference group. according, it has been recoded into a dichotomous variable (1 for the catholic mothers variable, 0 otherwise). the same recoding has been done for the other religions of significance: protestant mothers (1 = protestant, 0 = otherwise), buddhist mothers (1 = buddhist, 0 = otherwise), other denomination mothers (1 = other denomination, 0 = otherwise). political affiliation: the political affiliation variable is here defined as the political affiliation of the subject. it is hypothesized that certain political affiliations and/or background political beliefs (republican) will likely inhibit the belief that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore inhibit the support for the legalization of marijuana. respondents are asked the following question: what is your political affiliation? respondent responses are measured in an ascending order, with the value of 1 indicating a “democrat” answer; 2 indicating a “republican” answer; 3 indicating a “libertarian” answer; 4 indicating a “independent” answer; and 5 indicating a “other” answer. unfortunately, the survey was conducted utilizing csula students only. as a result, the vast majority of the respondents (65%) identified themselves as democrats, with only 11.8% as republicans, 13.6% as independents, and 9.5% as some other various political affiliation. accordingly, the ability to examine the respondent’s political affiliation is quite limited. since the democratic party is the mainstay of political affiliations among csula students, it is utilized as the reference group. according, it has been recoded into a dichotomous variable (1 for the democratic respondents variable, 0 otherwise). the same recoding has been done for the other political affiliations of significance: republican respondents (1 = republican, 0 = otherwise), independent respondents (1 = independent, 0 = otherwise), other political affiliation respondents (1 = other political affiliation, 0 = otherwise). mother’s political affiliation: the political affiliation variable is here defined as the political affiliation of the subject’s mother, if applicable. it is hypothesized that because children are more likely to be influenced by their mothers,a shared political affiliation resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 101 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) and/or background political beliefs of the college student surveyed and his/her mother will likely inhibit the belief that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore inhibit the support for the legalization of marijuana. respondents are asked the following question: what is your mother’s political affiliation? respondent responses are measured in an ascending order, with the value of 1 indicating a “democrat” answer; 2 indicating a “republican” answer; 3 indicating a “libertarian” answer; 4 indicating a “independent” answer; 5 indicating a “other” answer; and 6 indicating a “don’t know” answer. unfortunately, the survey was conducted utilizing csula students only. as a result, the vast majority of the respondents (57.3%) stated that their mothers identified themselves as democrats, with only 16.7% as republicans, and 8.3% as some other various political affiliation. accordingly, the ability to examine the respondent’s mother’s political affiliation is quite limited. since the democratic party is the mainstay of political affiliations among csula student’s mothers, it is utilized as the reference group. according, it has been recoded into a dichotomous variable (1 for the democratic mothers variable, 0 otherwise). the same recoding has been done for the other political affiliations of significance: republican mothers (1 = republican, 0 = otherwise), other political affiliation mothers (1 = other political affiliation, 0 = otherwise). the “don’t know” category was coded as a missing value. past/present marijuana consumption: the past/present marijuana consumption variable is here defined as the past or present consumption of marijuana as reported by the subject. it is hypothesized that if a college student surveyed indicates a past/present consumption of marijuana, the more likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. respondents are asked the following question: have you ever consumed marijuana (in any form) in your life? respondent responses are measured in an ascending order, with the value of 1 indicating a “no” answer; and 2 indicating a “yes” answer. the belief that college peers currently consume marijuana regularly: the belief that college peers currently consume marijuana variable is defined as the assumptions that college peers have currently use marijuana regularly (past 30 days) as reported by the subject. it is hypothesized that if the assumption that college peers do regularly consume marijuana is present, the more likely the student is to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. respondents are asked the following question: do you believe that a majority of your college peers use marijuana? respondent responses are measured in an ascending order, with the value of 1 indicating a “no” answer; and 2 indicating a “yes” answer. the findings univariate analysis of the variables table 1 reports the univariate distribution of the respondents on each of the variables utilized in the analysis. a large percentage of the respondents showed support for the dependent variable: support for thelegalization of marijuana (45%), as opposed to those that opposed it (20%). a number of students neither supported nor opposed the legalization of marijuana (35%), potentially indicating, at least, a mixed opinion about marijuana usage. see graph 1 for the frequency distribution for the dependent variable in the analysis (support resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 102 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) for the legalization of marijuana) displayed in a bar chart. additionally, the measurement of the key independent variable (current college education) placed many of the respondent’s in their second, third or fourth year of college. as a whole, a large percentage of the respondents (90.5%) had completed at least one year of college education, indicating that a majority of them had been exposed to the collegiate environment at length. a significant portion of the respondents were sophomores(23.2%), juniors (30.9%), or seniors (28.2%), with relatively few students surveyed(8.2%) pursuing a post graduate degree.see graph 2 for the frequency distribution for the key independent variable in the analysis (current college education) displayed in a bar chart. the respondents were surprisingly predominately female in gender, with only one third (33.6%) reporting that they were male. the largest percentage of students were either 19 years old (22.3%), 20 years old (10.9%), and 21 years old (12.3%) with a mean of 22.66 years of age. both the majority of the respondent’s mothers (59.6%) and fathers (60%) had not received any previous college education. a large portion of the respondents (47.3%) indicated that catholicism was the religion with which they most closely aligned their religious beliefs with. this was also the case with the majority of the respondent’s mothers (56.4%). additionally, a majority of the respondents (65%) indicated that they were democrats. also, this was the case with the majority of the political affiliation of the respondent’s mothers (75% democrats). a little over half of the respondents (50.5%) indicated that they had previously consumed marijuana at some point in their lives. however, a significant portion of the respondents (78.7%) indicated that they believed that a majority of their college peers use marijuana. see table 1 for the univariate statistics for the variables in the analysis. bivariate analysis of the variables to examine how college education affects a respondent’s support for the legalization of marijuana, specifically here in california, we examine the pearson’s correlation coefficients of variables used in the analysis. as shown in table 2, the pearson’s correlation coefficient between support for legalization and current college education turns out to be positive and significant at the 0.01 level. this indicates that the more education that an individual receives is associated with an increased support for the legalization of marijuana. contrariwise,the pearson’s correlation coefficient between support for legalization and republican respondents is negative, but statistically significant at the 0.01 level reflecting less incidences of support for the legalization of marijuana among republican respondents in comparison to those of other political affiliations. finally, the pearson’s correlation coefficient between support for legalization and past marijuana consumption is positive and statistically significant at the 0.01 level, indicating that the previous marijuana usage is associated with an increased support for the legalization of marijuana. no other correlation is significant between the dependent variable and other independent variables when analyzing the table of pearson’s correlation coefficients of variables used in the analysis. multivariate regression analysis it is fairly well known that the outcomes of bivariate associations may be misleading and spurious due to the effects of other variables that may affect both the dependent variable (support for the legalization of resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 103 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) marijuana) and the key independent variable (current college education) simultaneously. more accurate evidence can be discovered if the effects of these other variables are controlled for. in order to control the effects of the other variables on the support for legalization of marijuana, i utilized multivariate regression techniques to analyze the data. please note that the dependent variable (support for the legalization of marijuana) is ordinal, consisting of different levels of support for legalization. since the variable is ordinal, the ordered logistic regression model was utilized for the analysis to separate out the effects of the independent variable (current college education) net of the effects of the other control variables. a unique aspect of ordered logistic regression is that there should be only one regression coefficient for each independent variable but multiple intercepts. therefore, the ordinal logistic regression analysis assumes that the slope coefficient for the independent variables is constant for each level of the dependent variable; this is called the parallel regression assumption. in order to verify this assumption, a score test is utilized (the parallel regression assumption test: 2,**). the score test for this particular data set is statistically insignificant at the 0.05 level. this indicates that the parallel regression assumption is met for this data, and therefore the ordered logistic regression model can be justifiably utilized. in addition to the parallel regression assumption test, there are another two tests that demonstrate the significance of the findings, which are likelihood ratio ( 2) and the nagelkerke (r2). the likelihood ratio ( 2), also known as the likelihood ratio chi-square test,indicates that at least one of the predictors' regression coefficients is not equal to zero in the model; or in other words, that at least one of the independent variables has a significant effect on the dependent variable (support for the legalization of marijuana).the likelihood ratio ( 2) is positive and statistically significant at the 0.05 level.because logistic regression does not have an equivalent to the r-squared that is found in ols regression, a pseudo r-squared statistic is utilized. there are a wide variety of pseudo r-squared statistics which can give contradictory conclusions. therefore, in this particular analysis, only one pseudo r-squared statistic is utilized, the negelkerke (r2).in this particular analysis, the negelkerke (r2) value is .321, which indicates that the model explains that 32.1% of the variance in the dependent variable(support for the legalization of marijuana). the regression coefficient for the key independent variable (current college education) indicates that it is positive and statistically significant, net of all the other variables in the model,at the 0.05 level. this is indicative of a positive relationship between the dependent variable and key independent variable in which the more college education a student received, the more likely the student is to support the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient for gender indicates that it is positive and statistically insignificant,net of all the other variables in the model,at the 0.05 level.according to this data, whether a respondent is male or female has no significant effect on their support for the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient for age is negative and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model,at the 0.05 level.according to this data, how old a respondent is has no significant effect on their support for the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient of mother’s education is positive and statistically insignificant, net of all the other resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 104 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) variables in the model,at the 0.05 level.according to this data, the more education a respondent’s mother received has no significant effect on a college student’s support for the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient forprotestant respondents is negative and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model,at the 0.05 level.according to this data, there is no significant difference between respondents that align their religious beliefs with protestantism and those that align their beliefs with catholicism when it comes to support for the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient for buddhist respondents is negative and statistically significant, net of all the other variables in the model, at the 0.01 level. this demonstrates that respondents that align their religious beliefs with buddhism are less likely than those who align their beliefs with catholicism to support the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient for agnostic respondents is positive and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model, at the 0.05 level. according to this data, there is no significant difference between respondents that align their religious beliefs with agnosticism and those that align their beliefs with catholicism when it comes to support for the legalization of marijuana. likewise, the regression coefficient for atheist respondents is positive and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model, at the 0.05 level. according to this data, there is no significant difference between respondents that align their religious beliefs with atheism and those that align their beliefs with catholicism when it comes to support for the legalization of marijuana. similarly, the regression coefficient for other denomination respondents is positive and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model, at the 0.05 level. according to this data, there is no significant difference between respondents that align their religious beliefs with any other religious denomination and those that align their beliefs with catholicism when it comes to support for the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient for protestant mothers is positive and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model, at the 0.05 level. according to this data, there is no significant difference between respondents’ mothers that align their religious beliefs with protestantism and those that align their beliefs with catholicism when it comes to the respondent’s support for the legalization of marijuana. contrariwise, the regression coefficient forbuddhist mothers is negative and statistically significant, net of all the other variables in the model,at the 0.01 level.this demonstrates that respondents’ mothers that align their religious beliefs with buddhism are less likely than those who have mothers that align their beliefs with catholicism to support the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient forother denomination mothers is negative and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model,at the 0.05 level.according to this data, there is no significant difference between respondents’ mothers that align their religious beliefs with any other religious denomination and those that align their beliefs with catholicism when it comes to the respondent’s support for the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient for republican respondents is negative and statistically significant, net of all the other resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 105 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) variables in the model,at the 0.05 level. this demonstrates that respondents that are politically affiliated with the republican party are less likely than those who affiliate themselves with the democratic party to support the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient forindependent respondents is positive and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model,at the 0.05 level.according to this data, there is no significant difference between respondents that are politically affiliated with the independent party and those that are politically affiliated with the democratic party when it comes to support for the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient for other political affiliation respondents is positive and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model,at the 0.05 level.according to this data, there is no significant difference between respondents that are affiliated with any other political party and those that are politically affiliated with the democratic party when it comes to support for the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient forrepublican mothers is positive and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model, at the 0.05 level. according to this data, there is no significant difference between respondents’ mothers that are politically affiliated with the republican party and those that are politically affiliated with the democratic party when it comes to the respondent’s support for the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient forother political affiliation mothers is negative and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model, at the 0.05 level. according to this data, there is no significant difference between respondents’ mothers that are affiliated with any other political party and those that are politically affiliated with the democratic party when it comes to the respondent’s support for the legalization of marijuana. the regression coefficient forpast marijuana consumption is positive and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model,at the 0.05 level.according to this data, whether or not a respondent has consumed marijuana in the past has no significant effect on their support for the legalization of marijuana. finally, the regression coefficient for past marijuana consumption is positive and statistically insignificant, net of all the other variables in the model,at the 0.05 level.according to this data, whether or not a respondent has the perception that a majority of their peers consume marijuana regularly has no significant effect on their support for the legalization of marijuana. conclusion this study theorized that attending college will proliferate a process of resocialization, specifically in the belief that the use of marijuana by a student or other students within the college environment is not deviant in nature and is, on the contrary, a socially acceptable behavior. accordingly, it was hypothesized that college students that had been re-socialized to perceive marijuana use as part of a collegiate style of life will be more likely to agree that smoking marijuana is socially acceptable and therefore support the legalization of marijuana. to examine how the dependent variable (support for the legalization of marijuana) was affected by the independent variable (current college education), a frequency distribution of all variables in the study was initially analyzed (seetable 1 in the appendix). additionally, an analysis was conducted utilizing pearson’s correlation (table 2). pearson’s correlation indicates resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 106 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables; in this particular case, the dependent variable (support for the legalization of marijuana) and an independent variable were compared without taking into account the potentially spurious relationship of the other independent variables in the model. finally, a multivariate regression analysis for ordinal dependent variables was performed on all the variables in the model (see table 3 in the appendix) to produce a more statistically accurate analysis of the data. the multivariate regression analysis showed that respondents, who had received more college education, were more likely to support the legalization of marijuana.these findings clearly demonstrate a correlation between the dependent variable and key independent variable, supporting the hypothesis that attending college will proliferate a process of resocialization, at the very least, on this specific topic of support for the legalization of marijuana. additionally, statically significant findings were also uncovered through the multivariate regression analysis. namely, buddhism appears to be a substantial factor, or counteragent of resocialization, among college students. both buddhist respondents, as well as those with buddhist mothers, exhibited a resilience to resocilization when it came to their opinions of legalization of marijuana and their support for it. this could stem from a strong alignment, of the respondent, with buddhist ethics. one of the specific five precepts, or training rules, that buddhists believe are necessary in order to live a better and happier life, is to refrain from intoxicants which lead to loss of mindfulness (specifically, drugs and alcohol). the very adherence to this rule could theoretically diminish any support of a buddhist respondent, or one that was raised in a buddhist family, for the legalization of marijuana. furthermore, republican respondents also exhibited a resilience to resocialization when it came to their opinions of legalization of marijuana and their support for it. this could stem from a strong alignment, of the respondent, to the republican platform. republicans traditionally have staunchly supported policies against illegal drugs since the 1980s, when president reagan expanded the federal government's drug interdiction effort and nancy reagan, the first lady, led a "just say no" campaign against drugs that equated use with immorality. as with buddhism, the very adherence with the republican platform could diminish support of a republican respondent for the legalization of marijuana. as of the date that this conclusion was written (march 2010), the tax & regulate cannabis 2010 campaign had achieved a major victory in its efforts to legalize marijuana for all adults in california; they had gathered the signatures necessary for inclusion on the state's november ballot. this indicates that, at the very least, one of the three predicted measures, mentioned in the introduction of this study, will be included on the california 2010 november ballot. a win would mean that californians would be the first in the nation to decide whether they believe marijuana ought be taxed and regulated for all adults over 21, much the same way alcohol is. the drug reform movement's eyes will be on california late this year because many advocates believe that if the initiative passes, many other states could follow.the board of equalization, california's tax regulator and the agency charged with collecting alcohol and tobacco taxes, estimates that legalizing marijuana could generate about $1.4 billion in tax revenue annually (ammiano, 2009).furthermore, the california legislative analyst's office (lao) published a report stating that legal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mindfulness http://www.boe.ca.gov/legdiv/pdf/ab0390-1dw.pdf http://www.boe.ca.gov/legdiv/pdf/ab0390-1dw.pdf resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 107 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) marijuana would free up "several tens of millions of dollars annually" in correctional and law enforcement resources, which would in turn, would redirect funds to more urgent matters (lao, 2009).as of march 1st, california's debt was in excess of $83.5 billion.it is the largest borrower in the country, and pays 21.3 percent more interest on its nearly-junk-rated debt than states with the highest ratings.public school systems and social programs are feeling the brunt of the debt crisis, which has even included closing national state parks, and the cutting of all california state universities’ budgets.the very possibility of an influx of $1.4 billion could generate a sea change in the support of legalization among college students, as the implications of its legalization suggest a relief in the current economic crisis plaguing college students, not only in california, but across the country. http://www.lao.ca.gov/ballot/2009/090512.aspx http://www.lao.ca.gov/ballot/2009/090512.aspx http://www.reuters.com/article/idusn1423724020091214 http://www.reuters.com/article/idusn1423724020091214 resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 108 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) references ammiano. 2001. staff legislative bill analysis. state board of equalization. <http://www.boe.ca.gov/legdiv/pdf/ab 0390-1dw.pdf> beck kh, caldeira km, vincent kb, o'grady ke, wish ed, arria am. (2009). the social context of cannabis use: relationship to cannabis use disorders and depressive symptoms among college students. addictive behaviors.34(9), 764-768. competing theories of marijuana use: a longitudinal study author(s): irving j. ginsberg and james r.greenley source: journal of health and social behavior, vol. 19, no.1 (mar., 1978), pp. 22-34 published by: american sociological association stable url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2136320 accessed: 09/10/2009 13:04 education and political party: the effects of college or social class? author(s): terry s. weiner and bruce k.eckland source: the american journal of sociology, vol. 84, no.4 (jan., 1979), pp. 911-928 published by: the university of chicago press stable url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2778029 gledhill-hoyt j; lee, h; strote, j and wechsler h. 2000. increased use of marijuana and other illicit drugs at us colleges in the 1990s: results of three national surveys. addiction 95(11):1655-1667. interpersonal relationships as mediators of structural effects: college student socialization in a traditional and an experimental university environment author(s): william b. lacy source: sociology of education, vol. 51, no.3 (jul., 1978), pp. 201-211 published by: american sociological association stable url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2112665 marijuana and the politics of reality author(s): erich goode source: journal of health and social behavior, vol. 10, no.2 (jun., 1969), pp. 83-94 published by: american sociological association stable url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2948355 accessed: 09/10/2009 13:07 the california legislative analyst office. (2009). retrieved march 11, 2010, from http://www.lao.ca.gov/ballot/2009/090 512.aspx the core institute. (2007). prevalence: annual and 30-day prevalence of use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs amongst college students. retrieved march 10, 2009, from http://www.siu.edu/~coreinst/ http://www.jstor.org/stable/2778029 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2112665 http://www.siu.edu/~coreinst/ resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 109 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) appendix 1 complete survey questionnaire dear csula student, my name is michael bouvet and i am currently a graduate student here at csula in the sociology program. the issue of whether to legalize marijuana is an extremely heated topic in the us today. questions on this survey are designed to collect current data on csula students regarding the topic of marijuana legalization. your participation in the survey will greatly help improve our understanding of people’s opinion about this issue. it should take about three to five minutes to answer all the questions. no names are recorded guaranteeing complete anonymity. no one outside the university will have access to the questionnaire you return. you may be assured of complete confidentiality! 1. what is your gender? <1> female <2> male 2. how old are you currently? ________________________ 3. which of the following best indicates the level of education you are currently receiving? <1> freshman<2> sophomore <3> junior <4> senior <5> 1st yr. grad school <6> 2nd or more yrs. of grad school 4. which of the following best describes the highest level of education your mother has received? <1> less than hs degree <2> hs degree <3> some college <4> college degree <5> post-college degree 5. which of the following best describes the highest level of education your father has received? <1> less than hs degree <2> hs degree <3> some college resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 110 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) <4> college degree <5> post-college degree 6. with what religion do you most closely align your beliefs with? <1> catholicism <2> protestantism <3> buddhism <4> judaism <5> islam <6> hinduism <7> agnosticism <8> atheism <9> other (please specify):________________________ 7. with what religion does your mother most closely align her beliefs with? <1> catholicism <2> protestantism <3> buddhism <4> judaism <5> islam <6> hinduism <7> agnosticism <8> atheism <9> other (please specify):________________________ 8. with what religion does your father most closely align his beliefs with? <1> catholicism <2> protestantism <3> buddhism <4> judaism <5> islam <6> hinduism <7> agnosticism <8> atheism <9> other (please specify):________________________ 9. what is your political affiliation? <1> democrat <2> republican <3> libertarian <4> independent <5> other (please specify):________________________ 10. what is your mother’s political affiliation? <1> democrat <2> republican <3> libertarian <4> independent <5> other (please specify):________________________ <6> don’t know resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 111 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) 11. what is your father’s political affiliation? <1> democrat <2> republican <3> libertarian <4> independent <5> other (please specify):________________________ <6> don’t know 12. how much do you support or oppose the idea of legalizing marijuana in california? <1> strongly support <2> support <3> neither support nor oppose <4> oppose<5> strongly oppose 13. at any point in your life, previous to entering college, did you believe that consuming marijuana was wrong? <1> yes <2> no 14. since entering college, has your perception of marijuana and the consumption of it changed at all? <1> yes <2> no 15. have you ever consumed marijuana (in any form) in your life? <1> yes <2> no 16. do you believe that a majority of your college peers use marijuana? <1> yes <2> no <3> don’t know resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 112 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) frequency distributions of the dv and the key iv graph 1: dependent variable graph 2: key independent variable 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 current college education freshman sophomore junior senior 1st yr. grad school 2nd yr. or more of grad school r e so c ia l iz a t io n i n s t u d e n t s t o w a r d m a r ij u a n a b y m ic ha el b ou ve t 11 3 c a l if o r n ia s o c io l o g y j o u r n a l , 2 01 1, v o l . 3 (i ss u e 1 : 9 211 6) a p p e n d ix t ab le 1 :s ur ve y q ue st io ns a nd d es cr ip ti ve s ta ti st ic s of v ar ia bl es u se d in th e a na ly si s v ar ia bl e su rv ey q ue st io ns u se d r es po ns e c at eg or ie s f re qu en cy m ea n s. d . su pp or t l eg al iz at io n h ow m uc h do y ou s up po rt o r o pp os e th e id ea o f le ga liz in g m ar iju an a in c al if or ni a? 1 = o pp os e 2 = n ei th er s up po rt n or o pp os e 3 = su pp or t 44 77 99 (2 0% ) (3 5% ) (4 5% ) 2. 25 0. 76 8 c ur re nt c ol le ge e du ca tio n w hi ch o f t he fo llo w in g be st in di ca te s th e le ve l o f ed uc at io n yo u ar e cu rr en tly re ce iv in g? 1 = fr es hm an 2 = so ph om or e 3 = ju ni or 4 = se ni or 5 = 1st y r. g ra d sc ho ol 6 = 2nd o r m or e y rs . o f g ra d sc ho ol 21 51 68 62 15 3 (9 .5 % ) (2 3. 2% ) (3 0. 9% ) (2 8. 2% ) (6 .8 % ) (1 .4 % ) 3. 04 1. 14 g en de r w ha t i s yo ur g en de r? 1 = m al e 2 = fe m al e 74 14 6 (3 3. 6% ) (6 6. 4% ) 1. 34 0. 47 4 a ge h ow o ld a re y ou c ur re nt ly ? 22 .6 6 5. 36 m ot he r’ s e du ca tio n w hi ch o f t he fo llo w in g be st d es cr ib es th e hi gh es t le ve l o f e du ca tio n yo ur m ot he r h as re ce iv ed ? 1 = l es s th an h s d eg re e 2 = h s d eg re e 3 = so m e c ol le ge 4 = c ol le ge d eg re e 5 = po st -c ol le ge d eg re e 82 49 42 36 11 (3 7. 3% ) (2 2. 3% ) (1 9. 1% ) (1 6. 4% ) (5 .0 % ) 2. 30 1. 26 pr ot es ta nt r es po nd en ts w ith w ha t r el ig io n do y ou m os t c lo se ly a lig n yo ur b el ie fs w ith ? (p le as e sp ec if y yo ur de no m in at io n) [r ef er en ce g ro up = c at ho lic s] 0 = n ot p ro te st an t 1 = pr ot es ta nt 20 0 20 (9 0. 9% ) (9 .1 % ) 0. 9 0. 28 8 b ud dh is t r es po nd en ts 0 = n ot b ud dh is t 1 = b ud dh is t 20 2 18 (9 1. 8% ) (8 .2 % ) 0. 8 0. 27 5 a gn os tic r es po nd en ts 0 = n ot a gn os tic 1 = a gn os tic 20 6 14 (9 3. 6% ) (6 .4 % ) 0. 06 0. 24 5 a th ei st r es po nd en ts 0 = n ot a th ei st 1 = a th ei st 20 5 15 (9 3. 2% ) (6 .8 % ) 0. 07 0. 25 3 o th er d en om in at io n r es po nd en ts 0 = n ot o th er d en om in at io n 1 = o th er d en om in at io n 17 1 49 (7 7. 7% ) (2 2. 3% ) 0. 22 0. 41 7 r e so c ia l iz a t io n i n s t u d e n t s t o w a r d m a r ij u a n a b y m ic ha el b ou ve t 11 4 c a l if o r n ia s o c io l o g y j o u r n a l , 2 01 1, v o l . 3 (i ss u e 1 : 9 211 6) pr ot es ta nt m ot he rs w ith w ha t r el ig io n do es y ou r m ot he r m os t cl os el y al ig n he r b el ie fs w ith ? (p le as e sp ec if y yo ur d en om in at io n) [r ef er en ce g ro up = c at ho lic s] 0 = n ot p ro te st an t 1 = pr ot es ta nt 19 3 27 (8 7. 7% ) (1 2. 3% ) 0. 12 0. 32 9 b ud dh is t m ot he rs 0 = n ot b ud dh is t 1 = b ud dh is t 19 6 24 (8 9. 1% ) (1 0. 9% ) 0. 11 0. 31 2 o th er d en om in at io n m ot he rs 0 = n ot o th er d en om in at io n 1 = o th er d en om in at io n 17 5 45 (7 9. 5% ) (2 0. 5% ) 0. 20 0. 40 4 r ep ub lic an r es po nd en ts w ha t i s yo ur p ol iti ca l a ff ili at io n? [r ef er en ce g ro up = d em oc ra ts ] 0 = n ot r ep ub lic an 1 = r ep ub lic an 19 4 26 (8 8. 2% ) (1 1. 8% ) 0. 12 0. 32 4 in de pe nd en t r es po nd en ts 0 = n ot in de pe nd en t 1 = in de pe nd en t 19 0 30 (8 6. 4% ) (1 3. 6% ) 0. 14 0. 34 4 o th er p ol iti ca l a ff ili at io n r es po nd en ts 0 = n ot o th er 1 = o th er 19 9 21 (9 0. 5% ) (9 .5 % ) 0. 10 0. 29 5 r ep ub lic an m ot he rs w ha t i s yo ur m ot he r’ s po lit ic al a ff ili at io n? [r ef er en ce g ro up = d em oc ra ts ] 0 = n ot r ep ub lic an 1 = r ep ub lic an 14 0 28 (8 3. 3% ) (1 6. 7% ) 0. 17 0. 37 4 o th er p ol iti ca l a ff ili at io n m ot he rs 0 = n ot o th er 1 = o th er 15 4 14 (9 1. 7% ) (8 .3 % ) 0. 08 0. 27 7 pa st m ar iju an a c on su m pt io n h av e yo u ev er c on su m ed m ar iju an a (i n an y fo rm ) i n yo ur li fe ? 1 = n o 2 = y es 10 9 11 1 (4 9. 5% ) (5 0. 5% ) 1. 50 0. 50 1 pe rc ep tio n of pe er c on su m pt io n d o yo u be lie ve th at a m aj or ity o f yo ur c ol le ge pe er s us e m ar iju an a? 1 = n o 2 = y es 32 11 8 (2 1. 3% ) (7 8. 7% ) 1. 79 .4 11 r e so c ia l iz a t io n i n s t u d e n t s t o w a r d m a r ij u a n a b y m ic ha el b ou ve t 11 5 c a l if o r n ia s o c io l o g y j o u r n a l , 2 01 1, v o l . 3 (i ss u e 1 : 9 211 6) t ab le 2 :p ea rs on ’s c or re la ti on c oe ff ic ie nt s of v ar ia bl es u se d in th e a na ly si s 1 (a ) (b ) (c ) (d ) (e ) (f ) (g ) (h ) (i ) (j ) (k ) (l) (m ) (n ) (o ) (p ) (q ) (r ) (s ) (t ) (a ) s up po rt le ga liz at io n 1. 00 (b ) c ur re nt c ol le ge e du ca tio n 0. 23 1. 00 (c ) g en de r -0 .1 2 -0 .0 8 1. 00 (d ) a ge 0. 11 0. 49 -0 .1 2 1. 00 (e ) m ot he r's e du ca tio n 0. 06 -0 .0 3 -0 .1 2 -0 .0 2 1. 00 (f ) p ro te st an t r es po nd en ts 0. 04 -0 .0 4 -0 .0 4 0. 06 0. 13 1. 00 (g ) b ud dh is t r es po nd en ts -0 .0 3 -0 .0 8 0. 00 -0 .0 8 -0 .0 8 -0 .0 9 1. 00 (h ) a gn os tic r es po nd en ts 0. 01 0. 12 0. 11 -0 .0 1 -0 .0 2 -0 .0 8 -0 .0 8 1. 00 (i ) a th ei st r es po nd en ts 0. 10 0. 10 -0 .1 9 -0 .0 3 0. 08 -0 .0 9 -0 .0 8 -0 .0 7 1. 00 (j ) o th er d en om in at io n r es po nd en ts 0. 02 0. 06 -0 .0 1 0. 11 0. 14 -0 .1 7 -0 .1 6 -0 .1 4 -0 .1 5 1. 00 (k ) p ro te st an t m ot he rs 0. 11 0. 02 -0 .0 6 0. 10 0. 09 0. 75 -0 .1 1 -0 .0 4 0. 06 -0 .0 7 1. 00 (l) b ud dh is t m ot he rs -0 .0 2 -0 .0 8 0. 00 -0 .0 7 -0 .0 8 -0 .1 1 0. 85 -0 .0 3 -0 .0 4 -0 .1 2 -0 .1 3 1. 00 (m ) o th er d en om in at io n m ot he rs -0 .0 8 -0 .0 1 0. 05 0. 01 0. 21 -0 .1 2 -0 .1 5 0. 10 0. 00 0. 65 -0 .1 9 -0 .1 8 1. 00 (n ) r ep ub lic an r es po nd en ts -0 .1 8 -0 .1 4 -0 .0 7 -0 .0 8 0. 07 0. 13 0. 04 -0 .1 0 0. 01 -0 .0 6 0. 08 0. 10 -0 .0 1 1. 00 (o ) i nd ep en de nt r es po nd en ts 0. 11 -0 .0 5 -0 .0 3 -0 .0 5 0. 10 0. 01 -0 .0 2 0. 17 0. 10 0. 04 -0 .0 3 -0 .0 5 0. 09 -0 .1 5 1. 00 (p ) o th er p ol iti ca l a ff ili at io n r es po nd en ts 0. 12 0. 06 -0 .0 3 -0 .0 3 0. 13 -0 .0 5 -0 .0 4 0. 11 0. 03 0. 24 0. 07 -0 .0 6 0. 26 -0 .1 2 -0 .1 3 1. 00 (q ) r ep ub lic an m ot he rs -0 .1 2 -0 .2 1 0. 00 -0 .1 3 0. 22 0. 25 0. 05 -0 .0 5 0. 04 -0 .0 5 0. 14 0. 08 0. 01 0. 63 0. 12 -0 .0 6 1. 00 (r ) o th er p ol iti ca l a ff ili at io n m ot he rs 0. 06 0. 08 -0 .0 2 0. 13 -0 .0 4 -0 .0 9 0. 15 0. 01 -0 .0 7 0. 25 -0 .0 4 0. 13 0. 22 -0 .1 1 0. 28 0. 33 -0 .1 3 1. 00 (s ) p as t m ar iju an a c on su m pt io n 0. 36 0. 24 -0 .1 9 0. 14 0. 08 0. 00 -0 .1 4 0. 07 0. 09 -0 .0 2 0. 07 -0 .1 2 -0 .1 1 -0 .1 2 -0 .0 3 0. 04 -0 .1 7 -0 .0 1 1. 00 (t ) p er ce pt io n of p ee r c on su m pt io n 0. 03 -0 .2 3 0. 28 -0 .1 2 -0 .0 3 0. 02 0. 15 0. 05 -0 .2 3 -0 .0 7 0. 01 0. 06 0. 01 0. 04 0. 03 0. 09 0. 07 -0 .0 3 -0 .1 4 1. 00 c or re la ti on is s ig ni fi ca nt a t t he 0 .0 1 le ve l ( 2ta ile d) . c or re la ti on is s ig ni fi ca nt a t t he 0 .0 5 le ve l ( 2ta ile d) . 1 pe ar so n’ s co rr el at io n co ef fi ci en t i s m ea ni ng le ss f or m ul tin om in al v ar ia bl es s uc h as o ur re lig io us a ff ili at io n ty pe s. a cc or di ng ly , i re co de d th es e va ri ab le s in to fo ur d ic ho to m ou s va ri ab le s (e .g . p ro te st an t r es po nd en ts is 1 if a re sp on de nt is a p ro te st an t a nd 0 o th er w is e) . i u se th es e di ch ot om ou s ve rs io ns o f t he r el ig io us a ff ili at io n an d po lit ic al a ff ili at io n ty pe s va ri ab le s in th is b iv ar ia te c or re la tio n. resocialization in students toward marijuana by michael bouvet 116 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 92-116) table 3:logistic regression analysis of support for the legalization of marijuana on selected variables independent variables regression coefficients standard error (s.e.) intercept 1 1.465 (1.760) intercept 2 3.346 (1.782) current college education .584 (.229) gender .070 (.436) age -.049 (.042) mother's education .141 (.171) protestant respondents -1.404 (1.758) buddhist respondents -20.463 (.964) agnostic respondents .427 (1.000) atheist respondents .859 (.999) other denomination respondents .232 (.788) protestant mothers 2.013 (1.734) buddhist mothers -20.778 (.727) other denomination mothers -.639 (.761) republican respondents -2.559 (.895) independent respondents .060 (.790) other political affiliation respondents 1.118 (1.010) republican mothers .612 (.849) other political affiliation mothers -.065 (.975) past marijuana consumption .631 (.423) perception of peer consumption .606 (.515) likelihood ratio chi-square 37.512 nagelkerke r-square .321 score test for parallel regression lines 25.002 correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). research | theses | eleby 83 california sociology forum vol. 6 black college students’ hardship in post-secondary education john eleby department of sociology california state university, los angeles keywords: black college students, race and racism, structural hardships abstract this study is designed to pinpoint the hardships black students endure and why these students are treated differently. some of the barriers related to college access and college environmental settings (which i label “internal issues”) that have affected black college students include the cost of higher education, which that can lead to them dropping out due to being unable to afford their education, a lack of spaces of belonging, and difficulty finding helpful mentors for guidance. these internal issues are compounded by challenged black students often face outside college contexts (labeled “external issues”), including raising dependents, a lack of community or family resources, and experiences of racism. taken together, internal and external issues interact to impact black college students’ experiences and outcomes in post-secondary education. introduction black students in the united states must deal with several unnecessary barriers created by policies and ideologies that systematically exclude them from post-secondary educational success. when black individuals encounter a system that historically has not accounted for them or treat them as equal, it can create hardships that affect their journeys in post-secondary education. some of the misfortune black college students encounter include racism, biases from instructors, and negative stigma attached to them due to their skin color. it can also be challenging for black college students to feel connected to a particular institution. one of the points mentioned by broom (2018) is academic and social isolation. broom (2018) delineates that when black college students do not feel connected to the college, they will isolate themselves. this can cause them not to research | theses | eleby 84 california sociology forum vol. 6 be engaged and even affect their coursework. such barriers have been longstanding over time in the u.s. across various types of public and private institutions, regardless of what policies universities have tried to change to adapt to black students. unfortunately, black students continue to be judged for the color of their skin in ways that negatively impact their educational experiences and outcomes. it is vital that educational college institutions acknowledge and work to address barriers that can affect these students, so they are in a better position to be successful. segregation continues to be a widespread de facto reality for black people in the u.s., especially in education. according to hakkola (2019), there remains a lack of recruitment efforts for students from segregated black communities by post-secondary educational institutions. the recruitment process is used by colleges to select who is given opportunities to attend their institutions. yet, past and present practices demonstrate that black people continue to be systematically rejected by dominant white colleges through a dearth of recruitment. beasley (2021) further proposes that social engagement can help black college students flourish in college. black college students’ interactions with staff, faculty, and other students can positively impact their education and experience at their institutions. however, a lack of black representation in university settings, combined with ongoing discriminatory behavior persists today. black students often report that they treated as if they are dangerous to society and should be feared, or as if they are less capable or less worthy than non-black students (beasley 2021). this creates unnecessary barriers for black students to access, belong, and be successful in postsecondary education. one of the solutions to emerge from longstanding black marginalization in higher education was the creation of historically black colleges and universities (hbcus). hbcus were created so black students could have a safe environment to learn and obtain an education without the barriers they would face attending a dominant white institution. the first hbcu created was the cheyney university of pennsylvania, established in 1837. following this great school, a chain of hbcus emerged to provide a space for black students to learn in an environment that tailored research | theses | eleby 85 california sociology forum vol. 6 to their needs and best interest. unfortunately, most black students cannot afford to travel and pay the tuition necessary to gain the hbcu experience, leaving most black students to navigate the public and private colleges most financially and geographically accessible to them. unfortunately, not much has changed for black students’ experiences in post-secondary education. though black students may be accepted at higher rates than the past, their skin color and unique experiences living in the u.s. can make it harder for them to feel part of the school compared to non-black counterparts. a pervasive marginalization and associated of subjective belonging have long term consequences for black students throughout their journeys in college and after graduation. previous researchers have found similar themes that black students still encounter at their institutions. the college educational system still has a long way to go to become diverse and be a place for black students to feel accepted and trusted. the purpose of this research is to document the hardships that black students in the united states face when navigating higher education. to accomplish this, i conducted 20 semistructured qualitative electronic interviews with former and current college students from different generational cohorts and states who self-identify as black or african american. my findings suggest that, while their experiences can and do vary, black students generally continue to face a set of hardships that systematically marginalize them from a positive educational experience in colleges and universities in the u.s. these negative experiences span time and space in ways that threaten to continue to affect black educational outcomes at the individual and intergenerational levels. literature review poverty/class/income one of the many challenges black college students’ often face is growing up in impoverished communities with limited educational resources. these communities can cause significant stress to the student due to income availability and how they are perceived. in these communities’ parents must work two jobs to support their families and hustle to have enough funds to put food research | theses | eleby 86 california sociology forum vol. 6 on the table, which can limit their availability to assist young students with educational needs. economic issues also distract black students from their academics and affect their ability to apply and attend universities if they must work to support or assist their families. heimans and singh (2019) argue that individuals who need food security, health security like access to clean water and food, and or electricity might face decreased chances of success. k-12 schools in poverty-stricken communities typically do not have the resources to prepare black students properly for college (simon and steele 2020). these schools are mostly in impoverished communities where there is often violence, minimal resources for families, and instructors who may feel underpaid and treat these students differently. there are usually metal detectors to ensure students are not bringing in weapons, with black students being the prime suspects (bell 2015). black students can also be victims of bullying owing to skin color or if they cannot afford the most popular clothing and wearing off brands. if any black college students have had these negative experiences described above, how are they supposed to feel they belong at a uc or cal state institution? family structure was demonstrated by simon and steele (2020) as a factor in financial hardship, especially if they come from a single-family outcome. mammen and woodford (2010) describe low-income mothers’ experience striving to be successful in post-secondary education. in many cases, these families are single parents and mothers who are left to fend for themselves due to the father being in the criminal justice system, often because they were compelled to break society’s norms to make a living for his family. how can a black mother who is a college student with children attend school and be successful when she has external responsibilities? there is a lack of acknowledgement and support for these types of students, and they can struggle in college as a result. poverty can also bring about problems in the household for black college students. in their study, brown et al. (2015) demonstrated that family issues can cause tremendous psychological and physical effects on the children involved. one of the issues mentioned by brown et al. (2015) shows that when a research | theses | eleby 87 california sociology forum vol. 6 family is not financially stable, it can cause several issues, including domestic violence. how is a black college student supposed to succeed in post-secondary education when they are exposed to hostile environments, often due to economic pressures, at home? these actions can harm the students regardless of whether they witness the hostile environment directly or indirectly. when black college students are trying to escape such a hostile environment, the last thing they need is to enter a college that treats them like they don’t belong or create another set of barriers they must endure. the community black students are raised in affects their financial status, resource access, and choices. bourke et al. (2019) focus on situational, institutional, and dispositional barriers that affect low-income individuals pursuing their education. the situational barrier is defined as an individual’s circumstances. the institutional barrier is defined as how to apply for school and funding. finally, the dispositional barrier is the psychological factor in the equation. the dispositional barriers black students’ experiences that can affect their mindset in continuing their educational journey. according to bourke et al. (2019) it is essential to factor in those three variants together when dissecting the access and success rates of black people from poverty-stricken communities. in addition to the negative situational and institutional barriers black students from poor communities’ face, they often hear the message that they cannot be successful. black college students often report that they are seen as a threat as to society, as a stereotype persists that black people – especially those who live in poverty-are thugs or criminals they may also be seen as a welfare case, or that they are not as bright as the other kids. sometimes black students are the object of pity. rather than providing solidarity and meaningful support, people feel sorry for these poor black college students. these kinds of experiences can affect black students’ mindset and even lead them to stop pursuing their education and instead focus on the external responsibility of providing for their families. research | theses | eleby 88 california sociology forum vol. 6 detachment/marginalization/mental health feelings of detachment start forming when society rejects an individual due to its rules and standards. heimans and singh (2019) mention that black college students can feel detached from society as they are marginalized in the institutions around them. this experience of marginalization and detachment can cause students not to seek post-secondary education. when black students make it into college, they continue to face difficulties due to the stigma attached to their communities. they often realize that their culture is not welcome or accepted, which reinforces feelings of marginalization and promotes severe detachment from the college. when individuals begin feeling this way, one of two things can occur. they might transform and try to be the person society wants them to be. in this case, they might try to abandon all their cultural beliefs and practices to no longer be outsiders. conversely, they may stay to themselves and disappear in the background. both outcomes are harmful. black students often experience racism and discrimination in post-secondary educational institutions even though it can and often does can start sooner. black students are reportedly more likely to be investigated and punished than any other category of students on campus due to negative stereotypes if they are suspected of any violation on campus (scott and allen 2020). in their study, allen et al. (2018) describe that some individuals do not have the proper relationship with the staff to gain information necessary to help them navigate higher education due to bias and stereotyped treatment. allen and jacques (2020) imply that these interactions harm black students’ educational achievement. black college students may encounter rough interactions from the first day they enter their institutions. they feel they must walk on eggshells most of the time because they do not want to be perceived in a negative way. if we analyze the college environment, harris and linder (2018) describe what a typical person of color would experience in educational institutions. one of the examples uses in their study come from amy, a black female student. harris and linder (2018:149) quoted amy saying, “the classroom is a constant struggle. sometimes you really wish that you could just put down your arms and not fight as much, but it does not always go that research | theses | eleby 89 california sociology forum vol. 6 way. and then also like i am marginalized in so many areas that it is hard sometimes to keep fighting.” when black college students must endure this kind of treatment of always having to fight to fit in and accept that can cause detachment and fatigue among black college students. harris and linder (2018:150) delineate that, “david perceived that white student, who did not have to go through life “seeing” or “getting” race, invalidated his views in the classroom simply because they were not their own views or experiences.” when black college students try to educate them on their cultures and backgrounds, it is shrugged off or deemed invalid. black students deal with stigmatizing biases in higher education that derive from stereotypical representations prevalent in the media that link blackness with threat. this can have a severe impact on their mental health, impacting educational success. barr and neville (2014) explore mental health and racial ideology in post-secondary education, finding that the educational system can generate mental health problems for black students if the environment is hostile or the student has encountered racism or discrimination. this can prohibit black college students from being engaged if the environment is causing them not to focus and lead to feelings of marginalization. when black students feel isolated, as described by harris and linder (2018), they are also more likely to leave the educational system. they may also carry trauma due to the experiences that were rendered while in college, which can follow them outside of college institutions. bringing in old stereotypes and dehumanizing black college students by treating them harshly or making them feel detached thus only causes unnecessary problems for both the student and the college. this research on black student belonging suggests that college campuses should be an environment in which black college students can confidently enter and connect. space is a significant aspect of this environment and is key to black college students' success. chapman-hillman, collette, and beasley (2017) describe that when black students can have a space they identify with, it can give them a sense of belonging and attachment. it allows them to see and connect to other black students and can provide a support group during their time at the institution. it also gives them confidence that they can be a research | theses | eleby 90 california sociology forum vol. 6 success. giving space does not mean providing black college students with an area with little to no resources, but rather it means that their unique needs should be satisfied. black college student space means having faculty and staff supporting them in designated spaces and throughout institutions of higher education. these spaces are too often unavailable on college campuses, to the detriment of black student belonging and success. according to beasley (2021:241), “black students attending historically black colleges and universities (hbcus) report higher levels of engagement compared to their same-race peers at pwis.” black students are given more support at hbcus, which encourages attachment to the institutions, peers, and academics. in non-hbcu colleges, chapman-hillman, collette, and beasley (2017) find that having bsc (black studies courses) assists black students with developing their identity and attachment to the institutions as they receive their education. panafrican studies is an excellent example of bsc because it offers courses to help black college students identify their roots. panafrican studies explains diverse black experiences, views black history beyond slavery, differentiates between african and black american history, and shows why black people are essential in society. black students are more able to recognize racial barriers and can use them as motivation to succeed rather than reasons to disengage (chapman-hillman, collette, and beasley’s 2017). every campus should have black studies and pan african studies courses available for black and non-black students to learn more about black cultures. black students deserve to feel welcome and be able to compete and be successful at their colleges. methods qualitative and semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty participants using the zoom platform. i used two sampling strategies to attain the data i listed above. first, i utilized the purposive sampling method because i was looking for participants who fit the criteria, i have former and current black college students. using the purposive sampling granted me access to the participants needed to gain the data needed to provide a reasonable and formal study. the second sampling strategy method i implemented was convenience sampling. i located the research | theses | eleby 91 california sociology forum vol. 6 individuals using my personal and professional networks. convenience sampling allowed me to select participants who are close to me, which allowed for rich, conversational interviews. the participants of this study chose the date and time the discussions took place. the earliest was around 10 am, and the latest was around 5 pm. the length of the interviews ranged from 17 minutes to an hour and five minutes, with an average of 40 minutes each. the topics discussed their experiences as black students attending either a community college or a university. i protected their rights by having them sign a consent form stating the rationale of the interviews and their rights as a participant in this study. i also have their transcript and audio data secured in a onedrive account with a password that is needed to access the data. only my chair and i have access to the participant’s information. i used pseudonyms in my reporting to protect the identities of my participants throughout the report. i analyzed the data by using thematic coding in the qualitative data analysis web-based program, dedoose. i uploaded the transcripts and inductively coded on themes related to black students’ experiences as they navigated college. this included environmental factors outside the educational institution and factors within higher educational systems. i drew from language used by the participants when developing my thematic codes to stay as true to their perspectives as possible. my position on the data is personal since i have experienced racism and discrimination in post-secondary education. i understand and can relate to the participants’ experience. because i can relate to them, it makes the interviews richer and more profound since the participants feel they are talking to someone who knows the struggle of what they have experienced. it also allowed them to be more comfortable and open in the interviews. the rationale behind this study was based on my experience as a current black college student at a postsecondary institution college; the obstacle we must take is unique. the limitation of this study is that i am not using quantitative methods, so my data is strictly based only on the participant experiences. my sample was a convenience sampling strategy based on 20 participants and thus cannot be generalized to the general population. time constrictions inhibited the research | theses | eleby 92 california sociology forum vol. 6 collection of a bigger, more generalizable sample that includes statistics that confidently reflect the broader population of black colleges across time in the u.s. nonetheless, the findings are broadly consistent with previous research on black students’ experiences and outcomes in the u.s. indicating a high level of external reliability. i chose participants i know who fit the criteria to be part of the project. i conducted phone banking to inform them about the project i am analyzing. i let them know what the interview is about and how they will contribute to the study. i read to them their rights as a participant in the study so they will have the proper knowledge going forward with the interview. i also notified them of the importance of the interview and how it affects black college students today. my relationship with these individuals made it an easier transition to convince them to participate since i am not a stranger but a friend, former classmate, or co-worker. findings the study findings stated several factors. i will break down these findings by themes and use the twenty participants’ narratives as evidence. some of the findings that will be discussed are financial issues, racisms, and bias. every participant had experienced racism and bias in their institutions. also, students with dependents have had extra barriers versus those who have no children. homelessness had been experienced by a few participants in their educational journey. overall, the study findings describe black college students’ hardships by analyzing them as internal to the institutional landscape of higher education or external to it (i.e., community, family, societal factors). internal hardships internal hardships are experiences of hardships that black college students have within their colleges. some of the findings that were discovered in this area were financial barriers due to not having enough income, which can affect their education. the lack of space for black college students to identify with or make a connection within their institutions was also discussed by interviewees. while mentorships were identified as a hardship due to black college students’ difficulties in developing meaningful research | theses | eleby 93 california sociology forum vol. 6 and beneficial relationships at their educational institution, they were a beneficial factor when mentorship was accessible, attentive, and respectful. financial barriers financial barriers were one of the questions asked and many black college students identify them as a hardship. since most of my participants come from the lower class, a few from the middle class, and none from the upper class; affording college is expensive, depending on the school you attend. since many black college students come from lower class communities, they can run into financial issues. jerry stated, he had to work two jobs to pay his tuition, and it affected his schoolwork, so he had to quit one to raise his grades. some black college students can’t find a job on campus, so they must go off campus, which makes it more challenging since work-study is based on your school schedule. an off-the-campus job typically does not consider school schedules and is based on the company needs and not the students. mark stated, “but when i transferred, i was working off campus and working more hours; however, my coursework was not up to par.” finding work to pay for books and tuition is challenging; financial aid issues have also come up. susan stated her financial aid would be delayed, and there was no accountability in the office. she would be rushed off, and it cost her an extra semester to graduate because she had to drop a class, she was supposed to take due to insufficient funds. jae and jack both had to drop out of school for a semester to get the funds to take courses through focusing on work. resources need to be shared with every student, and when black college students do not have access to or lack knowledge of these resources, further assistance should be provided so they will have the proper support in their educational journeys. mentorship when black students enter a college, traditionally they are to be welcomed, and supposed to feel accepted by their peers, administrations, staff, and faculty. unfortunately, that does not happen frequently, and most of the black college students i interviewed stated that mentors were their most prominent research | theses | eleby 94 california sociology forum vol. 6 supporters in post-secondary education due to a lack of relationships developed due to negative biases and stereotypes. mentorships heavily impacted sarah, and they helped her graduate from her institutions. one of the quotes she stated was, “i had a mentor who was a counselor who was not assigned to me; however, she would go out of her way to assist me in my goals and keep me encouraged when i wanted to leave college.” her second and most important comment about her mentor was, “she made me feel like i belong at the college and guided me to resources that help me succeed and never judge me or look at me differently because i was black.” showing interest in black college students’ educations can positively impact their educational journey. mentors are significant to black students in post-secondary education because they need that prep talk and an extra push to make it through their prospective programs. these mentors also help them deal with encounters or issues they may face as black college students. james stated, “i still remember [name of camp counselor] and other counselors that i forgot to name, but i’ll never forget their faces, but they were like our mentors, our coaches, our supporters, and they love us.” his statements describe what every black college student needs to feel when they enter any institution, regardless of whether it is an hbcu. every black college student needs that community and love from their institutions. the few black college students who did not experience this kind of mentorship in their institutions had to go outside the college to find someone to help them succeed, like justin, who had his parents to lean on for that mentorship and guidance, or other black college students who had friends external to college to lean on to deal with some of the issues they would face in college. lack of space all the participants felt that there was a lack of space with which they could identify. they had to find an area or room to get a sense of belonging. stacy, jack, and fred were all part of a black student union club where they found unity and a support group to lean on during their post-secondary education. jack stated, “without bsu, i wouldn’t have graduated because i needed that support from my people.” when i asked my follow-up question research | theses | eleby 95 california sociology forum vol. 6 about whether he felt supported by other peers and faculty that did not look like him, he said no. his support strictly came from the advisor of the club and bsu. stacy liked the group because it gave her space. she stated, “i would get stares like i do not belong here.” however, bsu made her feel welcome. space is important to black college students who need that to feel welcome. the other 17 participants who were not in the bsu had difficulty identifying a space and had encounters with staff and faculty that made them uncomfortable. mariah stated, “i had a hard time finding resources, and when i would ask someone, they would just brush me off or have an attitude.” george stated, “black staff was more helpful than non-black staff and friendlier.” campuses with a space for black college students allow them to see themselves as more belonging and able to receive assistance to avoid interactions that can lead to detachment. if black college students do not have an area they can identify with, their likelihood of dealing with hardship increases. all seventeen participants without the bsu had issues connecting to their college due to a lack of space. external hardships external hardship deals with anything outside of college. several issues can affect black college students’ educational journey. some of the findings are external issues such as black students who have children or dependents they must care for, because not all students come straight from high school. family structure and culture was identified as a hardship because many of the participants experienced single parent household. housing was an issue for a few participants, and it highlighted that black college students also go through housing hardship. internal and external racism and bias are also described below in the findings because all participants experience this inside and outside of the college. black college students with dependents there have been times when a few of my participants had to leave college to care for family members. five of the female participants i interviewed have children. jasmine’s story was very compelling. she stated, “once i became a mom, i had to neglect research | theses | eleby 96 california sociology forum vol. 6 my education in preference for my daughter. so, it wasn’t that i did not want to be in school; i had to be home to be a mom.” there was no support for dependent students at her college, so she dropped out. the childcare services at her college were too expensive. henry stated he had to drop out to take off his daughters; however, in his case, he was able to return shortly afterward. these are just a few examples of participants who had external responsibility, and their college needed tools and access to resources to assist them in their situation. which role these parents adopt plays a critical part in their education because they may have to choose which one is more important; being a fulltime parent or a full-time student. institutions need more resources for parents because black college students are no longer just 17 or 18 years old. the age demographic is changing from younger to more senior, and the older students and even the younger students have children, and that needs to be considered when serving black college students. housing housing was identified as a hardship among my interviewees. if students do not have stable housing, that will affect their grades, basic needs, and other issues caused by homelessness. i had five participants who experienced homelessness during their time in college. joe stated, “i had to move out of a family member’s house because they thought i had money since i was attending college. when i told them no, i do not have all this funding, i was kicked out and stayed in my car for six months while going to school.” housing is critical for black college students to be able to focus. when i asked these participants did the institution help them in their situations, they said they were just given a piece of paper and rushed out of the office. that is why meeka stated, “not just having stability, but just personally to feeling like you’re going, you’re going through this process by yourself.” housing is an issue for black college students, especially those with dependents, and there should be resources for these students and support so they can complete their degrees and meet their basic needs requirements. research | theses | eleby 97 california sociology forum vol. 6 family structure and culture black college students’ background is crucial to their success because most low-impoverished communities do not promote post-secondary education college-going. most of these communities define success as completing high school and obtaining some employment to take care of yourself and your loved ones. i asked participants if post-secondary education was promoted in their households. below are some of the responses and findings. eight out of twenty participants had a two-parent household. five out of the eight participants experienced being in a single parent household due to divorce or separation. out of twenty participants, only four had parents or siblings who achieved post-secondary success, including an associate or bachelor’s degree. helen had two members in her family with post-secondary degrees. helen stated, “having parents who had a master’s degrees encourage me to seek my education and show me i can be successful at that level.” this statistic is very alarming because most of my participants needed someone to look to when it came to navigating colleges. most participants had to witness their parents work two jobs and even work themselves to support their parents. for the four participants who had a relative who had postsecondary education success, it encouraged them to be successful in college. it enables them and many others to attend college and overcome barriers and the other participants. one of the participants, marquise, stated it was a positive experience for him to see family members being successful, “we hold secondary degrees, and my brother and sister both have master’s degrees.” kenneth stated his mother used to tell him he had to go to college. participants who had previously successful parents typically attended college and finished their degrees. for those i interviewed who did not have any siblings or parents who achieved a degree in post-secondary education, i am excited to report their parents encouraged them. some of these participants are the first generation in their families because they took that first step in pursuing their education. shirley’s mom was a single parent who told her to attend college and get a formal education. jackie said her mom told her to “be the first to graduate research | theses | eleby 98 california sociology forum vol. 6 in the family and set the standard.” because of those encouraging words, jackie is no longer the only family graduate with a bachelor’s degree. her brother also has one, and they are grooming their nephews and cousin to follow suites. vicky stated that she wanted to attend college to experience a different community. overall, family culture does impact black college students’ success in post-secondary due to the influence inside the home and how education is viewed. it can affect what barrier these black college students will face and how they will respond. family culture also dictates how they will see the world and others. many black communities are not faring well since most of the participant’s family members have not finished their degrees or have not attempted post-secondary education. the sixteen participants who graduated from college and had no one with previous experience were motivated by the lack of success and were determined to break that barrier. it demonstrates that the educational systems need to get black people more involved in post-secondary education starting at an early age because not everyone is as fortunate as these participants who encourage education in their household. external and internal hardships related to bias and racism unfortunately, racism and bias exist in the educational system. for black college students this experience is not new. eighteen out of twenty participants in this study reported experiencing racism or prejudices from staff, faculty, and peers. brianna shared a story with me that she was going by a sorority table and asked how she joined. the non-black group told her they were full. when she was walking away, she heard them say, “why black girls wanted to join us. they need to stay in their lane.” there was another incident where a white athlete assaulted her, and because of his status, she did not report it because she felt no one would believe her. when i asked why she did not want to tell anyone, she just stated, “i don’t trust the system here because a friend of hers who is white experienced the same thing and was denied justice. i am black, so what chances do i have?” because research | theses | eleby 99 california sociology forum vol. 6 of this terrible experience after she graduated, she refuses to step foot on the campus and wishes she had just attended an hbcu. leslie shared that on her campus, she was called a “nigga,” and she did not belong there. raymond shared that when he heard about his universities, he encountered the kkk. he stated that they call him a nigga and threaten his life. when he told the administration, they did not act upon it immediately until he had it printed in the school newspaper. there are many incidents that occurred on college campuses that are not reported due to black college students’ distrust within the college system. they do not believe either the perpetrator or the college will take their complaint seriously. the last two examples delineate heavy biases when black college students deal with staff or faculty, starting with johnny. johnny’s experiences with instructors could have been better in his institutions. he stated a teacher was grading bias because he was black. when i asked a follow-up about why, he just said the teacher would never talk to him like he does the other students. when johnny comes by during office hours, he would never be there or says he is busy. his tone with johnny was like he was afraid of him. he had to retake the course because he felt he would not pass with how the teacher was acting toward him. finally, my last example is with angela, who detailed how she walked into the financial aid office and stated she had an issue with her financial aid status. the elderly white lady told her, “you people always have these issues” smartly. angela asked what she meant by “you people,” so she pointed to the room that was dominated by black. a black employee stood there looking shocked, so he helps instead. overall, black college students report dealing with these issues daily from entering college until leaving. biases and racism can be untaught by having mandatory diversity training and having employees who understand the demographic they are working with, especially instructors. those three black students’ stories describe an insight into what they must endure in the uc and csu system. research | theses | eleby 100 california sociology forum vol. 6 discussion overall, black college students have experienced internal and external hardships affecting their educational journey. the findings display that financial hardship was a significant problem for black college students. heimans and sing (2019) found basic needs were an issue and this study also confirms this as a factor as most of the participants experienced some basic need insecurity as an external factor. ten of the participants had to gain employment to support their families. the primary rationale behind this is that fifteen participants had experienced the single parent family structure, with only one being a single father. the income in these families has created external barriers for black college students because they must work and depend on a scholarship or financial aid. when these students have external issues, it can lead to internal economic problems. a few participants had to drop out because they needed help to keep up with their tuition. there are cases where if a black college student must depend on financial aid and employment, they will not be a hundred percent focused on their academics if they must work and do schoolwork. some participants found that quite challenging to do and had a challenging time handling both. one of the concerns from these interviews is that colleges need to figure out how to support black college students who have financial issues coming into their colleges. are there enough resources or scholarships offered for them to participate in? do the scholarships, if any are offered, help them in their educational journey? these concerns and issues can and will affect black college students attending or intending to attend any uc or csu institutions. black students with dependents face an additional layer to external hardship. the barriers that single mothers face is twice as problematic compared to someone who does not have children. their external responsibility will affect their educational responsibility if they do not have a support system. mammen and woodford (2010) describe single mothers with children. the most challenging road to success is dealing with role conflict. will they be full-time students and focus on their studies or be full mothers and put all their energy into raising their children? being a mother or father is a job that does not turn off because you have an assignment due. also, they are black college students, who are research | theses | eleby 101 california sociology forum vol. 6 often labeled and treated as irresponsible and looked down upon. there is a lack of support for black college students with dependents due to the culture colleges are used to. when these types of students are entering college, then additional resources are needed to assist them. when a black college student with a dependent cannot get the proper help due to the college not having the necessary resources for them to be successful, that creates an additional barrier for that student. it will become an internal issue due to a lack of support from their institutions. college culture should always try to avoid racism, and bias; however, it still occurs and heavily impacts black college students’ educational journeys. the old ideology still exist that black individuals are to be feared, which triggers certain behaviors from non-black peers like clutching their purse and becoming suspicious when they see a lot of black students around, assuming black students are uneducated due to the community they come from and the class they are associated with. allen et al. (2018) describes that due to racism and bias, they cannot form the relationships needed. furthermore, this can cause serious mental health issues if black college students endure constant discriminatory treatment constantly. barr and neville (2014) delineate that when black college students encounter hostile situations, frequently, it can cause them to perceive other non-black individuals as unapproachable due to these experiences. it may cause them to react positively or negatively depending on the situation. there is a folktale saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” – however, words hurt, especially if they are racially or biased motivated. it can cause black college students to be mentally broken down and unable to focus academically. colleges need to implement mandatory diversity training to prepare their staff better when dealing with black college students and to be aware of triggers that can cause mental issues. the training should be limited to staff and students. they come from various parts of the world, and for most students, it is their first time dealing with another ethnicity in this environment. training is critical for everyone, especially in today’s critical state where black people’s image is painted as violent when they are research | theses | eleby 102 california sociology forum vol. 6 just trying to find a path to have the same opportunities for success as anyone else. black college students want to feel they belong to their institutions. they want to think that they are on a non-judgmental campus where they can be themselves and be accepted for who they are. unfortunately, that is not happening, and it goes deeper than having money, what class students are in, or even how they are approached by staff, faculty, teacher, and their peers. the primary problem at colleges resides internal to institutions of higher education themselves. when colleges decide to prioritize black college students, the detachment they are faced with constantly will change. this will in turn improve mental health, which is likely to positively affect students’ educational experiences and outcomes. this research suggests several steps that colleges can takes to better integrate black students into a sense of communal belonging. they should have a dedicated space for black college students and not just give them an empty room. a more vigorous effort in placing resources in their area would be a significant improvement and having someone there to answer questions and address their concerns. hillman and beasley’s (2017) research states that having a space for black college students can increase their chances. the colleges must make a more substantial effort to connect them to the community. training is critical for everyone, especially in today’s critical state where black people’s image is painted as violent when they are just trying to find a path to have the same opportunities for success as anyone else. also, i recommend that universities dedicate mentors to guide black students, especially in a heavily hispanic or white college, since the percentage of black students at any college that is not an hbcu is generally remarkably low. many of my participants have been in classes where they are the only black student. the ratio of seeing another black student decreases when a black college student attends a nonhbcu institutions, so any non-black traditional colleges need to make a better effort in making black college students connected to their colleges, since there is only a small percentage of them in attendance at these colleges. the recruiting strategy needs to be reviewed due to the percentage of black people in post-secondary research | theses | eleby 103 california sociology forum vol. 6 education. inferior quality educations, and the resource for college is rarely promoted to our black generations. these black college students want a chance to improve their lives, and these stereotypes and biases must stop starting from administration to their peers. conclusion overall, black college students are a unique population and need specific resources to succeed in post-secondary education. the study suggests that more funding opportunities for them are necessary, so they do not have to leave school because of financial rationale. also, connecting them to mentors right away will assist black college students to not feel detachment from the school. they will have someone who can relate to them and guide them. having resources for black college students who have children is crucial. we have grown-ups and older people who are attending college now. the culture of having all resources dedicated to younger college students must change significantly for those with dependents so they can continue their education without having to deal with role conflicts. increasing diversity training and adding students to that training would be extremely helpful, so all students know how to deal with diverse cultures. white colleges especially need to focus on staff, who must remember that thousands of students come to institutions from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. cultures will clash, and conflict will arrive shortly after, unless students know how to deal with various kinds of people, especially black college students. knowledge of another culture should not be based on just the media and social outlets. colleges should offer more black studies courses for students and staff to take so they can learn more about black student cultures and where they come from. i would recommend that all college institutions make it mandatory for all students to take a pan-african study class. it will help non-black students learn something more about black college student history than just slavery. for black college students, it would show them where they come from, as ancestors of kings and queens. they will be able to relate to their blackness more in-depth and feel more comfortable in their institutions. this will help interactions with research | theses | eleby 104 california sociology forum vol. 6 black students overall and hopefully provide more positive than negative interactions. black college students should be offered a space by their institutions that is worthy of their rich history and accomplishment. black college students need to see an area that looks like them and is created just for them, not just an empty room with chairs and tables. have a special welcome for them, especially if you have a small percentage of black people at the college. as stated previously, most of my participants have been the only black student in a class, so the chances of them seeing another black person in class is very unlikely. it can be extremely uncomfortable going into a heavily hispanic or white department. diversity is needed across the board at the college level for students to feel comfortable, especially black students. having black college students comfortable in college is not complicated. the formula is simple: treat them with the proper respect and assist them in their educational journey so they can succeed. references barr, simone c. and helen a. neville. 2013. “racial socialization, color-blind ideology and mental health among black college students.” journal of black psychology 40(2):138–165. beasley, samuel t. 2021. “student–faculty interactions and psychosociocultural influences as predictors of engagement among black college students.” journal of diversity in higher education 14(2):240–51. bourke, alan, jim vanderveken, emily ecker, jeremy atkinson, and natalie shearer. 2019. “bringing college classrooms to the community: promoting postsecondary access for low-income adults through neighbourhood-based college courses.” canadian journal of higher education 49(1):159–75. brooms, derrick r. 2016. “‘building us up’: supporting black male college students in a black male initiative program.” critical sociology 44(1):141–55. chapman-hilliard, collette, and samuel t. beasley. 2018. “‘it’s like power to move’: black students’ psychosocial experiences in black studies courses at a predominantly white institution.” journal of multicultural counseling and development 46(2):129–51. hakkola, leah. 2019. “obstacles and pathways: a critical discourse analysis of diversity in college recruiting.” journal of diversity in higher education 12(4):365– 76. harris, jessica c. and chris linder. 2018. “the racialized experiences of students of color in higher education and student affairs graduate preparation programs.” journal of college student development 59(2):141–58. heimans, stephen and parlo singh. 2020. “schooling and poverty: re-thinking impact, research and social justice.” asia-pacific journal of teacher education 48(1):1–14. research | theses | eleby 105 california sociology forum vol. 6 huerta, adrian h., patricia m. mcdonough, and walter r. allen. 2018. “‘you can go to college’: employing a developmental perspective to examine how young men of color construct a college-going identity.” the urban review 50(5):713–34. jacques, scott and andrea allen. 2020. “‘he did that because i was black’: black college students perceive municipal police, not campus police, as discriminating.” andrea allen. shinn, marybeth, jessica gibbons-benton, and scott r. brown. 2015. “poverty, homelessness, and family break-up.” child welfare 94(1):1–19. simons, leslie gordon and megan e. steele. 2020. “the negative impact of economic hardship on adolescent academic engagement: an examination parental investment and family stress processes.” journal of youth and adolescence 49(5):973–90. woodford, michelle, and sheila mammen. 