The Council on Contemporary Families is TSP’s newest partner, but they’re already knocking it out of the park with great information and straightforward facts on American families today. Here are three of their biggest hits from 2014:

1) “Homesick Kids and Helicopter Parents,” by Susan Matt. Lately there’s been a lot of talk about the “boomerang generation,” so coddled by their hovering parents as kids that they are practically destined to come back home, a soft, unprepared generation not yet ready for adulthood. Weber State University historian Susan Matt checks the facts.

2) “In School, Good Looks Help and Good Looks Hurt (But They Mostly Help),” by Rachel A. Gordon and Robert Crosnoe. Picking up on the authors Wiley-Blackwell monograph, this article takes a second look at good looks, finding another form of inequality.

3) “Really? Work Lowers People’s Stress Levels,” by Sarah Damaske. The author of For the Family?, Damaske steps back to explain a consistent finding: people who work have better mental and physical health than their non-working peers, and the news is even better for women (how often does a sociologist get to say that?).

To continue honoring the best and most widely disseminated posts on TSP in 2014, we’re moving first into our partner sites. Here are the thought-provoking blockbusters from the editors of Contexts Magazine, the public outreach journal of the American Sociological Society, hosted here online at TSP:

1) “‘I Can Breathe’: The Occasional Fear of Covering Protests,” by Steven Thrasher. A Contexts board member, Thrasher is a professional journalist and photographer with a sociological lens like no other.

2) “Contexts Quicklit: 11 Recent Sociological Findings on Race and the Criminal Justice System,” by Lucia Lykke. University of Maryland grad student Lykke gives a rundown of some of the important numbers for placing today’s widespread protests in, well, context.

3) “Sociology’s Irrelevance in the News,” by Syed Ali. Co-editor Ali largely agrees with Orlando Patterson that sociology, as a discipline, has excused itself from much of the news and offers way to get back in the mix.

In the first weeks of the New Year, we will begin running down some of the most popular and provocative posts from around The Society Pages and its partner sites. But before we all head off to the four corners for winter break, we want to get the plaudits started with our own in-house team.

We are inestimably lucky to have the dedicated, inquisitive, and intellectually rigorous grad board we’ve assembled here at the University of Minnesota. These students volunteer their time, coming to meetings, workshopping ideas, live-editing their pieces together, reaching out to top scholars for interviews and roundtable contributions, and bringing their energies to the site every day. Here are the unscientific but happily presented Best-Of’s in just some of the areas to which these students contribute:

Best of… Citings & Sightings:

“Pushing the Secret Service Director Off the Glass Cliff?” by Matt Gunther

Best of… There’s Research on That!

“Reflecting on Ferguson,” by Evan Stewart

Best… Office Hours Podcast:

“Brian Southwell on Social Networks and Public Understandings of Health and Science,” with Sarah Lageson.

Best of… The Reading List:

“The Fluidity of Racial Categories on the US Census,” by Ryan Larson.

Best of… Roundtables:

“Re-evaluating the ‘Culture of Poverty’, with Mark Gould, Kaaryn Gustafson, and Mario Luis Small,” by Stephen Suh and Kia Heise.

Best of… In-House Titles:

“Atheist Church: A Predictable Paradox,” by Jacqui Frost.

Without fail, the world keeps moving, and, as we like to say here at TSP, “We will do sociology to it.” Here’s how we’ve been putting those sociological imaginations to work since the last Roundup!

Features:

“Racism Retriggered,” by Jennifer D. Carlson. How disproportionate contact with the criminal justice system translates to fewer concealed pistol licenses being issued to African Americans.

The Editors’ Desk:

“Race and the Regulation of Voting,” by Doug Hartmann. When co-editor Chris Uggen’s research informs the NYTimes, Doug’s on the case.

“Ferguson, the Morning After,” by Doug Hartmann. When facts feel futile.

“Ferguson and Football,” by Doug Hartmann. The St. Louis Rams’ “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” entry to their Sunday Football game brings up sport and political protest, as well as the formal and informal policing of black men’s bodies.

