DIVERSE INSTITUTIONS & INEQUALITY

DIVERSE INSTITUTIONS & INEQUALITY SOC 3300 – Inequality Dr. M. C. Sengstock, PhD, CCS Professor of Sociology http://users.wowway.com/~marycay910 m.sengstock@wayne.edu

EXAMPLES OF DIVERSE INSTITUTIONS: THEIR IMPACT ON INEQUALITY • Plan to Review a Number of Institutions • Working Together to Promote Status Quo • Likelihood of Social Diversity Being Promoted • Institutions: • Economy – State – Health – Media – Language

ECONOMIC INSTITUTION • Critical Character of Economic Institution (W.J. Wilson, #27) • Jobs & Their Location (Pager, Western, Bonikowski, #28) • Jobs with “Unlikely Job-Holders”: Men in Typically Women’s Jobs (C. Williams, #28)

THE ECONOMY: DECIDES WHERE JOBS ARE • William Julius Wilson: How Jobs Have Left African-American Neighborhoods Behind • 1950: Urban Blacks Were Poor But Working • 69% of Residents 14+ Had Jobs in Typical Week • 1990: Most Residents of Chicago “Black Belt” Were Unemployed • Only 37% of Males 16+ Held Jobs in Typical Week

ECONOMY: JOBS – WHERE DID THEY GO? • Related to Nationwide Decline in Low-Skilled Jobs • Computerization  Need for More Skills • Suburbanization of Most Industries – & Jobs • Changes in Inner City Environments • Less Structure – Fewer Resources – Fewer Organizations – More Room for Drugs, Crime • Worse for Families, Children, Schools – Business!

WORSE ENVIRONMENTS BUSINESS LEAVES • Who Is Most Likely to Be Able to Leave? • Businesses! • They Need the Resources of the Community • They Can Attract More & Better Workers to Suburban Environments (Cleaner, Safer, etc.) • So They Move!

CONSEQUENCE FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN WORKERS? Suburbanization  2 Problems for Workers: • Travel Time & Expense • Need to Travel to Suburbs for Jobs • Many Lack Cars; Need for Good Public Transit • Time-Consuming • Views of Employers: • View City Dwellers As Poor Workers

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST BLACKS IN SUBURBAN COMPANIES – FAIR OR UNFAIR? • The Employer’s Position: • City Resources, Including Schools, Inadequate • Impart Poor Language & Math Skills • Students Trained There Will Be Substandard • Work They Produce Will Be Substandard • Use Poor Grammar in Talking With Customers • Cannot Write Well • Cannot Do Necessary Mathematical Computations

CONSEQUENCES? • Employers Are Reluctant to Hire Blacks • Is This Fair? Yes & No! • Many City Students May Be Substandard • Some Good Workers Will Be Treated Unfairly • Many Employers Recognize That! • But They Have to Have Good Workers • They Get Hundreds of Applications • They Have to Select Quickly – So What Happens?

WHAT IS NEEDED? • Need for Job Development for Low Income, Low Skilled Workers • Private Industry IS NOT Likely to DO That! • No Matter How Many Tax Cuts They Get! • EX: c.1970: $3,200 Gov’t Subsidy for Private Employers Who Hired Disadvantaged or Welfare Workers • Result? Very Few Companies Responded • They Did Not Want to Hire Workers Viewed as “Troublesome”: • Perceived as Undisciplined, Poor Work Skills, Unreliable

PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS AS ANSWER • Public Sector Jobs Seen As the Only Answer • BUT Our Government Is Moving More & More Toward Private Sector Development • Movements Toward Smaller Government • GREAT Resistance to Public Sector Economy • Economy & Government Work Together to Prevent Development of Low Income Jobs!

MORE UP-TO-DATE EXAMPLE • Sun., 11/13/11: Interview With Jennifer Granholm, Former Mich Governor • Concern with Refrigerator Manufacturer Leaving Small Mich Town • Met with State – Which Provided Large-Scale Tax & Incentive Program to Remain in City • Company Officials Debated 17 Minutes • Said “Wonderful Offer – But NO!” Mexico Can Pay $1.50/Hour • Q: “When Will Mich/U.S. Update Energy? • Response: Unknown – “Take Your Time!”