2010. “escaping poverty: rural low-income mothers’ opportunity to pursue post-secondary education.” career and technical education research 35(2):81–102. john m. eleby (he/him) is an alumnus of the b.a. and m.a. programs in sociology at cal state la. his research highlights black college students’ experiences in post-secondary education. john is involved in associated student incorporation (asi) as the vice president for academic governance. he developed a quantitative survey to measure how grad students are serviced by cal state la, which the graduate resource center used to improve its visibility. he believes one benefit of joining csf is working with other future sociologists to learn to analyze scholarship, which is a great skill to have for future employment. black college students’ hardship in post-secondary education john eleby california sociology forum iv california sociology forum student journal contents volume vii fall 2024 spring 2025 letter from the editors.................................................................... vii about the editors ............................................................................. ix research articles proximity and social integration (golden eagle sociology student paper competition awardwinning paper) carla ocampo ................................................................... 1 the long-term effects of child physical abuse serena yeager .................................................................. 18 homelessness: how did we come to recognize it as such a problem and the possible ways to solve it steven russell .................................................................. 28 unhoused african americans and lgbtqia+ youth: disproportionately overrepresented groups in the unhoused population jason chen and dr. theodoric manley ......................... 47 theoretical works the denial of self and belonging: exploring disability identity and society using classical sociological theory lauren whiting ............................................................... 68 marx and the question of palestine victoria torres ................................................................. 77 k-pop fandoms through durkheim’s lens lani tran-nguyen ........................................................... 87 california sociology forum v creative works art cover image: further discussion on a reflection of our time annica mejia and taryn bates ...................................... 98 poetry roles and impressions within romantic relationships and heartbreak taryn bates .................................................................... 101 op-eds kimberlé crenshaw on intersectionality and critical race theory nicole r. perez ............................................................... 105 reviews books gender without identity by avgi saketopoulou and ann pellegrini angel jaimes .................................................................. 112 holding it together: how women became america’s safety net by jessica calarco abigail whitenack ......................................................... 118 reconsidering death: a sociological review of brandi schillace's death’s summer coat kayla bellipanni ............................................................ 121 i am not your perfect mexican daughter by erika l. sánchez shanya a. olivares perez ............................................. 125 california sociology forum vi books (cont.) just like family: how companion animals joined the household by andrea laurent-simpson alicia justice meilich .................................................... 128 dillard’s promise by gilbert leslie ian joaquin esparza ..................................................... 131 film blood quantum by jeff barnaby jalene garcia-santamarina.......................................... 134 under the same moon by patricia riggen hilda gamero ................................................................ 137 tv shows birth of a rebellion: a sociological look at andor – a star wars story ian joaquin esparza ..................................................... 141 anime: the human experience according to frieren: beyond journey's end / sōsō no furīren nathalie velasco-quiroz ............................................... 147 music when dreams begin again: a reflection on new order’s ‘dreams never end’ sammy garcia iii ......................................................... 151 analysis of kendrick lamar’s 2016 grammy performance dorcia white .................................................................. 161 cavetown’s ‘guilty’ through a sociological lens tenille blackburn .......................................................... 168 3 table of contents volume_7_california_sociology_forum_student_journal_2024-2025 money and power over concern for humanity: california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) money and power over concern for humanity: delaying justice for special interests in the armenian genocide case angelica light department of sociology california state university, los angeles in the case of the armenian genocide, action and inaction and the weighing of costs and benefits led to the massive destruction of armenians during wwi. the turkish government’s racial discrimination against the armenians drove them to politically and violently eradicate the armenians within the ottoman empire. the benefit for the turks from having separatist policies was establishing a pure turkish state. the costs to achieve this goal were forcible relocation or death, whichever was most efficient in prompting the turkish government’s desired outcome. the benefit for outside nations from inaction was reserving political, financial and military assets as opposed to the burden of intruding in external affairs. however, the costs of inaction had a double-sided effect: hundreds of thousands of armenians lost their lives and culture while outside nations lost their integrity. other nations are stigmatized with shame just as the turkish masterminds behind the armenian genocide are vilified, for the lack of prevention is equally offensive as committing the crime. furthermore, not addressing the armenian genocide, specifically, delaying reparations and punishment, perpetuates the guilt of the turkish officials who authorized and conducted the genocide. it also perpetuates the embarrassment of other nations who did not get involved to prevent or stop it and the hurt that engulfs the armenians as they mourn the demise of their heritage and are denied any sense of justice. 1in 1915, an estimated one and a half million armenians were killed under turkish government orders. since the genocide, armenia and other nations angelica light is an undergraduate student in the department of sociology. her paper was originally submitted to soc. 496 law and society honors thesis, taught by dr. elaine draper in winter 2011. have used the political arena to not only remedy genocidal grievances but also to avoid them. because the turkish government has not officially acknowledged that what befell the armenians in 1915 was genocide, no reparations or condolences have been given to the armenian people. the purpose of this paper is to present and analyze from a sociological perspective the history and significance of the armenian genocide by angelica light 34 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) turko-armenian conflict that manifested into genocide. first, i will describe the historical background of this conflict. then, i will examine how the flexible nature of the law can lead to many perversions that allow human violations to occur legally and how rectifying wrongdoing can be delayed by lack of action and by inaction. finally, i will discuss why nations and the international community delay enforcing the laws due to the weighing of the costs and benefits, which often results in special interests prevailing over justice for humanity. historical background birth of a nation despite the odds the armenians occupied a “strategic crossroads” in eastern anatolia and the caucasus as early as the sixth century b.c. (toriguian1973:17). as a result of their ideal geographical position, they endured two thousand years of “frequent intervals of foreign domination and oppression,…successive waves of foreign invasions” and falling in and out of national independence (toriguian1973:17). the last armenian kingdom fell in 1375, dividing armenia into 2 regions: russian armenia and turkish armenia, the larger region being the latter. russian armenians lived a tolerable existence under russian rule while turkish armenians endured the ups and downs of unfulfilled guarantees of rights, liberties and reforms promised by the ottoman empire. however, the armenian people were still able to establish a national identity by adopting christianity as their state religion, developing their own alphabet and creating a culture enriched by language, literature and art (alexander 1991:30). despite being relegated as secondclass citizens, the ottoman empire allowed cultural autonomy for the armenians. however, as the empire began to decline in the nineteenth century, coexistence among diversity became exceedingly difficult. a wave of turkish refugees from russia and the balkans as well as kurds and circassians created an imbalanced population that provoked competition for agricultural lands (dadrian 2006:29). since the armenians were already socioeconomically pushed into farming and peasantry, the agrarian sector with its new demographics presented the armenians with an aggressive economic rivalry for survival. the power struggles of conflict theory: creating the enemy from a sociological perspective, the targeting of the armenians exemplifies “the major dimensions of conflict [which] are along the structural divisions or systems of stratification that form the basis of the society: race or ethnicity, class and gender” (iadicola and shupe 2003:10). the multi-ethnic ottoman empire faced “conflicting values, interests and cultural orientations” that created a divide “within the systems of stratification” (iadicola and shupe 2003:10). the turkish government used (1) race or ethnicity, (2) class and (3) gender to create a greater division between turks and armenians. first, the turkish government’s justification to marginalize the armenians was subjugation by race or ethnicity. given that religion is a significant dimension of one’s ethnic background, the turks maintained that the armenians being of an opposing armenian genocide by angelica light 35 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) religion was reason enough to segregate and suppress the armenians. to legitimize their position, the turks used religion as a basis to define the character of an individual as good or bad. since the turks adopted islam and the armenians christianity, muslim turks were deemed morally good and christian armenians morally bad (hovannissian 1998:24). consequently, religious differences distinguished the two races, classifying muslim turks as superior and christian armenians as inferior. provided that the turkish government was able to convince their turkish constituents that religion was a chosen lifestyle that reflected the quality of one’s temperament, the superior and inferior distinction based on religion made unequal treatment acceptable. this rationale to marginalize the armenians provoked neighbors to turn against each other. the second structural division that the turkish government used was social class. they emphasized racial and ethnic differences between the turks and armenians to justify imposing racially targeted limitations on the armenians to relegate them to second-class status in the ottoman empire. for example, armenians were denied access to the press and they did not have the right to bear arms, receive an education, testify in court or become officers in the army. some provinces also prohibited armenians from speaking their own language or practicing their own religion. furthermore, armenians were burdened by a special “system of taxation” that was not only greater than their capacity to pay but also more than what turkish citizens were required to pay (alexander 1991:33). consequently, the armenians were subjected to a second-class citizenship, which surrendered them to what vahakn dadrian (2006:134) in warrant for genocide, calls a “structural blockage.” dadrian uses this term to describe how the divisions between classes are perpetuated by the availability and allocation of resources to each class. in other words, individuals of certain classes are directed to occupy certain trades while they are blocked from entering other trades and professions. as a result, lower class individuals, those with limited resources compared with those with abundant resources, known as the upper class, are confined to their social status because they lack the means and opportunities for upward social mobility. since the distribution of resources is controlled by those who have the greatest access to resources, those in power tend to hoard plentiful resources and are reluctant to share any leftovers, thus safeguarding the assets of the upper class and preventing lower class individuals from intruding. dadrian’s concept of structural blockage can be applied to the armenian case with a twist of irony. since social forces handicapped the armenians by restricting them to manual work like farming, the armenian workforce was essential to maintaining society, for they provided a substantial portion of the food supply in the ottoman empire (freedman 2009: 34). additionally, unlike the turks, armenians were open to westernization and thus sought businesses in modernization. armenians brought “technical innovations such as steam engines, mechanical weaving machines and iron and steel ovens” from armenian genocide by angelica light 36 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) the west and into the lives of ottomans (karagueuzian 2006:2). however, their surprising success in trade and business backfired (karagueuzian 2006:3).slight prosperity over some turkish muslims aided the turkish government’s endorsement of using the armenian christians as a scapegoat to alleviate blame for the empire’s economic demise (hovanissian 1998:39). even though the armenians contributed to modernizing turkey, the empire was still behind in technological advancements, causing the economy and military to deteriorate (dadrian 2006:148). since the turks’ declining economy looked inadequate compared with armenians’ economic niches, turkish officials exaggerated the fact that the armenians were ethnically different from the turks so that they could brand the armenians as the reason for empire’s economic misery (dadrian 2006:125). for that reason, the armenians were made outcasts to detract attention from the government’s shortcomings. making matters even worse for the waning empire was “an armenian political enlightenment” that pressured turkish officials to address any inequities the armenian people endured (alexander 1991:32). western ideas of “freedom and independence” penetrated those exploited under the ottoman empire, putting the government in the spotlight to produce solutions. thus, gender became the third structural division for the turkish officials to exploit. intellectual and prominent men of the armenian community posed a threat to the turkish government. democratic ideologies inspired public figures of the armenian community to encourage fellow armenians to take a stand against the turkish government. since religion was the basis on which armenians shaped their identity and kept their community intact, clergymen were immediately targeted. clergymen “raised their voices against the persistence in the provinces of governmental misrule that was threatening to erode the rural infrastructure of the armenian church” (dadrian 2006:41). in 1870, leaders of the armenian church constructed a “memorandum of grievances,” detailing fundamental issues that extended beyond the welfare of their church. their concerns included forced religious conversions, expropriations of farming properties, tax abuses, corrupted government officials and “the inadmissibility of armenian testimony in court” (dadrian 2006:40). however, the turkish government found all reports, even after revision and clarification, to be too “non-specific and vague” to justify action (dadrian 2006:41). to further escape the acknowledgement of these complaints, the turkish government purposely changed the jurisdiction of who received the reports. originally the grievances were heard by the foreign ministry whose affairs were overseen by the entente powers: britain, france and russia, outsiders who were considered impartial to the racial conflict that swept over the ottoman empire (dadrian 2006:41). however, a switch of jurisdiction left the ministry of religion and justice in charge, “whose reliance on the dictates of islam and sacred islamic law,” presented a bias favorable to the turks (dadrian 2006:41). since the turkish government complicated the protocol of political reform by switching armenian genocide by angelica light 37 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) jurisdictions, the armenians were handicapped once again. in this example, the turks used their authority to alter the channels of law that could have potentially brought about change so that they could prevent the armenians’ desired change from ever happening. turkish supremacy and perpetuated violence the previous section revealed how the armenians were faced against violence that was intrinsic to their race in the multi-ethnic empire dominated by the turks. peter iadicola and anson shupe (iadicola and shupe 2003:23) in violence, inequality, and human freedom, define violence as “any action or structural arrangement that results in physical or nonphysical harm to one or more persons.” the armenian case can be examined through two types of violence: structural and institutional violence. “structural violence” refers to the way society is systematically ordered to maintain status quo (iadicola and shupe 2003:31). the infringement of rights of the armenians due to their second-class citizenship status exemplifies structural violence. this structural arrangement resulted in harmful outcomes for the armenians physically and psychologically. for example, since armenians were secondclass citizens, they were denied dueprocess and could be jailed or beaten without justifiable cause (alexander 1991:98). they also could not live with any sense of acceptance for they were demoralized for having a different faith. the turks practiced structural violence to maintain and extend “the hierarchical ordering” of people to construct built in inequality (iadicola and shupe 2003:31). “institutional violence” is violence that results from institutions seeking and achieving institutional objectives (iadicola and shupe 2003:28). three important institutions that iadicola and shupe identify that are significant to the study of violence in the context of sociology are religion, the economy and politics. “religion” gave rise to victimization because competing faiths made it easy for turkish officials to dehumanize the armenians. religious violence took the forms of forced religious conversions and prohibition of christianity (alexander 1991:7). the armenians experienced “economic” violence by being restricted from certain professions with disproportionate pay and special taxes (alexander 1991:33). in fact, “two-thirds of the income of the armenians was collected as taxes, levied at three times the amount charged to non-armenians” (karagueuzian 2006:3). “political” violence was manifested in the state-directed targeting of the armenians (freedman 2009:18). the policies that legalized special taxation based on race exemplify outright targeting. however, the most critical example of political violence was the political tone that swept throughout the ottoman empire: pan-turanianism. this ideology promoted a “turkish fanaticism” which meant “racial uniformity,” a turkish one, which provided the framework for the suppression of the armenians in the ottoman empire (alexander 1991:98). the turkish government used this ethnocentric mentality and propaganda to rally its turkish constituents against the armenians while using the glorification of their ethnicity as a justification to do so. what made this armenian genocide by angelica light 38 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) ethnocentric ideology so dangerous was that it was accompanied by authority; in other words, the romanticized pure turkish nation was endorsed by the government, which meant that any strategy to achieve this goal could be infiltrated in every system of society. this political strategy was so effective that it would reappear in world war ii in the form of the germans who glorified nazism (alexander 1991:98). in the case of the armenians, the aggressive force behind panturanianism was the politically violent and radical group called the young turks who assumed power in 1908 (alexander 1991:35). the young turks “changed the nature of the antagonism by projecting an even more adversary and threatening character onto the armenians” living under the ottoman empire (gellately and kiernan 2003: 207). they proposed that turkish nationalism “offered the prospect of a homogeneous new civilization,” that would lead to “a glorious and powerful future” (hovannissian 1998:40). however, “the christian armenians represented the single largest obstacle within turkey to racial uniformity” (alexander 1991: 98). the presence of the armenians was definitely felt in their demands for closing the gap of disparity, complicating turkey’s goal for a “pure” nation. it was strain enough on turkish officials that the armenians demanded “judicial and tax reforms” and “freedom of worship, education and press” but their insistence on “supervision of the armenian provinces by a european high commissioner” was even more burdensome (alexander 1991: 96). additionally, the fact that the entente powers, which was comprised of britain, france and russia, agreed with the armenians that reform was necessary intensified the tension within the empire even more. between 1878 and 1914, the entente powers sought to establish an opportunity for the armenians to “flourish in a climate of security under the supervision of the international community” (alexander 1991:16). however, their good intentions were never cemented due to a lack of follow through and an inconsistency of responsibility. for example, the treaty of san stefano of 1878 “provided that a series of reforms would be carried out in armenian areas under russian guarantee” but then the treaty of berlin of 1878 ordained great britain to supervise reforms promised by the turkish government (international league 1984:8). the lack of follow through and the changes of responsibility demonstrate that nations were not wholeheartedly committed to the needs of armenians; for passing off responsibilities after failure to fulfill them suggests that the responsibilities were never a priority. even though the entente powers urged that the turkish government implement necessary reforms to accommodate the armenians, they were never able to ensure implementation. in february 1914, the entente powers unsuccessfully attempted to appoint two inspectors to supervise reforms; unfortunately, the outbreak of world war i prevented the oversight (international league 1984:9). instead, the turkish government capitalized on the natural chaos of any war to commit genocidal acts in an attempt to accomplish their pure nation. armenian genocide by angelica light 39 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) under the cover of war this tactic of using war as an alibi is what jay winter refers to as “under the cover of war,” meaning that the desensitization byproduct of war opens the door for inhumane acts; war does not totally conceal out-of-line deviance, but rather nations under war are withdrawn from humane intervention when they are occupied by their own affairs (gellately and kiernan 2003:189). for example, winter asserts that “no one can deny that the armenian genocide took place under the eyes of the german army and that the killers operated with impunity” (gellately and kiernan 2003:191). this example brings attention to political commitments that may have undermined moral judgment. in other words, as allies in the war, it would not have been a good strategy for germany to interject in turkey’s affairs when it could have jeopardized their prospects in the war. and in an ironic but unfortunate turn of events, germany would later emulate turkey’s quest for racial homogeneity under the cover of world war ii driven by nazism instead of pan-turanianism, emphasizing judaism rather than christianity and singling out jews in place of armenians in what is known as the holocaust. the union between turkey and germany meant that turkey was associated with the central powers. this was problematic for the armenians for the armenian population was divided: while two million resided in turkey, one point seven million lived in russia (international league 1984:10). given that some armenian soldiers living within russian borders served alongside the russians who were a part of the allied powers, turkish authorities accused the armenians of aiding the enemy and thus justified their initial claim that the armenians were a threat to the security of the ottoman empire (gellately and kiernan 2003: 207). to prevent armenians from revolting, turkish officials began disarming armenian soldiers and civilians in january 1915. on april 24th of the same year, 650 armenian public personalities, writers, poets, lawyers, doctors, priests and politicians were imprisoned. the young turks authorized this operation to be carried out by a group called the “special organization,” which was comprised of criminals and convicts (international league 1984:10). towns were notified of evacuation and armenians had two days to gather their belongings. men were gathered first to be eliminated in small groups and convoys loaded the women, children and the elderly. families in isolated towns were slaughtered or burned in their own houses. families living near the coast of the black sea and the tigris river were loaded onto boats to be sunk and drowned. eastern provinces were ransacked while armenians were tortured and killed. many armenians did not even attempt to escape or seek aid or protection because they feared punishment by turkish authorities (international league 1984:11). deportations ensued to seemingly remove the armenians out of the turks’ way but became a successful mechanism for death as deportees died from starvation and dehydration en route to the deportation locations in the deserts of syria (international league 1984:12). although missionaries and ambassadors armenian genocide by angelica light 40 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) reported the destruction of the armenian people to the world and especially to the entente powers, turkey justified their acts as a response to treason and terrorism on part of the armenians during the war (international league 1984:11). without any follow up, investigation or intervention, the turks managed to commit a crime that would be later named genocide and kill one and a half million armenians (international league 1984:12). the historical background of the turko-armenian conflict is essential to understanding the conception of the armenian genocide. due to a disharmonious environment rooted in racism and inequality, plus resentment over little wealth, genocide for the turks would put an end to the armenians, tainting the reputation of the turks and complicating turkish interests. the tension between the muslim turks and christian armenians in this section demonstrates that the disparity of power within a society leads to exploitation and is achieved through the influence of authority. powerful groups exploit vulnerable groups to advance or protect their interests and choose their exploited group or groups based on fundamental differences that may contradict with the interests of the powerful. in the turko-armenian case, differences between social groups within the multi-ethnic empire were emphasized in order to convince particular members of society that such differences were immoral and thus justify that certain governmental measures were pertinent to maintaining the empire. hatred against the armenians, or at least the notion that the armenians were inferior to the turks, infiltrated dimensions of society, specifically social institutions and the economy, that detrimentally affected the living conditions of the armenians. what amplified this superior and inferior relationship was the campaign for panturianism, an ideology that swept the empire in a totalizing fashion, making genocide more than a conceivable outcome, but rather an inevitable one. identifying and applying the law channeling the law the law prescribes standards for its people and regulates people’s actions to measure up to those standards. the law is used to impose what a society thinks is appropriate to maintain order while satisfying needs for intuitive justice. the common conception of intuitive justice is that the law is part of a social contract that ensures fairness and if the law is broken, there is a consequence to compensate for breaching the contract. however, the law can only ideally reflect society’s attitudes and ideally change as society’s attitudes change. for example, jim crow laws legally segregated white americans from black americans and other non-whites by creating “separate but equal” public facilities and institutions like restrooms, restaurants and schools. although these laws seem to inherently contradict american ideologies of liberty and freedom, jim crow laws were a reality until the 1960s civil rights movement shifted what were considered to be acceptable practices to become unconstitutional. this mentality shift was made possible by special groups demonstrating civil unrest in the forms armenian genocide by angelica light 41 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) of protesting and lobbying to communicate disapproval and encourage a means to correct certain conditions. thus, the law is an instrument that dominant groups use to express what they find is tolerable or intolerable. single legal victories can jumpstart an overhaul of dramatic opinions but just because an opinion is invested by the power of law, individuals are not always compelled to follow the law. often, a series of similar laws with similar ideas are created in order for the idea to be enforced by the law. for example, although the landmark case brown v. board of education of topeka kansas ruled that separate but equal facilities were unconstitutional in 1954, the law was not enforced until years later. then ten years after brown v. board of education of topeka kansas was the construction of the civil rights act of 1964, which prohibited many kinds of discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin. the creation of both laws, which have their roots in antidiscrimination, exemplifies how an idea transformed into a law may need to be expanded or reiterated for the idea to permeate society and be followed and respected as a law. therefore, it is important to understand that the relationship between societal attitudes and the law is a process, for several laws may share the same idea but not the same impact on society. the formation and implementation of the genocide convention was no exception to the rule. its process required the polish-jewish lawyer raphael lemkin to dedicate his whole life and career to convincing the world that genocide was the ultimate crime against humanity. this section of the paper describes lemkin’s crusade for a ban against genocide. his crusade entailed the difficulties in constructing the term genocide and the difficult reception he received endorsing it in political arenas like the madrid conference of 1933 and the nuremberg trials. lemkin’s lobbying tactics extended beyond legal conferences and military tribunals to the media and networking with policy makers. he employed political strategies at every opportunity despite receiving criticism and reluctance, for each opportunity was another step closer toward ratifying the genocide convention. constructing the term genocide was a process in itself. the objective of his crusade was to stop “the targeted destruction of ethnic, national, and religious groups” (power 2003:21). since lemkin was particularly sensitive to the preservation of “both the physical and cultural existence of groups,” he conceptualized targeted attacks against social groups into two separate but similar ideas: barbarity and vandalism (power 2003:21). he defined barbarity as the “premeditated destruction of national, racial, religious and social collectivities” and vandalism was its consequence in which “works of art and culture, being the expression of the particular genius of these collectivities,” where obliterated (power 2003:21). he pushed for an international commitment against barbarity and vandalism so that instigators and perpetrators could “be punished wherever they were caught regardless of where the crime was committed or the criminals’ nationality or official status” (power 2003:20). this condition intended to prevent asylum from being the way to elude armenian genocide by angelica light 42 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) responsibility and did not protect individuals of certain positions from being guilty of committing genocide. lemkin also proposed that if there was a collective effort toward condemning barbarity and vandalism, enforcement and punishment would be easily facilitated. however, uniting entities to ban an act that seemed to be intuitively wrong proved to be halted by politics. for example, at the 1933 madrid conference, participants could not indefinitely say “yes” or “no” to lemkin’s proposal on banning barbarity and vandalism (power 2003:22). indecisiveness on the issue presented the troubling dichotomy of being prepared to intervene despite any political costs and the preparedness to acknowledge that inaction allows for death and destruction to take place. such a dichotomy presented itself again in world war ii when hitler repeated the young turks’ mass extermination tactics against the jews. however, it was not until hitler reintroduced such devilishness to the world that people were more interested in intervention. after winston churchill declared that “the whole of europe ha[d] been wrecked and trampled down by the mechanical weapons and barbaric fury of the nazis,” leaving the world “in the presence of a crime without a name,” lemkin knew that he was not successful in establishing and convincing the world of his concepts of barbarity and vandalism (power 2003:29). thus in 1943, lemkin united the terms barbarity and vandalism to create the word “genocide,” combining geno, a greek derivative meaning “race or tribe,” with cide, meaning killing in latin (power 2003:42). he hoped that this term would identify what he had been trying to advocate against for over ten years. although webster’s new international dictionary’s admittance of the word was a testament that the world’s attention was shifting toward confronting the subject matter, simply having a name for something did not mean that it could easily be applied. (power 2003:44). the nuremberg trials were another opportunity to create awareness for lemkin’s cause. capitalizing on the momentum built up by the world’s outrage against hitler’s outright annihilation of the jews presented the prospect of persuading prominent lawyers and policy makers in attendance that the prevention and punishment of genocide was an international concern that required an international law to be enforced. however, they neglected one of lemkin’s main conditions: although the allies were prosecuting crimes against humanity, the perpetrators were not being punished for “slaughter whenever and wherever it occurred” (power 2003:49). instead, the loophole in the precedent international law permitted genocidal acts if the act took place within “an internationally recognized border” by perpetrators inhabiting that border (power 2003:49). thus, “if the nazis had exterminated the entire germanjewish population but never invaded poland, they would not have been liable at nuremberg” (power 2003:49). furthermore, nazi defendants were only “tried for atrocities they committed during but not before” the war (power 2003:49). lemkin urged prosecutors daily to add genocide to the “tribunal’s list of punishable crimes” (power 2003:50). although he was considered an armenian genocide by angelica light 43 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) annoyance, his persistence paid off with a modest victory. the october 1945 nuremberg indictment declared that all twenty-four defendants “conducted deliberate and systematic genocide [through] the extermination of racial and national groups, against the civilian populations of certain occupied territories” (power 2003:50). however, the downside was that even though genocide was stated in the indictment, the conviction of nineteen nazi defendants on the count of “crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity” failed to mention the term genocide (power 2003:50). after his campaign against genocide did not succeed as part of the nuremberg judgment, lemkin proposed his ban at the 1946 peace conferences in england and france, to no avail (power 2003:50). following his defeat, lemkin went to a united nations conference on october 31, 1946 (power 2003:51). reporters and un delegates described lemkin as diligent but more of a pest. new york times reporter a.m. rosenthal stated: “i don’t remember how i met him…but i remember i was always meeting him” (power 2003:52). journalists reported that lemkin had the habits of stopping by offices daily to offer a different perspective of his genocide campaign and cornering delegates in the cafeteria, all the while looking unpolished and tattered (power 2003:52). lemkin even “carried a thick file folder bulging with gruesome details of various cases” so he could present the history of genocide wherever he went and to whoever he encountered (power 2003:54). he hoped that his “files on the destruction of the maronites, the herreros in africa, the huguenots in france, the protestants in bohemia after the battle of white mountain, the hottentots, the armenians in 1915 and the jews, gypsies and slavs by the nazis” would be so unbearable that the un delegates “would eventually agree to vote for the proposed convention simply in order to bring the daily litany of carnage to as rapid an end as possible” (power 2003:55). however, lemkin did not just rely on the horrendousness of genocide, in hopes that horror would compel others to act based on guilt and moral obligation. instead, he also used other political strategies to appeal to others’ values and interests for it was the conflicting values and interests that impeded others from joining his ban in the first place. to tap into the interests of the people in the countries that he was trying to persuade, lemkin contacted organizations that members of the united nations were associated with so that they could urge their un representative to join his ban against genocide (power 2003:55). finally, on december 9, 1948, the united nations general assembly passed the resolution of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (power 2003:61). it stated what constituted genocide and criminalized genocidal acts while binding all signatories’ commitment to the upholding the treaty. as the first human rights treaty adopted by the united nations, the genocide convention introduced the idea of accountability and made genocide not an internal concern but a global concern (power 2003:60). however, lemkin did not stop here; adopting the treaty as an international law would require twenty un member states to ratify it domestically. armenian genocide by angelica light 44 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) therefore, he returned to his lobbying tactics by using his self-made network of correspondents he met while drafting the convention for a total of seventeen years (power 2003:62). his valuable resource bank gave him access to influential public officials, organizations and heads of newspapers to “gauge the influence” of different communities and social forces (power 2003:63). he did his research—asking “friends, friends of friends, and acquaintances of acquaintances to familiarize himself with a country” (power 2003:63). he kept tabs on countries by sending letters to officials inquiring why they had not ratified the treaty and pressed them to do so. he would give updates of those who did just to show who was on board (power 2003:64). nevertheless, lemkin knew that “the united states, the world’s most powerful democracy, would have to take the lead in enforcing the genocide ban” since it “had long been a symbol of freedom and democratic progress to people less favored” (power 2003:64). as the icon for human rights, the united states’ involvement seemed inevitable. however, it would take four decades for the us to ratify the genocide convention due to the criticism that surrounded the clarity of the treaty along with the political burden being attached to it. although the humanitarian intention was clear, the genocide convention’s definition of genocide was not. from a numerical standpoint, it is debatable how many deaths or forced deportations have to occur in order to amount to genocide. the problem lies in numerical variances: percentages would allow perpetrators to strategically escape punishment by supporting killing with careful consideration of how many deaths are permitted and how many are not. in addition, law is not beneficial or effective if it is only prevalent after a certain number of deaths among a protected group under the genocide convention occur. critics also complained that the treaty was too broad, giving inventive lawyers the opportunity to pin nations down. for example, the united states could be implicated for committing genocide on the accounts of segregation in the south or suppression of minorities like women and children (power 2003:68). however, the most significant opposition for any country was international scrutiny. agreeing to the pact surrendered a nation’s autonomy for it relinquished the right for internal affairs to remain internal. furthermore, international scrutiny could lead to an entanglement of alliances. for americans, regulating human rights was already tough on american soil and doing it on foreign soil would be even tougher (power 2003:69). a plausible yet passive alternative would be advancing human rights through education and by example, not through the enforcement of an international law. controversy over legal terms and the political implications involved in ratifying the genocide convention was problematic for government officials and thus explains their indifference and postponement on completely committing or completely withdrawing their efforts from ratification. additionally, other human rights treaties added to the perplexity. for example, eleanor roosevelt’s universal declaration of human rights extended western armenian genocide by angelica light 45 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) ideologies of inherent rights to human beings on a global level. the document, which was approved by the general assembly one day after the genocide convention, expressed “principles of civil, political, economic and social justice” that are essential to preserving humanity (power 2003:74). lemkin criticized roosevelt’s udhr, arguing that “if every abuse were to become a subject of international concern…states would recoil against international law and would not respond to the greatest crime of all,” which he claimed was genocide (power 2003:75). lemkin feared that the genocide pact would be unneeded since the udhr was so expansive and could be used as a blanket to cover all crimes against humanity. for example, genocide could be deemed as a form of discrimination, which falls under the provisions of udhr. however, infringing on basic rights was different than annihilating a population. lemkin argued: “genocide implies destruction, death, annihilation, while discrimination is a regrettable denial of certain opportunities of life. to be unequal is not the same as to be dead” (power 2003:75). although lemkin had a rebuttal for every criticism against his life’s work, he would never complete the process of legally establishing the genocide convention. he died august 28, 1959 at the age of fifty-nine, penniless and alone. despite fighting for the legacy of millions and for the protection for future generations, only seven people attended his funeral (power 2003:78). after lemkin’s death, incidences of genocide occurred just as he predicted if the genocide convention did not pass ratification. for example, in 1968, oppressive muslim nigeria killed one million christian ibos by cutting off supplies to the inhabitants of biafra to prevent secession (power 2003:81). the johnson administration delayed famine relief measures to aid the ibos because they were mindful of oil reserves in the iboland and feared interference from the soviet union (power 2003:82). thus, they did not want to exacerbate conflict with another powerful nation nor jeopardize a potential economic interest. another example of political interests overriding safeguarding humanity is the case of the bangladesh liberation war. in 1971, pakistani troops killed two million bengalis and raped 200,000 bengali girls and women to stop bengali nationalists from achieving autonomy. the nixon administration did not interject because pakistan was their intermediary to china, a hopeful ally for the united states (power 2003:82). the following year, genocide took place in burundi. the ruling tutsis killed tens of thousands of hutus after a hutu-led rebellion (power 2003:82). the u.s. was committed to noninvolvement despite reports of death tallies, which were one thousand deaths a day. u.s. supported their blind-eye position by advocating the mentality that the problem solvers should be those who are burdened with the problem. consequently, the u.s. continued to be burundi’s chief customer of the country’s coffee industry, contributing to sixty-five percent of burundi’s commercial revenue (power 2003:83). although lemkin was dead, senator william proxmire had been continuing his crusade since january 11, 1967 (power 2002:81). like lemkin, armenian genocide by angelica light 46 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) proxmire promoted the cause of banning genocide by delivering a “daily soliloquy” to the senate, emphasizing the failure to act was a “national shame” (power 2003:85). after a decade and 3,211 speeches, proxmire earned support from president nixon and the senate in 1985. the united states would later ratify the genocide convention in 1988 (power 2003:167). the persistence of both proxmire and lemkin illustrate that the course of legalizing a piece of legislation that, although it may address an issue that is collectively condemned, is still a lobbying affair. the emotional subject matter may not give rise to action simply because of the emotions involved. even though legal procedures are in place as an avenue for people to express what is important to them and make something of it in the form of law, this does not mean that it is a political priority that commands legal commitment. after all, creating, passing and implementing legislation is generally a complex and extended process. the empowerment of human rights international law primarily is a body of rules regulating conduct between states, but “the international community has shown an increasing interest in the protection of the individual against the arbitrary action of his state” (toriguian 1973:49). the question is what makes a case worthy of international concern and, more important, what jurisdiction do states have that entitle them to intervene? in the previous section, raphael lemkin struggled to persuade nations that genocide was a global concern. this section attempts to show why nations are obligated to promote human rights within and beyond their borders. the preamble of the charter of the united nations states that one of their global concerns is to “reaffirm faith in the fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small” (toriguian 1973:51). article one of this document declares that one purpose of the united nations is to “achieve international cooperation…in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms, all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion” (toriguian 1973:51). thus, persecuted individuals are subjects of international law and should have legal protection of their freedoms (toriguian 1973:53). the united nations adopted their first human rights treaty, the genocide convention, on december 9, 1948 (power 2003:60). this document defined the term genocide, elaborated what constituted genocide and detailed how to prevent and punish genocide if the crime was committed (power 2003: 58). due to disagreements over the definition of genocide, the terms of the document and an unwillingness to support it under international law, the genocide convention was a fifteen-year battle to even be “approved and proposed for signature” by the general assembly and would not be effective until three years later on january 12, 1951 (power 2003: 62). there are currently “140 state parties—and 41 states as signatories—to the genocide convention” who have pledged to uphold the convention and implement crimes of genocide “through the international court of justice, as well armenian genocide by angelica light 47 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) as criminal prosecution before international tribunals” (pillay 2009). the united nations adopted the universal declaration of human rights one day after adopting the genocide convention to solidify the need to protect human rights throughout the world (toriguian 1973:52). on december 10, 1948, the document distinguished “a common standard of achievement for all people and all nations” (power 2003:75). although the declaration did not legally bind states, it identified fundamental rights and recognized the necessity for universal protection. the universal declaration of human rights failed to enforce responsibility in case the ideal standards of humanity were breached but succeeded in promoting “the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations” (toriguian 1973:52). in other words, it encouraged nations to intrinsically incorporate fundamental rights into every framework of law. to answer the question posited in the opening paragraph, the preservation of fundamental human rights is an international matter that should be upheld by the international community. documents like the genocide convention and the universal declaration of human rights should empower nations to practice what they endorse on paper. however, the irony is that although these documents give standards and legal grounds for policing human rights violations, they do little for enforcing what they declare. this irony suggests that legislation means nothing and law loses its power if the laws are not enforced. thus, the fight for laws goes beyond getting laws approved and ratified but the fight continues with putting the laws into action. retroactive justice this section of the paper is dedicated to identifying that what befell the armenians in 1915 constitutes genocide. i will reference the genocide convention to reveal how certain actions of the turkish government support my claim that the armenians experienced genocide and thus should receive restitution. i will also reference the nuremberg trials and the convention on the non-applicability of statutory limitation to war crimes against humanity to address the debate between holding past and present day turkey accountable for what the armenians suffered and writing it all off as not admissible due to an ex-post facto mentality. the 1946 judgment of german war criminals in the nuremberg trials relied on the charter of 1945, which defined crimes against humanity as “murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population on racial or religious grounds” (toriguian 1973:50). however, german defenses argued that “to give a law a retroactive effect is a breach of a fundamental principle of natural justice”; therefore, such acts committed by the germans before 1945 were inadmissible (toriguian1973:50). yet with the conviction of german authorities responsible for the holocaust, one can gather that it is agreed among the international community that “certain wrongs committed by a state against its own nationals,” if “so odious in nature” and identifiable as “crimes against armenian genocide by angelica light 48 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) humanity,” can be punishable due to “existing rules of customary international law” (toriguian 1973:50). after all, it was the common outrage and disgust over the atrocities that the germans committed that motivated the military tribunals in the first place. thus, in the nuremberg case, the court was not exercising the implementation of a new law but declared a rule of customary international law in light of crimes that would be condemned by any “civilized world” (toriguian 1973:51). in the same way as the holocaust, the armenian genocide faces the question of retroactively applying law to obtain justice. it is undeniable that the armenian massacres of 1915 fall under the genocide convention of 1948, but can the document hold the turks responsible for their actions and therefore punish them for their crimes? first it is necessary to identify the unlawful acts committed by the turks and if they constitute genocide. article two in the genocide convention of 1948 details what acts qualify as genocide. according to this article, the turks are guilty of genocide for they killed members of the armenian group, “caused serious bodily and mental harm” to the armenians, purposely imposed “conditions of life calculated to bring about” the destruction of the armenian race, prevented armenian births to end future existence of the race and “forcibly tranferr[ed] children of the group to another group” (power 2003:57) what made these massacres genocide “was that one set of individuals intended to destroy the members of a group not because of anything they did but because of who they were” (power 2003:58). therefore, if an ethnic, racial or religious group was not targeted, it would be called mass homicide, not genocide. thus, three elements were required in order to violate the genocide convention: (1) one of the acts listed in article two had to be carried out (2) with the intent to destroy all or part of (3) one of the groups protected (power 2003: 57). now that i have shown that this is a case of genocide, what can be argued in favor of holding turkey responsible? if the informal “rule of customary international law” is not an accepted argument, then consider “a general principle of law that as long as a wrong continues and its effects continue to be felt, the date of inception of the act for the application of a subsequent law is irrelevant” (toriguian 1973:55). for example, “every time an armenian loses his identity, it is the genocide planned and started in 1915 that continues to bear its fruits”; armenians living outside of armenia today are a product of the diaspora spawned by forcible relocations of the genocide and thus this current consequence “is a breach of the provisions of the genocide convention” (toriguian 1973:55). therefore, states that have endorsed united nations organizations, the genocide convention of 1948 or the universal declaration of human rights should be committed to stopping and punishing the continuation of the wrath of the genocide (toriguian 1973:56). consequently, without directly “incriminating the turkish people as whole or the turks as individuals,” the current turkish administration is guilty by association; that is, the turkish state acquires the responsibilities inherited before them from their predecessors (toriguian 1973:57). furthermore, since armenian genocide by angelica light 49 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) turkey is a signatory of the genocide convention, “any other signatory can therefore ask turkey to perform its obligations under convention and in case of refusal,” article 11 of the convention states that “any dispute arising out of the convention, including that relating to the responsibility for a state for genocide” shall be settled in international court of justice (toriguian 1973:57). in addition, the convention on the non-applicability of statutory limitation to war crimes against humanity contends that genocide should be punishable “whenever committed” (toriguian 1973:56). this doctrine adopted on november 26, 1968 addresses the idea of ex-post facto laws (toriguian 1973:56). article one states that “no statutory limitation shall apply to” war crimes and crimes against humanity “irrespective of the date of their commission” (toriguian 1973:56). some violations of “war crimes” listed in article 6b of the convention include murder, deportation and destroying and plundering cities, towns or villages—all of which were committed by the turks and documented by foreign ambassadors and missionaries who witnessed the atrocities and confirmed by survivors of the genocide (toriguian 1973:59). according to article 6c of the convention, these crimes become “crimes against humanity” when such acts as stated previously are committed on “political, racial or religious grounds”; pan-turianism attests that the turkish government was purposeful in their victimizing acts (toriguian 1973:59). the convention on the nonapplicability of statutory limitation to war crimes against humanity supports the idea that past, present and future perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity “should be traced, apprehended and punished” (toriguian 1973:58). it disregards the inconsistency of the time when an act is committed for it asserts that the time when an act is deemed illegal by law is irrelevant when the offense is so “heinous” in nature (toriguian 1973:60). furthermore, this document affirms that the “punishment of such a crime [like genocide] is part of international public policy” (toriguian 1973:56). in other words, the severity of the crime should compel the actualization of justice and accountability should not be denied based on time or stare decisis. donald shriver (2001:8), the author of truth commissions and judicial trials, proclaimed that “legal procedure, after war, is a retreat from war. it embodies the hope that in the wake of unacceptable forms of human conflict, courts can lead the way to more acceptable forms,” but there is no use to establish standards if they are not enforced in the future and if crimes committed in the past go unpunished. pointing the finger: the blame game as in the previous section, this section of the paper further evaluates turkey’s accountability during wwi in regard to their treatment toward the armenians. i will support my claim that turkey is accountable for the crime of genocide through the perspective of the international league for the rights and liberation of peoples. i will present their argument for why retroactive justice is applicable and discuss turkey’s invalid armenian genocide by angelica light 50 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) attempt to blame the armenians for turkey’s violent actions toward them. “the permanent people’s tribunal: session on the genocide of the armenians” conducted in paris, france from april 13 to april 16, 1984 was “brought into existence partly to overcome the moral and political failures of states as instruments of justice” (international league 7). the tribunal also pointed out “the complicity of leading western states that have various economic, political and military ties with the turkish state” that consequently protected turkey from being held accountable and prolonged restitution (international league 7). the tribunal set out to address three questions: (1) if the armenians were victims of deportations and massacres under the ottoman empire, (2) whether the genocide convention of 1948 and the non-applicability of statutory limitations to war crimes and crimes against humanity can be applied in their case, and (3) what consequences are in order for the international community and turkey (international league 7). as discussed in the previous section, armenians did suffer atrocities defined by the genocide convention of 1948 that are “not subject to statutory limitations” within the convention. thus, the convention is “declaratory of existing law in that it takes note of rules which were already in force at the time of the incriminated acts” (international league 21). therefore, the young turk administration is guilty of this international crime of genocide and the present turkish government inherits this responsibility. they are first obligated to officially recognize the commission of genocide and then address the “damages suffered by the armenian people” (international league 22). the tribunal argues that just because it took years for the term “genocide” to be coined and the genocide convention to be ratified does not mean that the crime did not exist previous to their acceptance, for it was a “collective conscience” that made the term and doctrine identifiable (international league 18). because this topic was so controversial and aroused such repugnance, the tribunal asserts that there is a “legal obligation which cannot be ignored by states on the pretext that they have not been expressed formally in treaties,” for “the condemnation of crimes committed during the first world war bears out the belief of states that such crimes could not be tolerated legally even though no written rules explicitly forbade them” (international league 18). for that reason, the fact that society is collectively aware and offended by the violence endured by the armenians, invokes an obligation for the international community to seek justice and any member of the international community can and should hold turkey responsible. turkey’s attempt to shift blame onto the armenians by accusing them of “committing acts of sedition,” which the turks argue caused them to detain the armenians in order to prevent a violent rebellion and secure the state, is faced with the argument that nothing compares to genocide for “genocide is a crime which admits of no grounds for excuse or justification” (international league 19). not only do the immediate victims suffer from genocide, but every occurrence of genocide is a “degradation and perversion of humanity as a whole” armenian genocide by angelica light 51 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) (international league 21). therefore, every nation is both a victim and a perpetrator for everyone suffers the loss of integrity as a result of genocide and is guilty of not stopping it or rectifying it afterwards. legalizing injustice there are many dimensions to the law that make it absolute, contradictory, beneficial and harmful (friedrichs 2006:6). in general, law is absolute in such a way that the law must be obeyed or else consequences arise. it is contradictory in that the law does not always reflect all attitudes of society as it aspires to and often produces inconsistencies. it is beneficial because the law provides the structure for an organized and efficient society. however, it is also harmful because the law can be manipulated to achieve special interests of dominant groups. this reality undermines the very sentiment of law, which is to ensure all individuals are welcome to take pleasure in every good thing that life offers with the assurance of equality and fairness. thus, law has positive and negative functions. while the law may maintain order, it also maintains and legitimizes the dominance of hierarchy. while settling disputes, the law creates rivalries. while providing an avenue for a society to satisfy its need for restoration after a wrongdoer offends society by breaking the law, the law consequently exploits people and creates out-groups. while promoting justice, the law encourages conflict and violence often fueled with spite and revenge. while the law creates a standard to which to aspire, the law also allows for oppression and greed to transpire for it is questionable whose social values are trying to be achieved. while managing practical needs for society, the law extends state power, often enhancing their power and abusing legal mechanisms like the military and taxes to advance interests of the powerful (friedrichs 2006:9). at the very least, the law is supposed to provide individuals with a sense of security that they are protected from harm from one another and from the state. law should be used in the best interest of humanity but in the case of the turkish government, the law was an instrument to oppress and injure the armenians. already there seems to be a violation of the sentiment of law itself. in an ideal law-governing world, laws embrace the right to life and liberty because they are inherent to human beings; no one should be discriminated against on the account of their race, creed or any category that separates one from another for no one can be separate in the eyes of the law. in this section, i will describe how the turkish government used the law to make discrimination against the armenians lawful or, in other words, how they legalized injustice. as a result, the armenian genocide transpired partly through the use of state-directed influence and bureaucratic execution. from a sociological perspective, nationalism was the social force that provoked genocide, the law permitted the genocide to happen and the turkish bureaucracy actualized it. the ottoman government sensationalized nationalism to essentially convince turkish constituents that ethnocentrically motivated litigation was necessary and acceptable. enver pasha, mehmed talat armenian genocide by angelica light 52 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) and ahmed djemal—known as the three pashas—headed the ottoman government in the dominant political party called the committee of union and progress (freedman 2009:180). members of the committee of union and progress, also known as the young turks, used pan-turanianism to rally support for implementing supposed progressive and safety measures. they insisted that a pure turkish nation would restore their crumbling empire and thus they needed to stop the non-muslims who threatened it. consequently, nationalism justified the young turks’ assault against the armenians, the law legitimized it and the bureaucracy made it happen. a campaign for genocide ensued with the outbreak of world war one. the ottoman government issued a statement “accusing the armenians of attempting to destroy the peace and security of the ottoman state” (freedman 2009:21). since many armenians lived within russian borders due to russia’s victory in the russoturkish war of 1877-1878, the ottoman government asked armenians “to engage in secret operations” to aid turkey’s war efforts (freedman 2009:18). when the armenians declined to avoid turkish-armenian and russianarmenian warfare and betray russia, who was like a guardian to them, the ottoman government used their resistance to foster the idea that the armenians were traitors siding with the enemy (freedman 2009:18). therefore, the ottoman government led people to believe that they were “compelled to take extraordinary measures to preserve the order and security of the country” by relocating the armenian population (freedman 2009:21). the official statement went on to say that the relocation “promote[d] the welfare of the armenian community” by preventing civil disputes and violence between turks and armenian neighbors (freedman 2009:21). in the cunning of history, richard rubenstein described the armenian genocide as “the first full-fledged attempt by a modern state to practice disciplined, methodically organized genocide (friedrichs 2006:180). that is, the young turks capitalized on “the highest level of government planning: the harnessing of bureaucracy for the organization and implementation of the armenian deportations; the formation and organization of killing squads; the creation and manipulation of legislation; and the use of technology and communication” (balakian 2003:181). in short, the annihilation of the armenians was state ordered. enver pasha, the minister of war, supervised a special bureau called the special organization, which focused on securing the longevity of a pure turkish nation by monitoring and eliminating those suspected of treason (balakian 2003:181). while the special organization was responsible for identifying and putting an end to antigovernment activities, their biggest impact in the armenian genocide was administering the armenian deportations and killing squads (freedman 2009:20; balakian 2003:182). to put this task into effect, the temporary law of deportation of may 27, 1915 was instated to give the special organizations legal authority to deport armenians at will, simply by the suspicion of treason (freedman 2009:22). since “suspicion” was the armenian genocide by angelica light 53 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) only requirement to deport any individuals, the ottoman government needed a plan to ensure efficient deportations (freedman 2009: 22). thus, the special organization “systematically recruited, organized and deployed” thirty to thirty four thousand convicted criminals who worked together with turkish military and provincial police to carry out “the rigorous process of arrest and deportation, city by city, town by town and village by village” (balakian 2003:183). those involved with the deportation were known as killing squads because the deportation process often resulted in death either because the resistance of a deportee to cooperate with the order or simply because of the free will of soldier, policeman or criminal. the irony in using the nation’s criminal manpower to advance state interests is that criminals represent a group that has offended the dominant group of society who live by the social contract under law and thus have been locked up to preserve humanity. yet in this instance, criminals were given authority over innocent members of society to fulfill a state order. this strategy, however, gave the ottoman government the flexibility to divert full responsibility by arguing that the criminals did not aid the government in the way they intended and instead became bandits in their freedom from prison (balakian 2003:183). furthermore, the temporary law of deportation in its language also deflected blame away from turkish policy makers on the account of solely discriminating against the armenians by purposely not singling the armenians out: the law “gave the authorities the power to order deportations if they had so much as a feeling or sense that an individual or group of people might be dangerous to the state,” giving authorities the license to “round up, deport and massacre” anyone not just armenians (balakian 2003:187). to accompany the temporary law of deportation and further legalize deportations, talat also issued a proclamation of rules in june 1915. in summary, the proclamation announced that all armenians except for the sick had to evacuate their homes, taking with them only what they could carry and if they resisted the armed guards escorting them, they would be “forced to go or be killed” (freedman 2009:23). the proclamation also prohibited armenians from “selling their property or lands” or retrieving money saved in bank accounts, allowing turkish officials to seize their assets to fund the war (freedman 2009:23). muslims turks were also warned that if they aided the christian armenians their houses would be burned and they and the families they helped would be killed (freedman 2009:18). another example of legislation intended to “accelerate the extermination plan to give it a further sense of governmental legitimacy” was the temporary law of expropriation and confiscation (balakian 2003:187). this law, which was effective in september 1915, was “designed to register the properties of the deportees, safeguard them, dispose of them at public auctions with the revenues to be held in trust” until the deportees returned (balakian 2003:187). however, the way that the authorities maliciously carried out the deportation suggests that returning armenian assets was not their intention, armenian genocide by angelica light 54 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) for most deportees were massacred or died from malnutrition (balakian 2003:187). the temporary law of deportation and the temporary law of expropriation and confiscation are legislation that exemplifies the misuse of the law in which a dominant group legally exploits a subordinate group. the proclamation reveals the attitude that the ottoman government had toward the armenians and their intention to rid them out of their empire. hierarchy in the ottoman government was perpetuated by an administration that relied on a bureaucracy to orchestrate and calculate the armenian genocide. the committee of union and progress “created a hierarchical administration to carry out the armenian killing operations” consisting of three bureaucrats: responsible secretaries, delegates and general inspectors (balakian 2003: 185). these bureaucrats were either politicians or former army officers, all loyal to the pan-turanianism fantasy. because the armenian genocide was encouraged by the state and implemented by state institutions, i argue that the irony in the image of the protectors being the offenders, and the very institutions meant to ensure protection being the mechanism for injustice, supports conflict theorists’ argument that tension is deeply rooted between the rich and the poor and tends to intensify if exploitations of the law are not addressed. the corruption within the ottoman government and the young turks’ perversion of the law disheartens the faith in the ideas of government and law which are both globally celebrated and criticized. both government and law are celebrated because the two concepts are intended to instill order in society. conversely, both government and law are criticized because the type of order that a government chooses is neither agreed upon by everyone living under that government nor is the type of order a result of a compromise between the rich and dominant groups and the poor and subordinate groups. i support the argument that the armenian genocide was not simply a consequence of war; rather the war was used to cover up a long awaited opportunity to isolate the armenians from turkey due to ethnocentric attitudes that influenced the laws at the armenians’ expense before, during and even after world war i. therefore, it is necessary to restore faith in government and law by ending governmental corruption and passive injustice or the reluctance to get involved (friedrichs 2006:74). instead, government and law should be used to improve social welfare even if it means admitting wrongdoing. continuing the misuse of law or passive injustice contradicts the global expectation of using government and law as a means to maintain order and protect the happiness for humankind. for if the law did not serve the armenians before in protecting their inherent right of human beings or by the entente powers not following through with the treaties of san stefano and berlin, let the law serve them now by addressing the armenian genocide. controversy of political motives equating justice and vengeance armenian genocide by angelica light 55 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) when the laws handicap individuals in society, individuals may band together to challenge their oppressors. in this section, i will examine regular citizens taking justice into their own hands and discuss whether their actions achieve justice or undermine it with the conviction of vengeance. the armenians tried to calm social unrest through the formation of political parties. although the political parties shared the common objective of selfdetermination for the armenian people, the means to achieve this differed from party to party. for example, in 1885 the political group called the armenakans aimed for autonomy by peaceful means and aid from european support. however, the absence of fear aroused by potential bodily harm and a less than politically-aggressive europe proved to be ineffective. thus, the political tone changed from diplomacy to violence. in 1887, the hunchaks were formed and preferred the use of aggression and bloodshed (alexander 1991:32). then in 1890, the armenian revolutionary federation, or arf, was created to unify and combine all previous political parties and endeavors; this meant achieving “self-determination and social and economic reforms for the armenians of ottoman turkey through any means,” whether it was negotiation or terror (alexander 1991:33). political groups remained active even after the genocide. post-genocide political groups are arguably even more significant for rectifying the plight of armenians, for they pursued justice by punishing turkish officials who orchestrated and executed the genocide. however, the question is: what is the appropriate punishment? does murder justify another murder? operation nemesis was the code name for a covert operation for an “international web of agents to hunt down and assassinate the leading turkish war criminals” (alexander 1991:47). under the umbrella of arf, agents of operation nemesis were trained and given any resources required to locate, identify and execute targets. this included housing, money, weapons and emotional support (alexander 1991:75). from 1920 to 1922, operation nemesis was responsible for eight deaths of prominent turks, including talat and jemal, two of the three pashas and behaeddin shakir, one of the leaders of the special organization who led convicted criminals in the killing squads (graber 1996:174). one of the most controversial assassinations was that of talat pasha, one of the three main leaders of the young turks who authorized the deportation of armenians that initiated the genocide. the trial of his assassin presented the contentious question of vengeance versus justice. was talat’s killer soghomon tehlirian a murderer, a terrorist or a pawn used to carry out arf’s objectives? (alexander 1991:198) soghomon tehlirian was an armenian genocide survivor who suffered from a form of epilepsy (graber 1996: 171). according to the doctors who examined his psychological state in order to evaluate his competency for trial, tehlirian was traumatized by the horrors of genocide, especially after witnessing the deaths of his mother, brother and sister (alexander 1991:70). after the caravan that was transporting him, his family and a group of others armenian genocide by angelica light 56 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) was ambushed, tehlirian was the sole survivor left behind to die from a blow to the head. he awoke with his brother’s lifeless body and split head on top of him and then discovered his mother’s dead body due to a gunshot wound (alexander 1991: 70). his last images that he remembered before going unconscious was watching his sister being dragged off to be raped and killed and his first images after regaining consciousness was that of mutilated bodies, two of which were his family members (alexander 1991:70). it was clear that the ordeal affected him physically and psychologically (graber 1996:171). accordingly, tehlirian used as his main defense in trial that he was “emotionally obsessed, mentally unbalanced and suffering from a form of epilepsy brought on by his excruciating experience” (alexander 1991:199). that is, “tehlirians’s deed was committed as a justifiable and moral act of revenge for the murder of his family” (alexander 1991:199). by emphasizing personal rather than political motives for the assassination and withholding the information of his involvement with arf and the nemesis network, tehlirian was acquitted of murder charges even though he admitted to killing talat. because the trial exposed the atrocities experienced by armenians at the hands of turkish authorities in gruesome detail as provided by the testimonies of tehlirian and other survivors of the genocide, the court was obviously sympathetic toward tehlirian and the situation (alexander 1991:199). perhaps the courts regarded tehlirian’s act as “morally right” but “legally wrong” and should have convicted him of manslaughter (alexander 1991:201). or it is possible that the court acknowledged that states failed to rectify wrongdoings, making it understandable for individuals to pursue their own justice. in fact, some law breaking has become “conventional” like “homicide and assault” because it is “sometimes driven by a moralistic impulse, aimed at avenging some injustice or pursuing some notion of justice” (friedrichs 2006:72). tehlirian’s taking justice in his own hands with neglect to formal legal procedures is an example of vigilante justice but was tehlirian a vigilante or a terrorist? (friedrichs 2006:236). although tehlirian received aid from arf and completed an assassination assignment for operation nemesis, the assassination of talat was motivated by different means: “executing the deed [was] for his own sake rather than for any political program” (alexander 1991:200). tehlirian “was not a soldier in an ideological cause, nor fighting for territorial integrity, nor was he the agent of a political faction;” he was a son and a brother motivated by vengeance (alexander 1991:200). although arf used him to achieve their ends, tehlirian used arf to achieve his own ends. “political assassinations have long been justified as a form of alternative justice,” partly because some terrorist acts are viewed as a “necessary response to existing injustice” that may bring about change (friedrichs 2006:72). but who is to say that that “change” will bring out the better or worse? even though tehlirian purposely killed a man responsible for killing innocent people haphazardly, do two wrongs make a right? perhaps the fact that political armenian genocide by angelica light 57 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) assassinations continued after tehlirian’s acquittal answers this question negatively, for his exoneration may have encouraged others to terrorize and attack turkish representatives and institutions. for instance, by 1975, two armenian organizations resurrected armenian terrorism. this terrorism “lasted for ten years, involved twenty countries and close to two hundred incidents” and twenty-two deaths of turkish diplomats (alexander 1991:194). for example, the justice commandos of the armenian genocide assassinated the turkish ambassador in vienna on october 22, 1975, followed by the assassination of the turkish ambassador in paris just two months later. another terrorist group called the armenian secret army for the liberation of armenia (asala) bombed the offices of turkish airlines in paris on november 13, 1979. then on september 24, 1981, the asala “seized the turkish consulate and held twenty hostages, eventually killing one and wounding three” (alexander 1991:194). in an attempt to kill another turkish ambassador, the asala took hold of the turkish embassy in ottawa in april 1985 which resulted in the ambassador’s escape after he jumped out of a two-story building. all together, these terrorist groups sought justice with “attacks on turkish diplomatic posts in vienna, beirut, paris, madrid, the hague, athens, the vatican, as well as bombings of turkish cultural attractions and business establishments” (alexander 1991:194). these terrorist acts cannot be deemed as acts of justice but rather acts of vengeance, for “finding punishment that fits the crime without repeating it is a task not fit for” just any citizen without legal backing (shriver 2001:9). thus, if “legal institutions are hedges against both vengeance and impunity,” what were the justice commandos of the armenian genocide and the asala trying to accomplish, if they could at all accomplish anything aside from their own sense of revenge (shriver 2001:9)? perhaps the only positive outcome from these unjust initiatives was bringing historic atrocities to light. though the public may not agree with the methods that the justice commandos of the armenian genocide and the asala used to create attention for their cause, they may be interested and, better yet, supportive of the cause itself. conclusion: human capital versus material capital i believe that we all possess an intuitive sense of justice. we want things to be fair and wrongs to be made right with some kind of compensation. i would like to believe that we are all compelled by a collective conscience and a moral obligation. that is, we are ideally conditioned by society to choose what is truly good over bad, empathy over apathy and benevolence over malevolence. “doing the right thing” is an idealized and widespread tradition that has become the u.s.’s reputation and it is an image that the u.s. tries to put forth. it is arguable if the u.s. fits this role or not, but the controversy does not eliminate the expectation for the u.s. to represent the ultimate humanitarian and be the example of righteousness for the whole world. the u.s. is burdened by the principle “you’re damned if you do, but damned if you don’t” and receives incessant criticism either way. armenian genocide by angelica light 58 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) the u.s. is often criticized for meddling in others’ affairs but, at the same time, the u.s. is often blamed for choosing inaction when something goes awry. however, “getting involved” often means sacrificing special interests. the preservation of any nation relies on maintaining political, economic and military advantages. sometimes one goal needs to be sacrificed in order to advance another. dominant groups in society analyze costs and benefits and often the result is at the expense of a humanitarian endeavor. in the case of the armenian genocide, the u.s. had little to gain and a lot to lose. the wake of world war ii left the world in a state of political tension known as the cold war. a competition of ideologies and military and economic expansion divided the world “into the camps of the two super powers, the soviet union and the united states” (papazian 1986). since the u.s. saw turkey as a “source of raw materials and a field for investment,” turkey became a member of nato in 1952 (papazian 1986). turkey offered political capital for the west in the forms of oil fields and strategic military access in the middle east (balakian 2003:365). therefore, it is easy to understand why “humanitarian concerns would take a backseat to material and military national self-interest” (balakian 2003:365). turkey had much to gain from this partnering as well: with the u.s. stepping in as “turkey’s patron and defender,” they would replace great britain, who periodically demanded that turkey reform itself (papazian 1986). instead, turkey had the political pull on the u.s. to silence such demands. in order to protect u.s. interests, the u.s. would relent just as long as turkey cooperated in the fight against communism, which was the u.s.’s top political priority, and provided natural resources, which was u.s.’s top business pursuit. even before world war ii and the cold war, turkey had a way of employing their political pull over the u.s. to protect their interests. for example, in 1934, mgm bought the film rights to franz werfel’s best-selling novel entitled the forty days of musa dagh. the true story detailed the heroic armenians of a mountain town called musa dagh, which resisted turkish invasion in 1915 (balakian 2003:376). munir ertegun, the turkish ambassador to the united states, halted production with the threat that the release of the film would insult the alliance between turkey and the united states, resulting in a boycott of american films (balakian 2003:377). despite contradicting a constitutional freedom explicated in the bill of rights that protects artistic expression, the project was dropped to prevent damaging the relationship between the two nations. this example demonstrates how political interests and economic endeavors can coincide to surpass the law and inherent human rights. although one may call this arrangement a compromise between two nations, another may call it blackmail. turkey’s interest in hindering the remembrance of the genocide provoked them to blackmail the u.s. by forcing them to censor the media. the united states in turn gave in to turkey’s demands to secure not only their alliance but also profits in the american film industry. in this way, politics and armenian genocide by angelica light 59 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) business trump both a lawfully guaranteed freedom and an attempt to bring attention to an injustice in the quest for justice. even in today’s current affairs, political and economic interests supersede humanitarian interests. on october 10, 2009, a landmark agreement was signed “to establish diplomatic relations between turkey and armenia and to open the joint border, which was sealed after the 1993 armenian invasion of nagorno-karabakh” (fraser 2009). the future for this azerbaijani territory, which is occupied by armenian troops, is troubling for both sides. however, this does not seem to be of any concern to the mediators of the accord, including u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton. originally, the signing of the accord was delayed by “a dispute over the statements the countries would make” afterwards (fraser 2009). however, clinton persuaded turkish and armenian foreign ministers to proceed, for she emphasized that it was “important to just approve the accord and not have the sides make speeches that could be interpreted as putting legal conditions on the document” (lee 2009). yet denying any politician’s opportunity to display their linguistic talents, especially when expressing their principles are pivotal to the matters involved, contradicts the process of politics. after all, politicians are known for their press conferences and public statements to influence the world audience. clinton’s persistence suggests that something greater was at stake. in fact, the approval “could reduce tensions in the troubled caucasus region and facilitate its growing role as a corridor for energy supplies bound for the west” (lee 2009). though the west may gain an advantage, the two nations directly involved may suffer consequences from their own people. “nationalists on both sides are still seeking to derail implementation of the deal,” for the document represents a giving in and a giving up (lee 2009). on the side of turkish nationalists, the accord does not order armenia to withdraw its troops from the enclave in azerbaijan, which is land that turkey is trying to retrieve on behalf of azerbaijan, with whom they share cultural ties. as a response to the invasion, turkey shut its border with armenia (lee 2009). “turkey wants armenia to withdraw some troops from the enclave area to show good will and speed for the opening of the border” but armenia has not agreed (fraser 2009). on the other hand, armenia’s resistance is rooted in turkey’s continuous denial of the armenian genocide. although the agreement opens the door to discussing the killing of about 1.5 million armenians during world war i, with “an impartial scientific examination of the historical records and archives to define existing problems and formulate recommendations,” the accord illustrates turkey’s prowess in avoiding unreserved acknowledgment (lee 2009). thus, the agreement exemplifies the nation’s backing down from their principles: armenia’s escape from withdrawing from azerbaijan is turkey giving into armenia’s invasion and turkey’s escape from acknowledging the genocide is armenia giving up on seeking justice. if both nations were true to their principles, politics would not interfere with their national endeavors armenian genocide by angelica light 60 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) and the signing would not have occurred. nonetheless, this historic accord demonstrates how special interests take precedence over any matter just as long as there is more to gain than lose. this example also shows that material capital is more valuable than principles. in retrospect, we can answer the question of why the u.s. did not get involved during wwi or even after the armenian genocide. u.s. ambassador henry morgenthau makes it impossible for the u.s. to claim that they did not know what was going on, with all his reports of what the turkish government imposed on the armenians and his documented pleas to both the american and turkish governments for intervention (akcam 2006:105,155). then there is lemkin, who relentlessly created genocide awareness after the war in diplomatic and legal arenas through his campaign for an international ban on genocide. it is not that the u.s. did not read morgenthau’s memoirs or that the u.s. did not hear lemkin’s petition. it was all a matter of preparedness and willingness to invest the diplomatic, financial and military capital needed to stop genocide as it occurred and to rectify it afterwards. this was a choice, a choice made with careful consideration of the costs and benefits of getting involved in another’s affairs. unfortunately for the armenians, the stigma of neglect was less expensive than the costs to intervene. additionally, up until now, redemption for the u.s. and turkey is still costly: if the u.s. were to press turkey for accountability, they would jeopardize a military alliance, for the u.s. has air bases stationed in turkey, and a profitable business relationship, for turkey supplies the u.s. natural resources; if turkey acknowledged that what befell the armenians was genocide, then the admission would open the door for not only the burden of blame but for compensation. these expensive consequences may withhold justice for the armenians even longer—or just as long as money and power remain important forces of society—in which case it may be forever. armenian genocide by angelica light 61 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) references akcam, taner. 