sociology

New & Noteworthy

First off (in case you missed it) we are happy to share that Clippings is back – thanks to TSP board member Mallory Harrington! TSP will bring you weekly updates of sociology and sociologists in the news. This week we have Janet Vertesi in The Conversation on NASA and AI-human teams, Matthew Desmond in the ACLU’s podcast At Liberty on poverty, Juliet Schor in NPR’s TED Radio Hour on the four-day workweek, Neil Gross in Time on police reform, and Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve in WHYY on a police officer charged with over 200 sex crimes.

“Your Tweets, pictures, and messages may be used against you.” Also from Mallory Harrington’s desk, we have a new Discovery on Social Media in Criminal Trials from work by Jeffrey Lane, Fanny A. Ramirez, and Desmond U. Patton. In this piece, we cover how public defenders face many challenges in defending their clients on the social media front.

From the Archives

The current national blood shortage is leaving vulnerable people at risk. Blood donations, sociologists have found, are largely motivated by altruism, empathy, and internal-personal motivations. Click here to read TSP’s “There’s Research on That” on blood donation by Jillian LaBranche.

Sexual assault rates are typically high during the beginning of the school year and this time (August-November) is known as the “Red Zone”. Reporting these sexual charges is usually left to victims, but the act of reporting a sexual assault can subject victims to risks. Read our Discovery Counting the Cost of Reporting Sexual Assault by Amber Joy Powell on work in Sociological Science.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts has two new pieces for you to read:

• Bonnie Siegler and Greer Mellon wrote about their research on the presence of anti-Asian biases of White parents’ school preferences for their children.
•  Rose Xueqing Zhang wrote about attachment styles and memories of past relationships shaping how we think about current relationships.

Council on Contemporary Families published:

• Mari Tarantino and Tyler Jamison shared findings from their research from interviews with lesbian, gay, and bisexual young adults on how they navigated and managed their relationships.

New & Noteworthy

TSP is happy to announce our official TikTok page and our first video by board member Nicole Schmitgen on our TSP discovery Separate, Unequal, and Denied: The Double Discrimination of Black Disabled Students by Ellie Nickel – which are both based on “Not in My Schoolyard: Disability Discrimination in Educational Access,” in the American Sociological Review. Check it out!

Leo LaBarre’s most recent piece, “Child Poverty Prevention Policies and CPS Involvement” covers how poverty policies can impact the level of CPS involvement. This piece covers work by Jessica Pac and colleagues in Social Service Review on different policies’ potential to reduce the national CPS caseload by 669,018.

Citings & Sightings

Evan Steward (former TSP alum) at UMass Boston published a piece in The Conversation about voting patterns and religious affiliations. There were a number of surprising findings (at least to me).

Brian Donovan has been in the news for the sociology course The Sociology of Taylor Swift at The University of Kansas. Read some coverage of this course here and others like it.

Backstage with TSP

At our latest TSP meeting, we assigned “beats” for our board members, or topical areas of sociology that each member keeps a close eye on. This is one way we keep tabs on all the going-ons in the world of sociology. We also premiered our social media team’s latest work, discussed some candidates for potential discoveries, and discussed a recent publication by Dr. Uggen, Dr. Hartman, and our former Graduate Managing Editor Mahala Miller on how we translate research for public audiences.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts has a new video to watch:

• Elena van Stee’s conversation with Michèle Lamont, Mari Sanchez, and Shira Zilberstein about their new book Seeing Others: How Recognition Works – And How it Can Heal a Divided World.

Council on Contemporary Families latest on:

• School Resource Officers (SROs) presence within elementary schools in the United States, and some of the benefits and complexities that follow by Samantha Viano.

New & Noteworthy

Changes to Affirmative Action may impact elite prep schools, which serve as a major pipeline into elite universities. Read Richard Zweigenhaft’s latest Special Feature to learn more.

TSP board member Ellie Nickel’s writes up research by Lauren Rivera and András Tilcsik on Double Discrimination for educational opportunities that students who are Black and Disabled face.

Citings and Sightings

Parents are especially vulnerable to economic shifts and uncertainties. Sociologist Jessica Calarco was featured in The Atlantic and provides insight on some of the risks and realities that parents face.

Russian sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky, a Professor at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences,  was charged with “justifying terrorism” for an online post analyzing the possible fallout of the destruction of the Crimea bridge.

Backstage with TSP

With the American Sociological Association’s annual conference a few weeks away, we will be launching a new podcast, videos, and other content within the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned on Twitter, or X, for more.

