SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY and SOCIETY

 

SOC 340 01                                                                                       Fall 2005

2:00 to 2:50 MWF                                                                                 SJ 230       

 

D. E. Miller, Ph.D.

Office:        SJ411

Hours:          11 – 12 and 1 – 2 MWF

Phone:          229.2430

e-mail:         dan.miller@notes.udayton.edu

webpage:      http://academic.udayton.edu/DanMiller/

 

Three central questions guide this course.  The first question addresses how people construct and maintain different forms of social behavior.  The second question focuses our attention on how social reality is constructed, and for our third question we focus on the consequences (meaning) of various social acts and social processes.  The purpose of the course is to introduce the student to sociological social psychology and to develop an understanding of the social processes and relationships that constitute and provide meaning to our day-to-day lives.  Within sociology, social psychology developed as an empirically based study of how the social order is constructed and maintained in small group settings. Specific issues addressed include: the relationship between language, consciousness, thought, and reality; socialization processes; the social self; and various social processes including those found under the rubrics of deviant behavior, mental illness and collective behavior.

 

REQUIRED TEXT

Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality by Kent Sandstrom, Dan Martin, and Gary Alan Fine. Roxbury Publishing Company, 2003. 

This short text is available at UD Bookstore or through on-line booksellers such as Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.

 

ADDITIONAL READINGS

Listed throughout the course outline are other required readings.  Some of these articles and readings are available on electronic reserve.  Others will be posted to you as attachments to an e-mail.  Still other readings will be found on designated websites.  Some readings not listed will be assigned as we progress through the course while some others will be dropped. 

 

EXPECTATIONS

No doubt, you expect me to be present, prepared, and to conduct class on every assigned class period – or at least with very few absences.  I expect the same from you – regular attendance and being prepared for class by having completed the assigned readings.  Without your attendance and preparation it is difficult (really it is impossible) for us to construct teaching-learning interaction.  In this process I expect your cooperation. While I won’t take official attendance, I will be aware of your presence/absence.

 

QUIZZES, EXAMINATIONS AND COURSE EVALUATION

Your grade for this course will be based on your performance on ten quizzes, a midterm examination, and a final examination.  The dates for the exams are listed on the course outline.  Each quiz will be worth ten points for a total of 100 points.  The midterm and final examinations will be worth a total of 50 points each.  The quizzes and exams will be based on the readings, lectures, and class discussions.  A total of 200 points may be earned.

 

Grading Scale:       200 – 190 = A          159 – 150 = C+

                            189 – 180 = A-          149 – 140 = C

                            179 – 173 = B+          139 – 130 = C-

                            172 – 166 = B            129 – 110 = D

                            165 – 160 = B-           109 –       = F

 

CAVEAT – ESCAPE CLAUSE

While this document qualifies as a contract – an agreement between you and me – as in many contracts I’ve included an escape clause.  This is it.  Changes may be made in this document without prior notice.

 

COURSE OUTLINE

Section, Topic and Readings (in italics)                                                                                  

1.       INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

The Domain and Definition of Social Psychology

The History of Social Psychology

        Handout of History Timeline (handout)

The Social Psychological Imagination – (e-mail attachment)

 

2.       EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT

Darwin’s Theory and Method

The Evolution of Human Social Behavior

Hockett and Ascher – Speech and the Human Revolution (on reserve)

Geary and Flinn – Evolution of Human Parental Behavior and the Human Family

          (e-mail attachment)

           Ecological Niches – Birth Order and Self

                   www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/birth_order.htm

3.       THEORIES AND METHODS IN CLASSIC STUDIES

Social Facilitation

Freud’s Social Psychological Theory

Field Theory – Forms of Association

Lewin, Lippett, and White – Patterns of Aggressive Behavior in Experimentally

          Created “Social Climates” (on reserve)

            Group Dynamics

                   Sherif, et. al. – Experiments in Group Conflict (on reserve)

Milgram – Some Conditions of Obedience and Disobedience to Authority (on

          Reserve)

           Rational Choice Theory

                   Scott – Rational Choice Theory (e-mail attachment)

           Role Theory

Haney, Banks, and Zimbardo – Interpersonal Dynamics in a Simulated Prison

          (on reserve)

           Conclusion

                   Couch, Katovich, and Miller – The Sorrowful Tale … (on reserve)

4.       SYMBOLIC INTERACTION

Theory and Method

        Sandstrom, Martin, and Fine – Chapter 1

Language

          Sandstrom, Martin, and Fine – Chapter 2

Foli’ a Deux

                   Defining the Situation – The Thomas Theorem

Rosenthal and Jacobson – Pygmalion in the Classroom (on reserve)