2006. a shameful act: the armenian genocide and the question of turkish responsibility. new york, ny: metropolitan books. alexander, edward. 1991. a crime of vengeance: an armenian struggle for justice. new york, ny: the free press. balakian, peter. 2003. the burning tigris: the armenian genocide and america’s response. new york, ny: harper collins publishers. dadrian, vahakn n. 2006. warrant for genocide: key element of turko-armenian conflict. new brunswick, nj: transaction publishers. fraser, suzan. 2009. “turkey: armenia must pull out of nagornokarabakh.” yahoo! news, october 10. retrieved october 12, 2009 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200 91011/ap_on_re_eu/eu_turkey_a rmenia). freedman, jeri. 2009. the armenian genocide. new york, ny: rosen publishing group, inc. friedrichs, david o. 2006. law in our lives. 2nd ed. los angeles, ca: roxbury publishing company. gellately, robert and ben kiernan. 2003. the specter of genocide: mass murder in historical perspective. new york, ny: cambridge university press. graber, g.s. 1996. caravans to oblivion. new york, ny: john wiley & sons. hovannisian, richard g. 1998. remembrance and denial: the case of the armenian genocide. detroit, mi: wayne state university press. iadicola, peter and anson d. shupe. 2003. violence, inequality and human freedom. lanham, md: rowman and littlefield publishers. international league for the rights and liberation of peoples. 1984. permanent peoples’ tribunal verdict: session on the genocide of the armenians. cambridge, ma: zoryan institute. karaguezian, hrayr s. 2006. genocide and life insurance: the armenian case. la verne, ca: university of la verne press. lee, matthew. 2009. “turkey, armenia sign historic treaty.” aol news, october 10. retrieved october 12, 2009 (http://news.aol.com/article/turk ey-armenia-reach-historicaccord/413295). papazian, dennis r. 1986. “the changing american view of the armenian question: an interpretation.” armenian review. 39(4):47-72. retrieved february 2, 2009. (http://www.umd.umich.edu/dep t/armenian/papazian/changing.ht ml). http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091011/ap_on_re_eu/eu_turkey_armenia http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091011/ap_on_re_eu/eu_turkey_armenia http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091011/ap_on_re_eu/eu_turkey_armenia armenian genocide by angelica light 62 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 33-62) pillay, navanethem. 2009. introductory remarks by united nations commissioner of human rights at hungary 12th session of the human rights council. september 17, 2009. retrieved july 23, 2009. (http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/ huricane.nsf/view01/dacdc42 26d30be91c1257635005721a d?opendocument). power, samantha. 2003. a problem from hell: america and the age of genocide. new york, ny: perennial. shriver, donald w. 2001. “truth commissions and judicial trials: complementary or antagonistic servants of public justice?” journal of law and religion. 16(1):1-33. toriguian, shavarsh. 1973. the armenian question and international law. beirut, lebanon: hamaskaine press. http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/dacdc4226d30be91c1257635005721ad?opendocument http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/dacdc4226d30be91c1257635005721ad?opendocument http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/dacdc4226d30be91c1257635005721ad?opendocument http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/dacdc4226d30be91c1257635005721ad?opendocument creative works | poetry | bates 132 california sociology forum vol. 6 humanity and technology explored through poetry taryn bates department of sociology california state university, los angeles explanation of sociological relevance a collection of five poetry pieces all featuring the social theory of interactionism through the ever-increasing hyperreality of digital technology influencing humanity; social identity is a main theme throughout all. streaming does not directly reference any technological devices, using analogous wording describing a stream of water; this illustrates how natural it has become to use modern tech as part of daily norms. can’t connect right now wrestles with “the looking glass self” being influenced by external perceptions. no data connection explores “the i” & “the me” of interactions with technological devices, playing with analogies of various features used both in and out of tech, such as how fingers are also known as digits. the vast nothingness of space follows a journey of cutting off humanity – both personally and socially – in an act of distancing the self from all else to avoid role strain and role conflict through the technological advancement of space exploration as a metaphor. i am human essentially brings all the previous components together by focusing on the natural state of being human, putting a spin on roboticization of the modern world. the visual formatting of the piece is meant to resemble a spine. creative works | poetry | bates 133 california sociology forum vol. 6 streaming a stream of sound & images coursing like a powerful river never-ending, flowing one into another once it starts, it sweeps you away following familiar but undefined paths never questioning stepping into the stream just going with the flow mindlessly taking the course numbing the senses vaguely aware of the passing time until you find yourself farther than you expected disoriented and struggling to get back control leaving, but knowing you’ll be back can’t connect right now the connection is unstable no strength in bandwidth the audio is cutting out the imagery fuzzy and frozen these time zones and packed schedules the distance prolonged by lack of conversation priority of minutes limited by plans mismatched carriers prevent any signals am i still seen even when not perceived free to speak my truth if no one can hear me now? creative works | poetry | bates 134 california sociology forum vol. 6 no data connection i am left to my own devices trying to establish a safe connection stable, steady ~ a secure net inter-dependent communication information at my fingertips digital era only opens options overwhelming the senses limited data capacity in an unlimited world wide web entangling understanding pages and pages to keep tabs on the stimulation keeps me wired less i lose the signal of affirmation fidelity to society app-lying the expected tools rules of conduct instructing to suffer no fools agreeing without reading the terms of conditions the policy of privacy white noise in a stream of static taken for granted when my access is gratified but woefully distressing when not found online prone to servicing my need for confirmation that i’m never truly alone the vast nothingness of space i carved out my heart long ago cleaved it from my chest put my instincts on ice locked them up, laid to rest instead of using bandages i built an outer wall sealing off infected areas quarantining from all creative works | poetry | bates 135 california sociology forum vol. 6 a resolute mission developed becoming a satellite jettisoned out into space spinning in never-ending night but then the deep ache came in the absence of the whole i longed for healthy living but my actions undermined that goal while my spirit was claimed redeemed my head pulled a heavy load spinning from intellectual plates served from a diet of self-preservation mode slabs of frozen meats applied to dull the swelling senses trying to fill the emotional void while not fully letting down defenses the time was passed with fairy tales surely i was a cursed victim in need believing all the stories awaiting a brave, heroic deed a taste of being understood instilled a persistent craving desire for deep connection awakens hope i’m worth saving looking for any signals of fulfillment embedded in me since birth i hear my purpose calling free falling back to earth overpowering destiny real love is to be known truly seen and heard, received finally welcomed home creative works | poetry | bates 136 california sociology forum vol. 6 i am human i am human framed in bone stoney support standing tall yet fragile in its own way grasping onto what life can give sometimes breaking in the process but becoming stronger for it i am human streamed in blood flooded with tears sweating the small stuff mingling into a concoction unique to this species a life juice of courage and persistence of filling this existence with meaning i am human networked in nerves serving a variety of sensations from pain to pleasure and a multitude in between ending and beginning connected as one increasing the experience ready to be had i am human covered in flesh freshly encompassing all though time will leave its marks like the rings of a tree trunk weathering changes while still growing a visible sign of a signature story i am human bone, blood, nerves, & flesh combined in the physical composed of the emotional corroborated in the mental creatively singular within the sameness that is human humanity and technology explored through poetry taryn bates research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 68 california sociology forum vol. 6 racial hierarchies globalized: from colonialism to informal empire taryn bates and rubén huerta department of sociology; department of latin american studies california state university, los angeles abstract modern society projects a belief that humanity is in a post-racial age (goldberg 2016). however, many events of the 21st century across the world, such as black lives matter and the genocide in gaza, contradict this. what causes such a disjunction between the supposed post-racial belief, compared to the reality shown through the lived experience of continued domination? we posit this stems from issues of empires engineering control strategies and tactics since the emergence of modern civilization. the societal construction of stratification between oppressor and oppressed persists by perpetuating worldwide systemic subjugation via power-based hierarchies. our macro theoretical framework seeks to explain that the process through which the system of racial inequality became globalized is still fueled by the evolution of formal empire into a more informal, and therefore less perceptible, version of dominance. ideology based on a ‘rule of colonial difference’ (chatterjee 1993) has created an insistent racial hierarchy stemming from modes of oppression through stratification by categories, with other pivotal variations of hierarchies around the globe continuing through the ages in various forms of class-type systems. the current actions of informal empire to maintain a ‘global apartheid’ (besteman 2019) has been deeply successful under tactics of ‘liberal white supremacy’ (beeman 2022), ‘racial liberalism’ (abrego and villalpando 2021) and psychological warfare (osgood 2008). this framework focuses on the u.s. as an imperial force through its legacy as a settler-colonial state and hegemonic world power. introduction through the ages, struggles for power and domination have plagued humankind. those in power have persistently advanced the form through which hierarchical domination is executed, by enforcing stratification of differences through societal constructs, such as race, ethnicity, caste, and class. these societal constructs employ power to mask stratification, as if it is a natural phenomenon of humanity. however, stratification does not naturally occur but is a form of systemic exploitation, often research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 69 california sociology forum vol. 6 using stigmatization to reinforce hierarchy by asserting the norms of dominant forces throughout the entire globe. the contention for this theoretical framework is that the practice currently known as globalization is a project engineered by empire and that this model is the focal point at which empire, informal empire, and race intersect. the expansion of hierarchies through globalization has two phases: the first involves colonialism, where the stratification of humans by race through a rule of difference (chatterjee 1993) is central to the facilitation of empire; the second involves the ways more informal methods of imperialism utilize knowledge production to facilitate domination within a post-colonial globalized society including liberal white supremacy (beeman 2022), racial liberalism (abrego and villalpando 2021), and what we argue are forms of psychological warfare. additionally, the sociological theory of world-systems (wallerstein 1974) analyzes the way capitalism has had massive effects worldwide as it has become a global system. both phases perpetuate social norms that maintain human-enforced roles of oppressor and oppressed, mainly through racial hierarchies that establish those who can approximate whiteness as superior while stigmatizing black, indigenous, and other people of color (bipoc) as inferior. this theoretical framework will emphasize the empiric forces pioneered by the united states in the form of ideological globalization. the u.s. is an illustration of a state apparatus positioning itself as the main global power through domination techniques which have encoded racial hierarchies into standard societal practices. the u.s. empire was able to establish itself as the richest nation and world superpower within its first two hundred years of nationhood (gonzalez 2022:378), a feat which no other nation, “whether in ancient or modern times, ever saw its influence spread so far or determined the thoughts and actions of so many people around the world as our nation does today.” this success was largely due to the endless american quest to realize “manifest destiny” (2022:378) through subjugating others, specifically targeting indigenous and latin americans as well as enslaving africans, and subsequently claiming as much territory as possible. as further noted by juan gonzalez (2022:378), “that expansion transformed the entire hemisphere into an economic satellite and sphere of influence of the united states.” therefore, research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 70 california sociology forum vol. 6 the u.s. empire is the primary perpetrator of world domination through white supremacist racial inequality and capitalism on a global scale. evolutions of empire: engineered hierarchies the rise and decline of empires are important in understanding how structures of domination function. historically, the origins of empire (darwin 2008) coincided with the emergence of modern civilization and the state – or a society with organized political elements – where it continues to function essentially as people ruling over other people. empires are defined by their hierarchical structure utilizing conquest to occupy foreign lands and reinforcing marked disparities between the occupied and occupiers. according to sociologist julian go (2020:83), “empire, definitionally, requires the management, regulation, or even eradication of alterity; the imperial episteme was born from a near feverish obsession over civilizational, cultural, racial, ethnic, and sexual difference.” this stratification positions one society to dominate another as a separate entity. sociologist george steinmetz (2014) notes that the various evolutions of societal hierarchies in history are derivative forms of empire. as civilization evolved under more intricate social structures, the practice of empire developed further through the state as a more complex territorially expansive organization with more elaborate structures of power. imperialism – the process of enforcing empire – is where changes in social structures are most visible. when looking at how these structures of domination evolve, a noticeable change emerges in the recounting of western european history where previous imperial strategies of exercising control over societies transform into our modern understanding of colonialism. class society with global dimensions the two phases of globalization – empiric colonization and informal empire – both have a class structure as the basis for structural domination to facilitate other modes of control. economic domination is just one aspect of empire (heinrich 2012:13), where colonialism is a specific form of control with historically distinct processes. the products of colonial labor took on global dimensions, with the first iteration involving the research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 71 california sociology forum vol. 6 continents of the americas, africa, and europe. the transatlantic slave trade was a major factor that gave rise to a global capitalist society in these continents, where labor production outside europe was being transformed into capital and shipped back to europe (2012:17). this imperial transformation of society into a global economy of empire came to be known as globalization. globalization and the state globalization can be defined as the expansion of capitalist society into the global production of capital in a world market and results from the constantly evolving imperial structures of domination. to better understand this form of empire, one must understand its relationship to the state. steinmetz (2014:80) explains that empire “can be pictured as a solar system in which the colonized peripheries circulate around the metropolitan core,” and that these “planets in this imperial solar system also all possess states of their own.” in essence, the state acts simultaneously as both the mother country in which the resources and capital produced by labor production are sent, as well as the colonies themselves. these colonial states are either directly ruled by the metropole or are given autonomy to some extent as a form of indirect rule “by proxy through indigenous elites” (2014:81). the world-systems perspective created by sociologist immanuel wallerstein (1974) frames the “global periphery as being condemned to produce raw materials for processing by the core” (steinmetz 2014:87). globalization phase 1: empire and colonialism the pretext for globalization is colonialism, a recent practice of formal empire. a defining feature of colonialism (steinmetz 2014:79) “involves the arrogation of sovereignty by a conquering power.” settler-colonialism is the unwarranted territorial conquest over an indigenous people by a conquering metropole followed by their presumptuous claim of supreme power in the new land (2014:79), as well as the transformation of the society through the implementation of power structures that situate the conquered population as inferior to their colonizers in “legal, administrative, social, cultural, and/or biological terms.” this practice was the driving force in the formation of what is now research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 72 california sociology forum vol. 6 known as the united states, through the seizure of land and subjugation of the indigenous peoples. the era of formal colonial domination marked a paradigm shift in how empire functions, defined by the transformation of labor production and control into a global economy based on a system of converting resources and labor production into capital and the inception of the idea of race as a power structure. rule of difference historian partha chatterjee (1993) developed the term a ‘rule of difference’ to explain the construction (steinmetz 2014:80) where “all colonial states divide their subjects into different tribal or racial groups in an effort to enhance control, but at the same time the colonized are subsumed by the colonial state under a single, overarching category.” the rule of difference enforces superiority and inferiority of stratification by creating a hierarchy among people with resources unequally distributed. colonizing practices used in the establishment of the u.s. included the aforementioned relegation of indigenous people to reservations as well as the transatlantic slave trade enslaving african people against their will as hard laborers. such tactics of power and domination focus on conquering people by destabilizing sources of community support practices through redirecting reliance of needs being met solely under those who have seized control. the invention of race the stratification of humans through the societal construction of race was fueled by eurocentric capitalism colonizing the globe to increase power domination. sociologist anibal quijano (2021:533) states explicitly that one of the fundamental characteristics of globalization is “the social classification of the world’s population around the idea of race.” this shift produced a control axis (2000:533-534) that socially stratified people from power based on a purported biological factor of race intersecting with class-based labor roles. the use of the race concept created an immediately identifiable hierarchy with skin tone as a signifier of power. this proved an effective distinction (2000:535), allowing race to become “the fundamental research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 73 california sociology forum vol. 6 criterion for the distribution of the world population into ranks, places, and roles in the new society’s structure of power.” since the conception of race began under the globalization force of capitalism, class-based labor roles were strongly linked to the visual appearance of skin tone due to the strength of the power domination occurring. this meant that even though race and class are not mutually dependent, the circumstances under which racism and capitalism developed did create a division of labor (2000:536) that systemically reinforced inferiority of race. as capitalism gained control of labor under globalization, the raceclass association was further strengthened through white colonizers establishing paid labor as exclusive to their own race while assigning colonized races unpaid labor (2000:539) in the forms of serfdom for indigenous populations and slavery for africans who were sold as part of the slave trade. eurocentric colonialism erasure of cultures the establishment of colonial capitalism served to strip diverse people groups with a multitude of cultural varieties into singular racial identities with strong negative associations. in the span of just three hundred years (2000:551-552), the “aztecs, mayas, chimus, aymaras, incas, chibchas, and so on. . . had become . . . indians” while “the people forcefully brought from africa as slaves: ashantis, yorubas, zulus, congos, bacongos, and others . . . were negroes or blacks.” by overriding unique cultural identities, the power of colonial empire set the standard for what was considered modern and what was considered outdated through a rule of difference. this has continued into the practices of informal empire, where the concept of the global south reinforces eurocentrism through setting a status quo of idealistic modernity, which stigmatizes any cultures that deviate from the achievement of capitalistic profits. this marked distinction between the valued behavior of whiteness and the stigmatization of supposed negatively deviant non-white cultures further serves the adjusted narrative of white supremacy. approximation of whiteness and eugenics as time went on, descendants of what became known as mixed-race relationships were often able to approximate research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 74 california sociology forum vol. 6 whiteness due to the external presentation of their genetic phenotype. an example of this was in latin america, through the documentation of mestizos during the colonial american period (quijano 2000:536), most notably that “the more ‘whitened’ among the mestizos of black women and spanish or portuguese had an opportunity to work. but they were late in legitimizing their new roles, since their mothers were slaves.” the existence of mestizos with genetic phenotypes creating a stratification of visual appearance from dark to light reinforced the errant belief of division by race being a natural phenomenon. this led to the pseudo-scientific practices of eugenics producing new excuses for the societal construction of race as a natural factor of genetic attributes, particularly to justify the subjugation of those with darker skin tones. in fact, in the u.s., the serfdom of indigenous people and the enslavement of africans (2000:550) were “deliberately established and organized as a commodity in order to produce goods for the world market and to serve the purposes and needs of capitalism.” although colonial rule, and therefore formal empire, has technically ended, both the process of global capital production through globalization and stratification through racism have persisted in modern times under more informal modes of imperialism. colonial empires were essentially dismantled upon reaching the twentieth century (go 2020:87), but the “u.s. empire maintained colonial relations with puerto rico, the u.s. virgin islands, and guam, for instance; and around the world, formal empire dissipated only to give way to new forms of imperial domination.” globalization phase 2: informal empire according to environmentalists and economists fred magdoff and john bellamy foster (2012:13), the process of decolonization was seen as inevitable for colonial empire. to adapt to such radically new conditions of a postcolonial globalized society, preparations were made for the transition from formal controls of empire to “informal imperialism,” or “imperialism without colonies.” this mode of empire (steinmetz 2014:84-85) is referred to as “informal nonterritorial empire” in which “international control is exercised through military, economic, and research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 75 california sociology forum vol. 6 other means, but there is no conquest or permanent seizure of political sovereignty and therefore no possibility of systematically enforcing a rule of difference.” informal empire is deemed such because this form uses more subtle methods and technologies as employed by a state-organization that wishes to dominate another, instead of utilizing outright physical occupation to replace local sovereign powers, effectively acting as a disguised form of dominance. the abundance of u.s. military bases globally is one example of subliminal dominance, posited as universal allyship but these bases can easily become a way for the u.s. government to subdue any activity deemed as uprisings. additionally, in the pursuit of globalization, the u.s. government has utilized tools (steinmetz 2014:85) such as: “manipulated market exchanges, extraterritoriality arrangements, black sites and extraordinary rendition, drone strikes, and unequal military alliances and status of forces agreements.” controlling the narrative through capitalism the u.s. empire has been the prime example of informal modes of control (magdoff and foster 2012:11) which is understood as the “continuous reality of economic expansion in modern times.” the economic domination within the world market and the changing landscape of the global economy was marked by the emergence of multinational corporations. informal imperialism then functions (2012:15) as not only occurring “through the policies of states but also through the actions of corporations and the mechanisms of trade finance and investment.” this involved class structures both within countries of the periphery (prebisch 1950) and the core imperial metropoles dominating them. these actions of multinational corporations (magdoff and foster 2012:15) included “the nurturing of local collaborators or comprador elements in the dependent societies.” the installation of puppet regime dictatorships within these peripheral countries rich in resources and cheap labor was done so to secure imperial interests of capital accumulation. freedom and the american dream capitalism ignores societal needs in favor of being profitoriented (heinrich 2004:18), which creates major power research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 76 california sociology forum vol. 6 differentials among citizens, pointing to the informal empiric practices of enforced hierarchy. this is an example of control by manipulation: a subtle method that seeks to make individuals comply with domination through non-coercive means. once the emancipation of americans who were enslaved was successful (quijano 2000:567), “freedom was not a transformation of labor relations, but a reason to substitute slaves with immigrant workers from other countries.” this shift lures immigrants to the u.s. through the attractive ideal of achieving economic and familial freedom via the ‘american dream’ based on the social belief that hard work leads to upward mobilization. the u.s. investment in capitalism has manufactured the narrative that one can pull themselves up by their bootstraps to achieve wealth and power. however, this american dream is not universally accessible or genuinely attainable due to the maintained rule of difference through systemic racism. a major “problem with the american dream,” as it plays out in reality (abdurraqib 2022:184), “is that it manifests itself in different times and places and ways for different people, depending on any number of identity factors.” white supremacist practices baked into the inception of the u.s. only serve to reinforce the inequality of power domination through the informal imperial practice of approximation to whiteness. the true nature of coercion occurring under capitalism in the form of workforce reliance is disguised by those in power: the obscene transfers of wealth over the past forty years from … bottom to a privileged few at the top – and from much of the global south to financial elites in the west – were all excused as the natural evolution of the market, when, in fact, they are products of unparalleled greed by those who dominate and direct the market. (gonzalez 2022:382) the stratification maintained by capitalists owning the means of production prevents workers from truly being in control of their own survival. instead, workers are manipulated into accepting that alienation of the self from one’s work production is a norm within society, causing most to believe that the low wages paid are the true worth of their labor. stratification of wages is even more pronounced through the white supremacist enforcement of racial research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 77 california sociology forum vol. 6 domination further devaluing those who cannot approximate whiteness. even the u.s. empire outsourcing work to other countries under the supposed efficiency of cost savings is an exploitative labor practice (benjamin 2019:29) that paradoxically reinforces “indispensable disposability of those whose labor enables innovation . . . [failing] to account for the social costs of a technology in which global forms of racism, caste, class, sex, and gender exploitation are the nuts and bolts of development.” western exceptionalism and liberal white supremacy the concept of ‘western exceptionalism’ is a repeated rhetoric the u.s. government has utilized to further its covert empire, attempting to disguise systemic practices of white supremacy that continue to employ a rule of difference as a means of unquestioned control through repeatedly asserting the standard of freedom. yet, the supposed free market that the u.s. promises through capitalism is controlled by exploitive elements that employ a modern form of stratified subjugation. the explicit forms of racial hierarchy established during colonial rule became unprofitable as racism began to be formally recognized, to a certain extent, due to evolving social mores. race began to function through more indirect forms of empire within a new set of ideas such as ‘liberal white supremacy’ (beeman 2022). this concept refers to the belief that the ideas and institutionalization of freedom, human rights, and democracy originate in western cultures and philosophies and suggests a moral superiority of western societies. the latter part of this idea implies that the system of government based on these ideas and institutions can self-correct and self-perfect itself. in other words, it is the idea of ‘a few bad apples’ within a system of government as opposed to the reality where governments are perpetuating institutionalized structures of control such as racism. racial liberalism and neoliberal multiculturalism as the cold war began after world war ii, the u.s. government utilized its recognition and condemnation of racism to justify informal expansion of its empire. latin american studies scholars leisy abrego and alejandro villalpando (2021:51) refer to this period of u.s. government policy as ‘racial research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 78 california sociology forum vol. 6 liberalism,’ in which the goal was to “mask racialized inequities by promoting the idea of an ‘abstract equality’ predicated on market-driven individualism and the promise of inclusion into the national project.” racialized individuals have had to adapt to capitalist and individualistic modes of thinking and production as a prerequisite for being formally considered full citizens in the u.s. race was still an essential factor in facilitating class structures, although class dimensions are less readily perceivable, while capitalism evolved into its contemporary framework of neoliberalism. the end of the cold war marked another necessity for empire to adapt its informal modes of control to a globalized society without the perceived global threat that communism assumed. with communism considered under control, one method informal imperialism utilized to maintain its power structures was to combine racial liberalism and neoliberalism into what scholar jodi melamed established in 2006 as the model of ‘neoliberal multiculturalism.’ this was due to the u.s. government no “longer relying on an abstract sense of equality across race, the transnational capitalist regime [u.s. informal empire] now required nation-states, businesses, and key social institutions to include multiculturalism as a policy goal” (2021:52). the idea of multiculturalism here refers to a “generalized mainstream understanding that progress requires a (usually superficial) centering of race,” but only so far as to acknowledge and celebrate the cultures of bipoc if they are willing to adapt to capitalist and individualistic modes of labor production. such initiatives of multiculturalism as a matter of policy by the u.s. government revolved around ideas of diversity as well as using metrics to measure one’s social status outside of race based on one’s work performance. the fallacy, however, is that because the power structures of race did not end with colonialism but instead proved more durable and merely adapted to the social mores of the environment, an imbalance of power still existed in these neoliberal modes of social control. the goal of neoliberal multiculturalism was to obscure “the ways global capitalist expansion in fact exacerbates and amplifies racialized inequity, the way it reproduces precarity and mobility for racialized groups” (2021:52). a historical example of this was in central america, where, for the first time, indigenous peoples and cultures were research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 79 california sociology forum vol. 6 formally recognized by their respective governments as a matter of policy. the end of civil wars in central america was marked by neoliberal multiculturalism through calls for peace and nationwide initiatives to respect and celebrate historically oppressed groups, including indigenous and black central americans. these initiatives failed to address the structural imbalances of power that were facilitating the struggles of these groups, as is the nature of this ideology (2021:52), to promote “cultural acceptance of indigenous and other racialized communities while materially advancing their political and economic marginalization.” this ideology, as a matter of policy, can also be considered a form of psychological warfare. psychological warfare the strategy of psychological warfare utilizes globalized interactions, which are colonial in origin, to still retain the same imbalance of power between post-colonial third-world countries and “imperial centers” (magdoff and foster 2012:18). the origins of psychological warfare as a matter of policy for u.s. empire came about during president eisenhower’s administration at the beginning of the cold war. eisenhower’s understanding of the success of psychological warfare as a military tactic during world war ii (osgood 2008:47) led him to conclude that “the battle for hearts and minds was one of the most critical dimensions of the cold war struggle.” this is best understood within a globalized society (abrego and villalpando 2021:52) as a “fight to secure the united states’ ability to continue to extract wealth transnationally.” alongside this new strategy of establishing and maintaining global hegemony came the necessity of implementing the idea of plausible deniability that eisenhower and other succeeding administrations would only internally acknowledge during and after the cold war. magdoff and foster (2012:9) contend that “the existence of an american empire is no secret. it is widely, even universally, recognized in most parts of the world, though traditionally denied by the powers that be in the united states.” this plausible deniability, or formal denial of existence, implies the tactic of control through psychological warfare by manipulating peoples’ understanding of how a globalized research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 80 california sociology forum vol. 6 postcolonial society functions by obfuscating any discussion of empires existing after the period of decolonization. utilization of globalization for knowledge production one effective method of psychological warfare was knowledge production. during the cold war, the u.s. empire utilized knowledge production as a technology of control. the goal of knowledge production as psychological warfare was to maintain control of a country’s political, cultural, and economic landscape within the u.s. sphere of influence to ensure u.s. interests in that country. this strategy employs an informal and covert network (simpson 1996:60) involving u.s. intelligence agencies, philanthropic organizations, and university programs. u.s. scholars are sent to universities in countries of the global south to teach the local scholars the methods of particular programs, such as social sciences and communication studies, to inject western capitalist modes of thinking into the academia of these universities. knowledge production utilized the mechanisms of globalization channeled through already established global communication networks originating during the era of formal empire. one of the most prominent historical examples of this network was of the ford foundation in indonesia (parmar 2014:148), where “ford intervened in and intellectually penetrated indonesia principally because of its economic resources and strategic position as well as its political-ideological attraction to communism and socialism and desire to carve out a specifically indonesian path to development.” knowledge production as utilizing information to promote a particular interest was also conducted in developing countries by u.s. intelligence agencies through covert and overt propaganda campaigns utilizing films, images, and leaflets, amongst other tactics. in this case it promoted western capitalist values while demonizing communist and socialist ideals in peripheral countries the u.s. empire deemed particularly vulnerable to communist influence. a historical example of this is when the u.s. information agency carried out propaganda campaigns where u.s. anti-communist operations were most prominent in southeast asia “to reach rural areas where communications were poor, trucks labeled ‘usis’ brought research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 81 california sociology forum vol. 6 loudspeakers, film projectors, and movie screens to show propaganda films to villagers” and “teams of operatives traveled by boats and jeeps to bring leaflets, posters, magazines, and books to the countryside” (osgood 2008:120-121). conclusion though it has morphed in appearance over the ages, the societal construction of empire persists in its present form through projects of stratification and globalization continuing to engineer structures of power. historically, stratification played a crucial role in the first phase of globalization by colonialism perpetuating empire through a rule of difference allowing dynamics of control to stem from the eurocentric invention of race. a self-sustaining system of domination spread worldwide by equating power access with approximation to whiteness through the visible marker of skin tone. as modernization forced formal empire to adapt the way it manifested, informal empire ushered in the second phase of globalization. the u.s. used capitalism and systemic racism to establish a narrative of western exceptionalism by way of liberal white supremacy, racial liberalism, neoliberal multiculturalism, and psychological warfare. all of these forms of propaganda supporting the u.s. government on its rise to the forefront of global power fuel the social norms calculated to maintain roles of oppressor and oppressed at global, national, and even subnational scales. psychological warfare was a key to convincing the world that society had moved beyond empire and colonization into a supposedly more advanced, post-racial global civilization. references abdurraqib, hanif. 2022. a little devil in america: in praise of black performance. new york, ny: random house trade paperbacks. abrego, leisy, and alejandro villalpando. precarity and belonging: labor, migration, and noncitizenship. edited by catherine s. ramírez et al., rutgers university press, 2021. beeman, angie. 2022. liberal white supremacy: how progressives silence racial and class oppression. university of georgia press. benjamin, ruha. 2019. race after technology: abolitionist tools for the new jim code. london: polity press. besteman, catherine. 2019. “militarized global apartheid.” cultural anthropology 60(19):s26-s38. chatterjee, partha. 1993. the nation and its fragments: colonial and postcolonial histories. new jersey: princeton university press. research | theoretical works | bates and huerta 82 california sociology forum vol. 6 darwin, john. 2008. after tamerlane: the global history of empire since 1405. new york: bloomsbury. go, julian. 2020. “race, empire, and epistemic exclusion: or the structures of sociological thought.” sociological theory 38(2):79-100. goldberg, david theo. 2016. are we all post-racial yet? https://www.humanities.uci.edu/news/are-we-all-post-racial-yet-1 gonzález, juan. 2022. harvest of empire: a history of latinos in america. new york: penguin books. heinrich, michael. 2004. an introduction to the three volumes of karl marx’s capital. new york: monthly review press, 13-18. magdoff, harry, and john bellamy foster. 2012. imperialism without colonies. adam matthew digital: 9-19. melamed, jodi. “the spirit of neoliberalism.” social text, vol. 24(4)2006:1–24. osgood, kenneth alan. 2008. total cold war: eisenhower’s secret propaganda battle at home and abroad. university of kansas: 46-126. parmar, inderjeet. 2014. foundations of the american century: the ford, carnegie, and rockefeller foundations in the rise of american power. columbia university press: 124-148. prebisch, raúl. (1950). the economic development of latin america and its principal problems. lake success: united nations department of economic affairs. quijano, anibal. 2000. “coloniality of power and eurocentrism in latin america.” international sociology 15 (2):215-232. simpson, christopher. 1996. science of coercion: communication research and psychological warfare 1945-1960. oxford university press: 52-62. steinmetz, george. 2014. “the sociology of empires, colonies, and postcolonialism.” annual review of sociology 40:77-103. wallerstein, immanuel. 1974. “the rise and future demise of the world capitalist system: concepts for comparative analysis.” comparative studies in society and history, 16(4):387-415. taryn bates (she/her) enrolled during the fall 2023 semester in the crosslisted course knowledge, power, community, and university under sociology professor wai kit choi, phd., who prompted this piece. joining forces with classmate rubén, the pair co-wrote a piece for publication in csf and to present with a panel at cal state la’s 9th annual social theory symposium. rubén huerta (he/him/el) is graduating in 2024 with a b.a. in latin american studies from cal state la and is proud to have made the dean’s list for fall 2023 under the college of natural and social sciences. for the spring 2024 semester, he has taken part in playing intramural soccer. his other passions include composing original tracks as a music producer which he curates into his dj sets. in fall 2023, the las department advised rubén to enroll in dr. wai kit choi’s cross-listed course knowledge, power, community, and university. in preparation for both publication in csf and panel at cal state la’s 9th annual social theory symposium, he worked alongside taryn to synthesize their perspectives into a joint theoretical framework. racial hierarchies globalized: from colonialism to informal empire taryn bates and rubén huerta reviews | music | white 161 california sociology forum vol. 7 music review: analysis of kendrick lamar’s 2016 grammy performance dorcia white department of sociology california state university, los angeles scan to watch kendrick lamar's 2016 grammy performance kendrick lamar’s 2016 grammy performance medley of his songs “the blacker the berry” and “alright” – akin to a protest march and laden with powerful and moving imagery – is coming from a place of exhaustion. it speaks volumes regarding the plight of black americans and is a stark representation of the entrenched violence perpetrated against them by the united states government, allowing regular white folks to rape, murder, and pillage black bodies without repercussions (anderson 2016). using three key images from lamar’s performance in the order in which they are presented – incarceration, bonfire, and compton/africa – this analysis will provide historical context and background regarding the racialized policies to which each image refers. these are stories that are not often told, certainly not in a historically accurate way. lamar’s telling of these stories may be the first time certain audiences have seen these histories represented in a way that rings true for their own lived experience. the facts informing these images are often not represented accurately. i aim to reveal their deeper meaning: how the situation got that way and how the system continues to be misrepresented. reviews | music | white 162 california sociology forum vol. 7 image 1 key imagery from kendrick lamar's 2016 grammy performance incarceration the powerful imagery of kendrick lamar on a chain gang, and his band in jail cells, will be explored first. lamar uses the racial project of the prison system to expose the impact of incarceration reviews | music | white 163 california sociology forum vol. 7 as it has led to inequalities, discrimination, and segregation. the imagery of lamar surrounded by jail cells and a chain gang is powerful because it points to systemic racism that perpetuates the disproportionate number of black people stuck in the industrial prison system (smith 2012). lamar is bringing to light that this is still happening 400 years later and that racial inequalities are what perpetuates this historical system. this imagery showcases how black men, of all statuses, experience the brutality of the prison system, so when lamar is breaking the chains, which is a significant and integral part of this performance. lamar’s performance may be a call to action for black americans to stay ‘woke’ and stay vigilant (zavattaro and bearfield 2022). the rigid, intractable, and seemingly immovable social structure that rejects change must also be recognized for how it perpetuates white supremacy and resists movements like black lives matter (smedley and smedley 2012). to create change there must be a call to action to write anti-racist policies and laws that protect the most vulnerable, and resist the misappropriation of black culture, such as weaponizing the word woke (zavattaro et al. 2022). every individual has the opportunity to do something, such as lead, activate, march, protest and unite. this could look like organizing in your community to end gang violence and police violence (zavattaro et al. 2022). it could look like starting a neighborhood clean-up program for teens. these strategies can change the trajectory of black lives, neighborhoods, and outcomes shaping black futures (sojoyner 2013; williams and lewis 2024). lamar understands the industrial prison system as the new slavery for black people that perpetuates poverty while maintaining the status quo for the wealthy and white through “cheap labor” of “black bodies” (hammad 2019). bonfire second, the bonfire image relates to 400 years of racial terror, slavery, and oppression of black people alongside indigenous tribes and other people of color a.k.a. bipoc (dunbar-ortiz 2014). lamar is being didactic through his message that systemic and institutionalized racism perpetuates the plight of black americans. the fire, on the one hand, represents kkk terrorism against black people: the cross burning, the lynchings, and the reviews | music | white 164 california sociology forum vol. 7 ethnic cleansing of entire towns of bipoc (dunbar-ortiz 2014). lamar's performance tells us that racism is not dead simply because the majority of white people say they are not racist (bonilla-silva 2003). additionally, the imagery of the fire is saying there will be more civil unrest because poverty leads to violence. the fire represents the systems in place throughout american history, which have manifested through events like the tulsa, oklahoma massacre of 1921 and the philadelphia bombing of 1985. white supremacy evolved to perpetuate these draconian systems into a new form of jim crow, which is color-blind racism (bonilla-silva 2003). furthermore, the racism that plagues black americans spills over in the form of racial remittances (zamora 2022), causing immigrants to have racial baggage full of stereotypes about black people. prejudice happens long before they have encountered a black american. this system speaks volumes to the impact that colonialism has on people outside the u.s. (zamora 2022). it is a strong possibility that racial baggage is the fuel that helped more than 60% of hispanics make the decision to choose a racist, divisive, xenophobic, felon over a more than capable, highly educated, strong, effective black woman for president. with that in mind, black americans must join lamar’s vigilant fight against the racial divisiveness that plagues this nation (williams and lewis 2024). africa/compton the final of the three analyzed images, compton stamped in the middle of africa, sheds light on the categorizing of black people. segregation, discrimination, and inequality happen in compton and wherever black people call home. such categorizing leads to systemic racism and racial inequality for black americans. compton stamped onto africa signifies the unity necessary to dismantle systems like structural racism and police brutality. the image of africa/compton denounces the myth of scientifically proven biological differences that black people are inferior to white (smedley and smedley 2012) by reminding the audience that we all come from the dna of the same african woman. finally, the west african dancers joined by the prisoners represent unity, ambition, and advancement of black people that fueled the great migration and the civil rights movement (anderson reviews | music | white 165 california sociology forum vol. 7 2016). through this image of compton in africa, lamar is imploring black people to never forget that africa is where they came from (hooks 2015). lyrical content at another point during the performance, lamar identifies the united states government’s discrimination, couched within the guise of biological determinism, to which black people were subjected (smedley et al. 2012). specifically, the lyrics refer to the size of his nose and dark complexion. lamar confronts black americans’ racialization, as it testifies to color-blind racism’s maintenance of the status quo. indeed, white rage has led to 400 years of physical labor and mental anguish of the black race (anderson 2016). lamar’s performance reminds us of the countless lives and generations destroyed by anglo-settler colonialism (dunbar-ortiz 2014). conclusion stereotypes created by white america have misrepresented black people and such racialization has led to institutionalized and systemic racism, as held up by the racist laws and policies of the u.s. government. lamar pushed the envelope with his 2016 grammy performance, sending a didactic message by revealing the ethnocentrism that white america has used to beat down the black race (smedley and smedley 2005). in doing so, lamar exposes black americans’ of-repressed sentiment: that the social structures supporting american terrorism have perpetuated a system of segregation and inequality. racism has not ended because jim crow laws are no longer in force. damage, previously caused by overt racism and racial terror, is perpetuated by covert racism and color-blind racism (bonilla-silva 2003). the imagery was powerful and moving, and it confronted the categorization of black people by white americans, as it has led to discrimination, inequalities, and segregation of black americans (williams and lewis 2024). lamar never ceases to amaze his audience by faithfully delivering the no holds barred punches. his message warns the world that black people are “gon’ be alright,” (lamar 2015) which is completely in line with lamar’s character and morals. reviews | music | white 166 california sociology forum vol. 7 since 2016, lamar has soared to new heights winning the 2018 pulitzer prize for music (pulitzer 2018). once again reigning victorious with his 2024 hit “not like us” inspired by a controversial battle with drake (trust 2024), lamar’s “not like us” music video captures his style of speaking truth to power and remembering where you come from (hooks 2015). lamar’s performance reveals the color-blind racism that has taken the place of jim crow laws, thereby perpetuating the misrepresentation and stereotyping of black people in the united states. lamar’s performance illustrates the hatred for black people and demonstrates the historical racist policies that have led to the marginalization of black people (anderson 2016; williams and lewis 2024). recall that black people did not come to the americas by choice but by force! references anderson, carol. 2016. white rage: the unspoken truth of our racial divide. london: bloomsbury publishing. bonilla-silva, eduardo. 2003. racism without racists: color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the united states. lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. dunbar-ortiz, roxanne. 2014. an indigenous peoples’ history of the united states. boston: beacon press. hammad, neveen. 2019. “shackled to economic appeal: how prison labor facilitates modern slavery while perpetuating poverty in black communities.” social policy and the law 26(1):66-68. hooks, bell. 1989. “choosing the margins as a space of radical openness.” framework: the journal of cinema and media. 36:15-23. lamar, kendrick. 2015. “alright.” to pimp a butterfly. los angeles: top dawg; aftermath; interscope records. pulitzer. 2018. damn., by kendrick lamar. https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/kendrick-lamar. smedley, audrey, and brian d. smedley. 2005. “race as biology is fiction, racism as a social problem is real.” american psychological association. 60(1):16-26. smedley, audrey and brian d. smedley. 2012. “changing perspectives on human variation in science.” race in north america:289-305. new york: routledge. smith, justin m. 2012. “maintaining racial inequality through crime control: mass incarceration and residential segregation criminal, social and restorative justice 15(4):469-84. reviews | music | white 167 california sociology forum vol. 7 sojoyner, damien m. 2013. “black radicals make for bad citizens: undoing the myth of the school to prison pipeline.” berkeley review of education 4(2):241-63. trust, gary. 2024. “kendrick lamar’s ‘not like us’ blasts in at no. 1 on billboard hot 100.” https://www.billboard.com/lists/kendricklamar-not-like-us-hot-100-number-one-debut/. williams, sharlyn d., corlis lewis. 2024. moms and black sons: a comprehensive study of complex love and racial animus, vol. 1 the stories. lulu press, inc. zamora, sylvia. 2022. racial baggage mexican immigrants and race across the border. standford: stanford university press. zavattaro, staci m. and dominic bearfield. 2022. “weaponization of wokeness: the theater of management and implications for public administration.” public administration review 82(3):58593. dorcia white (she/her) is a cal state la alumna who graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's in sociology in fall 2023. she is pursuing her master’s in sociology at cal state la, with plans to graduate in may 2026. her research interests include forced migration in the democratic republic of congo (drc), housing justice, race and ethnicity, power dynamics between landlords and low-income african american renters, surveillance of low-income african american tenants, and the experiences of black section 8 mothers. outside of csula, dorcia presented her research at the 2025 pacific sociological association (psa) conference in san francisco. she serves as the first african american woman on the board of directors for feast and is the proud chair of district 8 for the alliance of californians for community empowerment (acce) los angeles. music review: analysis of kendrick lamar’s 2016 grammy performance dorcia white reviews | tv show | esparza 141 california sociology forum vol. 7 tv show review: birth of a rebellion – a sociological look at andor: a star wars story ian joaquin esparza department of sociology california state university, los angeles very few television shows in modern times showcase the dynamics between an oppressive system and people affected by these forces of oppression. even fewer show this social dynamic in a relatable, grounded way as it is shown in the show andor (2022). the struggles of a young rebel movement bred from these oppressive forces of the galactic empire are displayed in a brutal yet relevant way that mirrors real-life rebel causes in our society and history. many themes and social issues highlighted throughout the show’s episodic arcs hold much truth and act as important social commentaries that spark dialogue about real oppressive factors in our own social institutions. in this review, i will focus on a few major sociological aspects that i feel are important to cover. the forces of colonialism at work, acts of cultural rebellion, critiquing the status quo, and mass incarceration are some of the key themes throughout andor showcasing how individuals from various backgrounds are socialized due to the colonialistic nature of an oppressive regime. a highlight of the show is that it shows how individuals from different social statuses react to oppression and what steps they take to adapt or resist the societal norms laid by the forces of oppression. as much as the themes are important, the range of the diverse characters of andor are the heart and soul of the show. through their points of view, we as an audience are compelled to understand how people of different social statuses and backgrounds react to oppression and rebellion. the workingclass struggle, what roles the privileged play in these struggles, hopeful revolutionaries, and those fighting for a cause that they struggle to support. behind the scenes the show is created by american screenwriter tony gilroy. he is known for the spy thriller franchise under the bourne series. gilroy also acted as a lead advocate during the recent writers' strike, due to the poor treatment and unfair pay to writers in reviews | tv show | esparza 142 california sociology forum vol. 7 hollywood, which caused a pause in most hollywood productions. andor was created for the streaming service disney+ and serves as a prequel to the hit star wars spin-off film rogue one, which was released in 2016 and was heavily worked on by tony gilroy. andor strives to create more character depth for cassian andor, who was a secondary protagonist in rogue one, and other smaller characters featured in the film. this star wars show received positive critical reception and was nominated for numerous emmys and golden globes. it is set to receive a second and final season in spring 2025. an unlikely hero’s journey andor takes place within the larger star wars franchise, specifically the events in the show fit in between the movies episode iii: revenge of the sith (2005) and episode iv: a new hope (1977). to understand the sociological themes of andor, i must briefly summarize the state of the star war timeline. at the end of revenge of the sith, the star wars galaxy’s fair republic reformatted into a sinister galactic empire. during this transition, the empire conducted a genocide on the peacekeeping jedi knights. with their religion and culture being outlawed throughout the galaxy, the jedi order represents peace and justice, somewhat unconventional for super-powered law enforcement individuals. without the jedi, the new galactic empire could impose its will upon the people of the galaxy with little to no resistance. fifteen years after the fall of the jedi, the galaxy is at a tipping point. the sinister motives of the galactic empire are in full effect across the galaxy, with some individuals having had enough of living under this umbrella of oppression. andor follows a rogue protagonist named cassian andor as he experiences firsthand the oppression nature of the empire and the birth of a rebellion that he will eventually give his life for. star wars broadly tells the tale of good vs. evil, and andor further expands this general concept to a more mature audience. often when watching one can forget that this is a show taking place in the star wars universe with its mature themes. the opening act shows cassian visiting a brothel, where his motive is revealed to find his long-lost sister. after he leaves the brothel, he is stopped by two corporate security officers (or “corpos”). the reviews | tv show | esparza 143 california sociology forum vol. 7 altercation ends with cassian accidentally killing one of the corpos with him murdering the other. cassian is forced to flee the scene and this altercation with the forces of oppression leads him toward a path of rebellion. as a wanted man, cassian manipulates and uses his friends to survive a galaxy under the oppressive rule of an empire. throughout the duration of the show, cassian evolves from a common criminal and a con man to a revolutionary and leader. it goes to show that cassian is not your typical hero, he is forced to act and survive circumstances that he does not really have control over. colonialism in space the acts of colonialism are highlighted throughout the many arcs in the show's duration. the concept of “colonialism refers to the direct political control of a society and its people by a foreign ruling state . . . the ruling state monopolizes political power and keeps the subordinated society and its people in a legally inferior position. but colonialism has had significant cultural, social, and economic correlates and ramifications” (go 2007:1). these corporate security forces act as an extension of the empire which displays a form of colonialism. the empire employs this corporation’s services to enforce their rule upon colony planets such as cassian’s home planet ferrix. when we are first introduced to ferrix we see how deeply rooted the community is grounded. it is a lively place until the empire takes over. colonialism is showcased in multiple different scenarios, but it is displayed openly on the planet ferrix, which serves as a hub-world where we see the empire’s colonialist nature slowly take over the planet. it starts off with the corporate security rule and ends with the planet becoming occupied by imperial forces. livelihoods are crushed, citizens imprisoned, and stormtroopers march the streets of ferrix. a once independent working world now faces the consequences of becoming an imperial colony. additionally, we see the aftermath of colonial exploitation in cassian’s birth planet kenria. abandoned mining equipment with dialogue suggesting that the planet went through a disastrous environmental situation that led to the planet becoming hazardous. reviews | tv show | esparza 144 california sociology forum vol. 7 character motivations as much as cassian is the main protagonist, the supporting characters are as equally as important as cassian’s role in this star wars story. andor shows a diverse range of characters that are differently affected by the oppressive nature of the empire; some embrace it and many rebel against it. there are more characters than i can feature in this review, but i will explain two who play the most important roles in connection to the sociological nature of society under the galactic empire. each is on a different end of the spectrum that represents how one is shaped and influenced in such a society. first off is syril karn, an over-achieving, by-the-book corporate officer who leads the initial effort to hunt down cassian. syril believes that the system works, he represents those who fully trust the government and believes that those in power can do no wrong. but there is a side to him that is extreme, where he sees his superiors as lazy, and he takes matters into his own hands. syril believes in the system and will do whatever it takes to uphold the system. a sort of blind devotion that drives syril. he can be seen as a representation of younger members of alt-right movements. even when the very system he supports punishes him and disregards him, syril’s blind devotion to the empire makes him a dangerous extremist, which leads to fascist tendencies. syril is helping a system that does not even care about him and his belief that if he helps the empire in any way he can to gain favor might lead to his end. another important rebellious figure in andor is mon mothma. she is an imperial senator but secretly funds rebel movements. mothma understands the power that comes with her privileges and seeks to use them for a cause that does not oppress. mothma is a deep-cut star wars character who originally made her first appearance in return of the jedi. diehard star wars fans will recognize her as the future leader of the rebel alliance. but at this point during the events of andor, we find her at her most vulnerable. mothma, due to her social status, struggles to understand the necessary steps to fight the empire. she has lived through a luxurious and comfortable life while becoming a prestigious senator, though she does acknowledge the injustices of the empire. mothma also faces her own oppression, due to the reviews | tv show | esparza 145 california sociology forum vol. 7 culture of her home world, such as arranged marriages, which causes conflict in mothma’s life between her and her daughter. mothma is in an unfulfilling arranged marriage that has caused her to become disillusioned over the practice and gives her a countercultural feeling toward it. but her daughter embraces it, following the traditional trap of cultural norms. mothma is so caught up with her duties that it takes time away from her being a mother, and the relationship between the two is strained in a way similar to how families today can feel separated due to holding different ideals on social issues. one of the most important scenes with mothma is during a meeting with a shady businessman where mothma needs his services to adequately fund the rebellion, but the cost is high: an arranged marriage between her daughter and the businessman's son. mothma knows that her daughter will wholeheartedly embrace this tradition, but it is something that mothma does not want her daughter to go through, especially since these arranged marriages are implied to happen when these individuals are pre-teens to teenagers. however, mothma realizes that she must do whatever it takes to fight the empire, even at the cost of her daughter’s freedom; personal sacrifices must be made for the greater good, and rebellions always come at a cost. also, it is important to note that the empire’s cia equivalent is spying on mothma and suspects her of rebellious motives. mothma faces oppression on levels only accessible to her status, and she risks losing everything that makes her comfortable for a cause that goes against the very system that gives her comfortability. every character faces their own rebellion and becomes a rebel in their own way, though how they rebel can depend on their social status and experiences of socialization. socialization “is the process through which we can learn not only cultural beliefs and social rules, but also the underlying structure or grammar that enables us to behave individually, organically, and seemingly spontaneously” (o’brien 2017:135) and can be used to describe the dynamic between individuals and the institutions with which they are involved. from people with privileged upbringings funding causes through the safety of their status to the common criminal that finds it necessary to rebel for their own survival. the way a society operates enables certain individuals to act or react accordingly, whether it be to work their way up the system or work reviews | tv show | esparza 146 california sociology forum vol. 7 to dismantle it. cassian becomes a rebel due to necessity, syril commits acts of rebellion to uphold the system he believes in, and mothma rebels due to her acknowledgment that her privilege enables her to help those in need. through the different perspectives of social classes shown in andor, we see how people from different social backgrounds react to an oppressive system. conclusion andor doesn’t shy away from the brutal social commentary that enables sociological dialogue. often throughout the show, we see rather realistic depictions of oppressive forces at work. through the many social issues and crises in our society, andor acts as a piece of media that helps to showcase these acts of social injustice by incorporating an already well-known franchise to engage the audience in the story. there are many other sociological aspects within the show that may serve as an introduction to sociology for the general audience, as well as a form of mass media that may help the audience create correlations to aspects of our society. i highly recommend viewing this show to gain some modern representation of sociological knowledge! references gilroy, tony. 2022. andor. lucasfilm. disney. go, julian. 2007. “colonialism (neocolonialism).” the blackwell encyclopedia of sociology. edited by george ritzer. john wiley & sons, ltd. o’brien, jodi. 2017. “the production of reality: essays and readings on social interaction 6th edition.” los angeles: sage. tv show review: birth of a rebellion – a sociological look at andor: a star wars story ian joaquin esparza creative works | op-eds | perez 105 california sociology forum vol. 7 kimberlé crenshaw on intersectionality and critical race theory nicole r. perez department of sociology california state university, los angeles kimberlé crenshaw is an american civil rights advocate, a professor at both the university of california, los angeles school of law and columbia school of law, and a founding director of the african american policy forum. crenshaw is best known for developing the concept of intersectionality, which examines how different forms of social inequalities intersect and overlap; for example, those experiencing hardships from intersections of race and gender. most people are subjects of intersectionality, since it is in all aspects of life, but not enough people reflect on how it could be affecting social interactions; therefore, it is important to address and focus on intersectionality more often. crenshaw has spent her career working to end discrimination against women of color and to promote the interest of marginalized communities. she is also the leading scholar of critical race theory (crt), an approach to studying u.s. policies and institutions that originated in law schools, as a framework that is used to help people understand why racial inequalities exist in society and how they can be eradicated. the theory rests on the premise that racial bias (intentional or not) is baked into u.s. laws and institutions. crenshaw has argued that “the black racialist account…portrays racial power…through its impact on african-american males” (crenshaw et al. 1995:xxxi). this piece is intended to showcase why both crenshaw and her work are still important today, how the work has impacted society, and how people are still practicing crt and intersectionality, along with noting the circumstances these ideas are being applied to. while both crt and intersectionality analyze social power dynamics and oppression, they approach these issues from different perspectives. crt focuses primarily on how race and racism are embedded in legal systems and societal structures while intersectionality expands this lens to consider how race intersects with other forms of identity such as gender, class, and sexuality to create unique, layered experiences of oppression. although crt creative works | op-eds | perez 106 california sociology forum vol. 7 provides a critical understanding of systemic racism, intersectionality broadens this view by emphasizing that oppression cannot be understood in isolation but must account for the complexities of multiple, intersecting identities. together, these frameworks offer a greater understanding of the ways in which power and privilege shape individuals’ lives in society. critical race theory and intersectionality crt has been around for about 50 years, but how did it come to be? crt came out of the frankfurt school’s critical theory of belief that there are systems that exist both institutionally and systemically. critical theory changes how we view society, and crt emphasizes that it must be through a racial lens and not through an economic or legal lens. crt is like a hybrid of critical legal studies and liberal civil rights movements (crenshaw et al. 1995:xix). within critical legal studies, laws were used to keep up the status quo of the power structures within society. crt started to pop up within the writings of marcuse and spinoza, especially in the early 1990s. there was this idea that society must give preference based on the melanin content of people’s skin, not on their actions or choices. instead, since the u.s. is so unequal and inequitable, these founding writers and authors of the term crt believed that this would be a true marxist type of movement. crt was then fostered and started in many different universities across the country. crt has evolved into terms of wokeism, diversity, equity, and inclusion, which are all outgrowths of the postmodern deconstructionist viewpoint. race has been so formally and fully structured into our society that crt is practiced when people of color hear police sirens and place both hands on their steering wheel. it is practiced when children with darker melanin are given ‘the talk’ about how police treat people of color. these are the lived realities that people used to survive in this world that society still views as a post slave society. crt is still important today because it was brought to understand the bitter legacy of racism and discrimination that is still continuing in our contemporary society. crt is not racist whatsoever, it's a legal perspective that looks at the history of racism and power and how that impacts our laws, government, values, morality, standards, and our society at large. the problem isn't in the people, the problem is in the creative works | op-eds | perez 107 california sociology forum vol. 7 institutions. intersectionality is the concept that all oppression is linked. this means that intersectionality acknowledges that everyone has their own unique experiences of discrimination and oppression. it also means that society must consider everything and anything that can marginalize people. this includes, but is not strictly limited to, gender, race, class, sexual orientation, etc. this is so important because it centers around creating more equitable and socially-just outcomes for those with minority identities. the term intersectionality often gets used in ways that are not totally accurate to how crenshaw actually meant it. people will say there are an intersectional feminist, which sounds good, but it is not always an accurate way to use the word. intersectionality is a theoretical framework which looks at what happens when different systems of oppression intersect such as when someone is a woman, black, and a person with a disability, and so on. that brings the question what happens at these intersections? it helps people gain a better understanding as to what is going on, but it is not actually describing the word. however, it is well-intentioned, and people are trying to be inclusive but if they are using that language, they have to learn what that language means. it's about power and oppression (bhattacharyya and berdahl 2023). white feminists truly believe that if women were in charge, things would be a whole lot different, but that is simply not true. the issue with feminism, or the issue with mainstream feminism is it tends to cater to white middle-class females. it has been found that white people really do not have any experience that focuses on “justice” problems (piatelli 2009:162), along with almost no interactions working with black people. piatelli (2009) also found that white americans–especially women–do not realize that they are privileged in this country. this brings up the focus on people saying they don’t see color. this is why crenshaw works so hard and wants people to understand the hardships and disparities that black people have to go through because they don't have a choice under racism. some people believe only black women can use the term intersectionality, however, pretty much anyone could use it and that is what creates their unique experiences. feminist theorist bell hooks (2000) expressed how she learned about the theories and ideas of feminism through a creative works | op-eds | perez 108 california sociology forum vol. 7 feminism class. this is important because these are things that each individual, especially women, should experience to a certain extent. whether people want to pursue education about these things or not, they can learn a lot about feminism, intersectionality, and basically the different types of roles and expectations that women face. it is definitely worth everyone's time to just back up and think about why this concept is important, why it should be defined, and why we should learn about it. not everyone has access to college, or basic education in general, so it does make sense why not many people understand the exact concepts of the feminist theory. however, people have the ability to gain this knowledge through so many nonprofit organizations. community organizations that have to do a lot with feminism can help people understand how to actually express themselves about how they feel about certain issues. many of the feminist organizations promote themselves, in a way, through social media like x, instagram, and facebook. they have pages where they educate people about their organization, what it is about, and what is being done. even aside from the organizations, there are entire accounts simply dedicated to the feminist theory. the feminist movement does not require people “to join organizations,” but they could “work on behalf of feminism” (hooks 2000:116). crt and intersectionality in schools and the workplace education is so powerful in the u.s., yet crt is not talked about much through grade school. crt was originally only “taught in law schools, not in public schools” (henry 2023:1). however, in today’s time, you don't have to be someone of higher education to think about crt, although it is complex. the anti-crt movement is built on white supremacy, with some people believing crt is anti-white and un-america and creating a disinformation campaign around a theory they know nothing about. though many parents are critical against the teaching of crt, christopher rufo, a conservative against crt, basically became the voice to make sure there would be no such thing as crt in schools. crenshaw was even in agreement “with rufo that the political debate over crt is a debate over the ‘anti-racist’ project” (henry 2023:1). a few activists also believe that this project is “too ideological” (piatelli 2009:225) because it does not talk about how privilege creative works | op-eds | perez 109 california sociology forum vol. 7 and oppression go hand in hand. the world does not recognize that they are oppressing black people. for example, in a public school system, the neighborhood that has the black school gets less funding because it is lower income, and the white schools that are in the better neighborhoods get greater funding. that is one idea of systemic racism, and it is a crt teaching that exists so that people can learn from it and try to change it. schools need crt because they need real history. schools would not just stop teaching what happened during the american revolution, the civil war, world war i, or world war ii because that is important for people to know what truly happened, so it is believed that the same should go for crt. crenshaw worked alongside richard delgado to make a crt reading that could be available and easy to access for students who were in high school (ladson-billings 2021). children learning about race will not change how they think; it will just give them a better understanding. in trump’s first presidential term, he banned two different programs that were designed to teach racial sensitivity. in april 2022, a bill was passed to “regulate the discussion of race in public schools” (salzman 20202:1071). this bill was passed in over 40 states and now 35 states have laws against crt, and it pretty much goes hand in hand with banning lgbtiq+ teachings. the state of texas has the highest black population, yet they still banned crt; it’s a conservative state, so all the information they get about crt is only information that goes against crt. banning a theory brings up the issue as to why it is even being banned to begin with. it will only end up backfiring on them. if the country makes the laws very noticeable and strict, then it makes it easier for people to go against it. it is important to understand why this has even become a political issue and it is often wondered why these teachings are so threatening to some people. white people see it as a threat to their race, even if they don't really understand what they're going against. it is viewed as if they are triggered by the word ‘race’ and automatically think other. they don't want to acknowledge that the usa was founded on racism because they will inevitably have to question their privilege. intersectionality involves everyone in the conversation, and it allows the right amount of equity for those who may struggle more because of the intersectionality of their identity. creative works | op-eds | perez 110 california sociology forum vol. 7 knowing and understanding intersectionality is key to becoming anti-racist. this is because oppression comes in many forms. some people may even use the term intersectional invisibility which is basically how women of color are invisible to society, and no one is seeing how they are at a disadvantage. the complexity of their intersectionality affects their experiences within the workplace; research shows how black women are constantly “being subjected to” unfavorable stereotypes (bhattacharyya and berdahl 2023:1075). this often causes women to want to give things 110%, just so that they can prove everyone wrong. even in a school setting, black men and women were being used by their university to basically be the face of the diversity on behalf of the school (bhattacharyya and berdahl 2023). these men and women would eventually pull away from others because it is just a weird thing to experience overall. intersectionality is one of the things that can dismantle our system of capitalism. without intersectionality we raise the full complexity of people's identities and experiences. while intersectionality benefits everyone, it is important to know that it comes from the experiences and scholarship of black women. though they all have “intersecting identities,” that does not mean that they “all have the same lived experience” (piatelli 2008:149). every woman experiences something different. conclusion feminist theory comes from collaboration and building off of one another. it is important to recognize all who contribute to this conversation no matter their race, ethnicity, or status. crenshaw focuses on civil rights, crt, black feminist legal theology, race, racism, and the law. her work has been foundational in expanding crt and examining the topic of intersectionality. crenshaw’s studies, writing, and activism have helped to identify key issues that the black community faces daily. she was the one who was able to put a name to the concept when no one else could. intersectionality talks about the double bind that happens simultaneously with racial and gender prejudice, causing them to overlap and connect. this overview should help people gain a more in depth understanding when it comes to racism and feminism. creative works | op-eds | perez 111 california sociology forum vol. 7 crenshaw’s main idea for all the things she's known for is that people don't have to be an expert in intersectionality or crt, but they can be a resource for people. those who study crt focus on understanding how racism happens every day in american life. they want to see social change, compared to liberalism’s more cautious approach. when trying to teach something, the goal is not to try to press it onto others. the goal is to get others to at least understand it. crt teachings should be taught as an elective so people can have the optional choice to take it, and it could even be upper division only. again, it would not be seen as pushing it onto people but simply throwing it in as an option. crenshaw's work challenges the way people think and pushes them to want to continue learning about these theories. references bhattacharyya, barnini and jennifer l. berdahl. 2023. “do you see me? an inductive examination of differences between women of color’s experiences of and responses to invisibility at work.” american psychological association 18(7):1073-95. doi: 10.1037/apl0001072. crenshaw, kimberlé . 2015. “why intersectionality can't wait.” washington post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/intheory/wp/2015/09/24/why-intersectionality-cant-wait/. crenshaw, kimberlé, neil gotanda, gary peller, and kendall thomas. 1995. “critical race theory: the key writings that formed the movement.” new york: the new press. henry, caleb. 2023. “benedict xvi on education and solidarity.” religions 14(76):1-12. doi: 10.3390/rel14010076. hooks, bell. 2000. feminism is for everybody: passionate politics. boston: south end press. ladson-billings, gloria. 2021. “critical race theory: what it is not!” pp. 34-47 in foundations of critical race theory in education. london: routledge. piatelli, deborah. 2009. stories of inclusion?: power, privilege, and difference in a peace and justice network. lanham, md: lexington books. salzman, dylan. 2022. “the constitutionality of orthodoxy: first amendment implications of laws restricting critical race theory in public schools.” the university of chicago law review 89(4):1069-112. kimberlé crenshaw on intersectionality and critical race theory nicole r. perez reviews | book | whitenack 118 california sociology forum vol. 7 book review: holding it together: how women became america’s safety net by jessica calarco abigail whitenack department of anthropology california state university, los angeles how did women become america’s safety net? what confounding systems and ideologies placed women in this role? in holding it together: how women became america’s safety net, jessica calarco, a professor of sociology specializing in families, schools, and inequalities, explores how u.s. women are placed in the position of “holding it all together” in the wake of a failed social safety net. she argues that a combination of systemic ideologies and policies placed this burden on women and examines its toll on their well-being, relationships, and communities. calarco contends that this illusion of a “diy society” does not reflect the reality of women’s lives. rather, it masks the insecurities and strains within their families and communities. society perpetuates the idea that the safety net is still intact by demanding that women fill this role. many women are forced or pressured to be “the glue that holds it all together” (2024:12). calarco highlights how the systems in place fail to acknowledge the emotional and physical toll that women experience by filling this role. this book stresses the need for a real safety net and reveals the truth behind the illusion that women should bear these burdens alone. calarco examines the roles american women play in maintaining the social safety net. the social safety net allows society and the economy to survive. in the u.s., women form the bonds for the barren safety net. women were forced to fill in for the u.s. safety net as the nation choose profits over national childcare, healthcare and supporting families who need it. she argues that women are key to upholding the illusion of a “diy society,” a concept formed by the u.s. adoption of neoliberalism (2024: 12). after world war ii, the united states shifted away from expanding its social safety net and instead broke down the net that was already in place. this shift marked the u.s. adoption of neoliberalism, reducing government support while allowing businesses and corporations to thrive. it was sold as a narrative that wealth would “trickle down” to the rest of society (2024: 10). reviews | book | whitenack 119 california sociology forum vol. 7 pro-neoliberal propaganda fueled this narrative. over time, politicians backed by corporate interests were elected and enacted policies that still dominate now. the “diy society” suggests that individuals are expected to solve their problems, without relying on the government or employers for support. individuals unable to navigate these challenges by themselves are often blamed or stigmatized. the illusion of this system rests solely on women. they are expected to bear the burden of being the social safety net. turning a blind eye to the struggles and weight placed upon women by this system perpetuates the illusion that the diy society works. this book is structured into two distinct parts. each part addresses how women came to carry the responsibility of maintaining america’s social safety net and why it continues to persist. calarco structures her points around interviews and follow-up interviews with women from indiana from 2018-2022. while indiana may not reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the broader u.s. population, calarco ensures that the women she interviewed represent a variety of political standpoints and social class backgrounds. she incorporates national surveys and data from varying historical, political, and economic sources to strengthen her arguments in each chapter. the different layers of evidence are thoughtfully intertwined, providing personal and data-based insights into how women were placed into this role. she also uses socially constructed myths, prevalent in american culture, to expose the other forces that have defined women’s roles. part one lays the foundation for understanding how women have been made to “hold it together,” filling the void left by a broken social safety net. part two addresses why this issue has not been effectively rectified. her argument focuses on a persistent “lack of will to change,” noting how adopted societal myths and conforming gender expectations prevent reform (2024: 190). the conclusion outlines steps for change, advocating for a “union of care” and establishing a formed and equitable social safety net (2024: 201). the research and conclusions drawn by calarco in holding it together are both eye-opening and deeply compelling. it does more than explore this issue alone; the multitude of content builds upon itself, culminating in a powerful call for change. reviews | book | whitenack 120 california sociology forum vol. 7 calarco shows that women shouldn’t continue to bear the burden of a failing safety net and uphold the illusion of the “diy society.” women may not have had a say in how they came to occupy this role, but now they have the agency to change it. the interviews were conducted exclusively in indiana, which may not fully reflect the racial, ethnic, and geographic diversity of the broader u.s. population but this does not diminish the book’s impact. the voices of the women interviewed offer invaluable insights into the wider issues affecting women across the u.s. the addition of various data types and the use of socially constructed myths strengthens the book’s impact. a broader geographic range of interviews would have made the work even more representative, but the current body of work remains incredibly powerful. the strengths of this book lie in its ability to resonate on multiple levels, inspiring women to recognize their value and demand change that has been long ignored. holding it together is not just a body of research; it is an effective call to action. this book is not just for those in academia; it was written for women and those who care to make a difference. calarco’s work is centered around interviews with women who find themselves burdened with upholding the safety net and perpetuating the illusion of the “diy society.” human experience is interwoven with data that forces the reader to feel the impact of these issues on a personal level. it is demonstrated that myths are shaped by american policy and culture which further reinforces the roles of women. the book challenges readers to explore the consequences of a flawed system that continues to exploit and hinder women. if we continue to follow the constructed path the burden and struggles that women face will persist. however, if this system is collectively challenged and care is reimagined change is possible. the purpose of this piece is to reflect on the failures of the past and inspire a more equitable future for women and those who care. references calarco, jessica. 