MORE EXAMPLES OF LOW-WAGE JOB DISCRIMINATION • A Field Experiment on Job Discrimination (Pager, Western, Bonikowski, #28) • Issue: Persistent Evidence of Prejudice & Discrimination as a Factor in Hiring Minorities • Firms Express Reluctance to Hire Due to Beliefs of Their Unreliability • BUT: Evidence Managers Who Complain About Black Motivation Are More Likely to Hire Blacks • So Attitudes Don’t Always Predict!

LOOKING AT WAGES • Wages Give Even Less Evidence of Prejudice • Wage Differences Between White, Black, & Latino Young Men – 1990-91: • Differential Hiring Can Largely Be Explained By Test Score Differences • Q: How Does Race Shape Hiring Decisions? • This Study Tries to Examine This Dilemma

DEFINING DISCRIMINATION • Proposed Distinction – Employers Are: • Discriminatory – OR – Indifferent to Race • Solution for Job Seeker: Look to the Fair Companies • Problem: Situation Not That Clear • Many Job Categories & Applicants Not Specific • Leaves Room for Judgment – As Well as Decision-Making & Influence of Attitudes

STUDY DESIGN • Tried to Determine the Factors in Difficult Job-Selection Situations • How Many Employer/Applicant Interactions Are Involved? • What Factors Play a Role? • How Do These Allow for Differential Decisions?

CHANGING LOW WAGE LABOR MARKETS • Economy Exhibits Rapidly Decreasing Numbers of Low Wage Jobs • Also Exhibits Increasing NEW Categories of Applicants for These Jobs • Other Minorities – Esp. Latinos • Latinos Seen As More Reliable, Pliant, Hard-Working • Low-Wage Job Applicants Increasingly Have Criminal Records • Decreases Their Desirability As Workers • Nearly 1/3 of Black Men Have Criminal Record by Their Mid-30s • Black w/out Crim Record = White With Crim Record

STUDY METHODS • NY City Hiring Discrimination Study (2004) • Assigned to Apply for 340 Real Jobs in NY • 171 Employers • Males in Mid 20s, Well-Spoken, Present Well • Teams of “Matched Testers” • Each Team Included: Black, Latino, & White • Latino Had No Accent or Spanish Knowledge • Given Similar Resumes • All Were “Given” a Criminal Record (Drug Sale)

IMPACT OF DIFFERENCES:Who Got Job Offer or Call Back? • Positive Responses: • 31.0% of Whites;25.2% of Latinos; 15.2% of Blacks • Controlling for Tester Effects: • White-Black Ratio Statistically Significant • Blacks Must Seek 2x As Long As Equally Qualified Whites • With Criminal Record – Positive Responses: • 17.2% Whites; 15.4% Latinos; 13.0% Blacks • White Advantage Remains But Is Smaller

WHAT HAPPENED TO CAUSE THIS?THE TESTERS’ FIELD NOTES • 3 Categories of Factors: • Categorical Exclusion – Automatic Rejection of Minority Candidate (EX: White Hired; Others Let Go) • Shifting Standards – Employer’s Evaluation of Candidate Skills Varies Through Racial Lens (White or Latino Get More Chance to Prove Self, Tho Not Prepared) • Race-Based Job Channeling into Different Jobs • Greater Physical Demands, Less Customer Contact (Black  Stock Boy; Others  Sales) Lack of Experience More Problematic for Blacks Than Others

GENDER DISCRIMINATION: GLASS CEILINGS & ESCALATORS! • Jobs with “Unlikely Job-Holders” (C. Williams, #28) • What Happens to Men in Typically Women’s Jobs? • In Typical Male Occupations: • Women “Hit a Glass Ceiling” & Go No Farther • In Typically Female Occupations: • Men Bypass the Lower Levels & Move Up Fast! • Study: 76 Men, 23 Women – 4 Cities – 4 Jobs: Nursing; Librarian; Social Work; Elem. Teacher

ON THE CLASS ESCALATOR • Men Generally Preferred Over Women in These Occupations – They Knew It Was Because They Were Male! • Exception: Elementary School Teacher or OB/GYN Nurses – Inappropriate for Men • Most Men Were Moved Up Quickly • Men Were Preferred to Administrators! • Which Means Women Were Not on That Track!