There’s Research on That!:

“Volunteer Work: Getting the Gift to Keep on Giving,” by Jacqui Frost. You really shouldn’t swing a turkey, but if you did…

“Veterans’ Day and the Challenges of Civilian Life,” by Evan Stewart. Research on soldiers’ reintegration after service, from social benefits to institutional challenges.

The Reading List:

“Race and Citizenship: The Effects of Immigrant Status on Rates of Incarceration,” by Ryan Larson. Research from Light, Massoglia, and King in American Sociological Review.

“Environmental Crises and the Volunteer Identity,” by Matt Gunther. Research from Justin Farrell in Social Problems.

“Who Gets Shamed for Sweatshops?” by Erik Kojola. Research from Bartley and Child in American Sociological Review.

Office Hours Podcast:

“Leta Hong Fincher on Gender Inequality in China,” with Anne Kaduk. Why women are increasingly marginalized in Chinese policy and discourse.

“Emily Bazelon on Translating the Social Sciences,” by Kyle Green. Our 100th episode, wisdom on bringing science to non-scientists, and the launch of a new podcast: Give Methods a Chance.

Citings & Sightings:

“The Sociology of The Hunger Games,” by Brittany Scheer. Teen lit and blockbuster movies sneak some soc into pop culture. Sly!

“Sociologists Identify Surprising Thanksgiving ‘Rituals’,” by Evan Stewart. Think your family’s weird? They might be… but they’re about as weird as everyone else.

“The Marks of War,” by Letta Page. A sociologist curates an exhibit of soldiers’ tattoos, letting the ink tell the stories they hold back.

Teaching TSP:

“Mediating Media Responses to Tragedy: Considering How Social Science Could Influence Policy.” After horrific crimes, it can be hard to sort the science from the sensationalism.

Contexts Magazine:

The Fall 2014 issue is now online! From Sociobiology to the War on Drugs, the whole issue is free online for a month courtesy SAGE and the ASA.

Council on Contemporary Families:

• “The UNFEMININE Mystique: Stereotypes about African-American Women,” by Shirley Hill.
• “The Rise of the ‘Motherhood Mystique,'” by Cameron Macdonald.
• “The Wrong Route to Equality: Men’s Declining Wages,” by Heidi Shierholz.
• “Which Policies Promote Gender Pay Equality?” by Joya Misra.

Scholars’ Strategy Network:

• “Feeding Families Better: Moving the Conversation Out of the Kitchen,” by Sarah Bowen.
• “New Measures Reveal the True Impact of America’s Anti-Poverty Programs,” by Jane Waldfogel.
• “How Better U.S. Food Policies Could Foster Improved Health, Safer Jobs, and a More Sustainable Environment,” by Nicholas Freudenberg.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• A SocImages Collection: Police, Black Americans, and U.S. Society.
• Sociology Source on teaching Ferguson and why you don’t know what you know you know. You know?
• Feminist Reflections on whether the S in “STEM” stands for sexism.
• Families as They Really Are with a look at marriage rates among people with disabilities and an elegy for the American Community Survey.
• The Contexts Blog with a preview of Steven Thrasher’s “Three Missouri Michaels” and a route away from the “irrelevance” sociology’s been charged with in the Chronicle of Higher Education.
• Sociology Lens on the uncredited but colorful commodification of the Hindu Holi festival.

The Last Roundup

Sign Up for Inbox Delivery!

And here we thought it was just impolite to point at others… Since the last roundup, we weathered #pointergate, talked about bodies, learned that heterosexual marriages really are getting more egalitarian, and chatted up Michael Burawoy, that pioneering public sociologist. Binge read or save for the week, all we ask is that you share. TSP is free and accessible, and we want the whole world to put on their SocGoggles!

Features:

“Troubling Bodies with Natalie Boero, C.J. Pascoe, and Abigail Saguy,” by Kyle Green. Too fat, too thin, unhealthy, brawny, boney, slutty, boyish, zaftig, and puny. Our societies have a lot to say about bodies; sociologists have a few comments of their own.

There’s Research on That!