2024. holding it together: how women became america’s safety net. new york: portfolio/penguin. book review: holding it together: how women became america’s safety net by jessica calarco abigail whitenack reviews | film | garcia-santamarina 134 california sociology forum vol. 7 film review: blood quantum by jeff barnaby jalene garcia-santamarina department of sociology california state university, los angeles jeff barnaby’s film titled blood quantum (2019) entices the viewer to explore sociological dimensions of race, ethnicity, power dynamics, colonialism, and oppression. along with an academic perspective, the addition of zombies, gore, and character regression/growth creates a thrilling journey to watch and enjoy. the film takes place on the fictional red crow reserve of isolated mi’kmaq in canada. traylor is a policeman on the reservation and begins to encounter animals that should be dead but come back to life. the first human encounter he experiences is when he must bail his son, joseph, and his estranged son, lysol, from a police station off the reservation. a man sharing the cell with them suddenly attacks and they have to subdue him, but he doesn’t back down due to being a zombie. soon after, things begin to get more intense on and off the reservation for those who are not indigenous. the film then jumps six months later to where the journey fully begins, and it is explained that the indigenous individuals are immune to the virus while white people are not. modes of identification presently, society relies highly on self-identification of race and ethnicity. if an individual seeks assistance from a social service institution, they could receive help by simply self-identifying. native american tribes that are federally recognized have requirements such as the past, and some present, utilization of blood quantum. blood quantum was a form of identification white settlers imposed on indigenous populations in the 18th century to limit rights and land access. through this form of identification white settlers were able to create boundaries for this population to limit every form of capital they had prior to settler arrival and for the future. blood quantum is archaic and has ties to scientific racism (snipp 2010) but in the film, it is exactly what determines someone’s chances of living or being turned into a zombie. due to native blood being a key aspect of survival, a sense of superiority was boiling amongst some members of the tribe which reviews | film | garcia-santamarina 135 california sociology forum vol. 7 created a silent but deadly divide. this is noticeable when joseph's pregnant girlfriend charlie began bringing white survivors to the reservation. to lysol and james (female native), charlie bringing her people (white survivors) was a burden and pointless. just as self-identification can lead to some individuals receiving services meant for specific ethnic minorities, some survivors lied about being bitten to receive shelter and protection which ultimately pushed lysol over the edge. group position theory blumer’s (1958) theory of group position can be seen in four basic feelings: “. . . (1) a feeling of superiority, (2) a feeling that the subordinate race is intrinsically different and alien, (3) a feeling of proprietary claim to certain areas of privilege and advantage, and (4) a fear and suspicion that the subordinate race harbors designs on the prerogatives of the dominant race” (1958:4). this was seen throughout u.s history and present day. in blood quantum, the indigenous populations group position changes due to their immunity. racial boundaries are evident when it comes to charlie due to her being pregnant with joseph's child. racial boundaries are social constructs that racial groups or others outside of the racial group create to form distinct lines between groups and individuals. since society is constantly changing, racial boundaries are no different. each racial and ethnic group has boundaries that can either include or exclude others, especially if they are multiracial. types of racial boundaries include physical appearance and culture. if someone does not act the stereotypical way outsiders may not view them in the way they self-identify. this can work the other way around; the group may see an individual as not like them due to their lack of connection to their culture or physical appearance. this is not something new or random but has been a part of society as it was being built, colonized, and destroyed in a constant cycle. this was evident during the colonization of california, “. . . indians resided at the very lowest levels of hierarchy of humankind. not only were california indians filthy, ugly, dark, and animal-like, but they were also ‘uncivilized’ in their mode of economic livelihood” (almaguer2009:114). native tribes were seen as uncivilized and heathens because their lifestyles didn’t consist of needing more reviews | film | garcia-santamarina 136 california sociology forum vol. 7 than necessary and maintained different beliefs than their white counterparts. this film explored a multitude of social processes that could be explored through many sociological perspectives. history tends to repeat itself, but the group positions can be switched in the process. some lingering questions remain, such as how would things have been different if traylor utilized exclusion of white survivors completely from their haven and would things have turned out differently if lysol had been in charge. writer/director barnaby brought forth issues that echo from the past and are still relevant today. the way he artistically portrayed the consequences of the zombie virus shows a resemblance of the way the europeans treated indigenous populations when colonizing. this film makes your mind think about our history from a different perspective and connects it to current issues we face in society today. colonialism took a toll on a whole population by trying to strip them of their power, language, resources, culture, and so much more. this film may not be for some viewers but is a film full of social phenomena worth taking a chance on. references almaguer, tomás. 2009. racial fault lines. university of california press. barnaby, jeff. 2019. blood quantum. toronto: elevation pictures. blumer, herbert. 1958. “race prejudice as a sense of group position.” pacific sociological review 1(1):3–7. snipp, c. matthew. 1997. “some observations about racial boundaries and the experiences of american indians.” ethnic and racial studies 20(4):667–89. film review: blood quantum by jeff barnaby jalene garcia-santamarina california sociology forum ix about the student editors keila bailey (she/her) is a first-generation student, having received a ba in sociology while being on the honor roll for two semesters and is honored to now be working on her ma at csula. keila has been working and interning in the service industry for four years, developing a passion for helping reentry organizations such as ameri-corps/california justice leaders, project rebound, and words uncaged while paying close attention to the benefits of therapy and healing. additionally, she volunteers by providing free meals and clothing for the homeless population in her home community. taryn bates (she/her) is in the csula ma sociology program, previously achieving her ba in sociology: inequalities and diversity from csula in may 2024. as a community-focused sociologist, taryn is a member of organizations both on and off campus including the abolition study action people’s (asap) collective, the neurodivergent collective, and bluesinla coalition’s cultural competency consultant. her research focuses on cross-cultural interactions within blues social partner dance. taryn has thrived as part of csf’s student editorial board – first nominated as the managing copy editor for volume 5, then as a publication co-managing editor on volume 6, and honored to now serve as the student managing editor for volume 7. she enjoys being a supportive resource to her fellow team members in the process of curating each edition. kayla bellipanni (she/her) is a second-year ma student in anthropology at cal state la, focusing on bioarchaeology. her thesis research examines pathological conditions in ancient human remains. originally from colorado, she earned her ba in anthropology with a minor in sociology from metropolitan state university of denver in 2021, where she was awarded the charles w. fisher award for her exceptional academic achievement, scholarly contributions, and community engagement. formerly the vice president of the colorado archaeological society, she has garnered multiple awards for her conference presentations on archaeological research papers, for which she served as the primary author. kayla remains active in both anthropological and sociological academic communities. she is grateful to csf for the opportunity to keep her sociology skills sharp and looks forward to her forthcoming publication in the journal, a critical review of brandy schillace's death's summer coat, which analyzes the sociology of death and grieving. tenille blackburn (she/they) is a california state university, northridge (csun) alum with a ba in sociology, having transferred from barstow community college with an aa in social science. she continues her academic journey as a graduate student at cal state la, with an aim to receive her ma in sociology in spring 2025. her ongoing thesis lies within her primary research interests of identity and labeling, also with a key focus on gender, sexuality, and individuals’ level of interest in civic engagement. it is through her involvement with csf and on its publication team that she is able to gain new perspectives, while having the opportunity to draw connections between her research interests and her personal enjoyment of listening to music. california sociology forum x spider canoy (she/her/ella) is a blaxican graduate student in the sociology master’s program at california state university, los angeles. having experienced and survived many hardships throughout her life, spider is a passionate defender and fighter for underdogs by helping them find ways to speak up for themselves that lead them up and out of oppression. this includes her advocacy for survivors of domestic violence, human and sex trafficking, affordable housing, free healthcare, free education, honest journalism, and freedom of speech. lorena escalante (she/her/ella) is a first-generation graduate student at california state university, los angeles. she is in the process of achieving her ma in sociology with an estimated graduation date of fall 2025. lorena started her academic journey and passion for sociology at mt. san antonio college where she earned three aa’s before transferring to california polytechnic state university earning her ba in sociology. lorena’s research interests include immigration/migration, race, ethnicity and identity, as well as romantic and familial relationships. she is currently researching the effects of deportation on romantic relationships for her thesis. it has been an honor and a great learning experience for lorena to be a part of the csf publication team. ian joaquin esparza (he/him) is a 2nd year graduate student at california state university, los angeles studying sociology. he received his bachelor of arts at californian polytechnic pomona in sociology with an emphasis on criminology. in association with his fields of studies, he believes that sociology provides an important and much needed role in interpreting issues in modern day society and its contemporary institutions. he is currently working on his master thesis that hopes to give insight on religion’s influence on identity. ian identifies as a mexican american catholic, which his cultural background holds much influence on his own research endeavors. while studying sociology, his emphasis includes theories of identity, sociology of religion, and key sociological concepts such as symbolic interactionism and structural functionalism. his hobbies include watching films, photography, and learning about history. hilda gamero (she/her) is a first-generation graduate student at california state university of los angeles with a ba in sociology and a minor in criminal justice. she is now pursuing her sociology ma. hilda will be graduating in spring 2026. her research interests include criminology, race & ethnicity, and societal behavior changes. she is currently working on her thesis, which focuses on identifying behavioral changes within a crime neighborhood. she is part of the alpha kappa delta and is pleased to be a part of the public relations team at csf, where she also practiced reviewing work while learning how to strengthen her writing. california sociology forum xi darinka luciana garcia (she/her/ella) is a first-generation graduate student at csula. she is currently pursuing her ma in sociology, a field that allows her to explore the complexities of social behavior and societal structures. with a strong academic focus, darinka has maintained an impressive 4.0 gpa, showcasing her dedication and hard work throughout her studies. darinka is engaged in her thesis while balancing her studies with a full-time job as a legal assistant, she demonstrates exceptional time management skills and a strong commitment to her professional development. her experience in the legal field not only complements her academic background but also prepares her for her next goal: attending law school after graduation. darinka's commitment to her field is further highlighted by her membership in alpha kappa delta, the international sociology honor society, which reflects her dedication to academic excellence and her passion for sociology. jalene garcia-santamarina (she/her) is a first-generation graduate student at california state university, los angeles. jalene is estimated to complete her ma in the sociology program in fall of 2025. her research interest consists of the formerly incarcerated population and social stigma. she is currently working on her thesis on social workers’ attitudes and experiences towards formerly incarcerated individuals in los angeles county. she is grateful for the opportunity she has been given to converse amongst like-minded individuals, grow as a writer, and learn the submission process to a journal by being a part of the csf team. jalene has had the privilege of being a part of the publication team. jackeline e. gomez diaz (she/her) is a dedicated and ambitious individual who has successfully balanced her academic pursuits with her role as a full-time stay-at-home mom. a proud transfer student from rio hondo college, jackeline is set to graduate with a ba in sociology, with an emphasis in law and society. her academic journey has not only deepened her understanding of societal structures and institutions but also instilled in her a commitment to creating meaningful change. beyond her academic achievements, jackeline has been an active and engaged member of her college community. as a proud representative of moms pursuing higher education, jackeline hopes to inspire and empower others who may be facing similar challenges. she has had the opportunity to work with csf, as part of the original content team. she has really enjoyed working with so many talented individuals. maria hernandez (she/her/ella) is in her senior year as an undergraduate at california state university, los angeles. she is first generation college student and will graduate in may 2025 with a ba in sociology with an emphasis on law and society. maria intends to continue her education by attending law school and is passionate about becoming an advocate for those that are unable to stand up for themselves. being a part of csf has been a great honor and learning experience. in csf, she held the role of team leader in the publication team for spring. california sociology forum xii angel jaimes (he/him) is a graduate student at cal state la, pursuing a master's in sociology on the thesis track. his research interests include transgender studies, queer theory, feminist methodologies, abolitionist feminisms, emotions, and labor. angel’s research project explores how transgender workers engage in emotional management and negotiate distinct forms of personal gender expression in relation to cisgender normative workplace role requirements in their service sector jobs. he has served as a teaching and graduate assistant and is a member of the abolition study action people's (asap) collective. during his time with csf, angel held the role of original content team lead and published a book review on gender without identity, a contemporary theoretical and psychoanalytic work exploring the relationships between gender acquisitions and trauma. victoria lópez (she/her) is a first-generation undergraduate senior at california state university, los angeles who will graduate cum laude in spring 2025 with a ba, majoring in general sociology. she transferred from east los angeles community college in 2023 with a sociology for transfer aa. her research interests in sociology are law and society, social justice, and gender inequalities. she joined csf as an opportunity at enhancing communication skills and to explore the diverse writing that reference sociology and current social issues. at cal state la, victoria is a member of eop and project rebound which empower her as a single mother of two while both working and studying full-time. sabrina loya (she/her) transferred into sociology at cal state la from fresno city college and is passionate about advocating for teens of color and victims of domestic violence. she joined csf as an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals. now a junior, she actively studies gender issues, focusing on gender socialization, societal expectations, and disparities in social, occupational, and educational domains. she also explores broader gender roles in contemporary society, analyzing how they shape individual experiences. with a strong commitment to social justice, sabrina seeks career opportunities that allow her to support and empower marginalized communities through research, education, and direct intervention. her dedication to making a meaningful impact drives her efforts to create lasting change for those in need. michael madrilejo (he/him) is a graduate student at california state university, los angeles, aiming to graduate in fall 2025. his research focuses on the application of social skills training for young adults, emphasizing its necessity as a critical tool for personal and professional development. he currently serves as a senior program specialist for api rise and is a member of the csf team. michael is committed to serving and supporting his community through his work, advocating for meaningful social development initiatives. california sociology forum xiii stephanie mayahua (she/her) is a first-generation senior at cal state la, set to graduate summa cum laude with a ba in sociology in spring 2025. she was offered the opportunity to join the csf and became an editor for the student journal. this role has allowed her to connect with other motivated students, learn important editing skills, and step outside of her comfort zone. she is grateful for the chance to develop her skills and build confidence through these experiences. annica meija (she/her) is an undergraduate senior transfer student at cal state la. annica will be graduating in december of 2025 with a ba in sociology. this is her first semester in csf, where she has taken on the role of leader of the original content team. she is driven by a passion for education and community. her main research interests include special education, mental health, and social welfare. alongside earning her degree, annica works as a paraprofessional at a high school. alicia justice melich (she/her) is a master’s student in anthropology at california state university, los angeles with a focus on primatology and holds a ba in biological anthropology from california state university, dominguez hills. her research centers on primate behavior with a particular interest in decolonizing approaches to the study of primates. she is committed to exploring the intersections of primatology with critical perspectives on the relationship between humans and non-human primates, seeking to challenge traditional frameworks in the field. through her work, she aims to contribute to a more inclusive and ethically engaged approach to understanding primates in both academic and applied settings. as part of csf, she reviewed research on human relationships with their pets. she also works as a writing tutor, where she engages with an anti-racist writing framework. ashliegh b. norwood (she/her) is a transfer student from san jose city college, currently attending california state university, los angeles. she earned two aa’s from sjcc in may 2024: an associate in arts in liberal arts: social/behavioral sciences, and an associate in artstransfer in sociology. as a pathway to law scholar, ashliegh is focused on preparing for the lsat in 2025 with the goal of attending law school. she is on track to graduate from csula in the summer of 2025. her research interests include social justice and family legal studies. california sociology forum xiv elibeth ochoa deleon (she/her) is a first-year graduate student pursuing her masters in sociology at cal state la. as a first-generation college graduate, elibeth is passionate about gender equality, with a particular focus on the disparities in women’s sports. her research is deeply committed to researching the structural and cultural barriers that hinder the advancement of female athletes. elibeth’s work explores policy implications, media representation, and institutional inequalities that contribute to the gender gap in sports participation, funding, and professional opportunities. through academic inquiry and community engagement, she strives to promote equity in athletics and challenge systemic biases within the sports industry. elibeth plans to contribute to both academic discourse and policy reform, with the goal of fostering a more inclusive and equitable sports environment for women and girls. shanya a. olivares perez (she/her) is a cal state la second-year graduate student expecting to graduate with a masters in sociology in may of 2025. she also holds a ba in anthropology with a minor in sociology from cal state fullerton and a certification in archaeology, focusing on prehispanic communities in south america and spain. her research interests include education, with an emphasis on higher education, educational barriers, and first-generation student experiences. at cal state la, she is part of the international sociology honors society, alpha kappa delta, and the pr lead for the california sociology forum. erik ortiz (he/him) is a first-generation undergraduate transfer student at cal state la. erik is entering his senior year and expects to graduate with his ba in political science in fall 2025. he has joined csf as an opportunity to get more in connection with the sociological aspect of the university, explore connecting interests to his major, and learn more about publishing in journals. he is eager to apply his degree in the immigration field, with a passion for giving back to his community and uplifting other students who share similar experiences. celia peña (she/her) is a sociology undergraduate student at cal state la, having transferred from east la college to pursue her passion for social justice. she brings nearly three years of case management experience working directly with vulnerable populations, including migrant, asylum-seeking, refugee, and lgbtq+ communities. celia’s commitment and professional advocacy work are driven by a commitment to help communities targeted by systemic barriers and want to apply equity on both macro and micro levels. she is excited to join the csf editorial board to deepen her skills in editing and writing, which will support her long-term goal of pursuing a phd and continuing to uplift and empower the communities she serves. california sociology forum xv nicole r. perez (she/her) is a graduate student at california state university, los angeles currently pursuing her portfolio in the department of sociology. her research highlights sexual behaviors and beliefs outside of committed relationships in young adulthood. she is part of the alpha kappa delta sociology honor society and is honored to work alongside students and faculty in the csf editorial board. nicole hopes to have her work published by the board in the near future. maría ramírez (she/her/ella) is a first-generation undergraduate student. she has completed her aa in sociology from mount san antonio college. she will complete her ba in spring of 2025 from cal state la. maria is also set to pursue her education and gain her masters in sociology. her research interests consist of social behavioral and mental health on children. maria is proud of everything she has accomplished after only being the first in her family to graduate from a university. daniel roman (he/him) is an undergraduate student at cal state la, majoring in sociology. a member of project rebound, daniel is dedicated to supporting formerly incarcerated individuals in their reentry journey. his research interests include reentry experiences, social inequality, and criminal justice reform. daniel was recently nominated to join cal state la’s chapter of the national society of leadership and success (nsls). he is passionate about using his education to advocate for systemic change and help others access higher education and build a better quality of life. amaya simental (she/her/ella) is a sociology graduate student pursuing her ma at cal state la and planning to graduate in may of 2025. her research interests are in criminology, recidivism, and reintegration. she is currently working on her portfolio project on the topic of primary systemic, economic, and social factors that contribute to recidivism among nonviolent male offenders. amaya also had the opportunity to be part of the csf editorial board, working alongside the public relations team. california sociology forum xvi desiree denise suarez (she/her) is a first-generation undergrad student at cal state la. desiree will graduate with her ba in sociology in may 2025. her research interests include issues related to class, race, gender, and economic disparities, and she investigates how culture shapes social behavior and identity. desiree is a recent transfer student from elac. she has her aa in sociology. she was able to learn from her csf team and appreciates being able to work on the editorial board for csf as part of the original content team.. she’s thankful for being able to edit volume 7 sociology student journal and excited for the outcome. nathalie velasco-quiroz (she/her) is a graduate student at csula in the anthropology department that specializes in the biological/cultural aspect of anthropology. she gained her ba in anthropology with a minor in science, technology and medicine studies at csula. her research interests include medical anthropology, specifically in the frameworks of intersectionality and cultural competence. she is interested in japanese media and its influences in western culture, particularly in its impact on diverse communities bringing multicultural individuals together. she’s involved in the japanese media arts & culture club at csula as a member and an officer with the role of public representative and social media manager. her media review is on the human experience as expressed by a japanese animation show and the lessons that can be learned from it. abigail whitenack (she/her) is a second-year ma student in the anthropology department at cal state la. previously, she was a california community college student and transferred to uc san diego, where she earned her ba in anthropology. she now works at uc san diego in graduate admissions and enjoys helping prospective applicants at her home campus. her research interests include human evolution, paleoanthropology, and the relationships between climate, population history, and cranial traits. she is grateful for the experience gained while participating in csf as part of the publishing team. ramona vega (she/her) transferred to california state university, los angeles in her junior year. she is currently pursuing her ba in sociology law and society option and will graduate cum laude in may 2025. she is grateful to have obtained two simultaneous aas in both sociology and social justice, as well as a pathways to law school certificate while attending chaffey college. while attending csula she has earned a place on the dean’s list in her 2021–2022 academic year, as well as a recipient of the service to the community awarded in her spring 2023 semester for her work with the learning rights center. she is eager to start the next chapter in her educational journey as she prepares herself in applying for law school, this fall with the hopes of starting in spring 2026, and one day become an attorney of law. california sociology forum xvii about the alumni advisory board darron michael cunanan (he/him) is a lecturer at cal state la in the department of asian and asian american studies. he is also an alumnus of cal state la's sociology program. his research interests include pop culture, asian american issues, and political sociology. on campus, he is a research assistant at los angeles economic equity accelerator and fellowship (leeaf). at csf, darron is a part of the alumni advisory board assisting current student editors. he truly believes in csf’s efforts in showcasing students’ written work and appreciates the opportunity of working alongside the students and faculty of csf who work hard to make it happen. sammy garcia iii (he/him) is a sociology, ma graduate student at cal state la. he obtained his ba in sociology and minor in cls from cal state la in spring 2023. sammy’s research interests revolve around music, culture, and storytelling. he is proud to have made two short films on the music of the chicano and farmworkers movement, the latter of which is published on the museum of social justice website for their current exhibit on the farm workers movement. he was part of the editorial team for spring semester 2023, returned again in the fall 2024, and is currently in a mentor capacity for the csf alumni advisory board (aab) for the academic year 2024-2025. marie rivera (she/her/ella) is a collaborator and co-author with faculty members in the department of sociology at csula, where she recently earned her ma. her research interests consist of intersectionality, gender & sexuality studies, race & ethnicity, abolition, climate justice, and reproductive justice. as an advocate for perinatal mental health, marie participated in a documentary and is actively involved in discussions on gender justice. she is passionate about abolition education, organizing with asap collective. marie acted as graduate managing editor for csf in the spring 2023 and publication co-managing editor for fall 2023-spring 2024 and is grateful for the opportunity to continue working with the dedicated student editorial team as a part of the inaugural csf alumni advisory board. esai santana (he/him) is an alumnus at california state university, los angeles who transferred from east los angeles college with an aa: sociology for transfer and an aa general studies: social and behavioral sciences. before graduating in spring 2024 with a ba in sociology, he joined csf as an opportunity to connect more with his peers in sociology, step out of his comfort zone, and take an interest in publishing a journal. his main research interests when it comes to sociology are topics that include inequalities, sexuality, and gender. he also has a passion for playing video games, enjoying the stories they tell through a player and sociological perspective. california sociology forum xviii lauren whiting (she/they) received their sociology ma at csula in fall 2024. their sociological areas of interest span from interactions with and perceptions of the justice system to the relationship between children and parents with disabilities. for her thesis, she quantitatively explores the influence of disabled parents' religiosity and the ability to rely on their children for support. lauren’s dedication to these topics offered them opportunities to tutor, present conferences, and receive various accolades throughout their academic journey. with a nature for supporting others, participating in csf through the alumni advisory board offers lauren the joy of aiding fellow peers in the journey of sharing sociological passions with others. michael young (he/him) is currently working on his m.s. in rehabilitation counseling at cal state la. he graduated magna cum laude in spring 2024 with a ba in both sociology and psychology, while additionally participating in the cal state la honors college. michael has utilized his upper education path to explore his special interest regarding students with disabilities within the education system. his achievements include advocacy for students with disabilities within government support systems, presenting at multiple conferences, and being a co-investigator on a research study conducted as an undergraduate thesis under the honors college which focuses on the experiences of accommodations students with disabilities receive while attending cal state la. michael also serves as the vice president of the neurodivergent collective, a csi club. about the faculty editors luoman bao is an associate professor in sociology whose primary research interests include family dynamics, population aging and health, and quantitative methods. her work has been published in various venues, including journal of gerontology: social sciences, journal of health and social behavior, and research on aging. she loves working with students in classrooms and on projects. she is passionate about facilitating students to grow and achieve their full potential. katie dingeman is an associate professor in sociology with research interests around migrant rights, reproductive justice, political ecology, and qualitative methods. she has published in a variety of venues, including social problems, feminist criminology, and the journal on migration and human security. she loves facilitating student-led projects and enjoys growing as a teacher, scholar, and advocate alongside her students. california sociology forum xix gilbert garcia is a lecturer in sociology at california state university, los angeles and associate faculty at riverside city college in riverside, california. he is also on the board of the social science research instructional council for the california state university system. his research and teaching interests are in race and ethnic relations with an emphasis on exploring systemic racism in the u.s. he also explores the connection of media and technology as socializing forces in the development of individuals. he serves as the it liaison for csf. roseann giarrusso is chair and professor of sociology with research interests in aging and the life-course, family and intergenerational relations, and quantitative research methods. she has over 50 publications including two coauthored books, many peer-reviewed journal articles (e.g., journal of marriage and family; journals of gerontology: social science; journal of family issues; and generations), and numerous chapters in books. she enjoys helping students to realize their academic potential. every year, dr. giarrusso co-authors grant proposals to solicit funds to print copies of csf and provide stipends to student managing editors. hyojoung kim is a professor of sociology and director of the center for korean american and korean studies in cal state l.a. his main research and teaching areas include political sociology and race and ethnic studies with special emphasis in korean and korean american studies, quantitative research methods and statistics, rational choice, social network analysis and social movements. his research has been published in various internationally acclaimed academic journals, including american sociological review, american journal of sociology, and european sociological review. dr. kim has edited a few books on korean americans and korea. he founded california sociology forum—student online journal of sociology and served as editorin-chief during 2007~2013. about the editors reviews | video game film | santana and whiting 194 california sociology forum vol. 6 film review: to enjoy our cherry pie in community: a commentary on gekijōban dōbutsu no mori by jōji shimura esai santana and lauren whiting department of sociology california state university, los angeles image of the gekijōban dōbutsu no mori dvd cover. (nookipedia 2023). abstract produced in 2006, and never formally released outside of japan, gekijōban dōbutsu no mori otherwise known as animal forest: the movie follows the journey of ai, a young girl who transplants herself to a new town in hopes of finding her talent and goal (her cherry pie). along the way, she experiences the highs and lows of finding an identity, a sense of purpose, and belonging in a new space. throughout her time, she wrangles with the journey of acceptance that the grandness of life requires the acceptance that she is not the main character in other people’s lives, as they have their own dreams and cherry pies. in turn, she realizes she is an interdependent element of her new community whereby she sees the greatness in others, others see the greatness in her, and she sees the greatness in herself. as a film modeled after nintendo’s animal crossing: wild world for the ds, it encapsulates familiar, nostalgic feelings fans of the franchise experience as they learn to find their cherry pie, identity, and belonging through life simulation. reviews | video game film | santana and whiting 195 california sociology forum vol. 6 introduction gekijōban dōbutsu no mori, translated to animal forest: the movie, is an animated film directed by jōji shimura, known for his creative mastery of translating manga to film, and produced by olm, inc., vap, and nintendo. shimura’s goal was to retell the animal crossing: wild world gaming experience on the big screen. their faithful retelling of the gameplay experience follows ai, a young human girl, who moves to the anthropomorphic animal town called animal village. the opening sequence holds a familiar formula for those who have played animal crossing: wild world, as ai answers the kappa cab driver’s questions about her name and reasons for moving. when she arrives at the village, nostalgia should hit any fan of the games as the opening credits play animal crossing: wild world’s “title screen” song. unbeknownst to ai, her move reflects the sociological journey of finding an identity, a sense of purpose, and belonging in a community. sociological relevance to expand, let’s look at sociology professors edles and appelrouth’s (2021:400-404) explanation of how geroge herbert mead used symbolic interactionalist methodological approaches to highlight the dialectic relationship between the self and society through social evolution during childhood development. specifically, mead highlighted how children often shift from internalizing the attitudes of discrete, disconnected others (“the play stage”) to simultaneously internalizing the attitudes of multiple others (“the game stage”) as they age. from the “game stage,” mead believed children grew to recognize “the generalized other,” a phenomenon of general attitudes and beliefs rooted in the assumed roles of a person and those around them. through these transitions, mead pinpoints the inseparable relationship of the self and society, where the self-acts as a byproduct of how people view themselves as the subject and object through others’ perceptions. with this in mind, ai undergoes the journey of becoming part of “the generalized other” as she learns to accept how the grandness of life requires understanding that she is not the main character in other people’s lives, as they have their dreams and cherry pies to pursue (a metaphor we will explain shortly). as for franchise fans, reviews | video game film | santana and whiting 196 california sociology forum vol. 6 the film encapsulates familiar, nostalgic feelings as they, too, learn to find their cherry pie, identity, and belonging through life simulation. returning to the film, it showcases the start of ai’s first year living in animal village, which is on a warm spring day. symbolically, her first spring represents her new beginning in the village as she haphazardly tries to find her footing in a bustling environment. the villagers do not acknowledge her presence or treat her with the kindness she expected; they talk over her, run past her, and make her fall as she attempts to deliver their orders. despite this rocky beginning, she blooms a close friendship with margie and rosie. in this budding relationship, margie shares with ai her cherry pie metaphor: people find satisfaction in the things they wish for, strive for, and actualize; whether making a cherry pie or a goal. following this conversation, the season transitions into summer. summer represents ai’s growth and connection with her neighbors as she realizes the importance of cooperation, compassion, and celebrating diversity in developing her identity. for instance, the notion of cherry pies resurfaces as ai acknowledges her neighbors’ talents and goals, ranging from margie’s desire to become a fashion designer, blather’s desire to complete the museum, yū and alfonso’s desire to find every collectible, and hopper’s desire to catch a fish. the season ends with the summer festival and the unexpected performance of “k.k. bossa” by the famous animalese singer k.k. slider at margie’s request. as he plays the song, ai realizes it highlights the wonders of venturing outside life’s familiarities to chase a cherry pie. however, the beautiful ending of summer transitions into a mournful, rainy autumn as ai learns margie moved away to pursue her cherry pie without letting her know. mourning and questioning her friendships and identity, ai heads to the local coffee shop to contemplate. while at the coffee shop, whitney offers ai a complex rethinking about friendships and identity: the validity of both foregoes physical proximity through the mutual belief in the self and each other to reach one another’s goals. when she returns home, she finds margie’s farewell letter, reassuring ai that she did not want to leave on a sober note and encourages ai reviews | video game film | santana and whiting 197 california sociology forum vol. 6 to “eat her own cherry pie.” inspired by the letter and whitney’s words, ai resolves to finish the tasks given to her by the mysterious messages in bottles she kept to herself throughout the film. spending all of autumn paving her newfound cherry pie, winter brings a tone of completion and unity as the season represents another year finished. during the winter festival and the annual decorations competition, ai reaches an unexpected realization as she, the entire village, and margie (who visited on holiday) support an alien’s return to space after it used ai’s trees to crash into the village. for their efforts, the alien’s community expressed an extravagant gratitude for ai’s determination to support the one who fell, leaving ai as a hero in the eyes of many and the winner of the decorations contest. realizing that her neighbors value her as part of the village, ai finally expresses that she is a genuine resident of animal village. the story ends with a new spring, where ai reads a letter to her mother expressing how she feels at home in her new village. alongside her letter, pictures fill the ending credits to showcase how her neighbors reached their cherry pies, such as margie’s successful launch of her clothing line, blathers completing the museum, and hopper catching a fish. in the final scene, a bloomed lily of the valley sways in the warm breeze as ai heads to the village’s museum to discuss astronomy with celeste, the local astronomer. though the flower represents an environmentally beautiful village in the games, here, it represents the beauty of ai solidifying herself as an interdependent element of her community whereby she sees the greatness in others, others see the greatness in her, and she sees the greatness in herself. in other words, the flower highlights how she has become part of her community’s “generalized other.” however, this metaphor does not conflict with its representation in the games, as players also undergo the rocky journey of finding their cherry pie and supporting the cherry pies of the villagers around them to create a beautiful town subjectively and objectively. akin to ai in the film, the emotions she felt moving into a new space and the heartache she felt about margie moving away mirrors the difficult experience people across the fanbase undergo. for example, treythewilliam’s (2022) animal reviews | video game film | santana and whiting 198 california sociology forum vol. 6 crossing (gnc) retrospective expressed feelings about how animal crossing: population growing is technologically simpler than the newest game, animal crossing: new horizons. but, even in the simplicity of the game, he argues that population growing cultivates advanced and human-like villager personalities, creating memorable player-to-character and character-tocharacter friendship-building rooted in the interconnected experience of his goals aligning with the goals of the villagers. even lauren (one of the co-authors for this piece), who played animal crossing: wild world in elementary school, clearly remembers their first days in their village of “snow” and developing their identity and community purpose through taking care of their home mortgage, populating the museum, and supporting animal neighbors. however, in this simulated self and “generalized other,” she vividly recalls heartache caused by the unexpected move of her favorite villager, pinky, and her journey of reaffirming her sense of purpose, connection, and expectations for herself and those around her. even in the decades since pinky’s move, lauren hopes pinky is happily chasing her cherry pie and is making someone’s experience with “the generalized other” brighter. further, treythewilliam conveyed feelings of missing and wondering about villagers such as murphy and rasher, who “moved” in his game reset, and hank, who moved from his game file but never appeared in future games. they express how their moving equates to real-life experiences of friendships not lasting but the ability to still think about them with good intentions (treythewilliam 2022). from player experiences such as these, gekijōban dōbutsu no mori captures the adventures, emotions, and journey to develop a self and community with villagers through life simulation. expectedly, these life lessons carry into players’ experiences of interacting with the real world as they use what they learned about cherry pies to experience the joys of strangers becoming best friends, finding support in unexpected places, and finding comfort in the uncomfortable journey of developing identity, community, and dynamic friendships wherever they go. as the games and film encourage the development of a complex understanding of the self, friendship, and community through the lens of “the generalized other,” players learn these reviews | video game film | santana and whiting 199 california sociology forum vol. 6 relationships transcend physical proximity as both parties must wish the best for each other and themselves to achieve their cherry pies no matter where they go to find a new sense of belonging. for instance, as many transition from high school to the ‘real world’ and begin to pursue their unique cherry pies through grander and more divergent paths, they may also experience strains in friendships that were originally built upon proximity. often, many feel discouraged by this reality and promise one another they will -always stay in touchto maintain the familiar while pursuing the unknown. as animal crossing depicts both instances of venturing into a new life and not wanting life to change, it offers solace that physical limitations do not define the boundaries of friendship and community as everyone is part of a “generalized other” that holds norms and expectations for everyone to wish the best for each other as they actualize their dreams. therefore, even in physical distance, friendships strengthen even as people pursue different goals through their mutual hope for the best. for a more tangible example of players realizing the potential of “the generalized other” in real life, gekijōban dōbutsu no mori was released only in japan in 2006, despite amassing 1.7 billion yen (approximately 16,216,000 usd) at the box office (internet archive 2012) and the franchise’s continued popularity. adding to the surprise, nintendo of america made a statement in 2007 expressing that they did not intend to release the film in their jurisdiction (rawmeatcowboy 2007). because of nintendo’s decisions, information about the movie’s promotion is limited to japanese announcements in the magazine hochi shimbun (groenendijk 2006), a website (internet archive 2007), and video trailers (olm n.d.). currently, any interviews with the cast and director are limited to an untranslated gekijouban doubutsu no mori promotional booklet available only to those who bought the japan-exclusive movie dvd (nintendo 2006). irrespective of these decisions, franchise fans collaborated to create subtitled (automatic-reindeer14 2023) and dubbed (siilhouette 2014) adaptations to share online for all to enjoy while archiving information about the movie to wikis and waybackmachine. unsurprisingly, the efforts of the fan base to use their talents to reach a collective goal encapsulates the message of the film and games, sharing this community cherry pie. reviews | video game film | santana and whiting 200 california sociology forum vol. 6 conclusion considering the insightful sociological lessons gekijōban dōbutsu no mori and the animal crossing film games offer for real-life experiences, the authors wish to leave readers with the lyrics to “k.k. bossa” as a reminder that though life may not be easy, whether it be experienced through film, game, or real life, we are not alone when it comes to the feelings and tribulations that come with navigating friendships, the desire to belong, and the individual pursuit of dreams. notably, ai understands “k.k. bossa” as an inspirational song about her friendship with margie; it is about the pursuit of dreams and taking life into your own hands to fulfill such dreams. knowing this, margie had to take the opportunity to fulfill her dreams and encouraged ai to do the same. paralleled to ai’s experience, the song serves as a reminder that just as life does not end when friends venture out into the world to make their cherry pies, neither do ours when we pursue our own as we are all part of one large “generalized other” that hopes the best for one another and ourselves. “k.k. bossa” waves crashing down, splashes and beauty resound; oh, oh, oh, where the shore ends, become unwound. treasure is found down by the sands of the sea; unlock the door, you may have the key... out past the door, adventure lies; thrills are in store, worthwhile and engaging. open your eyes, roll on with the tide; and maybe, you’ll find there’s a new life awaiting. waves crashing down, splashes and beauty resound; oh, oh, oh, where the shore ends, become unwound. treasure is found down by the sands of the sea: its calling out, it’s time to be free. references automatic-reindeer14. 2023. “where can i watch the full animal crossing movie with english subtitles?” r/animalcrossing. edles, laura d. and scott appelrouth. 2021. “geroge herbert mead (1863-1931).” pp. 383–422 in sociological theory in the classical era text and readings. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. reviews | video game film | santana and whiting 201 california sociology forum vol. 6 groenendijk, ferry. 2006. “nintendo announces animal crossing film.” video games blogger. internet archive. 2007. “劇場版 「どうぶつの森」公式サイト.” https://web.archive.org/web/20071028003739/http://www.doubutsunomorimovie.jp/ internet archive. 2012. “2007年度興行成績ランキング < 映画 楽天エンタメナビ.” https://web.archive.org/web/20121029165113/http://entertainment.rakuten.co. jp/movie/ranking/boxoffice/2007/. nintendo. 2006. animal crossing theatrical 2006 promo book. nintendo. 2006. k.k. bossa. nookipedia. 2023. “gekijōban doubutsu no mori.” nookipedia. olm, dir. n.d. animal crossing: the movie promotion videos | 劇場版 どうぶつの森 [pv]. rawmeatcowboy. 2007. “no plans to bring animal crossing move to north america.” gonintendo. https://gonintendo.com/archives/26315-no-plans-to-bringanimal-crossing-move-to-north-america. shimura, jōji, dir. 2006. gekijōban dōbutsu no mori. toho co., ltd. siilhouette. 2014. “animal crossing: the movie (completed english fandub).” r/animalcrossing. treythewilliam. 2022. animal crossing (gnc) retrospective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56ob2xw0fhc&list=pl7j1tboacw6fqrbdgacvyfq9h8d_mgyx&index=4). esai santana (he/him) is an undergraduate senior at california state university, los angeles who transferred from east los angeles with an a.a. degree in both sociology and in general studies: social and behavioral sciences. graduating in spring 2024 with a b.a. degree in sociology, he joined csf as an opportunity to connect more with his peers in sociology, step out of his comfort zone, and take an interest in publishing a journal. his main sociological research interests include inequalities, sexuality, and gender. as a video game enjoyer, he co-authored a review on gekijōban dōbutsu no mori, a movie on the animal crossing franchise focused on the development of self. lauren whiting (she/they) is a sociology m.a. student at csula but attended avc for their adt in sociology and csub-av for their b.a. in sociology: human services. lauren’s sociological areas of interest cover topics such as us interactions with and perceptions of the justice system and the parent-child relationship when parenting with disabilities. for her thesis, she hopes to explore the influence of parental religiosity on the relationship between disabled parents and their children. their passion for these topics offered them opportunities to tutor, present at six conferences, and receive various accolades. while working toward their m.a., lauren is a case manager at a reentry nonprofit in the antelope valley. with a passion for supporting others, participating in csf as a peer reviewer and media team member has offered lauren the joy of aiding fellow students in their journey of sharing their passions with others. research | articles | russell 28 california sociology forum vol. 7 homelessness: how did we come to recognize it as such a problem and the possible ways to solve it steven russell department of sociology california state university, los angeles abstract this paper explores how homelessness in the united states has developed into a significant social issue. it examines key causes such as economic instability, lack of affordable housing, and systemic inequality. additionally, vulnerable populations such as people of color, lgbtq+ youth, and individuals from lowincome communities who are disproportionately impacted due to intersecting forms of discrimination are also discussed. using a conflict theory framework, this paper explores how systemic inequalities and corporate interests contribute to the exploitation of the working class, deepening poverty and fueling homelessness. it also discusses the harsh conditions faced by unhoused individuals and assesses potential solutions, all of which will come with high financial costs, reaching billions of dollars annually. through a focus on both systemic factors and individual experiences of homelessness, my paper emphasizes the need for comprehensive strategies to reduce homelessness and its longterm societal impact. homelessness is one of the most pressing humanitarian and sociological crises in modern society, shaped by systemic economic inequality, inadequate government intervention, and structural barriers such as the high cost of living and insufficient mental health resources. according to the u.s. department of housing and urban development’s (hud) 2023 annual homeless assessment report (de sousa et al. 2023), california accounts for nearly 30% of the nation’s homeless population, with los angeles having the highest number of unsheltered individuals in the country. from a sociological perspective, the conflict theory framework highlights how economic disparities and power imbalances contribute to the persistence of homelessness, as those in lower socioeconomic classes struggle to access stable housing while wealthier individuals benefit from policies that prioritize real estate development over affordable housing (nickerson research | articles | russell 29 california sociology forum vol. 7 2023). despite national inaction on the crisis, california has implemented some of the most ambitious policy efforts to address homelessness. recent initiatives such as governor gavin newsom’s (2022) $15.3 billion homekey and project roomkey programs, which convert vacant spaces into temporary and longterm housing, and los angeles mayor karen bass, city of los angeles’s (2024) inside safe initiative, aimed at rapidly moving unhoused individuals into shelters, demonstrate a localized commitment to reducing homelessness. however, while these policies have made progress, the programs still have room for improvement as the crisis persists due to ongoing structural challenges, requiring a coordinated federal, state, and local response. this paper will explore the root causes of homelessness, societal neglect of the issue, and how it relates to conflict theory along with comprehensive strategies needed to create long-term solutions at both the state and national levels. causes of homelessness before solving homelessness, it must first be understood how it occurs. homelessness can happen for several reasons including the loss of a loved one, accumulating debt, mental illness, socioeconomic status, natural disasters, and being kicked out of their home as in the case of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer (lgbtq+) youth. synovec (2020:233) reports, “individuals experiencing homelessness also manage significant personal factors, such as chronic health conditions, histories of trauma, and limited economic and social support . . . may also have long and familiar histories of living in poverty and housing instability.” another reason is mental health issues, as individuals with persistent mental illness are more likely to experience repeated and longer periods of homelessness compared to those who are not experiencing extensive mental health issues, with the homeless population having a greater prevalence of mental health problems when compared with the general public (piat et al. 2014). in fact, a study conducted from 2021 until 2022 (statista research department 2023) found that 66% of homeless adults in california suffer from some sort of mental health condition with anxiety and depression being at the top. homelessness can occur after foster care with an estimated 22% of all children who ageresearch | articles | russell 30 california sociology forum vol. 7 out of foster care will become homeless within a year (administration for children and families 2024) due to the individual not having the proper resources or support to transition out of the foster care system. in addition to foster care youth, lgbtq+ youth are also at a disadvantage when it comes to being homeless when compared with their cisgender and heterosexual counterparts. lgbtq+ youth when it comes to youth homeless populations, lgbtq+ identifying individuals have a higher chance of becoming homeless. of the estimated 1.6 million youth aged 15 to 24 who experience homelessness each year, approximately 40% identify as lgbtq+, even though they make up only about 7% of the total youth population (lesley university n.d.). this is because “lgbtqi+ youth are at greater risk of homelessness because they are affected both by the factors which precipitate homelessness among the young population in general and by additional challenges related to sexuality and/ or gender identity which can directly or indirectly result in homelessness” (quilty and norris 2022:2). many lgbtq+ youth are left homeless because of disagreements with their parents or legal guardian for coming out or fear regarding their sexual orientation or gender identity. the national coalition for the homeless mention that in a survey administered by the williams institute at ucla, 68% of lgbtq+ youth were homeless due to a history of family rejection, 65% because of mental health issues, and 54% because they had a history of family abuse. from an online survey conducted by the trevor project (2021) with 34,759 lgbtq+ youth respondents, 34% live in the south, 25% live in the west and in the midwest, and 16% living in the northeast. while there is no precise number of lgbtq+ youth in the south, they might have a harder time accessing safe spaces with most states that have anti-lgbtq laws and no protection laws for lgbtq+ individuals, are predominantly in the southern region of the united states. there are also more lgbtq+ youth of color in the south, with 48%, when compared to other regions. in addition to anti-lgbtq laws, about 46% of lgbtq+ youth in the south reported that they lived in a somewhat or very unaccepting research | articles | russell 31 california sociology forum vol. 7 community and had lower rates of access to lgbtq+ affirming spaces in those areas including homes, schools, workplaces, and community events (trevor project 2021). when lgbtq+ youth are disowned, publicly ostracized, have no access to support system, or safe spaces, it could then lead to poor mental health as well as attempted suicide. in the 2019 southern lgbtq health survey, it was found that 69% of lgbtq+ adults, aged 18 to 24, had fair or poor mental health (harless, et al., 2019). the trevor project (2021) found that lgbtq+ youth in the south had 9% greater odds of suicide attempts in contrast to other regions with 16% of lgbtq+ youth attempting suicide in the south when compared to 14% divided between the other regions. furthermore, lgbtq+ youth in somewhat or very unaccepting communities had a 20% suicide attempt rate with those in ‘somewhat or very accepting’ communities have a 13% suicide attempt rate. there are also no federal regulations in relation to lgbtq+ youth services as lesley university (n.d.) declares: there are currently no federal programs specifically designed to meet the needs of gay and transgender homeless youth. this means that, in many cases, lgbt youth are left without the resources and assistance provided to other homeless populations. human services professionals should have a clear understanding of the unique needs, risk factors, and challenges facing lgbt homeless youth in order to design and deliver the best possible services. homelessness is a huge social issue and can ruin a person’s life and deteriorate their mental health as it disproportionately affects lgbtq+ youth, especially youth of color and those from lowincome communities. furthermore, homeless individuals do not have the best living conditions as they are, for the most part, on the streets and are subject to substance abuse, crime, and sometimes harassment by the public. living conditions just as how someone becomes homeless, each individual’s living conditions will vary. the definition for homelessness, as defined by the federal government is “an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, such as those research | articles | russell 32 california sociology forum vol. 7 living in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or places not meant for habitation” (samhsa 2018). using this definition, a lot more people are considered homeless than just those who are unfortunate enough to be on the street, including those who are staying with family and sleeping on the floor or anywhere else that is not designed to be a sleeping area. another example of living and being homeless is “couch surfing” (huerta and gutierrez-vera 2020:30) where someone might stay with different people at different times to have a place to stay and not overstay their welcome at any one location. in the streets of los angeles, it’s very common to see homeless people setting up tents as a main way of staying sheltered, especially in extreme weather such as rain or excessive heat. these tents will be set up in various places such as riverbeds, on the side of a highway, on the sidewalk, in parks, and more. if they do not have a tent, then they are most likely wrapped up in a blanket, or otherwise, somewhere on the sidewalk or sleeping at covered bus stops. this is also a reason why many bus stops will have armrests in between seats to prevent the homeless from sleeping there, which has come under fire from activists for its unwelcoming environment which is known as architectural discrimination or hostile architecture. in addition, some transients will use a shopping cart to move the things they have collected such as bottles and cans to recycle for money and personal items. and because the homeless population usually is not sheltered indoors, a study (montgomery et al. 2016:765) was conducted and found that homeless people report poorer health compared with those who are not homeless: people living in unsheltered situations–staying at a primary nighttime residence not intended for habitation (e.g., streets, parks, cars, abandoned buildings)–often report poorer health and more symptoms of physical illness than their sheltered counterparts. unsheltered people frequently have a serious mental illness, cognitive disorders, substance use disorders, co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions, and chronic health conditions. this connects to how substance abuse plagues the homeless population. research (johnson and fendrich 2007:212) has shown research | articles | russell 33 california sociology forum vol. 7 that those “comparing homeless and non-homeless individuals have also documented substantially higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse among the homeless . . . in los angeles, age, race/ethnicity, and gender-adjusted estimates indicated that homeless people were more than twice as likely than nonhomeless people to have both lifetime and 6-month dsm . . . substance use disorders.” the use of drugs could be used as a way to deal with stress, to cope with the pressures of being homeless, or even help them forget and take them to a ‘better place.’ trouble getting a job and the covid-19 pandemic in addition to a person experiencing homelessness’ living conditions, it does not improve their situation when other people do not look their way or acknowledge them, only to look at them in disgust and treat the individual as less than human. sarver (2023) notes that the most common question that crosses people’s minds in regard to homelessness is, “why don’t you just go get a job?” but getting a job is not as easy as it may seem. a lot of homeless individuals are unable to get a job because applicants need to be able to provide or maintain a social security number, an id, a phone, their own professional work clothes, reliable transportation, good hygiene, and a home address or at least a po box which costs money; most of these things are unobtainable or missing for many homeless individuals. sarver (2023) additionally states, “there’s a shortage of good, quality jobs that meet workers’ needs and support their well-being, including their economic security. this shortage is the result of multiple factors, including decades of offshoring, wage stagnation, lack of benefits, and increasingly aggressive anti-union activity.” even individuals and families with homes found it hard to get or even keep a job during the coronavirus disease of 2019 (covid-19) pandemic. the covid-19 pandemic came like a bullet train, with the u.s. not well equipped or prepared to deal with it especially as former president trump and his administration failed to take serious action. as a result, an estimated 103 million american citizens got sick, about 6 million were hospitalized, and almost 2 million people died. people lost their family, their friends, any kind of social interaction, as well as their jobs. according to a research | articles | russell 34 california sociology forum vol. 7 study completed by cew (2021), a cumulative 23 million jobs were lost. this loss of jobs had indirectly contributed to the growing homeless population. the pandemic also affected the homeless population as they are more vulnerable to sickness, as aforementioned, and were not given any personal protective equipment, especially the ones living on the street at the time. however, since the coronavirus was spread through the air, the homeless living in shelters tested positive for the virus compared with those living on the streets. according to yoon et al. (2021), out of 2,875 homeless people tested in atlanta, georgia, only 46 total tested positive, with 36 being sheltered and only 3 being unsheltered along with 7 positive cases for the staff. cost of living and housing costs in today’s economy, the homeless population continues to grow not only due to an individual’s mental and physical health, substance abuse, or being displaced, but also because the federal minimum wage has been stagnant since 2009, and housing costs are on the rise all across the country. sarver (2023) states, “it’s now more evident than ever that homelessness is the result of failed policies that have perpetuated inequitable access to quality education, health care, and economic opportunity and that communities with rapidly increasing housing costs have faced the brunt of the homelessness crisis.” this is because, federally, the minimum wage is $7.25 and, according to rent cafe (n.d.), the average monthly rent in the united states is $1,713 with the average square foot being 899. the lowest rent in the united states is in oklahoma with an average of $989 for an average of 856 square feet, which is not sustainable enough for those making only $7.25 per hour. the highest rent in the country being in massachusetts at an average of $2,714 with an average of 888 square feet, which is not sustainable enough for those only making $15 per hour. the average rent in california is $2,531 along an average square foot of 851 with a minimum wage of $16. high rent costs and low wages force people to live with one or maybe two more people to cover the cost of rent only, not including the utilities, groceries, and other monthly bills such as insurance, a phone bill, car payments, and so forth. the rising cost of living has become so noticeable that it has permeated pop culture, research | articles | russell 35 california sociology forum vol. 7 particularly among generation z, who often use humor as a coping mechanism. this is exemplified by internet memes containing exaggerated statements such as, “it costs me $20 to breathe,” which, while humorous, it reflects a deep concern and frustration with economic challenges. however, it is a sad reality that no one in the u.s. government is trying to have its citizens make a comfortable and livable wage. and because people fall behind on rent and get evicted, it only pushes them further to being homeless as an individual cannot pay the excessively high rent along with several late fees. and once evicted, it will show up on their credit report and make it even more difficult to get into a different apartment. unless rent is controlled and capped, more people will eventually become homeless in the united states. the rent prices in the country at this current moment are quite egregious and most blue-collar americans cannot afford to live on their own. as mentioned before, many individuals within the homeless population suffer from certain disabilities, whether it be mental or physical. burns et al. (2021:1719) explain, “skyrocketing housing prices have been contributing to a major public health problem in america for years . . . persons with disabilities are at heightened risk for not only feeling the economic impact of the [covid-19] pandemic but also for having poor health and safety outcomes resulting from the associated affordable housing challenges.” not only are housing costs expensive for the average american but, those living with a disability statistically have it harder as it is just an added obstacle for them to deal with. burns et al. go on to say that the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is roughly 131% of monthly income for a person living with a disability and although affordable living options exist for people with disabilities, they typically involve lengthy waitlists. this issue is linked to the persistently high cost of housing, a challenge that can be traced back to the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and its long-term impact on the housing market. in 2007, the great recession started and peaked in 2008 when the u.s. gross domestic product fell 4.3%, the unemployment rate doubled to over 10%, the price of a home fell about 30%, and the s&p 500 was down 57% from its usual highs (duggan 2023). burns et al. (2021:1720) note: research | articles | russell 36 california sociology forum vol. 7 since the great recession of 2008, homeownership rates have fallen drastically resulting in spikes in foreclosures and short sales. as a result, more people have been renting homes leading to significant increases in rental costs for individuals and families . . . the covid-19 pandemic has had a swift and substantial economic impact, further contributing to the crisis. housing costs are increasing significantly in many cities as the demand for housing is high. the united states is not the only country in the world facing a housing crisis, take australia for example. worldwide concerns about housing affordability were further validated in mid-2007 with the release of australian census data revealing that over 1.2 million households were experiencing housing stress, commonly defined as spending 30% or more of their income on housing costs. additionally, from 1960 to 2006, real house prices grew at an average annual rate of 2.7%, outpacing the 1.9% annual increase in real household incomes (yates 2008). in other words, housing prices increased more than the household income, which has also happened here in the united states. profit over people the famous phrase, “the poor get poorer, and the rich get richer,” directly relates to the sociological concept of conflict theory, where the rich are prioritizing profit over the middle class’s struggles. this signifies the continuing uphill battle that many americans face, especially noticeable at the height of the covid19 pandemic lockdown, when millions were laid off and stuck in their living spaces with little to no income. although there were about three stimulus payments made that were passed by congress, those were still not sustainable enough for the people who were suffering. notably, the coronavirus aid, relief, and economic security (cares) act was passed in 2020 because of the devastating pandemic that it caused for working families, individuals, and small businesses, has been seen to cater to big companies and wealthier individuals who may not have been impacted by the covid-19 outbreak. gross (2020) describes how the cares act gave $174 billion in temporary tax breaks to wealthy individuals and larger companies when it was intended to research | articles | russell 37 california sociology forum vol. 7 help small businesses. and while the cares act was marketed toward the working class and small businesses, it was manipulated by congress to help large, wealthy companies, as well as powerful families like the trumps, by allowing them to report losses on their tax returns and not lose money business-wise. gross (2020) interviewed new york times’s investigative reporter jesse drucker, who states: one of the provisions that they put in the cares act is a provision that allows business owners to use losses from their businesses . . . to offset the tax bills . . . and the reason that’s potentially particularly beneficial . . . is the concept of losses on your tax return is very complicated . . . and the result is that people like jared kushner and donald trump to the degree that we have had some insight into their taxes over the last few years, we have seen that they have reported big losses on their tax returns. these companies and individuals, who were getting these tax breaks, did not need to show proof that they were suffering because of the pandemic, especially at a time when families and individuals were losing their homes and jobs. this is a huge factor as to why the homeless are still homeless and why individuals become homeless. many corporations in the united states actively pursue tax breaks and deductions as strategies to reduce costs and maximize profits, often in ways that disproportionately affect working-class consumers misuse of federal funding but also, it is a question of, why does the united states government does not provide any federal funding to states to combat homelessness. it is because they have the wrong numbers as well as not using the funds in a helpful, effective way and misproportioning the funds focusing on other areas. for example (national priorities project 2023), in the 2023 fiscal year, $1.14 trillion, or 62%, was approved to go towards defense which includes the military, law enforcement, prisons, and other things of that nature while housing and community, the second highest, only got $133 billion, or 7%. it is a disturbing amount of money the u.s. government spends on militarization when a lot of the funds could be spent on other areas that need the most help while research | articles | russell 38 california sociology forum vol. 7 also continuing to have the title of the biggest military power in the world. the federal budget is a direct contributor to the reason why community resources and programs along with homelessness do not get the attention needed, either on a state or national level. counting the homeless population for homelessness, the neglect and funding problem also comes from how the population is counted. when it comes to population counts in the united states, the census bureau collects information from households every ten years but at first, it did not get the population of those who were unhoused. the bureau started to count the homeless population in 1970 when they went around to hotels and motels in an evening called transient night and then sent enumerators to short-term homeless shelters. in 1980, census enumerators went to areas with high transient populations and encampments, in an effort named mission night. local governments then began providing the census bureau with the address of homeless encampments in 1990. from that information provided by local governments, the census bureau found that between 29 and 72 percent of the homeless population had not previously been counted. (huerta and gutierrez-vera 2020:28) this just shows that it is not clear how many american citizens were homeless before the 1970 count and even how much it grew within those 20 years between the 1970 and 1990 census. in recent years, california counties have developed strategies to count the homeless population and report them to hud, including mandating local governments to submit a count of their homeless population every two years through a “point-intime count” (huerta and gutierrez-vera 2020:29). huerta and gutierrez-vera (2020:29-30) also state, “hud defines ‘point-intime count(s)’ as a count of all individuals experiencing homelessness, whether they are sheltered or unsheltered, on a single night of the year. although a ‘point-in-time count’ typically indicates a visual street count, the methodology for a point-in-time count is left to the city’s discretion.” now, the problem with “point-in-time counts” is that they do not account for constantly research | articles | russell 39 california sociology forum vol. 7 moving transients or, as aforementioned, those who are staying with a relative or friend and is “couch surfing” (huerta and gutierrez-vera 2020:30) on a single night of the year. adler (2021) describes, “at least 580,000 people experienced homelessness on a given day in january 2020 . . . but many homelessness advocates argue that these numbers fail to account for the true scope of the homelessness crisis in the u.s.” not getting an accurate count of the total homeless population is detrimental because government agencies and local communities rely on federal data to determine funding, services, and policy decisions. accurate data collection is essential because without a true representation of children, youth, and families in federal records, they risk being overlooked, leading to insufficient support and ultimately contributing to ongoing homelessness (schoolhouse connection 2024). the funding given now is a big part of the reason why the homeless problem has not been solved because it is not even enough to make a dent or make real change. the solutions and cost to end homelessness one of the main problems present when it comes to solving homelessness is the cost, but if homelessness needs to be solved, then it is evident that more affordable housing is needed by building more homes so that demand goes down. advocates must stay persistent when it comes to building more homes with dedicated leaders and a whole rework of the current government structure to make change happen. as previously mentioned, some of the projects that were started to help combat homelessness in california and the city of los angeles to get people off the street are governor gavin newsom’s project roomkey, homekey, mayor karen bass, los angeles’s (2024) inside safe initiative, and housing california’s, a nonprofit organization, roadmap home 2030 plan. governor newsom launched project roomkey in 2020 in order to help homeless individuals get off the street during the covid-19 pandemic by securing hotel and motel rooms across the state. after a study was conducted in march 2020 (california governor’s office of emergency services 2021), it found that people experiencing homelessness and who were infected by the virus were two to four times more likely to require critical care research | articles | russell 40 california sociology forum vol. 7 and two to three times more likely to die from the virus compared to those who are not experiencing homelessness. according to the report (fuchs et al. 2021), the project helped over 42,000 people, significantly reduced the number of people going to hospitals, and provided over 20% of those in the program with permanent housing. piggybacking off the success of project roomkey is homekey, a statewide initiative which expands the original plan of roomkey to include more vacant spaces including office buildings and apartment buildings for more permanent housing while also focusing on at-risk populations such as youth and native americans. as for its lasting impact, espinoza (2024) from the california department of housing and community development (hcd) has said, “to date, the innovate program has funded 250 projects that will include 15,319 homes, serving more than 167,164 californians over the projects’ lifetimes.” next, is los angeles mayor karen bass’s inside safe initiative which was launched in december 2022 with the purpose of bringing people inside from tents and encampments, to prevent those encampments from returning, and provide permanent housing. two years later, inside safe has provided 23,000 people with temporary housing, with permanent housing move-ins nearly doubling, program application wait times dropping 75%, and– according to the 2024 point-in-time counts–a 10% decrease in street homelessness (mayor karen bass, city of los angeles 2024). housing california’s (2024) initiative roadmap home 2030 lists goals such as: create affordable homes [around 1.2 million homes for low-income californians], protect low-income renters [to protect around 1 million low-income renter households from losing their homes, including more than 300,000 who face eviction each year], and ensure racial equality [to close the racial equity gap in housing and homelessness created by years of racist housing policies that have harmed black, latinx, indigenous, and other people of color.] housing california continues with homelessness solutions including interventions to prevent someone from experiencing homelessness and supportive housing that is designed to help those who have experienced homelessness with services such as research | articles | russell 41 california sociology forum vol. 7 case management and to help with substance abuse, mental health, and medical treatment. other solutions mentioned were rental subsidies to help low-income renters pay their rent, in addition to eviction prevention. these ideas are a good step in the right direction for policy changes to be implemented, not only in california but the entire country. the solution to homelessness must be aggressive and decisive. but how much would it cost to make a change and potentially end homelessness? addressing homelessness and trying to solve the problem is not easy. however, continued investment, raising the minimum wage, and capping rent prices can effectively and potentially stop the cause. compared with the rest of the country, california has been on the frontlines and taking the initiative when it comes to minimum wage increases as well as housing support for individuals and families. california has also done well with investing money into housing solutions (state of california department of finance 2023) as the state has invested more than $17 billion to aid local governments in addressing homelessness since 2019, but it is not enough to stop the problem as there is a more costly solution that will span over the next decade. tat (2022) reports, “the state could end homelessness in california by 2035 if it invested $8.1 billion annually in each of the next 12 years $6.9 billion more than its current average annual investment.” this amount according to the needs assessment would effectively make homelessness non-recurring in los angeles, but also california as a whole. as for the rest of the united states: according to the department of housing and urban development, it would cost $20 billion to end homelessness in the united states. that is a big number, yes, but let’s put it into perspective: americans spend $19 billion a year on unplugged appliances, americans spend more than $35 billion a year on gym memberships, the u.s. government spent around $718 billion on its military in 2019 alone. (adler 2021) per the examples provided by adler, according to the hud, solving homelessness is within reach, but why is action never taken? it is not all about ending the current homeless problem now, but it is also to end it for good and that means attacking the research | articles | russell 42 california sociology forum vol. 7 root cause. the minimum wage should be adjusted to align with the cost of living in different regions as a means to address economic disparities. this is a concept known as location-based wage structuring. this wage structure could help alleviate some of the costs of living in dense metropolitan areas where the job market tends to be more competitive. luna (n.d.) explains further, “this means that you pay employees differently based on their location. in some cases, this refers to additional compensation given to employees to account for higher costs of labor or cost of living in the areas where they reside and work.” for example, a location-based wage structure could result in higher minimum wages in areas with elevated costs, such as $27 per hour in california, compared to $16 per hour in states with lower living costs, like north dakota. additionally, implementing rent caps should be put in place for low-income renters to improve housing affordability. these caps could be based on an individual's income and financial capacity or set in relation to the median income of a given area. given regional differences in housing markets, rent regulations would likely vary between high-cost locations like beverly hills and more affordable areas such as bakersfield. no matter what, something must happen fast. conclusion homelessness in the united states is a deeply rooted issue shaped by systemic economic disparities, policy shortcomings, and a lack of coordinated governmental response. as discussed, the persistence of this crisis can be understood through the lens of conflict theory, which highlights how economic structures and political influence have prioritized corporate interests over social welfare. while homelessness has existed for decades due to various structural factors including unaffordable housing, job insecurity, and insufficient mental health services, recent efforts made in california demonstrate that targeted policy interventions can make a difference. however, sustainable solutions require a continued commitment from federal, state, and local governments to ensure that individuals experiencing homelessness receive the support they need. ultimately, addressing homelessness is not just a matter of economic policy but a moral imperative to uphold the fundamental dignity and rights of all individuals in society. research | articles | russell 43 california sociology forum vol. 7 nothing will change if we continue to disregard human life and this trend of capitalistic greed. references adler, sami. 2021. “what will it take to end homelessness in the u.s.?” union, wa: giving compass network. https://givingcompass.org/partners/homelessness/what-will-ittake-to-end-homelessness-in-the-u-s. administration for children and families. 2024. “hhs releases guidance to help prevent homelessness for youth who have transitioned out of foster care.” washington, d.c.: administration for children and families. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/media/press/2024/hhs-releases-guidancehelp-prevent-homelessness-youth-who-have. burns, suzanne p., rochelle mendonca, noralyn d. pickens, and roger o. smith. 2021. “america’s housing affordability crisis: perpetuating disparities among people with disability.” disability and society 36(10):1719-24. doi: 10.1080/09687599.2021.1960276. california governor’s office of emergency services. 2021. “project roomkey: impact to date and looking ahead.” sacramento: cal oes. https://news.caloes.ca.gov/project-roomkey-impact-to-dateand-looking-ahead/. cew (the georgetown university center on education and the workforce). 2021. “tracking covid-19 unemployment and job losses.” washington, d.c.: cew georgetown. https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/jobtracker/. de sousa, tanya, alyssa andrichik, ed prestera, katherine rush, colette tano, and michah wheeler. 2023. “the 2023 annual homelessness assessment report (ahar) to congress.” u.s. department of housing and urban development. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2023ahar-part-1.pdf. duggan, wayne. 