More from our Partner and Community Pages

Contexts has new pieces on:

• Police Officer’s determination of what constitutes the “hate” in hate crimes.
• COVID-19 blame and scapegoating in South Korea.
• Meet the editors: Laura Beth Nielsen and Seth Abrutyn

Council on Contemporary Families latest includes:

• LGBTQ health and its connections with State-Level Protections.
• What makes “Great Sex”?

New & Noteworthy

Fathers who spend more time on childcare duties with their young children are more likely to feel that men and women should be treated equally. Read our latest Discovery written up by Caroline Garland on Tomas Cano’s and Heather Hofmeister’s work, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family. 

Citings and Sightings

Marriage patterns in the United States among midlife adults have increased, as perceptions of marriage have become more of a “capstone” life experience. Click here to listen to sociologist Susan Brown’s comments on NPR about this trend.

Backstage with TSP

Behind the scenes, our grad board is working on some new discoveries, special features are being edited, and new YouTube videos for our channel are being developed. Stay tuned for more upcoming content!

More from our Partner and Community Pages

Our partner Contexts has a number of great reads that have been published over the past few weeks, including (but not limited to) what is it to be ukrainian, black sociology: a primer, and the privileged professor. Give one (or all) a read!

Are you the oldest child? Click here to read the Council on Contemporary Families piece on favoritism towards the “prodigal children” by Reilly Kincaid. 

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New & Noteworthy

Good healthcare systems have been linked to reduced impacts of childhood adversity on adult health. Gradboard member Nicole Schmitgen writes up important findings from Matthew Andersson and colleagues in our latest TSP discovery.

Prisons around the world have a variety of disparities, but what about differences across prisons-within-prisons? Jacob Otis explores the contrasts between English & Welsh, and Norwegian prisons based on insights from Ben Crewe, Julie Laursen, and Kristian Mjåland.

Citings and Sightings

Supreme Court rulings have sparked nationwide discussions and demonstrations. Click here to hear about some sociologists’ reactions to rulings on affirmative action and student loan forgiveness.

Backstage with TSP

With July having arrived, TSP has made significant progress on some new projects. This includes our growing YouTube channel (early access) which will be regularly updated in the coming months with new content. Stay tuned for more!

From the Archives

Regions across the United States have experienced a surge in smog caused by Canadian wildfires. To delve deeper into the connection between humans and wildfires, click here.

More from our Partner and Community Pages

Peter Harvey writes up some of his research on how students make sense of their position and identity in society in Contexts’ blog.

In Sociological Images, Victoria Lieberman covers how female and male body types are portrayed in children’s TV and movies, click here to read more.

Ever wondered about the older adult dating scene? Lauren Harris in Council on Contemporary Families covers her recently published research in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

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New & Noteworthy

Millennial mothers are spending less time in the workforce and more time on housework and childcare when compared to Generation X and Baby Boomer mothers. Read our latest Special Feature by Brendan Churchill, Leah Ruppanner, and Sabino Kornrich to learn more. 

Citings and Sightings

As the United States continues to grapple with labor shortages today, Smithsonian Magazine recently highlighted the photography of sociologist Lewis Hine and his thousands of photos of children’s working conditions in the 1900s. Click here to read more and view dozens of pictures of child labor in the 1900s.

Backstage with TSP

Summer is heating up! We have a number of projects nearing completion and coming soon to a computer/phone/or device near you. You may have also noticed that I am not Mahala. As Mahala passes the TSP torch to me this summer (Jake), I want to say a quick thank you and tribute to the years of guidance, commitment, and leadership Mahala has provided the TSP board. Thank you Mahala!

More from our Partner and Community Pages

College students returning home during COVID-19 faced the challenge of living through a pandemic, while simultaneously adjusting (or not) back to their parents’ authority, writes Elena van Stee of partner Contexts’ blog. 

The impacts of wrongfully imprisoning an innocent person go far beyond just the person, the friends, family, and community are also robbed of time with their loved one, Janani Umamaheswar writes in Council on Contemporary Families’ blog. 

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New and Noteworthy

Although many states have laws requiring judges to order the confiscation of guns when emergency restraining orders including threats of violence are issued, most don’t. On the site, Jacob Otis writes up this surprising finding from Julie Kafka and colleagues.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

Although homophobic lyrics were once common, mainstream rappers now apologize for using slurs and share the spotlight with LGBTQ artists. Matthew Oware writes on the changing culture of hiphop for The Conversation.

Citings and Sightings

This week Shiny, Happy People, a docuseries about reality TV family the Duggars, and the fundamentalist Christian organization they belong to, premiered featuring sociologist Danielle Lindeman, who emphasized that the men in the family profited off the labor of their wives and daughters, whose births and weddings drew viewers.