“#pointergate, Moral Panic, and Online Protest,” by Jack Delahanty. Media goes for sensationalism and social media allows marginalized groups to have bigger voices. Somewhere in the middle, a Minneapolis police group got the “outrage” they wanted and a backlash they didn’t expect.

“Harassment Online and On the Street,” by Evan Stewart. Bullying, cat-calling, and the policing of norms and hierarchies—how discrimination and power combine in routine harassment.

“Studying Whiteness: Not Beyond the Pale,” by Stephen Suh. When “white” is the neutral, default, or unmarked racial category, it’s easy to argue that society is “beyond race.”

“Foraging in the Urban Jungle: Food Security and Homelessness,” by Matt Gunther. A police captain from Cincinnati says “don’t feed the bears [homeless people],” and at least 21 American cities agree. But does helping hunger really hinder social mobility?

The Reading List:

“Second-Generation Schooling: Good News for Girls,” by Amy August. Sociology of Education reports that girls, given the opportunity to succeed, will seize it.

Office Hours:

“Michael Burawoy on Global Social Movements,” with Erik Kojola. Exploring the future of social movements research within modern public universities.

The Editors’ Desk:

“Facebook, Feelings, and Flight Attendants,” by Doug Hartmann. The managed heart at 50,000 feet and among 5 billion “friends.”

“Face Work from Zellweger to Goffman,” by Doug Hartmann. Wearing our selves on our sleeves (if not our faces).

Teaching TSP:

“Mediating Media Responses to Tragedy: Considering How Social Science Could Influence Policy.” An activity for talking through mass shootings in their cultural contexts.

“Politics and Power.” Using Vincent Roscigno’s “Power, Sociologically Speaking” to debate popular notions of what power is, does, and should be.

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Not Just Attitudes: Marriage is Also Becoming More Egalitarian,” by Christine R. Schwartz.

“Trends in Global Gender Equity: Progress and Disappointments from around the World,” by Stephanie Seguino.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“$2-a-Day Poverty in the United States,” by Luke Shaefer and Kathryn Edin.

“Why America’s Food Is Still Not Safe,” by Adam Sheingate.

“Forward or Back on Voting Rights? A Research Compendium,” by the Scholars Strategy Network.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociology Source wonders if common sense is a straw man for sociologists.
• Feminist Reflections notices it’s been a while since President George H.W. Bush said “this gender thing is history.” Is it? And while they’re at it, is a lack of “marriageable men” a bigger problem than high-powered careers when it comes to women delaying child-bearing?
• Girl w/ Pen! brings in Andrew Lazaro Lopez to talk queer sexism.
• Cyborgology on net neutrality and the price of participation and BuzzFeed’s #Halloween #RaceFail.

Last Week’s Roundup

Sign Up for the Roundup Mailing List

Ooh, it’s almost Halloween! That means it’s time to for a few classics, including the annual holiday roundup from Sociological Images. Here’s what we’ve been up to this week:

Office Hours Podcasts:

“Michael Burawoy on Global Social Movements,” with Matt Gunther.

There’s Research on That!

“Gender Pay Gaps: The Silicon Ceiling?” by Anne Kaduk.

Citings & Sightings:

“NFL’s Domestic Abuse Prevention Team Drafts Sociologist Beth Richie,” by Amy August.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“How To Increase Voter Turnout in Communities Where People Have Not Usually Participated in Elections,” by Melissa R. Michelson.

Teaching TSP:

“Politics and Power, A Classroom Exercise.” Related, “Power, Sociologically Speaking,” by Vincent J. Roscigno.

A Few from The Community Pages:

• Sociological Images brings us the fun stuff with “The Tax Return and Other Sexy, Sexy Costumes for Halloween” and “Why Do Witches Ride Brooms?” as well as the serious question, “School Shootings: What’s Different about Europe?“
• Cyborgology celebrates four years of talking tech and the social world.
• Girl w/ Pen! on the foul-mouthed pink princesses.
• Feminist Reflections looks back to Anita Hill’s infamous testimony.
• A Backstage Sociologist sees the spotlight on Minnesota.