2023. “a short history of the great recession.” edited by michael adams. jersey city, nj: forbes media. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/great-recession/. espinoza, pablo. 2024. “homekey on track to house 167,164 californians over lifetime.” ca department of housing and community development. https://www.hcd.ca.gov/abouthcd/newsroom/homekey-track-to-house-167164-californiansover-lifetime. fuchs, jonathan d., henry clay carter, jennifer evans, dave grahm-squire, elizabeth imbert, jessica bloome, charles fann, et al. 2021. “assessment of a hotel-based covid-19 isolation and quarantine strategy for persons experiencing homelessness.” research | articles | russell 44 california sociology forum vol. 7 jama network open. 4(3):e210490. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.0490 governor gavin newsom. 2022. “in los angeles, governor newsom announces $694 million in homekey awards to create more than 2,500 new homeless housing units statewide.” sacramento: office of the governor of california. https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/08/24/in-los-angeles-governornewsom-announces-694-million-in-homekey-awards-to-createmore-than-2500-new-homeless-housing-units-statewide. gross, terry. 2020. “how the cares act became a tax-break bonanza for the rich, explained.” washington, d.c.: national public radio. https://www.npr.org/2020/04/30/848321204/how-the-cares-actbecame-a-tax-break-bonanza-for-the-rich-explained. harless, chase, megan nanney, austin h. johnson, adam polaski, and jasmine beach-ferrara. 2019. the report of the 2019 southern lgbtq health survey. asheville, nc: campaign for southern equality. https://southernequality.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/11/southernlgbtqhealthsurvey– fullreport.pdf. housing california. 2024. “evidence-based solutions to california’s homelessness and housing affordability crisis.” sacramento: housing california. https://www.housingca.org/policy/solutions/. huerta, zenaida, and maria gutierrez-vera. 2020. “counting the homeless.” claremont, ca: inland empire outlook, fall 2020 28-35. https://www.roseinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ieofall-2020_counting-the-homeless.pdf. johnson, timothy p., and michael fendrich. 2007. “homelessness and drug use: evidence from a community sample.” american journal of preventive medicine 32(6):211-18. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2007.02.015. lesley university. n.d. “the cost of coming out: lgbt youth homelessness.” cambridge, ma: lesley university. retrieved march 31, 2025. https://lesley.edu/article/the-cost-of-coming-outlgbt-youth-homelessness. luna, jessica. n.d. “building a strong compensation strategy: is locationbased pay best?” kingwood, tx: insperity. retrieved march 31, 2025. https://www.insperity.com/blog/location -based-pay/. mayor karen bass, city of los angeles. 2024. “delivering results in 2024: comprehensive homelessness strategy nearly doubles permanent housing move-ins since mayor bass took office, thousands more people moved inside than in 2022.” los angeles. https://mayor.lacity.gov/news/delivering-results-2024comprehensive-homelessness-strategy-nearly-doubles-permanenthousing. montgomery, ann e., dorota szymkowiak, jessica marcus, paul howard, and dennis p. culhane. 2016. “homelessness, unsheltered status, https://www.gov.ca.gov/2022/08/24/in-los-angeles-governor-newsom-announces-694-million-in-homekey-awards-to-create-more-than-2500-new-homeless-housing-units-statewide research | articles | russell 45 california sociology forum vol. 7 and risk factors for mortality: findings from the 100 000 homes campaign.” public health reports 131(6):765-72. doi: 10.1177/0033354916667501. national coalition for the homeless. n.d. “homelessness among the lgbtq community.” washington, d.c.: national coalition for the homeless. retrieved march 31, 2025. https://nationalhomeless.org/lgbtq-homelessness/. national priorities project. 2023. “the warfare state: how funding for militarism compromises our welfare.” northampton, ma: national priorities project. https://www.nationalpriorities.org/analysis/2023/warfare-statehow-funding-militarism-compromises-our-welfare/. nickerson, charlotte. 2023. “conflict theory in sociology.” simply psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/conflicttheory.html. state of california department of finance. 2023. “california state budget 2023-24.” sacramento. https://ebudget.ca.gov/202324/pdf/enacted/budgetsummary/fullbudgetsummary.pdf. piat, myra, lauren polvere, maritt kirst, jijian voronka, denise zabkiewicz, marie-carmen plante, corinne isaak, danielle nolin, geoffrey nelson, paula goering. 2014. “pathways into homelessness: understanding how both individual and structural factors contribute to and sustain homelessness in canada.” urban studies 52(13):2366-82. doi: 10.1177/0042098014548138. quilty, aideen, and michelle norris. 2022. “queer/y/ing pathways through youth homelessness: becoming, being and leaving lgbtqi+ youth homelessness.” housing studies december 12, 1-22. doi: 10.1080/02673037.2022.2141204. rent cafe. n.d. “average rent in the u.s.” santa barbara, ca: yardi systems inc. retrieved november 1, 2024. https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/. sarver, maureen. 2023. “why is it so hard for people experiencing homelessness to ‘just go get a job?’” washington, d.c.: urban institute. https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/why-it-so-hardpeople-experiencing-homelessness-just-go-get-job. schoolhouse connection. 2024. “the pitfalls of hud’s point-in-time count for children, youth, and families.” washington d.c.: schoolhouse connection. https://schoolhouseconnection.org/thepitfalls-of-huds-point-in-time-count/. statista research department. 2023. “percentage of homeless adults in california currently suffering from select mental health conditions as of 2022.” statista inc. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1462884/current-prevalencemental-health-problems-homeless-california-adults/. research | articles | russell 46 california sociology forum vol. 7 samhsa (substance abuse and mental health services administration). 2018. “definitions of homelessness.” rockville, md: soar works. https://soarworks.samhsa.gov/article/definitions-of-homelessness. synovec, caitlin e. 2020. “homelessness.” work (reading, mass) 65(2):233-34. doi: 10.3233/wor-203099. tat, linh. 2022. “california could end homelessness by 2035 with $8.1b per year, report says.” los angeles daily news. https://www.dailynews.com/2022/12/21/california-could-endhomelessness-by-2035-with-8-1b-per-year-report-says/. the trevor project. 2021. “lgbtq youth in the south.” west hollywood, ca: the trevor project. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/lgbtq-youth-inthe-south-dec-2021/. yates, judith. 2008. “australia’s housing affordability crisis.” the australian economic review 41(2):200-214. yoon, jane c., marther p. montgomery, ann m. buff, andrew t. boyd, calla jamison, alfonso hernandez, kristine schmit, et al. 2021. “coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19) prevalences among people experiencing homelessness and homelessness service staff during early community transmission in atlanta, georgia, april-may 2020.” clinical infectious diseases 73(9):2978-84. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa1340. steven russell (he/him) is a third-year sociology major with a focus on law and society and a political science minor at cal state la. he is passionate about social justice and plans to pursue a career in law. steven’s academic interests center on the intersection of legal systems and inequality. in the future, he hopes to use his knowledge and experiences to help others and advocate for positive change in underserved communities. homelessness: how did we come to recognize it as such a problem and the possible ways to solve it steven russell reviews | book | olivares perez 125 california sociology forum vol. 7 book review: i am not your perfect mexican daughter by erika l. sánchez shanya a. olivares perez department of sociology california state university, los angeles from a cultural standpoint, there are many roles that one is expected to portray based on their norms and social groups. minorities and people of color often have difficulty when integrating into american society, facing cultural barriers and the struggle to find their own identity outside of cultural and societal norms. these struggles are often a heavier burden for secondgeneration immigrants (children born to two immigrant parents) due to the lack of mentorship from their parents on how social interactions work in a new culture. often, children of immigrants must learn to rely on themselves to help their parents navigate a new country as well, becoming translators to their parents as a way to minimize language, cultural, and societal barriers. due to the challenges of learning a new culture and trying to comprehend one’s personal identity, second-generation immigrants often find themselves having a cultural identity crisis. author erika l. sánchez is the daughter of immigrants who, in the search for representation of mexicans in media, decided to write her own story about the struggles of growing up mexican in the united states. in addition to her bestseller, i am not your perfect mexican daughter, sánchez wrote two more books on her view of the mexican american, second-generation immigrant experience: lessons of expulsion (2017), a series of poems that discuss the difference across the mexican/u.s. border, and crying in the bathroom (2022), which is a collection of essays portraying her personal thoughts, views, and experiences. in lessons of expulsion, sánchez explores how every aspect of her life felt like there was a border dividing her life. she talks about this by highlighting a border in her countries, languages, and the living and the dead, through her collection of poems. while crying in the bathroom is a personal ode to her life and the experiences that have gotten her to become a bestselling novelist, primarily focusing on how she felt like a rebellious disappointment as she grew up with expectations from her reviews | book | olivares perez 126 california sociology forum vol. 7 immigrant parents. in these stories, sánchez continues to elaborate on the struggles of second-generation immigrants by providing her own stories. in the novel i am not your perfect mexican daughter, julia reyes is a mexican teenager coping with the death of her older sister olga, a “perfect mexican daughter.” across the book, the story follows a mexican teen struggling with her cultural identity as she observes her sister and family embracing traditional norms easily and rejecting her for not doing so. she is overcome with feelings of confusion and the challenge of her sense of self with pressing societal expectations. through a sociological approach, we can see sánchez express the second-generation experience through the looking-glass-self theory, which describes how people base their sense of self solely on how they believe others see them or expect them to be. sánchez uses her personality, struggles, and opinions to formulate this protagonist, which authenticates the thoughts and makes the story a lot more relatable. while this is a work of fiction brought to life using her personal experiences, sánchez almost makes it feel like a collection of qualitative data, collecting stories and emotions regarding immigration, violence in mexico, first-generation students, and motherhood, all with varying opinions and different experiences. sánchez also goes on to talk about relationships, social perceptions of young latin american women, and many religious aspects that tie into expectations and demands of this demographic. in the book, julia learns that many immigrant mothers worry about raising children in an unfamiliar society, especially since they believe the new country will ‘ruin’ their children. one example of this is the conversation julia’s mother has with her before she leaves to college where, for the first time in their relationship, she warns julia about sex due to her fear of julia getting pregnant or contracting stis. this is important because julia seems to have a cultural disconnect from her mother and disagrees that sex is that big of a deal, a very common and large disagreement in american and mexican cultures. the main strength of this story is author sánchez’ personal connection to the character, the implementation of her own hopes and dreams, as well as her personality, makes the reviews | book | olivares perez 127 california sociology forum vol. 7 readers feel seen when reading the book. sánchez expresses this consistently, often emphasizing the feeling of guilt, shame, ambition, and desperation that second-generation immigrants have from feeling misunderstood by their parents, their family, the culture they feel a need to fit into, and this new country they must learn to navigate on their own. this goes back to the lookingglass-self, which exemplifies this feeling. julia experiences guilt, from feeling like she is a disappointment, because she bases her sense of self on her home environment and the expectations coming from that. there are a lot of references to the mexican culture in her story as well, which allows for the reader to identify some names, sayings, and beliefs, which is another strength throughout the book. it can also be argued that the fictional aspect of the storyline would detach the author from the story and make the book relatable. however, sánchez speaks about not having that ‘perfect older sister’ in her life or the same traumas that julie has, which could make readers feel like it would be julia reyes that understands them and not sánchez. the book itself is easy to read, the story is captivating and, while it draws on many relatable and complex themes, it isn’t overwhelming or overbearing. the author uses julia reyes as an example of the second-generation immigrant experience, primarily making the argument that this specific demographic feels overlooked and misunderstood, especially since they are stuck between two cultural identities and often made to feel that they must choose. in this, we also get an unbiased overview of the immigrant experience, since sánchez also critiques secondgeneration immigrants for often overlooking that their parents don’t have any experience with their lifestyle and have their own hardships as well. looking at the authors goals, i believe firstgeneration students and second-generation immigrants would benefit a lot from a book like this, since it would allow them to find similarities with their own life. additionally, researchers who study these cultural disparities would benefit from reading, since this book would provide a new perspective to the immigrant experience. references sánchez, erika l. 2017. i am not your perfect mexican daughter. new york: random house children’s books. book review: i am not your perfect mexican daughter by erika l. sánchez shanya a. olivares perez california sociology forum vii letter from the editors dear reader, we are delighted to present our most recent publication, the seventh volume of the california sociology forum. the journal is student-led and features the works of many current cal state la students and alumni, with guidance from the department of sociology. one of the goals of volume 7 was to showcase creative and meaningful works to a wider audience. the articles feature a variety of themes, including: experiences of integration at a commuter college; child physical abuse; homelessness; perceptions of disability; marxism applied to palestine; and durkheim applied to k-pop fandoms. our creative works and reviews take a sociological look at identity, gender socialization, agency, how cultural expectations shape transgender experiences, the meaning of interpersonal relationships, the symbolic role of animals as family, how different cultures interpret death and belonging, and beyond. the 2024-2025 academic year has seen many significant events causing a range of emotions, starting with the change of u.s. presidential administration at the end of 2024. then, 2025 started with wildfires sparking in southern california and causing massive devastation due to environmental factors from global warming. the largest two fires in the pacific palisades and altadena burned for 24 days, impacting the homes and communities of many cal state la students and staff. la county already has a massive rate of unhoused individuals; the fires have all compounded the situation. this turbulent year has included major increases in evictions, deportations, and raids aggressively targeting immigrants, regardless of legal status. as of fall 2024–according to the diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (dei) page on student demographics–cal state la officially has a student body made up of 75% ‘hispanic ethnicity/race,’ which underscores the population dynamics of la; however, this ethnicity is also one unfairly targeted by accusations of ‘illegal immigration’ to the u.s. the anxiety and uncertainty around immigration raids on educational institutions has been one factor in a noticeable shift california sociology forum viii on campus toward less community camaraderie. another factor is the department of education being dismantled and canceling funding, as well as trying to eliminate programs like dei; all of this is pointing to a rise in misinformation and authoritarian rhetoric in the u.s. that is harmful to the very core of freedom of speech. our students deserve to focus on their education without fear of being deported or having members of their families deported. from a sociological perspective, these policies are deeply rooted in systemic racial and economic inequalities and have a strong chance of negatively impacting long-term family structures and community cohesion. it’s important for everyone in the u.s. to know their rights and unite with supportive community as we all navigate and persevere through these trying, scary, and chaotic times. an encouraging community is very important as we persist in the unfolding present. csf members came together to enjoy korean barbecue in the spirit of family and community during this year’s taste of korea event, generously supported by csf founder dr. hyojoung kim with dr. jongwook woo and the center for korean-american and korean studies. this shared meal reminded us of the power of connection and care. in times of uncertainty and challenge, these moments of gathering allow us to affirm our identities, find a sense of belonging, uplift one another, and build solidarity. in community and solidarity, the csf editorial board image description: some of the department of sociology’s csf 2024-2025 student editors, alumni advisors, and faculty board during the taste of korea outing. 4 letter from the editors volume_7_california_sociology_forum_student_journal_2024-2025 reviews | tv show: anime | velasco-quiroz 147 california sociology forum vol. 7 anime tv show review: the human experience according to frieren: beyond journey's end / sōsō no furīren nathalie velasco-quiroz department of sociology california state university, los angeles in the fantasy and adventure anime show frieren: beyond journey's end, the human experience shown through the eyes of the protagonist, an elf mage named frieren, takes viewers on a journey of discovery, both of the self and of others. from a sociological perspective, some of the themes reflect the experiences of human life, such as social structure, collective memory and shared experiences, and aging and time. throughout this review piece, some situations are not too descriptive to avoid spoilers for those interested in watching the anime. from abe, yamada, suzuki, and saitō’s (2023) description on crunchyroll, a major anime hosting site, here is the plot for frieren: beyond journey's end explores the following plot: after the party of heroes defeated the demon king, they restored peace to the land and returned to lives of solitude. generations pass, and the elven mage frieren comes face to face with humanity’s mortality. she takes on a new apprentice and promises to fulfill old friends’ dying wishes. can an elven mind make peace with the nature of life and death? frieren embarks on her quest to find out. social structure for this topic, the nature of relationships is displayed in the anime’s world where different beings have varying life expectancies. the biggest example of this is the protagonist herself, frieren, a long-lived elf who outlived her human friend with whom she shared an adventure. frieren’s long life has influenced how she perceives and values her relationships with others in a detached way that takes social relationships for granted. on the other hand, her human friends treasure the moments they share with their group, knowing that their time is limited compared to frieren. her emotional detachment due to her long life makes her unfamiliar with human social norms when it comes to relationships and mourning. when she is confronted with her reviews | tv show: anime | velasco-quiroz 148 california sociology forum vol. 7 friend’s mortality and grieves, she understands the neglect in her relationships with them and their significance to her social life. frieren also takes on the position of mentor to the new group formed for the journey, particularly to the two young humans, the mage fern, who is also frieren’s apprentice, and the warrior stark. the intergenerational interactions showcase the times of peace that the world is in after the accomplishments of frieren’s past group. while frieren shows fern the world of magic and mages, fern’s interactions with frieren teach her emotions and human experiences. this dynamic helps in frieren’s character development as she learns more about human life and its value while both generations learn from each other. collective memory and shared experiences time plays an important role when it comes to the way that frieren’s group, especially how himmel, the human hero, is remembered during and after their adventure. time aids frieren in getting to know himmel better through others, as she felt regret not doing so before their past journey ended. the time that passes is not only shown just through frieren’s perspective but also through many individuals who encountered the group and relayed to her what himmel did for them and what it meant to them. as she and her new group hear the different experiences that others have had with himmel, the shared stories give more insight into himmel and his actions to help others. for frieren, reliving these moments with a new outlook helps her discover the significance of those memories. while her original group’s achievements restored peace, what people remembered the most was how himmel the hero helped them in small ways, which impacted them so much that the experiences stayed with them for years afterwards. aging and time although frieren herself has appeared almost ageless throughout her journeys, the same cannot be said about her human friends. dockery, a senior contribution writer at crunchyroll, (2024) notes that aging is accepted and embraced within the anime as it acknowledges how time can mean different things to different characters, which creates meaningfulness. the human characters reviews | tv show: anime | velasco-quiroz 149 california sociology forum vol. 7 enjoy what is beautiful in the world, knowing that death is inevitable, and enjoy their lives while they can. in the first episode of the series, frieren mentions wanting to see the meteor shower again with the original party but only when they bring peace to the kingdom. frieren’s human friends are surprised at her promise and agree to it, even though they know they will either be very old or have passed on. 50 years later, she returns to her companions and fulfills her promise to see the next meteor shower. while the time that passed may not have mattered much to frieren, that was not the case for her human friends, which she inevitably realizes. strengths & weaknesses as much as frieren: beyond journey's end is thought of highly, this show has its strengths and weaknesses. the strengths that have led to its success in the anime fandom are its narrative, journey to understand mortality, and its stunning animation and visuals. further, the narrative is an interesting take on the aftermath of a group of heroes saving the world, differing from typical anime storytelling. the show's premise about understanding mortality gives viewers an opportunity to look at humanity through the perspective of frieren, as she learns more about mortality. the art and visuals of this anime are beautiful as they illustrate different types of landscapes and characteristics of the area that change as the characters travel to many places. the weaknesses of this show involve its pacing and a lack of worldbuilding. although the show is an adventure and fantasy anime, its pacing can be considered slow as there are few action sequences. this is also because frieren is retrospectively becoming more appreciative of her experiences with her former group. the lack of worldbuilding is based on the small amount of lore in the world of magic and social structures that are not explored in depth. despite these weaknesses, they play a role in the development of the show by allowing viewers to reflect on mortality in frieren’s world while coming to a better understanding of humanity's experiences. conclusion through the anime frieren: beyond journey's end, there is a reflection of human life and the human experience in cherishing reviews | tv show: anime | velasco-quiroz 150 california sociology forum vol. 7 the lives that come across and memories that are made. the exploration of sociological themes adds to the viewing experience as it can relate to our own lives and invites viewers to go on their own journey of growth. frieren also grows to understand human experiences throughout her new journey, from grieving with the pain of loss to her past and ongoing journey. i highly recommend watching this series as it expresses the different types of human experiences and the one we will all face in death. dockery (2024) beautifully encapsulates this theme when writing, “in frieren: beyond journey's end, your presence might leave the earth, but where you remain is in the margins. in the moments where you find enough peace to reminisce or to be able to evaluate yourself — that’s where you find the past at its strongest.” perhaps what we can take away from frieren: beyond journey's end is cherishing moments in our lives that make life beautiful and worth living. references abe, tsukasa, kanehito yamada, tomohiro suzuki, and keiichirō saitō. 2023. frieren: beyond journey’s end / sōsō no furīren. tokyo: madhouse, inc.; san francisco: crunchyroll, llc. https://www.crunchyroll.com/series/gg5h5xqx4/frierenbeyond-journeys-end. dockery, daniel. 2024. “frieren: beyond journey’s end and the beauty of age.” crunchyroll news. https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/features/2024/5/4/frierenbeyond-journeys-end-beauty-of-age. anime tv show review: the human experience according to frieren: beyond journey's end / sōsō no furīren nathalie velasco-quiroz research | theoretical works | tran-nguyen 87 california sociology forum vol. 7 k-pop fandoms through durkheim’s lens lani tran-nguyen department of sociology california state university, los angeles abstract applying emile durkheim’s ideas to modern-day k-pop fandoms provides insight into how classical sociological theories can still be found today. this theoretical framework explores how fandom culture, specifically through the lens of k-pop, showcases ideas from classic sociological theories. emile durkheim's ideas of solidarity, integration, rituals, and anomie connect to the concepts found in k-pop fandoms. organic solidarity is shown through the interdependence of different roles within a k-pop fandom to keep it alive, while mechanical solidarity is demonstrated through multiple factors, like internalizing idols’ values or creating black oceans, to further strengthen the well-being of the fandom and idols. k-pop fans utilize rituals, like fan chants or watching online entertainment programs, in order to foster this integration within their fandom. the connection k-pop fans have fostered turns into a solution to anomie, leading them further away from alienation. further research can provide a more in-depth analysis of how other classical theories can apply to newer fans of k-pop or other fandoms. imagine fans all over the world, from los angeles to seoul, tuning into the latest music video release from their favorite k-pop group even though it might be 2 am where they are located. k-pop has found its way to the top of western pop culture, scoring numerous records on music charts and selling out multiple stadiums for their concerts. the success of k-pop can be linked to various factors, especially the fans. fandom culture is not a new concept when it comes to popular culture, but k-pop fandoms, in particular, give a unique take on how these fandoms operate. these fandoms are seen as mini-societies because they have similar functions in how a society operates. studying society and how it operates can be best explained by the theories of emile durkheim. as one of the first french sociologists, durkheim’s ideology was heavily influenced by french society during the mid to late 1800s. considered the research | theoretical works | tran-nguyen 88 california sociology forum vol. 7 grandfather of sociology, durkheim influenced many in the field (coser 1977). durkheim focused on different aspects of society, specifically how individuals are incorporated into society, as well as anomie and functionalism. emile durkheim's ideas of solidarity, integration, rituals, and anomie connect to the concepts found in k-pop fandoms. researching these fandoms provides insight into how the fans of k-pop groups highlight classical theories in sociology. solidarity durkheim saw how individuals interacted in societies through two lenses: organic and mechanical solidarity. organic solidarity is when the social integration of a society develops out of interdependence, while mechanical solidarity is the opposite, where social cohesion develops from collective values and uniformity (coser 1977). to delve further into each concept, organic solidarity highlights how modern-day society works as we depend on specific roles people take on to keep society running. mechanical solidarity explains primitive societies where individuals are more alike, leading to a decrease in the division of labor. both ideas of solidarity can be found in k-pop fandoms. in fandoms, fans utilize different ways to show their admiration as they fall into the forms of participatory culture (jenkins 2013). fans adopt roles like fan editing or fan organizers who organize fan events in their local cities. in k-pop fandoms, there are roles western fandoms do not have. within k-pop, there are various roles a fan can take on, especially becoming a translator. due to content from k-pop idols and groups being in korean, bilingual fans have taken on the role of being a translator for their fandom. these roles create interdependence within the fandom as some fans might depend on the translator fans to convert the idol's content into one with english subtitles. translators, also known as fansubbers in the k-pop fandom, have significantly impacted the spread of korean content by minimizing the language barriers and allowing participation from fans beyond korea (aisyah and yun jin 2017). the opposite also holds true as western k-pop fans translate english content into korean for korean fans, alluding to the interdependence aspect. research | theoretical works | tran-nguyen 89 california sociology forum vol. 7 to further visualize this idea, bangtan translations has garnered over 1 million followers on both x, formerly known as twitter, and youtube (bangtansubs 2013). their website has teams of translators and subbers, all contributing to translating bts content with the intent of no profit (bangtansubs 2013). english-speaking fans utilize their services to keep up with bts and its content. their translations provide needed context or emotion for the message bts is trying to communicate, which cannot be fully captured by auto-translating services like google translate. the roles these fans take on stimulate and continue the functions of the western k-pop fandoms. to connect this back to durkheim, the interdependence on fansubbers emulates how kpop fandoms represent organic solidarity. organic solidarity depends on mutual reliance on each other in a society, which connects with the interdependence on fansubbers for western kpop fandoms. fans of k-pop fandoms cannot consume or engage with content without these fansubbers because of that language barrier. mechanical solidarity can also be found in k-pop fandoms because they are formed through fan loyalty and shared interest in a specific k-pop group. the emotional investment and action k-pop fans feel for their idols showcase this bond that varies in each fandom. for example, the bond differs between armys (the name given to bts fans) and bts compared to blinks (the name given to blackpink fans) and blackpink (kingo’riain 2020). this resembles the ideas of mechanical solidarity because these fans share a strong commitment to the community's well-being and collective values. fans in a specific fandom, such as the army, are all alike because of their collective love for bts. for mechanical solidarity to operate, individuals in a society are alike and hold similar values regarding their society, alluding to the ideas of army and bts. the collective values of army come from the members feeling like bts takes a place in their lives as role models, therefore connecting to experiences by internalizing the promoted values (cheriyah and hadi 2022). the social cohesion within the bts fandom depends on armys’ devotion to bts and their success and well-being, resembling durkheim’s ideas of mechanical solidarity. durkheim’s ideas of solidarity are seen through k-pop fandoms, explaining how research | theoretical works | tran-nguyen 90 california sociology forum vol. 7 fandoms represent how societies can operate. the underlying mechanisms of how k-pop fandoms operate also rely on the interactions between fans to integrate fans into the specific fandom. integration & rituals durkheim’s ideas of integration are seen throughout k-pop fandoms as newer fans interact with seasoned fans from a specific fandom. an element of integration refers to the interactions between group members (coser 1977). an example of integration is participation in rituals because it allows members to bind together while engaging in common activities (coser 1977). durkheim’s idea of rituals and its connection with integration can be applied to k-pop fans. within each fandom, the fans will engage in common activities that bond them even more with the fandom and idols they idolize. this idea can be applied to the fandom of the k-pop boy group seventeen. seventeen has created an online entertainment program that releases episodes weekly on youtube called “going seventeen.” carats (the name given to seventeen fans) engages with the program every week, highlighting how this online entertainment program increases artist loyalty (limic and limb 2023). this weekly routine that carats engages with represents how common activities can improve the integration of a member in that group. “going seventeen” has attracted fans and non-fans to watch the weekly program, resulting in the program consistently being on the “trending” section on youtube. carats and cubics (fans of only going seventeen) all engage in the same ritual every week in order to bring them closer to being active fans of seventeen (limic and limb 2023). this ritual of watching “going seventeen” fosters this integration of making newer fans become full-time carats because of their constant exposure to seventeen through the program and having the same routine as many other carats. when newer fans engage with the program, it gives them the feeling of community because they have the same routine as full-time carats. another ritual that k-pop fans engage in is fan chants. fan chants refer to a scripted adlib version of the songs k-pop fans sing along to while the idol or group performs a certain song. fan research | theoretical works | tran-nguyen 91 california sociology forum vol. 7 chants are usually planned so fans can say the key lyrics or members’ names for future performances. as the fans engage with this ritual at the idols’ performances, it enhances their fan experiences and the bonds they have with their idol. an example of an iconic fan chant fostering this fan bond and energy would be during the 2024 coachella ateez performance. they performed a song called “guerrilla,” which contained a fan chant during the outro of the song. all the members sang the lyrics “the guerrillas” while the fans screamed the response lyrics, “break the wall.” the fans during this song did the fan chant at such a high volume that it was heard from other stages during that time (koreaboo 2024). the energy from the fan chant did not go unrecognized, showcasing how atiny (the name given to ateez fans) reinforced their fan bond with ateez while also gaining new fans in the process. a final example of rituals performed by k-pop fans within their fandoms would be the use of lightsticks. with each generation of k-pop, fans have shown different ways to show support for their favorite idol group. the first generation of k-pop, which consisted of the 1990s idol groups, did not have lightsticks but other items fans utilized, like colored raincoats or balloons with their flashlight (anderson 2019). in recent years, fans have used lightsticks to show the idol they are supporting them in the crowd of other fans. lightsticks are light-up wands catered to a particular k-pop idol or group that fans wave around during live performances or concerts. the trend of utilizing colored balloons or lightsticks stemmed from how each fandom was assigned specific colors distinguishable from other fandoms (anderson 2019). this can be shown through how seventeen’s official colors are rose quartz and serenity compared to twice’s, another wellknown k-pop girl group, colors apricot and neon magenta (kprofiles 2017). lightsticks have become a well-known ritual in k-pop fandoms because of how fans have utilized them for specific events. “lightstick oceans” are used by fans to show the idols that the fans are showing support for them (anderson 2019). during live performance shows like sbs inkigayo or dream concert, multiple idol groups perform; therefore, fans use the lightsticks to display the idol group they are supporting. as fans participate in research | theoretical works | tran-nguyen 92 california sociology forum vol. 7 this lightstick ritual, they feel a sense of solidarity with the idol as they show support in the crowd. this ritual also creates a sense of unity in the fandom as they all use the lightstick similarly and distinguish themselves from other fandoms. the idea of these rituals can also be tied to mechanical solidarity as these fans use these rituals to collectively promote the betterment of their community. the fans performing these rituals consistently engage with their idol group to fully distinguish themselves from different fandoms. fans will use their rituals to further strengthen their loyalty to the idol group. lightsticks have intensified fans' loyalty to a certain group by engaging with black oceans. “black oceans” are when k-pop fans purposefully turn off their lightstick to engage in the act of boycotting the idol group performing, leaving the entire audience in the dark (anderson 2019). these black oceans happen when k-pop fans dispute over things like record sales or popularity. black oceans have happened to many well-known artists today, like girl generation and bts. the event that coined the term black ocean was when girl’s generation, also known as snsd, received an entire stadium of fans turning off their lightstick during their 10-minute performance. prior to this event, girl’s generation was receiving hate from fans of boy idol groups because they were consistently pictured next to male idols for photoshoots or advertisements. while already gaining an enormous amount of anti-fans, during the 2008 dream concert, elfs (the name given to super junior fans) and sones (the name given to girl’s generation fans) engaged in a physical altercation, resulting in multiple anti-fans of girl’s generation to shut off their lightsticks during their performance (beboss tv 2020). this act of fans engaging in fan wars and collectively doing an action against a particular group emulates durkheim’s ideas of mechanical solidarity. referring back to mechanical solidarity, fans engaging in fan wars through acts like black oceans shows how fans strengthen their loyalty to a group. utilizing the rituals, like the black ocean, has fans engage in activities that bond fans together over a common “enemy,” in this case, a rival k-pop group or idol. this increases the fans’ bond with the group and with other members of the fandom. fans utilizing black oceans creates a space for fans research | theoretical works | tran-nguyen 93 california sociology forum vol. 7 to share a strong commitment to the fandom’s wellbeing. when considering rituals and solidarity, k-pop and integrating into specific fandoms is seen as a modern-day solution to anomie. anomie anomie refers to the condition that occurs in the social structure that disrupts that society's previous norms and values (coser 1977). members of a society that has experienced anomie are left without moral direction in their lives, leading to a sense of loneliness and disconnection (coser 1977). through technological advances and harsh labor markets, people now face what durkheim explained in the 19th century. modern society has increased feelings of disconnection and loneliness as it becomes more visible in people’s everyday lives. anomie presents itself in the rise of mental health crises or the alienation from physical society through the means of digital spaces. k-pop and its fandoms can be seen as a unique solution to these feelings of alienation or loneliness. fans use k-pop to combat the struggles of everyday life while simultaneously giving them a purpose and goal. k-pop fandoms hold space for the fans to engage with each other and form a sense of belonging and bonding. according to mohd jenol and ahmad pazil (2020), the meaning of being a k-pop fan transcends the average fan experience. fans use k-pop as a form of escapism because of how it allows their fans to escape “unwanted social realities” (mohd jenol and ahmad pazil 2020). by engaging in fan activities, like the rituals mentioned above, fans create a space where they can connect and belong. due to the sheer amount of content put out by the idols, escapism is an easy practice fans do in order to steer away from anomie. even though digital spaces have created a sense of alienation because of the lack of physical contact with others, they can also be seen as a mode in which fans escape anomie. fans utilize online forums and content from their idol groups to feel a sense of connection. the content that comes with k-pop and its specific idol groups allows fans to familiarize themselves with the idols (yoon and alexandra 2024). fans have claimed that k-pop and its fandoms differ from western celebrities because you feel a connection with the idol through the amount of content they research | theoretical works | tran-nguyen 94 california sociology forum vol. 7 consume and the personalities the idols show in their content (yoon and alexandra 2024). k-pop idols give their fandoms a different way of approaching the celebrity-fan relationship. the relationship between fan and idol is shown to be considered a parasocial relationship. this parasocial relationship has had negative connotations when it comes to the relationship between celebrity and fan, but in regard to k-pop fandoms, it can be used for good. the participants in mohd jenol and ahmad pazil’s (2020) study showed how fans found motivation from the words of their idols through speeches or songs to work towards a better life and goal. the parasocial relationship held between the idol and the fan encourages the fan to look up to the idol as a role model (mohd jenol and ahmad pazil 2020). parasocial relationships have been found to help fans find motivation and stability in their lives due to their idols (mohd jenol and ahmad pazil 2020). parasocial relationships give fans a purpose for living and stabilization of their hectic everyday lives. the fans combat anomie by engaging in these parasocial relationships, further helping them with feelings of alienation or disconnection. digital spaces also allow fans to connect with others worldwide. online social media platforms like x or instagram provide fans with a way to communicate with those not residing in their area. fans form connections and interpersonal bonds that create a mini-community among themselves (malik and haidar 2020). fans also use these spaces to validate their existence as fans within their fandom (abd-rahim 2019). digital spaces like social media platforms give fans a space to share their common interests with people who share the same interests, combating feelings of alienation. to reflect on my personal life, i have made many connections through being a fan of k-pop. the fandoms i was in allowed me to gain close relationships with people worldwide. being in a certain fandom led me to go to concerts or join online fan forums, giving me a space to communicate with fans in the same fandom. i met one of my closest friends, whom i cherish dearly, on x. we have known each other for over 5 years, and without her being in the same fandom, i would have never connected with her. this relationship made me reflect on how anomie was at an all-time high during the pandemic. to combat research | theoretical works | tran-nguyen 95 california sociology forum vol. 7 anomie, i was able to connect with friends through these online forums or social media. these digital spaces gave us a sense of connection when the pandemic isolated us in our homes. during times like the pandemic, anomie can overwhelm members of a society; therefore, k-pop and being in its different fandoms helped me find a sense of belonging. my life changed in a very sudden way, and the connections i had with my online friends helped stabilize me. reflecting on durkheim’s ideas, being a part of k-pop fandoms can help resist anomie. as fans engage with their fandom through rituals or parasocial relationships, they continue to give themselves a way to escape the disconnection they feel in their everyday lives. fans of k-pop are given connection and purpose through their idols or groups they look up to. durkheim delves into how anomie can be used as an index for the types of suicide that may happen in a society (coser 1977). being part of k-pop fandoms can give fans a purpose in their lives; therefore, further research can apply this as a modern solution to anomie and rates of suicide. to conclude, durkheim’s ideas of solidarity, rituals, and anomie can be applied to k-pop fandoms and how they operate. organic solidarity can be found in how the interdependence on translators of korean content keeps the fandoms who do not speak korean alive. this connects with how organic societies rely on mutual dependence, while mechanical solidarity operates in the opposite form. mechanical solidarity in k-pop fandoms is shown through how fans engage in certain acts, like internalizing idols’ values or black oceans, to further strengthen the commitment to the well-being of the fandom and idols. rituals, like using lightsticks or fan chants, are also used to increase the connection of being a part of the fandom. this sense of connection gives fans a solution to anomie. being a part of a k-pop fandom gives fans a purpose and allows fans to steer away from alienation. applying durkheim’s ideas to modern-day k-pop fandoms provides insight into how classical sociological theories can still be found today. further research can provide a more in-depth analysis of how these can apply to newer fans of k-pop or other fandoms such as swifties (the name given to taylor swift fans). research | theoretical works | tran-nguyen 96 california sociology forum vol. 7 references abd-rahim, atiqah. 2019. “online fandom: social identity and social hierarchy of hallyu fans.” journal for undergraduate ethnography 9(1):65–81. doi: https://doi.org/10.15273/jue.v9i1.8885. aisyah, aznur, and nam yun jin. 2017. “k-pop v fansubs, v live and naver dictionary: fansubbers’ synergy in minimising language barriers.” 3l the southeast asian journal of english language studies 23(4):112–27. doi: https://doi.org/10.17576/3l-20172304-09. anderson, sage. 2019. “how lightsticks became a must-have item for k-pop fans.” mashable. https://mashable.com/article/k-pop-lightsticksexplained. bangtansubs. 2013. bts-trans/bangtansubs. https://www.bangtansubs.com/. beboss tv. 2020. “what is black ocean and why kpop idols fear it?” youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_tlur-d72e. cheriyah, yayah, and amanda rochima hadi. 2022. “indonesian k-pop fans: the relationship between army-bts identity and their demographic.” journal of social studies (jss) 18(2):249–64. doi: 10.21831/jss.v18i2.51425. coser, lewis a. 1977. masters of sociological thought. san diego: harcourt college pub. jenkins, henry. 2013. textual poachers: television fans and participatory culture. london: routledge. king-o’riain, rebecca chiyoko. 2020. “‘they were having so much fun, so genuinely . . .’: k-pop fan online affect and corroborated authenticity.” new media & society 23(9):2820–38. doi: 10.1177/1461444820941194. koreaboo. 2024. “ateez crowd at 2024 coachella was so loud that they were heard from other stages.” koreaboo. https://www.koreaboo.com/news/ateez-crowd-2024-coachella-soloud-stages/. kprofiles. 2017. “kpop official fan club names and fan colors.” kpop profiles. https://kprofiles.com/kpop-official-fanclub-names-fancolors/. limic, sofija, and seong-joon limb. 2023. “self-produced k-pop web entertainment program production components and their effect on global audience’s program satisfaction and artist loyalty— focusing on ‘going seventeen.’” sage open 13(4). doi: 10.1177/21582440231218134. malik, zunera, and sham haidar. 2020. “online community development through social interaction — k-pop stan twitter as a community of practice.” interactive learning environments 31(2):1–19. doi: 10.1080/10494820.2020.1805773. research | theoretical works | tran-nguyen 97 california sociology forum vol. 7 mohd jenol, nur ayuni, and nur hafeeza ahmad pazil. 2020. “escapism and motivation: understanding k-pop fans well-being and identity.” malaysian journal of society and space 16(4). doi: 10.17576/geo-2020-1604-25. yoon, kyong, and camila alexandra. 2024. “evolving yet contentious transcultural fanscapes: peruvian fans’ accounts of k-pop and its fandoms.” media, culture & society 46(8):1674–91. doi: 10.1177/01634437241270954. lani tran-nguyen (she/her) is a csula first-generation graduate student at cal state la. lani will be graduating with her ma in sociology in may 2026. her research interests include popular culture, fandom, subculture, korean pop culture, globalization, and cultural exchange. recently, she presented at psa 2025 about k-pop cover dancers and their role in the globalization of korean culture and k-pop. she is passionate about integrating and researching pop culture in academia. lani thanks and is grateful to csf for this publishing opportunity. k-pop fandoms through durkheim’s lens lani tran-nguyen research | articles | moran 28 california sociology forum vol. 6 colorism and its effects on self perception marcia b. moran department of sociology california state university, los angeles “who taught you, please, who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? who taught you to hate the color of your skin? to such extent you bleach, to get like the white man. who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? who taught you to hate your own kind? who taught you to hate the race that you belong to so much so that you don’t want to be around each other? no. before you come asking mr. muhammad does he teach hate, you should ask yourself who taught you to hate being what god made you.” malcolm x introduction i was born with brown skin. throughout my life, i have experienced people both inside and outside my community perceive me differently because of my skin tone. within my community, nicknames such as “india,” “morenita,” or “negrita” were shared. i was always advised not to be in the sun for long periods, and i would often see lightning and bleaching lotions in my local markets in case we got “too” dark. outside of my community, i often felt ostracized because of my skin, especially in my early years in school. from getting picked last for group projects, getting called derogatory names, and constantly getting confronted by others with lighter skin and by some with similar skin tones as me as a way of obtaining validation or compensating for similar issues i was enduring. when trying to find comfort in my favorite movies or tv shows, i did not see myself in the characters i enjoyed watching. instead, i longed to become them because i wished my skin looked lighter like theirs so i could feel seen, appreciated, and respected by those around me. if i ever did see a character with similar or darker skin tones as me, they were often depicted stereotypically or unfavorably, which usually resulted in further comments or comparisons from others. as a result of these experiences, my self-esteem began to decline over the years, and i developed severe anxieties regarding my research | articles | moran 29 california sociology forum vol. 6 appearance and, precisely, my skin tone. i went through phases of attempting to change my appearance to look a certain way that might lessen the anxiety and insecurity. straightening my thick, wavy hair every morning, using makeup that was shades lighter than my actual skin tone, using lighting lotions on my elbows and shoulders, attempting to wear colored contacts, and depriving myself of basking in the sun that would always bring me comfort and reassurance. as time passed, i attempted to overcome these insecurities, but they soon resurfaced as i began my higher education journey. despite attending a community college and university with students from various backgrounds, many of whom were first-generation college students like myself, i quickly realized how much the university relied on students of color to promote diversity to avoid assumptions of not being an inclusive institution and to retain high enrollment rates. in theory, this is an attempt to encourage change and inclusivity. in reality, campus life as a student of color consisted of many obstacles such as heavy police presence, little access to student resources, and microaggressions from campus administration. those further from that image are seen as infiltrators or tokenized students who are questioned about how they were accepted into the institution or if they have the potential to obtain a higher education. in many cases like mine, you were asked both of those things. constantly. i’ve come to understand that all these years, i was experiencing acts of colorism. colorism is a subcategory of social concepts such as race, racism, and colonization (dixon and telles 2017). these concepts brought decades of violence and oppression amongst indigenous and enslaved peoples, which ultimately, developed a complex form of social stratification based on one’s proximity to those with euro-centric features, specifically, lighter skin tones. this was established to ensure those within that proximity remain on top of the social ladder and reinforce oppressive concepts they uphold at macro and micro levels amongst people of color. it is crucial to recognize that colorism goes beyond influencing the individual’s perceptions of those with darker skin tones and how they may internalize these perceptions. colorism is embedded in various facets of social institutions that contribute to many systemic inequities, particularly in areas such as popular media, education, research | articles | moran 30 california sociology forum vol. 6 employment, and the criminal justice system. in this article, i discuss the relationship between colorism and the self-perception of people of color. through an extensive literature review of interdisciplinary scholarship and semistructured interviews, findings suggest that colorism holds a strong societal influence that can affect the self-perception of people of color in harmful and distorted forms that often intersect with other identity factors. distorted self-perceptions can foster a range of negative views of oneself as well as receiving harmful attitudes and stigma from those inside and outside their community while simultaneously enduring larger systemic oppressions. analysis of interviews with participants who identified as people of color reveals different perspectives of colorism, shows how media and popular culture influence colorist ideals, and calls for more awareness of the effects of colorism. literature review concepts of colorism to fully understand the goals and effects of colorism, it is essential to distinguish it from related social constructs such as race and racism and understand how these constructs work simultaneously to sustain the preference for lighter skin tones within societies. race is a social construct that categorizes people into groups based on physical appearance, such as skin color, hair texture, and facial features. these categories are often associated with specific geographic regions or populations. race is not a biological or genetic distinction but a product of social and historical factors. consequently, racism is a belief system constructed to uphold the ideology of race by asserting the superiority of one racial group over others. this creates discriminatory behaviors, policies, and practices based on these beliefs and can be implemented at individual, institutional, and systemic levels that eventually lead to the development of colorism, which helps maintain racialized power and inequality. although racism and colorism create structures of stratification (keister and southgate 2022), concepts of race vary within other regions–and what is considered a distinct race–can differ based on historical and cultural contexts. in the west, non-white persons tend to be ranked depending on their skin tone to justify if they research | articles | moran 31 california sociology forum vol. 6 have the right to certain privileges or constant disadvantages. dixon and telles (2017:406) state that in the u.s., colonialism permitted one’s proximity to whiteness in terms of ideology, culture, ancestry, and phenotype to determine who has access to social and economic privileges and opportunities. slavery was a phenomenon justified by a colonial system that claimed whiteness to be superior, and anything other than it was deemed immoral and inferior. according to mathews and johnson (2015), skin tone plays a vital role in history and how it influences race relations in america. the legacy of slavery continues to have detrimental effects, and its harmful ideals are embedded in african american and afro-latine communities. specifically, it hindered mental health, beauty standards, social and economic status, and the way relationships are formed within communities, especially for black women. inhumane levels of sexual abuse, advancements, and forced relations made by white slave owners with black women led to generations of people with lighter skin tones known as “mulattos” who were often granted certain privileges due to their lighter complexions (mathews and johnson 2015:252), such as working in the homes of slave owners, being able to obtain an education, and possessing certain rights and materials. these privileges created the notion that having a lighter complexion made one desirable, seen as pure, attractive, gentle, and worthy of privilege, while people with darker complexions remained at a constant disadvantage as they were stereotyped as primitive, unintelligent, violent, and overall, less than. this influence is embedded throughout american society in the form of colorism; its legacy is still seen throughout various social issues that impact minority groups, from employment, education, media representation, health care, gentrification, immigration, police brutality, and incarceration rates. dixon and telles (2017) show how views on skin tone in other regions hold an emphasis on ideals that trace back to concepts of colorism that are more than racial categories as seen within the u.s. these different views nonetheless create a globalized preference for lighter skin tones, making it a status symbol in many societies. east asia is an example of another region’s skin color preference, where whiteness is heavily associated with status and positive aesthetics. these preferences began with those with higher research | articles | moran 32 california sociology forum vol. 6 nobility flaunting their fair complexions from being indoors while lower-class people worked in the sun for long hours in which their tanned skin reflected their status. this led to fair skin as a highstatus indicator (2017:412) and lighter-skinned women being seen as more feminine and pure. the association with lighter skin and positive attributes led to the skin-bleaching industry, a globalized phenomenon in recent decades that further encourages lightening one’s skin. due to globalization and better access to media outlets, it is widely accepted and accessible for those seeking a lighter complexion with the commodification of skin bleaching (2017:411). there has become a multi-billion-dollar industry that preys on those seeking ways to lighten their skin through makeup, soaps, lotions, and even cosmetic procedures. the need for one to lighten their skin is rooted in the desire to assimilate to the social norms of those in power and to appear by their standards of beauty, which are constantly promoted and advertised in popular media. these standards and norms center proximity to whiteness and ideologies of white supremacy (2017:412) since consumers of the skinbleaching industry primarily consist of women from colonized regions, and the majority of them have relatively darker skin tones. latin america shares historical similarities with the u.s. (2017:409), given that european colonizers invaded and forced their ideologies on indigenous communities within the americas. this was accomplished through the implementation of veritable caste systems; or skin tone hierarchies that put black and indigenous peoples at the bottom and white colonizers and their mixed counterparts at the top with more power and privilege (telles and dixon 2017). however, most of latin america did not have direct or defined concepts of race, unlike the u.s. along with black, indigenous, and white people reproducing within their different racial categories, it blurred racial boundaries. it promoted those to mix with others (2017:409) as a way to “embrace their race mixture (mestizaje) as a way to distinguish themselves from the united states and other explicitly racist societies and proclaim they were united and color-blind societies.” although most of latin america claims not to hold racist ideologies within their regions (2017:409), colorism is central to research | articles | moran 33 california sociology forum vol. 6 distinguishing people based on their skin tone and varies within national and class contexts. effects on self-perception jenneil charles (2021) investigates how colorism affects afro-latinx persons within latin america, specifically brazil, mexico, and puerto rico. charles uses bronfenbrenner’s (1977) social-ecological model as a framework to conduct their literature review and explore how colorism affects afro-latinx persons in various aspects of life, such as their family, professional, and academic lives and how they are perceived within their communities. as mentioned earlier, the concepts of colorism vary within different regions. within latin america, specific historical periods contribute to how colorism is implemented in society today. from the european conquest and colonization to the postcolonial era, post-emancipation era, and post-independence era, all these historical periods, along with the development of racial bias, have created the mechanism of colorism but in a region that is one of the most ethnically diverse in the world due to the inter-mixing of various groups of people. this mixing led to the “browning” of latin america, consisting of the majority skin tone within most regions. this created a norm of people having pride in their diverse ethnicities. however, charles (2021:9) states that due to this racial fluidity, racial identification is usually attributed to phenotype versus the individual’s actual ethnic and racial heritage within latin america. charles’ findings (2021:17) show that societal factors or “macrosystem factors” such as laws, cultural beliefs, and societal values, along with historical periods, allowed for colorism to be embedded within latin american society and deeply ingrained within its peoples’ mindsets. surveys conducted on afro-latinx individuals show low levels of educational attainment that can affect their occupational choices, as well as their socioeconomic status, and finally, colorism can impact how those with darker complexions are raised and thought to navigate within their societies. through a protective measure called “racial socialization,” (2021:28) people of color teach each other how to deal with encounters with racism and other forms of discrimination, such as colorism; however, those who are not research | articles | moran 34 california sociology forum vol. 6 trained in these protective measures have higher chances of enduring poor mental health issues as well as have less attachment with their community. researchers have also studied how skin tone discrimination impacts the psychological well-being of african american women (wilson, massey, smith, and soloman 2021:1). by explaining the interconnected set of propositions that contribute to the occurrence of colorism and where these theories originate from, as well as reviewing the findings of previous research studies, researchers (2021:2) hypothesize that aspects of colorism may or may not affect the self of esteem and selfperception of african american women. analysis of 25 interviews with non-white women between the ages of 18-50 found low scores regarding self-esteem. several participants expressed negative experiences with colorism and claimed the need to address the issue. when asked about their personal experiences with colorism, one person stated, “i think colorism affects brown and dark skin women the most because we’ve been trained for many years to think that darker skin is not beautiful.” another added, “i think colorism affects african/black american women the most. we quickly judge each other instead of lifting each other up.” most participants agreed that media outlets lack representation of darker skin tones, which reinforces colorism. wilson et al. (2015:5) also found similar themes between skin tone bias within social settings such as school and work. kiang, espino-pérez, and stein (2020) address how skin tone bias relates to racial prejudice and how latinx youth and other minority groups are more likely to experience this form of discrimination. the authors extensively study how the effects of colorism continue to impact latinx youth while adjusting to us society in times where xenophobia and racism are more prevalent due to high immigration rates within the us. these experiences may result in adverse outcomes regarding the development of latinx youth that are directly associated with skin tone discrimination (2020:2047). after creating a questionnaire for a sample of 175 adolescents, results showed high depressive issues and participants showing little importance in their academic studies. researchers describe it as “foreigner objectification,” (2020:2055) which coincides with lower self-esteem levels. research | articles | moran 35 california sociology forum vol. 6 methods qualitative interviews are well-suited for exploring subjective experiences and gathering in-depth insights into the impact of colorism on self-perception. semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions allowed participants to share their perspectives and personal experiences. the target population for this research was individuals who self-identified as people of color. the sampling strategy involved purposeful sampling, aiming to select individuals who could provide diverse perspectives on colorism and self-perception. although only five interviews were conducted, the participant demographics comprised three women, one man, and one non-binary individual. two participants identified as latina/x, two participants identified as bi-racial with one being asian and black and the other indigenous and white while the fifth participant preferred not to state their race. all five participants were asked several in-depth questions to capture various experiences and opinions regarding colorism within the population of interest. data was collected through face-to-face or virtual interviews, depending on the availability and preferences of the participants. the interviews were audio-recorded (with consent) to ensure accurate documentation of participants’ responses. the data analysis process involved several steps. the audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed and then subjected to thematic analysis, where common themes, patterns, and codes were identified. the codes that emerged during the coding process included “colorist experiences,” “beauty standards,” “social interactions,” “media influence,” and “intersectionality.” in terms of strengths and limitations, the qualitative interview method allowed for nuanced insights into participants’ experiences with colorism and self-perception. it provided an opportunity to explore personal narratives and emotions. however, the findings are subjective and specific to the participants interviewed, limiting the generalizability of the results. additionally, relying on self-reporting may introduce multiple biases. compared to other methods, qualitative interviews offer a deep understanding of individuals’ experiences and perspectives, providing rich qualitative data. in contrast, other methods such as surveys may provide broader quantitative data research | articles | moran 36 california sociology forum vol. 6 but may need more depth and contextual understanding than what qualitative interviews offer. my positionality as a researcher, including my background, experiences, and biases, could have influenced the research process and interpretation of data. however, my reflexivity and self-awareness of positionality were crucial in acknowledging and managing potential biases. this helped ensure that participants’ voices were prioritized and their experiences were represented authentically in the analysis and reporting of the findings. lastly, ethical considerations were paramount throughout the research process. informed consent was obtained from all participants, ensuring they understood their participation’s purpose, risks, and benefits. confidentiality and anonymity were maintained by using pseudonyms and securely storing the data. participants were informed of their rights to withdraw from the study at any time without consequences. pseudonyms are used throughout this text. findings personal experiences and self-perception many of the participants shared personal experiences of encountering colorism, whether by people in their families or by others inside and outside of their community. participants highlighted instances where they were subjected to biases and negative associations with their skin color or those who were deemed darker. one example of these instances is a participant recalling a family member comparing them to their sibling: they would always compliment my sister for being so fair-skinned but proceed to tell me “if you weren’t in the sun too much, maybe you’ll look just as pretty as your sister” and that only made me feel worse about my looks. this participant along with the other four expressed to some degree that specific comments, remarks, and experiences regarding their skin tone had distorted how they perceived themselves, with participants reporting feelings of self-doubt and lowered self-esteem because of colorist attitudes and standards. another participant recalled their experience, research | articles | moran 37 california sociology forum vol. 6 compared to my family members, i have the darkest skin. i got it from my dad, who’s indigenous, but i grew up around a family who was lighter-skinned, which was hard. i would get called names like india a lot, which wasn’t seen as a good thing. it made me hate my skin over time. i think i barely started to love myself again only a few years ago, so it’s been a journey. although many of the participants expressed colorist remarks from family members and those within their community, they also recalled instances where those outside their community expressed colorist views as well. one interviewee shared how their white teacher would project stereotypes onto them frequently: i had this teacher and she said that if we didn’t do well in that class we would end up like a vendor, illegally selling oranges and flowers. she would only say this to kids who were latino and in front of the whole class and it would lead the other kids to call me names like “beaner vendor” and it was all because of the nasty remarks that she just had to say. racial stereotypes such as associating latinos with “unskilled” labor along with other racialized stereotypes allow for colorist attitudes to continue amongst people of color until it is normalized and seen as harmless to comment, even amongst students such as the participant at the time. with participants experiencing negative emotions from the comments and associations from others, they also expressed feeling an immense pressure to change their appearance to conform to beauty standards and avoid further ridicule. one participant recalled multiple encounters with their filipino grandmother, who would encourage them to use skin-bleaching products: “sometimes they’ll suggest to me, ‘oh, do you want stuff for your skin? it’ll brighten and help your skin.’ even though it wouldn’t necessarily treat my skin issues, it just bleaches my skin; it didn’t make me feel better about myself either.” the instance of an individual feeling pressured to use bleaching products reflects the ingrained association of whiteness with research | articles | moran 38 california sociology forum vol. 6 goodness that many people of color continue to uphold for generations despite the negative effects it can inflict on those with darker skin tones. another participant mentioned, those comments about my skin affected me and led me to feel ugly and self-conscious over time. i remember when i was in middle school, i was told that i was too dark to be pretty. after that, i wore hoodies every day to avoid getting darker in the sun, and i would try to straighten my hair because i have curly hair…i remember feeling like i was brought down upon because i looked a certain way, and it made me feel like i “looked too latina,” and it made me feel like really disgusted with myself and even with my culture. although the participant mentioned wanting to change their hair along with avoiding the sun, it is common for people of color to feel additional pressure to adjust other aspects of their physical appearance such as hair texture, facial structure, and even body type to further conform to beauty standards. this further demonstrates how colorism is considered a subcategory of racism, which categorizes people into groups based on physical appearance. in sum, all five participants expressed at different levels that colorism has contributed to how they perceive themselves in often negative forms that can lead to feeling pressured to change their appearance. many shared that it is still an ongoing process to overcome these emotions. intersectionality with other identities interviews highlighted the intersectional nature of colorism, which consisted of analyzing the social and political aspects that contribute to a person’s identity and can determine one’s inequalities and privileges such as gender, socioeconomic status, and culture. participants noted that the impact of colorism can vary across different ethnic groups and communities and is emphasized when combined with other forms of discrimination, leading to additional insecurities and inequalities. one participant mentions that one’s socioeconomic status can merge with colorism: i think [colorism] can intersect because when it comes down to the way people are treated in this research | articles | moran 39 california sociology forum vol. 6 country, it’s usually governed by money... it’s not an accident that people with the lowest socioeconomic status have darker skin complexions. it doesn’t matter if you are of low income; they’ll still try to go buy bleaching whitening creams. this participant emphasizes that in their experience, they notice women often face the most pressures to abide by beauty standards, thus making them susceptible to skin tone insecurities and becoming the biggest consumers of bleaching products. it is also important to note what the participant stated regarding those who fall below the poverty line tend to be people of color. this statement reflects how people of color have historically endured not only poverty but also environmental racism, systematic racism, imperialism, colonialism, and countless acts of violence and genocide that often go unrecognized to continue these cruel acts amongst communities of color in the name of white supremacy. another participant discussed the intersectionality between colorism and a person’s sexual and gender identity. they expressed their experiences as a non-binary individual that although queerness is slowly being represented and becoming acceptable in many societies, queer people of color continue to struggle with being represented along with facing continuous acts of discrimination, stigmas, and violence. “you already get looked at differently if you’re brown or black or are just not white presenting, but if you’re also queer, you also deal with things like homophobia and transphobia.” they proceed by mentioning, you don’t really see that much queer or trans representation from people of color in the media; it usually focuses on white, cis-gendered forms of queerness. that can make you feel like an outcast within outcasts or like you still need to hide your identity even though you see more representation. having a non-binary participant highlight the intersections of being a person of color and identifying with the lgbtq+ community was an informative and insightful experience given that the unique experiences of those within this community are often disregarded and erased. analyzing the multifaceted aspects that create the unique identities of people of color demonstrates research | articles | moran 40 california sociology forum vol. 6 the importance of including intersectionality in research regarding colorism. intersectionality is a crucial sociological framework that allows one to form an understanding of what contributes to the forms of oppression one may endure while simultaneously observing the levels of privileges one may obtain from one’s identity. media and widespread cultural influence participants recognized the role of media and popular culture in emphasizing colorist attitudes and beauty standards. they pointed out examples where the press portrayed lighter skin tones as the epitome of beauty, reinforcing societal biases. when discussing the music industry, a participant gave one example: i noticed that even though mostly black artists pioneered a lot of music genres, it is usually stolen or copied by other artists like elvis. and if an artist of color does get fame or recognition, they are or are encouraged to have a lighter complexion. artists with lighter skin usually skyrocket into fame when they come out with hits. but then you have just as equally talented black artists with darker complexions; they don’t get the same praise or fame. artists of color often have talent undermined while simultaneously having their creative ideas stolen and rebranded by white artists to be more palatable to societal norms that essentially abide by standards of white supremacy. such as the example they gave of elvis presley, who sought out the talent of black artists who pioneered the rock and roll genre and essentially imitated their work to gain fame and wealth while becoming the face of the genre he appropriated like many artists to come. when discussing other forms of popular media, participants would recall many instances where “i remember wanting to look a certain way other than how i looked because all i saw in magazines and tv were skinny white women. i wanted to be like hannah montana and be able to switch up my appearance.” another participant also recalled, “in hispanic or latino media, like soap operas, the protagonists were always white-passing latinos. but characters who look like me? they research | articles | moran 41 california sociology forum vol. 6 were always servants, farmers, or villains. anyone with dark skin like mine was always shown negatively.” one participant emphasized the need for better representation and diversity to challenge colorism and promote a more inclusive perception of beauty: when you start bringing on actors or actresses of color and stuff and putting them in these positions, these beautified positions…i think that is going to help combat colorism because people will start to see that they’re represented and that having a darker complexion is okay. an example a different participant gave was when they discussed the impact of the remake of the little mermaid (2023) on children. they state, i think it’s great because you have representation for children of color who don’t see themselves in media; they see themselves in this person, and then they don’t have to think of the notion of “oh, i wish i can be them or i don’t see myself in disney princesses” you know? a second participant also mentioned the impact of the remake of the disney film; they stated, we saw a lot of people mad about ariel being a black woman. but i’m sure a lot of little black girls finally saw themselves in this new version of ariel, and it challenged the status quo. it allowed girlies to be seen. call for education and awareness the various themes that emerged from interviewing these five participants emphasized the need for education and awareness to address colorism effectively to eliminate colorist ideals within communities of color. although participants expressed that the representation of different skin tones is important, it does not fully combat colorist ideologies that continue to affect people of color. they highlighted the importance of teaching about colorism and its impact from an early age, both within families and educational institutions. they also expressed the importance of creating platforms for open discussions and promoting positive role research | articles | moran 42 california sociology forum vol. 6 models of different skin tones to challenge colorist norms. in an article written by marilyn grell-brisk (2022:242), the debate arises surrounding the black lives matter movement becoming a phenomenon that allows for discussion and actions against acts of police brutality and the systems of racial capitalism to reject the systems and concepts that promote anti-blackness which negatively affects african american communities and other communities of color. to be able to define important definitions such as anti-blackness allows us to adequately address the social systems that directly promote racist concepts onto social institutions and norms that directly affect those in black communities. to support this compelling argument, grell-brisk (2022:244) created an analytical framework to discuss levels of world systems that produce three forms of inequality within societies: world system analysis, anti-blackness, and coloniality. as the author (2022:252) further implies, the structural location of antiblackness informs the disposability that is levied against black people across the globe. this coloniality embedded within the world-system structures means that disposability is at the structural level too, thinking in terms of disposability provides a way to organize and resist antiblackness across borders and through new logics of solidarity. forms of resistance towards oppressive racial ideologies are necessary to counter this coloniality and may offer insight into the societal structures that are rooted in racist ideologies and cause different levels of inequality, such as police brutality, which the black lives matter movement highlights. these movements can be a starting point for many to hold meaningful discussions surrounding the roots of these oppressive systems including aspects of colorism such as anti-blackness, which can begin restorative transformations. discussion & conclusion although the five participants do not encompass the experiences of all people of color, their specific findings demonstrate how detrimental the effects of colorism can be on a person of color’s self-perception including how it intersects with research | articles | moran 43 california sociology forum vol. 6 other factors of one’s identity, and how colorist views hold widespread influence around various cultures. the key findings of this research provide compelling evidence that colorism can significantly impact self-perception among people of color, revealing the pervasive influence of colorist attitudes and standards on beauty. this influence can lead to distorted selfperception, and lowered self-esteem, ultimately affecting social interactions, access to opportunities, and higher levels of discrimination within people of color and in their communities. the intersectionality of colorism with other aspects of identity further adds to its impact, highlighting the need for further education, awareness, and media representation to challenge colorist norms and promote inclusive environments that celebrate the diversity of skin tones and foster self-acceptance. in addition to psychological consequences, colorism can manifest in systemic inequalities, perpetuating disparities in areas such as education, popular media, employment, incarceration rates, and healthcare among people of color. these structural imbalances create a cycle of disadvantage, where individuals facing colorist biases endure not only internal struggles but also external challenges that limit their opportunities and overall well-being. consequently, addressing colorism requires a multifaceted approach that prioritizes the voices of those impacted, while combining individual empowerment with broader societal changes to dismantle this internal form of oppression among people of color. by examining previous literature and personal experiences, beauty standards, social interactions, and the intersectionality of colorism, this study reveals the urgent need for reform. future research can expand our understanding of the longitudinal effects of colorism, its cross-cultural variations, and the efficacy of interventions. addressing colorism requires broad societal changes, including exploring educational programs’ effectiveness at challenging colorism, promoting self-acceptance, community-driven initiatives, and giving those facing this issue first-hand a platform to challenge oppressive norms and foster inclusivity. by taking these steps, we can strive toward a society that values and celebrates the diverse beauty of every individual. to conclude, i want to share a poem i found during my extensive literature review. although this research resurfaced research | articles | moran 44 california sociology forum vol. 6 many negative and painful emotions that so many others like myself have endured, i’ve discovered to reclaim my power through this research and wish to share this knowledge with others so that they too can reclaim their power. i want to emphasize what great resilience and beauty we each carry that is skin deep, that our ancestors passed down to us for generations. know that you have legacies behind you to help navigate the world with your unique presence, and never forget that it is no one’s right to diminish that power you hold that is skin deep. ode to dark (skinned) girls by robin m. boylorn (2012) she waited patiently and in silence never admitting out loud that she secretly wanted to be light skinned brown but in a lighter shade she would say it out loud but in whispered tones “make me white-like damn near transparent so that these people can see through me instead of just past me… make me beautiful!” like the color of the earth i already was but this skin this house to my soul is only almost pretty, they say and if i weren’t so dark i might be worth lovingwantingfuckingstayingbeing but instead i am just tolerated in the dark or in secret or worn on your shoulder like an unnecessary accessory creating your celebrity because i am darker than you teach me how to love myself the color of fire in the middle of its escape skin and eyes round research | articles | moran 45 california sociology forum vol. 6 and regal at once you are beautiful the color of coffee with no cream dark like the bittersweet chocolate of my dreams caramel-coated coquette, honey dipped and full of vigor full lipped and full bodied full dark-skinned and exquisite majestic even with my brown-black self! references boylorn, robin m. 2012. dark-skinned love stories. international review of qualitative research, 5(3):299-309 http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/irqr.2012.5.3.299 bronfenbrenner, u. 1977. toward and experimental ecology of human development. american psychologist, 32:513–531. dixon, angela r., and edward e. telles. 2017. “annual review of sociology skin color and colorism: global research, concepts, and measurement.” doi: 10.1146/annurev-soc-060116. du bois, w.e. b. 1989 [1903]. the souls of black folk. new york: penguin grell-brisk, marilyn. 2022. “critical world-systems analysis thoughts on organizing against antiblackness across global-local boundaries.” journal of worldsystems research 28(2):242–66. doi: 10.5195/jwsr.2022.1103. keister, lisa a. and darby e. southgate. 2022. inequality: a contemporary approach to race, class, and gender. cambridge, united kingdom: cambridge university press. kiang, lisa, kathy espino-pérez, and gabriela l. stein. 2020. “discrimination, skin color satisfaction, and adjustment among latinx american youth.” journal of youth and adolescence 49(10):2047–59. doi: 10.1007/s10964-020-01244-8. lavi wilson, shanika, shaquila o’shay massey, de’onna smith, and christopher solomon. 2021. “the effects of colorism on self perception and self-esteem.” psychology and mental health care 5(2):01–07. doi: 10.31579/26378892/120. pyke, karen d. 2010. “what is internalized racial oppression and why don’t we study it? acknowledging racism’s hidden injuries.” sociological perspectives 53(4):551–72. doi: 10.1525/sop.2010.53.4.551. x, malcolm. 