L. Hughes – That Powerful Drop (handout)

Scully and Marolla – Convicted Rapists’ Vocabularies of Motive (on reserve)

Brickey and Miller – Bureaucratic Due Process (on reserve)

         

Taking-the-Role-of-Other – A Form of Mind Reading

Sandstrom, Martin, and Fine – Chapter 5

Jerusalem Syndrome/True Believers

          Control-Complexity Theory (handout)

    5.  SOCIALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELF

       Nature vs. Nurture

       Developmental Stages

                   Sandstrom, Martin, and Fine – Chapter 3

          The Social Self and Situated Identities

Lever – Games Children Play (on reserve)

Gracey – Kindergarten as Academic Boot Camp (on reserve)

          The Social Self

                   Sandstron, Martin, and Fine – Chapter 4

        Cell Phone Behavior

 

MIDTERM EXAMINATION – October 7th

 

   6.  SOCIAL FORMS AND PROCESSES - DYADS

          Aloneness – The Monad

                   Diekema – Aloneness as a Social Form (on reserve)

          Dyadic Interaction Processes

                   Miller – Dyads and Triads (e-mail attachment)

          Co-Presence, Accommodation, Civil Inattention, Openings, Greetings, Panhandling,

Hintz and Miller – Openings Revisited (on reserve)

          Withs – Couples

                   Goffman on “withs” (on reserve)

Sociability –-- Simmel on Sociability (on reserve)

Romance – Reciprocal Self-Disclosure

                   Miller and Neff – The Fragility of Romance (e-mail attachment)

        Cooperation  and Conflict

Hepburn – Violent Behavior in Interpersonal Relationships (on reserve)

          Conflict Matrix (handout)

7.    SOCIAL FORMS AND PROCESSES - TRIADS

Triadic Interaction Processes

          Miller – Dyads and Triads (e-mail attachment)

Mediation of Conflict, Tertius Gaudens

        Divide and Conquer – The Prisoner’s Dilemma

        Poaching

Leadership/Followership

Free Rider Problem

8. SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND INTERACTION PROCESSES

     Forms of Social Relations

                 Weiland – Forms of Social Relations (on reserve)

        Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Relationships

                 Cooley – Primary and Secondary Relationships (on reserve)

        Surveillance

The Virtual Panopticon (e-mail)

        Distribution Rules

Milgram – Responses to Intrusions into Waiting Lines

        Groupthink – Irving Janis (on reserve)

Dominance – One-Upmanship

Brainwashing, Hypnosis (movie)

Predatory Behavior, Bullying

        The Stockholm Syndrome – Tyranny

                   Powell – Notes on the Stockholm Syndrome (on reserve)

                 Bettelheim – Individual and Mass Behavior in Extreme Situations

                           (on reserve)

Toxic Relationships/Toxic Workplace

Living in Cities, Suburbs, Small Towns

          Wirth – Urbanism as a Way of Life (on reserve)

          Jacobs – Streetlife (attachment)

  9. DEVIANT BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL CONTROL

Primary vs. Secondary Deviance

          Sanderson, Martin, and Fine – Chapter 6

Rule-Breaking and Stigma

Deviance, Politics, and Social Control

Moral Entrepreneurs

          Notes on Becker’s Moral Entrepreneurs (e-mail attachment)

Mental Illness

          Szasz – The Myth of Mental Illness

Repressed Memory

          Albert – Report on Loftus’ Myth of Repressed Memory

                http://www.skeptic.com/02.3.hochman-fms.html

10. COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR

Stereotypes of Collective Behavior

          McPhail – Stereotypes of Crowds and Collective Behavior (e-mail attachment)

Demonstrations and Riots

          Sanderson, Martin, and Fine – Chapter 7

Swarm Logic

          www.kk.org/outofcontrol/ch2-f.html

Flash Mobs

          en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob

Spiral of Silence

Noelle-Neumann – Spiral of Silence (on reserve)

Satanic Ritual Abuse – Witch Hunts

          Nathan – The Ritual Sexual Abuse Hoax (e-mail attachment)

Charisma/Followership

Couch – From Hell to Utopia and Back to Hell: Charismatic Relationships

Jones – Third Wave (on reserve)

          Rumor

                   Miller – Rumor: An Examination of Some Stereotypes (e-mail attachment)

Mass Media, Behavior, and Self

          Watching TV at the IMU

 

FINAL EXAMINATION – December 14th at 10:10 a.m.