Last Week’s Roundup

Sign up for the Roundup Email!

A week’s worth of sociology, at your fingertips! It must be the future.

Features:

“‘Technological Optimism’: Egg-Freezing a Better Deal for Companies than for Women,” by Rene Almeling, Joanna Radin, and Sarah S. Richardson.

Teaching TSP:

“Desistance and Reentry: An activity for the LCD classroom.”

Citings & Sightings:

“Ebola Scares: When Panic is a Pathogen,” by Evan Stewart.

“Pushing Secret Service Director Off the Glass Cliff?” by Matt Gunther.

There’s Research on That!

“Tax Haven Mavens,” Erik Kojola.

“Tactical Textbooks: The Politics of Teaching History,” by Jack Delahanty.

“Linking Up with New Social Networks,” by Evan Stewart.

The Reading List:

“The Social Construction of Funny,” by Stephen Suh.

The Council on Contemporary Families:

“Not Everybody is Hooking Up at College—Here’s Why,” by Rachel Allison and Barbara Risman.

“Civil Rights for Women, 1964–2014,” by Max Coleman.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“To Understand Elective Officeholding by Minorities, Look at Who Runs for Election, Not Just Who Wins,” by Paru R. Shah.

“Why Jobless Americans Experience Deep and Prolonged Distress,” by Cristobal Young.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• This week TSP welcomed Sociology Source! In his first post on TSP, Nathan Palmer features C.J. Pascoe discussing how to teach touchy subjects.
• Sociological Images crossed paths with Cyborgology in Sarah Wanenchak’s post on Apple’s undelete-able health app, looked into female sex tourism, and showed that politicians are following, not leading when it comes to marriage equality.
• On Feminist Reflections, Gayle Sulik provides the three questions we need answered when it comes to all those pink ribbons.

Last Week’s Roundup

Sign Up for Inbox Delivery!

Just a taste of what we’ve been cooking up at The Society Pages!

In Case You Missed It:

“Same-Sex, Different Attitudes,” by Kathy Hull. With the recent SCOTUS demurral, it’s worth a look at the lightning fast change in Americans’ approval of same-sex marriage; this article is just six months old, and the numbers have already shifted.

Roundtables:

“Re-evaluating the ‘Culture of Poverty’ with Mark Gould, Kaaryn Gustafson, and Mario Luis Small,” by Stephen Suh and Kia Heise. Sixties-era rhetoric still affects black Americans.

There’s Research on That!

“Fast Food Strikes Bring Everyone to the Table,” by Erik Kojola.

“Think Fast: Policing, Race, and Implicit Bias,” by Richie Lenne.

“Falling Poverty Rates Leave US Hungry for More,” by Jacqui Frost.

“Growing and Granting Genius,” by Evan Stewart.

“Rockefellers Less Loyal to Oil,” by Erik Kojola.

“Atheist Church: A Predictable Paradox,” by Jacqui Frost.

“Back in Living Color? Diversity on TV,” by Stephen Suh.

Features:

“Race, Spanking, and Shame: Dimensions of Corporal Punishment,” by Jennifer Lee. When nearly 80% of Americans agree spanking is sometimes the best punishment, can we really say physical discipline is a “cultural thing”?

The Reading List:

“On Climate Change, Voters Warming to Political Winds,” by Evan Stewart. New findings from Social Science Research.

Citings & Sightings:

“The Myth of the Self-Made Man,” by Jack Delahanty. Political candidates need a heroic narrative, a humble past of hard work and hard times.

The Editors’ Desk:

“Cohen on Distracted Driving, Distracting Data, and the Dangers of Driving,” by Doug Hartmann. Driving is more deadly than texting and driving when you check the math.

“Welcoming Contexts’ New Editors,” by Doug Hartmann. A warm welcome to Phil Cohen and Syed Ali, helming Contexts mag for the next three years.

“New Arrivals!” by Chris Uggen. Heralding a new homepage design and a new set of twins for our web editor, Jon Smajda.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“How ‘Gentrification’ in American Cities Maintains Racial Inequality and Segregation,” by Jackelyn Hwang.