1962. who taught you to hate? [speech audio recording]. alexander street. https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7cvideo_ work%7c2785586/malcolm-x-who-taught-you-hate-speech-excerpt marcia b. moran (she/her/ella) is a csula alumnus who transferred in from los angeles valley college with an associate in arts degree in sociology. marcia graduated with a bachelor’s in sociology in december 2023 with a focus on inequalities and diversity. she received consecutive dean’s list awards from the college of natural and social sciences during her undergrad. marcia’s research was originally a final project for a qualitative research course in which she was asked to publish her work with the csf. she would like to thank the csf student board and professors who helped her along the way and dedicated her work to her family, her partner, and friends who have supported her through this academic endeavor. colorism and its effects on self perception marcia b. moran reviews | book | jaimes 112 california sociology forum vol. 7 book review: gender without identity by avgi saketopoulou and ann pellegrini angel jaimes department of sociology california state university, los angeles in their 2023 book gender without identity, avgi saketopoulou and ann pellegrini critique traditional psychoanalytic models that treat gender as an innate, fixed aspect of the self and instead advocate for a psychoanalytic approach that examines how trauma can serve as a resource in the process of gendered selftheorization. the authors are both psychoanalysts with a private practice based in new york city and are faculty members at new york university. their work is grounded in their clinical experience, and is also informed by trans of color critique, black feminism, and queer theory, grounded in their extensive clinical experience with queer and trans individuals. gender as a psychically crafted process saketopoulou and pellegrini lay out an understanding of gender as a psychically crafted process, based on laplanchean theory. they begin by laying out an understanding of the ego as having been constructed and solidified in attempts to ‘translate’ the enigmatic features of an attachment relationship. this is typically in relationships between child and caregiver, and in this relationship, the child’s physical needs are fulfilled, thus communicating messages of care to the child. these messages are embedded with the sexual unconscious of the parent and inevitably affect all communication to the child, producing an enigmatic disturbance. then, this enigmatic disturbance, or ambiguous obscurity, that has met the child’s psyche, drives the child to interpret and digest these signals in a unique process that is compatible with the child’s overall being. the child’s translations draw from what laplanche calls the “mythosymbolic”--the cultural codes which surround the child, including traumas relating to the parent (68), and ultimately, these translations “sediment as ego, and . . . when the codes pertain to gender, as gender identity” (57). it is not the case that the child reviews | book | jaimes 113 california sociology forum vol. 7 simply reproduces the codes in which they are surrounded. rather, they are spun and mixed by the child, though not consciously, creating a “psychic world in their own personal idiom . . . and, from there on out, yields identitarian experience by becoming structured in the grammar of culture” (58). this foundation substantiates saketopoulou and pellegrini’s claims of gender as a complex and personal process of psychic translation, shaped not only by the cultural codes and familial dynamics surrounding the child, but also by the child’s particular, unconscious efforts to integrate and transform these influences into a cohesive sense of self. in developing their theory, saketopoulou and pellegrini draw upon a clinical example involving a particularly effeminate 12-year-old child, referred to as ory, to support their conceptual framework. ory was introduced to saketopoulou by his parents, who were under the impression that saketopoulou could help him behave as a ‘normal’ boy, eliminating his feminine mannerisms and presentation. through an exploration of ory’s mother ilana’s family history, the developmental dynamics between her and her son, and the possible intergenerational transmission, saketopoulou argues that ory’s non-normative gender manifests as a form of translation of the enigmatic troubles passed down by his mother’s history, ultimately serving a psychic purpose within their family system. thus, follows that ory is neither innately trans nor gay, but rather that his gender expression is something he has psychically forged for himself. they adamantly maintain that this is not to be understood as ‘damage’ caused by his mother. rather, ory’s gender is a set of “translational codes” (64) that he has spun in his efforts to psychically translate and elaborate a gendered self. ory’s translation efforts, since they do not align with the propositional statements put forth by an imposed masculinity, are met with rejection, surveillance, policing, shame, and are generally regarded as an issue requiring correction. this stands in contrast to children who translate in ways that are regarded as ‘acceptable’ or ‘normal’ by their social worlds. in those instances, children are allowed to “keep” their gender formulation (66). saketopoulou and pellegrini's detailed exploration of ory’s case illustrates that his gender, with particular reference to his reviews | book | jaimes 114 california sociology forum vol. 7 femininity, is a multifaceted, psychically crafted process shaped by familial dynamics and intergenerational influences, rather than a pathological response or an innate aspect of his being. saketopoulou and pellegrini contend that gender is not a static identity and critique traditional perspectives on gender formation and authenticity. they argue that gender is something acquired, suggesting that trauma might serve as a resource in shaping its constitution. they reject the dominant understanding that “gender is immune to trauma, or that gender, in order to be healthy, is uncontaminated by early traumatic intrusions, by adult interventions, or by the emotional debris of intergenerational pressures” (29), drawing links between the ways in which trauma can inflict gender, without implying that this is the cause of a “distortion” in one’s gender. they argue it is a human process to tend to experiences that are difficult, including those that are traumatizing, and as a result self-theorizations arise “that are not efforts to cope with or to survive trauma, but that, to the contrary, take up the energies roused by trauma to invent something new” (viii). a child’s gender, such as with ory, can be understood as an unconsciously crafted articulation of their own processing of experiences, as their own spinning of experiences into gender. the authors explain that the particular avenues of translation taken up by a child are dependent on their own relational understanding of their contexts. working from this point, they argue that gender is not something that can be discovered once at one’s core, is neither right or wrong, but more in line with a fitting integration into the self that one may arrive at over and over again through their life course. this is a significant point in their theorizing because it then renders predicting a child’s ‘true’ gender an impossibility. thus, it follows that there is nothing about gender inherently that has any claim to authenticity other than one’s subjective experience of it in that particular moment. it can only be described and claimed by the person to which it belongs. saketopoulou and pellegrini also address the vision that this theorization may not solely be applicable to those with atypical gender expressions. all people, including cisgendered people, are subject to impositions from an “other” (26), and it is the processing of this imposition that solidifies a gendered facet reviews | book | jaimes 115 california sociology forum vol. 7 of ego. ultimately, their argument extends beyond atypical gender expressions, positing that all individuals, regardless of their gender identity, are shaped by these intricate processes of psychic negotiation. utilizations in the consulting room saketopoulou and pellegrini are critical of the binary in psychoanalytic theorizing that positions gender as either immutable, with roots in pursuits of ensuing protections against moral judgements and legal regulations, or as “acquired-andtherefore-possible-to-eliminate” (21). it is within this context where concerns arise that “the mere suggestion that psychic factors contribute to how one becomes trans, nonbinary, or genderqueer threatens to endanger the safety and rights of genderdiverse people. this is because such a suggestion is quickly constructed to authorize attempts to eliminate atypically gender experiences and identities” (21). saketopoulou and pellegrini, in building their argument that one can unravel these relationships without necessitating attempts of elimination, cite the wide body of psychoanalytic literature that evidently shows psychoanalysts' explorations regarding the constitutions of cisgender experiences in which they work towards enhancing the patient’s emotional life without aims of altering their gender. they detail how psychoanalysts, even those working towards eliminating transphobia in their consulting rooms, are limited in their approach, often not going beyond affirming their trans patients’ gender. if they do approach the links between gender and trauma, it is around the traumatic experiences (violence, discrimination, policing, etc.) the patient may have accrued as a result of living in a queerphobic world, but the analysts will not explore further around the becoming of their gender. a simple validation of an individual’s gender is not a substitute for efforts in uncovering deeper understandings of the patient's psychic gender process. saketopoulou and pellegrini see a necessity in implementing both practices, ultimately culminating into what they term “patient affirmation,” affirming for the patient that they have the right to their own non-linear process (27). they envision that the psychoanalytic practice has more to offer to their trans and queer patients, that “strives to uncover reviews | book | jaimes 116 california sociology forum vol. 7 the psychic complexities that are present in non-normative experiences of gender, not as a way to question its validity or to alter it, but to articulate its complexities and enable its flourishing. in attending to these nuances with their trans and queer patients, psychoanalysts may begin unraveling the relationships embedded in a patient's gender, so that their patient’s gender may feel more integrated within themselves, something of their own creation in which they may inhabit as an “idiom of their own forging” (55). at the heart of their argument is a call to open up the psychoanalytic world in a way that does not simply accept a trans and queer identity, but that utilizes the breadth of tools at its disposal to tell and discover more complex stories about nonnormative gender expression, ultimately, supporting their patients in understanding and embodying their own queer gender and sexual self-theorization. strengths and weaknesses gender without identity is a profound piece that deepens developments in trans studies, breaks from reductive conceptions of transness, and does significant work in reframing normative cultural conceptualizations of gender. in fleshing out a psychoanalytic process that approaches gender as a process that is neither innate nor of an individual's choosing, they generate possibilities for full acceptance of any person’s unique gender expressions as an embodiment of their own psychic process. saketopoulou and pellegrini open up avenues to support non-normative gender expressions in order to ensure the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of queer individuals. though the field of sociology generally regards gender as a social institution, perpetuated in its longevity of social practices, it may still integrate the concept of gender as saketopoulou and pellegrini discuss it into sociological work. for example, working with the idea of gender as something not subject to being known ‘correctly’ or ‘incorrectly,’ sociologists may incorporate policies and create programs that are not based on a criterion one must prove themselves against, making resources increasingly more available to those who wish to explore them. this may also have implications for those who “detransition” (or “retransition”) (29), as embracing the idea of no reviews | book | jaimes 117 california sociology forum vol. 7 true origin of gender that one is “returning to” after having previously been “wrong about.” additional gender transitions no longer need serve as a signifier of “regret,” but can instead be seen as a new iteration of gender embodiment. moreover, their reconceptualization of trauma as “generative source material” (xxxiii) transcends narratives of pain and dysphoria as defining aspects of transness, and instead reveals the profound beauty and complexity in the unfolding of each individual’s own gender becoming. this reframing has broader implications for the field of sociology, as it challenges reductive hegemonic views on gender, potentially signaling a driving force for a significant cultural shift. their approach is both innovative and compelling, with the only shortcoming being a desire for further exploration of its implementation in the consulting room to further demonstrate applicability in patient life. conclusion gender without identity offers a profound reframing of queer gender expressions by reconceptualizing trauma as generative psychic material, ultimately contributing towards a vision for a world that delights in the pleasures of difference. this piece can speak to trans and queer individuals seeking nuanced ways of thinking about themselves and their relationship to their queerness. it may also have relevance for those invested in improving the material, physical, and psychological well-being of trans individuals, as analysts, friends, family, and more. additionally, cisgendered people may benefit by gaining a deeper understanding of gender as saketopoulou and pellegrini position it—not as something innate or given, but as a complex internal process unique to each individual, including themselves. references saketopoulou, avgi and ann pellegrini. 2003. gender without identity. new york: the unconscious translation. book review: gender without identity by avgi saketopoulou and ann pellegrini angel jaimes reviews | book | esparza 131 california sociology forum vol. 7 book review: dillard’s promise by gilbert leslie ian joaquin esparza department of sociology california state university, los angeles crime, mystery, and generational justice, dillard’s promise by gilbert leslie, has it all as a very intriguing read that leaves the reader hooked, wanting to find out more about how the story pans out, which i felt when reading this great work of literature. this story follows the traumatic experiences of a family through the turbulent jim crow south to the modernized era of los angeles. houston jenkins, the story’s protagonist, is slowly exposed to his family’s history through the death of the women who raised him. houston is unsuspecting until her dying words lead to a sequence of events that unravels a series of unsolved murders that happened decades prior and across the country. these events bring justice and closure but not in the way one might expect. the author of this thrilling novel is gilbert leslie, a current student at california state university-los angeles. he previously graduated from california state university-dominguez hills, obtaining a degree in interdisciplinary studies while minoring in labor studies. dillard’s promise is his first time authoring a book as well as being published. in addition to authoring this novel, leslie was in the process of obtaining his master of arts in political science and will graduate in may 2025, with hopes to become a professor while concurrently having writing as a second career. being a single parent at a young age, leslie’s priority was raising his daughter, working in the life insurance industry while pursuing his degrees. throughout all of this, leslie has always been passionate about writing as a way to explore how to bring the experiences of criminal and societal justice reform into believable life stories. his dedication to justice is very much showcased within this story. dillard’s promise is a very educational read that provides context on both the historical and criminal justice fields of study. the book focuses on the struggles and traumas of a minority family trying to achieve their hopes and goals in a system that works against them. throughout the story, we jump through different periods of time that shows the hardships specific to that respective era of america. simultaneously, leslie also shows how reviews | book | esparza 132 california sociology forum vol. 7 crime solving has evolved over the years and how with the advancement of forensic technology, crimes can be solved that have been abandoned over the decades. from a little piece of houston’s dna from a traffic stop, the fbi were able to piece a murder suspect from a series of murders that occurred in the 1970s. i do believe that the overall theme of this story is that justice will always be given, even after death. the sociological relevance that this book provides is easy to spot, while broader elements of criminal justice are also sprinkled in. leslie does make it clear how each of the characters are influenced by their social spaces regardless of the time period, as well as how these societal factors affect these individuals. the characters undertake roles and responsibilities endeavor hardships that they face while also navigating the feeling of expectations that many of the characters hold over themselves. members of the jenkins family take on certain societal roles that they believe will raise them to a higher social status. in the 1960s-1970s portions, the characters join the military, not to serve the country, but to receive the benefits that enlisting provides, especially providing for the family. the book does graphically show the horrors of racial violence and displays how racist governments plague their communities with blind hatred toward those of a different race. leslie shows are evil racism is and how dehumanizing it can become if it becomes too deeply rooted. the notable white family in this story is demolished because of the father’s lustful racism. the son learns to despise his father’s racism and strives to be the complete opposite from is hateful father, which leads the son on a path of self-perceived justice. overall, the 1940s-1970s storyline shows just how horrible the jim crow south was to the black population through the lens of the jenkins family. there are also of course the criminological elements of the story that show the scientific possibilities highlighting how powerful dna can be in solving a decade-old murder mystery crime. as well as critiquing elements of law enforcement which the reader can compare two enforcement agencies to one another. the two agencies that are showcased are a local police department that is shown in the past, while decades later the fbi brings back a cold case left unsolved by this small local department. by showcasing two law enforcement agencies from past and present reviews | book | esparza 133 california sociology forum vol. 7 perspectives, it helps the reader understand how law enforcement has evolved over time. a local department relied on the determination of investigators in the past while the fbi in the present day has access to state-of-the-art forensic technology. the story of the jenkins family over a half century’s time frame is well written and organized in a way that satisfies story arcs that are happening at different periods of time. as houston’s story progresses, the ‘flashback’ portions provide much needed information or context for houston’s dilemma and the fbi’s aggressive motives to solve the cold case. the periodic structure of the storytelling does not weaken the progress of the main storyline but compliments it. revelations and connections are made in a rather satisfying way. overall, it keeps you invested in each storyline and enables the reader to want to know what happens next. the only thing that i must remark on is that certain sequences may be too intense for some readers. there are scenes explaining the graphic nature of the murders, which are described in a very detailed way. additionally, the use of profanity or derogatory words may be too intense for some readers. i argue that these are needed to convey a larger picture of the narrative within this story as well as showcasing the societal problems that have plagued our society. the story shows how these problems evolved and taken form over the years, which have adapted to the times. dillard’s promise is a phenomenal read, it highlights the struggles and obstacles one faces in society and how they overcome these adversities. the novel is inspiring in the way that brings hope and relevance to the many issues individuals face in society. justice is something that comes in forms one might not accept, while the perceived idea of justice stems from what institutions dictate justice to be. but this novel shows us justice is beyond the common definition conveyed by mainstream social institutions; it is not manufactured but a human ideal. in conclusion, i highly recommend this novel to any looking for a crime-based mystery, dillard’s promise is such a great read! references leslie, gilbert. 2024. dillard’s promise. cambridge: pegasus elliot mackenzie publishers ltd. book review: dillard’s promise by gilbert leslie ian joaquin esparza reviews | music | garcia 151 california sociology forum vol. 7 music review: when dreams begin again: a reflection on new order’s ‘dreams never end’ sammy garcia iii department of sociology california state university, los angeles it is essential before we begin this review to speak about new order’s origins. joy division’s origins trace back to the post-punk era of late 1970s manchester, england–a city immersed in industrial decline, unemployment, and social unrest. the band emerged as part of the punk rock movement but soon developed a distinct sound that fused punk’s raw energy with a darker, more atmospheric and introspective musical style. originally formed in 1976 under the name warsaw by schoolmates bernard sumner and peter hook, joy division took shape when they recruited drummer stephen morris and lyricist/vocalist ian curtis, solidifying their lineup in 1977. the name “joy division” itself is steeped in controversy, as it referred to the sexual slavery units depicted in the house of dolls, a novel about nazi concentration camps, signaling the band’s willingness to confront dark and taboo subjects in their work. the group quickly became known for their minimalist yet haunting sound, blending sparse guitar work, hook’s melodic basslines, morris’s robotic drumbeats, and curtis’s distinctive baritone voice. under the guidance of their producer martin hannett, joy division’s sound took on a more experimental and ambient tone, which was showcased in their seminal 1979 album unknown pleasures. songs like “she’s lost control” and “disorder” combined cold, detached instrumentals with curtis’s deeply introspective and often bleak lyrics. his writing reflected themes of isolation, anxiety, and existential dread, resonating with a generation confronting the uncertainty and disillusionment of post-industrial britain. while the band’s rise to prominence was swift, it was paralleled by the growing struggles of curtis. curtis suffered from severe epilepsy, a neurological disorder that caused frequent debilitating seizures. his condition worsened as the band’s schedule intensified. he had been diagnosed in 1979, shortly after the release of unknown pleasures, and was prescribed various medications, which came with severe side effects, including mood reviews | music | garcia 152 california sociology forum vol. 7 swings, depression, and memory loss. the disorder significantly impacted his ability to perform, as his seizures became more frequent and often coincided with live performances. despite his efforts to manage his health, curtis’s condition grew worse over time, exacerbated by the pressures of fame, touring, and his complex personal life. his tumultuous mental state was further strained by the disintegration of his marriage to deborah curtis and his affair with belgian journalist annik honoré. this personal conflict, combined with his deteriorating health, pushed curtis into a deeper state of despair. many of the songs on joy division’s second album, closer (1980), reflect this increasing sense of doom. on may 18, 1980, just before joy division was scheduled to embark on their first north american tour, curtis took his own life at the age of 23, hanging himself in his home in macclesfield. his death shocked the music world and cut short the burgeoning career of one of post-punk’s most innovative bands. in the wake of curtis’s suicide, joy division’s remaining members–sumner, hook, and morris–were left reeling, grappling with the future of the band and the legacy they had begun to build. after curtis’s death joy division disbanded, but like a phoenix rising from the ashes came new order. moving forward, they carried over with them something more than the weight of their music. they bore the legacy of curtis, the memory of a lost friend taken far too early, and the weight of expectations from a world still in mourning. “dreams never end,” the first track on their 1981 debut album movement, acts as a turning point for the band and those who followed. it is a coming to terms with the past, a meditation on themes of loss and identity, the relentless pressures of modern existence, and more of an introduction to the new order. at first listen, “dreams never end” seems like a continuation of joy division’s brooding post-punk sound. the song begins with hook’s distinctive bassline, a driving force that propels the track forward with a rhythmic intensity reminiscent of joy division’s best work. it’s not hard to imagine this track fitting into the darker catalog of their previous band. as the song unfolds, subtle differences become evident. while it retains the same atmosphere, there’s an underlying sense of hope and renewal that sets it apart. reviews | music | garcia 153 california sociology forum vol. 7 sumner’s debut as the lead vocalist, a role he initially struggled to embrace, is marked by a voice that is more subdued and ethereal than curtis’s baritone. his delivery adds vulnerability and a dreamlike quality to the song, aligning with the lyrical ambiguity that invites multiple interpretations. lyrically, “dreams never end” is abstract, allowing listeners to project their experiences and emotions onto the song. lines such as “a given end to your dreams” and “a fractured smile that soon dies” can evoke themes of personal loss, existential searching, or broken relationships. the subjective nature of the lyrics–compounded by the fact that variations exist in different versions of the song– invites reflection on how we engage with art. is one interpretation more valid than another? or does the fluidity of the lyrics reflect the fluidity of meaning itself? in many ways, “dreams never end” mirrors the human experience: each listener can interpret the song based on personal life experiences, adding a layer of personal relevance that evolves over time. beyond individual interpretation, “dreams never end” also carries sociological significance. by employing durkheim’s concept of anomie, goffman’s theory of self-presentation, and exploring the themes of agency and resilience, we can delve into the deeper meanings of the song. these sociological theories offer a structured framework for understanding both the band’s internal struggles and the broader human condition. sociological framework: anomie, selfpresentation, resilience, and agency erving goffman was a canadian-born sociologist, social psychologist, and writer, considered by some the most influential american sociologist of the twentieth century. his theory on selfpresentation applies to this song ‘dreams never end’ and it shows how the theory is based on the idea that life is a performance, where people adopt different roles depending on the situation, maintaining a facade to shape how they are perceived. new order’s formation post-joy division required the band to adopt a new public identity, one that both honored curtis’s legacy while forging a new path for themselves. goffman’s theory can be applied to explore how new order, especially sumner, navigated this delicate balance. reviews | music | garcia 154 california sociology forum vol. 7 according to goffman’s the presentation of self in everyday life (1956), “the individual maintains a show before others that he himself does not believe, he can come to experience a special kind of alienation from self and a special kind of wariness of others.” this concept of alienation directly connects to the emotional tension in new order’s “dreams never end,” particularly in the lyrics “a nervous bride for your eyes” pointing to the act of concealing inner emotions while maintaining an outward facade. this resonates with goffman’s concept of selfpresentation, showing how we craft our public identities, even while internally grappling with confusion or pain. here, the metaphor of a bride evokes an image of someone expected to perform a certain role under societal scrutiny. just as a bride is expected to appear joyful, composed, and radiant on her wedding day, the band was expected to maintain composure and grace as they moved forward after curtis’s death. however, the word “nervous” betrays the tension between their outward appearance and their inner emotional state. this reflects goffman’s theory of front-stage behavior, where individuals (in this case, the band) put on a performance to align with societal expectations, while backstage, they may be grappling with inner turmoil and uncertainty. goffman’s concept of impression management (nickerson 2022) emphasizes controlling how we appear to others, a process that undoubtedly occurred within new order. they had to reinvent themselves not only for their audience but also for themselves, presenting a composed, coherent image that concealed the internal chaos and vulnerability they experienced as individuals. sumner’s understated vocal performance on “dreams never end” serves as a form of impression management. his vocals lack the gravitas of curtis’s delivery, signaling a quiet, almost reluctant step into a new role. this delicate balance between outward presentation and inner tension is reflected in how the lyrics themselves are delivered–subdued, ethereal, and almost hidden within the mix, mirroring the act of masking one’s emotions behind a façade. this act of self-presentation is crucial to understanding new order’s early career. by continuing under a new name, they essentially managed how they were perceived by the public. they were not just joy division without curtis; they reviews | music | garcia 155 california sociology forum vol. 7 were a new entity, striving to balance respect for their past with the desire to move forward. this aligns with goffman’s idea of shifting between frontstage (public performance) and backstage (private emotions) personas, as new order had to project an image of resilience while grappling privately with the grief of losing their bandmate. anomie & “dreams never end” emile durkheim was a french sociologist and was the first academic sociologist. he formally established the academic discipline of sociology along with karl marx and max weber, who are commonly cited as the principal architects of modern social science. according to durkheim’s the division of labor in society ([1893] 1984), anomie is defined as a state of instability in an individual or society that results from a breakdown of values, standards, or a lack of purpose or ideals. this concept of anomie can be applied to new order’s “dreams never end,” where feelings of disconnection, purposelessness, and instability resonate deeply within the lyrics. after curtis’s death, new order–formerly joy division–was thrust into such a state. curtis’s passing left both the band and their audience grappling with emotional turmoil, uncertainty, and a fractured sense of identity. the band’s transition from joy division to new order represents a societal and emotional rupture, which we can frame within durkheim’s concept of anomie. the line, “a given end to your dreams” from “dreams never end” poignantly reflects the emotional desolation experienced by the remaining band members after curtis’s death. it suggests a finality, a moment when the aspirations and dreams of the group as joy division were brought to a sudden halt. durkheim’s theory fits here because anomie is often marked by the end of established structures, just as the group experienced a disruption of their identity and purpose. as they transitioned to new order, this disorientation mirrors the anomic breakdown durkheim described, where the existing norms and paths disintegrate, leaving individuals (or bands) to reconstruct a new way forward. the lyrics “a fractured smile that soon dies” can be interpreted as the mask or facade of normalcy cracking under the weight of grief and loss, reinforcing the state of disconnection the reviews | music | garcia 156 california sociology forum vol. 7 band members may have felt during this period. the fracture here signifies not just emotional loss but also a breakdown of social cohesion within the band, where each member must grapple with individual and collective uncertainty about the future. durkheim’s concept of anomie illuminates how these lyrics encapsulate a broader loss of societal norms, which, in this case, include the norms that previously structured the band’s musical journey and identity. resilience & agency in “dreams never end” resilience is the ability to withstand and recover from adversity (besley 2020). it’s not just about surviving hardship but also about adapting and growing stronger from it. pierre’s concepts of habitus, field, and capital can help us understand resilience as a dynamic process rooted in the structures around us. in the context of new order, resilience is evident in their ability to not only endure the loss of curtis but also to transform that loss into artistic growth. the evolution from joy division’s dark, post-punk sound to new order’s more hopeful and electronic-driven music reflects this resilience. the lyric “no looking back now, we’re pushing through” perfectly encapsulates the band’s resilience. it speaks to the forward momentum required to heal and rebuild, acknowledging the difficulty of the past while emphasizing the importance of perseverance. this line also reflects the agency that resilience requires. new order’s ability to act, make decisions, and redefine their sound despite the emotional devastation of curtis’s death demonstrates their resilience. they chose not to disband but to push through the pain, creating music that paid homage to their roots while moving into a new sonic direction. in sociology, resilience isn’t just about individuals returning to their former state; it’s about adaptation and growth. this adaptation is evident in “dreams never end,” where the song’s post-punk foundation gradually gives way to new order’s more electronic sound, hinting at the future direction of the band. the use of synthesizers and a more polished production style in movement suggests that the band was not just surviving but evolving. their transformation mirrors the sociological process of resilience, where communities or groups must adapt to new realities in the face of trauma or disruption. the song’s upbeat reviews | music | garcia 157 california sociology forum vol. 7 tempo, driven by hook’s bassline and morris’s rhythmic drumming, conveys a sense of energy and movement– emphasizing that resilience is not passive but active, requiring effort and forward thinking. agency refers to the capacity of individuals to make choices and exert control over their actions within the constraints of social structures. agency involves “the ability of individuals to act independently and make their own free choices” (cole 2014). “now i know what those hands would do / no looking back now, we’re pushing through” represents a pivotal moment in the song, encapsulating the theme of agency and the conscious choice to confront rather than retreat from past experiences. the phrase “now i know what those hands would do” suggests an awareness that comes from lived experience. the hands metaphorically represent actions taken in relationships, highlighting the consequences of past decisions. by acknowledging what these hands are capable of, the speaker recognizes the weight of their history–be it pain, love, or regret. the subsequent phrase, “no looking back now, we’re pushing through,” emphasizes a crucial decision to prioritize progress over nostalgia. the insistence on not looking back signifies a rejection of regret or the temptation to linger in the past. this refusal to dwell on previous experiences reflects a significant exercise of agency. the term “pushing through” evokes a sense of resilience and determination, indicating a willingness to confront challenges head-on. it’s an empowering declaration that the speaker will not allow past hurts to dictate their present or future; instead, they are committed to navigating their emotions and circumstances actively. this choice also aligns with the broader narrative of coping with loss and moving forward. in the aftermath of trauma or heartbreak, individuals often face a crossroads where they can choose to succumb to despair or actively seek healing and growth. the speaker’s decision to push through can be interpreted as a metaphor for personal growth, resilience, and the continuous journey toward self-discovery. it resonates with the listener, reminding them that while the past may inform who we are, it does not have to define our path forward. reviews | music | garcia 158 california sociology forum vol. 7 subjectivity and the listener’s role the subjective nature of “dreams never end” invites listeners to explore their own interpretations, rendering the experience deeply personal. the ambiguity inherent in the lyrics allows for a myriad of meanings to emerge, creating a rich tapestry of emotional responses. lines like “hello, farewell to your love and soul” evoke feelings of both connection and separation, reflecting the complexities of human relationships and the inevitability of change. this open-endedness resonates with listeners navigating their own experiences of loss, transformation, and self-discovery. such fluidity in meaning underscores the idea that art is not static; it is shaped by the listener’s context, emotional history, and lived experiences. according to the new order fandom page, “dreams never end” resonates with the themes of melancholy and introspection, capturing the existential struggles of the time. the lyrics’ vagueness allows individuals to project their own narratives onto the song, forging a personal connection that can be both cathartic and affirming. the experience of listening to this track thus becomes a collaborative process where the listener’s interpretation is as crucial as the artist’s intention. moreover, this subjectivity aligns with erving goffman’s concepts of self-presentation and the performance of identity. just as individuals curate their public personas, listeners engage with music as a means of self-expression and reflection. the ability to reinterpret a song’s meaning allows for the exploration of one’s identity, emotions, and societal context. in this way, “dreams never end” serves as a canvas upon which listeners can project their feelings of loss, longing, and renewal. the significance of this interaction between music and the listener cannot be understated. the transformative power of songs like “dreams never end” lies in their capacity to evoke a sense of shared experience and understanding, allowing individuals to grapple with their own struggles within the larger narrative of social change. as listeners immerse themselves in the emotional landscape of the song, they find resonance in its themes, facilitating a deeper connection to both the music and their own lives. ultimately, this interplay of subjectivity and interpretation underscores the profound impact of music as a vehicle for reviews | music | garcia 159 california sociology forum vol. 7 personal and societal transformation, reinforcing its role as a powerful catalyst for change. when a song like “dreams never end” finally reaches people, it is new for everybody. however, differently, the listeners carry their context, emotional history, and dreams into the experience, whereby the song changes. it gets personal, intimate, and reflective of the listener’s life. subjectivity gives this song a timeless quality. it is one of those songs that grow with you; at different stages in your life, you can always go back to them and find something new every time. we shape the song just as much as it shapes us as listeners, which is why it is your song when you listen. the lyrics, emotions, and interpretations-they all belong to you, sculpted by your journey alone. conclusion through the lenses of anomie, self-presentation, resilience, and agency, “dreams never end” transcends its surface as a song about personal or collective loss, evolving into a profound sociological narrative of struggle and transformation. the concept of anomie illustrates the breakdown of norms and identity following curtis’s tragic death, plunging the band into a state of disorientation that reflects the broader cultural malaise of postpunk england. this sense of instability echoes the societal shifts occurring at the time, highlighting how the loss of a guiding figure can disrupt both personal and collective identities. selfpresentation theory adds another layer of complexity to the song’s meaning, capturing the delicate performance of identity as the band navigated public expectations. through the nuanced lyrics and sumner’s emotive vocals, “dreams never end” serves as a subtle expression of vulnerability amidst the pressure to maintain a façade of composure and control. this interplay between authenticity and performance underscores the challenges artists face in revealing their true selves to the world, all while grappling with the expectations of their audience. resilience emerges as a powerful theme within the song, emphasizing the band’s capacity to rebuild, adapt, and evolve in the face of profound loss. the lyrics serve as both a farewell to the past and a pledge to move forward, encapsulating the spirit of perseverance that resonates with anyone who has experienced grief. this journey of recovery reviews | music | garcia 160 california sociology forum vol. 7 is not just personal for new order but also reflects a broader societal narrative, illustrating how art can inspire collective healing and transformation. incorporating the notion of agency, “dreams never end” invites listeners to reflect on their ability to take control of their narratives amidst chaos. the song emphasizes the idea that while we may be influenced by external forces–such as loss, societal expectations, and cultural shifts–we still possess the agency to redefine our paths and identities. it asserts that the act of creation, whether through music or personal expression, can be a powerful tool for reclaiming one’s sense of self and purpose. “dreams never end” challenges us to confront our own illusions and fears. it compels us to acknowledge that while the struggle for identity and meaning is real, it is within our power to redefine and reclaim our narratives. this song not only reflects the band’s journey but also encapsulates the universal experience of navigating loss, embracing resilience, and forging a path forward in an everchanging world. through its exploration of these sociological theories, “dreams never end” resonates with anyone grappling with the complexities of life, ultimately serving as a testament to the indomitable human spirit. references besley, tina. 2020. “sociologising resilience with pierre bourdieu’s ideas of social change.” pesa agora. https://pesaagora.com/columns/sociologising-resilience-withpierre-bourdieus-ideas-of-social-change/ cole, nicki lisa. 2014. “how sociologists define human agency.” thoughtco. https://www.thoughtco.com/agency-definition3026036. durkheim, emile. [1893] 1984. the division of labor in society. london: the macmillan press. goffman, erving. 1956. the presentation of self in everyday life. scotland: doubleday. nickerson, charlotte. 2022. “impression management: erving goffman theory.” simply psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/impression-management.html. music review: when dreams begin again: a reflection on new order’s ‘dreams never end’ sammy garcia iii creative works | poetry | bates 101 california sociology forum vol. 7 roles and impressions within romantic relationships and heartbreak taryn bates department of sociology california state university, los angeles explanation of sociological relevance this collection of four poems explores the breakdown of romantic relationships that leads to heartbreak through the use of metaphorical and allegorical comparison, particularly through imagery found in fairytales or mythical and mystical lore. sociology has a keen interest in the dynamics of social relationships, which includes how individuals collectively navigate romantic connections. such relationship interactions have become key sociological topics, with several sociological theories offering insight into ways of understanding interpersonal communication and conscious or subconscious negotiations that occur. according to role theory, social interactions are greatly informed by established norms and presumed or assumed roles. under exchange theory, relationships can be viewed as continually weighing pros and cons or as gauging trade-offs of costs and benefits, including comparing alternative options when deciding to continue a relationship. impression formation often comes into play for one’s overall perception of others and impression management is the act of someone trying to endear or ingratiate oneself with others when attempting to maintain or even strengthen a relationship bond. role strain occurs when an individual within a relationship feels like they are unable to uphold that which is expected of them. romantic relationships tend to be even more heightened than average interpersonal relationships due to heightened feelings and emotions. symbolic interactionism can emerge as romantic partners try to make gestures of love towards one another, but such symbolism does not guarantee relational compatibility. creative works | poetry | bates 102 california sociology forum vol. 7 a fairytale, ending how far i've come, how far you're gone instead of queen, i was your pawn what once upon a time you swore became a never-ending chore you live happily, i live ever after an unfair tale now ending in disaster i slept through all the lies it seems for this is nothing like my dreams between all the words you never wrote, and the ones i never read we let too many things ride off and pass us by unsaid your noble steed has shrunk in size there is no place for me at your side your siren voice did play its part alluring out my foolish heart you fished me out to help me roam but interest dissolved like sea foam which apple was coated with your spell? how blindly for your charms i fell to the eye your looks did please but underneath there hid a beast your big blue eyes and winning grin distracting signs of the wolf within the magic shoe slipped off my foot you smashed it to pieces with nary a look no wonder left in neverland you lost me when you forced my hand i closed my eyes to kiss you hard when i should have been on my guard i closed my eyes to kiss your cheek but should have known a frog was weak creative works | poetry | bates 103 california sociology forum vol. 7 pinocchio pawn these puppet strings entangle me and confuse my every step i try to gather what little strength is left in me, but the struggle seems in vain every limb and my very heart are still controlled by you every movement, a memory of submitting to your masterful manipulation i feel half alive but hardened to this world i can't take a step without feeling the remnants of your power tugging me back i speak lies even to myselfwithout realizing until i see a mirror then my growing nose shows my folly and downfall i wish to be real but flesh and blood hurt, too which is worse? the pain of being trapped or of breaking free? you praised my looks and performance but the compliments were just more ways of binding me to you did i play my part well, master? was i everything you whittled me down to be? this wooden shell my prison and casket be as i rot away, hidden from the world's eye they see my painted-on expression of contentment but that which controls me remains invisible to them i need to sever the ties that hold me to you i'm a real girl now holy grail a romantic gift asked for in innocence now sits untouched of true experience too many thoughts of use led to idealization cementing its spot on the shelf in realization that when you give something worth sometimes perception overshadows its birth naive eyes open wide to what appears seeing something forever tainted by our fears afterlife when you ghosted me, at first i hoped to haunt your ever-waking step with hell fury i'd slip creative works | poetry | bates 104 california sociology forum vol. 7 into your dreams your things your very way of life you'd think of me with grand regret seeing visions that you can't reject yet knowing there would be no belief or support from others over what you were seeing no relief the tables would turn from the beyond the one spurned now taunting you no heavenly respite from the raging storm you could not love so turned my heart to hate the borderlines for favorites split at the seams to extremes fraying nerves and alliances but i am not a specter i never meant to be menacing or unpleasant or life draining my own fears forced meaning from apparitions projections too fantastical for any living being to embody so, it is up to you to remember to forget all your deeds and dealings because if i haunt you i'd have to haunt me, too roles and impressions within romantic relationships and heartbreak taryn bates california sociology forum student journal of sociology volume 7 fall 2024 spring 2025 support for the publication of california sociology forum (csf) came from the instructionally related activities budget of the college of natural and social sciences (nss) at california state university, los angeles (cal state la or csula). special thanks to victor mojica, communications specialist with the college of nss, for photographing the student board. a reflection of our times, cover image description: an androgynous person, monochrome in depiction, hands gripping a hand mirror in front of them faced towards the viewer, white angel wings sprouting from their back spreading downwards, the words "we are la" underneath them, and a set of trees on either side of them in the foreground. the androgynous angel is set in front of a sky view looking over a section of cityscape in los angeles county, buildings and foliage becoming increasingly faded from focus the further in the background they are. 1 california sociology forum-volume_7_california_sociology_forum_student_journal_2024-2025 creative works | art | mejia and bates 98 california sociology forum vol. 7 cover image: further discussion on a reflection of our time annica mejia and taryn bates department of sociology california state university, los angeles a reflection of our time is a demonstration of resistance, identity, and social justice. the pursuit of sociology is to examine organizations, institutions, and systemic structures. still, individual sociologists often have their own perspectives and reflections on the objectives. our observations of society today have evoked our empathy, and it would be a disservice to deny ourselves and others that empathy; this empathy is what makes our community. the creation of the cover art a reflection of our time started out as a collaboration between those who care deeply about our journal and our greater community by gathering a collection of images from around la county that reflect current events. however, we find ourselves in increasingly turbulent times. as events unfolded during the spring 2025 semester, our board had to make a hard decision to omit some of the images originally considered. our decision did not come from wanting to silence voices. instead, our decision stemmed from apprehension. as students, activists, and journalists we have to be realistic about the impact our decisions have on others. the last thing any of us wanted was for there to inadvertently be negative consequences due to the unpredictable and constant changes in our nation. we must use the voices we still have while we are still able to use them. the responsibility for positive change falls on these voices–on us. we owe it to those who have had their voices stripped from them. all over the world, indigenous peoples are denied their land, their homes, their dignity. it does not stop there. after they are stripped from everything, indigenous communities are pushed into silence, erased from the free exchange of public discourse and media. historically speaking, the silencing of any marginalized group of people is followed by their erasure from the narrative and then, their death. that is what brings us to a reflection of our time. an image of a cityscape in la county makes up the background. an androgynous figure with angel wings presents itself to the viewer, creative works | art | mejia and bates 99 california sociology forum vol. 7 textured in faded black and white. solemnly, the figure looks at you and holds up a mirror. they prompt you to reflect on yourself and your role in society. this is a step away from the usual vibrancy on csf’s past covers. fading represents how it feels to be in a student journal at this current moment. we see the people in our community, we hear their voices. we are losing our own voices as journalists in these turbulent times. we have to be more mindful of the way certain topics have been turned into political targets. still, this journal serves to persist. our hope is that the vibrancy in our community–its voice and its life–will return to the cover one day. ultimately, the cover is a strategic message against institutional-silencing. our journal, the community, and the cultures and society that surround us are still strong and still worth preserving. indigenous voices, immigrant voices, and incarcerated voices all deserve to be represented and protected. people in our community are more than headlines, images, a protest; what connects us all is the action we take for each other, and the words we use to spark this action. but how does this pertain to us? why should our faculty, our students, our readers participate in the action of caring? why should you care? right now, college students, activists, journalists, are met with hostility and punishment when they speak out about this erasure and oppression. our community was built on diversity. it was shaped at the hands of diverse people. but now, our community is in crisis. students who have dedicated their hearts to this campus are seeing its life leave. our journal serves to preserve this life in any capacity that we can. we cannot do that if we stand back in silence. sociologists are not just observers; we can spark action. courses and books that teach us about our own roots and identities are being cut from our schools and libraries. objective documentation itself is under attack as we publish this journal. the difference a year has made to the production of our journal is shocking. in real time we are watching a nationwide coordinated attack on fact, knowledge, and truth. we must ask ourselves, what happened when the people before us gave into the silence? do we still have a choice? is our tender wording and apprehension a sign that it is already too late? we must think about our place in society and how our roles as creative works | art | mejia and bates 100 california sociology forum vol. 7 sociologists evolve when the intricacies of society present themselves in a time like now. our community is textured with the voices of immigrants, the incarcerated, the oppressed. in a nation that is founded on the principle of freedom, especially freedom of speech, what sense can we make of not having it at all? image description: a brick wall with two rainbow-colored wings spread upwards with the words cal state la in black with gold outline centered above the words we are la in blue with white outline. cover image: further discussion on a reflection of our time annica mejia and taryn bates reviews | music | blackburn 168 california sociology forum vol. 7 music review: cavetown’s ‘guilty’ through a sociological lens tenille blackburn department of sociology california state university, los angeles as a moving piece with emotive lyrics and imaginative storytelling, “guilty,” by indie/alternative singer-songwriter cavetown (2021), paints an image of loyalty and pain through the metaphor of a dog's relationship with their owner, given the album name man's best friend. beyond the metaphor, the lyrics of this song have a multitude of different interpretations, and as a result, it resonates with many on various levels while remaining sociologically sound. there are layers to this song as it covers a range of themes involving mental health, fear of isolation, identity management, and humans’ need for connection in society. robin skinner, the face and artist of cavetown, writes about touching and anecdotal human experiences in his songs and uses them as a platform for self-reflection. through his work, one may find that there’s more to love and emotions in one’s everyday life, and the complexity of emotions and identity are creatively expressed through his music. from start to finish, “guilty” captures the struggles involved with identity, social disconnect, and relationships in a sociologically significant manner. the narrator introduces their predicament as no longer feeling connected to a person or situation but continuing as they are because they do not want to avoid isolation. “i don't think that this feels like love, but i don't wanna let go. maybe if i just do what you want, then you'll leave me alone.” to preface: skinner is a transgender artist who falls on the aromantic and asexual spectrum. an interpretation of this verse is that it may be a reference to aromanticism, although it may also apply to other orientations. in such a case, many individuals on these spectrums may feel like they need to live up to their partner’s wants or needs to maintain relationships. while this can be done in a way that is comfortable and consensual, it may also induce reviews | music | blackburn 169 california sociology forum vol. 7 feelings of guilt or discomfort for those who may feel like they have to make a sacrifice for another. beyond a lens of romantic or sexual orientation, this idea of putting others’ needs before one’s own, and the repressed feelings associated, may be a common experience in unhealthy relationships. the decision to remain in a connection where one isn’t happy is related to the concept of moral isolation, or the fear of social isolation, by classical sociologist fromm. fromm (1941) states that rules of society exist and are set for each individual before they are born, and they must learn to accept the conditions in which they live. this may be more challenging for individuals who find greater difficulty in navigating the conditions they live in due to their background, status, and identities (i.e., minorities and marginalized individuals). in skinner’s and the narrator’s situation, maintaining relationships may be difficult while being on the aromanticasexual spectrum or historically by having an identity that deviates from what is dominantly deemed ‘normal’ in society. however, the song narrator still strives to maintain a sense of connection in a relationship. in order to survive in this world, fromm (1941) describes moral and spiritual aloneness as being as intolerable as being physically alone. there is a psycho-sociological emphasis on relating to the outside world, being integrated and connected with others and ideas. although the narrator is physically connected with someone, the mental and emotional connection may be lacking. fromm (1956:8) touches more upon the topics of loneliness, guilt, anxiety, and other mental health difficulties as a result of social isolation or separation: being separate means being cut off, without any capacity to use my human powers. hence to be separate means to be helpless, unable to grasp the world – things and people – actively; it means that the world can invade me without my ability to react . . . beyond that, it arouses shame and the feeling of guilt . . . the awareness of humans separate, without reunion by love – is the source of shame. it is at the same time the source of guilt and anxiety. in a similar stance, attribution theories in the sociology of emotions describe how certain emotions are experienced not only reviews | music | blackburn 170 california sociology forum vol. 7 due to the nature of an event or situation, but to what an individual attributes an occurrence. it is theorized that an individual may experience feelings of guilt or regret when they perceive themself to be the cause of an undesirable situation, as pictured in this song, in which the narrator may attribute the state of the situation to their identity or mental health. alternatively, individuals may experience feelings of anger when the cause is attributed to another person, while sadness is experienced when fate is believed to be the blame (bericat 2015; brody 1999). in this sense, the narrator may partly blame their partner for the nature of their relationship, potentially arousing feelings of resentment and disconnect in the lyric, “maybe . . . you’ll leave me alone.” the pre-chorus reinforces fromm’s theories of isolation and emotions: “it feels like you're taking me home, but every other day i see another bone. i hate your guts, but i'll meet you same time, same place tomorrow.” goffman’s dramaturgical is another essential theory that comes to light in the opening lyrics and is applicable to the overall theme of this song. as the world is one’s stage, one’s identity is managed differently: frontstage before others and backstage to themselves or when a person is alone. it involves the concept of stigma, or deeply ‘discrediting’ attributes on the basis of tribal identities (e.g., religion), physical disabilities or ‘deformities’ (e.g., deafness), and one’s character (e.g., homosexuality and mental illness) (clair 2018; goffman 1963). nonetheless, skinner and the narrator are individuals with stigmatized identities who must endure impression management to be ‘normal’ in the frontstage of society and social interactions to avoid negative experiences. as described in “guilty,” the narrator strives to maintain a connection at the expense of oneself, one's identity, wants, and/or needs. the chorus follows in a way that directly speaks to goffman’s dramaturgical approach to identity management and the different stages one faces. “an archaeology excavation on my body, and i'm brushing so gently they're tryna cover up the bones underneath reviews | music | blackburn 171 california sociology forum vol. 7 no matter what i do, i feel guilty.” the narrator appears to be trying to cover or manage a part of themselves to maintain relationships, connections, or their image. the “archaeology excavation” may also potentially speak to the unhealthy nature of the relationship described at the beginning of the song. the less ideal parts of themselves, their thoughts, or their feelings may become apparent as time goes on with this person, but they try to repress it all while aiming to maintain this relationship. despite the narrator’s efforts, their “guilt” or inner feelings still exist. this may also describe a relationship an individual has with oneself and other factors involving mental health or self-harm, and the guilt associated with self-harming behavior. the themes of this song may also be interpreted through the lens of depression and body dysphoria for gender and/or disordered eating. such themes may be intentional, given skinner’s experience with transitioning and commonly discussing mental health in his work. “crossing all my fingers and toes that i don't wake up again in a black hole she said she would send me back home to the side if i wanna die, miserable doctor, i'm not doing too well. if this shit was a choice, i wouldn't need your help. i see the world through the eyes of a dog, but i can't see yellow.” these lines represent one’s desperation in not wanting to return to a mental state that feels heavy or dark. the narrator holds onto an unhealthy relationship or behavior to keep themselves from returning to this state. it may be interpreted that “she would send me back home . . . if i wanna die, miserable” may refer to the words of a mental health professional. the “black hole” overall represents a setback, which may also be seen in the dysphoric lens of the narrator's progress with identity and gender development. while mental health may have its issues on its own, a disconnect between one’s true identity and how others perceive them may also contribute to feelings of stress, discomfort, depression, suicidal ideation and more. reviews | music | blackburn 172 california sociology forum vol. 7 “man's best friend's on first name terms with god i thought i could fake it but almost i'm a scarecrow in someone else's garden.” in writing how one extends themselves to benefit another, skinner comes full circle, repeating the chorus following this verse. through the narrator, he continues to tell the story of an individual living for someone else. the narrator serves a purpose for another person. but these actions in themselves don't serve the narrator (such themes reminiscent of the first few lines of the song). this reinforces the idea of self-sacrifice for another’s happiness; it continually emphasizes a fear of isolation. yet, a scarecrow without a field or garden also serves no purpose, which may describe codependency in a relationship. as dogs are often referred to as ‘man’s best friend,’ the writer may have written this line as the word is very similar to ‘god.’ though, it is possible that the narrator of this song would prefer to be bigger and something closer to innocent or holy, in contrast to the negative thoughts and feelings they experience throughout the song. it is desirable to have confidence, take ownership of one’s life, and think and feel in a healthy and positive way. however, the narrator emphasizes the idea that it's not as easy as it seems, nor is it something they can always pretend to be. identity management may be a heavy weight to carry for stigmatized individuals or a difficult task to achieve on a daily basis. the narrator falls into a comfortable yet unsatisfactory predicament, whether that is dealing with depression, dysphoria or an unhealthy relationship. without a doubt, skinner paints a clear, sociological picture through carefully thought-out lyricism. as discovered through this song and through the lyrics of many others, emotions and identity are both complex and interconnected. the conveyed messages in his works are profound and reflective, with much room for interpretation as they resonate with many individuals facing varying circumstances. there is much to be anticipated in the sociological, story-telling journey that is cavetown and their discography. reviews | music | blackburn 173 california sociology forum vol. 7 references bericat, eduardo. 2016. “the sociology of emotions: four decades of progress.” current sociology 64(3):491–513. doi: 10.1177/0011392115588355. brody, leslie. 1999. gender, emotion, and the family. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. claire, matthew. 2018. “stigma.” core concepts in sociology. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/matthewclair/files/stigma_finaldr aft.pdf. ferber, lawrence. 2022. “sense and sensitivity: cavetown talks new projects, his musical evolution and war on trans people.” pride source. https://pridesource.com/article/sense-and-sensitivitycavetown-talks-new-projects-his-musical-evolution-and-war-ontrans-people. fromm, erich. 1941. escape from freedom. new york: farrar & rinehart. fromm, erich. 1956. the art of loving. new york: harper & brothers. goffman, erving. 1963. “stigma: notes on the management of spoiled identity” new york: simon & schuster. music review: cavetown’s ‘guilty’ through a sociological lens tenille blackburn research | articles | yeager 18 california sociology forum vol. 7 the long-term effects of child physical abuse serena yeager department of sociology california state university, los angeles abstract this paper explores the lasting effects of childhood physical abuse (or cpa), with a specific focus on its role in perpetuating chronic pain, intergenerational cycles of abuse, and mental health deterioration. cpa continues to be a significant societal issue, with long-term repercussions extending beyond the immediate physical harm experienced by victims. victims of cpa are more likely to develop medical issues in adulthood, including chronic pain and neurological changes that exacerbate mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. additionally, cpa can contribute to heightened emotional sensitivity and disruption of emotional regulation, which can increase the likelihood of victims perpetuating abusive behaviors in adulthood. while education and therapeutic interventions are shown to mitigate some adverse effects of cpa, challenges in accessibility remain. through an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating literature review and personal reflections, this paper highlights the interconnected physical, emotional, and societal consequences of cpa. by fostering awareness and improving intervention strategies, this paper advocates for continued discourse and systemic change in addressing the needs of victims. childhood physical abuse (or cpa) has undergone extensive reform through various legislative measures over time; however, it is still a prevalent social issue. cpa tends to be defined as the non-accidental physical injury of a child by a parent/caregiver, the injuries sustained can include bruises, fractures, cuts, burns, welts and other physical injuries (valle and lutzker 2006). cpa can cause long-term harm to victims in a variety of ways that does not exclude physical harm. some might say that cpa only affects children in regard to short-term physical health but there are other non-physical effects of such abuse. these seemingly ‘invisible’ effects do not disappear like bruises but stay present in the body and mind for many years. this abuse has long-lasting, diverse, negative effects. by long-lasting, i refer to the notion that the research | articles | yeager 19 california sociology forum vol. 7 effects of cpa can have enduring consequences for the victims throughout their lives and the next generations. this paper presents a literature review of existing research on cpa and its long-term implications, along with personal reflections on my own experiences with this issue. these insights aim to encourage further discussions on the topic. i will explore some of the facets that child physical abuse affects, focusing on three principal areas: the manifestation of chronic and gendered pain in adulthood, the perpetration of violence, and mental health issues. through this examination, i aim to address the difficulties faced by victims of cpa as they transition into adulthood, while also considering the broader societal implications of these challenges. this paper will not specifically address the lack of support available to victims; however, it will discuss studies explaining the impacts of cpa and how resources used helped victims to a certain degree. it is important to note that this paper does not suggest that the methods reviewed will resolve all issues caused by cpa. chronic and gendered pain in adulthood cpa is associated with an elevated likelihood of reporting chronic pain. a study conducted on adults suffering from chronic pain revealed that individuals who experienced physical abuse during childhood are 45% more likely to endure chronic pain in adulthood (bussières et al. 2023). furthermore, chronic pain is associated with substantial economic implications. medical expenses and lost productivity associated with chronic pain exceed those of heart disease and cancer combined. this shows cpa can have negative financial implications for individuals who developed chronic pain into adulthood. they can be burdened with increased medical expenses associated with their conditions. additionally, chronic pain can cause other financial stressors such as finding or holding a job. chronic pain can include calling out more or needing extra accommodations at work. this could result in those adults getting unjustly fired, having financial instability would leave them unable to fight these actions in court. this is particularly significant for individuals who are in a lower tax bracket or possess lower levels of education, as they may have limited access to employment opportunities that are not labor intensive. research | articles | yeager 20 california sociology forum vol. 7 continuing to focus on the realities of pain in adulthood, i will examine how women experience sexual pain because of cpa. women who have experienced cpa are 1.5 times more likely to experience pain during sexual intercourse. researchers (talmon, uysal, and gross 2021) found that physical abuse significantly predicted increases in pain during sex for women but not for men, this information was gathered by researchers over a ten-year longitudinal study. the study, which comprised 410 women and 397 men, revealed that there were no significant associations for men who experienced cpa. however, the study also showed that physical neglect was identified as a significant predictor of increased pain among men. additionally, the experience of pain during sexual intercourse can adversely affect these women's relationships. consequently, they may require additional therapeutic interventions, such as counseling or physical therapy, depending on the severity of the pain. it is important to keep in mind these services can be costly, further adding marital strain. troubles during intimacy can cause other marital problems; it can lead to numerous unfair outcomes like infidelity or marital abuse. the physical abuse received in childhood can have a profound domino effect on the individual throughout their life and their interpersonal relationships. this study demonstrated that childhood abuse can cause varying experiences for both men and women, while furthermore perpetuating violence across generations. continuing or breaking the cycle of abuse experiencing cpa increases the chances of abusing your own children. researchers (voorthuis et al. 2014) conducted a study involving 337 female college students that revolved around their childhood trauma and temperament. both emotional neglect and physical abuse significantly predicted the likelihood of increased child abuse potential by 1.5 times; however, this association was observed exclusively among individuals exhibiting high levels of temperamental orienting sensitivity. what this means is that those with heightened sensitivity are more vulnerable to the negative effects of their childhood abuse making them also more likely to experience negative effects like pain during sex (talmon et al. 2021) which was mentioned previously. not only that but research | articles | yeager 21 california sociology forum vol. 7 according to the systematic review and meta-analysis of researchers (zhang et al. 2020), for females there is significant association between adverse childhood experiences and the subsequent development of adhd. drawing on my personal experiences as a woman with adhd and a background of cpa, it has been noted by myself and others around me that i have higher sensitivity compared to others. managing these intensified emotions is an ongoing learning process for others and myself. in circumstances where individuals have experienced trauma during childhood and may be at risk of perpetuating this cycle, therapy can be an effective intervention. such therapeutic efforts aim not only to address childhood trauma, but also to enhance emotional well-being, and manage any associated mental health challenges that individuals may encounter because of their early experiences. understanding this highlights the interconnectedness of cpa and its enduring impact on future generations. therapeutic interventions may serve as a significant support mechanism for children who have experienced abuse. psychotherapeutic experiences following cpa may reduce the likelihood of violence in adulthood. researchers (maxwell et al. 2016) found that receiving psychotherapy resulted in a reduction of approximately 30% in the likelihood of perpetrating physical violence during adulthood. this information indicates that we have the capacity to help reduce and ultimately prevent violence. the cpa can adversely affect others and perpetuate the cycle of abuse through generations (voorthuis et al. 2014). furthermore, this abuse is not solely physical; it can also manifest in emotional and psychological forms, as noted by maxwell et al. (2016). however, through the incorporation of therapy or counseling, society can effectuate a change in these statistics. as someone who regularly participated in talk therapy, i have experienced significant positive changes in my ability to manage my heighted sensitivity. it is essential to acknowledge that therapy can be a fundamental component of healing to improve our society. mental health professionals are essential in supporting individuals as they navigate the healing process and work towards personal growth goals. it can be beneficial to discuss the potential opportunity to enhance the implementation and accessibility of research | articles | yeager 22 california sociology forum vol. 7 mental health services for cpa victims. this type of initiative could prevent harm to themselves and others. mental health repercussions physical abuse is associated with a higher risk of suicidal ideation. researchers (yıldız, orak and aydoğdu 2023) found that those who experience physical abuse as a child were 2.5 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts into adulthood. the research conducted by yıldız et al. (2023) also indicated that experiencing cpa is linked to increased levels of depression, anxiety, and feelings of powerlessness, which in turn contributed to an increase in suicidal thoughts and ideation. self-harm may result in hospitalization, resulting in debt that jeopardizes the survivor’s economic stability and that of their families. if a victim ultimately commits suicide, their family will also face financial and emotional burdens, potentially requiring government assistance and impacting taxpayers. having experienced cpa, i faced challenges such as mild depression and anxiety, which is consistent with the findings of yıldız et al. (2023). additionally, i dealt with self-harming behaviors and suicidal thoughts; however, therapy helped reduce these thoughts and actions. referring again to the work of maxwell et al. (2016), it is evident that therapy can be instrumental not only in mitigating harm to others but also in alleviating self-inflicted distress. it is essential for society to continue advocating for mental health and to convey to individuals that they are not alone in their struggles. additionally, mental health professionals who understand these cpa and mental health correlations can better support cpa victims in addressing their internal challenges. children who were physically abused before the age of 5 were more likely to score in the clinical range for internalizing disorders. researchers (lansford et al. 2021) also found that those who were physically abused as children reported lower levels of physical health and their chances of meeting the clinical range for internalized disorders was 2.10 times higher. to provide additional information, the study's internalizing disorders included depression, anxiety, and somatic complaints. internalized disorders can lead to chronic mental health issues, adversely affecting an individual's ability to establish healthy research | articles | yeager 23 california sociology forum vol. 7 relationships, maintain employment, and uphold an overall quality of life. additionally, somatic complaints may result in frequent medical visits, contributing to increased healthcare costs. this observation aligns with the findings of researchers bussières et al. (2023), who noted that chronic pain is associated with higher healthcare utilization and more frequent hospital visits. frequent hospital visits can significantly diminish an individual's quality of life and place considerable strain on healthcare resources, ultimately affecting both the healthcare system and the economic well-being of patients. addressing this issue effectively begins with preventing child abuse from occurring in the first place. it is important to consider how childhood experiences of abuse can shape an individual’s perception of the world and influence societal norms. ultimately, prioritizing the mental well-being of children can increase the development of a healthy self-image. those who experienced cpa reported significantly lower self-rated health scores in adulthood. wang and zhao (2022) found that the pursuit and continuation of higher education can alleviate the negative effects of cpa and other related traumatic events by 25%. it is important to note, however, that this does not eliminate completely the adverse negative impacts associated with cpa. this concept may prove advantageous for survivors of cpa who are contemplating the pursuit of further education. additionally, it would enable them to take an active role in shaping their own futures, progressively acquiring knowledge and fostering personal healing. higher education can instill a sense of accomplishment and expand access to higher-paying employment opportunities. through these job prospects, individuals who may have previously faced barriers due to their childhood circumstances or lower socioeconomic status can ascend the socio-economic ladder. this provides a compelling rationale for making higher education more accessible and even tuition-free. moreover, education fosters critical thinking skills and diminishes the likelihood of repeating historical errors. this is especially pertinent in disrupting the cycle of abuse that individuals who have suffered cpa may feel compelled to perpetuate, as evidenced by voorthuis et al. (2014). ultimately, attaining a higher education can enable individuals to transform their lives and enhance their cognitive abilities. research | articles | yeager 24 california sociology forum vol. 7 physical abuse can be linked to functional reorganizations in various brain regions which have implications for mental health. cai et al. (2023) determined that individuals who endured cpa exhibited a 1.8 times increased risk of developing mental health disorders in adulthood, attributable to stress-related functional reconfigurations in multiple regions of the brain. to clarify, the mental health disorders referred to in this study are depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd) in adulthood. the study also uncovered that cpa was associated with alterations in brain functional connectivity, particularly in regions pertinent to emotional regulation and stress response. these modifications in brain connectivity were correlated with an elevated risk of developing disorders, such as depression and anxiety. it is important for cpa victims to understand that any health issues they may be experiencing are not their fault, nor should they be dismissed as mere laziness. this statement is particularly relevant given the prevalent stigma surrounding mental health in certain cultures. based on personal experience within mexican culture, there often exists a mentality that advocates for simply overcoming challenges and continuing to work, rather than seeking help through therapy or other medical resources. recognizing the influence that cpa has on mental wellbeing, society could continue to foster empathy and understanding to enhance mental health awareness and resource utilization. cpa globally impacts the control of emotion regulation. researchers (cheng and langevin 2023) found that cpa can hinder a victim’s ability to identify, label and express emotions but especially fear. victims tend to struggle understanding others and managing their own emotions which can complicate relationship building and distort their world views, which can lead to unhealthy dynamics. this ties back to the research maxwell et al. (2016) explained that cpa can make victims engage in abuse themselves as adults. this cycle of violence affects not just the survivors but also those around them, as it increases the likelihood of unhealthy relationships and therapeutic needs for future generations. consequently, addressing these emotional issues requires resource allocation for such support. ultimately, understanding this issue is vital for personal development and prevention of further abuse. violence can have a continuous effect among individuals. while research | articles | yeager 25 california sociology forum vol. 7 survivors may face difficulties in recognizing and articulating their emotions, it is evident that this is not a concern that only impacts victims but those around them. conclusion overall, cpa has enduring effects that impact victims, manifesting in various ways and to varying degrees. notably, cpa increases the likelihood of having chronic pain in adulthood, and it can also impose significant financial burdens (bussières et al. 2023). not only that but for adult women cpa has been associated with an increase in pain during intercourse, further underscoring its long-lasting physical implications (talmon et al. 2021). beyond physical and personal pain, research showed that individuals with a history of experiencing cpa were more prone to inflicting violence on their own children if they exhibited high levels of temperamental sensitivity (voorthuis et al. 2014). on the bright side psychotherapeutic intervention can mitigate the risk of violent behavior in adults who experienced cpa, reducing the likelihood of continuing abusive behaviors to their own children (maxwell et al. 2016). the mental health impact of cpa is equally profound. it was shown that there is an association between cpa and increased self-harming behaviors (yıldız et al. 2023). additionally, cpa before the age of five increases the risk of developing internalized disorders later in life (lansford et al. 2021). mental health outcomes can also be influenced by cpa as it alters brain structures, victims of cpa report lower self-rated health scores (wang and zhao 2022). furthermore, cpa reorganized the brain causing neurological changes that increase the likelihood of developing mental health disorders and impaired fear recognition (cai et al. 2023). in summary, cpa has long-lasting consequences that impact victims physically, mentally, and emotionally. this highlights the intricate interconnectedness between personal experiences during childhood and adulthood outcomes. in summary, cpa has lasting impacts on individuals all throughout adulthood, affecting their physical, mental, emotional, and social health. a common misconception mentioned was that cpa solely impacted a victim's physical health, with pain diminishing as injuries heal. however, the long-term effects are research | articles | yeager 26 california sociology forum vol. 7 significantly more profound, some being: influencing the perception of health, mental health issues, and the normalization of abusive behavior. this normalization can perpetuate a cycle of intergenerational abuse, replicating similar behaviors victims might have experienced. while there are many challenges to face for those who are victims of cpa, there are also many opportunities to grow and heal from the abuse. psychotherapeutic interventions and support systems have demonstrated potential in interrupting the intergenerational cycle of abuse. additionally, mental health services can aid in reducing the strength of mental disorders as a by-product also reducing self-harming, suicidal behaviors and idealizations. it is essential for society to prioritize the well-being of children by cultivating environments revolving around care, respect, and protection. by addressing the ongoing cpa issues and providing accessible resources for the victims, pathways can be created towards a future devoid of abuse. references bussières, andré, mark j. hancock, ask elklit, manuela l. ferreira, paulo h. ferreira, laura s. stone, timothy h. wideman, et al. 2023. “adverse childhood experience is associated with an increased risk of reporting chronic pain in adulthood: a stystematic review and meta-analysis.” european journal of psychotraumatology 14(2), 1-38. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2023.2284025. cai, jianjian, jia li, dong liu, sikang gao, yunyun zhao, jiaxuan zhang, and qin liu. 2023. “long‐term effects of childhood trauma subtypes on adult brain function.” brain and behavior, 13(5):19. doi: 10.1002/brb3.2981. cheng, polly, and rachel langevin. 2023. “unpacking the effects of child maltreatment subtypes on emotional competence in emerging adults.” psychological trauma: theory, research, practice, and policy 15(suppl 1):s102-11. doi: 10.1037/tra0001322. lansford, jennifer e., jennifer godwin, robert j. mcmahon, max crowley, gregory s. pettit, john e. bates, john d coie, and kenneth a. dodge. 2021. “early physical abuse and adult outcomes.” pediatrics 147(1):e20200873. doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-0873 maxwell, kendal, jennifer l. callahan, camilo j. ruggero, and beth janis. 2015. “breaking the cycle: association of attending therapy following childhood abuse and subsequent perpetration of violence.” journal of family violence 31(2):251–58. doi: 10.1007/s10896-015-9765-z research | articles | yeager 27 california sociology forum vol. 7 talmon, anat, ahmet uysal, and james j. gross. 2021. “childhood maltreatment and mid-life adult sexuality: a 10-year longitudinal study.” archives of sexual behavior 51(2):781-95. doi: 10.1007/s10508-021-02030-8. valle, linda anne and john r. lutzker. 2006. “child physical abuse.” practitioner's guide to evidence-based psychotherapy, 169-76. boston: springer nature. voorthuis, alexandra, ritu bhandari, dorothée out, rixt van der veen, marian j. bakermans-kranenburg, and marinus h. van ijzendoorn. 2014. “childhood maltreatment experiences and child abuse potential: temperamental sensitivity as moderator?” journal of family violence 29(7):749-56. doi: 10.1007/s10896014-9624-3. wang, dianxi, and yufeng zhao. 2022. “the relationship between adverse family experiences during childhood and self-rated health outcome in adulthood.” social work in public health 37(4), 34255. doi: 10.1080/19371918.2021.2013384. yıldız, muhammed, uğur orak, and ramazan aydoğdu. 