PROBLEMS WITH THE GLASS ESCALATOR • Men Urged into Administration Even If They Did NOT Want to Be Administrators! • Clinical Nurse, Social Worker; Classroom Teacher • Universities With Affirmative Action Goals –Nursing Area to Promote Women, Get Deans • Men Often Ridiculed for Their Female Jobs • Men Target of Discrimination from Outsiders: • EX: “Wimpy” Social Workers; “Gay” School Teachers

THE STATE & GOVERNMENT • Examples of Governmental Influence: • Welfare Reform, Family Hardship, & Women of Color, (Burnham, #30) • “I Am Your Welfare Reform.” (Downey, #56) • Prisons & Inequality: (Western & Pettit, #31)

WELFARE REFORM, FAMILY HARDSHIP, & WOMEN OF COLOR (Burnham, #30) • 1995: U.N. World Conf on Women (Beijing, China) • After 1995: Unparalleled Prosperity & Welfare Reform … BUT • Women Are Worse Off: • Those Remaining in Welfare System • Those Who Left for Employment • Those Who Used AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) • All Have Lost Much Since Then

EXAMINING THE PROBLEM • 2 Goals of Welfare Reform • Reduce Welfare Rolls, Make Women Self-Sufficient • It DID Reduce Welfare Rolls • It Did NOT Make Women Self-Sufficient • Took Away All Assistance for Single Mothers Caring for Children • End Up in Low End, Insecure, Dead-End Jobs • Inadequate to Provide Appropriate Family Housing

WELFARE MOTHERS’ DILEMMA • Provide Housing – or Feed Children? • Most Mothers Feed Children – Move Around • 23% of Former Welfare Recipients Moved • 1998-99: 12% More Need Temporary Shelter • TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families) Insufficient for Adequate Housing in Private Market • Homelessness  Poor Mental, Physical Health • Disrupts Schooling, Employment Difficult • 50% of Former Recipients Have Food Problems • Unaware They Are Eligible for Food Stamps • Demands for Food Kitchens, Emergency Food

WHO IS HURT MOST? • Welfare Reform Is Nominally “Race-Neutral” • BUT TANF Recipients: • White 32.7% • Black 39.0% • Hispanic 22.2% • Native Amer 1.5% • Asian 3.4% • Other 0.6% • Unknown 0.7%

SPECIAL PROBLEM: WOMEN OF COLOR & IMMIGRANTS • Black Women Over-Represented in Homeless • High Rates in Welfare; High Unemployment • Unmarried; Lack of Male Wage-Earner • Whites Get Off Welfare Easier Than Blacks • Blacks Removed Due to Lack of Compliance • Special Impact on Immigrant Communities • Decrease English Language Learning, Job Skills • More Housing & Hunger Problems • Welfare Reform Incompatible with Women’s Human Rights

“I AM YOUR WELFARE REFORM.” (Downey, #56) • White, Unmarried Mother of 2 Children • Fathers Both Economically Well Off • She Gets Welfare – $600 Below Poverty Level for Family of 3 • What Can/Should We Do for Welfare Reform? • What Can/Should We Do to Make It Work? • The Tea Partiers Want to Let Then Die … • Do We?

MORE GOVERNMENT INEQUALITY: PRISONS & VIOLENCE • Prisons (Western & Pettit, #31) • Justice Is Not Equal (Cole, #32) • Climate of Fear (South Pov Law Cent #43) • Sexual Assault (Armstrong, Hamilton, Sweeney, #44) • Rape & Masculinity (Kaufman, #45) • All Are Examples of Maintaining White, Male Hegemony!

