sociology test 2

Allows us to see connections between individual- and structural- level phenomenon

Unemployment rates in Springfiled on the rise in the mid 1980's

It was on decline, as many factories, manufacturing plants close.

An entire generation of marginalized youth faced with a failing social structure.  High unemployment.  Low educational attainment.  Low quality schools.

Coffee plantation- employer of Juan Rivera.  No running water or electricity.  Harsh working conditions.

Loss of skilled manufacturing jobs meant decreased opportunity for upward social mobility

English taught in schools.  Economic decline.  High unemployment.  Political resistance.

High infant mortality rates, low life expectancy, few doctors, few children in school, plantation based economy.

Experiments in economic reform for Puerto Rico in 1930's.  Implemented key labor policies.

Formed in 1940's to manage several government owned industries

Made in late 1940's.  Industrial Invitation.

Economy expanded rapidly.  Most profits leaving the island for the mainland.  Life expectancy and literacy rates improved over 1950's and 60's.  Infrastructure improvement.  Medical facilities.  Benefits were not experienced equally.

They began to migrate to the mainland for work.

Became a way of life.  They wanted to preserve cultural nationalism

Hard to preserve culture.  Hard to get a good education.

Yonkers undergoing court ordered school desegregation in 1985 when Rivera's arrive in New York.  Racial tensions were high.

School performance low for children in poor, minority schools.  Language barrier is a challenge for the brothers in school.  Neighborhoods sites of racial and ethnic conflict.

Riveras- More Puerto Ricans then whites.  Interstate between the two neighborhoods.

Policies dominated by white Irish ethnics.  Minority groups not represented on the council.

Magnet for criminal activity.  Residentially segregated amidst poor housing conditions.

White police chief refuses to acknowledge that there is a problem.

Residents came together to identify and address the problem of police brutality in their community.

Sammy's experiences in school are felt as failures.  Lead him to " new ratio " of the drug trade.  The street a place to belong, source of success and pride.

Students get put into categories that shape academic trajectories early on.

The system failed fuasto because they took him out of the bilingual program.  Fausto couldn't stay in the better school.  No fundamental support.

In the tenth grade Fausto was still unable to read and write.

Research shows them as much more effective and less stigmatizing for students

Lack of funding and support, Low quality education, Lack of qualified bilingual teachers.  Isolation of bilingual students.

Lack of support for program.  Poor funding.  Preference for instruction in spanish.  Students had sense of inferiority and isolation.

No educational services offered, defunded.  It was an after school work program to build skills and self esteem.  Leads to Fausto working at Boys club, hitting the books and training for football.

Tremendous international industry.  Hundreds of billions of dollars in trade.

Economic decline in cities.  It opened economic opportunities to fill void left by closing manufacturing plants and factories.

Springfield became a major distribution center. Increased incarceration rates by 236% between 1980-1990.

Sammy notes the power and respect commanded by the Acosta brothers.  He works to show his loyalty to the operation.  No contest for the school environment.  Fausto echoes respect from the Acosta brothers and the power they yield in the community.

Door to accedemic success seems to close.  There are opportunities in the drug trade, but Fausto  remains interested in school.

Fausto remains in school and " going legit " rather then going into the streets where there are more opportunities.

Fausto sees and describes the world around him with remarkable insight, especially given his lack of formal education.  Race and class inequality.  Social mobility, Role of judicial system in drug arrests.

Fausto tries to pursue GED program while his involvement in the drug trade deepens.

Thinks Fausto cheats on the GED test.  Successful studying shows Fausto's intellect.

Emphasize difference in values

Identity is tied to social status.

Unearned advantage that is experienced by members of the dominated status group within a social category.  White privilege, class privilege.

Power and inequality

Inequality and unfairness

Residentially segregated amidst poor housing conditions, but many paying above market price.

Important to Sammy's Greenfield success.  Sammy and his associates are " preforming ghetto " to sell the image their clients want.

A set of informal rules governing interpersonal public behavior, particularly violence.

Interpersonal and cultural codes of conduct, especially related to violence, are shaped by the unregulated drug market.  

Puerto Rican enclave contributed to the process of " white flight ".  Public space claimed by marginalized men to create and maintain there own identities.

Identities in opposition to authorities: school, police, white dominated culture.

Masculinity often expressed/performed through violence.  Emphasis on loyalty and respect

Mid 1990's gang proliferation in Springfield- Latin Kings- La Familia, Los Solidos

Means of acquiring respect promoting community and solidarity.

Large scale economic changes effecting employment opportunities, wages, inequality.

Unemployment rates were climbing.  There are more workers then jobs.

In 1993 the market began to recover from recession but it took a while to reach the lower end of the income scale.

Mundo and Sammy as exemplars, identities shift to dedicated fathers.

Shows the complexity of men, their choices, and their lives.

Methadone maintenance, Fatherhood, Loving relationship with Maria, Steady work to contribute to the family wage.

Julio's entrance into the trucking industry shows the importance of social networks.  Julio and other cycle from on and off the street.

Loss of unions, union wages, job security.  No benefits, less pay, part time rather then full time

Reliance on Temp Agencies kept agencies and overhead costs low for employers at the expense of the low wage wagers.

Negative externalities.

Implemented Mill's sociological imagination- makes connections b/t mens lives + political economic and social forces