2023. “enduring effects of early life traumas on adult suicidal ideation.” journal of child & adolescent trauma 16(2):297-307. doi: 10.1007/s40653-022-00482-1. zhang, ning, man gao, jinglong yu, qiang zhang, weiguang wang, congxiao zhou, lingjia liu, ting sun, xing liao, and junhong wang. 2022. “understanding the association between adverse childhood experiences and subsequent attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.” brain and behavior, 12(10):1-11. doi: 10.1002/brb3.2748. serena yeager (she/her/ella) is a first-generation college graduate. she is a csula alumni who graduated with a bachelor’s in sociology and a minor in communications in december of 2024. during her time at csula, serena participated as a member of the sociology club and later served as treasurer in the fall of 2024. she is grateful for the numerous opportunities she has received by being a part of cal state la, such as submitting a paper to the csf in the spring of 2025. currently, serena is a graduate student at csun pursuing a master’s in sociology. the long-term effects of child physical abuse serena yeager reviews | book | bellipanni 121 california sociology forum vol. 7 book review: reconsidering death: a sociological review of brandi schillace's death’s summer coat kayla bellipanni department of anthropology california state university, los angeles brandi schillace’s death’s summer coat: what the history of death and dying teaches us about life and living is a unique perspective on the sociology of grieving, death, and dying. it is an interdisciplinary examination of death practices and how they have shifted, especially in the modern western context. by blending anthropology, sociology, psychology, and history, schillace explores societal changes that have distanced modern society from death, creating what she views as an unhealthy relationship with mortality. her work utilizes the idea that western society has developed a “death-denying” culture, hiding death from public view and ritualizing it in increasingly private and medicalized ways. through a historical and cross-cultural lens, schillace critiques this shift, arguing that understanding how death is handled can teach us to live more fully. sociologically, schillace’s argument builds on classic ideas from scholars such as philippe ariès and michel foucault with topics like the medicalization of death, the secularization of death rituals, and the growing isolation surrounding the grieving process. this review evaluates schillace’s contributions to established sociological theories, considering her insights into contemporary western death practices and assessing the book’s collaborative approach and broader implications for sociology. death’s summer coat is structured thematically, addressing various dimensions of death and dying through historical and cultural examples. she begins by outlining western attitudes toward death from pre-modern to modern times, a shift famously attributed to sociologist ariès ([1974] 1975). death was a communal event in early societies, integrated into everyday life. funerary rituals were public, and death was accepted as a part of life’s cycle. however, as schillace explains, with the rise of modernity and the medicalization of life, death has been removed from the home and placed in hospitals behind sterile walls. reviews | book | bellipanni 122 california sociology forum vol. 7 the book uses cross-cultural comparisons to examine how non-western societies approach death in more communal and ritualized ways. schillace highlights practices such as those of the toraja people of indonesia, who keep their dead in their homes for extended periods and view death as a gradual process rather than an abrupt end. she contrasts this with western practices, which often involve quick removal of the body, minimal public mourning, and an emphasis on efficiency rather than reflection or community support. throughout, schillace advocates reframing death in western society, suggesting looking to outside cultures and historical practices for alternative approaches to dying, mourning, and grief. the final chapters discuss the recent “revival of death” (walter 1994) in western culture, evidenced by the rise of death cafes, death doulas, and other movements that aim to reintegrate death into everyday life. schillace’s work, overall, provides a compelling sociological critique of contemporary western death practices, echoing many of the arguments made by classic sociologists of death in their arguments that the modern west has progressively hidden death from public viewa phenomenon has been referred to as the “forbidden death.” schillace takes this further by exploring how the medicalization of death—where healthcare professionals primarily handle death—has stripped individuals of agency in their dying process. this shift can be seen as part of a larger societal trend toward medicalizing life. by situating death within hospitals and under the control of medical professionals, western society distances individuals from their own mortality, in essence, turning death into a failure of medicine rather than a natural life event. in discussing the medicalization of death, schillace uses foucault’s concept of biopolitics—the idea that modern institutions exert control over the life and death of individuals. foucault argues that power over death has shifted from being an event that took place within the family or community to one controlled by state institutions and medical authorities. schillace’s analysis supports this, showing how medical advancements have enabled society to extend life but, in doing so, have also pathologized death itself. while schillace’s critique of medicalization is sociologically grounded, her reliance on cross-cultural reviews | book | bellipanni 123 california sociology forum vol. 7 comparisons occasionally oversimplifies the complexity of death practices. for instance, her discussion of the toraja people lacks a deeper exploration of how these practices are embedded within the culture’s specific social and religious frameworks. while schillace’s examples are illuminating, they could benefit from more sociological depth, such as analyzing how these practices are tied to broader social structures like kinship, religion, and power. moreover, her argument for a “return of death” in western society aligns with walter’s (1994) theory of the “revival of death,” which suggests that after decades of avoidance, death is making a cultural comeback. movements like death cafeswhere people gather to discuss deathor the popularity of memoirs and literature about death are signs of this revival. schillace notes that she views these as positive steps toward reintegrating death into everyday life and allowing people to confront mortality more openly. sociologically, this reflects a shift from the privatization of grief and dying to a more public engagement with mortality. however, some critics argue that while these movements may represent a shift in discourse, they are still relatively niche and do not reflect broader societal change. schillace’s argument might have benefited from addressing these critiques more directly when considering whether these movements have the potential to fundamentally alter mainstream attitudes toward death. brandi schillace’s death’s summer coat offers a valuable sociological reflection on the ways in which death is managed, understood, and ritualized in contemporary western society. her critique of the medicalization of death and the privatization of grief resonates with long-standing sociological concerns about the alienation of individuals from communal, meaningful rituals surrounding death. by drawing on cross-cultural examples, she challenges western readers to reconsider how death and mourning are approached, suggesting that more open practices might help to reduce the fear and isolation surrounding mortality. however, while her cross-cultural comparisons are interesting, they often need more sociological depth to fully appreciate the complexity of these practices in their own contexts. furthermore, her optimism about the “return of death” in western society may be somewhat overstated, as these movements remain largely subcultural. nonetheless, schillace’s book contributes reviews | book | bellipanni 124 california sociology forum vol. 7 meaningfully to the growing field of the sociology of death and dying, offering a thought-provoking reflection on what the history of death can teach us about living. references ariès, philippe. [1974] 1975. western attitudes toward death: from the middle ages to the present. baltimore, md: johns hopkins university press. foucault, michel. 2009. the birth of biopolitics: lectures at the collège de france, 1978-1979. edited by michel senellart. translated by graham burchell. new york: palgrave macmillan. schillace, brandi. 2015. death’s summer coat: what the history of death and dying teaches us about life and living. new york: pegasus books. book review: reconsidering death: a sociological review of brandi schillace's death’s summer coat kayla bellipanni research | articles | chen and manley 47 california sociology forum vol. 7 unhoused african americans and lgbtqia+ youth: disproportionately overrepresented groups in the unhoused population jason chen department of biological sciences department of finance, law, & real estate california state university, los angeles theodoric manley, phd department of sociology, lecturer california state university, los angeles abstract over 75,000 individuals in los angeles county are unhoused, representing a crucial issue that needs to be addressed. in addition to stemming from a complex array of historical and societal factors, the unhoused population is further burdened by racial and identity-based inequities, with african americans and lgbtqia+ youth representing two disproportionally overrepresented groups in the unhoused population. thus, more work must be conducted to uncover the systemic injustices that perpetuate homelessness and advocate for more equitable solutions. this analysis explores the historical antecedents leading up to the current housing crisis before drawing from evidencebased studies to frame a set of policy choices and recommendations to address the disproportionate number of homeless african american and lgbtqia+ youth populations in los angeles. i discuss current approaches to resolving the homelessness problem before introducing and advocating for housing first, an evidence-based approach that seeks to empower unhoused individuals by prioritizing housing from the beginning. critically, i address specific challenges faced by unhoused african americans and lgbtqia+ youth, providing a framework for implementation and recommendations to address such disparities in housing more adequately. as with necessities like food, clothing, and fundamental rights to speech and freedom, housing is a human right. los angeles boasts one of the world’s most dynamic and productive economies, yet it is simultaneously called the nation’s research | articles | chen and manley 48 california sociology forum vol. 7 epicenter of homelessness. where the sleek angles of sports cars are just as common as the mismatched tarps of homeless encampments, it is no wonder that los angeles is ranked seventh in income inequality out of the largest 150 metro regions (policylink 2023). with over 45,000 homeless people in the city of los angeles and an additional 30,000 in the greater county, homelessness has become an increasingly critical issue in la and beyond (lahsa 2023). people experiencing homelessness–or alternate term, the unhoused–experience increased exposure to communicable diseases, violence, malnutrition, and harmful weather exposure, and they have, on average, a 12-year shorter life expectancy when compared to the general us population (nhchc 2019). while 26.7% of the los angeles unhoused population are sheltered adults and youth, unsheltered youth make up 3.0% of the unhoused population, and unsheltered adults make up a staggering 70.3% of the unhoused population. furthermore, characterization of significant portions within the unhoused population (lahsa 2024) include: 29,823 chronically homeless; 2,991 veterans; and 2,406 transition-aged youth–who are particularly vulnerable due to their ineligibility for youth services. according to usich’s (n.d.) report using data trends to dismantle myths believed about homelessness, 40-60% of unhoused individuals have jobs–despite the common conception that unhoused people are unemployed–but struggle to find housing because it is unaffordable. economic reasons like job loss contribute significantly, and many shelters are limited to people who are sober, straight, and have no disability or criminal record. additionally, while unhoused people are commonly perceived as dangerous and violent, they are more likely to be victims of violent crime. finally, while a common stereotype is that most unhoused people have substance use and/or mental health disorders, the majority don’t; instead, the large majority of people with substance abuse and mental health illnesses are not homeless. despite making up only 5-8% of the overall us youth population, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual (or lgbtqia+) youth make up 40% of the youth population experiencing homelessness (robinson 2018). additionally, homelessness is experienced disproportionately by black, indigenous, and people of color (or bipoc), as more than research | articles | chen and manley 49 california sociology forum vol. 7 40% of the homeless population is composed of african americans, though they comprise only 13% of the general population (naeh 2023). in los angeles, african americans make up 31.7% of the homeless population despite making up only 7.6% of the general la county population (lahsa 2023). lgbtqia+ youth and african americans face unique challenges due to their marginalized identities, and it is crucial to understand the underlying causes of their homelessness to uncover the systemic injustices that perpetuate homelessness and advocate for more equitable solutions. given these stark disparities, this paper examines homelessness among two of the most disproportionately affected groups: african americans of all ages and lgbtqia+ youth. while homelessness affects individuals across various demographics, these groups face unique systemic challenges that warrant specific attention. african americans experience homelessness at significantly higher rates than their proportion of the general population, primarily due to historical and structural factors such as discriminatory housing policies and economic disparities. similarly, lgbtqia+ youth make up an outsized portion of unhoused young people, often as a result of identitybased discrimination and family rejection. understanding these differences is essential to developing tailored policy solutions that address their specific vulnerabilities and break the cycle of homelessness. historical correlations the origin of public housing and racial discrimination it is important to acknowledge the historical antecedents of modern housing programs to understand the homeless issue. this necessitates a discussion of public housing, which the government initially constructed in the early 1900s to address the living conditions of america’s poorest families during world war i (goetz 2013). these projects provided affordable and decent housing for the neediest. still, they soon followed a recognizable pattern of racialization, mismanagement, and subsequent demolition following the increasingly dominant neoliberal perspective. the post-world war i period, which began in the 1930s, saw improved economic conditions as liberal democratic research | articles | chen and manley 50 california sociology forum vol. 7 philosophy defined the character of american politics and government. starting with president roosevelt’s new deal programs from 1933 to 1938, keynesian economics was born, which supported ‘big government’ solutions and redistributive programs (goetz 2013; marr 2015). the federal government favored demand-side policies to bring the country back into stability, encouraging infrastructure development and jobs by building housing, instituting food programs, and enhancing social security. as economic conditions improved, the racial character of public housing changed from primarily white to black. white public housing residents were presented with more opportunities in the private sector than their black counterparts, resulting in an outflow of whites and an increase in black occupancy (goetz 2013). at the same time, funding for public housing decreased as the shift to the neoliberal ideology occurred. public housing quickly became marginalized and stigmatized, further cementing its demise. the civil rights movement, beginning in the late 1950s1960s, brought in new legislation like the fair housing act, which president johnson signed as part of the civil rights act of 1968 (hud n.d.a). however, a shift to more neoliberal views soon began. the neoliberal approach fosters financial deregulation and labor market flexibility at the expense of social welfare programs (goetz 2013). this has contributed to rising levels of unstable employment, inequality, and poverty, now defining characteristics of major metropolitan areas in the united states. importantly, housing for the nation’s most disadvantaged became a major crisis as a shift to the private market was prioritized. in the 1970s, the expansion of the public housing stock ended with the nixon administration. with the passage of the 1974 housing and community development act, the section 8 housing program began to take effect. rather than provide families with hard units–as in public housing–the government began to compensate them with housing vouchers for use in the local private housing market (marr 2015). however, these vouchers were not effective at addressing the housing need, as prospective buyers with vouchers were highly likely to encounter discrimination and various barriers to obtaining housing (tbf 2020). displaced families from the demolition of public housing research | articles | chen and manley 51 california sociology forum vol. 7 were often limited to relocating to high-poverty and racially segregated neighborhoods (marr 2015). according to roschelle (2019), the decline of public housing and the rise of neoliberal policy were in line with the discriminatory perspectives on social welfare at the time. in the 1980s and 1990s, black and latina mothers on social welfare were often vilified as ‘lazy’ and welfare-dependent. in 1996, president clinton passed the personal responsibility and work opportunity reconciliation act to eliminate welfare dependency by enforcing a lifetime limit of 5 years on welfare receipt. such policies further entrenched racism and discrimination in american social assistance, a characteristic that still affects housing programs today. marr (2015) notes the relationship between structural (causal) and cultural (adaptative) factors indicates the link between current housing programs and the history of public housing decline. multiple social levels shape the process of exiting homelessness. unhoused individuals attempt multifaceted efforts, but the housing constraints system and low-wage jobs currently characterize our economy and tie them to an endless cycle. the various structural factors that affect the unhoused population include the labor market, housing market, and welfare system. instead of defining homelessness as embracing an identity or culture, ethnographic researchers should focus on how resources (economic, social, emotional, etc.) can be obtained. thus, local and national governments should promote employment at a living wage, affordable housing, and adequate welfare support. current approaches to resolving the homeless problem the dominant approach to managing homelessness in the united states is the linear continuum of care, emphasizing a step-by-step staircase model. the linear approach is structured so that low demand/low service provisions are available at the first level, and transitional housing and permanent housing are offered only after consistent demonstration of housing readiness or ‘worthiness’ (padgett, henwood, and tsemberis 2016). research | articles | chen and manley 52 california sociology forum vol. 7 figure 1: the treatment first approach is based on the linear continuum of care and step-by-step staircase model (padgett et al. 2016). this reinforces the conception that homeless people with serious mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse are the authors of their destinies. this approach reinforces a means-tested policy by having the individual demonstrate they deserve access to housing. because of how this approach is structured, individuals do not always proceed through it orderly, and far too many ‘fall off the staircase.’ despite its so-called moral attractiveness, the linear approach–otherwise known as treatment first–is often a “cruel and costly circle of futility” (padgett et al. 2016). navigating this social services system can be incredibly difficult, as participation in the california work opportunity and responsibility to kids (or calworks; a public assistance program for families in california) requires complex requirements. in addition to maintaining adherence to income limits and reporting changes in household composition and criminal justice status, parents are tasked with providing proof of immunization requirements and other legal documentation. for many homeless families, these documents can be easily lost or stolen, resulting in an inability to qualify for assistance. the number of program participation requirements can be so unreasonable that even caseworkers are confused by the system (roschelle 2019). these are directly tied to a capitalist society’s neoliberal approach to basic human needs. many treatment-first social services are also faith-based, encouraging many families to feign religious enthusiasm. for research | articles | chen and manley 53 california sociology forum vol. 7 example, one transitional housing facility required residents to attend lectures on topics like “the myth of evolution” or “how jesus can lead you out of temptation and homelessness.” as one woman frustratingly put it, “‘i’m not homeless because of temptation; i’m homeless because i’m poor. but i don’t have a choice; i have to pretend to believe their bullshit’” (roschelle 2019). these barriers illustrate how traditional approaches fail to address the root cause of homelessness, particularly for historically marginalized groups. instead of treating housing as a privilege contingent on compliance with social service requirements, we must shift toward recognizing it as an unconditional right. a theoretical foundation for this shift can be found in philosopher john rawls’s theory of justice, which argues for fairness and equity in social structures. the ethical case for housing as a right rawlsian theory offers a comprehensive framework for understanding justice and fairness in society. in the context of homelessness and the recognition of housing as a fundamental right, several key concepts within rawlsian theory become particularly relevant and provide a deeper understanding of its implications. first, rawls argues that individuals have diverse conceptions of what constitutes a good life, shaped by their values, beliefs, and interests. acknowledging housing as a right means respecting individuals’ agency and autonomy in pursuing their vision of a good life, which may involve stability, security, and a sense of belonging that housing can provide (talisse 2001). rawls also encourages using the original position, a hypothetical scenario in which individuals come together to establish principles of justice from behind a veil of ignorance. in this exercise, individuals lack knowledge–are veiled in ignorance–about their specific attributes, such as wealth, talents, or social status. applied to homelessness, the original position calls for policies that prioritize housing as a right, as individuals in the original position would not know whether they might experience homelessness. therefore, they would strive to create a just society where everyone can access secure housing, ensuring fairness and impartiality (talisse 2001). this philosophy is justly apt, especially in consideration of disproportionately marginalized research | articles | chen and manley 54 california sociology forum vol. 7 groups in homelessness, like african americans and lgbtqia+ youth. housing should be provided unconditionally as a prerequisite for stability and well-being rather than a reward earned. housing first empowering the homeless by including them in the decision-making process it is a fundamental human right to have basic food, clothing, and healthcare needs met. while many of these are handled with direct services, like the supplemental nutrition assistance program (or snap; a modern version of the food stamp program), the fundamental right to shelter needs to be more adequately addressed in the u.s. consistent with the neoliberal model, many welfare programs in the u.s. are means-tested and restricted to needs-based assistance. this contrasts with the more rights-based assistance programs in europe. interestingly, it follows that definitions of homelessness in european countries are characteristic of more accommodating housing programs (padgett et al. 2016). the housing first evolved as a consumer choice program philosophy stemming from the patient and human rights movement of 1970. it incorporates community-based, mobile support services based on the assertive community treatment model and also has a basis in the harm-reduction model originating from the hiv/aids epidemic (padgett et al. 2016). currently, the general model of housing first approach is based on the not-for-profit pathways to housing model which emphasizes permanent scatter-site housing. this initially came from consumer advocates who argued that people with psychiatric disabilities should have the same ‘normalized’ housing as those with other disabilities. the main goal is to prevent institutionalization that undermines social integration and independent living (padgett et al. 2016). the organizational aim of the housing first approach is to employ staff with lived experience in homelessness who have training in psychiatric rehabilitation, trauma-informed care, and harm reduction. additionally, a strong focus is on reducing power differentials and blurred boundaries between staff and program participants (padgett et al. 2016). the housing first approach offers standard research | articles | chen and manley 55 california sociology forum vol. 7 housing, tenancy rights, privacy, freedom separate from program demands, off-site rather than on-site services, and affordable rent contracts. by directly providing permanent housing, consumers can focus on utilizing their services. they experience ontological security, which arises from stability in one’s living environment. this leads to engagement, retention, and a closer experience of having a true ‘home’ (padgett et al. 2016). these characteristics are all meant to provide residents with security and comfort that motivates them to keep their housing. figure 2: the housing first approach places individuals directly into permanent housing, from “streets to homes” (padgett et al. 2016). evidence-based the housing first model is widely recognized as an effective and cost-efficient approach to addressing unhoused populations. the earliest evaluations of the housing first model began in the early 2000s in new york city. a 2000 study demonstrated that after five years, 88% of housing first participants remained housed, compared to 47% of participants in the control group (padgett et al. 2016). additionally, a 2004 study comparing retention rates of participants in the housing first model and the treatment first model demonstrated that housing first participants spent almost no time experiencing homelessness after two years, which was considerably more successful than the treatment first group, which, on average, spent about 25% of their time in homelessness (naeh 2023). another study from 2004 that utilized a random assignment experimental approach demonstrated that the housing first model eliminated barriers to services and was more successful in reducing homelessness than programs that were research | articles | chen and manley 56 california sociology forum vol. 7 contingent on sobriety and treatment progress, resulting in 79% of housing first participants stably housed by the end of six months, compared to 27% in the treatment first group (naeh 2023). more recently, a 2021 study found an 88% decrease in homelessness and a 41% increase in housing stability with the housing first model. in 2015, housing first demonstrably increased outpatient service utilization and outreach to and engagement with clients inadequately served by the public mental health system. recent studies also indicate that housing first may reduce the usage of alcohol, stimulants, and opiates (naeh 2023). evidence also suggests that the housing first model is cost-effective. in 2007, project 50 was launched in skid row to assess the efficacy of the housing first approach (krisiloff and boyce n.d.). over ten days, 471 unhoused individuals were counted, and 350 were surveyed. the top 50 most vulnerable were selected based on a vulnerability index, with an average number of years homeless of 9.58. 76% and 90% of the participants were identified with mental health and substance abuse issues, respectively. then, an engagement team was employed to establish and maintain rapport with the individuals engaging in services. integrated health, mental health, and substance abuse services were provided in offices on-site, within the participant’s place of residence, or anywhere necessary, in accordance with the housing first model. after four years, project 50 boasted an 80% retention rate. perhaps most impressively, the cost analysis revealed total cost offsets of $3.284 million (108% of the money spent by the program) returned to la county, which corresponded with a surplus of $4,774 generated per occupied unit (krisiloff and boyce n.d.). challenges faced by unhoused african americans and lgbtqia+ youth african americans and lgbtqia+ youth, as mentioned, represent two disproportionately represented groups experiencing homelessness despite making up a small portion of the overall population. from october 2021 to november 2022, the ucsf benioff homelessness and housing initiative (bhhi 2024) conducted the california statewide study of people experiencing research | articles | chen and manley 57 california sociology forum vol. 7 homelessness with significant focus on understanding the experience of black unhoused individuals. in california, black individuals make up 26% of the unhoused population despite making up only 7% of the state’s overall population. incarceration was reported by 43% of unhoused black californians, compared to 31% of whites and 37% of other races. interestingly, 51% of unhoused black californians are age 50 and older, indicating an insufficient social safety net and lack of lifetime wealth to retire. black californians also experienced meager incomes before homelessness, as leaseholders’ median monthly costs were $675, more than half of the median monthly household income. during homelessness, black californians reported inadequate access to mental health services, as only 35% of those who reported at least one mental health system in the prior month received either counseling or medication. perhaps most strikingly, 51% of black unhoused californians reported that discrimination impeded their housing search, and 59% noted the length of waitlists for housing support, compared to 48% of white californians and 49% of other races. lgbtqia+ youth face similar yet unique challenges, as individuals who deviate from the norm are usually pathologized and labeled. homosexuality and gender non-conformity have had a long history of pathologization, with homosexuality being classified as a ‘mental disorder’ until 1973 (abramovich 2016). as a result of this, various stereotypes, stigma, and homophobic and transphobic microaggressions still exist today. it should be no surprise that one of the most prevalent causes of homelessness among queer and trans youth is identity-based family conflict; as mentioned previously, a disproportionately large number of unhoused youths identify as lgbtqia+ (abramovich 2016). youth experience homelessness for a variety of reasons, including escaping from abusive homes, emancipating from the foster care system, or being raised by unhoused parents (my friends place, n.d.). it has been estimated that each year, 100,000 children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, with homeless and runaway youth being the most vulnerable population (my friends place, n.d.). abramovich (2016) analyzes a study from 2016 in toronto, canada, which reported that lgbtqia+ youth experience institutional erasure and invisibility in attempting to research | articles | chen and manley 58 california sociology forum vol. 7 receive housing support services. as the sheltered system is gendered, erasure begins as early as the first formal intake upon entrance to a shelter, where youth are asked questions that require them to identify as male or female. additionally, lgbtqia+ cultural competency training is not made mandatory for staff working in shelters, which may mean an inadequate ability to handle situations of homophobia or transphobia. a combination of these factors may lead lgbtqia+ youth to avoid the shelter system. youth lacking specialized health care services may resort to unmonitored street suppliers for transition-related treatment. this, of course, can result in severe health complications. given these structural barriers, traditional housing support systems often fail to meet the needs of african americans and lgbtqia+ youth experiencing homelessness. for african americans, systemic discrimination in housing and employment limits access to stable housing, while lgbtqia+ youth frequently face exclusion from family support and shelter systems due to identity-based bias. these realities underscore the need for an approach that removes preconditions for housing and prioritizes immediate stability. the housing first model offers a particularly effective solution by providing secure housing without requiring individuals first to demonstrate sobriety, employment, or compliance with other restrictive conditions. by addressing housing as a fundamental right rather than a conditional benefit, housing first is uniquely positioned to break cycles of homelessness and mitigate the barriers these disproportionately affected groups face. another two-year study in toronto, canada, published in 2016, demonstrated that the housing first model can be effective for ethnic minority groups (stergiopoulos et al. 2016). a randomized controlled trial was conducted for 237 adults from ethnic minority groups experiencing mental illness and homelessness. to address this specific population, anti-racism and anti-oppression practices were implemented alongside rent supplements and intensive case management. the main principles of the ethnic minority service approach included language use, education, alliance building, and social justice activism. immediate access to permanent housing in preferred neighborhoods was provided following the housing first model. research | articles | chen and manley 59 california sociology forum vol. 7 for african americans, this scattered-site housing approach was likely effective because it prevented re-segregation into highpoverty areas, which historically mirrored failed public housing models. additionally, staff were focused on countering racism, discrimination, and power inequities. after 24 months, housing first participants remained stable for a more significant proportion than the control group (75% vs. 41%). this evidence suggests that the housing first model should effectively address african american unhoused individuals. while the housing first approach has demonstrably sound evidence for adult unhoused individuals, research on unhoused youth is sparse and even more so for youth identifying as lgbtqia+. rather than emphasize a scattered-site housing model for lgbtqia+ youth, they may benefit more from interconnectedness and community with similarly identifying peers. fostering acceptance and community should be the main focus of housing programs seeking to address lgbtqia+ youth, as these are themes that are most critically needed by individuals who have already experienced significant social exclusion. legal guardianship is also a concern when serving homeless youth, as it challenges self-empowerment, autonomy, and choice. barriers and policy solutions for housing first challenges to implementation in 2016, the california legislature passed senate bill 1380, which required all housing programs to adopt the housing first model (cdh n.d.). housing first has demonstrated remarkable success in reducing homelessness, yet the crisis persists. this raises an essential question: if housing first works, why hasn’t it solved homelessness? while the model is effective, its implementation has been hindered by structural, political, and economic barriers limiting its reach. these challenges include insufficient funding, landlord discrimination, and a lack of tailored approaches for different populations. addressing these obstacles requires a multifaceted strategy that combines policy reform, tenant protections, and shifts in public perception. housing first programs often rely on federal assistance programs like the section 8 housing choice voucher program to research | articles | chen and manley 60 california sociology forum vol. 7 provide rental subsidies that make housing affordable for lowincome individuals and families, . section 8 subsidizes rent so tenants only pay 30% of their income, while the federal government covers the rest (hud n.d.b). approximately 60,000 families in los angeles use section 8 vouchers, making it a critical tool for securing housing for people transitioning out of homelessness (la times 2025). however, even though section 8 is widely implemented, it still faces serious limitations that impact housing first’s effectiveness. despite section 8 vouchers guaranteeing rent payments, many landlords refuse to accept tenants who use them due to stigma against low-income renters and misconceptions that they are riskier (ama consulting group 2022). some landlords impose additional screening criteria, such as requiring higher credit scores or rental history, which effectively excludes many voucher holders. without stronger legal protection, section 8 vouchers are often not the ticket out of homelessness that they were meant to be. since landlord participation in section 8 housing is necessary, an amendment to california’s fair employment and housing act (feha) in 2020 has made it illegal for landlords to reject tenants solely because they use a section 8 housing choice voucher to help them afford their rent (fair housing foundation 2020). however, landlord discrimination against section 8 tenants still occurs. starting in 2023, the nonprofit housing rights initiative (hri) investigated with undercover investigators who posed as prospective tenants with section 8 vouchers; over a year, hundreds of brokers and landlords were contacted. hri found explicit discrimination against voucher holders 44% of the time in san francisco, 53% in oakland, 58% in san jose, and 70% in los angeles (inner city law center 2024). many states still allow landlords to refuse section 8 vouchers, significantly limiting housing options for low-income renters, including those in housing first programs. as of january 2025, only 23 states have legislation prohibiting source-of-income discrimination (soid), including protections for section 8 voucher holders (prrac 2025). however, even in states with soid laws, the extent of protection varies. some states explicitly exclude housing vouchers from their soid protections, while others have weak enforcement mechanisms, allowing discrimination to persist. wisconsin’s research | articles | chen and manley 61 california sociology forum vol. 7 soid law does not cover housing vouchers, and maine and minnesota’s soid laws are weakened by court interpretation (prrac 2025). recent developments have heightened concerns about the future of section 8 housing programs. in early march 2025, the los angeles housing authority stopped processing new and ongoing applications for section 8 vouchers, likely due to recent funding cuts at the u.s. department of housing and urban development (hud) under the trump administration. this suspension threatens access to stable housing for thousands of low-income residents and unhoused individuals who rely on federal assistance. as federal funding becomes increasingly uncertain, it is more critical than ever to advocate for stronger tenant protections, increased investment in affordable housing, and policies that ensure the long-term sustainability of housing assistance programs. policy recommendations & successes to maximize the effectiveness of housing first, systemic reforms must address barriers to implementation, including discrimination against voucher holders, insufficient affordable housing, and the need for specialized housing models for marginalized groups. expanding access to housing and reducing structural inequities will require stronger legal protections, increased financial incentives, and shifts in public perception. state and local governments must increase funding for both scattered-site and community-based housing options. expanding the affordable housing supply, mainly through mixed-income developments that prevent high-poverty concentrations, would enable housing first to operate at the necessary scale for lasting impact. legislative action is also needed at both federal and state levels to safeguard section 8’s role in housing first programs. strengthening penalties for non-compliant landlords, expanding financial incentives such as tax breaks or guaranteed rent payments, and enforcing anti-discrimination laws are critical. additionally, many landlords remain unaware that section 8 guarantees rent payments, making it a stable and reliable income source. public education campaigns and direct outreach can address misconceptions while streamlining participation requirements to encourage greater landlord involvement. states with soid research | articles | chen and manley 62 california sociology forum vol. 7 protections must also enhance enforcement mechanisms to hold landlords accountable. governments should implement stronger oversight, offer incentives such as property insurance discounts, and ensure reimbursement for potential damages to reduce landlord hesitancy. by addressing these barriers, housing first programs can better secure stable housing for participants, breaking cycles of chronic homelessness and ensuring that federally funded housing assistance is used as intended. california’s project homekey exemplifies this approach by converting existing hotels and motels into permanent supportive housing, rapidly increasing housing availability, and bypassing private landlord discrimination. as of august 2024, project homekey had funded nearly 16,000 housing units, with 172,000 households projected to be served over the life of the project (cdh 2024). recognizing the racial disparities in homelessness, the los angeles homeless services authority (lahsa) commission established the ad hoc committee on black people experiencing homelessness in 2018 to examine the causes of black overrepresentation in homelessness, identify opportunities to increase racial equity and craft more effective policy recommendations addressing black unhoused individuals (lahsa 2018). more recently, governor gavin newsom (2024) signed two bills into law, ab 2835 and ab 3057, to create additional shelter and more housing units. by removing the sunset date on tenancy rules, ab 2835 will allow service providers to place unhoused individuals more easily into privately owned hotels and motels for more than 30 days. additionally, ab 3057 will streamline the process for local governments to construct junior accessory dwelling units for more affordable housing options. while these efforts represent progress, more investment is needed to expand housing first at a scale that meaningfully reduces homelessness. abramovich (2016) recommends that to better support lgbtqia+ unhoused youth, the government should support the development of housing options that are tailored to lgbtqia+ youth and encourage programs that foster an intersectional approach. in addition to providing staff with lgbtqia+ cultural competency training, this approach should encompass research | articles | chen and manley 63 california sociology forum vol. 7 recreational needs, mentorship opportunities, health considerations, and cultural connections. standards that are lgbtqia compatible, such as gender-inclusive washrooms and shelter intake processes, should also be enforced. perhaps most critically, government programs should invest in more research and programs that specifically address lgbtqia+ unhoused youth. this is particularly important, as lgbtqia+ individuals tend to be undercounted. nationally, hud launched an initiative in june 2023 as part of the biden administration (usich 2023) to prevent homelessness among lgbtqia+ youth and aims to provide regular training for lgbtqia+ youth care providers and release a toolkit for best practices on supporting lgbtqia+ youth, among other goals. solving homelessness is not just about policy—it’s also about changing the narrative. public misconceptions—such as the belief that unhoused individuals are “unwilling to work” or “choose homelessness”—create political resistance to housing first programs. in california, organizations like yes in my backyard (california yimby n.d.) have directed significant efforts towards advocating for pro-housing policies and fostering public support for housing initiatives. since 2017, yimby has led the passage of 18 bills into law, including ab 68 that expands accessory dwelling units and sb 330 for accelerating housing construction, limiting fees, and protecting tenants, which have collectively enabled the potential development of millions of new housing units. by engaging communities and policymakers, california yimby (n.d.) dispels myths about housing developments and emphasizes reducing homelessness’ economic and social benefits. expanding similar advocacy efforts could further reduce stigma and build political will for long-term investments in affordable and supportive housing. conclusion although this paper is not a primary research source, it draws on evidence-based studies to frame a set of policy choices and recommendations to address the disproportionate number of homeless african americans and lgbtqia+ youth in los angeles. while housing first has proven to be a highly effective model, its full potential remains unrealized due to systemic research | articles | chen and manley 64 california sociology forum vol. 7 barriers, funding shortages, and policy limitations. addressing these challenges requires more than program expansion—it demands legislative action, landlord accountability, and a fundamental shift in how society perceives homelessness. by adapting housing first to meet diverse needs, increasing investment in permanent supportive housing, and combating housing discrimination, policymakers can ensure that safe, stable housing is accessible to all—particularly the most marginalized populations. despite recent advancements in policy toward addressing black and lgbqia+ unhoused populations, continued research, funding, and programs are necessary to ensure a more equitable future. only through sustained commitment and structural reform can housing first evolve from a promising solution into a fully realized pathway out of homelessness. references abramovich, alex. 2016. “preventing, reducing and ending lgbtq2s youth homelessness: the need for targeted strategies.” social inclusion 4(4). doi: 10.17645/si.v4i4.669. ama consulting group. 2022. “section 8 stigmasmyth vs reality.” ama consulting group. https://amaconsultinggroup.com/blog/section8-stigmas/. bhhi (benioff homelessness and housing initiative). 2024. toward equity: understanding black californians’ experiences of homelessness: findings from the california statewide study of people experiencing homelessness. university of california san francisco. https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/202402/black%20ca%20report%202024.pdf cdh (california department of housing and community development). n.d. “housing first fact sheet.” retrieved march 13, 2025. https://www.hcd.ca.gov/grants-funding/activefunding/docs/housing-first-fact-sheet.pdf. cdh. 2024. “california awards nine homekey projects to create 533 new permanent supportive homes.” https://www.hcd.ca.gov/abouthcd/newsroom/california-awards-nine-homekey-projects-tocreate-533-new-permanent-supportive-homes california yimby (yes in my back yard). n.d. “our impact.” california yimby. retrieved march 13, 2025. https://cayimby.org/ourimpact/. fair housing foundation. 2020. “senate bill 329 faq – fair housing foundation.” https://fhfca.org/senate-bill-faq/. goetz, edward g. 2013. new deal ruins: race, economic justice, and public housing policy. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. research | articles | chen and manley 65 california sociology forum vol. 7 governor gavin newsom. 2024. “governor newsom signs new laws to help communities further address homelessness.” governor of california. https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/08/27/governornewsom-signs-new-laws-to-help-communities-further-addresshomelessness/. hud (u.s. department of and housing and urban development). n.d.a. “history of fair housing.” office of the inspector general. retrieved november 30, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20110421012219/http://portal.hud.go v:80/hudportal/hud?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_o pp/aboutfheo/history. hud. n.d.b. “hcv applicant and tenant resources.” office of the inspector general. retrieved march 13, 2025. https://www.hud.gov/topics/housing_choice_voucher_program_s ection_8#hcv06. inner city law center. 2024. “mass civil rights complaints filed against 203 real estate agents, brokerage firms, and landlords across california for rampant housing discrimination.” inner city law. https://innercitylaw.org/mass-civil-rights-complaints-filedagainst-203-real-estate-agents-brokerage-firms-and-landlordsacross-california-for-rampant-housing-discrimination/. krisiloff, flora gil and elizabeth s. boyce. n.d. “project 50: a two year demonstration project in skid row launched in december 2007 with unprecedented multi-agencies collaboration.” retrieved march 13, 2025. 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10.1186/s12889-016-3768-4. talisse, robert b. 2001. on rawls. belmont, ca: wadsworth/thomson learning. tbf (the boston foundation). 2020. “researchers find high levels of discrimination against black and low-income renters in new study.” researchers find high levels of discrimination against black and low-income renters in new study. https://www.tbf.org/news-and-insights/pressreleases/2020/july/housing-voucher-discrimination-report20200701. usich (united states interagency council on homelessness). 2023. “hud launches lgbtqi+ youth homelessness initiative.” retrieved november 6, 2024. https://www.usich.gov/news-events/news/hudlaunches-lgbtqi-youth-homelessness-initiative. research | articles | chen and manley 67 california sociology forum vol. 7 usich. n.d. “homelessness data & trends.” retrieved may 16, 2024. https://www.usich.gov/guidance-reports-data/data-trends. jason chen (he/him) is a senior biology major with an option in microbiology and a minor in real estate at csula, graduating in may 2025. he became a licensed real estate agent in fall 2024 and is passionate about housing justice, public health, and health equity. his interest in housing advocacy began through an honors college course taught by dr. theodoric manley from csula’s department of sociology. under dr. manley’s guidance, jason conducted research on the disproportionate impact of homelessness on african american and lgbtqia+ youth communities, which he presented at csula’s 2025 research, scholarship, and creative activities student symposium. he is currently a clinical research assistant at la general medical center and usc’s department of emergency medicine, where he is interested in investigating how housing insecurity and gender identity intersect with health outcomes and barriers to care. theodoric manley, phd, served as the instructor for the honors college course hnrs 3200 – humanities approaches to race, ethnicity, and complex problems at california state university, los angeles. his contributions to this manuscript were advisory in nature, providing invaluable mentorship, structural feedback, and editorial guidance throughout the writing process. unhoused african americans and lgbtqia+ youth: disproportionately overrepresented groups in the unhoused population jason chen and theodoric manley, phd research | theoretical works | whiting 68 california sociology forum vol. 7 the denial of self and belonging: exploring disability identity and society using classical sociological theory lauren whiting department of sociology california state university, los angeles abstract researchers of disability studies define disability identity as intertwining disability with a sense of connection to the disability community. however, with continued social and spatial barriers, people with disabilities may not always form a disability identity, resulting in issues that may span throughout the lifespan, ranging from ostracization, a decline in psychological wellness, and difficulties collectively pushing back against stigma. as contemporary academia and society expand their documentation of the challenging experiences people with disabilities undergo regarding identity formation and community belonging, it poses a unique opportunity to explore the nature of disability during modern social analysis. therefore, outlining harriet martineau's work as a deaf female social analyst presents space to examine george herbert mead’s hope for a “universal society” critically through the insights of charlotte perkins gilman and w.e.b. du bois to address how to create a society that is equitable and diverse. from a social analytical perspective, people’s humanity lies in the ability to engage in creative labor, create identity, and develop a sense of belonging to a community (edles and appelrouth 2021). however, what are the outcomes for people who struggle to experience these developments? in the contemporary era, academia and society have expanded their documentation of the challenging experiences people with disabilities undergo regarding identity formation and community belonging. for instance, muller (2021) found that as primary and secondary educational spaces failed to normalize disability in the teaching pedagogy (reflecting a disinterest in disability within the social epistemology), children with disabilities did not have adults with disabilities to model after or learn language relevant to their lived experiences. expectedly, muller’s (2021) participants expressed shared experiences of schools encouraging them to deny their research | theoretical works | whiting 69 california sociology forum vol. 7 disabled identity and not create a community with other students with disabilities, suggesting the lack of disability identity. conceptually, researchers understand disability identity as “a sense of self that includes one’s disability and feelings of connection to, or solidarity with, the disability community” (dunn and burcaw 2013:148). significantly, the problem of people with disabilities not forming a disability identity can translate into more severe issues throughout their lifespan, ranging from a decline in psychological wellness to difficulties collectively pushing back against stigma (muller 2021). considering the current state of concern, it raises the need to explore its social analytical beginnings in the era of modernity. markedly, harriet martineau, a deaf social analyst, explored the difficulties she and other deaf people encountered in developing identity and belonging in her work, letters to the deaf from 1834. in this writing, she explicates some of the realities regarding the ablest behaviors of society during her lifetime, which often forced herself and other people with disabilities into social isolation and a deteriorating sense of belonging (bohrer 2003; naples and valdez 2020). for instance, she outlined how the adverse reactions she and other deaf people endured when they communicated and utilized assistive technology led to a “willful” social exodus to avoid social faux pas and stigmatization (naples and valdez 2020). once pushed to the outskirts of society, martineau notes, deaf people also experience a dehumanizing form of interdependence through practices of paternalism (bohrer 2003). unfortunately, regardless of her contributions to making sense of the social world in modernity, social analysts of martineau’s time regularly questioned the reliability and validity of her work, citing that people with disabilities and women could not interact with the social world proactively (bohrer 2003). they further libeled her character through the outward belief that her rejection of femininity and domesticity led to her neurosis of health (i.e., invalidism) (bohrer 2003). one outcome of this scrutiny is that her works experience infrequent epistemological discourse compared to other modern social analysts in the contemporary world (bohrer 2003). with context about disability and social analysis in the modern and contemporary worlds, it creates a more prominent research | theoretical works | whiting 70 california sociology forum vol. 7 concern regarding the stagnant action to address the concerns of people with disabilities, implying and reinforcing their ostracization from identity and community building. as such, their plight leads to questions about the nature of the strained relationship between identity and belonging when holding a marginalized identity and how inquisitively thinking about other modern social analysts such as charlotte perkins gilman and w.e.b. du bois presents concerns about george herbert mead’s hope for a “universal society.” to begin, mead used symbolic interactionalist methodological approaches to showcase the intrinsically dialectic relationship between the self and society. for instance, he highlighted how the self is created through language to convey how people view themselves as the subject and object when using perceptions others create. additionally, mead conceptualized the “play stage” and the “game stage” to explain the development of the self (edles and appelrouth 2021). he believed that as children age, they shift from internalizing the attitudes of discrete, disconnected others to simultaneously internalizing the attitudes of multiple others. from the “game stage,” mead coined the term “generalized other” to describe the phenomenon where societies develop general attitudes all ascribe to as people assume their roles and the roles of others (edles and appelrouth 2021). however, in applying these concepts to people with disabilities, unique problems arise where they cannot healthily achieve these social developments due to perceived inferiority, which du bois notes with “the veil” and “the double-consciousness.” in the souls of black folk, du bois (1903) explored his conceptualizations of “the veil” (experiences of subjective and objective estrangement) and “double-consciousness” (a separation of self) that black americans experienced as a byproduct of colonization, slavery, and segregation in the united states. though du bois created these concepts to discuss race relations, they are universal in design and can apply to various experiences of oppression (edles and appelrouth 2021). for instance, by focusing on du bois’s research question of how those who are “the problem” navigate society, the social analysis of individuals with disabilities reveals their forced separation between their disability and humanity. with the knowledge that research | theoretical works | whiting 71 california sociology forum vol. 7 they cannot be disabled and human simultaneously, people with disabilities recognize how they are perceived by the able-bodied world and respond accordingly, as martineau previously showed. in turn, they experience an increased risk of experiencing estrangement from society and creating a distorted sense of self. therefore, du bois presents a fascinating concern for mead’s theoretical orientation regarding the development of the self. if those who are “the problem” grow up experiencing the use of language and modeling that emphasizes their inferiority and need to interact with the world accordingly, they grow up to become adults who internalize the attitudes of a generalized other who does not value their marginalized identity, increasing the risk of a negative sense of self. notably, this micro-level concern culminates into concerns about mead’s macro-level utopian hope, which he called the “universal society.” mead believed that for a “universal society” to exist, people needed to engage in universal discourse, the ability to take on the attitudes of the abstract, distant other, to understand the rippling effect of personal behavior (edles and appelrouth 2021). from a speculatory approach, this raises the question of whether the distant other is symbolically (not physically) distant, as the “generalized other’s” collective sentiments can normalize the dehumanization of those who do not meet social expectations, as shown by gilman and martineau. first, gilman explored women’s experiences with disability (i.e., post-partum depression) within the context of patriarchal rest cures that intensified symptoms, rather than alleviated, in her semiautobiographical work, the yellow wallpaper in 1892. despite never addressing disability issues overtly, her work touches on how the experience of disability can be intensified by oppression, specifically the intentional practice of denying a person their communicative autonomy due to their marginalized identity (edles and appelrouth 2021). likewise, martineau noted how she and other deaf people often experienced physician inadequacy due to the latter’s reservations about communicating the state of their disability and treatment solutions (naples and valdez 2020). second, another point of interest from gilman is her 1898 work women and economics, where her use of the corset metaphor underlines how the patriarchy “chokes” research | theoretical works | whiting 72 california sociology forum vol. 7 women into conformity until they internalize their oppression while also fearing liberation (edles and appelrouth 2021). as gilman notes this metaphor extends beyond gender inequality, it quickly finds applicability in martineau’s observations on the creation, internalization, and acceptance of oppressive attitudes towards deafness stemming from popular scientific fields of the time, such as phrenology (bohrer 2003). third, though gilman’s exploration of disability ends with the yellow wallpaper, she and martineau both highlight the effects of denied power due to oppression. from gilman’s perspective, women are perceived by their gender first and their humanity second (edles and appelrouth 2021). for instance, in women and economics, gilman famously analogizes women to domesticated horses as the gendered division of labor forced women into the economic dependency of men due to the former’s domestic labor generating no compensation. adding to this, martineau expands the thought process by exploring how deaf people are also forced to exist within the confines of domesticity but are denied gendered expectations as a reflection of their believed biopsychological and intellectual limitations (bohrer 2003). notably, martineau offers substance to gilman’s understanding of social darwinism as the latter attempts to redefine who is the fittest to survive based on biological distinctions to generate social equity, while the former highlights the impact of focusing on biological distinctions on the lived experiences of people with disabilities. to gilman, gender denied people their humanity. to martineau, disability denied people their gender and humanity. considering the insights of gilman and martineau, here lies a unique concern for mead’s vision of society; he did not account for marginalized identities forgotten through intentional practices of minimizing language. instead, he focused on the notion that despite people experiencing a natural inclination to engage in self-protective and self-preservationist behaviors, they would realize that engaging in pro-social activities (e.g., cooperation) would allow them to maximize their desires (edles and appelrouth 2021). additionally, he believed that as society organizes to reach universality, intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts will arise and find resolution through reconstructions and research | theoretical works | whiting 73 california sociology forum vol. 7 modifications made through communication. further, his expectations for conflict resolution do not account for power dynamics, which creates the invisibilization of language to describe the experiences of marginalized individuals and can prevent successful communication. although mead held an optimistic perspective of conflict as a symbolic interactionalist, he did not explore the nature of resolving power imbalances (edles and appelrouth 2021). therefore, a final exploration of du bois’s theoretical orientation offers space to explore the work needed to create mead’s “universal society.” du bois argued in his essay the souls of white folks from 1910 that the inability to move past conflict stems from the privileged not realizing their privileged consciousness (edles and appelrouth 2021). moreover, he presented the issue that regardless of historically marginalized people’s attempts to claim their humanity, conscious and unconscious processes of dehumanization will ensure the preservation of their lower value, ensuring the privileged can continue their practices of exploitation and profit. using this perspective, du bois presents a critical concern for mead’s conceptualization of a “universal society,” especially in the context of disability. specifically, mead was a white, non-disabled man alive during the early stages of reconstruction u.s. (edles and appelrouth 2021), which raises a positionality question about whether his conceptualization of a “universal society” prioritizes assimilating people into the white, western world or offers dignity, equity, and inclusivity for diversity. despite the inability to answer these questions, du bois’s analysis suggests that developing a “universal society” must be intentionally critical. as social analysis is a byproduct of the human survival skill to predict the behaviors of an environment (lemert 2021), du bois presents one more note about the talents of those experiencing marginalization and its use to build a better society. interestingly, du bois believed experiences of oppression allow people to develop the “gift of clairvoyance,” the ability to recognize the actual operations of society (edles and appelrouth 2021). markedly, this gift is highlighted in the writings of martineau (naples and valdez 2020) as she details how people with disabilities describe the turbulence experienced in research | theoretical works | whiting 74 california sociology forum vol. 7 developing a sense of self and belonging to society at a nuance other social analysis did not fully address at the time. alongside this clairvoyance, du bois advocated for the privileged to become aware of their consciousness and its impact on historically marginalized individuals and communities. principally, achieving these ends requires a willingness to intentionally incorporate people of marginalized identities by increasing the value of their “gift of clairvoyance” to ensure people reevaluate the nature of power dynamics to move towards self-actualization, community advancement, and the merging of previously separated identities. for contemporary examples of attempts to shift epistemological power imbalances throughout the life course, there is a growing demand for special education to update their teaching pedagogy to become more pro-disability and foster students’ disability identities (muller 2021). scholars highlight the importance of institutions of higher education providing queer and disabled students with online and in-person venues to improve their community building and student development experiences as they become adults (miller 2017). tangibly, strikes led by the 2022 university of california graduate students strove to address obstacles disabled graduate students experienced in their media and bargaining stances (salanga 2022). additionally, disabled parents from ohio made national news as they challenged state laws allowing the use of disability for family courts to remove a child (staver 2022). their activism reached fruition in 2023 as ohio passed sb 202, which not only ended the use of parental disability as the sole determinant to limit or deny parental/custodial rights but emphasized the right for parents to access supportive services deemed reasonable and necessary (szilagy 2023). finally, in comparing cultural differences from martineau’s deaf experience during the age of modernity to the contemporary world, padden and humphries (1988) highlight the distinguishment between “lowercase deaf” and “uppercase deaf.” specifically, “lowercase deaf” refers to the inability to hear due to an audiological condition, while “uppercase deaf” refers to the deaf people who use sign language as their shared, inherited language and share a culture that generates their sentiments about themselves and relationships with society at large. this relates to research | theoretical works | whiting 75 california sociology forum vol. 7 current deaf culture, where deaf individuals experience more opportunities to generate their deaf identity by attending schools for the deaf, attending deaf-friendly universities (e.g., gallaudet university and california state university, northridge), and associating with resource and community-building agencies (e.g., greater los angeles agency on deafness). so, while mead’s theoretical expectation for a “universal society” has not yet come to fruition, work to normalize universal discourse through classical influences from martineau, du bois, and gilman generates hope for people with disabilities (and people of other marginalized identities) to participate in society authentically. moreover, the evaluation of classical ontology emphasizes the importance of contemporary developments about identity and society. for instance, patricia hill collins’s (1986:118) black feminist thought argues that the theoretical understandings of society hold more depth and complexity when they originate from individuals whose standpoint exists at the intersections of oppression, who she calls the “outsiders within.” for “outsiders within,” their status allows them to analyze society from a lens that often goes disregarded by those who do not hold the same standpoint, and to trust the validity of their personal and cultural epistemologies to analyze and solve social problems. unsurprisingly, the themes within collins’s work paradigmatically align with the works from modern sociology as she intertwines their scholarship and her positionality to further the value of epistemological heterogeneity in sociological thought and equitable societal formation. references collins, patricia hill. 1986. “learning from the outsider within: the sociological significance of black feminist thought.” social problems 33(6):s14–32. doi: 10.2307/800672. du bois, w.e.b. 1903. the souls of black folk: essays and sketches. chicago: a.c. mcclurg & co. dunn, d. and burcaw, s. 2013. disability identity: exploring narrative accounts of disability. rehabilitation psychology, 58(2):148-157. edles, laura d. and scott appelrouth. 2021. sociological theory in the classical era text and readings. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications, inc. lemert, charles. 2021. social theory: the multicultural, global, and classic readings. 7th ed. new york: routledge. research | theoretical works | whiting 76 california sociology forum vol. 7 miller, ryan a. 2017. “‘my voice is definitely strongest in online communities’: students using social media for queer and disability identity-making.” journal of college student development 58(4):509–25. muller, carlyn o. 2021. “‘i didn’t know people with disabilities could grow up to be adults’: disability history, curriculum, and identity in special education.” teacher education and special education. 44(3): 189-205. naples, james and tulio a. valdez. 2020. “letters to the deaf: present-day relevance of history’s earliest social analysis on deafness.” history of otolaryngology – head and neck surgery 162(3): 319-321. padden, carol and tom humphries. 1988. deaf in america: voices from a culture. harvard university press. salanga, janelle. 2022. “‘disability rights are workers’ rights:’ disabled uc davis workers on strike advocate for greater accessibility on the picket and in the university.” https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/11/28/disability-rightsare-workers-rights-disabled-uc-davis-workers-on-strike-advocatefor-greater-accessibility-on-the-picket-and-in-the-university/ staver, anna. 2022. “disabled parents say their differences are being used against them in ohio family courts.” the columbus dispatch. https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2022/03/28/disabledparents-ohio-family-courts-treat-them-unfairlyableism/7139758001/ szilagy, sarah. 2023. “new ohio law protects disabled people’s parental rights.” https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/new-ohio-lawprotects-disabled-peoples-parental-rights/ the denial of self and belonging: exploring disability identity and society using classical sociological theory lauren whiting creative works | op-eds | laird 154 california sociology forum vol. 6 treepeople: bringing sociology, climate research, and community voices into the same room april d. laird department of sociology california state university, los angeles abstract this is an exploration into being the first and only cal state la sociology student intern at treepeople, a seasoned non-profit environmental justice organization. treepeople’s policy and research department teams host multi-component environmental initiatives which use participatory community engagement and outreach to dynamically record new urban climate change research and maximize resilience outcomes in underserved neighborhoods. los angeles is one of the most historically notorious urban landscapes for resource and land discrimination, racial and class segregationist policies, and extractive/polluting enterprises. my internship sought to bridge the gap between researchers and community members while encouraging a new approach to climate studies that brings all stakeholders into conversation equally. my team and i are employing micro to macro motivations, technological details, and sociological theoretical frameworks during the pre-outreach and beginning sampling stages of our initiative launch. la provides a potent location for implementing more sociologically rooted environmental research, especially in the face of imminent climate crises, that disproportionally affect marginalized communities. la’s urban soil future combines quantitative measurements of soil health and biodiversity in la and documented qualitative feedback and collaborative ideation about nature-based solutions, giving community voices an empirical and social platform. it is my fervent wish that organizations like treepeople become progressively interested in compassionately and respectively widening the breadth of stakeholder collaboration and collectivism in all their current and future scientific research. i believe there is no better arena than climate justice to foster in a plurality in connection and wisdom, because we all share the threat of an inhospitable future, if we cannot work together. creative works | op-eds | laird 155 california sociology forum vol. 6 introduction and positionality when i first walked onto treepeople’s operations hub in beverly hills, coldwater canyon park, i wasn’t sure what to look for or what to expect. this fifty-year-old la based organization began with one impassioned high school student planting trees to challenge air pollution, but it’s obvious from the park’s long attended beauty and ample resources that the achievements of this organization are at least due in part to a relatively elevated degree of privilege. beyond the unassuming but cleverly curved parking area, there’s a small cluster of energy efficient office buildings, the foundation’s nursery, a conference center, a yurt village (where employees and guests alike come for refuge and/or work), a small outdoor amphitheater (that doubles as a venue and field trip teaching post) and a host of shady mulch laden hiking paths lined with magnificent vistas and old growth trees. at first, i felt uncomfortable on treepeople’s campus, as it’s surrounded by some of the most obscene wealth in the nation. but as i ventured further, i realized that the legacy of this place represents a rare mainstay in publicly accessible green space. its iron-clad trust agreements cannot be touched by the private speculation or urban development that plague many of the communities where treepeople’s work takes place. this means that the organization has a unique opportunity to try new approaches to community engagement without jeopardizing its local social capital and municipal partnerships in the grander environmental non-profit sector of southern california. treepeople’s community organizing strategies and mission statement reflects its central ambition to empower community members to think of themselves as active land stewards rather than passive city dwellers: treepeople is southern california’s largest environmental movement whose mission is to inspire, engage and support people to take personal responsibility for the urban environment, making it safe, healthy, fun and sustainable and to share our process as a model for the world. to date, the organization remains a major contributor to research and direct action(s), for everything from expanding canopy cover, creative works | op-eds | laird 156 california sociology forum vol. 6 school greening and food justice, to local forestry protection efforts. it’s the only non-profit organization of its size and influence in the los angeles region that uses its privilege to confront all of these issues simultaneously and has established itself as an important consultant for city and county urban greening. accelerating climate threats have further pushed treepeople to think more creatively about how to elevate community involvement in vulnerable neighborhoods—including pursuing relationships with local universities—while staying cognizant of the historical tensions between the academy, race, and low-income urban residents. the desire to commit myself to a common cause around ecological and community healing is what first brought me to treepeople. but as a white woman, it would be dishonest of me not to acknowledge race and class influence and bias in my own life. as treepeople continues to diversify its largely upperand middle-class staff of white and latinx professionals, one of the crucial challenges it faces in attempting to reimagine how it values marginalized community input centers around the willingness to admit that it too will make racially biased assumptive mistakes along the way. low-income folks have suffered under a ruling neoliberal framework that pursues private market investments in socially vulnerable areas and enjoys tax exemptions and other wealth consolidating incentives at their expense. the nationwide wealth gap and growing wage disparity provide enough evidence of this reality, but it’s the largely white-benefiting spatial control and occupation of marginalized communities that shows the harms of neoliberal ideologies in urban landscapes. i am more aware than ever of the impact whiteness can have on the dynamics in a room, and that it is something that often catalyzes unintended damage in the non-profit industrial complex. many years of higher learning and direct action helped me to accumulate the language and intersectional framing critical for meaningful civil activism. climate justice work is a useful place to start building intercultural empathy and recognize shared humanity and wisdom, as no amount of privilege buys full protection from climate change. the white anti-racist group, white people for black lives (wp4bl) often asks its members to think about their personal stake in creative works | op-eds | laird 157 california sociology forum vol. 6 toppling systems of oppression, and i revisit this notion often throughout my day. i believe it is the duty of white people in all industries to grapple with their unearned privilege and to embrace the interconnectedness that white supremacist cultures purposefully deny, to maintain social power. treepeople is primed to center this in its practices and research. methods treepeople’s work is boldly turning toward a research paradigm that establishes open communication and collaboration with communities (davidoff 1965) and moves away from myopic practices that lead to remitting prescriptions based on limited, biased and/or exclusionary data. this strategy (treepeople 2021) brings the contributions of scientists, scholars, and policymakers into equal partnership with community leaders and advocates to strengthen the innovation and robustness of climate change solutions in their unique areas and translate community response in a culturally and linguistically relevant way. by prioritizing a holistic consideration of situational circumstances involving race, class, gender, area history, and other factors, it also contributes to resistance efforts against the historical onslaught of gentrification and redevelopment projects that has tormented south and east los angeles in particular. the basis for this kind of approach, often referred to in the field as “community science” (moulite 2017), will help bolster, “the stories of marginalized communities through an intersectional lens, by adjusting for the multiple spaces people occupy.” this path presents an exciting and empowering opportunity to meet folks where they are and build resilience together as equal stakeholders in climate action. it’s a notion that also aspires to champion “resilience hubs” (resilient cities catalyst 2023) in under resourced neighborhoods, by providing training and support, and welcoming alternative ways of thinking and knowing about land management and protection that reside outside of dominate systems. as a social science student, i feel very passionately about maximizing the collective wisdom of scientific research, activism, and collectivism, because it reseats autonomy as the core goal, rather than development (escobar 2020), and builds a platform for residents to become local creative works | op-eds | laird 158 california sociology forum vol. 6 management ambassadors. indeed, the reason that strengthening collaboration in this work is so critically important is that it’s simply consensus and not conjecture that will move against the climate crisis. at its core, the story of “extractivism” (besteman 2020) is the story of earth’s witness to the anthropocene. many humans have and continue to commit profit motivated atrocities against the land in the name of socially constructed benefits, and we see it filter down to every species on the planet (klein 2014). to put it bluntly, climate change is the ultimate “find out” phase for humanity and potentially all existing life. for decades, los angeles has shown itself to practice “dracula urbanism,” (kirk 2023) and the consequences logically stoke distrust and a sense of powerlessness from low-income folks and bipoc, who’ve felt more of the brunt. according to kirk (2023), the ongoing effects of speculative capitalism and the privatization of resources belies good faith “development” and “renewal schemes” in la, masking a more insidious agenda to gentrify and exclude already disadvantaged communities from land occupation and ownership wherever profit is perceived. thus, our collective work must be profoundly dedicated to “uplifting local perspectives & voices,” because “people won’t trust a program that doesn’t prioritize their needs, knowledge, and critical input” (fabian 2022). project details headed by our principal soil scientist, dustin herrmann, i have been thrilled to be assisting in phase 3 of a county wide climate resilience initiative called los angeles’ urban soil future, in accordance with the “la urban soil collaborative” and funded by accelerating resilience los angeles (arla), under the supervision of the policy & research department at treepeople. this project targets residential soil health and biodiversity in la, so that residents can be connected with the resources they need and want, with the intention to effectively boost resistance to forthcoming climate change challenges in their neighborhoods. the ultimate goal of this initiative is to capture the diversity of the soil in la, to help support its health, and to inform new policy on building and infrastructure that considers hydrology conservation goals. creative works | op-eds | laird 159 california sociology forum vol. 6 in phases 1 & 2 of the project, treepeople’s scientific staff and community organizing team released a report in 2021, healthy soils for healthy communities, which recounts the thorough needs assessment they conducted on local soil knowledge in unprotected neighborhoods. over 1300 locals from four stratified groups were surveyed online about their land management experiences and familiarity with best management practices (bmps) for soil health. these surveys along with the subsequent discourse at treepeople’s annual los angeles urban soil symposium & workshop in 2020 guides the community engagement and action strategy design for phase 3, when i began my internship. our team is utilizing the unprecedented aerial detail of the la regional imagery acquisition consortium (lariac) urban geospatial data set to quantify soil type in socially vulnerable parcels of land, identify bright spots we hope to physically sample and evaluate, and help contextualize soil status assessments more precisely. armed with this data, we are more able to discuss the details of the project with residents in a way that resonates with what they must navigate on their properties, such as limited parcel vegetation and shade, heavy impervious ground cover infrastructure, and highway corridor air quality. indeed, some of the trouble with past research and theory in climate justice (foran 2017) begins with a misunderstanding of the foundational and ongoing implications that colonial imperialism and capitalistic thought have in the climate crisis. the field acknowledges some of the current impacts of oppressive systems in environmental justice, but a general disconnect still remains between many scientists’ and scholars’ planning and the ethical limitations that our institutional systems uphold. “market worship” perspectives (klein 2014) still pervade our society in ways that directly shape the questions we ask, our motivations and methods for research, and our policies. however, i am hopeful that climate change and its impending effects are meaningfully changing the way things are done, ushering in more holistic strategies (escobar 2020) that may inspire greater shifts in the ways people “sentipensar” (or “think-feel”) about the urban land in which they inhabit and how it forms their lives. going forward, we must remember that solidarity is not rendered through an creative works | op-eds | laird 160 california sociology forum vol. 6 isolated action or protest, but through committed practice in “building meaningful relationships, making spaces for others, (un)learning, and listening” (sholock 2012:709). so called north america built itself on the deliberate destruction and demoralization of indigenous groups throughout the continent (dhillon 2016), and american society has a duty to divest from wealthy speculators and to tear down the “terra nulls,” (or “nobody’s land”), justification for the seizure and exploitation of lands, if we are to mitigate climate change. we should look to indigenous communities for wisdom and knowledge of the natural world and include them and other communities of color in developing insightful effective protections against future environmental threats (klein 2014), as they may represent the best shot we have for avoiding total climate crisis. i agree that this is especially true in urban settings today, where demographic flux often indicates imminent redevelopment projects that further disenfranchise low-income residents from the land (hassberg 2020). la’s urban soil future operates in two very distinctive dimensions. on a basic level, it seeks to bridge a historically large gap between low-income and bipoc communities and researchers so that development and execution will include local voices and goals in an equitable way throughout. yet, on its most meta level, it is intrinsically intertwined with regional and global land & food sovereignty, as well as housing and other civil rights discriminations. arguably, treepeople’s most ambitious and expansive research project to date, a venture like this has the potential to inform other treepeople projects, such as ongoing education focused school greening and community garden programs. it could be used as a steppingstone to bigger investments in humanity and ecological wellness in general, because soil is our most foundational living organism and supports us all. theories another recent report released by treepeople’s sustainability scientist collaborators, cooler & healthier: increasing tree stewardship & reducing heat health risk using community based urban forestry (guzman et al. 2023) creative works | op-eds | laird 161 california sociology forum vol. 6 spotlights resident engagement in tree planting and continued management programs in la. study participants principally expressed their biggest barrier to participating in a planting program was a perceived lack in continued maintenance support after initial help with planting their trees. likewise, buchler (2021) explored the frequency that residents who practiced mindful landscaping and gardening tested their soil health found that people felt the absence of a centralized testing facility in la and the resulting costs of sending their soil samples elsewhere to be processed was a major barrier to consistent testing. refunds, rebates, and other convoluted governmental incentive options were not what most persuaded folks to want to take part in either activity. instead, earned trust and reliable, affordable, continued knowledge & materials support gave people more positive imagined outcomes, and they were far more likely to engage long term (eisenman, guzman, and wohldmann 2023). past research such as this, in conjunction with tree people’s own focused and varied pre-outreach conversations with residents, has helped our team synthesize and operationalize theory into thoughtful engagement, through mailer copy, brochure literature, and producing an informative webinar. some of the most crucial work i have done for this initiative involves designing community engagement materials along with participant interview guides that accurately convey solidarity and a deeply shared social commitment to land reclamation and climate resilience transformation goals. this includes figuring out how to tell the story of microbe species living in soil in a way that connects people to it and inspires them to want to contribute more time and effort to protect it. if we can’t bring people into the work with us, then any and all actionable parts of this initiative could be lost. to establish this critical link, my supervisor and i utilized several sociological theories to help us in approach, language, and accountability. the foremost theories we’ve used so far as reference guides for material design are: community based participatory research or cbpr (detroit urc board 2011), community based social marketing or cbsm (mckenzie-mohr n.d.), theory of change or toc (center for theory of change 2023), the protective action decision model or creative works | op-eds | laird 162 california sociology forum vol. 6 padm (lindell 2012), and the health belief model or hbm (washburn 2020). my other important role has been designing and authoring recognition and compensation materials for the study’s participants, offering them an appropriate menu of beneficial options in exchange for allowing us to enter their property, collect and catalogue soil samples, and interview them about their personal land management interactions and perspectives on larger environmental issues. in my view, the likelihood that a resident takes part in this study may very well rest on how well executed recognition and compensation materials are, and i believe environmental justice non-profits in general should allocate more resources to developing sincere recognition platforms for study participants, both on site, on social media and at community event(s). in order to establish solid resilience hubs in la that will also expand and share treepeople’s larger mission, all of our participants must be officially thanked and acknowledged for their contribution and encouraged to share their thoughts and feelings on the experience with the wider community, so that they feel appropriately valued as an essential part of climate resilience solutions. i have also assisted treepeople and its partners to formulate a plan for keeping the project transparent and the research accountable to communities, so that all findings can be disseminated in a timely and inclusive way, something i see as a crucial component of sincere community science efforts. as we continue outreach to engage target residents about the study, we cannot forget that we are also meaningfully inviting them to participate and contribute to the process of sampling, management program design, and implementation in their communities, so our methods must stay clear and inclusive. the sociological theories we’re utilizing can be applied to studies such as the tree stewardship one mentioned previously, even with the added constraint of it being written based on needs assessment data alone. for example, a cbpr focused environmental program would address past distrust in governments and non-profits by consulting community leaders and other residents on blueprinting short-and-long-term components of the plan(s), as pertains to the community’s particular constraints and concerns. cbpr rightly includes creative works | op-eds | laird 163 california sociology forum vol. 6 feedback from the community from the beginning, often even prior to official research, and implements their input throughout the entire process of an initiative, so that blind spots can be identified ahead of any rollouts. la’s urban soil future was not designed to include community input at the start, but there are already plans to amend that oversight in future treepeople projects. the cbsm framework compliments the cbpr approach, because participants are far more likely to organize/nominate their neighbors to participate in environmental desired behaviors when there is an understanding that all locals are treated as equal partners in planning solutions. additionally, the theory of change (center for theory of change 2023) offers researchers a platform for preparing against community disengagement by critically diving into, “the ‘missing middle’ between what a program or change initiative does (its activities or interventions) and how these lead to achieving desired long-term goals. behavioral hypotheses are strengthened using this model, by creating an “outcomes framework” which endeavors to determine what nuanced context may most successfully activate participation before community engagement begins. essentially, toc aims to make social research more robust and efficient by working backwards from the goal to the plan. toc also invites researcher and participant evaluation throughout, creating a more flexible planning environment (center for theory of change 2023). we believe this model has been very helpful with our outreach campaign, fortunately bolstered by treepeople’s established relationships with an array of seasoned local consults and staff, which have offered us advice while building our outcomes framework and engagement materials. the final two specified theoretical models we are employing get to the heart of individual perceptions in an emotional and existential way. padm analyzes the social and environmental cues that most influence decision-making about perceived threats to health and safety (lindell 2012). as stated in the tree stewardship report (eisenman, et al. 2023), “heat exposure is a public health hazard that burdens disadvantaged communities in urban areas disproportionately and threatens the livability and sustainability of cities.” because climate change is creative works | op-eds | laird 164 california sociology forum vol. 6 very much manifested through increasing heat, both regionally and globally, appealing to an urgent need for temperature mitigation is a great way to call folks in to actionable behaviors in land stewardship. healthy soil can majorly reduce erosion, trap carbon and water vapor, and support shade providing plants like trees; by this logic, green infrastructure begins to make sense. i’m excited about the potential for protective action decision making models to show people that green infrastructural solutions are not just desirable but essential, and they are cheaper and more gratifying than most tech-based resiliency options. to aid my individual work further, i’m borrowing the well-known japanese concept of “ikigai,” a concept meaning “a reason for being,” because it helped me to visualize what internal elements compose our human need to serve, something that has often alluded my conscious mind. ikigai can communicate the intertwined needs, desires, and abilities that can bond us to land stewardship. this concept (figure 1) is typically represented as a figure 1 ikigai: a japanese concept meaning “a reason for being”. creative works | op-eds | laird 165 california sociology forum vol. 6 venn diagram with four main parts: what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for. this concept is culturally tied to the japanese belief that a life’s work never ends. retirement is not even a word in the japanese language, instead, they acknowledge that all individuals have a purpose and an avenue for contributing to the world. it’s common practice in japan (pasricha 2016) to carry reminder “ikiagi card(s)” to jot down daily or weekly affirmations and aspirations throughout one’s life. keeping the first three components, i augmented the last to “what can benefit your community,” to connect individual behavior(s) to community vs. profession. with that, a reason for being transforms into a reason to be a good land steward. i think this idea is best located in the padm realm, because it may be a good way to challenge people with reasonably few resources from discounting themselves altogether as land managers/protectors and help residents to mitigate feelings of overwhelm and burden when it comes to climate action. finally, hbm explicitly acknowledges (washburn 2020) that individual health in the short and long term is impacted by behavioral choices. this model was originally developed for use in the medical field, but i believe it provides a perfect opportunity to convey the necessity of initiatives like ours to the public, especially in historically disadvantaged communities. some elements of the self-efficacy theory are incorporated into hbm, to help empower people who may have negative perceptions of their own impact on their health. i believe these theories, taken together, will advance la’s urban soil future’s final success tremendously. i am excited by the connections with community members that have already been mindfully built and am eager to bear witness to what is possible when an epistemological “pluriverse” (escobar 2020) is further embraced. efficacy for years treepeople has also been working toward increased diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as an overtly anti-racist approach to their work. however, it continues to be an ongoing challenge. our entire team must stay acutely aware of our personal biases and assumptions throughout this project, and continually ask locals to point out inevitable misinterpretations or creative works | op-eds | laird 166 california sociology forum vol. 6 deficiencies, to honor self-determination and avoid unhelpful deficit thinking. this can be especially difficult for white academics and practitioners who have not had enough meaningful contact with underprivileged residents in la, something treepeople has been working to correct for years. this city’s socio-political history is riddled with discriminatory dynamics based on race, class, and gender, and attitudinal context often differs from neighborhood to neighborhood, sometimes even from street to street. i appreciate the work treepeople does to invoke this notion in its work, through implementing community led needs assessments, participatory workshops, and educational discourse throughout the process of many projects, such as the “learn@home” webinar series which translates complex scientific research to the public and “t.r.e.e. talks” lectures that facilitate and encourage community members to discuss their actionable role(s) in climate related issues. moving forward, it is also essential to continue cultivating successful collaboration between nonprofits, researchers and communities to persuade municipalities to make genuine investments in community-based climate action(s) and continue support for scaling them up. importantly, treepeople’s collective has been accepted as a consultant for the city and county of los angeles urban forest management plans (ufmp), la city biodiversity guidelines, and la city bureau of engineering’s biodiversity checklist. building climate resilience undoubtedly requires a reexamination of urban ecosystems on every scale. it is in the best interest of all stakeholders that this initiative collects useful data and supports local efforts to mitigate extreme weather effects. our grant initiative is therefore funded by accelerating resilience la (arla), and in conjunction with the la urban soil collaborative, is partnered with a multitude of municipal and community based groups, including the us natural resource conservation service (usda-nrcs) and us forestry service (usfs), the city and county of la chief offices of sustainability and public health, the safe clean water program (scwp), la compost, and several south la community leaders, including organizers from the watts community garden. the coalition power of these groups demonstrates how the positionality and mission of organizations like treepeople can facilitate critical creative works | op-eds | laird 167 california sociology forum vol. 6 connections and conversations between government agencies and grassroots community action. conclusion green infrastructure (gi) solutions desperately need a wealth of grassroots support to affirm their validity to power holders and offer them as a better and more flexible response to future climate effects over expensive tech-based options that are inexorably tethered to fossil fuels. the urgency and price of inaction is much harder to illustrate to individuals and governmental bodies, without a solid demonstration of this approach’s strength and viability. if a community understands how to protect and increase the health of their soil after participating in this initiative, there will be better opportunities to build even more power, rooted in local empowerment toward better health outcomes. we hope to leverage strong results to inspire other cities, counties, and state systems to adopt urban soil solutions across the us, and hopefully the globe. it is, after all, undeniable that earth’s hospitality to life is what’s really at stake (escobar 2020). invoking the “just growth” advocacy planning model may also be a useful tool, as it asserts that equity concerns are often left underserved in the vast non-profit industrial complex, and that “lifting them up sharply and crisply can require the sharp elbows of community organizing” (benner & pastor 2015). this idea echoes arguments that advocacy and collaboration cannot exist separately from one another, and that in fact, a “principled conflict” is the vital shared platform from which people from different spaces can come together to solve problems. treepeople’s lens (2021) anticipates that building legitimate climate resilience necessitates a strengthened feedback loop among residents, government, and other neighborhood institutions that can provide community members the tools to shape their neighborhoods both during crises and on an everyday basis. indeed, every actor in planning and action has a genuine interest in a “shared regional destiny” (benner & pastor 2015) and can become an ambassador for change, with appropriate support. amid the grim acceleration of climate-based threats, both locally and globally, my experience working with treepeople creative works | op-eds | laird 168 california sociology forum vol. 6 shows me that hope is the collective muscle that can carry us all to a better world. as humanity embarks on this journey, i can’t imagine a better ground up starting point than improving soil health and resilience; urban soil health is the linchpin to natural solutions. in some ways, we as researchers are only there to listen and facilitate the implementation of nature-based plans for socially vulnerable areas of la. but we also crucially endeavor to advocate for bridging the gap between community leadership and future projects and policies that will make sure informed local choices and needs are reflected (treepeople 2021). with treepeople’s continued support, residents in under resourced neighborhoods and beyond can collaborate and cultivate a stronger cultural bond to environmental action(s) that appreciates the benefits of tree and soil preservation over the limited offset gains available in a marginalized community. references benner, c. & pastor, m. 2015. collaboration, conflict, and community building at the regional scale. journal of planning education and research, 35(3). besteman, c. 2020. militarized global apartheid. global insecurities. duke university press. buchler, s. 2021. harvesting los angeles: community based urban agriculture for soil remediation [unpublished master’s thesis]. occidental college. chazan, m. and baldwin, m. 2020. grannies, rockers, and oil rigs: mobilizing age in intersectional climate justice alliances. gendering globalization, globalizing gender: postcolonial perspectives. oxford university press chen, yujuan, phd, et al. 2021. healthy soils for healthy communities, phase 1: needs assessment. treepeople. detroit urc board. 