“Race and Penalities at the Frontlines of Welfare Reform,” by Joe Soss.

“How Discrimination Hurts Health and Personal Wellbeing,” by Eric A. Grollman.

“Why Taming Corporate Promotion of Dangerous Consumer Products Is Vital to Improving Public Health,” by Nicholas Freudenberg.

“Why Jobless Americans Experience Deep and Prolonged Distress,” by Cristobal Young.

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Overview: Family Trends You Might Not Have Expected,” by Stephanie Coontz.

“A Class Act? Stability and Instability in Children’s Lives,” by June Carbone and Naomi Cahn.

“Gray Divorce: A Growing Risk Regardless of Class or Education,” by Susan L. Brown and I-Fen Lin.

“Divorce and the Recession,” by Philip N. Cohen.

“Does Premarital Cohabitation Raise Your Risk of Divorce?” by Arielle Kuperberg.

A Few from the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images on Love Your Body Day, why minimum wage hikes are effective, how many of the world’s languages lack gendered pronouns, why religious people don’t know very much about religion, and picturing organic food.
• Cyborgology on the unintended power of the new iPhone health app, how to presume privacy, and an ethic of prosumptive sharing.
• Feminist Reflections on pop music and the power of female fans and how even violence is gendered in the US.
• Public Criminology on juvenile lifers and new beginnings and gender and the meaning of prison.
• Girl w/ Pen on male allies in the fight against domestic violence, a GenderLab legacy, and why power dynamics drastically reduce the reporting of harassment.

Here at The Society Pages, we work to bring a little something for everyone, whether your primary interests lay in race, politics, culture, crime, inequality, or gender. Take a gander, share and comment, and, as always, let us know (gently!) what you think we’re missing or what you’d like to contribute!

Features:

“Race, Spanking, and Shame: Dimensions of Corporal Punishment,” by Jennifer Lee. If nearly 80% of all Americans believe spanking is sometimes appropriate, why do we focus on racial groups and presumed practices?

The Editors’ Desk:

“Notes on Race, Football, and Spanking,” by Doug Hartmann. Facts and sociological commentary on decoupling stereotypes and social phenomena.

“More on Spanking: Race, Men, and the South,” by Doug Hartmann. A need-to-read link.

There’s Research on That!:

“Good Kids Gone Guerilla: Why Flee to Fight?” by Jack Delahanty. Western youths seem to be flocking to the Middle East to join jihads. What are their aims? And who’s to blame?

“Scotland’s Independence Referendum,” by Evan Stewart. Scots expressed worries over nationalism and creating barriers on the one hand and independence, pride, and self-governance on the other. Ultimately, we know how the vote went. But what went on behind the scenes?

“Net Neutrality: Corporate vs. Common,” by Matt Gunther. Internet fast-lanes threaten to make a common (if private) good better for those who can pay.

“Crime and Scandal in the NFL,” by Ryan Larson. Racism translates into a criminality myth, in which NFL players are seen as particularly dangerous and particularly prone to crime. The truth is more complex.

The Reading List:

“The Fluidity of Racial Categories on the Census,” by Ryan Larson. Census data shows race isn’t—and hasn’t been—a fixed category.

Citings & Sightings:

“Pre-Marital Abstinence Programs Leave Men Dissatisfied,” by Jacqui Frost. New research finds abstinence education and support groups can create shame and silence among men—traits they carry into their marriages and sexual experiences.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“Crime and Turning Points Across the Life Course,” by John H. Laub and Robert J. Sampson.

“How Gender Inequality Persists in the Modern World,” by Cecilia Ridgeway.

Council on Contemporary Families:

“The Growing Gender Gap in Education and What It Means for American Schools,” by Thomas A. DiPrete and Claudia Buchmann.

“Family Diversity is the New Normal for America’s Children,” by Philip N. Cohen.

A Few from The Community Pages:

• Sociological Images on the Mosuo—a culture that separates child-rearing from marriage.
• Cyborgology wonders when a free gift is really a data breach.
• Sociology Lens on legislating gestation and motherhood (remember, US federal guidelines in 2006 stipulated that women in childbearing years be considered “pre-pregnant” or even pregnant at all times).
• Speaking of parenting, Feminist Reflections points out that childfree is a choice all its own.