PRISONS (Western & Pettit, #31) • Economic Boom of 1990: More Young Black Male Dropouts In Prison Than on Job • 1920-1970: 0.1% of Americans in Prison • 1970-2000: Prison Population Increased 6 Fold • Inmates 90% Male; Women Fastest Growing • Increase Is NOT Due to Increase in Crime • Due to: Drug Offenses; Increased Sentences • Mandated Sentences for Repeat Offenders • “CA 3 Strikes Law”; Sweeps of Low Income Areas • Incarceration Conceals True Unemployment Rate

RACE & CLASS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE(Cole, #32) • Blacks Far More Likely to Be Indicted for Drugs • Whites Very Unlikely • Los Angeles: 3 Yr Period: • 48 Blacks; 5 Hispanic; 0 White • Selective Prosecution • Legally Challenging Selective Prosecution • Prosecutors Refusing to Turn Over Files

QUESTIONING CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACTIONS • Complaints RE Police Actions Against Blacks  Legal Suits Questioning Their Actions • Supreme Court Cases  Problems of “Standing to Sue”: • Los Angeles: No Standing in “Chokehold” – No Evidence Previous Action Meant These Persons Would Get It Again. • Cicero, IL: Similar in Cases Where More Stringent Bail Was Set for Blacks. No One Can Sue!

CLIMATE OF FEAR (South Pov Law Cent #43) • Targeting of Minorities By Violent Youth • EX: Suffolk Cty, NY, 2008: “Beaner Hopping” • & Teens Sought Latino Man, Beat Unconscious • “Don’t Do Often – Just Once/Week” • Went on to Find, Kill Another Latino in Suffolk Cty. • Authorities Do Little to Stop It • Some Fan Flames – Target Immigrants – Allegedly “Undocumented” – Pretext Stops • Actual Documents Won’t Stop Them!

SEXUAL ASSAULT(Armstrong, Hamilton, Sweeney, #44) • Colleges & Universities Dangerous for Women • 1/5-1/4 of Women Victims of Actual or Attempted Rape in College • Known for 20 Years – Still Nothing Done! • “Reproduction of Gender Inequality” (p. 592) • Students Party in Male-Controlled Settings

COLLEGE RAPE (CTD) 3 Reasons for College Rape: • Individual Determinants: • Men Hostile Toward Women; Some Women More Vulnerable (1st Yr, White, Prior Victims) • Rape Culture: • Belief in Nature of Men, Women Ask for It • Sexually Dangerous Environments: • Bars, Fraternity Houses, Partying Promote Sex • Lots of Kids With Free Time, Little Responsibility

RAPE & MASCULINITY (Kaufman, #45) • Masculinity Very Fragile – Thought to Be Biological Given – But Not Automatic Avenue to Power • Threatens Masculinity  Emotional Tension • Violence Always in Social Context – e.g., Acceptable Means of Solving Social Context • 3-Fold Male Violence: Women, Other Men, Self • Violence Is a Substitution for Desire • No Historical Evidence Sexual Violence Inevitable (Anthropology) • It IS a Way to Perpetuate Male Power Over Women

HEALTH: THE DEATH INEQUALITY • Is There Equality in Health? • Does Everyone Get Equal Opportunity to Health Care When They Are Sick? • What About Choice for Mother or Fetus? • What About Choices for Those Near Death? • What About the 50 Million with No Health Care? • What About the Tea Partiers When Ron Paul Asked About Man Who Chose No Health Care (9/13/11)? “Let Him Die! He Made the Choice!” • Death Inequality (Reuss, #29, p. 401) • Forced Sex Change for “Intersexuals” (Chase, #58)

DEATH INEQUALITY(Reuss, #29, p. 401) • MEN: With < 12 Yrs of Education: 2x As Likely to Die of Chronic Disease, 3x As Likely to Die of Injury, 2x As Likely to Die of Communicable Disease As With 13+ Yrs • WOMEN: With Family Income <$10,000 3x More Likely to Die of Heart Disease, & More Likely to Die of Diabetes Than Those >$25,000 • AFRICAN-AMERICANS: More Likely Than Whites to Die of: Heart Disease, Stroke, Lung, Colon, Prostate, Breast Cancer; Diabetes; Accidents; Homicide

U.S. HEALTH BETTER THAN ELSEWHERE? • Wrong! Harlem Black Male: 37% Chance to Live to 65 – Same As Men in Angola, Congo • 1/6 U.S. Population Lacks Health Insurance • POOR: Half As Likely to See Dr. When Sick • More Environmental, Occupational Hazards • Race Factor: Remains When Controlled for Income, Education, Other S.E.S. • Stephen Hawkings (ALS) Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – Lucky He was In U.S. Not England! • But He DOES Live In England!