2011. community based participatory research principles. the detroit community-academic urban research center. university of michigan school of public health (u-m sph). https://www.detroiturc.org/aboutcbpr/community-based-participatory-research-principles davidoff, p. 1965. advocacy and pluralism in planning. a reader in planning theory, journal of the american institute of planners, 31. dhillion, j. 2016. indigenous youth are building a climate justice movement by targeting colonialism. truthout. https://truthout.org/articles/indigenous-youth-arebuilding-a-climate-justice-movement-by-targeting-colonialism/ eisenman, d.p., guzman, e.b., and erica wohldmann. 2023. cooler & healthier: increasing tree stewardship & reducing heat health risk using community based urban forestry. sustainability, 15:6716. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su15086716 escobar, a. 2020. pluriversal politics: the real and the possible. latin american in translation. duke university press. fabian, a. 2022. new beginnings: an overview of shared perspectives on sustenance, resilience, and grassroots agency in south central los angeles, long beach & neighboring communities. accelerate resilience la (arla), treepeople creative works | op-eds | laird 169 california sociology forum vol. 6 foran, j. 2017. sleepwalking is a death sentence for humanity: manifesto for a sociology of the climate crisis & of climate justice. in k. k. bhavnani, john foran, priya kurian, and debashish munshi (eds). climate futures: re-imagining global climate justice 1st ed:105-113. berkeley: uc press/luminos, resilience.org. hassberg, a. dr. 2020. a recipe for gentrification: food, power and resistance in the city. citified sovereignty: cultivating autonomy in south los angeles. new york university press. herrmann, d. 2023. los angeles’ urban soil future. grant proposal for accelerate resilience la (arla), treepeople. kirk, r. 2023. what los angeles tells us about dracula urbanism. urban geography, doi: 10.1080/02723638.2023.2226551 klein, n. 2014. this changes everything: capitalism vs. the climate. alfred a. knopf, penguin random house. lindell, m. k., & perry, r. w. 2012. the protective action decision model: theoretical modifications and additional evidence. risk analysis : an official publication of the society for risk analysis, 32(4):616–632. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.15396924.2011.01647.x mckenzie-mohr, d. n.d.. introduction to community based social marketing. tools of change: proven methods for improving health, safety and environmental citizenship. st. thomas university. https://toolsofchange.com/en/programs/community-based-social-marketing/ pasricha, n. 2016. “why north americans should consider dumping age-old retirement: ikigai.” toronto star newspapers ltd. https://www.thestar.com/life/relationships/why-north-americans-shouldconsider-dumping-age-old-retirement-pasricha/article_12f4d041-b492-57e4a892-fb042ff20073.html resilient cities catalyst. 2021. community organizing around resilience: guide. california resilience partnership. treepeople. sholock, a. 2012. methodology of the privileged: white anti-racist feminism, systematic ignorance, and epistemic uncertainty. hypatia: journal of feminist philosophy. (27)4:701-714. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2012.01275.x washburn, l. drph. (2020 november). understanding the health belief model. ut extension: institute of agriculture. university of tennessee. studocu. https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/batangas-state-university-lipacampus/understanding-the-self/understanding-the-health-beliefmode/46808046 what is theory of change? 2023. center for theory of change: setting standards for theory of change. https://www.theoryofchange.org/what-is-theory-of-change/ april d. laird (she/her) will complete a ba in sociology, in spring 2024. her research and action interests include climate justice, labor rights, antiracism, abolition, and sustainable urban planning, and her professional ambitions in advocacy coalesce around these topics. her experience collaborating with csf as an editor and team leader has been a true delight, enjoying participating in the peer review process and the exciting heterogeneity of student sociological work at calstatela. currently, april assists part time as a community messaging and engagement intern and student employee alongside the policy and research team at treepeople.org, for county scale climate resilience initiatives. http://resilience.org/ treepeople: bringing sociology, climate research, and community voices into the same room april d. laird california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) the mexican american epic: historical dislocation, hybridized identity, and perpetuated inequality tatiana sanchez department of sociology california state university, los angeles the author provides a detailed history of mexican americans and their experiences with american society. mexican americans faced adversity in american society dating back to the mexican american war and still encounter racial discrimination to this day. seen as second class citizens by many in the united states and labeled "white-washed" traitors by immigrant communities, mexican americans have difficulty integrating themselves into society without some form of backlash. this article covers the mexican american experience in an effort to spread awareness about their struggles and hopefully end the discrimination that they have faced for so long. 1the history of hispanic immigration into the united states contains within it the facets of an exceptionally wellwritten epic: intense drama and adventure, loss and success, as well as an ongoing struggle against immense odds. ironically, however, the gripping tale that traces the tumultuous creation of mexican american’s uniquely hybridized identity and steady decline into their currently disadvantaged position within american society is an epic commonly unknown and largely understated amongst the general public. tatiana sanchez is an undergraduate student in the department of sociology. her paper was originally submitted to soc. 348 class, race/ethnicity, and gender, taught by dr. hyojoung kim in winter 2011. firstly, the mexican american war’s influence on the racial and social structure of america’s southwest is conveniently ignored or manipulatively downplayed within american k-12 classrooms. similarly, the problematic effect of the 20th century’s immigration waves and racial pressure upon mexican american identity is largely unexplored. finally, the bittersweet end to the mexican american journey has been left primarily un-highlighted, if not unchallenged by the common american. ultimately, it is this neglected social epic of america’s past that reveals the controversial testimony of mexicans’ victimization at the hands of u.s. manifest destiny, explains the turbulent formation of a mexican-american hybridized identity, and emphasizes their mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 154 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) disadvantageous position in current society amongst the low-paid, lesseducated, and impoverished citizens. in order to better understand the unique singularity of the politicallydisadvantaged, socially-stigmatized, and economically-cornered mexican american experience of second-class citizenship, the ordinary american must first peruse the neglected pages of the mexican american epic. the historical beginnings of the people who came to identify themselves as “mexican americans” illustrate the unique birth of a new target of angloamerican social discrimination: those mexican natives who found themselves suddenly “within” the united states after 1848. the mexican american war, the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo and the anglo american assimilation of the southwest territories consecutively collected swathes of previously-mexican territory into the union, automatically allotted second-class citizenship to mexican natives living on the coveted lands, and initialized the racial subjugation of mexican culture as justification for both the former and latter. each historical event, therefore, in turn played a pivotal role in thrusting the mexican people back several paces on their journey towards 1st class american citizenship. galloping across the u.s./texas border upon the ideological horse of manifest destiny, the mexican american war of 1846 provided the united states of america with the convenient opportunity to expand its borders to the south and west, whilst simultaneously reinforcing anglo-american racial identity. according to gregory rodriguez, author of the book mongrels, bastards, orphans, and vagabonds, despite the fact that “many expansionists simply assumed that the fast-growing angloamerican population would overwhelm all inhabitants of any new territories”, long before the war’s initiation there was “great concern over the prospect of so many mexicans inhabiting american territory,” (rodriguez 93-94). the debate that arose over the texas territory ultimately raised fears of a mexican threat to “white privilege” and american political clout, which in turn popularized the concept of u.s. predestined expansionism and white americans’ “racial purity”. anti-mexican racism spread virally, leading american political officials such as indiana congressman william wick to declare their aversion to “any mixed races in [the] union, nor men of any color except white, unless they be slaves”, and others such as new york herald publisher james gordon bennett to proclaim that the future of the mexican people would be “similar to that of the indians of this country […they] will become extinct,” (93-94). the birth of an anglo-saxon racial identity theoretically permitted white america to provoke war with “mongrel” mexico without having to confront the problematic murkiness of a guilty national conscience. clinging to the increasingly popular idea of a preordained racial hierarchy that closely intertwined with america’s manifest destiny, the ordinary white american of the late1840’s took comfort in the reassurance of their identity as angloamericans. reginald horsman further explains in his work race and manifest destiny: the origins of american racial anglo-saxonism, that if the united states was to retain a public mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 155 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) image of a “nation divinely ordained for great deeds, then the fault for the suffering inflicted in the rise to power and prosperity had to lie elsewhere,” (horsman 210). this assignment of “fault” found ready victims across the territories claimed by the u.s. after the war, and would eventually prove to not only be the death knell for hopes of mexican equality, but also a disadvantageous beginning for mexican americans’ long history within the united states. in 1848, the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo legally incorporated the southwest mexican territories of california, texas, and new mexico into the united states of america. as a result, over 100,000 mexicans found themselves suddenly within “american” territory (rodriguez 93). as map 1 illustrates, the massive territorial gains granted to the united states extended across 55% of mexico’s pre-war territory to even include hefty portions of arizona, utah, colorado, and nevada in exchange for a mere $15 million dollars (yale law libraryhttp://blogs.law.yale.edu). despite the fact that the treaty legislatively provided resident mexicans the option of remaining within the nation as ‘u.s. citizens’, and promised in article ix that they would be “maintained and protected in the free enjoyment of their liberty and property” (the avalon project http://avalon.law.yale.edu ) until their citizenship was officially finalized, the racialization of anglo-saxon identity continued to promote social strife. according to american southwest historian david j. weber, mexican americans became “at best – secondclass citizens”, and “at worst – victims of overt racial and ethnic prejudices” as a result of having “become politically impotent in lands they once governed,” (weber 58). pressured by anti-mexican discrimination and the lustful expansionist scramble to claim stakes in the new american southwest, mexican americans’ hold upon the property allegedly ‘protected’ by the treaty quickly slackened. choosing to either defend their land claims through sluggish judiciary channels, capitulate to the pressure and force of american settlers, or abandon their properties altogether (64-66), mexican americans suddenly found themselves in a bizarrely foreign and biased world whose language and customs were not their own, and in which the fight for civil rights, property, and political participation was unabashedly rigged. unsurprisingly, by 1860 the amount of mexican heads of household who owned land worth over $100 had dropped dramatically from 61% to a dismal 29%, and fell to less than 25% a decade later (mirande 30). for the masses of mexicans who chose to remain in the southwest, the reality that descended upon the post-war era promised political disempowerment, economic instability, and social discrimination, rather than ‘life, liberty, and property’. during the period from 1849 to 1910, americans began their “assimilation” of the southwest, which included the political domination and racial stereotyping of resident mexicans, who were portrayed as criminal scoundrels easily identifiable by their skin color and economic status. this period, therefore, helped solidify the american southwest’s racial hierarchy, as well as successfully marginalize mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 156 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) mexicans at “varying rates of speed in different regions, depending largely on the size of the anglo population and its ratio to that of the hispanics,” (rodriguez 106). across the newly acquired “american” territories, mexicans struggled to adjust themselves to the new political, social, and economic order imposed by the thousands of anglo migrants who stampeded across the west in search of gold and land stakes. unfortunately for mexican americans, one’s degree of successful assimilation and security of legal rights varied across class and racial lines. darkness of skin, although not necessarily a life-altering social obstruction for a wealthy mexican landowner, had the potential to further ruin a working-class laborer’s chances of upward mobility (108). white americans’ emerging condescension of being both “born anglo-saxon” and “bred american” (horsman 226) fueled the creation of an identity that would deftly weave the threads of racism into the fabric of national pride. according to alfredo mirande in his book gringo justice, southwest anglo-vigilantism (which targeted mexican “bandits” in the years following the war) perceived mexicans as “foreigners” and “greasers” who consequentially “had no rights and [whose] property could be confiscated at will,” (mirande 57). automatically classified as second-class citizens within a nation ruled by expansionist dogma and an anglo racial creed, mexican americans seemingly began their first day as part of the united states on the historically ‘wrong foot’. geographically ‘displaced’, politically disempowered, and socially degraded, mexicans’ historical beginning as “americans” commenced at a conspicuous disadvantage several paces behind that of their white counterparts. having theoretically “entered” america at the back of the line for economic stability and social equality (an aspiration later labeled ‘the american dream’), our epic heroes now began the second leg of their tumultuous journey: assimilation and identity crisis. as rodriguez further explains, the highly racialized social atmosphere that pervaded much of the late 19th century spurred numerous mexican americans to “distance themselves from mexico and their mestizo heritage” in the hopes that “by emphasizing the white european aspect of their heritage they could better protect themselves from discrimination,” (rodriguez 118). for many upper and middle class mexican american families, this conscious decision to enter into business and matrimonial unions with incoming anglos set a generational precedent for assimilation into american culture despite the “racial antagonisms” that would continue to surround mexican/anglo contact. with the arrival of thousands of anglo settlers from the american south and east, mexicans’ climb up the social mobility ladder grew “constricted on the grounds of race” rather than of skin color or economic status (123). the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo’s promises for mexican political and territorial protection rang hollow in courts of law across the southwest, with congress eventually ceding the federal government’s power of defining mexicans’ citizenship status to individual states. as a result, what little social assimilation and economic progress upper and middle class mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 157 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) mexican americans had made was soon overshadowed not only by their paradoxical status as racial ‘foreigners’ (despite the fact that many families had resided in the southwest for generations), but also the institutionalization of mexican segregation and the spread of antimexican stereotypes. despite their hopes for an upwardly mobile future, mexican americans soon fell into a pincer-like vise between anglo antimexican/immigrant racism and incoming mexican immigrant disapproval. ethnocentric racial pressures inflicted by white americans, however, may very well have been the most influential. racially segregated alongside their immigrant counterparts, mexican americans swiftly became aware of the social danger of public opinion stereotyping, which tended to culturally lump all individuals of mexican/hispanic descent under the banner “foreign-born”. this categorization had become the popular symbol of racial ‘otherness’ and inferiority. roused by an influx of mexican immigration during the early 20th century, anglo-american racial identity vigorously promoted a racial rancor that fed upon mexican americans’ depiction as a “monolithic, subordinate class” that was inherently “poor, ignorant, [and] degraded,” (127128). ironically, however, racial hostilities against mexican immigrants beginning during this period extended onwards throughout the 20th century, discriminating all mexicans regardless of color, class, generation, or citizenship status. between 1900 and 1930, over one million mexicans immigrated into the united states (159), fueling xenophobic anglo-american fears of economic competition, a challenging of the established racial hierarchy, and further obstructions to american manifest destiny. such sentiments eventually developed into the political construction of the “mexican problem” or the “brown scare”, which would only further inflame with each new influx of immigrants. discriminatory immigration policies such as the mexican repatriation campaigns and quota systems along with lingering remnants of institutionalized segregation confirmed that the “nineteenth-century preoccupation with the mongrel mexican had survived into the twentieth”, rodriguez asserts, and therefore the “case against mexican immigration was overwhelmingly framed in terms of race,” (166). the burden of anglo xenophobic stereotypes and the instability of their social status heavily provoked mexican americans’ defense of their americanized identity, which tended to grow pronouncedly patriotic with each new generation – especially during wwii. the continual flow of unassimilated immigrants into nearby neighborhoods encouraged many mexican americans to not only adopt but also internalize popular antiimmigrant prejudices. one mexican immigrant proclaimed in 1916 that mexican americans “[treated them] as the gringos [whites] did – as ‘dirty mexicans’,” (129). often socially resented and even despised, new immigrants were derogatorily referred to as cholos, wetbacks, and/or mojados by native-born mexican americans who viewed their illegal, unassimilated, and ‘foreign’ status as a cultural mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 158 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) embarrassment. migrant laborers’ mass entrance into southwest border states like california and texas (5 million workers having been employed across 26 american states at the end of the bracero program in 1964(192)) had begun to severely diminish mexican american chances of being fully accepted as 1st class american citizens. effectively summarizing collective mexican american social angst over the immigrant threat, one mexican american activist protested: “we’re trying to climb our way up the social ladder […] the braceros come along, and hang on to the tail of our shirts – their weight is dragging us down,” (196). ultimately, widespread antimexican/immigrant discrimination and stereotyping imposed by whiteamerican society compelled many mexican americans to socially differentiate themselves from recent immigrants. wishing not only to avoid disadvantageous racial profiling but more importantly to emphasize their developing patriotism and cultural belonging within american culture, mexican americans chose to distance themselves from mexicans and pronounce their allegiance to the only country they truly felt to be their own: the united states of america. in contrast, the second edge of the constricting “pincer” that held mexican americans’ identity captive was envenomed by racial discrimination and social resentment from the opposite side of the border: incoming mexican immigrants. popularly degraded as cultural sellouts and ‘white-washed’ traitors by immigrant communities and spanish-language media alike, mexican americans during the 20th century were derogatorily classified as pochos or “watered-down” mexicans. language, assimilation levels, adherence to cultural traditions, national loyalties, and social definitions of their identities in american society served as key dividing lines between 20th century mexican american and immigrant groups – schisms that emboldened themselves with every new immigration wave that overtook the southwestern states. as early as 1897, outlets of spanishlanguage media joined ranks with mexican immigrant communities in criticism and chastisement of mexican americans’ unabashed betrayal of ‘mother mexico’. one newspaper openly rebuked “agringados” (americanized hispanics) in el paso, texas, who refused to observe a mexican independence day celebration, stating, “to these – who negate that they are mexicans because they were born in the united states, we ask: what blood runs through their veins?” (121). ironically, local spanish media critiques of mexican american assimilation, upward mobility, and cultural distancing from mexico were equally, if not more blatantly, discriminatory than angloamerican social stigmatization. in the mexican immigrant perspective, culture and “blood” were the unifying tie between mexicans of all social classes and status, regardless of birthplace. mexican americans’ deliberate acceptance of and allegiance to the united states gleamed “proud”, “standoffish” (129), and highly traitorous. similar to anglo-centric discrimination, communal conflict between mexican americans and incoming immigrants continue to cyclically resurface with each immigration influx into ‘ethnic’ mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 159 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) hispanic neighborhoods, stoking the embers of mexican american resentment and in turn fueling immigrant criticism of the generations of “pochos” with largely assimilated lifestyles. the assertion of this added pressure from the other end of the cultural divide, more importantly, accentuated for mexican americans throughout the 20th century the unique complexities involved in forming an identity that genuinely defined them as a mix of both sides of the southwest cultural border and a loyal citizen of only one. jerked ruthlessly in opposite directions by the “cultural riptides” of american society (which inspired a sense of cultural resentment and internal shame) and mexican immigrant communities (which shunned their american-born/assimilated counterparts as cultural traitors), mexican americans began to culturally hybridize and forge a ‘middle ground’ between the polarized ends of their identity and become a unique blend of two cultures that would later be categorized by many as being ‘american with mexican/hispanic’ descent, rather than either/or. rodriguez clarifies this cultural amalgamation further, explaining that mexican americans had “learned to distinguish between their singular patriotism to the united states and their increasingly mixed cultural identity as mexican americans,” (185). in a stroke of keen social wisdom, therefore, our epic’s protagonists had proceeded to scrutinize their own national identity as people of color in anglo-centric america, and embrace their mixed-culture status as an inherent part of their general identity. their “americanness” could not exist without the counterbalance of their experiences as specifically ‘mexicanamericans’: cultural hybrids. mexican americans’ hybridity, however, did not immediately meet widespread social approval or acknowledgement, nor did it ensure a psychologically painless experience for its adherents. ironically struggling to distance themselves from embarrassingly “ethnic” elements of their heritage, and continue their assimilation into mainstream american culture during increasing influxes of mexican immigration, 20th century mexican americans consequently experienced a personal identity crisis like no other. the mexican american experience has continually illustrated a “mixture of conflict and cooperation between nativeand foreign-born”, with mexican americans constantly living at different angles from the “immigrant experience” and within varying “levels of acculturation,” (128). indeed, with each new immigration wave the antiillegal immigration debate (accompanied by hispanic racial stereotypes) begins anew, compelling modern mexican americans to once again review the debate from different vantage points over time, depending on their progressing assimilation level. in essence, mexican american identity finds itself within a constant state of cyclical flux: increasing numbers of ‘foreigners’ renew dormant hostilities within the american population (regardless of race), social pressures inflame racial stereotypes which quickly target both nativeand foreign-born ethnic groups, and finally americanized ethnicities such as mexican americans must consequentially reorient themselves to combat the renewed threat to their social identity. interestingly, mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 160 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) mexican americans’ hybridized racial composition proved problematic for the united states federal government as well. from 1850 to 1920 mexican americans were categorized as “white” on national census polls until a 1920’s nativist campaign successfully reclassified them as “nonwhites” and by so doing encouraged further racial injustices, segregation, and the crippling of mexican american civil rights (167). throughout the 20th century mexican americans quickly recognized and fought against the ironic possibility of their being accepted as neither “white” enough to merit 1st class citizenship, nor “mexican” enough to find ready support amongst recent immigrants. ultimately, the social and political construct of “race” continues to effectively prevent mexican americans from securing an equal place within american society alongside that of their anglo counterparts, a harsh commonly-ignored social truth that continues to confirm that historian richard a. garcia’s explanation of mexican americans’ historical disadvantages still applies to that of the modern day: “if acculturation promise[s] relief, racism [does] not. […] the intellectual dilemma [is] clear: [mexican americans are] not quite americans, but neither [are] they quite mexicans,” (137). their identity having undergone a tumultuous evolution that continues to transform itself along the venues of antiimmigrant racism, cultural/political activism, and even heartening instances of upward social and economic mobility, the majority of mexican americans presently find themselves inhabiting a place in american society that still lags behind the social and economic success of many who started the ‘race’ on the “right” side of the american southwest border – that of white americans/nonhispanics. the most current pages of the mexican american epic brings our protagonists up to the modern day, where significantly low levels of mexican american/hispanic economic and educational success (despite notable progress over the years) illustrate history’s far-reaching damage of social injustice and racial inequality upon succeeding generations. ironically, the modern day disadvantages of mexican/hispanic american social status seem to be mere permutations of the social inequalities the group has continually experienced since their tale’s beginning, with one staunchly surviving commonality: second class citizenship. as reported in the 2000 census, the hispanic population increased from 13.5 million in 1990 to no less than 20.6 million ten years later, with 58.5% of the hispanic population consisting of mexicans (figure 1). as visible in table 1, the foreign born population from mexico accounted for 9.2 million people in 2000, with more than half living in such “gateway” immigration states including california, new york, and texas (map 2). despite their massive population (which significantly outnumbers even that of the large foreign-born population), hispanic americans notably crowd primarily into crowded urban areas. over 90% of latino groups live in cities, with incoming immigrants largely congregated in predominately “ethnic neighborhoods” alongside heavy concentrations of native-born hispanics (healey 387, graph 1, map3). as a result, half of the entire hispanic mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 161 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) population lived in only two states: california and texas, with hispanics in east los angeles, ca constituting 96.8% of the city’s entire population (table 2). living predominately in lower-income urban concentrations that often feature such disadvantages as underfunded school systems, limited access to well-paid employment, poor neighborhoods, and higher crime levels, hispanic americans continue to live lives beginning and often remaining within urban poverty. as reported in the 2000 census and illustrated in table 3, no less than 22.6 % of the hispanic/latino population fell below the poverty level in 1999, whilst only a mere 9.1% of whites did. in accordance with these poverty levels, 12.4% of hispanics reported earning less than $10,000 for household income in 1999, with the racial group’s median income placing at $33,676 (table 5). in the same vein, hispanic/latino educational attainment levels contrast drastically with that of whites as well, with only 52.4% of latinos and 83.6% of whites graduating high school in 2000 (table 4). in addition, native-born hispanic americans’ proximity to incoming populations of immigrants further escalates anti-immigrant tensions as well as fears of discriminatory racial profiling. as historian oscar j. martinez elaborates further, incoming immigrants have “skewed the statistical socioeconomic profile of the entire mexican-origin population in a downward direction”, and hindered hispanic american progress with the “constant addition of – low levels of education, limited job skills, and little or no knowledge of the english language,” (martinez 167). indeed, as other historians have concurred, social strife and discrimination against americans of hispanic descent seemingly spiral out of control with every fresh wave of immigrants that moves into latino neighborhoods (as inconveniently pessimistic as such a reality might ring). rather than bolstering communities’ social resources upon arrival with high educational levels, specialized skills/training, and a functional grasp of the local individual language, most hispanic population centers contain millions of immigrants that collectively serve as unwitting sources of communal social vulnerability. this is not to say, however, that mexican/hispanic americans’ free choice, self-drive, utilization of opportunities, and personal responsibility has had no influence whatsoever on their collective levels of occupational success, educational attainment, social status, class, or income levels. the influence of these factors, however, reign only on the most basic and personal level. upon closely analyzing the collective history of mexican americans’ experiences within the united states as a whole, the keen eye is able to detect cyclical patterns of political disempowerment, racial stigmatizing, social inequalities, and economic stagnation within the mexican american epic that reveal outside factors such as governmental legislation, angloethnocentrism, and immigration policies to be the primary shapers of hispanic american destiny. today the turbulent epic of mexican american history optimistically continues its search for a heroic finale – perhaps one in which our protagonists finally defeat their immortal foes of old (inequality, racism, and stratification), mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 162 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) and stride victoriously into a new society as socially, politically, and racially equal as any other citizen. ironically, however, such hopes can only be entertained upon the assumption that such an epic would actually be perused by those capable of affecting change: the ordinary american. this individual remains largely unaware of the severity, depth, and most importantly the singularity of the mexican american historical experience. largely attributable to the perpetuation of mexican americans’ second-class status, the tale reviewed here is often not only unheard, but deliberately ignored. awareness and open-minded comprehension of the full mexican american experience, which begins with their ancestors’ ironic “dislocation” upon lands that soon became manifest destiny’s ‘old west’ playground, continuing onwards across the treacherous southwest landscape of anti-mexican racism, injustice, and social stratification, into the 20th century’s throes of warring allegiances and hybridized identity, and finally onto the 21st century’s traditional highway of silent desperation and stagnating progress, will ultimately empower the general public to detect the origins behind today’s crippling discrimination and social oppression of hispanic americans. hopefully, it is this educational empowerment of today’s society that will prompt the ordinary american, regardless of race, to write this epic’s triumphant final chapter at long last. mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 163 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) references healey, joseph f. race, ethnicity, gender, and class. usa: sage publication, 2010. print. “hispanic americans.” http://historyworld.org/hispanics.htm history world international, n.d. web. 13 august 2010. horsman, reginald. race and manifest destiny: the origins of american racial anglosaxonism. cambridge: harvard university press, 1981. print. martinez, oscar j. “mixed social progress for mexican americans.” the mexicans. ed. c.j. shane. usa: thomson gale, 2005. 164-174. print. miguel, teresa. yale law library – foreign and international blog treaty of guadalupe-hidalgo. http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/fo reign/archive/2010/02/02/treatyof-guadalupe-hidalgo.aspx. yale law school, lillian goldman law library. 2 february 2010. web. 4 august 2010. mirande, alfredo. gringo justice. notre dame: university of notre dame press, 1987. print. rodriguez, gregory. mongrels, bastards, orphans, and vagabonds: mexican immigration and the future of race in america. new york: pantheon books, 2007. print. treaty of guadalupe hidalgo; february 2, 1848. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_c entury/guadhida.asp#art1. yale law school, lillian goldman law library, the avalon project. n.d. web. 4 august 2010. u.s. census: u.s. census bureau. 2000. educational attainment: 2000. http://www.census.gov/prod/200 3pubs/c2kbr-24.pdf u.s. census: u.s. census bureau. 2000. the foreign born population. http://www.census.gov/prod/200 3pubs/c2kbr-34.pdf u.s. census: u.s. census bureau. 2000. the hispanic population. http://www.census.gov/prod/200 1pubs/c2kbr01-3.pdf u.s. census: u.s. census bureau. 2000. household income: 1999. http://www.census.gov/prod/200 5pubs/c2kbr-36.pdf u.s. census: u.s. census bureau. 2000. poverty: 1999. http://www.census.gov/prod/200 3pubs/c2kbr-19.pdf weber, david j. “the rights of mexicans in the new american southwest.” the mexicans. ed. c.j. shane. usa: thomson gale, 2005. 57-67. print. http://history-world.org/hispanics.htm http://history-world.org/hispanics.htm http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/foreign/archive/2010/02/02/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo.aspx http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/foreign/archive/2010/02/02/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo.aspx http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/foreign/archive/2010/02/02/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo.aspx http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/guadhida.asp#art1 http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/guadhida.asp#art1 http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-24.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-24.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-34.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-34.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-3.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-3.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/c2kbr-36.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/c2kbr-36.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-19.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-19.pdf mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 164 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) statistical data & tables in order of reference map 1: the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo (1848) source: http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/foreign/archive/2010/02/02/treaty-of-guadalupehidalgo.aspx figure 1: 2000 census – percent distribution of the hispanic population by type source: u.s. census bureau, census 200 summary file 1 http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-3.pdf http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/foreign/archive/2010/02/02/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo.aspx http://blogs.law.yale.edu/blogs/foreign/archive/2010/02/02/treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo.aspx http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-3.pdf mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 165 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) table 1: 2000 census – top ten countries of birth of the foreign-born population table 2. top ten countries of birth of the foreign-born population: 2000 (data based on sample. for information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf) country of birth number percent of foreign-born 90-percent confidence interval on number population total foreign born . . . . . 31,107,889 100.0 31,080,801 31,134,977 top ten countries . . . . . . . . 18,157,587 58.4 18,143,429 18,171,745 mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,177,487 29.5 9,164,388 9,190,586 china1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,518,652 4.9 1,512,463 1,524,841 philippines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,369,070 4.4 1,363,179 1,374,961 india. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,022,552 3.3 1,017,431 1,027,673 vietnam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .988,174 3.2 983,137 993,211 cuba2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .872,716 2.8 867,973 877,459 korea3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 864,125 2.8 859,405 868,845 canada4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820,771 2.6 816,168 825,374 el salvador . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 817,336 2.6 812,742 821,930 germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706,704 2.3 702,424 710,984 all other countries . . . . . . . . 12,950,302 41.6 12,936,144 12,964,460 1 includes those who responded china, hong kong, taiwan, and the paracel islands. 2 the estimated foreign-born population from cuba does not statistically differ from that of korea. 3 includes those who responded korea, north korea, and south korea. 4 the estimated foreign-born population from canada does not statistically differ from that of el salvador. source: u.s. census bureau, census 2000, summary file 3. source: u.s. census bureau, census 2000, summary file 3 http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-34.pdf map 2: 2000 census – the foreign born population source: u.s. census bureau, census 2000 summary file 3 http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-34.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-34.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-34.pdf mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 166 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) graph 1: joseph healey – race, ethnicity, gender, and class – 2000 census – urbanization for non-hispanic whites and six hispanic american groups by nation or territory of origin (condensed version) source: healey, joseph f. race, ethnicity, gender, and class. usa: sage publication, 2010. (387) map 3: 2000 census – percent hispanic source: u.s. census bureau 2000 redistricting data (p.l. 94-171) summary file http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-3.pdf 0 20 40 60 80 100 white, non h is panic mexico a ll urban a reas l arger urban a reas r ural http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-3.pdf mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 167 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) table 2: 2000 census – ten places of 100,000 + with the highest percent hispanic ten places of 100,000 or more population with the highest percent hispanic: 2000 (for information on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf) place and state total population hispanic population percent hispanic of total population east los angeles, ca*. . . . . . 124,283 120,307 96.8 laredo, tx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176,576 166,216 94.1 brownsville, tx . . . . . . . . . . . . 139,722 127,535 91.3 hialeah, fl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226,419 204,543 90.3 mcallen, tx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,414 85,427 80.3 el paso, tx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563,662 431,875 76.6 santa ana, ca . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337,977 257,097 76.1 el monte, ca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115,965 83,945 72.4 oxnard, ca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,358 112,807 66.2 miami, fl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362,470 238,351 65.8 *east los angeles, california is a census designated place and is not legally incorporated. source: u.s. census bureau, census 2000 summary file 1 http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-3.pdf table 3: 2000 census poverty of individuals by race and hispanic origin: 1999 table 6. poverty of individuals by race and hispanic origin: 1999 (for information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf) characteristic total* below poverty level 90-percent confidence interval number percent lower upper all people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273,882,232 33,899,812 12.4 12.4 12.4 race white alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206,259,768 18,847,674 9.1 9.1 9.1 black or african american alone. . 32,714,224 8,146,146 24.9 24.9 24.9 american indian and alaska native alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,367,505 607,734 25.7 25.6 25.8 asian alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,979,963 1,257,237 12.6 12.5 12.7 native hawaiian and other pacific islander alone . . . . . . . . . . 364,909 64,558 17.7 17.4 18.0 some other race alone. . . . . . . . . . 15,100,625 3,687,589 24.4 24.3 24.5 two or more races . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,095,238 1,288,874 18.2 18.1 18.3 hispanic or latino (of any race) . . . . 34,450,868 7,797,874 22.6 22.6 22.6 white alone, not hispanic or latino. 189,785,997 15,414,119 8.1 8.1 8.1 *total refers to the number of people in the poverty universe (not the total population). for more details, see the text box on how poverty is measured. source: census 2000 summary file 3 http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr19.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf1.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/c2kbr01-3.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-19.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-19.pdf mexican american inequality by tatiana sanchez 168 california sociology journal, 2011, vol. 3 (issue 1: 153-168) table 4: 2000 census – educational attainment of the population table 2. educational attainment of the population 25 years and over by age, sex, race, and hispanic or latino origin: 2000 (data based on sample. for information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf) characteristic population 25 and over high school graduate some college bachelor’s advanced race and hispanic or latino origin white alone... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143,085,659 83.6 54.1 26.1 9.5 black or african american alone . . . . . . .19,858,095 72.3 42.5 14.3 4.8 american indian and alaska native alone . . . . . . . . . 1,350,998 70.9 41.7 11.5 3.9 asian alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6,640,671 80.4 64.6 44.1 17.4 native hawaiian and other pacific islander alone . . 206,675 78.3 44.6 13.8 4.1 some other race alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,611,121 46.8 25.0 7.3 2.3 two or more races. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,458,420 73.3 48.1 19.6 7.0 hispanic or latino (of any race).. . . . . . 18,270,377 52.4 30.3 10.4 3.8 white alone, not hispanic or latino.. . . 133,786,263 85.5 55.4 27.0 9.8 source: u.s. census bureau, census 2000 summary file 3 http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-24.pdf table 5: 2000 census – household income by race and hispanic origin: 1999 (condensed version) table 1. household income by race and hispanic origin of householder: 1999 (data based on sample. for information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf income white black or asian some other race two or more hispanic1 white, african american alone races not hispanic1 total households . . . . . . . 83,697,584 12,023,966 3,129,127 3,833,697 1,984,263 9,272,610 78,983,497 less than $10,000 . . . . . . . 7.9 19.1 10.0 12.2 13.5 12.4 7.6 $200,000 or more. . . . . . . . 2.7 0.9 3.5 0.7 1.4 1.0 2.7 median income (dollars). . . 44,687 29,423 51,908 32,694 35,587 33,676 45,367 1hispanics may be of any race. source: census 2000 summary file 3 http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/c2kbr36.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-24.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/c2kbr-36.pdf http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/c2kbr-36.pdf research | articles | ocampo 1 california sociology forum vol. 7 proximity and social integration carla ocampo department of sociology california state university, los angeles abstract research has linked integration to student persistence among college students. however, integration tends to be lower among commuter students, who make up a majority of college students. a separate body of research has linked schools to the formation of social ties. however, based on the role of proximity in shaping the likelihood of social tie formation, increased distance may decrease the formation of ties among students. based on these findings, this study explores if physical proximity to campus influences integration into the campus community among college students. this study collected quantitative data about student participation, interaction, and proximity through a questionnaire distributed to students on a commuter campus. the findings did not support a correlation between proximity and integration. however, the data does show patterns related to these variables that may inform future research. the focus of this study is to examine student integration into the campus community among commuter students. integration refers to student involvement in the university’s community, including academic and social activities (ribera, miller, and dumford 2017). both aspects are important for student success because they provide a sense of academic and social support, which can foster attachment to the campus community. as such, research has found that student integration influences the educational persistence of college students (kirk and lewis 2015; ribera et al. 2017). kirk and lewis found that integration and a sense of community have a positive relationship with educational persistence. college students who feel more socially and academically integrated into their campus community are less likely to drop out of school and more likely to graduate. therefore, integration is important in determining student retention and educational success. two factors that influence integration into the campus community are participation and interaction. participation in campus events and ties to other members of the campus research | articles | ocampo 2 california sociology forum vol. 7 community, such as peers and staff members, have been shown to support integration among students. as ribera et al. (2017:549) explain, “[i]nvolving students early on in effective educational practices may help these students forge supportive academic and social relationships with members of the campus community and encourage positive intergroup dialogue among students from diverse backgrounds.” altogether, these factors are likely to create a feeling of social cohesion and belonging for students, leading to higher rates of persistence. however, students’ integration varies based on several factors, including students’ place of residency, on or off campus. research has found that commuter students are less integrated into their educational institutions and feel a lower sense of attachment to the community (kirk and lewis 2013). lower attachment can harm the educational success of commuter students and may lead to lower student retention at commuter campuses. this integration gap is significant because most college students live off campus and must commute to attend school (kirk and lewis 2013). therefore, a substantial portion of students have a low retention rate, potentially leading to lower levels of educational success. although researchers have noted this lack of integration among commuter students, more research on the factors influencing this pattern is still needed. research on commuter students and commuter campuses is more limited than research on non-commuter students and non-commuter campuses. research has paid less attention to the issues that commuter students face and the factors that influence their educational experiences. accordingly, this research aims to add to the current literature on commuter students and commuter campuses. this study examines the factors that shape commuter students’ integration on commuter campuses. more specifically, it will explore if a student’s proximity to campus influences their integration into the campus community. the dependent variable is integration into the campus community. integration refers to participation in events and interactions with others on campus. students are expected to build feelings of social support through interactions with other students in non-academic settings. similarly, students are expected to build feelings of academic support through participation in academic activities and interaction with faculty. research | articles | ocampo 3 california sociology forum vol. 7 together, these measures are meant to gauge both academic and social involvement, which are key factors that determine feelings of integration. the primary independent variable of interest is proximity to campus. proximity refers to students’ commute distance. some other variables are also included as possible independent variables, such as commute time, commuter status, and mode of transportation. the hypothesis was that there would be a negative relationship between proximity and integration into the campus community. therefore, interaction and participation are expected to decrease as commute distance increases. however, the study’s findings do not support this hypothesis. the data analysis found that the relationship between proximity and integration was not statistically significant, which does not support a correlation between them. despite these findings, the data revealed patterns about these variables. the data points toward a low level of integration among the respondents, most of whom were commuters. furthermore, having to commute does appear to influence the amount of interaction among respondents based on participant responses but the extent of the influence is unknown based on the data within this study. literature review proximity and space hip, corcoran, and wickes (2014) explore the theory that physical proximity influences the likelihood of social cohesion and social tie formation by focusing on the impact of proximity, using the distance decay function as a theoretical basis. according to the distance decay hypothesis, “residents are most likely to form ties to those living near them, and this likelihood drops sharply when moving further away from the residence” (hip et al. 2014:3). based on this hypothesis, proximity is expected to influence social tie formation positively. small and adler (2019:115) examine the role of space in determining social ties and social integration through the relationship between social ties and proximity, explaining how physical proximity is widely studied as a variable that may influence social relations, noting that the “importance of propinquity to tie formation has been uncovered empirically many times.” findings also suggest the likelihood of forming social ties research | articles | ocampo 4 california sociology forum vol. 7 is higher with closer physical proximity between people. these findings support the hypothesis of the distance decay function with empirical backing for the relationship between physical proximity and the likelihood of social tie formation. as the theory hypothesizes, closer proximity is correlated with the formation of social ties. research has also shown the importance of spaces that promote social tie formation, with small and adler (2019:118) writing, “studies have found that participation in establishments is associated with the characteristics of the ties formed.” these studies have found that participation is linked to stronger ties formed because of homophily. establishments that produce stronger ties include schools, indicating that schools are sites that will promote social tie formation. in a study focusing on neighborhood features and community ties, hip et al. (2014) found support that proximity to establishments that promote or dissuade social tie formation also influences social ties. since hip et al. (2014) find that proximity to these establishments influences the likelihood of tie formation, the researchers expected that those who live farther away from campus are less likely to form social ties and, therefore, be less integrated into the campus community. integration ribera et al. (2017) explore the relationship between a sense of community and participation by analyzing quantitative survey data. the authors draw upon secondary data from first-year students attending forty-four different 4-year colleges. the study focused on participation and college characteristics as independent variables and feelings of belonging as the independent variable. ribera et al. (2017:560) found that along “with one co-curricular activity (serving as a student leader), participating in a learning community and engaging in a servicelearning project was found to be positively related to students’ sense of peer belonging and institutional acceptance.” therefore, participation in activities on campus is associated with increased feelings of belonging. similarly, procentese, gatti, and falange (2019:258) used survey data to examine the same variables, finding that “individuals’ participation is predicted by their emotional and affective bond to the community and research | articles | ocampo 5 california sociology forum vol. 7 representations about the relationships and responsibility-taking within it, via this emotional bond.” unlike ribera et al. (2017), procentese et al. (2019) used participation as their independent variable and bond to the community as the dependent variable. although the direction of this relationship remains unclear, the findings support a correlation between this set of variables. based on these findings, procentese et al. (2019) included participation and sense of belonging as measures of integration, although it focused more on participation. factors influencing integration persistence theory understands “‘integration’ and ‘patterns of interaction’ as two key components that distinguish students who persist with their education from those who do not” (kirk and lewis 2015:49). kirk and lewis (2015) examined how a student’s integration into their educational institution is influential on student persistence through how different variables influence integration at a commuter campus. the study uses a mixed method design, with a questionnaire portion and a focus group study. the findings indicate that students who are more integrated are more likely to continue their education than those who are less integrated. however, commuter status influences how integrated students are. kirk and lewis (2015:54) find that students “who lived on campus reported higher [collegiate sense of community] csoc than those living off-campus.” this finding indicates that commuter students were less likely to feel integrated into their campus communities. based on this finding, it is expected that there will be a low level of integration and sense of community from commuter students. kirk and lewis (2015) also examined the role of other identities in influencing integration, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and marital status; however, the study found that only sexual orientation is a predictor of integration. these variables provide insight into factors influencing integration among all students, including those who commute. one finding explains lower integration and a sense of community among commuting students. based on qualitative data from a case study, kirk and lewis (2015:56) found time to be an influence, and these “time gaps were more pronounced among commuting students who research | articles | ocampo 6 california sociology forum vol. 7 acknowledged limitations with transportation and scheduling.” this finding points to extra time constraints faced by students who do not live on campus compared to those who do. constraints include the time spent commuting, which can be longer based on commute distance or method of transportation. research question and hypothesis the main research question is: does proximity influence integration into the campus community among commuter students? two different bodies of research have influenced the research question: research on space and college students’ sense of community. the focus on proximity is based on literature that examines how space influences the formation of social ties. this study will expand the distance decay hypothesis to examine proximity to campus. the distance decay function examines the role of geographical proximity in shaping the formation of social ties. according to the hypothesis, the closer the proximity between a person and a space, the more likely they are to form social ties within that space. the study aims to examine if proximity will influence the social ties formed on campus and student integration by applying the distance decay hypothesis to distance from campus. based on the distance decay hypothesis, it is expected that students who live closer to campus will be more likely to form social ties on campus and therefore, will be more integrated within the campus community. the study measures proximity as the distance between where students live and their campus based on commute distance in miles, including commute time as a separate measure of proximity. the findings of ribera et al. (2017) and procentese et al. (2019) informed the conceptualization of integration into the campus community. both studies found a relationship between social ties to the campus community and participation. furthermore, ribera et al. (2017) noted that participation and interaction shaped social tie formation between students, strengthening the feeling of community. as a result, the study included participation and interaction as a measure of student integration. h0: proximity to campus will not impact integration into the campus community. h1: proximity will have a negative relationship with integration. h2: proximity will have a negative research | articles | ocampo 7 california sociology forum vol. 7 relationship to interaction with students. h3: proximity will have a negative relationship to interaction with staff members. h4: proximity will have a negative relationship to participation in events on campus. the null hypothesis, h0, predicts no correlation between proximity and integration is expected. based on the literature on proximity, physical proximity is expected to influence social tie formation, therefore as students are farther from campus, they will be less integrated. since the study operationalized integration as interaction with others and participation in campus events, h1 will be analyzed through proximity’s correlation with the measures of integration. an alternative hypothesis is that only commuter status will affect student integration. it is possible that there will be no difference in integration based on proximity to campus between commuter students. the difference may only be between commuter students and non-commuter students. it is also possible that a separate variable, such as responsibilities outside of school, influences this relationship. as kirk and lewis (2015:49) note, “[m]ost commuter students are faced with additional responsibilities beyond just being a student.” responsibilities such as work can lead to less free time for students, decreasing the time that they spend on campus. as a result, these students would be less likely to interact with others or participate in events on campus. accordingly, they would also be less integrated into the campus community due to their lack of social ties with peers and staff members. methods data this project emerged from a secondary analysis of survey data collected from a target population of students enrolled at commuter campuses. the sampling frame for the original data collection was students at california state university-los angeles, since the university is a commuter campus serving the greater metropolitan los angeles area; of note, the university also has a large female population. the sampling process focused on recruiting students enrolled in required undergraduate courses within the college of natural and social sciences (nss). the sample was recruited through non-probability sampling. the research | articles | ocampo 8 california sociology forum vol. 7 recruitment process involved emailing professors and asking them to share the recruitment flyer with their students. initially, the recruitment process focused on contacting professors who were teaching seminar courses with high numbers of students. however, this later started to involve professors teaching courses with multiple open sections. those who agreed shared the recruitment flyer by posting it on canvas or distributing a printed copy in class. emailing professors began on october 12, 2023, and ended on october 22, 2023. out of 37 professors who were emailed, 5 replied and agreed to share the recruitment flyer with their class. overall, professors’ responsiveness was low, making it difficult to gather participants for the questionnaire. the questionnaire was open to from october 12, 2023, to october 31, 2023. altogether, the sampling process took 20 days to complete. the response rate was also low among students, with most students from these courses not taking the questionnaire. as a result, the final sample included 37 students, much lower than the targeted sample of 100 respondents. of the 37 responses, only 30 were valid. the sample was drawn from classes in different schools within the college of nss. most of the respondents were commuter students; 4 lived on campus, and 30 did not live on campus, which was expected due to the demographics of the university. 25 respondents were female, 9 were male, 3 were nonbinary; the larger proportion of female respondents was expected due to the school’s demographics. the sample included 10 freshmen, 18 sophomores, 4 juniors, and 3 seniors; characteristics which were also expected since the sample was drawn from lower division courses with higher enrollment. methods the data from this study is quantitative data collected through responses to a questionnaire. at the beginning of the questionnaire, respondents were presented with an informed consent form, ensuring that participants freely gave consent. the survey also asked participants if they were over the age of 18. those who answered “no” were not shown any of the following questions from the questionnaire. the following questions were ordered based on the topic. the topics were interaction and ties to other students, participation in campus activities, interaction and research | articles | ocampo 9 california sociology forum vol. 7 ties to staff and faculty members, and demographic questions. the questionnaire consisted of 31 questions, including 30 closedended questions and 1 open-ended question. the open-ended question allowed respondents to type in their commute time in minutes. the closed-ended questions consisted of likert scale items, multiple-choice items, select-all-that-apply items, and slider items with set parameters. questions collecting information about integration, the dependent variable, gathered data related to interaction and participation on campus. first, participants were asked about interaction with other students. frequency of interaction was on a scale ranging from “every day” to “never.” students’ likeliness to seek or offer support to other students was on a scale ranging from “extremely likely” to “extremely unlikely.” participants were also asked about interaction with staff members, with students’ likeliness to seek academic or personal support from staff being on a scale ranging from “extremely likely” to “extremely unlikely.” participants were asked how often they participated in events on campus, including club events, office hours, departmental events, and campus-wide events. participation is a discrete variable using a slider to indicate the number of times students participated in each event in a semester. there were also questions within the questionnaire that measure the independent variable, proximity. the study measures proximity to campus as distance to campus in miles. commute time was measured in minutes. respondents were also asked if proximity influences their behavior. perceived influence of proximity is split into two dichotomous variables, asking participants to choose “yes” or “no” to indicate if proximity influenced participation or interaction on campus. after the data collection period, the data was transferred to spss and cleaned. the variable values for the slider questions and select-all-that-apply questions had to be manually inserted in spss. the variable measures were also adjusted for each item when needed. after cleaning the data, data analysis for this project began. secondary data analysis was conducted through crosstabulations and chi-square tests. data analysis focused on examining the correlation between independent and dependent variables. research | articles | ocampo 10 california sociology forum vol. 7 results the data analysis consisted of chi-square tests and crosstabulations of the data collected. the chi-square tests aimed to measure the relationship between proximity and the study’s measures of integration. chi-square tests whether there is a significant association between two categorical variables, such as nominal or ordinal. unlike regression, chi-square testing does not model the relationship between a dependent and independent variable. a total of three chi-square tests were conducted. these tests focused on proximity and interaction with peers, proximity and interaction with staff, and proximity and participation. the chi-square tests include pearson chi-square, likelihood ratio, and linear-by-linear association. within these tests, a significance of <.05 is considered statistically significant and rejects the null hypothesis. conversely, a significance of >.05 is statistically insignificant and does not reject the null hypothesis. the first analysis examined the relationship between proximity and interaction with peers. the cross-tabulation was run on items that measured proximity and the frequency of respondents spending time with their classmates in their free time. the results of the analysis on the 30 valid cases are included in table 1 and table 2 (see appendix). the chi-square value was 64.750 with a p-value of .173, indicating that the relationship between the variables is not statistically significant. the likelihood ratio value was 44.206 with a p-value of .851. finally, the linear-by-linear association value was .096, with a p-value of .757. none of these tests found a significant relationship between the variables and the analysis supports the null hypothesis that there would be no relationship between proximity and interaction with peers on campus. the second analysis examined the correlation between proximity and interaction with staff members. another crosstabulation was run on the items measuring proximity and the likelihood that respondents would seek support from staff about academic concerns. table 2 and table 3 show the results of the analysis. there were 30 valid cases in this analysis. the chi-square value was 41.510, with a p-value of .579. the likelihood ratio value was 42.770, with a p-value of .524. finally, the linear-bylinear association value was 2.066, with a p-value of .151. again, research | articles | ocampo 11 california sociology forum vol. 7 none of the tests found a significant relationship between the variables, reinforcing the null hypothesis that there is no relationship between proximity and interaction with staff members on campus. for the final analysis, the data was examined through another cross-tabulation. this analysis focused on proximity and participation in events on campus. the cross-tabulation was run on data collected about proximity and those who indicated participating in no campus activities. table 5 and table 6 show the results of this analysis. there were 30 valid cases included in the analysis. the chi-square was 9.225 with a p-value of .601. the likelihood ratio value was 12.052, with a p-value of .360. the linear-by-linear association value was 1.023, with a significance of .312. none of these values were statistically significant, meaning the null hypothesis could not be rejected since there was no relationship between proximity and participation in events on campus. based on these three analyses, a null relationship exists between proximity and integration into the campus community. analysis found that none of the measures of integration were correlated with proximity. however, an examination of the responses shows some patterns. the data indicates that respondents consider their commute to influence the amount of time they spend interacting with others and participating in events on campus. 24 of the respondents answered that proximity influences how often they interact with other students. furthermore, the data shows that many of the respondents have low levels of integration into their campus community, with 22 respondents answering that they did not participate in any activities on campus. 7 respondents indicated that they participated in office hours. finally, 17 respondents answered that they never spent time with their classmates during their free time. several limitations impacted the representativeness of this study. due to the sampling method the study employed the research findings may have limited generalizability to california state university students. since the study used non-probability sampling to recruit the sample, it is less representative of the students than a sample recruited through probability sampling. the sampling frame also focused on general requirement courses, research | articles | ocampo 12 california sociology forum vol. 7 which first and second-year students tend to take. kirk and lewis (2015) found that the number of years students have attended their school influenced their integration. therefore, it is likely that there are differences in integration among first and second-year students compared to students who have attended the school longer. another limitation is that the study only drew its sample from one campus. the demographics of california state university los angeles may have influenced the findings, since the university primarily serves students of color, with a large hispanic population, which is not representative of all commuter campuses. students of different ethno-racial backgrounds may face different circumstances that influence their integration in school, resulting in the collection of different responses. a more diverse sample of students could help determine if differences in integration exist between various ethno-racial groups. the small sample size also greatly limits the validity and representativeness of the sample and the resulting data. however, bootstrapping the data could strengthen the statistical analysis, which i failed to account for while analyzing the data. bootstrapping samples from the existing data to estimate the properties of a larger sample to provide a more accurate statistic for small samples. due to these issues, there is limited representation for the study’s target population, commuter students. discussion the study examined the correlation between proximity and commuter student integration into the campus community. to answer the research question, there is no correlation between proximity and integration into the campus community among commuter students. the data analysis showed no correlation between the study’s measures of integration and proximity. however, the data did show an overall lack of integration among respondents. most respondents answered that they did not participate in any of the activities that were listed in the questionnaire. furthermore, many also said that they did not interact with other students in their free time at all. overall, there was support for low levels of participation and interaction among the respondents, which researchers should examine in the future. research | articles | ocampo 13 california sociology forum vol. 7 it is possible that other variables may influence the correlation between integration and commuting. as kirk and lewis (2015) find, time may be an influence that lowers the integration of commuter students. the combination of time spent on class work, commute time, and other responsibilities reduces the amount of time that commuter students spend on campus. spending less time on campus makes it less likely for them to engage in behaviors that promote integration and a sense of community. another explanation is a lack of interest in integration among commuter students. kirk and lewis (2015) also note that some commuter students may not be interested in fostering an attachment to their educational institution, choosing to spend little time participating in events or interacting with others on campus. this study contributes to the limited existing literature on integration among commuter students. the research explores the relationship between integration and commuter status by examining if there were differences in integration due to commute distance. this focus on proximity also adds to the research on the influence of space on the formation of social ties. based on this research, the study applied the distance decay function to a student’s proximity to campus, but the results did not support the hypothesized relationship. although proximity was not correlated, future research can contribute to the understanding of the relationship between commuting and student integration on campus. based on the data, many respondents answered that their commute time influenced the amount of time they spent interacting with others. although this study could not add to the understanding of this relationship, future research should explore the impact of commuting on students. furthermore, despite the research findings, it would be worth revisiting this question with a better sampling method. future studies on this topic should use more representative sampling methods, such as random sampling. acquiring a larger sample should also be a priority for future research. the low number of responses that were collected limited the findings of this study. in the cross-tabulations, many of the cells were empty due to the low sample size. researchers may find a different relationship among these variables with a larger and more representative sample. overall, it was difficult to examine patterns research | articles | ocampo 14 california sociology forum vol. 7 of behavior with the low number of responses, lowering the validity of the study’s findings. using a different sampling method may have resulted in a larger response rate. the sampling frame used was narrow, involving only students enrolled in lowerdivision classes. a broader sampling frame that includes the whole student body may have improved the response rate. furthermore, including other college campuses in the sampling frame could have also improved the sample size and representativeness of the sample by including a larger and more diverse student body from which to collect responses. in conclusion, the relationship between commuter status and integration on campus still needs further examination. the focus on commuter students is significant because much research on college students tends to focus on non-commuter students, despite commuters being a large portion of the student population. a better understanding of integration can lead to a better understanding of student retention and success among commuter students. the more that is known about integration, the better that educational institutions can meet the needs of commuter students. as the commuter population increases, it is important that these students do not fall behind based on their place of residence or any responsibilities that reduce the time they spend on campus. references hipp, r. john, jonathan corcoran, rebecca wickes, and tiebei li. 2014. “examining the social porosity of environmental features on neighborhood sociability and attachment.” plos one 9(1):1-15. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0084544. kirk, c. micheal and rhonda, k. lewis. 2015. “sense of community on an urban, commuter campus.” international journal of adolescence and youth 20(1):48-60. doi: 10.1080/02673843.2013.763833. procentese, fortuna, flora gatti, and annarita falanga. 2019. “sense of responsible togetherness, sense of community and participation: looking at the relationships in a university campus.” human affairs 29:247-63. doi: 10.1515/humaff-2019-0020. ribera, k. amy, angie l. miller, and amber d. dumford. 2017. “sense of peer belonging and institutional acceptance in the first year: the role of high impact practices.” journal of college student development 58(4):545-63. doi: 10.1353/csd.2017.0042. small, l. mario and laura adler. 2019. “the role of space in the formation of social ties.” annual review of sociology 45:111-32. doi: 10.1146/annurev-soc-073018-022707. research | articles | ocampo 15 california sociology forum vol. 7 appendix table 1: cross-tabulation for peer interaction and proximity table 2: chi-square tests for peer interaction and proximity table 2: cross-tabulation for interaction with staff and proximity research | articles | ocampo 16 california sociology forum vol. 7 table 3: chi-square tests for interaction with staff and proximity table 4: cross-tabulation for participation in activities and proximity research | articles | ocampo 17 california sociology forum vol. 7 table 5: chi-square test for participation in activities and proximity carla ocampo (she/her) is a second-year graduate student in the department of sociology at california state university, los angeles. her primary research interests include race and ethnicity, immigration, and political attitudes. she is currently working on her thesis, researching policy preferences related to climaterelated migration. in 2024, she received the golden eagle paper award from the sociology department for “proximity and student integration.” the paper examines the relationship between commute distance and student integration in the campus community at cal state la. featured award-winning paper: we are proud to recognize “proximity and social integration” by carla ocampo as the award-winning paper of the golden eagle sociology student paper competition in spring 2024. this paper was selected by the student affairs committee of the department of sociology as it stood out as the strongest among a pool of excellent submissions. congratulations to carla for this well-deserved recognition! proximity and social integration carla ocampo 