Previously

Sign up for the newsletter!

Oh hi. Between the start of the semester, sickness, and the mustering of a new grad board, the poor Roundup has gone un-rounded! Time to remedy that, with a Roundup of epic scale. There’s something for everyone, so let that sociological imagination run wild! And don’t forget, if you’re an educator or a student, to let us know how you’re using TSP in your classrooms. It always helps us find new directions!

Features:

“The Feel of Faith,” by Daniel Winchester. Examining the physical artifacts of Eastern Orthodox worship.

Office Hours:

“Ken Kolb on Moral Wages,” with Matt Gunther. A podcast on why public servants persevere, even when they don’t profit.

There’s Research on That!:

“Crime and Scandal in the NFL,” by Ryan Larson. There isn’t a higher incidence of crime among NFL players, but there is a higher incidence of domestic violence; public outrage rises when punishments don’t seem to align with crimes; and how organizations handle scandal.

“Homelessness at the VMAs,” by Jacqui Frost. Framing social problems and the “deserving” needy.

“Reflecting on Ferguson,” by Evan Stewart. Militarization, gender, and race—dimensions that shape communities and policing.

Reading List:

“Class and the Old-for-Your-Grade Advantage,” by Amy August. And here you thought hockey prowess was the only reason to delay a kid’s school start…

The Editors’ Desk:

“Books, Big Aspirations, and Social Facts,” by Doug Hartmann. Starting the first semester of his new “Great Books in Sociology” class catches Doug considering why so many media outlets are calling for facts on the “Ferguson situation” when there are already so many facts close at hand (then provides a handy reading list).

Citings & Sightings:

“Canada: Commit Sociology, Protect Indigenous Women,” by Amy August. Canada works to #BringBackOurGirls as hundreds and hundreds of aboriginal women and girls go missing.

“When Countries Develop, Women Get Smarter Faster,” by Kat Albrecht. We suspect the reverse may be true, too.

“Marriage and the Market: How Economic Inequality and Gender Equality Shape Marriage Trends,” by Jacqui Frost. The pushes and pulls of marriage and divorce rates in the U.S.

“Urban Planners in Zarazoga Test the Waters,” by Andrew Wiebe. A Spanish sociologist helps a city shift from a focus on supply to one on demand—with help from some stats, of course.

Scholars Strategy Network:

“How Fathers’ Imprisonment Undercuts Children’s Readiness for School—Especially Hurting Black Boys,” by Anna R. Haskins.

“How Emergency Managers and Community Organizations Can Cooperate to Handle Disasters,” by Scott E. Robinson.

“Attacking Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Would Likely Radicalize the Islamic Republic’s Government and Politics,” by Matthew Gratias.

Council on Contemporary Families:

“Homesick Kids and Helicopter Parents: Watch that Judgment of ‘Kids Today’!” by Susan Matt.

“Overwork May Explain 10% of Men’s Wage Advantage,” by Youngjoo Cha.

“In School, Good Looks Hurt and Good Looks Help (But They Mostly Help),” by Rachel A. Gordon and Robert Crosnoe.

“Promoting Marriage Among Single Mothers: An Ineffective Weapon in the War on Poverty,” by Kristi Williams.

A Few From the Community Pages:

• Sociological Images: Man up, Ladies! Don’t try to outsmart birds; James Baldwin and Kanye West share a thought; white Americans have homogenous social networks; and camo on cops signals citizens are enemies.
• Feminist Reflections on hipster and Pixar masculinity.
• Cyborgology: How Twitter became a moral battleground; GamerGate and consumerism; and how nothing comes of trying to sort “good” and “bad” technology.
• Families As They Really Are: TMI parenting; how families can exist without children; and how homesickness went from an expression of fondness to an expression of loser-dom.
• Sociology Lens with the hottest new dance craze: The Economist Twist.

Sign up for Inbox Delivery!

Last Week’s Roundup!

Our Latest Book!