FORCED SEX CHANGE FOR “INTERSEXUALS”(Chase, #58) • Born “Charlie Chase” • Clitorectomy At Age 18 Months – Mutilation • Transformed Into “Cheryl Chase” • Total Expunging of Earlier Childhood • NOT “Hermaphrodite” or “Intersexual” • Who Am I? A Lesbian Woman? I Was Once a Man. Can I Experience Sexuality As a Whole Person? • They Mutilated My Sexual Organs – What Am I? • Analogy: Some See Male Circumcision As Mutilation; Most See Female Circumcision As Mutilation

THE MEDIA How the Media Influences All of Us: • Media Images of Native Americans #36 • History of the Media #35 • Feminizing of Gay Men #37 • Lack of Recognition of Media Influence By the Public #37

HISTORY OF THE MEDIA (Butsch, #35) • The Situation Comedy As Mainstay of TV • A “Situation” (Problem) Resolved in 1/2 Hour • “Fool” Theme: Lucy, Archie, Homer, Frank Romano • Negative Stereotypes of Women, Lower Class • Men Demeaned By Making Them Feminine • Middle Class Fathers Were “Wise” • Lower Class Depicted as Ludicrous, Bumbling

MEDIA IMAGES OF NATIVE AMERICANS (Merskin, #36) Advertising Images “Teach” Us What the Dominant Society Wants Us to Know About Groups: • A “Mode of Speech” – to Convey Ideas About a Product – And the Group the Image Represents • Aunt Jemina, Uncle Ben Reinforce Lower Status • Indian Princess on Butter: Pure, Unspoiled Nature • Sue (Sioux) Bee Honey: Child-of-Nature Imagery • Red Chief Sugar: Strong, Proud, Noble Savage • Crazy Horse Malt Liquor: Proud, Bloodthirsty Savage – Named After Real Person

FEMINIZING OF GAY MEN (Linneman, #37) • Gay Dilemma: Hegemonic Male? Or Different? • “Will & Grace” – Stereotypes of Gay Males • Will Truman – Stereotype of Straight White Man • Jack – the More Typical Gay Man • Both Are Object of Gay References • Feminizing Comments Used As Insults • Demeans BOTH Gays & Women • Provided U.S. Public With Constant Stereotypical Images of Urban, White, Middle Class Gay Men • Heterosexual Men More Homophobic Than Women

LACK OF RECOGNITION OF MEDIA INFLUENCE BY THE PUBLIC (Linneman, #37) • Focus Group Study of Audiences • Obliviousness: Failed to Recognize Demeaning Aspects for Gays, Women (More Gays Did) • Anger: Some Subjects Angry – Thought This Might Inflame Against Gays • Acceptance: Most Were Accepting – Esp. Since Some Jokes Were “In-Jokes” Among Gays

“YES, I FOLLOW ISLAM, BUT I AM NOT A TERRORIST”(#48, Sawy) • Nada Sawy Feels the Need to Explain Islam • Islam Is Not Terrorist! • Muslims Told Not to Be Aggressors • Muslims Have Often Been Targets of Aggression • Few Americans, Even Educated – Understand Islam • “Allah” Is Not a “Different” God – “Allah” Is the Arabic Word for “God” – Like Gott (German), Deus (Latin), Yahweh (Hebrew), Dieu (French) • Muslims Follow Abraham (Like Jews, Christians)

THE IMPACT OF LANGUAGE • Language Is the Very Medium of Social Interaction • Without Language – Interaction Is Impossible! • Many Inequalities Imbedded in the English Language (Moore, #39) • Language Gives Us the “Power of Naming” (Zola, # 40)

INEQUALITIES IMBEDDED IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (Moore, #39) • “Master-Slave” Implies Ownership & Property • Blacks & Women Described in Passive Voice & Subordinate Clauses: • “American Settlers Came … Slaves Were Brought” • “Jefferson Designed Doors & They Were Installed.” • Columbus Discovered America, Not Known Before. • Loaded Words: Natives Have “Massacres” – U.S. Gov’t Has “Victories.” • Poor Are “Culturally Deprived” (Lack Culture)

DIVERSE INSTITUTIONS & INEQUALITY