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

ALL of partner Contexts Spring 2023 issue is open access for just a few more days! Check out the table of contents and download great content for your to-be-read list while you can.

First-generation college graduates are often the advantaged members of their disadvantaged class while people who don’t graduate college like their parents are often relatively disadvantaged. For Council on Contemporary Families‘ blog Anna Manzoni and Jessi Streib share their findings on what differentiates first-generation students, as well as students who do not follow in their parents’ footsteps to college, from their peers.

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Welcome back to our summertime, fun-time, bi-weekly roundup!

New & Noteworthy

Restrictive immigration restrictions decrease healthcare usage among Latinx agricultural workers with legal status, through a chilling effect. Read this discovery from Rebecca A. Schut and Courtney E. Boen written up by S Ericson on the site.

Worth a Watch (Sociologically Speaking)

Check out this quick video rounding up research on the joys and challenges of motherhood from board member Jacob Otis.

From the Archives

Yesterday marked the third anniversary of George Floyd’s murder that inspired our series Wretched/Wonderful, reflections from social scientists on the racial dynamics of the twin cities. Check out Walt Jacob’s introduction to the series here.

Backstage with TSP

This week we had our first summer board meeting, an informal time for us to reconnect and make progress on our summer plans. It was fun to be back in the room together after a few weeks, and we’re excited about some big projects that we’re set to announce later in the summer.

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

Contexts released their Spring 2023 issue. The entire issue is available open access for a limited time, explore it here!

For Sociological Images Leah Long wrote about the challenges, and dangers, of dating while trans and what changes could help keep trans people safer as they seek romantic and sexual connection.

Women athletes are both athletically and physically misrepresented in sports video games reflecting gender inequality write Judy Liao and Emily MacMillan for Engaging Sports.

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Citings and Sightings

We’ve got a few quick ones for you to checkout this week:

After our most recent Earth Day, National Public Radio’s Science Friday spoke with sociologist Dana R. Fisher on the state of climate activism including the importance of media attention for shock-based demonstrations and the salience of overlapping social justice motivations for activists.

Axios spoke with Nancy López on her recent research showing that Afro-Latinos have higher educational attainment but lower pay than other Latinos, emphasizing the need for research into the diversity of Latino experiences.

From the Archives

This week, the Met Gala opulently honored the contributions of the controversial Karl Lagerfeld. For some sociological context on why gay men, such as Lagerfeld, find themselves more often in the fashion spotlight than women designers, check out this archive piece.

Yesterday, members of the far-right hate group the Proud Boys were charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the January 6th, 2021 insurrection. Read this archive piece to understand “The Sociology of the Siege.”

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

People who live closer to protests are more supportive of them, despite experiencing more disruption to their lives according to recent research by Duoduo Xu and Jaio Guo written up for Contexts’ blog by Parker Muzzerall.

Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies’ blog had a Student Spotlight on Rachel Dodson.

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New and Noteworthy

Differing social norms make Helsinki playgrounds a site where ethnic segregation is (re)inforced among Finnish and immigrant mothers according to research from Paula Paajanen and colleagues.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

Black gamers’ nostalgia and desire for representation, not their social conservatism, has them turning to the new Hogwarts legacy video game despite calls for a boycott suggests sociologist Steven Dashiell for The Conversation.

Citings and Sightings

Morality and ethics animate both sides of the porn debate according to Kelsy Burke speaking to The Los Angeles Time about her new book The Pornography Wars. (Read our coverage of Burke’s work on “pornography addiction” here).

Backstage with TSP

As we prepare to wrap up the semester, we’re making plans for our end-of-year celebration. We’ve received a wide variety of suggestions (laser tag or paintball, anyone?) While we’ll likely have a humble get together, we also know from sociological research the importance of rituals such as this for our individual and collective lives. We look forward to the chance to celebrate our hard work together (31 pieces published this academic year and more than a dozen zooming alone our pipeline!) before we scatter to the winds for the summer.

From the Archives

Yesterday the woman who falsely accused Emmett Till died. For context, read this archive piece from Aisha Upton on how Till’s death was not an isolated incident but, rather, representative of pervasive racial terror that did not go unopposed.

More from Our Partner & Community Pages

Book bans prevent students from discovering new ways of thinking and understanding the world, particularly in conservative states according to Alyssa Lyons‘ analysis of book ban data for partner Contexts’ blog.

Women who keep their last names or hyphenate when they get married are viewed as less committed according to recent research from Kristin Kelley that she wrote up for partner Council on Contemporary Families’ blog. (Read our own coverage of Kelley’s research here).

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